At last, after two or three hours, we heard Addison coming along the winter road with the horses and wagon, while still at a considerable distance. The girls sat down to wait for him to come near enough to speak. Theodora, in particular, feared the worst. But as soon as Addison came in sight, where we were sitting on a log by the side of the trail, he swung his hat, and shouted, "All right!" "Thank Providence!" burst from Theodora's lips; and we all jumped up and shouted for joy. "But was it Halse?" exclaimed Tom and Kate and I, all in a breath. "Yes, it was," replied Addison with a touch of scorn in his voice. "He and Alf Batchelder." "And he isn't hurt?" Theodora asked. "Well, no, not by _us_," said Addison dryly. "The Old Squire has held a private interview with him out at the west barn. Halse may not be quite as comfortable now as he might be." "Good enough!" shouted Willis, Tom and Kate in chorus; and I am afraid that Ellen and I joined in the sentiment. Theodora only looked unhappy. "Halse has confessed," Addison continued, after we were all in the wagon, jogging on homeward. "The Old Squire made him tell everything and disciplined him afterwards. It was like this. After dinner yesterday, Halse pretended that he was sick and went up-stairs. Gram followed him up there with the Vermifuge bottle. She found him in bed. He wouldn't say what ailed him. After she went down-stairs, he got out on the ell roof and ran away, over to Batchelder's. Alf and he then put their heads together and started for the old slave's farm, intending to play they were Cannucks and frighten us nearly to death. That was old Hewey's moose-horn that they were _booing_ through; they borrowed it of the old man, on their way up, pretending they were going moose-hunting." "Then Halse wasn't hit after all," said Kate. "No; it was Alf. We were all wrong about that voice. One of Tom's little partridge shot struck Alf on his wrist. It did not injure him much, but drew blood and frightened him. "They then cut sticks for home; and Halse tried to get into his room over the ell roof at about three o'clock this morning. But our folks had already discovered that he had run away. The Old Squire heard him on the roof and nabbed him just as he was crawling in at the window. "He was quite a subdued, tearful-eyed, peaceable-looking boy, when I saw him an hour ago," Addison concluded, with a curl of his lip. "But let's not say a word to plague him any further," said Theodora. "Oh, I shall not speak of it," replied Addison. "Nor I," said Willis. "But I would like to have had hold of the Old Squire's whip a spell." And thus, in this miserable way, our first camping trip terminated. It was raining the following morning and continued very wet for several days; we were not able to return to "the old slave's farm" that fall. CHAPTER XXVIII THE OLD SQUIRE'S PANTHER STORY