d. I don't know. We can ask when we get home if you
would like to know." She hurried Marian past the big factory
buildings from which issued the clattering noise of machinery, and
from whose chimneys black smoke was pouring. At the foot of the hill
there was a little bridge spanning a rapid stream. Further up, the
stream was bordered by willows, and a meadow beyond seemed an
inviting playground. "Let's go up there," said Marian; "it looks
so pleasant."

"We might fish if we had a hook and line," said Patty, bent on some
new diversion.

"Oh, do you suppose there are any fish so near the factory?"

"There might be," returned Patty, "but as we haven't anything to
catch them with they are perfectly safe."

Marian laughed, then added, "I think I am glad they are, for I
don't believe it would make me very happy to see the poor things
struggling and gasping."

"Then it is just as well we can't catch them, for I don't want to
make you unhappy," said Patty. "See that big tree over there with
that flat rock near it? I think it looks as if it would be a nice
place to play."

"So it does. I wonder if we can reach it easily."

"I'll go and see. If it is all right I will call you. Just wait here
for me."

Marian sat down on the stump of a tree near the bridge to wait. It
was pleasant to hear the murmur of the water, and to watch the
little eddies and ripples. It was a true Indian summer day, warm and
hazy. The squirrels were whisking their tails in the trees near by,
and the crows were cawing in a corn field not far off. Marian was
enjoying it all very much when Patty called, "Come, Marian, come.
I've found something. Come around by the fence and creep under."

Marian obeyed and was soon by Patty's side. "What have you found?"

"Just see here," said Patty excitedly. "Some one has been playing
here before us."

Marian stooped down to look where, in a little cave made by the
large stone, was a small doll, a table made of a block of wood, some
bits of blue china for dishes, a row of acorns for cups, and a bed
of green moss. Outside stood a small cart made of a box with spools
for wheels.

"Isn't it cunning?" said Patty, appealed to by the unusual. "Now we
can play nicely."

"Do you think we ought to touch them?"

"Why not? They are out here where anybody could get them. I
shouldn't wonder if some child had been playing here and forgot all
about it. There's no telling how long they have been here." This
quieted Maria