"What the dickens is that ?" In a moment, however, he recovered himself.
"Pooh, what a fool I am!" he said, ashamed of the slight weakness he had displayed, and hoping neither of the boys had noticed it; and then, to show how cool and collected he was, he whistled up the retriever.
"Whee-ee-up, Rover, fetch her out, good dog!" Rover did not need this adjuration, not he.
Even as the Captain spoke, there was a rustling and tramping in the thicket, accompanied by the snapping of twigs; and, almost at the same instant, the dog dashed out from amidst the brushwood with Nellie holding on to his tail.
"Oh my!" ejaculated Dick, rushing to her side; and, with the assistance of Bob, who also emerged from the prickly cavern at the same time, she was got on her feet-- "Poor Nell!" She presented a sorry spectacle.
Never was such a piteous plight seen! Her face was scratched by the thorns, her clothes torn, and her hat had fallen off like that of the Captain, who had, by the way, in the flurry forgotten to replace his on his head, the venerable article remaining in a sadly battered condition where it had fallen.
On being released, however, from her predicament, Nellie treated the matter much more lightly than might have been expected.
She was a very courageous little girl now that she knew she was in safety.
But she was also, it should be said, blest, too, with great amiability.
"Oh, never mind the scratches," she replied, in answer to the Captain's inquiries.

"I'm not at all hurt, thank you." "How about those wild animals ?" asked the old sailor smiling, "eh, missy ?" Nellie coloured up, but could not help laughing at the Captain's quizzical face, as he took up his hat gingerly and put it on.
"I--I made a mistake," she stammered.

"I was frightened!" At that moment, however, very opportunely, Master Rover, who had darted back into the thicket after reclaiming his young mistress, saved her all further explanation as to the unknown beasts that had caused her such alarm by appearing now in full pursuit of an unfortunate rabbit which, putting forth its best speed, escaped him in the very nick of time by diving into a hole on the other side of the knoll, contemptuously kicking up its heels as it did so, almost into his open mouth.
The mystery of Nellie's disappearance was thus satisfactorily solved.
She had fallen into an old rabbit-burrow.
The harmless little creatures, whom she had imagined to be making desperate assaults on her legs and about to eat her up, too, were probably even more frightened than she was! "Oh--oh, that's one of those ferocious wild animals, little missy, eh ?" chuckled the Captain.

"I see, young lady." "Yes, but they frightened me," pleaded poor Nell.

"They moved about under my feet, jumping up at me, I thought; and it was so dark down there that I didn't know what they might be.