"Please, I'm lost." These words, and a thump! thump! on the door were
what Mrs. Stone heard as she sat at supper in her tiny house in the
wood.
She went to open the door, and there she saw a dear little girl about
three years old.
"Please, I'm lost," again came the words, and two fat little fists
went up to a pair of big blue eyes.
"Come in, little girl, and tell me all about it," said the woman.
"Maybe I can help you to find your way."
The child let herself be led into the room; then all at once the two
tiny fists came down from the two blue eyes, and she gave a quick look
at the table.
"Are you having supper?" she said. "May I have supper too? I am ever
so hungry."
"Yes, dear; of course you shall have some," was the reply. "See, you
shall sit on this chair by my side. Now what will you have?"
"I think I would like some bread and butter with sugar on it--brown
sugar, you know;" and soon the little girl was as happy as could be.
"What is your name, dear?" asked Mrs. Stone, when supper was over and
the little girl had begun to think once more about how she was to find
her way home.
"Meg," was the reply.
"But your other name, for you must have two names."
"No, my name is just Meg, of course; I don't have any other name," she
said, a look of wonder in the big blue eyes.
"Do you know where you live?"
"Yes; I lives in the nursery. Didn't you know that?"
She was so sure that it did not seem any good to say any more about
it. So Mrs. Stone only asked, "Where were you going when you came to
my house?"
"To find a baby," was the reply. "Rob said that if I went to a house
in the wood they would give me one. Have you got a baby to give me?"
"No, dear; I am afraid I have not. But why do you want a baby? I am
sure you have lots of dolls."
"Yes, of course I have; but then you see dolls are not alive. I want a
real baby to play with.
"Enid won't play with me much now, for she says I am too small, and
Rob is at school all the time."
"Why, who is that?" said a voice, and a man came in with a bag of
tools.
Then the two little fists again went up to the blue eyes, for the
little maid was shy of this great big man.
"Well, wife, so you have a friend, I see," he said. "Who is the little
lass?"
"I don't know," said his wife. "It seems she was lost, and came here
to ask her way. She says she came to find a baby."
"Come here, little one, and don't be afraid," said the man. "There
never was a child yet who would not come to me," and as he spoke he
drew her on to his knee. "Now, then, tell me all about it."
After one glance at the man's kind face Meg nestled up to him and
began,--
"Nurse was so busy she could not be in the room with me.
"So I put on my hat and came to look for a baby; but I got lost on the
way. At last I came to the wood and saw this house. She could not give
me a baby as Rob said she would, but she gave me some tea, and bread
and butter with sugar on it. We only have that on Sunday at home. Is
this Sunday?"
"No, little miss," said the man. "But I expect you had it just for a
treat, as you had got lost."
But just then steps were heard on the path, and there was a sharp
knock at the door.