LOST IN THE WOODS
Holding the hands of Bunny and his sister Sue, one on either side, Mr.
Brown started on a little search around the tents. They were trying to
find the footprints of some one who did not belong to the camp. Some one
other than Mr. and Mrs. Brown, Uncle Tad and the children themselves. Of
course Bunker Blue came to the camp once in a while, and so did various
peddlers and some people from neighboring farms. But most of these
footprints were known to Mr. Brown, as he had seen them about the place
ever since he and his family had been living at Camp Rest-a-While.
"What I want to see is a strange footprint," said the children's father.
"An Indian's footprint is stranger than ours," said Sue.
"Of course, if they wear moccasins," agreed Bunny.
"No, if they wear shoes," said Sue. "Our teacher told us about it."
"What is different in an Indian's footprint and ours, Sue?" asked Mr.
Brown.
"Why, an Indian, even if he wears shoes like ours, turns his toes in,
instead of out, as we do," went on the little girl.
"Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho!" laughed Bunny. "Whoever heard of such a thing?"
"But it's true, isn't it, Daddy?" asked Sue.
"Yes, it is true," said Mr. Brown. "A real Indian has a sort of
pigeon-toe, as it is called. That is, instead of pointing his toes out
when he walks, he turns them in. At least most Indians do, though there
may be some who do not. So if you are looking for Indians' tracks,
Bunny, look for the kind that turns in."
"I will," the little boy agreed. "I didn't know you knew so much about
Indians, Sue."
"Our teacher used to live out West among the Indians, and she taught
them," explained Sue. "She tells us lots of Indian stories."
"Goodness! I wish I could be in your class!" cried Bunny. "Even though
I am a grade ahead of you," he added. "Does she tell about Indian fights
with bows and arrows, and taking prisoners, and all that?"
"No, she tells about tame Indians, not the wild kind," explained Sue.
"The tame ones are just like the ones that live on the preservation
here--the Onondagas. But I like tame Indians, though I hope none of them
has taken my Teddy bear."
"I hope not, either," said her father. "For Eagle Feather and his
Indians are good friends of ours, and I would not like to feel that they
would take anything from our camp. Still we must look everywhere."
"Sue, you said the Indians lived on a 'preservation.' You meant
'reservation,'" corrected Bunny.
"I don't care. They live there, whatever it is," declared the little
girl.
They circled about the tents, but the footprints, as far as they could
tell, were those of white men--none of them toed in.
"Are you going to the Indians' camp?" asked Bunny.
"Yes, I think we'll go there, and also to----"
But just then came the voice of Mrs. Brown calling:
"Breakfast is ready, and if you wait very long the pancakes will be
spoiled! Hurry!"
"Oh, hurray! Pancakes!" cried Sue. "Don't you like them, Bunny?"
"I should say I do! I hope I can have ten."
"Oh, Bunny Brown!" cried Sue, "you never could eat ten pancakes at one
meal!"
"Well, anyhow, I could try," he said. "And I can eat five, I know."
"That's better," said Mr. Brown with a smile. "I can eat a few myself."
They hurried back to breakfast, telling Mrs. Brown they had had no luck
in finding the person who had taken Sue's Teddy bear.
For that the toy with the electric eyes had been taken away and had not
walked off by herself was now believed, even by Bunny, who had at first
insisted that Sallie Malinda had been hungry and had gone off to find
honey.
"Though some mother bear might have come in and taken her to her den,
thinking she was her baby," said Sue. "My Sallie Malinda looked just
like a real bear when her eyes were lighted up."
"But there were no bear tracks around the tents," said Bunny; "and there
would have been if there had been any bears here to carry off your
Teddy. There are no other bears here."
"I'm glad of that," said Mrs. Brown. "Teddy bears are the only ones I
want to see."
"Well, maybe no real bears came for Sallie Malinda," said Sue, after a
while. "I guess it was an Indian or some man who wanted my toy for his
little girl. But I hope I get her back--Sallie Malinda, I mean."
Bunny managed to eat five of the cakes his mother baked, and he might
have eaten another only his father called to him to hurry if he wanted
to go to search for the missing toy bear.
Sue and Bunny went with Mr. Brown off into the big woods after
breakfast. As they walked along they looked on either side of the path
for a sight of the missing Teddy bear or Bunny's toy train. But they saw
neither one.
"Whoever took them is keeping them well hidden," said Mr. Brown. "Now,
we'll go to the Indian camp."
Though they called it a camp, it was more of an Indian village where the
Onondagas lived. There were many tents, log or slab cabins, and one or
two houses built as the white people built theirs. These were owned by
the richer Indians, who had large farms and many horses and cows. Some
of the Indians were very poor, and their cabins had only one room, where
they cooked, ate and slept.
Eagle Feather was the head, or chief, of this particular tribe. He was
not like the old-time or wild Indians. He owned a farm and he worked
hard to grow fruits and vegetables.
When Eagle Feather saw Mr. Brown, with the two children, coming to the
Indian village, the chief came out to meet them.
"How do!" he exclaimed in English that could be understood. "Eagle
Feather glad to see you. Come in an' sit down. Squaw make tea for you,
or maybe coffee. Coffee better; more has taste."
"No, thank you, we haven't time to eat now," said Mr. Brown. "We came
looking for bear."
"For bear?" cried Eagle Feather in surprise. "No bear here. Bear maybe
'way off in woods. Why you no go there and shoot 'um?"
"Oh, this isn't that kind of bear," said Mr. Brown.
"Funny bear, no live in woods," said the Indian.
"This bear have eyes go like so," and Mr. Brown took from his pocket a
small electric flash light. By pressing on a spring he made the light
flash up and go out, just as had the eyes of Sue's bear.
"Oh, now Eagle Feather know," said the Indian quickly. "Lil' gal's heab
big medicine doll gone. Where him go?"
"That's just what we don't know," said Mr. Brown. "In the night, when we
were all asleep, some one came and took the bear. Maybe he came to
Indian camp. Not sure, but maybe we can look." Mr. Brown tried to talk
as he thought Eagle Feather would understand. And the Indian seemed to.
"Your lil' gal's bear no here at Eagle Feather's camp," he said with a
shake of his head. "Much big medicine, like baby puff-puff train doll
is, but Indian no take lil' gal's play bear. See, I and you look in
every house."
"Oh, no, that isn't necessary," said Mr. Brown. "If you tell me the bear
isn't here I believe you."
"That right, for I speak truth. But wait--we ask other Indians. Maybe
they think no harm to take bear lil' while for big medicine, and bring
him back. I ask."
Eagle Feather stepped to the door of his house and gave a loud whistle.
In a few minutes there came to him many of the older Indian men. Eagle
Feather spoke to them in their own Indian language. He listened to the
answers.
Then, turning to Mr. Brown and the children, the chief said:
"No have got lil' gal's play bear. Nobody here have got. You look in
all Indian houses and see for yourself."
"No. I'll take your word for it," said Mr. Brown. "I believe the Teddy
bear is not here. It must have been taken by some one else. I will look
farther."
But Eagle Feather insisted on some of the head men's huts being
searched, and this was done. But no doll was found.
"Oh, dear! Where can Sallie Malinda be?" half sobbed Sue.
"Never mind," said her father. "If you can't find your bear, and Bunny's
cars are still gone, in two weeks I'll get you new ones. But I think
they will come back as mysteriously as they went away. Now, we must go
home."
"But I thought you were going to look in the cabin of the hermit," said
Bunny.
"We'll have to do that after dinner," answered Daddy Brown. But when
dinner was half over there came a telegram for Mr. Brown telling him he
was needed back at his business office at once, as something had gone
wrong about the fish catch.
"Well, I'll have to go now," said the children's father; "but I'll help
you look for the Teddy doll and the train of cars when I come back," he
said.
It was a little sad in Camp Rest-a-While when Mr. Brown had gone, but
Mother Brown let the children play store, with real things to eat and to
sell, and they were soon happy again. Finally Sue said:
"Bunny, do you know where that hermit's hut is--the one where you got
the milk the time the dog drank it?"
"Yes," slowly answered Bunny. "I do. But what about it?"
"Let's go there," answered Sue. "Maybe he has my Sallie Malinda. Daddy
was going to take us there, but he had to go away so quickly he didn't
have time. But you and I can go. I'm sure he'd give us my Teddy bear if
he had her."
"I guess he would," agreed Bunny. "But what would he want with it?
Anyhow, we'll go and see."
So he and Sue, saying nothing to their mother, except that they were
going off into the big woods back of the camp, left the tent and headed
for the hermit's cabin.
On and on they went, leaving Splash behind, for, of late, their dog had
not followed them as often as he had done before.
They had tramped through the woods for about an hour, looking in all
sorts of places for the missing Teddy bear and the toy train, when Sue
suddenly asked:
"Aren't we near his cabin now, Bunny? It seems as if we'd come an awful
long way."
"I was beginning to think so myself," said the little boy. "Yet I was
sure it was over this way."
The children walked on a little farther, but found themselves only
deeper in the big woods. Finally Sue stopped and said:
"Bunny, do you know where we are?"
"No, I don't," he answered.
"Then we're lost," said Sue, shaking her head. "We're lost in the woods,
Bunny Brown, and we'll never get home!"