“Tom’s gone,” said Bunker again.

“Gone where?” asked Bunny.

“I don’t know,” answered the red-haired boy.  “I looked all around by the spring, but I couldn’t see him.  The pail was there, but Tom wasn’t.”

“Could he have fallen in?” asked Mrs. Brown, just as Uncle Tad had asked.

Bunker Blue shook his head.

“The spring is only about big enough to dip a pail in,” he said, “and Tom is bigger than the pail.”

“But maybe he curled all up in a little heap when he fell in,” said Bunny.  “Oh, dear!  I don’t want Tom to be lost!”

Bunny and Sue had grown to like Tom very much.

Once more Bunker Blue shook his head.

“I could look right down to the bottom of the spring,” he said.  “It’s quite deep, even if it isn’t big.  But Tom wasn’t in it.  There was a big bullfrog in the water, though.”

“Was the frog big enough to—­to eat Tom?” asked Sue, her eyes wide open.

Sue’s mother and father laughed, and Bunny said: 

“A bullfrog couldn’t eat anybody!”

“They could if they was a big enough frog; couldn’t they, Daddy?” asked Sue.

“Well, I don’t know,” replied Mr. Brown.  “Then you couldn’t see anything of Tom, Bunker?”

“No, sir, not a thing.”

“Had he filled the pail with water?” Uncle Tad wanted to know.

“The pail was empty, and it was tipped over,” Bunker said.  “I don’t know whether Tom had filled it, and then something had knocked it over, or not.  Anyhow, the pail had no water in it, so I dipped it into the spring to fill it, and came on back to tell you.”

“That was right,” said Mr. Brown.  “We’ll go over and look around.  Tom may have seen some new kind of bird, or something like that, and have wandered off in the woods, following it.”

“Maybe he saw a bear, and ran,” suggested Bunny.

“No, I guess the only bear around here is the tame one that came in our tent the first night,” said Mrs. Brown.  “Oh, I do hope nothing has happened to Tom!”

They all hoped that, for the strange boy was very well liked.

Mrs. Brown remained at the tent to wash the breakfast dishes, since Tom was not there to do them, while the others—­Bunny, Sue, their father, Uncle Tad and Bunker—­went to the spring.  It was on the side of a little hill, where grew many trees, and was about three minutes’ walk from Camp Rest-a-While.

Mr. Brown and Uncle Tad looked all around the hole in the ground—­the hole was the spring, and it was filled with clear, cold water.  The bottom of the spring was of white sand, and sitting down there, having a nice bath, was a big, green bullfrog.  With his funny eyes he looked up at Bunny and Sue as they leaned over the spring.

“Oh, look!” cried Sue.  “What a big frog!”

“But he isn’t big enough to swallow Tom,” said Bunny.

“No, that’s so,” agreed Mr. Brown.  “We’ll have to look for Tom.  Bunny and Sue, you stay with me.  Uncle Tad, you and Bunker walk around in the woods.  It may be that Tom fell and hurt himself, when running after a bird or butterfly, and can’t walk.  We’ll find him.”