"Well, he done et a good breakfast this mornin' and ain't starved yit as 'tain't time ter dish up dinner yit. An' if he is cold I'd lak ter know whar he done foun' a cool spot. I sho is a sweatin' myse'f."
"Go 'long, you ole nigger! You ain't got no feelin'."
"I's got as much feelin' as you is but I's got enough ter worry 'bout without makin' up troubles. I want ter find that there Bobby an' I feel turrible bad 'bout his a gittin' lost but I ain't agoin' ter trouble my haid about his bein' cold and hongry whin the sun is a shinin' down on my back as hot as a mustard plarster an' I done see the boy put away two full batches of waffles with enough scrambled eggs to feed a whole fambly. His appletite done pick up wonderful sense we been a campin' out."
Miss Elizabeth Somerville had to help in the search, too, although Bill Tinsley tried to persuade her that he and Tillie Wingo could do her part and she had better go back to the pavilion, but go she would down the rocky path.
"'Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him,'" she declaimed grimly. "If I had my way I should give that child a good whipping when he is found. He knows perfectly well he should not have gone off without asking."
The search kept up for more than an hour and still no sign of little Bobby. Even the most cheerfully sanguine of the campers began to feel dubious. Helen lay on her cot in an agony of suspense. The search party had none of them returned. She began to fear that the worst might have happened to her beloved little brother. If she could only get up and help! She regretted the promise she had made Dr. Wright. How could she stay still until the next day? She knew she could find Bobby if any one could. Did he not love her best of all the sisters? How strange that he had not come to her when Douglas sent him! She would have told him stories and amused him.
"Maybe he did come while I was taking that little nap," she thought. "It was only for a moment that I dozed off and usually he is quick enough to awaken any one who is sleeping." The truth of the matter was that Bobby was loath to have anybody sleep. He was famous as a waker.
"There is a car! I hear it coming up the mountain. I do hope it is Douglas and she has got him."