"I cannot understand what keeps her," said the father, in his native
tongue; "she was never so late before."

It was plain from the mother's face and manner that she also was
anxious, for she frequently went to the gate, and, shading her eyes,
looked long and anxiously down the road, hoping that the figure of the
little girl would come to view, with some explanation of the cause for
her delay.

But the sun was low in the west, and its slanting rays brought to light
the figure of no child hurrying homeward. The single object that was
mistaken for the loved one proved to be a man on horseback, who turned
off at the forks and vanished.

"Nick, go look for your sister," said his mother, as she came back from
one of these visits to the gate; "something has happened."

The boy was glad of the order, for he was on the point of asking
permission to hunt for Nellie.

"I'll stay till I find out something," said Nick, as he donned his hat
and took a general look over himself to see that he was in shape, "so
don't worry about _me_."

"But you ought not to be gone so long," said the father, whose anxious
face showed that he was debating whether he should not join his boy in
the search, "for it won't take long to find out where Nellie is."

"I think she has been taken sick and has stopped with some of the
neighbors," ventured the mother, "but it is strange they do not send me