THE HERMIT AGAIN
Bunny Brown was a wise little lad, considering that he was only about
seven years old. But many of those years had been spent with his father
going about in the woods, and while there Mr. Brown had told him much
about the birds, bugs and animals they saw under the trees. So that the
woods were not exactly strange to Bunny.
Above all, he was not afraid in them, except maybe when he was all alone
on a dark night. And one thing had Mr. Brown especially impressed on
Bunny. This was:
"Never get frightened when you think you are lost in the woods. If you
think you are lost, you may be sure you can either find your way out, or
some one will find you in a little while.
"So the best thing to do when you fear you are lost is to sit quietly
down on a log, think which way you believe your camp or home is, think
where the sun gets up in the morning and where it goes to bed in the
night. And, whatever you do, don't rush about, calling and yelling and
forgetting even which way you came. So, when you're lost keep cool."
Remembering what his father had told him, Bunny Brown, as soon as he
heard Sue say they were lost, looked for a log and, finding one not far
away, he went over and sat down on it.
"Why, Bunny Brown!" cried Sue, "what in the world are you doing? Don't
you know we're lost, and you've got to find the way back to our camp,
for I never can. Oh, dear! I think it's over this way. No, it must be
here. Oh, Bunny, which is the right way to go?"
"That's just what I'm trying to find out," he said.
"You are not!" cried Sue. "You're just sitting there like a bump on a
log, as Aunt Lu used to say."
"Well, I'm doing what father told us to do," said Bunny. "I'm keeping
cool and trying to think. If you run around that way you'll get all
hot, and you can't think. And it may take both of us to think of the way
home."
"Well, of course, I want to help," said Sue. "I don't want you to do it
all. But we're awful much lost, Bunny."
"Are you sure, Sue?" he asked.
"Of course I'm sure. I was never in this part of the woods before and I
can't tell where it is."
"Do you know where the sun rises?" asked Bunny, for it was, just then,
behind some clouds.
"It rises in the east, of course," said Sue. "I learned that in our
jogfry."
"Yes, but which way is east from here?" Bunny wanted to know. "If I
could tell that, I might find our camp, 'cause the sun comes up every
morning in front of our tent, and that faces the east."
"But you can't walk to the sun, Bunny Brown. It's millions and millions
of miles away! Our teacher said so."
"I'm not going to walk to the sun," said the little boy. "I just want to
walk toward it, but I've got to know which way it is first, so's to
know which way to walk."
Sue looked about her, as did Bunny. Neither of them knew in what part of
the big woods they were, for they had never been there before. They were
both looking for some path that would lead them home. But they saw none.
Suddenly Sue cried:
"Oh, there's the sun! It's right overhead."
She pointed upward, and Bunny saw a light spot in the clouds. The clouds
had not broken away, but they were thin enough for the sun to make a
bright place in them.
"That must be the east," said Sue. "But how are we ever going to walk
that way, Bunny, unless we climb trees? It's up in the air!"
"That isn't the east," said the little boy. "That's right overhead--I
forget the name of it."
But I will tell you, and Bunny Brown can look it up in his geography
when he gets home. The point in the sky when the sun seems to be
directly over your head is the zenith.
"And it's noon and dinner time, too," went on Bunny.
"Can you tell by your stomach?" asked Sue. "I can, for my stomach is
hungry. It is always hungry at noon."
"I can tell by my stomach, for it is hungry just like yours," said Sue's
brother. "But I can tell by the sun. Daddy told me that it was noon, and
time to eat, when the sun was straight over our heads. Now, we'll get
out of the woods, Sue."
"How? Will the sun help us and bring us something to eat?" asked Sue.
"Well, the sun will help us in a way, for when it begins to go down we
will know that is the west. And the east is just opposite from the west.
So if we walk with our backs toward the west we'll be facing the east,
and if we keep on that way we'll be at our camp some time. All we'll
have to do is to walk away from the sun."
"And will that give us something to eat?" Sue demanded.
"Maybe," said Bunny Brown. "We may come to a farmhouse, and they might
give us some cookies and milk."
"How good that would taste!" cried Sue. "I wish I had some now."
"We'll walk on a way," said Bunny. "Maybe we'll come to a place where
they'll feed us. But be careful to keep your back to the sun."
Sue said she would, and the two lost children were soon walking through
the woods together. They walked on the path when they saw one, and
crossed over open glades or through underbrush when they came to such
places where they saw no path.
For the time being they had given up all idea of finding their missing
toys. All they thought was of getting home. Every once in a while Sue
would ask:
"Are we most there, Bunny?"
And he would answer:
"Not quite, but almost. Just a little farther, Sue."
Suddenly there was a noise in the bushes as if some one were coming
through in a hurry.
"Oh, maybe it's our dog Splash coming to find us!" cried Sue.
"I don't believe so," answered Bunny. "Besides, Splash would bark; and
whatever this dog's name is, he doesn't make a sound. Oh, look, Sue,
it's a man, not a dog!"
"A man?" cried Sue. "What kind?"
"Oh, I can't tell, except that he has a dog and he's very ragged." Bunny
peeped between some bushes and the next moment uttered a cry of
surprise:
"Why, it's the ragged hermit who gave us the milk and who was so good to
us!" cried Bunny. "He's the man who lives in the log cabin with the cow!
Now we're all right. He'll take us home. Now we're all right!" and Bunny
danced about.
"Oh, I'm so glad!" murmured Sue. "We're not lost any more!"