Los Angeles herald., 1907-09-01

the fallen leaves lay toe thicklys over It.
Strange he should no. have noticed this
on comingl But Fre,l was brave-hearted
and did not feel afraid. He went along,
whistiing merrily trying to assure HUI
seif that he was on the right track. But
after while he felt that he had already
consumed more time In going than he had
consumed in coming. A little shiver OF
rear ran through him. but he quickly
threw 1t off. "Oh, I'm not lost, even
though the boys have gone on and ieft
me- he said aloud.
So on and on he walked, and pretty
soon, to his astonlshment, he came to a
stream of water, clear and ripping over
rocks and pebbles. Then Treds heart
qulckened, for he realized he had been
going farther and farther away from the
place where he had left his companions
He knew by description the geography OF
these woods, and knew that this creek
was much farther within the wood than
he and Ills four comrades had intended to
come. He paused and took council with
himself. What should he do to find his
bearings? Clearly, he was lost He DO
cided to call out as loudly as his lungs
would allow and then listen for an an
swering shout from his comrades Several
times he called Hello! Helol" but re-
ceived no response from his fellows. Then
Fred knew he must be a long, long way
from the place where he parted with the
company of the right" and the '1eft."
And with Fred, foot-sore and heart
heavy, the day waned. getting dark very
rapidly In the great woods. Fred was also
very much afraid to be obliged to spend
the night there alone. He began to think
of all the animals of prey that might even
now be scenting him and coming stealth
lily on his trail. He decided to keep on
walking following the creeks course, for
that he knew would lead him out of the
woods to a point some eight miles from
his own home. But he did not stop to
think Of the time required In reaching the
place where this small stream flowed
into larger one. for had he done 80 he
would have realized that he had more
than an all nights journey ahead Of him,
for the creek was a winding one indeed.
After long, long tramp Fred sat down
on fallen log to rest bit And then the
almost miraculous happened. Voices, dis
tinctly the voices Of men, sounded in his
ears. Freds heart leaped to his throat In
his ecstacy of Joy. He called out in a
voice which quavered: "Hello. Helloi I'm
lostt''
An answering shout came from a near
by spot. Then in an another minute two
men appeared in the growing darkness.
their forms just visible as they came for
ward. "Well," cried out one. lighting a
match. 'Where'd you come from, bubf''
And then Fred laughed some more, for
the questioner was his own uncle John
who, with a companion, was out hunting
squirrels. 1t did not take Fred long to
explain his dilemma, and as soon as he
was through his uncle, and his uncles
companion, told him they were on their
way back to town and that he might
join them. Although Fred tried to de-
scribe the place where he had intended to
join his comrades he could not do so, for,
as his jolly uncle declared, "an the woods
looked alike to him. and added that
the boys had no doubt tired of waiting
for their leader and had gone of home
ward without him. This information made
Fred vince, but he took 1t as phlosophi-
cally as he could and arose and proceeded