<h2 ><SPAN name="Missing" id="Missing">XII</SPAN></h2><h3>CUFFY IS MISSING</h3>
<p>Far up on the dark mountainside, in the
driving snow, Nimble waited in front of
the cave where Cuffy Bear had vanished.
And all the time Nimble was growing
more uneasy. He feared that Cuffy Bear
might be in some sort of trouble.</p>
<p>Nimble looked all about for help. But
there wasn't a sign of anybody stirring,
anywhere. All the mountain people
seemed to have sought shelter from the
storm.</p>
<p>At last, however, Peter Mink came
sneaking up from the spring. He had
set out to follow Broad Brook all the way<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</SPAN></span>
up to its beginning, on a hunt for meadow
mice. And when he set out to do a thing
he always finished it, no matter what the
weather might be.</p>
<p>"You're just the person I want to see!"
Nimble cried. "Will you do me a favor?"</p>
<p>Now, Peter Mink never did anybody a
favor if he could help it. So he promptly
said, "No!"</p>
<p>"Won't you go inside this cave for
me and see what's happened to Cuffy
Bear?" Nimble implored him. "He
went inside the cave. I promised to
wait for him here. And he has been gone
for hours."</p>
<p>"I won't go into that cave for anybody,"
Peter Mink declared. "How do I
know you're not trying to play a trick on
me? I don't see any Bear tracks in the
snow."</p>
<p>"Of course you don't!" Nimble agreed.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</SPAN></span>
"All this snow has fallen since Cuffy
crawled into the cave."</p>
<p>"Why don't you go inside yourself?"
Peter Mink inquired with something very
like a sneer.</p>
<p>"I'm too tall," said Nimble. "Besides,
I don't like caves. I keep out of them."</p>
<p>"So do I!" Peter Mink declared—though
everybody knew that he went
everywhere—even under the ice along
Broad Brook and Swift River.</p>
<p>Poor Nimble didn't know what to do.
He felt that he ought to go for help, somewhere.
But he had promised Cuffy Bear
to wait for him.</p>
<p>Then all at once an idea came to him.
Why not send Peter Mink for help?</p>
<p>"Won't you please go down to Cedar
Swamp and ask Fatty Coon to come up
here?" Nimble begged Peter.</p>
<p>"I can't," Peter answered. "I must go<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</SPAN></span>
home now." And everybody knew that
Peter Mink had no home at all! He was
the vagabond of the woods.</p>
<p>Nimble saw then that it was useless to
look for help from him. And after Peter
Mink had gone his surly way Nimble still
lingered there. He was hungry. So he
began to paw the snow away here and
there, to uncover the ground growths.
And just as he was nibbling beside a bush
somebody said, "Don't step on me!"</p>
<p>It was Mr. Grouse, half buried in the
snow.</p>
<p>"I wondered why you were waiting
here so long," Mr. Grouse told Nimble.
"When I heard you talking to that rascal,
Peter Mink, I knew the reason. But
I didn't dare speak while he was about."</p>
<p>"Are you going to spend the night
here?" Nimble asked him.</p>
<p>"Yes!" said Mr. Grouse. "I shall be<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</SPAN></span>
snug and warm after the snow covers me."</p>
<p>"Well, your head won't be covered for
some time," Nimble told him. "Are you
willing to keep an eye out for Cuffy Bear?
I'm going down to Cedar Swamp to get
help. And Cuffy Bear might come out of
the cave while I'm gone."</p>
<p>"I'd be glad to watch," Mr. Grouse replied,
"but it wouldn't be any use."</p>
<p>"Why not?" Nimble asked him. "Don't
you think we'll see Cuffy again?"</p>
<p>"Oh, we'll see him," Mr. Grouse answered.
"But it won't be till towards
spring. For there's no doubt that Cuffy
Bear has fallen into his winter's sleep."</p>
<p>And then Nimble exclaimed that Cuffy
Bear had yawned as he turned away to
enter the cave. He hadn't even begged
pardon, nor covered his mouth with a paw.</p>
<p>"No doubt he was very, very sleepy," said
Mr. Grouse.</p>
<span class="totoc"><SPAN href="#toc">Contents</SPAN></span>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</SPAN></span></p>
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