nd
our little Archie that afternoon to guide him through the mazes of the
wood. Certain it is that, without knowing it, he turned, or something
turned him, in the direction of home. It was far for such small feet to
go, and he made the distance farther by straying, now to left and now to
right; but, after each of these strayings, the unseen hands brought him
back again to the right path and led him on. He did not stop to play
now, for the hungry voices grew louder each minute, and he was in a
hurry to get home. Speculations as to whether dinner would be all eaten
up crossed his mind. "But I dess not," he said confidently, "'cause it
isn't very long since morning." It was really four in the afternoon, but
Archie's long nap had cheated the time, and he had no idea that it was
so late.

The path grew wider, and was hedged with barberries and wild roses. The
lovely pink of the roses pleased Archie's eye. He stopped and tugged at
a great branch till it broke, then he laid it across his shoulder to
carry to Mamma. Suddenly, as he tramped along, a gasp and exclamation
was heard, and a tall figure rose up from under a tree and caught him in
its arms. It was Louisa, who had fallen half asleep at her post, and had
been roused by the sound of the well-known little feet as they went by.

"Master Archie, dear," she cried, sobbing, "how could you run away and
scare us so?"

"Why, it's Loo--isa," said Archie wonderingly. "Did you come out here to
build a house too, Loo--isa?"

"Where _have_ you been?" clamored Louisa, holding him tight in her arms.

"Oh, out there," explained Archie, waving his hand toward the woods
generally.

"How could you slip away and frighten Nursey so, and poor Mamma and
Papa? Papa's been all the day hunting you. And where are you going now?"

"Home! Stop a squeezing of me, Loo--isa. I don't like to be squeezed.
Has the dinner-bell runged yet? I want my dinner."

"Dinner! Why it's most evening, Master Archie. And nobody could eat,
because we was so frightened at your being lost."

"I wasn't lost!" cried Archie indignantly. "I was building a house. Come
along, Loo--isa, I'll show you the way."

So Archie took Louisa's hand and led her along. Neither of them knew the
path, but they were in the right direction, and by and by the trees grew
thinner, and they could see where they were, on the edge of Mr.
Plimpton's garden, not far from home.

Mr. and Mrs. Gray were consulting together on the piazza, whe