The five were now searching for that which they did not wish to find;
they dreaded, with an unspeakable dread, the sight of the white face
turned upward, with the abundant hair floating about the dimpled
shoulders.
Thank heaven, that sight was spared them; nothing of the kind was seen,
and a sigh escaped from each.
"We are all tortured by the thought that Nellie has fallen into the
creek and been drowned," said the teacher; "but I cannot see any grounds
for such fear."
The yearning looks of the parents and brother caused the teacher to
explain more fully.
"No child, unless a very stupid one, would stumble from this bridge, and
there could have been no circumstances which in my judgment would have
brought such a mishap to Nellie."
This sounded reasonable enough, but:
"De basket,--vot of dot?" asked the father.
"She has dropped that from some cause; but that of itself is a favorable
sign, for had she fallen accidentally into the water she would have
taken it with her."
This sounded as if true, but it did not remove the fears of any one.
Even he who uttered the words could not bring himself fully to believe
in their truth, for none knew better than he that the evil one himself
seems to conspire with guns and pistols that appear to be unloaded, and
with water which is thought to be harmless.
All wanted to place faith in the declaration, and no protest was
uttered. As nothing was to be seen or learned where they stood, they
crossed the bridge and descended the wooded slope until they reached the
edge of the stream, which wound its way through the woods to the big
pond.
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