CHAPTER XXII

FARMER BROWN'S BOY LOOKS IN VAIN

Loyalty is priceless and
Is neither sold nor bought.
Alas, how few who seem to know
Its value as they ought.

_Bowser the Hound._


As I have told you, Farmer Brown's boy had been all about the
neighborhood asking at each farmhouse if anything had been seen of
Bowser. Of course nothing had been seen of him, and so at last Farmer
Brown's boy felt sure that something dreadful had happened to Bowser in
the woods.

For several days he tramped through the Green Forest and up through the
Old Pasture, looking for signs of Bowser. His heart was heavy, for you
know Bowser was quite one of the family. He visited every place he could
think of where he and Bowser had hunted together. He knew that by this
time Bowser couldn't possibly be alive if he had been caught by a foot
in a trap or had met with an accident in the woods. He had quite given
up all hope of ever seeing Bowser alive again. But he did want to know
just what had happened to him, and so he kept searching and searching.

One day Farmer Brown's boy heard that a strange dog had been found over
in the next township. That afternoon he drove over there, his heart
filled with great hope. But he had his long ride for nothing, for when