s, and the first thing I knew, the sun was
gone. So was the puppy, which was even more serious, for I was
handicapped by not knowing his name, and no self-respecting canine thing
would respond to shouts of "dog," or "here, pup, pup, pup!"

However, I tried both, running about to look for him, here and there,
among the enchanted bracken that rustled with elf-life, while the
shadows came alive, and the rosy light died.

"Puppy, puppy!" I implored, helplessly drifting; and then, to my
surprise--can you "find" that you've lost a thing? Well, I don't know
how else to express it. I found that I'd lost the path. If I'd only been
able to remember whether the hotel were north or south, or east or west
of Rufus's Stone, maybe it would have been all right; but does any
normal girl ever give thought to points of the compass? I yelled a
little more, hoping the puppy would be gentleman enough to come back to
a lady in distress, and luckily Sir Lionel heard my howls. He'd come out
to look for me, on learning from the landlord that I'd gone to Rufus's
Stone, with the puppy, and he had met it--not the stone, but the
puppy--looking sneaky and ashamed. Just then, my voice gave him an idea
of my whereabouts, otherwise we should probably have missed; and if we
had, I don't know what I _should_ have done, so you mustn't scold at
what happened next. Remember the New Forest is not a French pension full
of old maids, but fairyland--fairyland.

He was in evening dress, without a hat, and I _was_ pleased to see him,
because I was beginning to be the tiniest bit afraid; and he did look so
nice; and I was _so_ glad he wasn't Dick Burden. But don't worry! I
didn't tell him that.

It seems he came downstairs rather early for dinner, and the landlord
mentioned that I'd gone out, so he strolled along, thinking to meet me
after walking a few yards. When he didn't, he thought he'd better keep
on, because it was too late for me to be out of doors alone.

I was apologetic, and afraid it must be long past dinner-time; but he
said I needn't mind that, as he had left word for the others not to wait
after eight-fifteen.

Then in a few minutes I began to realize that we might have an
adventure, because when I called, and Sir Lionel hurried on in quest of
me, he'd forgotten to notice the landmarks. It did seem ridiculous to
have trouble in finding the way, so short a distance from the hotel; but
you can't conceive how misleading it is in the New Forest. It