Nellie displayed a natural, childish thoughtlessness by keeping up this
sport for a half hour longer, when she came down to the ground, simply
because she was tired of the amusement.
Although out of sight of the road she managed to find her way back to it
without trouble. With her lunch basket in hand, she continued in the
direction of Dunbarton, taking several mouthfuls of the bread which had
been left over at noon.
In this aimless manner she strolled forward, stopping now and then to
look at the squirrel or rabbit or the yellow-hued warbler, the noisy and
swift-flying finch, the russet-coated thrush, or dark brown and mottled
woodpecker, as his head rattled against the bark of the tree trunks,
into which he bored in quest 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.
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