ack rose.

"You go straight down three blocks. Then ask a policeman. Oh, I guess
you'll get home safely."

Jack walked his three blocks. Then there was a low rumble of thunder.
Oh, dear! He began to cry. Was there never a policeman!

"What's the matter bub?" asked a kindly voice.

"I'm lost. I can't find my way home."

"Where is home?"

"Arch Street."

"Come on. We'll find it. It's bad to be lost. Where have you been?"

"Oh, I can't tell all the places," sobbingly.

They entered the park. Even that was large enough to get lost in. It
grew darker and darker and there was a sprinkle of rain. Jack held
tight to the man's hand, and it seemed as if the park was full of
bears. He was so frightened. They came to one of the entrances.

"Now you keep straight on and you will come to Arch Street. Good-bye
little lad. It's raining quite fast. Hook it along."

Jack _did_ run. Houses began to look familiar.

Yes, here was his own street. Oh, how glad he was. He almost flew. And
his father ran down the steps and caught his little wet boy in his
arms.

"Oh, Jack! Jack! Amy," he cried through the open hall door, "he's
here! he's here!"

There had been a great commotion, for Jack had been instructed to come
straight home from school even if he went out afterward. And when it
came dinnertime with no Jack, and the dreadful things that one could
conjure up--being run over, being kidnapped--for he was such a pretty
little fellow! Mr. Borden telephoned to the Police Precinct, to two
hospitals, went out to search, inquiring of the neighboring children.
No, he had not been playing with them. Mrs. Borden was wild with
terror. Aunt Florence said some boy had coaxed him off somewhere, but
she was desperately afraid that he laid crushed in some hospital. And
now they all hugged and kissed him; and what with the fatigue, the
fright and all, Jack really had an hysteric.

They rubbed him and put him in some dry clothes and gave him a dose of
aromatic ammonia to steady his nerves, and then some supper. And he
said he went to the park and came out somewhere, and a man took him
and two other boys for a ride. Dick was such a nice, big fellow. He
said nothing about hanging on behind, he had a feeling that wouldn't
redound to the story. And the man took them out to Roselands and
wasn't coming back----

"Roselands," cried his mother. "Oh, Jack you might have been
kidnapped. Never, never go riding with any strange man. And how did
you g