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Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Big Woods, a novel by Laura Lee Hope |
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Chapter 11. The Hermit Again |
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_ CHAPTER XI. 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!" _ |
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