arrow escape
from a terrible accident.

But gloom does not long remain with a party of jolly boys and girls, and
by the time they alighted at Pine Grove each one was in high spirits
again.

There were plenty of amusements at the picnic grounds. Little rustic
pavilions here and there formed places where one could sit in the shade
and eat lunch. There were swings for those who liked them, and boats for
the older ones.

A green meadow, not far away, made a fine baseball field, and Bert,
Charlie, and Dannie, with some of the older boys, at once made a rush
for the field to start a baseball game.

"You take care of the lunch, Nan," Bert begged his older sister. "I'll
come back when it's time to eat."

"Oh, I know that all right!" laughed Nan.

"Can't I play ball?" Freddie called, starting to follow Bert.

"You stay and sail your boat," Bert advised. "I made it for you to sail
on the lake."

"That means I'll have to stay and watch him so he doesn't fall in,"
sighed Nan. "Well, you can't sail it all day, Freddie. I want to have
some fun, too."

"You can sail it when I get tired," Freddie offered.

"I want to go in a big boat--a rowboat!" declared Flossie.

"I'll take you all for a row after the ball game," Bert promised, and
Nan held this pleasure out to them to get them to do what she wanted.

The fun was now in full sway at the picnic grounds. Over in the meadow
the boys were playing ball and shouting, and out on the little lake
were many rowboats containing jolly parties. Some of the picnic folks
had already started to eat their lunches.

"I'm hungry!" declared Freddie, seeing some children with sandwiches.

"So'm I!" added Flossie.

"Well, we can eat a little," decided Nan. She opened one of the smaller
boxes, and took out a few sandwiches. "Let's go over under that tree and
eat," she suggested, and soon they were sitting beneath a big pine tree,
where the ground was covered with the smooth, brown needles.

Flossie had taken only a few bites of her sandwich when she suddenly
jumped up and ran to Nan.

"Oh!" cried the little girl. "There's a snake! A snake!"

CHAPTER III

THE MERRY-GO-ROUND

Nan, though several years older than Flossie, was at first as much
frightened by the cry of "a snake!" as was her little sister. Though
Bert had often said only harmless snakes were in the woods around
Lakeport, Nan could not help jumping up with a scream and pulling
Flossie toward her.

"What's the