"No, is he not here?"

"He left for home without bidding us good-bye, and it is all on account of the dog. The boys were just going to the depot to see if he is there."

"It is no use to go. If he had been there, I would have seen him, and Pixy would have found me."

"What are we to do about it?"

"Do nothing. It will be an experience for him to be allowed to follow his own inclination in the matter. He will be surprised when he reaches home to know that I am here. I am on my way to Ca.s.sel on business and stopped off to see you and my boy."

"But I feel so anxious about him," said his sister. "I would ask the police to see to it but am ashamed, for I had to apply to them when his purse was lost, then when his dog was lost and now it would be to tell them that both dog and boy are gone. Uncle Braun put a notice in the paper about the dog, and oh dear! there seems to be no end to what that notice brought;" and she told of the letters and the dog fight.

"I am sorry you bothered about it for there is no need. He can take care of himself. He is eleven years old, has money in his purse, and is afraid of nothing, so what is the need of worrying? Yet it may be that he has not left Frankfort, and if it will be a comfort to you we will try to find the young rascal. There are two railways which he could take to go home, so you and the two boys can go to the Eastern station, and I will go to the other, which will leave us plenty of time to see both departures for the Odenwald and one of us will catch him if he is there to be caught. Have you a schedule?"

"No, I have no need of one from one year's end to another. But suppose he refuses to come back with us?"

"No danger of that when he hears that I am here. He will not think that he can get back quickly enough."

Mrs. Steiner locked the hall door and they hurried away, taking the shortest way to the two depots. It was not likely that one spy at the one and the three at the other would miss seeing the runaway, especially as he would be accompanied by his four-footed traveling companion, and would perhaps be the only boy in the crowd with a dog.

"Fritz will have to travel in a freight car," remarked Paul as the three neared the depot; "the guard will not allow Pixy in a pa.s.senger car, and Fritz will not let his dog go in there alone."

"Oh, Paul, you should have mentioned this before! Brother Fritz will never think of it, and the boy will be stowed in a freight car without his father finding him, and we here, not knowing whether or not he is in Frankfort."

"Mr. Heil will think of it, I am sure," said Franz, "for Fritz wrote a letter home on Thursday, and in it he told them about Pixy and the chickens."

"We can only hope so," sighed Mrs. Steiner, "and when we reach the depot, you, Paul, can watch the freight cars, Franz can watch the pa.s.senger cars, and I will go first into the waiting-rooms to see if he is there. Then we can all watch the crowd upon the platform and see if Fritz is among them."

This program was followed, but Fritz and his dog were not to be seen, and they could only hope that Mr. Heil would be more successful.

"But I will not see him until we get home," said Mrs. Steiner, "so will send a telegram to Fritz's mother, telling her that the boy set out for home about noon, and when he arrives there, she would please send me a telegram to that effect, as I am extremely anxious about him."

No sooner thought of than done. She hurried into the office, gave her message to the operator who made quite a reduction in the number of words, thus lessening the expense, and then the three would have set out for home had not Paul made a study of the schedule and found that the train which Mr. Heil had gone to watch would not leave for fifteen minutes.

"Oh, I am glad of that!" exclaimed Mrs. Steiner. "We can board an electric car and get there in time to tell Brother Fritz about the freight car, and you boys can help watch for the boy."

The car came, and they lost no time in boarding it, and Paul and Franz enjoyed the swift run through the streets.

But Mrs. Steiner was far from enjoying it. The car had to halt at so many corners that she dreaded that the train would leave for the Odenwald before they reached the depot, and she would have to return home without knowing the whereabouts of her nephew.

"Oh, there is Mr. Heil on that car that has whirled past us," exclaimed Franz. "He saw us and signaled us not to go to the depot, but to go home."

"Now isn't that too provoking! Let us get out," and she sprang up, and would have hurried to the platform had not the guard caught her arm.

"Do you wish to fall off and be killed, or have your limbs broken?" he asked. "Wait until we stop at the next corner--so; now you can step off, and in safety."

The three quickly took his advice, and waited on the curb until a car came that was going in an opposite direction, and hurried aboard.

"I wish to get home as quickly as possible," said Mrs. Steiner, "for Brother Fritz will have to stand outside until we come with the key. I am afraid this has hindered him from leaving for Ca.s.sel. And oh, boys, we are on the wrong car! See, it is turning in another direction. We will have to get off and wait for a car to take us back."

She gave the signal, they stepped off, and again waited on the curb, Mrs. Steiner feverish with impatience.

"I am completely bewildered or I should not have made that mistake," she explained. "That boy's rash act of running away has upset me so that I cannot think. There was not the least excuse for it. Surely he could have waited until Monday, when all three would go, your time of holiday being over. It is all the fault of that miserable Pixy."

After some delay they returned home and found Mr. Heil waiting for them.

"I am sorry you took the trouble to go to the other depot, sister," he said kindly. "You knew that I would wait there until the train left for the Odenwald."

"But did you see Fritz?" she asked anxiously.

"No, and no boy of about his age had bought a ticket for the Odenwald, so he is yet here in Frankfort."

"Oh, where is the poor boy?" exclaimed Mrs. Steiner, tearfully. "I cannot forgive myself for finding fault with his dog. You must not go to Ca.s.sel, Fritz, until we know where he is."

"No, there is nothing to prevent my waiting for the evening train. I have written to my wife's brother that I would pa.s.s Sunday with them, but there was no time set to reach there."

In the meantime where were Fritz and Pixy?

Fritz had set out for home in splendid spirits. It seemed to him that he had been away for months, and wondered if there had been many changes during his absence. He hurried along, for he wished to stop on his way to the depot and get a present for his little sister.

He knew that she wished a canary-bird, and went into a store to see how much one would cost. To his surprise and delight, he found that he could buy a singer and a cage for two marks, and he purchased both.

"Is there no one else that you would take a present to?" asked the shop-keeper.

"Yes, I would like to take a present to my baby brother, and something to my mother."

"What would you like?"

"A tin trumpet to my brother, but I don't know what my mother would like."

"There is a nice trumpet, and here is a tin grater. I think she would like it."

"Yes, and I will take it, if it and the trumpet do not cost too much. I must have enough money left for my journey home."

It was found by counting that he would have enough without disturbing his beloved gold-piece, and the shop-keeper strapped the three articles on his back, drawing the grater around to his side, and the happy Fritz set out for the depot, when a street urchin slipped up behind him and blew a shrill blast upon the trumpet. Fritz turned quickly and at that moment he heard a call, "Pixy! Pixy!" and the dog turned joyously and looked back at a tall policeman who laid his hand upon the shoulder of Fritz.

"How did you come by this dog?" he enquired, sternly.

"It belonged to my father and he gave it to me. He has no tag or muzzle because I am only visiting in Frankfort."

"I am not asking about muzzle or tag, but wish to know if the dog's name is Pixy."

"Yes, his name is Pixy."

"Now listen. A black dog of that name was stolen yesterday; and the lady from whom it was stolen not only put the case in the hands of the police, but put an advertis.e.m.e.nt in the paper, giving an exact description of the dog."

"Yes, this is the dog," a.s.sured Fritz. "He first ran away, then was stolen by a man."

"And the man gave him to you to take away. Is that it?"