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trees were larger but fewer, and half-way down was
one huge fallen pine, a monarch of the forest, pros-
trate long since in some thunder storm.

The light from the lantern went farther here than
in the woods, and showed the even, smooth slope
without place for a footho.d apparent, short of the
fallen pine.

It was Dick again who cried out “Papa, papa!
some one has slid down here lately; see, the moss is
scraped away a little, and there’s a sort of furrow in
the pine needles!”

Without another word Dick sat down on the edge
of the slope, stretched his feet out before him, and
began to slide down in the furrow.

He landed, as he expected, under the lee of the
fallen pine, and the next instant a cheery shout came
up to his father on the bank above.

“All right! She’s safe! Can you slide down,
papa? I don’t think I can lift her up the hill alone.”

Down in the same furrow came papa, the big
lantern in front like a locomotive with a headlight.
There under the shelter of the fallen pine, lay the
lost child sleeping as sweetly as if she were in her
downy crib at home. The pine needles had blown in
thick windrows against the tree trunk and made an
elastic bed that was not even damp. Blondette was
clasped lovingly in May’s arms. There were traces
of tears on the little one’s face as though she had
sobbed herself to sleep, but all consciousness of
trouble had vanished in happy dreamland. She did
not even stir for all the exclaiming and shouting and
the flashing of the the lantern, and only sleepily said
“Good night,” as papa took her in his arms and laid
the sleepy little head on his shoulder.

“We shall have to slide down the rest of the way,
papa. You know where it comes out this side of the
pond; there are some bars that open on to the road,
and you can wait there while I go back for Ellie and
the team. There’s a short cut up the glade from the
pond — it’s steep, but I know it like a book.”

There was no more dignified way of doing it, so
papa sat down on the smooth pine slope with May
and Blondette in his arms, Dick started first with
the lantern, shouting merrily, “Clear the track, engine’s
coming!” Dick was boy enough to enjoy it thor-
oughly when the tension of anxiety and apprehension
was removed.

A few minutes landed engine and tender at the
foot of the hill. Dick took down the bars and found
a soft stone for papa, then he took the lantern and

ELLIE’S HOLOCAUST.

scrambled up the steep pathway to the glade,

There .he found Ellie in a most miserable and
abject condition; her shawl was wrapped closely
round her folded arms, and she was rocking her-
self slowly back and forth, talking to herself as she
was very apt to do when excited by grief or joy:

““ May is dead, and I killed her! She is drowned,
and papa thinks I am too wicked to help him look
for her! I hope I shall be put in prison, and stay
there as long as I live!” She was so absorbed in
her remorse, that Dick came close to her and put
both arms round her before she knew he was there at
all.

“O Dick, is she dead?” sobbed Ellie, in a terrified
voice.

“No, indeed ; safe and sound in papa’s arms fast
asleep. Jump into the buggy, and I’ll tell you as we
drive along.”

“Did you find her, or papa?
Is she hurt ?”

“T guess I found her, but I couldn’t have got her
down without papa. Where do you suppose she was?”

“T can’t guess,”

“T suppose she followed the sunshine over the
wall; there was a low place where she could go
through very easily, and then following the sunset
she turned to the left of the quarry-pits to the edge of
the pine grove.”

“To the slippery place where the bank is?”

“Yes, Then she must have slid down as far as
the old pine, and there she was, cuddled up fast
asleep, as cosey as you please, with Blondette in her
arms. You ought to have seen papa go down that
slope with the lantern in his lap! I slid down first,
and when I told papa May was there, down he came
just as neat as if he’d been on a Canadian To-
boggan !” -

“ How did you get her up?”

“We didn’t get her up at all—we got her down.
You ought to have seen the express train, a special,
fastest time on record. Locomotive and headlight,
your humble servant with the lantern; one passenger
car only, papa with May and Blondette. We landed
close by the long bars, and there papa is sitting, this
blessed moment, with his child in his arms.”

It was a joyful hug that Ellie gave her dear little
sister; but May was too sleepy to respond; in fact,
she rather resented any change in her comfortable
position, and quite wrung Ellie’s repentant heart
with her sleepy talk:

Where was she?