“He has lately fallen into the habit of roaming about of nights,” said the general, “and I don’t know how to account for it. The boy is large enough to take care of himself, but I don’t think he would stay away so long unless he were in trouble. I am going down the road to see if I can get any tidings of him; Bert is going out into the country; Godfrey has promised to search the woods; and if you feel like it, you might jump on Don’s pony and ride down the river road a few miles. Everybody down there knows Don, and if he went that way before dark last night, some one must have seen him.” Clarence replied that he would willingly do all in his power to find the missing boy, and then Bert and his father mounted their horses and galloped out of the gate. Godfrey slunk away behind the corn-crib, and Clarence, after telling the hostler to put a saddle on Don’s pony, followed him. He found Godfrey sitting on the ground and rocking himself back and forth as if he were in great pain. “What’s the matter with you?” demanded Clarence, and it was only by a great effort of will that he could bring himself to speak at all. “O, my soul!” cried Godfrey. “Does yer know what we’ve been an’ done?” “Do I know what we’ve done?” repeated the boy. “What do you mean? Speak out!” “O, my soul, how can I?” moaned Godfrey. “Thar’s the gen’ral axin’ me would I s’arch the woods to find that lost boy of his’n, an’ thar he is, this blessed minute, tied up hard an’ fast in my own tater-hole. O, laws! O, laws!” Clarence reeled and fell heavily against the corn-crib, as if some one had unexpectedly dealt him a stunning blow. CHAPTER XIII. HOW CLARENCE FOUND IT OUT. Clarence and his brother had not been under their uncle’s roof more than two or three hours before they found that they had been sadly mistaken in regard to some opinions they had formed, and Marshall was honest enough to acknowledge the fact, at least to himself. The “country bumpkins,” as Clarence had sneeringly called his cousins, proved to be educated young gentlemen, who, before the day was over, put their dashing city relatives to the blush on more than one occasion, and forced them to confess that all the knowledge in the world was not to be gained by simply travelling about Europe. Don and Bert exerted themselves to the utmost to entertain their visitors, and so did all the other members of the family; and they succeeded so well that Marshall told himself that perhaps his forced sojourn in the country would not turn out to be so very unpleasant after all. But Clarence, being entirely out of his element, was homesick already, and consequently could take no interest in anything. He cared little for such amusements and pastimes as were to be found in a happy cultivated family circle. He preferred a game of billiards or cards with some boon companions, and these he could not have so long as he remained under his uncle’s roof.