ONCE upon a time there was a little girl named Mabel, who lived in a cottage with her Grandma, and her brother Walter, and Jane the cook. The cottage was not very near any other houses, but was away out beyond the village and near a large wood. The wood was very big, and the trees in it were great tall trees all covered with leaves, and having thick vines around them, so that even in the middle of the day it was shady and cool; and when the sun began to go down it was so dark that you could hardly see.
Mabel loved the big woods because when the sun was hot she could go under the trees and play on the moss in the shade of the branches; and there was a lovely little brook there with real fishes in it, and sometimes Mabel would go in wading, and the little fishes would swim around her feet and make believe bite them; but they didn’t really bite, because they were such little fishes and hadn’t any teeth. And ever so far down in the woods, where it was very shady, Mabel used to find strawberries growing, and blackberries, and little red checkerberries all under the green leaves.
One day, late in the afternoon, when the sun grew very hot, Mabel was tired of playing with her dolls, so she got a little basket and said to Grandma: —
“Grandma, may I go down in the woods and see if I can pick some strawberries for supper?”
“It’s pretty late,” said Grandma; “but you can go if you won’t wander too far away and be out after dark. You know, Mabel, there are animals in the woods that might hurt you; and they come out from their caves as soon as it begins to grow dark.”
“Oh, I’m not afraid of animals!” said Mabel; “and I won’t be late. I’ll pick you a basketful of strawberries and then I’ll come straight home.”
