ord to him about the pointer. He told his mother
of the loss, and of course she sympathized with him, and offered
every explanation except the right one. The thief opened his eyes and
looked surprised while they were talking, but neither of them paid
any attention to him; and Dan, muttering angrily to himself that he
was nothing more than a crooked stick about that house any way,
undressed and went to bed.

Dan passed the next day in his usual idle and shiftless manner. He
saw David go up to General Gordon's, and would have been glad to know
what sort of work he was doing up there, and how much he was to
receive for it. He did not find out that day, but he did the next,
and the discovery made him feel like a new boy.

Growing tired of staying by himself, Dan thought he would go down to
the landing, hoping that he would find a shooting-match going on
there, or that a steamer would come in, bringing a stranger or two
for him to stare at. The weather was raw and chilly, too, and Dan's
bare feet were blue with the cold. He must have a pair of shoes and
stockings; and since he couldn't get them in any other way, a portion
of the money he had hidden in that hollow log in the woods must be
brought into use. Dan took out the necessary amount, and groaned
when he looked at the small sum he had left.

As soon as the sun had warmed the air a little, Dan shouldered his
rifle and set out. He did not follow the road, as he did before, for
that would take him past the General's barn, and Don and Bert were at
home now. He went around through the fields; and it was while he was
sitting on a log near General Gordon's fence, watching the only
squirrel he had seen since leaving home, that he accidentally learned
what it was that took David over to Don's house so regularly every
morning, and kept him there all day. He first heard the creaking of
wheels and the sound of voices, and they came from the General's
field, which was not more than twenty feet distant, and which was
concealed from his view by the thick bushes that lined the fence. Dan
recognised the voices, and his first impulse was to jump up and take
to his heels. His next was to stay where he was until the wagon
passed by, and this he did; for he was in an excellent hiding-place
and no one could have found him without taking pains to look for him.

The wagon came nearer, the voices grew louder, and presently Dan
heard the shrill notes of a quail directly in front of him and j