The Candy Country

by Louisa May Alcott

the moonlight showed him nothing but poor Billy danglingfrom a bough, high above the ground, caught by his belt when he fell. Hehad been dreaming of bears, and rolled off his perch; so there he hung,kicking and wailing, half awake, and so scared it was long before Tommycould make him believe that he was quite safe.

  How to get him down was the next question. The branch was not strongenough to bear Tommy, though he climbed up and tried to unhook poorBilly. The belt was firmly twisted at the back, and Billy could notreach to undo it, nor could he get his legs round the branch to pullhimself up. There seemed no way but to unbuckle the belt and drop. Thathe was afraid to try; for the ground was hard, and the fall a high one.Fortunately both belt and buckle were strong; so he hung safely, thoughvery uncomfortably, while Tommy racked his boyish brain to find a way tohelp him.

  Billy had just declared that he should be cut in two very soon ifsomething was not done for him, and Tommy was in despair, when theythought they heard a far-off shout, and both answered it till theirthroats were nearly split with screaming.

  "I seem to see a light moving round down that way," cried Billy from hishook, pointing toward the valley.

  "They are looking for us, but they won't hear us. I'll run and hollerlouder, and bring 'em up here," answered Tommy, glad to do anythingthat would put an end to this dreadful state of things.

  "Don't leave me! I may fall and be killed! The bear might come! Don'tgo! don't go!" wailed Billy, longing to drop, but afraid.

  "I won't go far, and I'll come back as quick as I can. You are safe upthere. Hold on, and we'll soon get you down," answered Tommy, rushingaway helter-skelter, never minding where he went, and too much excitedto care for any damage.

  The moon was bright on the blasted trees; but when he came down amongthe green pines, it grew dark, and he often stumbled and fell. Neverminding bumps and bruises, he scrambled over rocks, leaped fallentrunks, floundered through brooks, and climbed down steep places, till,with a reckless jump, he went heels over head into a deep hole, and laythere for a moment stunned by the fall. It was an old bear-trap, longunused, and fortunately well carpeted with dead leaves, or poor Tommywould have broken his bones.

  When he came to himself he was so used up that he lay still for sometime in a sort of daze, too tired to know or care about anything, onlydimly conscious that somebody was lost in a tree or a well, and that,on the whole, running away was not all fun.

  By and by the sound of a gun roused him; and remembering poor Billy, hetried to get out of the pit,--for the moon showed him where he was. Butit was too deep, and he was too stiff with weariness and the fall to bevery nimble. So he shouted, and whistled, and raged about very like alittle bear caught in the pit.

  It is very difficult to find a lost person on these great mountains, andmany wander for hours not far from help, bewildered by the thick woods,the deep ravines, and precipices which shut them in. Some have losttheir lives; and as Tommy lay on the leaves used up by his variousstruggles, he thought of all the stories he had lately heard at thefarm, and began to wonder how it would feel to starve to death downthere, and to wish poor Billy could come to share his prison, that theymight die together, like the Babes in the Wood, or better still the BoyScouts lost on the prairies in that thrilling story, "Bill Boomerang,the Wild Hunter of the West."

  "I guess mother is worried this time, because I never stayed out allnight before, and I never will again without leave. It's rather goodfun, though, if they only find me. I ain't afraid, and it isn't verycold. I always wanted to sleep out, and now I'm doing it. Wish poorBilly was safely down and in this good bed with me. Won't he be scaredall alone there? Maybe the belt will break and he get hurt bumping down.Sorry now I left him, he's such a 'fraid-cat. There's the gun again!Guess it's that man after us. Hi! hollo! Here I am! Whoop! Hurrah! Hi!hi! hi!"

  Tommy's meditations ended in a series of yells as loud as his shrilllittle voice could make them, and he thought some one answered. But itmust have been an echo, for no one came; and after another rampage roundhis prison, the poor boy nestled down among the leaves, and went fastasleep because there was nothing else to do.

  So there they were, the two young hunters, lost at midnight on themountain,--one hanging like an apple on the old tree, and the othersound asleep in a bear-pit. Their distracted mothers meantime wereweeping and wringing their hands at the farm, while all the men inthe neighborhood were out looking for the lost boys. The hunter on hisreturn to the hotel had reported meeting the runaways and his effort tosend them home in good season; so people knew where to look, and, ledby the man and dog, up the mountain went Mr. Mullin with his troop. Itwas a mild night, and the moon shone high and clear; so the hunt was,on the whole, rather easy and pleasant at first, and lanterns flashedthrough the dark forest like fireflies, the lonely cliffs seemed alivewith men, and voices echoed in places where usually only the brooksbabbled and the hawks screamed. But as time went on, and no sign of theboys appeared, the men grew anxious, and began to fear some serious harmhad come to the runaways.

  "I can't go home without them little shavers no way, 'specially Tommy,"said Mr. Mullin, as they stopped to rest after a hard climb through theblasted grove. "He's a boy after my own heart, spry as a chipmunk, smartas a young cockerel, and as full of mischief as a monkey. He ain'tafraid of anything, and I shouldn't be a mite surprised to find himenjoyin' himself first-rate, and as cool as a coocumber."

  "The fat boy won't take it so easily, I fancy. If it hadn't been for himI'd have kept the lively fellow with me, and shown him how to hunt.Sorry now I didn't take them both home," said the man with the gun,seeing his mistake too late, as people often do.

  "Maybe they've fell down a precipice and got killed, like Moses Warner,when he was lost," suggested a tall fellow, who had shouted himselfhoarse.

  "Hush up, and come on! The dog is barkin' yonder, and he may have found'em," said the farmer, hurrying toward the place where the hound wasbaying at something in a tree.

  It was poor Billy, hanging there still, half unconscious with wearinessand fear. The belt had slipped up under his arms, so he could breatheeasily; and there he was, looking like a queer sort of cone on theblasted pine.

  "Wal, I never!" exclaimed the farmer, as the tall lad climbed up, and,unhooking Billy, handed him down like a young bird, into the arms heldup to catch him.

  "He's all right, only scared out of his wits. Come along and look forthe other one. I'll warrant he went for help, and may be half-way homeby this time," said the hunter, who didn't take much interest in the fatboy.

  Tommy's hat lay on the ground; and showing it to the dog, his mastertold him to find the boy. The good hound sniffed about, and then set offwith his nose to the ground, following the zigzag track Tommy had takenin his hurry. The hunter and several of the men went after him, leavingthe farmer with the others to take care of Billy.

  Presently the dog came to the bear-pit, and began to bark again.

  "He's got him!" cried the men, much relieved; and rushing on soon sawthe good beast looking down at a little white object in one corner ofthe dark hole.

  It was Tommy's face in the moonlight, for the rest of him was covered upwith leaves. The little round face seemed very quiet; and for a momentthe men stood quite still, fearing that the fall might have done the boysome harm. Then the hunter leaped down, and gently touched the browncheek. It was warm, and a soft snore from the pug nose made the man callout, much relieved,--

  "He's all right. Wake up here, little chap; you are wanted at home. Hadhunting enough for this time?"

  As he spoke, Tommy opened his eyes, gave a stretch, and said, "Hollo,Billy," as calmly as if in his own bed at home. Then the rustle of theleaves, the moonlight in his face, and the sight of several men staringdown at him startled him wide awake.

  "Did you shoot the big bear?" he asked, looking up at the hunter with agrin.

  "No; but I caught a little one, and here he is," answered the man,giving Tommy a roll in the leaves, much pleased because he did not whineor make a fuss.

&
nbsp; "Got lost, didn't we? Oh, I say, where's Billy? I left him up a treelike a coon, and he wouldn't come down," laughed Tommy, kicking off hisbrown bed-clothes, and quite ready to get up now.

  They all laughed with him; and presently, when the story was told, theypulled the boy out of the pit, and went back to join the other wanderer,who was now sitting up eating the bread and butter Mrs. Mullin sent fortheir very late supper.

  The men roared again, as the two boys told their various tribulations;and when they had been refreshed, the party started for home, blowingthe tin horns, and firing shot after shot to let the scattered searchersknow that the lost children were found. Billy was very quiet, and gladlyrode on the various broad backs