Tears of joy had poured down the checks of the parents when they discovered it was really their darling who had come to them in the storm, and they did not forget to kneel down and thank God for His marvellous preservation of their child.
'Mother,' said Jack, 'you were right: you told me to ask God to take care of us until we met again, and He has done it.'
'Yes, that He has,' returned his mother; 'and we have much to thank Him for.'
'You stick to Him right through your life, Jack, as you've begun,' said George Wilson solemnly, 'for He's the best guide and protector any man can have.'
'I will, Daddy,' answered the boy firmly.
Jack was soon able to give an account of his adventure in the blizzard, and expressed great anxiety about the fate of his friend, Champion Joe.
'It's madness to look for him to-night,' said George Wilson, 'but I'll be out first thing and seek him in the morning.'
It was a great relief to them all when about daybreak the next day they were roused by a knock at the door, which proved to be the hunter himself. He had come to ask for help in finding his missing companion, and you may imagine his joyful surprise to learn that Jack, in spite of the storm, had safely reached home and his journey was over! The mule had managed to struggle to the creek, where he and his master had sheltered among the quaking aspens until morning, the latter being in an agony of mind all night about Jack.
The buckboard was brought to the Wilsons' house with great difficulty during the day, and Buckskin and Rufus had to lend their services to drag it, light as it was, through the terrible snowdrifts. The road was so bad, Champion Joe had to stay two or three days with Jack's people; but he did not grudge the delay, as he had become very fond of his little travelling companion, and he was delighted to see the happiness of the three who had been parted so long.
Jack's mother had grown much stronger, and there was every hope of her perfect recovery after a longer residence in their new home.
The evening of the next day after his return home, Jack was sitting with the others round the stove, and, with his hand clasped tight in his mother's, gave them an outline of his adventures, through which we have followed him. They listened breathlessly, and the mother grew pale at the description of his desertion and subsequent illness. What risks her child had run!