dren.

"I can give you something to eat," he said, "for I have that, though I
do live in the woods. But I do not know whether I can take you to your
home. Where do you live?"

"We live in Bellemere, near the ocean," said Sue.

The hermit shook his gray head.

"That is very far from here," he said. "I do not believe I could find
the place. I have not been out of these woods for many years, except to
go to the village. But how did you get so far from home?"

"Oh, we came to see our grandpa," explained Bunny.

"And what is his name?"

"Grandpa Brown!" exclaimed Sue. "And he's awful nice. Grandma Brown is
nice, too, and she gives us cookies and milk. Can you give us cookies
and milk, Mr. Hermit?"

"Well, I can give you some milk," answered the old man of the woods.
"But I have no cookies. I have bread, though."

"Bread and milk is good," said Bunny with a sigh. He was hungry enough
to be glad of even some bread, without the milk. But he was glad the
hermit had milk.

"Where is your house?" asked Sue.

"It isn't what you would call a house," said the old man. "It is a sort
of log cabin. I built most of it myself. But it is over there through
the trees," and he pointed behind him.

"I can't see it," said Sue, standing up and looking through the trees.

"It's there just the same," and the hermit smiled again.

"Please take us there, give us some bread and milk, and then take us to
Grandpa Brown's house," said Sue. "We're staying there, and so is our
papa and mamma."

"And so is Bunker Blue," put in Bunny. "Do you know Bunker Blue, Mr.
Hermit?"

"No, I can't say that I do," and the old man shook his head. "But I know
your grandfather, Mr. Brown. I can take you to his farm, though it is
quite a way off. You must have wandered far."

"We were picking berries, and we got lost," Bunny explained. "But we
don't mind now, if you'll give us some bread and milk, and take us to
grandpa's."

"Well, I can do that for you," and the old man smiled again at the two
children. "Come," he said, and he held out a hand to each of them.

Bunny and Sue toddled along. They were quite happy now. They did not
stop to think that their parents and their grandparents might be
worried, for it was quite late. Bunny and Sue did not often worry. They
just let things happen the way they would.

"Here's my house," said the hermit, after he had gone along a winding
path. He pointed to a log cabin amid the trees.

"Oh, that's nice!" ex