[Illustration]
children opened the bundle, and showed Sarah the dresses. She was
greatly delighted, you may be sure. They then helped her to carry the
groceries into the kitchen and to select the best places in which to
keep them.
But Sarah said she would not put them away until she had washed off the
shelves, and swept out the closet again.
So the three children, went out in the yard, and sat on the fence to
wait until their mother should be ready to return. They were very much
interested in watching some boats which were blown about on the water,
and in talking about the fair.
While Susy and Alice were telling Sarah of their plans for her mother,
they suddenly saw in a field some distance from where they were sitting
a little girl playing with a lamb.
“Why, who is that child?” said Susy. “She cannot live near here, for
there is no house for a great distance.”
[Illustration]
“I am sure I do not know. I have never seen her before,” said Sarah.
“She has no hat on, and she looks dreadfully distressed about
something.”
“I think we had better go and see what she is doing,” said Sarah;
“perhaps she has lost her way.”
So the children jumped down from the fence, and, running for a little
distance, they came to the field where the child was standing.
As soon as she saw our little friends she began to run towards them as
fast as she could go, crying:
“Oh, please, please, show me the way home. I want my mamma.”
Alice went up to the child, and, putting her arms around her, she kissed
the child gently, saying:
“Do not cry, dear. We will take you home, only tell us where you live.
How did you get here? Have you lost your way?”
“Oh,” said the little girl, “I lost my lamb--he wandered away--so I
thought I would go and find him. I hunted and hunted for him, and at
last I found him in a big, big field. I was so glad to see him that I
sat down and played with him. See! I made this chain of daisies; isn’t
it pretty?
“Well, after we had played for a while we started to go home, but we
didn’t find the place. Somehow, we kept getting into more fields and
more fields, and then I got oh, so tired, and I called mamma but she
didn’t hear me.”
“Well, never mind now,” said Alice; “we will take you home in our
carriage, and you shall soon see your mamma. What is your name?”
“My name is Linda Forest,” said the little girl, “but I can’t tell you
where I live, for I don’t know the way. It is a big, big house with big,
big trees all around it. It isn’t our city house, but our new house in
the country.”
“Well,” said Alice, “we will find out where it is when mamma comes out.
There she is now,” she added. “Come take my hand and we will go and
tell mamma.”
“Snowball must go, too,” said Linda, holding back a little; “I mustn’t
leave him behind.”
Mrs. Grey came out of the door just then, so the children went to meet
her.
“Who is this little girl?”
Alice told her mother of Linda’s wanderings, and to her surprise her
mother exclaimed:
“Why, of course I know where the child lives; don’t you, Alice? Mr.
Forest has just bought the old Minor place; they only moved in last
week. Why, yes, you poor little thing, you shall be with your mamma in a
little while; but how in the world did those little bits of feet carry
you so far from home?”
Mrs. Grey then got into the carriage, and then the children climbed in.
They saw a great many interesting things on their way home, but I can
only tell you of one
[Illustration]
of them. They were driving along chatting merrily about all sorts of
things, when suddenly, as they followed the turn in the road, what
should appear before them but an encampment.
“Why, mamma, there’s a man lying flat down on the grass,” said Alice;
“it looks like--why, mamma, mamma, it is Uncle Dick.”
Alice stood up on her seat and called “Uncle Dick.”
Uncle Dick, for it was really he, walked rapidly towards the carriage,
and in a few minutes they were all asking and answering questions.
Uncle Dick told them he was on a walking trip, and that they were
stopping here for a day or two to rest.
“I was going up to call on you this afternoon,” said he.
“You must come up to tea instead,” said Mrs. Grey.
They had to go a good deal out of their way to reach Linda’s house, but,
as Alice said, it was all the better, for they would have a pleasant
drive.
At length they reached the house. It was a delightful place surrounded
by tall trees. Alice thought the only fault she could find with it was
that it was too far from the ocean. A young girl, the gardener’s
daughter, was picking a basketful of flowers as she walked under the
trees.
When they drove in at the gate they saw that some great excitement had
taken possession of everybody. The maids were running back and forth,
and the house doors were all open.
As they drew nearer, Mrs. Grey began to guess what was the cause of all
this trouble.
“They are looking for Linda,” said Mrs. Grey. “Yes; I hear them calling
‘Linda Linda!’”
[Illustration]
So James hurried the horses on, and as soon as they came in sight of the
maids Mrs. Grey held Linda up so that she might be seen.
You may imagine how surprised they were to see the child seated in a
stranger’s carriage, and driving comfortably home.
But they were glad enough to see the little girl back again, you may be
sure, for they had been in a terrible fright about her. Mrs. Grey said
she was going to call upon Mrs. Forest very soon, but that she would not
stop now; so bidding Linda good-bye, and telling her she must come over
soon, and play with the children, she drove away.
Uncle Dick came that night to tea, and you may be sure Alice was
delighted to see him. She had enough to talk about, for it seemed to her
that a great deal had happened since she saw him last.
At eight o’clock Alice bade the family good night, and went up to bed.
It seemed to her that she had been in bed for not more than half an hour
when, upon opening her eyes, she saw that the sun was beginning to come
into her room. “Oh, dear; I suppose I ought to get up,” she said.
So Alice sat up in bed, and took her pillow in her hands. As she did so
she heard something rattle, and, upon looking closely to see what it
could be, she espied a letter directed to “Miss Alice Grey.”
“What in the world can that be,” said Alice, looking at it attentively.
“I will open it, and see what is inside.”
So she broke the seal and took out a letter which was folded carefully
within. This she opened and imagine her astonishment, when out rolled a
ten-dollar bill.
All sleepiness left her eyes as she began to read her letter.
* * * * *
“DEAR ALICE: I shall not see you again probably, for some time, as we
start off again to-morrow morning; but although neither Mr. Cushman nor
I can be at the fair on Saturday, we wish to make a contribution to this
good cause. Will you please accept ten dollars for us, and buy whatever
you think is best for your protégée? So good-bye, my dear little girl.
With our best wishes for your success, I remain your affectionate