had seen the old man at his father's tavern. Secretly the shrewd boy
revealed to him his situation, and his desire to get back to his
home. The father and sons conferred together upon the subject. They
were moved with sympathy for the boy, and, after due deliberation,
told him that they should stop for the night about seven miles from
that place, and should set out again on their journey with the
earliest light of the morning; and that if he could get to them
before daylight, he might follow their wagons.

It was Sunday morning, and it so happened that the Dutchman and the
family had gone away on a visit. David collected his clothes and the
little money he had, and hid them in a bundle under his bed. A very
small bundle held them all. The family returned. and, suspecting
nothing, all retired to sleep.

David had naturally a very affectionate heart. He never had been
from home before. His lonely situation roused all the slumbering
emotions of his childhood. In describing this event, he writes:

"I went to bed early that night, but sleep seemed to be a stranger
to me. For though I was a wild boy, yet I dearly loved my father and
mother; and their images appeared to be so deeply fixed in my mind
that I could not sleep for thinking of them. And then the fear that
when I should attempt to go out I should be discovered and called to
a halt, filled me with anxiety."

A little after midnight, when the family were in profoundest sleep,
David cautiously rose, and taking his little bundle, crept out
doors. To his disappointment he found that it was snowing fast,
eight inches having already fallen; and the wintry gale moaned