Once little Mary and her lamb really did get lost--and something
dreadful almost happened! They had been picking [berries] in the
[bushes] up Clover [hill], and couldn't find the way out. The [sun]
was setting, and [Mary] thought of [snakes] and [bears]! She was tired
and hungry, too. She was eating [blueberries] from her [pail], and
crying, and the [lamb], who would not eat [berries] and wanted his
milk in the old [coffeepot] was crying, too--"Ba-a-a!"--when a big,
tall [boy] with a [rifle] in his [hand] broke through the bushes
behind them. He sat down on a [stump] and stared at them, looking so
white and scared that [Mary] felt sorry for him. "Did a [bear] chase
you?" she asked. "Oh no," said he, "It's only I'm so glad you are
alive!" He didn't dare tell her he had mistaken her little brown
[head] bobbing among the [leaves], for a [bird], and raised his
[gun] to shoot it when he saw a little white [lamb] bobbing beside it
and stopped to look closer! So her little [lamb] had saved Mary's
life--but she never knew it. "Now how came you up here?" the boy
asked. "Are you lost?" "Oh no," said [Mary], winking away the [tears],
and smiling; "We aren't exactly lost--only we can't just find our
[home]. And we want our supper, too." "You shall have it!" said the
[boy]. "You are little Mary--I know your [house]--and I'm going to
carry you there, quicker than a [horse] can trot!" So he took [Mary]
in one [arm] and the [lamb] in the other, and the [gun] he left hidden
in the [forest] under a [tree]. Then he quickly found the [road] (it
was close by, after all,) and in ten minutes they were safe home
again; and Mary's [mother] thanked the big [boy] and gave them all
some supper.
[Illustration: HOW HE WON THE PRIZE.]
[Illustration: MARY'S LITTLE LAMB.]