CHAPTER XVII.
CONCLUSION.
Bob and his companion were so utterly disheartened, and so nearly overcome with the cold, that they no longer looked upon exposure as the worst thing that could happen to them.

They had made up their minds that it could not be avoided, and told themselves that the sooner it was over and they were allowed to leave their airy perch the sooner they would breathe easily again.

They could not talk now.
They could only sit and gaze in the direction in which the hostler had disappeared, and wait for somebody to come and call off the dogs.
Bob hoped _that_ somebody would be Bert.

He was a simple-minded little fellow, and might be persuaded to believe the story that Bob had told the hostler.

But Bert did not come to their relief; it was his father.