"Oh, dear!" cried the little girl. "I've just got to sit down, Bunny. My legs is so tired!"

"Mine is too," Bunny said, too weary to speak more properly. "We'll both rest, Sue, and then we'll holler some more."

"And what will we do if n.o.body comes to get us?"

"We'll go back and take the other path, Sue. Maybe we came on the wrong one."

"Maybe we did." Sue was glad to have the other path to think about.

Perhaps that might be the one that would lead them home. She and Bunny sat on a log to rest, and then, once more, Bunny gave a loud shout.

"h.e.l.lo! h.e.l.lo!" he cried. "We're lost! Somebody come and find us!"

Sue joined in, crying in her shrill little voice. But, for a while, no one answered.

"Well, we'll go back and take the other path," said Bunny. He was getting very hungry, and he wished he would come to another place where strawberries or raspberries grew.

Before starting back, however, Bunny gave one more shout.

"h.e.l.lo! h.e.l.lo!" he cried.

To the surprise of himself and Sue there was an answer.

"h.e.l.lo! h.e.l.lo!"

Bunny and Sue looked at one another.

"Did--did you hear that?" asked Bunny in a whisper.

"Yes," answered Sue. "It was the echo!"

But, as they waited the call came again.

"h.e.l.lo! h.e.l.lo! Who are you? Where are you? What do you want?"

"That wasn't any echo," said Bunny, "'cause we didn't speak. It's somebody after us, Sue."

"Oh, I'm so glad!"

"So'm I!"

There was a crackling of the bushes, and through the trees came walking an old man, with long, white hair and a beard. He had a kind face, and Bunny and Sue liked him at once.

"Oh, did you come for us?" asked Bunny.

"Well, no, not exactly," the man answered with a smile. "I heard you calling, though. What is the matter?"

"We're lost," replied Sue. "Will you please take us home?"

"I would if I knew where your home was, little girl."

"Do you live in the woods?" Bunny asked. The man looked as though his home might be in some hollow tree, or woodland cave.

"Yes, boy, I live here."

"All alone?" asked Sue, looking around.

"All alone, yes, little girl. I'm a sort of hermit, I suppose. At least folks call me that, and hermits always live alone, you know." The man smiled very kindly at the children.

"Well, Mr. Hermit," said Sue, "please take us home, and give me and Bunny something to eat. We're awful hungry."

CHAPTER XVI

LOOKING FOR THE HORSES

Once again the hermit smiled at the children.

"I can give you something to eat," he said, "for I have that, though I do live in the woods. But I do not know whether I can take you to your home. Where do you live?"

"We live in Bellemere, near the ocean," said Sue.

The hermit shook his gray head.

"That is very far from here," he said. "I do not believe I could find the place. I have not been out of these woods for many years, except to go to the village. But how did you get so far from home?"

"Oh, we came to see our grandpa," explained Bunny.

"And what is his name?"

"Grandpa Brown!" exclaimed Sue. "And he's awful nice. Grandma Brown is nice, too, and she gives us cookies and milk. Can you give us cookies and milk, Mr. Hermit?"

"Well, I can give you some milk," answered the old man of the woods.

"But I have no cookies. I have bread, though."

"Bread and milk is good," said Bunny with a sigh. He was hungry enough to be glad of even some bread, without the milk. But he was glad the hermit had milk.

"Where is your house?" asked Sue.

"It isn't what you would call a house," said the old man. "It is a sort of log cabin. I built most of it myself. But it is over there through the trees," and he pointed behind him.

"I can't see it," said Sue, standing up and looking through the trees.

"It's there just the same," and the hermit smiled again.

"Please take us there, give us some bread and milk, and then take us to Grandpa Brown's house," said Sue. "We're staying there, and so is our papa and mamma."