ld be great fun. They had not
been in the woods yet, though Jud and Linda had promised to take them
some day and Aunt Polly said it was the nicest kind of a place for
picnics.

The children stood up, and shaded their eyes their hands. They could
just see the eaves of the barn and the chimneys of Aunt Polly's house
and the Apgar house. The brook twisted and turned so often, they had
really walked further than they guessed.

"I'll bet it's dark in the woods," said Twaddles, marching ahead.
"Maybe there's bears and things in there."

"Now don't begin and scare Dot," admonished Bobby. "Let's take hold of
hands. My, isn't it nice and cool!"

They stepped from the sunny glare of the brook pasture into the cool,
dark, rustly stillness of the beautiful woods. A chipmunk ran across
their path, and tall ferns grew higher than their heads on either side
of the brook.

Almost unconsciously the children left the brook and struck off into a
pretty path that was laid with stepping stones and led up a slight
hill. They saw two rabbits and heard gray squirrels chattering in the
trees overhead. One squirrel came down and stared gravely at them.

"Isn't he pretty?" said Meg. "I wish he'd let me pat him."

A shriek from Dot startled them all.

"I saw a snake!" she cried, running to Meg. "A horrid, nasty little
green one. And now I've lost my flowers!"

Sure enough, the bouquet she had been picking was scattered in all
directions.

"Don't you care," Meg comforted her. "It was only a baby water snake.
Aunt Polly told Mother that's the only kind that lives round here.
Honestly, snakes are all right, Dot. Lots of people don't mind 'em a
bit."

"Well, I do," said Dot decidedly. "They wiggle so. Let's go home
anyway."

"I think we'd better," announced Bobby. "I don't know what time it is,
but I guess there's no use looking for the raft any more."

"The raft?" echoed Meg. "Oh Bobby, where is the brook?"

Bobby grinned a little sheepishly.

"We forgot about the raft, didn't we?" he said. "Let's see--we came
down that path--the brook must be over there. Come on, Dot, we're
going home."

Dot sat down on the ground and began to cry.

"I don't want to be lost," she wailed. "I'm hungry, and my feet hurt!
And I'm so tired!"

Meg put her arms around her sister.

"Don't cry," she urged her bravely. "We're not lost, are we, Bobby?"

Bobby and Meg, as the two older, felt that they must keep the twins
from becoming discouraged.