“Let’s go on; Uncle Hambright wouldn’t take us where anything could hurt us, and, besides, he said he would be waiting at the end.” Thus re-assured, all of them plunged into the woods. Once in the woods the little foxes drawn on trees and stumps carried them right along by the side of a babbling brook for a long distance. Sometimes they would find one fox, and then they would find it very hard to locate the next one. It was great fun for them to scurry about in the woods, examining trees, stumps, rocks and everything, hunting for the foxes. Finally one of the little girls found a fox on a fence. The head of the fox pointed upwards. The little child said,---- “This little fox seems to be pointing to heaven; I’m sure we can’t go up there.” “Oh, no;” said the oldest girl, again coming to the rescue,--“I think that that little fox leads over the fence--that’s all.” So, over the fence they jumped and continued the chase. [Illustration: “WAIT HERE UNTIL I RETURN.”] The course proved to be zig-zag now for a few minutes, and the children found the foxes more and more difficult to locate. They felt safe again, when the foxes were found on stones or rocks leading up the side of a hill. The woods began to thin out, and the children were no longer timid. Up the hill they went with a merry laugh and a shout. Once on top of the hill, they lost their course again. After a time, they found a fox, though, and that fox pointed straight down the hill. The children bravely followed. At the foot of the hill, they came suddenly upon an open space, and close by there was a great big fox marked upon a piece of black paste-board and standing right over a bubbling spring of water. “Uncle Hambright must have meant for us to stop here,” said one. “Maybe, he meant for us to stop and get some water,” said another. One or two of the fox-hunters stopped and drank some water. Then the oldest one said,---- “Come on now, let’s look for another fox; I guess we are most through now.” About twenty yards away from the spring, the children came to another open space that was well shaded. What was their delight and surprise to find there stretched out before them on a large white table cloth, laid on the bare ground, a sumptuous picnic-dinner. And in the middle of the table there was a true-true stuffed fox with a large red apple in his mouth. For a few moments the children stood around the table in bewilderment. But they were not to be kept in suspense a great while. Pretty soon, Uncle Hambright and mama and papa came out of the woods near by, and such a laugh as went around that picnic-dinner was never heard before or since! At the close of the meal, the children all voted that that was the best game that Uncle Ham had played during the day. A BOLD VENTURE. “Mr. Slocum, good morning, sir; I came around to ask you to lend me five dollars.”