"Bow-wow!" barked Splash.

"Oh, children! where have you been?" cried Mrs. Brown, coming out to
meet them. "I sent Uncle Tad off one way to look for you, and Splash in
the other. I was just thinking of starting off myself!"

"We were lost in the woods," said Bunny; "but the ragged man found us,
and then we met Splash. We didn't see Uncle Tad."

"Oh, maybe he's lost!" cried Sue.

"We can go to look for him," said Bunny.

"No you don't!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "Two of you getting lost is enough
in one day. Uncle Tad knows his way back to camp from any part of the
big woods. But who was the ragged man?"

"Oh, he's the man that gave us the milk the time the dog drank it up
when we chased the squirrel," explained Sue. "He's awful nice, and he
gave me a piggy-back ride, and took us to his cabin, and gave us cookies
without us really asking."

"What do you mean by not really asking?" inquired Mrs. Brown.

"Oh, Sue means she sort of _hinted_ or spoke of 'em easy like," Bunny
explained. "I pinched her leg without Mr. Bixby--he's the ragged
man--seeing me, and then Sue stopped asking him if he had anything to
eat at his house. He offered the cookies all by his own self."