“I’ll trade you a chicken sandwich for a piece of chocolate cake,” Margie offered. “That will make it just right!” laughed Lucy. She ran ahead of Margie but suddenly came to a stop. “What’s the matter?” asked Margie. “Isn’t this the place where we left our lunch?” asked Lucy. “Yes, right there by that big rock,” said Margie. “Well, it isn’t here now!” went on Lucy. “What! Has somebody taken our lunch?” cried Margie. “I don’t know whether or not anybody has taken it,” spoke Lucy as she looked around. “But our lunch is gone. There is nothing left of it but some crumbs and paper!” “Then somebody ate our lunch when we ran to see about Nellie falling in the brook!” cried Margie. “Somebody--or some animal,” spoke Lucy as she continued to look about. “And from the way the paper is torn and scattered and from the marks here, I would say it was an animal, Margie.” “What marks? What animal, Lucy?” “Hoof marks of a deer,” replied Teddy’s sister. “That deer must have jumped the brook, after it scared Nellie, and it came here and ate our food.” “Oh! Oh!” sighed Margie. “I didn’t know a deer would eat chicken sandwiches and lovely chocolate cake!” “I didn’t either,” spoke Lucy. “But I guess they do. It’s too bad!” Her eyes were wide with excitement. “I should say it is!” agreed Dick’s sister. “But what are we going to do?” For a time it seemed as if the two girls would have to go without their picnic lunch. But Mrs. Watson, making the rounds to see that all the children were safe, suddenly noticed how upset Margie and Lucy were. “What’s the matter?” Mrs. Watson asked. “Someone took our lunch,” explained Margie. “Oh, I hardly think anyone of our party would be so unkind as to do that,” said Mrs. Watson. “And there aren’t any boys along. Boys sometimes play those tricks, I know, but girls don’t.” “I think it was an animal,” explained Lucy. But she did not speak of the deer. Mrs. Watson heard the story of how Margie and Lucy had left their lunch on the ground, near the rock, while they ran to see what had happened to Nellie. “Very likely some animal, a fox, perhaps, or a raccoon, came along and thought your picnic lunch was for him,” said Mrs. Watson. “Never mind, my dears. Nearly every girl brings more lunch than she can eat to these little picnics of ours. I am sure some of them will be glad to share with you.” When the plight of Margie and Lucy became known, they had so many offers of sandwiches, cake and other things that they could not have eaten it all if they had tried. “My! We never had so many adventures before on any of our picnics,” said Mrs. Watson when lunch time was over. “What with Nellie falling in the brook and food mysteriously disappearing it was all quite exciting. What sort of an animal was it you think scared you, Nellie?” “Well, I can’t be sure of that, but I think it was an elephant,” Nellie answered. And while the others laughed she said: “Well, it COULD be an elephant, couldn’t it?”