The gun was gone, and father stared at mother, and mother stared at Laddie, and he turned and ran straight toward the Station, and in a minute he was back, whiter than a plate.

He just said: "All gone!" Father and mother both sat down suddenly and hard.
Then Laddie ran to the barn and came back and said none of the horses had been taken.

Soon they went into the parlour and shut the door, and when they came out father staggered and mother looked exactly like Sabethany.

Laddie ran to the barn, saddled Flos and rode away.

Father wanted to ring an alarm on the dinner bell, like he had a call arranged to get all the neighbours there quickly if we had sickness or trouble, and mother said: "Paul, you shall not! He's so young! We've got to keep this as long as we can, and maybe the Lord will help us find him, and we can give him another chance." Father started to say something, and mother held up her hand and just said, "Paul!" and he sank back in the chair and kept still.