The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg

Homer sleeps in a comfy bed and wakes to the smell of breakfast cooking. Mr. Brewster tells Homer he’s too young to chase after an army and should live here instead. This tempts Homer, but he admits he’d run away to find Harold, who is all he has of family. Mr. Brewster relents and announces that he’s arranged passage for Homer by steamship and train to New York, where Harold is likely to be stationed. Homer will be accompanied by a Methodist clergyman as guardian. Mr. Brewster also found Bob in the forest and brought him to his stable, where he’s been brushed, watered, and fed. Homer is delighted, thinking that he will find Harold and bring him to the Brewster estate where they can both live. He has no idea how much trouble lies ahead. 

Into the drawing room shuffles a tall, skinny young man in ill-fitting clothes and a stove-pipe hat. His name is Webster B. Willow, and he’s all nervous apologies. He shakes Homer’s hand absently, then listens as Mr. Brewster explains his task, to speak to newspaper editors, church elders, and others who might know where Harold is.

The next day, Homer and Mr. Willow take a carriage to the Boston and Maine Railroad station, where they board a train for Portland, Maine.