It took him more than a week, though, and he had to be careful not to be caught again, for many times he was chased by dogs and boys. But he was pretty safe as long as he kept in the water. And at last, one day, Toto found himself back again in the very woods where he knew he lived.
He swam as near to the pond as he could, and then he crawled out and waddled along through the woods, taking care not to get into any more danger.
Suddenly, as Toto traveled along, stopping now and then to nibble a bit of bark, he heard some voices talking――the voices of men. By this time Toto was quite well acquainted with men’s voices. The voices of Donald and his father were kind, but the voices the beaver boy now heard were harsh and angry.
“Well, you hid the jewelry away, and you ought to know where you put it!” said one voice.
“Yes, I put it in a hollow tree, but now I can’t find the tree,” growled another voice. “You all saw me hide it!”
“Yes, but maybe you came and took it away when we didn’t know it,” said another. “Where is that jewelry?”
“In the hollow tree, I tell you! But I don’t know which one. We hid it in such a hurry that I have forgotten!”
Then the voices grew more harsh and angry, and Toto, looking through a bush, saw the same ragged men, one of them red-haired, that he had seen before when they robbed the home of the little girl’s grandmother.
“I guess I’d better not let them see me,” thought Toto. “I don’t want to be caught again!” So he slipped around the tramps sitting in the woods, and a little later Toto came within sight of the beaver pond. He saw his brother Sniffy on top of the dam, mending a hole with some clay and grass roots.
“Sniffy! Sniffy! Here I am!” called Toto. “I’m home again!”
Sniffy, the other little beaver boy, who was plastering up a hole in the dam with some mud, was so surprised at hearing Toto call that for a moment he did not answer. Then, when he had looked up and had seen his brother walking toward him, Sniffy cried:
“Is it really you, Toto? Have you come back to us? Where have you been and what happened to you?”
“Well, I really have come back, as you can see,” answered Toto. “And as for where I have been and what happened to me, it will take a long time to tell. I have had many adventures, but perhaps the most strange of all was when Tum Tum broke open the cage where I was held on the houseboat and set me free.”