_The Cavalcade in Pursuit.--Hopes and Fears.--Theories about the
lost Boy.--A new Turn to Affairs.--Explanations.--On to
Salerno.--Inquiries.--Baffled.--Fresh Consternation and
Despondency.--The last Hope._
Meanwhile the party on donkeys trotted along the road after Bob.
At the exclamation from the donkey boy they had all experienced a
shock; but soon they recovered from it, and the shock only served
as a stimulus to make them push the donkeys onward more rapidly.
They rode on for some time without making any remarks, each one
looking eagerly forward to see if Bob might reappear; but he had
vanished behind a turn in the road, and as they advanced, there
were other turns to be encountered, and so they were unable to see
him. This began to create uneasiness. At first they all had hoped
that Bob would be able to stop the ass, or that the animal, after
indulging his paces for a short time, would stop of his own accord;
but the farther they went, the more they became convinced that this
affair had something serious in it.
At length they reached that long, straight piece of road already
mentioned. At one end of this was a rising ground; as they ascended
this and reached its summit, they looked ahead, and there, far away
before them, was a single rider. They recognized Bob at once. He
was more than a mile away; but the sight of him filled them all
with joy, and they at once stimulated their donkeys to greater
exertions. In spite of the distance that intervened, they all
shouted as loud as they could; but of course the distance was too
great, and their cries were lost before they reached nearly as far
away as Bob. In a short time he turned in the road, and passed out
of sight.
They now rode on for a long time, and at length came to the road
that led to the mountains, up which Bob had gone. This road was
not even noticed by them. They had passed other roads of the same
kind, which, like this one, led to the mountains, and attached no
more importance to this than to those. In the minds of some of
them, however, these side-roads suggested a fear, that Bob's ass
might have turned off into some one of them; but of course, as they
were all alike, they could not conjecture which one would have been
taken by the runaway. As they rode on, they still looked ahead. At
every turn in the road they still expected to see the fugitive;
and it was not until the donkeys themselves gave signs of fatigue,
that they were willing to slacken their pace. But the nature of
these donkeys was, after all, but mortal; like other mortal things,
they were subject to weakness and fatigue; and as they were now
exhausted, their riders were compelled to indulge them with a
breathing space, and so they slackened their pace to a walk.
And now they all began to consider the probabilities of Bob's
fortunes.
"I'm afraid something's happened," said Clive. "Perhaps he's been
thrown."
"Thrown?" cried Frank, cheerily. "Why, if so, we would have found
him long ago. But the idea of Bob being thrown from any animal that
ever lived is simply absurd. Hell stick to that donkey as long as
the donkey runs."
"It seems to me," said David,--who was a very thoughtful and
observant boy,--"it seems to me that the donkey may have taken some
of those roads that go off to the mountains."
"Pooh!" said Frank. "Why should the donkey take the trouble to do
anything of that sort? A runaway animal don't generally indulge in
freaks of that kind. He generally goes it blind, and runs straight
ahead along the road that happens to be before him."
"But perhaps he lives among the mountains," said David, "and, in
that case, he would merely be running home."
"I don't believe that," said Frank. "I hold that it requires some
thought for an ordinary donkey to quit the high road, and take one
of those by-roads."
"Not if a by-road leads to his home."
"But how could his home be there," objected Frank, "when we found
him away down there near Paestum?"
"Easily enough," said David. "I dare say they were going home at
the very time we came up with them."
"I wish we could ask the boy about it," said Clive. "He could tell
as just what we want to know."
"Yes," said Frank; "but, unfortunately, we couldn't understand all
of it."
David heaved a sigh.
"How I wish," he exclaimed, "that I had studied Italian before I
came! But from this time forth, I'm determined not to rest till
I've learned the language."
Uncle Moses was deeply distressed at Bob's disappearance. He had
only one idea in his mind. He told the other boys what it was. It
was the idea of brigands. They had met poor Bob; they had seized
him, and had carried him off to their lurking-places in the mountains.
Even now he was in captivity. And the heart of Uncle Moses yearned
over the poor prisoner. He expressed these fears in a few words,
for he was too agitated to say much.
Clive and David both shook their heads over this, and thought there
was something in it. Both of them now thought that Bob might have
been carried by his donkey to the mountains; and, if so, his capture
by brigands would be almost certain. To them, these mountains
seemed to be full of them; the whole population, in their opinion,
was a community of brigands.
Clive had also another idea. It was this. The driver had deserted
them and had gone off vowing vengeance. He had gone to the mountains,
and returned with a band of brigands to capture all of them. They
had met Bob, seized him, and taken him off.
At all this Frank laughed.
"Pooh!" said he. "I don't see why you should go out of your way to
torment yourselves about nothing at all. It all seems plain enough
to me. The donkey has run off, and intends to keep running till he
drops. There's a long, straight, smooth road before him, and he'll
stick to that without bothering his head about by-roads or mountains.
And if he's obstinate enough, I don't see why he shouldn't keep on
running till he gets to Salerno. And it's my opinion, if we don't
pick him up on the road, well find him at Salerno when we get there."
"O, that's all very well," said Clive, "but think how certain you
were about the driver--"
He was interrupted by the sound of galloping horses and rolling
wheels. The sound came from behind. At once they all turned their
heads. Emerging from behind a torn in the road, they saw two horses
galloping at full speed, and drawing a carriage. The driver was
whipping the horses furiously, and calling and shouting. The carriage
was empty. In a moment they recognized the truth. It was their
carriage and their driver.
They all stood still, and looked in surprise, and the carriage
rolled swiftly up. The driver at once stopped the horses, and jumped
to the ground. Then, coming to the boys, he burst forth into a
strain of the most profuse and vehement apologies. He implored
them to forgive him, and began to explain the cause of his absence
from the place where they had left him.
It seems that he found this place an inconvenient one, and had
driven across the fields for about half, a mile, to some trees.
Here he had taken his horses out, and allowed them to feed. He
himself lay down in the carriage, and took a _siesta_. He
overslept himself. On awaking, he was horrified to find how much
time had passed, and at once proceeded to search for the horses.
But during his sleep they had both wandered off, and could not
be found until after a long search. When at length he was ready,
and had driven back, he found to his horror that they were not
there. Thinking that they were still among the ruins, he had gone
over the whole place, which took up still more time. At last he
saw that they must have left. He at once drove off. Knowing that
they were on foot, he expected every minute to catch sight of
them. He drove on for miles without seeing any trace of them,
and at length came to the conclusion that they had, perhaps,
found the carriage of some other visitors, and had obtained seats
in that. He knew that they must have gone, and could only account
in that way for their rapid progress.
This explanation of the driver was perfectly satisfactory to them
all, and their joy at getting the carriage again was so great that
they excused his unfortunate slumbers. The driver also, on his
part, had now forgotten all about his sulks, and was the same genial
and companionable soul as before. On learning about Bob's mishap,
he at once assured them that the donkey must have run along the
road, and that they would undoubtedly soon catch up with him. So
the whole party got into the carriage, the driver whipped up the
horses, and away they went towards Salerno.
Mile after mile was traversed.
Still there were no signs of Bob,
"Something's happened," said Clive.
"He's been carried to the mountains," said David.
"It's the brigands!" groaned Uncle Moses.
"O, it's all right," said Frank, confidently. "That donkey's a
regular race-horse. We'll find him at Salerno."
At length they reached Salerno. They drove up to the hotel.
No signs of Bob!
Hurrying in, they made inquiries, and found that he had not come.
This filled them all with the greatest concern; and the driver,
and the landlord, and all others who heard of it, asserted that
he must have been carried to the mountains. It was now dark.
Nothing more could be done; and so they could only resolve to
drive back on the following day, and make a more careful search
after the lost boy.