D I'VE FOUND YOU
AT LAST!"']

Such a meeting as this one between Jack and his long-lost parents is
indescribable, and we must draw a veil over the first few hours of
their happy reunion.

'Oh, George,' said the comforted mother later on, when Jack had quite
recovered, 'isn't it wonderful how it all happened? To think that old
Buck should have brought our own little Jack to our very door.'

'Yes, indeed,' returned her husband. 'What a merciful thing it was
that Jim heard them at the bars, for Jack was very nearly done for with
the awful cold!'

Tears of joy had poured down the checks of the parents when they
discovered it was really their darling who had come to them in the
storm, and they did not forget to kneel down and thank God for His
marvellous preservation of their child.

'Mother,' said Jack, 'you were right: you told me to ask God to take
care of us until we met again, and He has done it.'

'Yes, that He has,' returned his mother; 'and we have much to thank Him
for.'

'You stick to Him right through your life, Jack, as you've begun,' said
George Wilson solemnly, 'for He's the best guide and protector any man
can have.'

'I will, Daddy,' answered the boy firmly.

Jack was soon able to give an account of his adventure in the blizzard,
and expressed great anxiety about the fate of his friend, Champion Joe.

'It's madness to look for him to-night,' said George Wilson, 'but I'll
be out first thing and seek him in the morning.'

It was a great relief to them all when about daybreak the next day they
were roused by a knock at the door, which proved to be the hunter
himself. He had come to ask for help in finding his missing companion,
and you may imagine his joyful surprise to learn that Jack, in spite of
the storm, had safely reached home and his journey was over! The mule
had managed to struggle to the creek, where he and his master had
sheltered among the quaking aspens until morning, the latter being in
an agony of mind all night about Jack.

The buckboard was brought to the Wilsons' house with great difficulty
during the day, and Buckskin and Rufus had to lend their services to
drag it, light as it was, through the terrible snowdrifts. The road
was so bad, Champion Joe had to stay two or three days with Jack's
people; but he did not grudge the delay, as he had become very fond of
his little travelling companion, and he was delighted to see the
happiness of the three who had been parted so long