The next
morning they started at daybreak, and arrived at their camp at Chieveley
just as their friends were sitting down to breakfast. They were received
with a shout of welcome, and a torrent of questions was poured upon
them.
"I will leave Sankey to tell you all about it," Chris said. "I must go
and report myself to Brookfield and get our names struck off the list of
missing. I shall not be five minutes away."
The captain received Chris as heartily, though not so noisily, as his
comrades had done.
"We have been very anxious about you," he said, after the first
greeting. "When we came back to the point where you left us, and did not
find you there, we thought there might be some mistake, and that you had
ridden on. We picked up all the others, but were not uneasy until we got
into camp, and found that you did not return. Then two of your friends
took fresh horses and rode out again, taking two of your blacks with
them. The blacks found the place where you had left us, and following
your tracks down came on your horses. Then they went on till they saw
the river in front of them. The blacks traced your footsteps along near
the bank till they came to a spot where there was evidently a drift, as
a road was cut down to the water on both sides.
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