A DAY IN THE WOODS.
UTUMN days are going fast. Who wants to spend a day in the woods?" said uncle Tom to his nieces Jennie and Kate.
"I!" shouted Jennie; "and I!" shouted Kate; "and can aunt Jane and cousins Tom and Ann go too?" said both.
"Yes," said uncle Tom: "I will take the big wagon, and there will be room enough for all. Run and ask your mother to put up a lunch for us. We must start early in the morning."
Off they ran, and soon came back with Tom and Ann and their little brother Johnny, all eager for a frolic.
The next morning, as soon as the sun peeped out of the east, all the children were up and dressed. By the time breakfast was over, the wagon stood at the door. Into it they climbed one after another. The lunch-basket was packed in safely. Aunt Jane sat on the front seat; uncle Tom jumped up beside her with the reins in his hands; the children shouted "Hurrah!" and off they started.
What fun they had as they rode along! The pure air of the country, flavored with an odor of the sea (for the road lay along the side of the ocean), seemed to put new life into them all.
When they reached the woods, they jumped out of the wagon and rambled about at will. The girls filled their baskets with wild flowers; aunt Jane twined some of them in Kate's hair; and Jennie made a lovely wreath, which she placed on Tom's head.
By and by they all began to feel very hungry. So they opened the lunch-basket under a large tree, and found that mamma had put into it just what they wanted. They had a grand feast. They laughed and sang, and made the old woods ring with their merry voices. At last uncle Tom said, "Now, girls, give us one song more, and then we must be getting ready to go home."
While they were singing, uncle Tom went after the horse. Pretty soon he drove up with the wagon and said, "Now pack in, every one of you, and we will have a jolly ride home."
They were about to take their seats in the wagon, when aunt Jane said, "Where's Johnny? We can't go home without him."
Sure enough, Johnny was missing.
"He strolled off while we were singing," said cousin Tom: "I guess he went down to the beach; for I saw him go in that direction, and he had a box under his arm, probably to put shells in."
"I'll warrant that's where he's gone," said uncle Tom. "And he is there exploring now, I dare say. But he can't be far off. We'll call him."
Then uncle Tom shouted in his deep voice, "Johnny!" Then aunt Jane and all the girls joined in the chorus of "Johnny!"
"The boy must be deaf if he does not hear that," said uncle Tom. Then they all shouted together once more. In a moment they heard Johnny's voice in reply. "I'm coming in a minute," said he.
"Hurry up," cried uncle Tom. "We are waiting for you."
It was five minutes before Johnny appeared, and then he came holding something in his hand triumphantly.
"What in the world have you there?" said aunt Jane.
"Something better than wild flowers," said Johnny.
Now what do you suppose it was? It was a live crab, which the boy had found among the rocks on the shore.
"You are not going to take it home with you, are you?" said aunt Jane.
"Of course I am," said Johnny.
"Well, jump in," said uncle Tom, "crab and all. We can't stop any longer."
So Johnny scrambled into the wagon with the rest, and off they drove.
UNCLE SAM.
