t of worms.

The first real surprise of the girl came when she reached the bridge.
This proved that she was more than four miles from home, a distance much
greater than she had suspected.

"Where can Nick be?" she asked herself, never once thinking that they
might have missed each other when she was swinging in the tree-top. It
struck her that the day was nearly gone, for she noticed the gathering
twilight diffusing itself through the forest.

"I don't think I will go any farther," she said; "Nick will be along
pretty soon, and I'll wait here for him."

Standing on the bridge and looking down the road and listening for the
sound of the carriage wheels were tiresome to one of Nellie's active
habits, and it was not long before she broke off some of the bread, set
down her lunch basket, and then dropped some crumbs into the water.

As they struck the surface, sending out little rings toward the shore,
several tiny fish came up after the food. Nellie laughed outright, and,
in her eagerness, was careless of how she threw the crumbs, most of
which fell upon the bank.

It occurred to her that she could do better by going down to the edge of
the stream, where she would not mistake her aim.

Childlike, she did not pause to think of the wrong of so doing, for she
ought to have known that her parents never would have consented to such
an act.

Just there, Nellie, like many another little girl, made a great mistake.

CHAPTER X.

IN GREAT DANGER.

A little child is like a butterfly, thinking only of the pleasures of
the moment. Nellie Ribsam came down close to the edge of the creek and
threw some crumbs out upon the surface. In the clear water she could see
the shadowy figures of the minnows, as they glided upward and snapped at
the morsels.

She became so interested in the sport that she kept walking down the
bank of the stream, flinging out the crumbs until there was none left in
her hand; then she debated whether she should go back after her lunch
basket or wait where she was until Nick appeared on the bridge.

"It's a bother to carry the basket with me," she said to herself; "I had
to leave it on the ground when I was after grapes, so I'll wait till
Nick comes, and then I'll call to him. Won't he be scared when he sees
me down here!"

From where she stood, she observed the bridge above her head, and
consequently Nick could look directly down upon her whenever he should
reach the structure.

Nellie fel