“You shall do no such thing with my consent, Guy. Go with the rest, and I’ll put this cross urchin in charge of Mr. Bunker,” replied Mr. Sherwood. Then turning to the old sailor, he added:
“Look here, Mr. Bunker! We have a little bear in our wagon, that don’t seem to like nuts. Will you keep your eye on him while we go into the pastures?”
“Ay, ay, Sir,” said Old Joe, giving his waistband a hitch. “I’ll keep a bright lookout for him.”
Leaving Charlie under the old sailor’s care, the party now set out in search of nuts. Laughter and pleasant words beguiled both time and distance, and for the next two hours they wandered over the pastures, and picked up an abundance of butternuts, which several pretty hard frosts, followed by strong breezes, had scattered plentifully on the ground, or prepared to fall quite readily from the trees.
In the course of the afternoon, the party separated into little groups, and when it was nearly time to return to the wagon, it happened that Jessie and her cousin, lured by the sight of a large butternut-tree in the distance, found themselves apart from all the rest. Near the tree was an old stone-quarry, with numerous lakelets in the hollows from which the stone had been removed. Emily stepped into the quarry, and looked all around. The lakelets, swept by the light breeze, charmed her eye, and turning to her cousin, she cried:
“Jessie, come here! Here are some tiny ponds. Come look at them!”
Jessie joined Emily, and together the little girls stepped over the uneven rocks until they reached one of the lakelets. There they launched small pieces of wood, called them ships, and stood watching their mimic fleet in great glee.
After spending some time in this way, they heard the voice of Guy calling:
“Halloo! Halloo! Jessie! Emily! Halloo! Halloo!”
“We must go,” said Jessie, “I guess they are going back to the wagon.”