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And so he sat and waited and listened, and his eye-lids began to grow heavy and his head began to nod, and directly little Bob was fast asleep in the dark corner behind the barrels.

By ten o’clock the children were all put to bed, and soon after the old folks went up-stairs, leaving only Tom Green, Alice, and some of the young men and women down in the big sitting-room.

Bob’s mother went up into the room where several of the children were sleeping, and after looking around, she said to the old colored nurse: 

“Hannah, what have you done with Bob?”

“I didn’t put him to bed, mum.  I spect Miss Alice has took him to her bed.  She knowed how crowded the chil’un all was, up here.”

“But Alice has not gone to bed,” said Bob’s mother.

“Don’t spect she has, mum,” said Hannah.  “But I reckon she put him in her bed till she come.”

“I’ll go and see,” said Bob’s mother.

She went, and she saw, but she didn’t see Bob!  And he wasn’t in the next room, or in any bed in the house, or under any bed, or anywhere at all, as far as she could see; and so, pretty soon, there was a nice hubbub in that house!

Bob’s mother and father, and his grandfather, and Hannah, and the young folks in the parlor, and nearly all the rest of the visitors, ransacked the house from top to bottom.  Then they looked out of doors, and some of them went around the yard, where they could see very plainly, as it was bright moonlight.  But though they searched and called, there was no Bob.

The house-doors being open, Snag the dog came in, and he joined in the search, you may be sure, although I do not know that he exactly understood what they were looking for.

Some one now opened the cellar-door, but it seemed preposterous to look down in the cellar for the little fellow.

But nothing was preposterous to Snag.

The moment the cellar-door was opened he shuffled down the steps as fast as he could go.  He knew there was somebody down there.

And when those who followed him with a candle reached the cellar-floor, there was Snag, with his head between the barrels, wagging his tail as if he was trying to jerk it off, and whining with joy as he tried to stick his cold nose into the rosy face of little sleeping Bob.

It was Tom Green who carried Bob up-stairs, and very soon indeed, all the folks were gathered in the kitchen, and Bob sleepily told his story.

“But Tom and I were down in the cellar,” said his Aunt Alice, “and we didn’t see you.”

“I guess you didn’t,” said Bob, rubbing his eyes.  “I was a-hidin’ and you was a-kissin’.”

What a shout of laughter arose in the kitchen at this speech!  Everybody laughed so much that Bob got wide awake and wanted some apples and cake.

The little fellow certainly made a sensation that night; but it was afterwards noticed that he ceased to care much for the game of Hide-and-Seek.  He played it too well, you see.