ourselves.

Turning hastily to Charlotte, I exclaimed:

"Oh, Lotty, how dark it is growing, and we have walked such a distance! Oh, it was very foolish of us!"

Charlotte stopped suddenly and looking up and around her with a scared expression, said in an angry and alarmed voice: "Foolish indeed! why in the name of wonder, Mechie, were you so stupid as not to observe it before? and what did you run on for at such a rate, so fast and so far? It was as much as I could do to keep up with you! It is all your fault."

I knew well from past experience that to argue with Charlotte in her present mood would but increase her irritation and lose more of that time we had already spent too much of. When frightened or angry she seldom stopped to think of the justice or injustice her accusations, but unreflectingly cast anything at me which came into her head. Amidst my own distress, however, I could not withstand saying: "Well, it was very careless of me, I must confess, but indeed, Lotty, you cannot but fairly acknowledge that, having been the proposer and leader of this walk, it rested principally with you to be its regulator as to time and distance; and though I did not exactly act upon any defined impression of that kind, I am nevertheless conscious of having been in a manner influenced by it, and—"

"Proposer and leader!" interrupted Charlotte, angrily; "do you think I liked this stupid walk? I am not such a baby as you are, to find amusement wherever I go in picking up pebbles and flowers! It's just you all over, Mechie, to talk such nonsense!"

"Well, never mind, Lotty, who is in fault, but let us do our best to escape the consequence of our imprudence, and return at once," I answered, gently, seeing I was but wasting the precious minutes.

"Yes, that is if we can," said Lotty, gazing about her with a thoroughly perplexed look; "let me see—which way did we come? I declare it's more than I know; every side looks alike, and not a vestige of the hotel to be seen."

CHAPTER V.

Charlotte was evidently quite oblivious, in the heat of irritation and nervousness, of the previous scornful way in which she had repudiated the very idea of our losing ourselves in so flat a country. She now perceived that this unbroken level was the principal point to our disadvantage, no clearly-defined landmark anywhere presenting itself whereby we could guide our steps—none, at least, excepting the huge Table Mountain looming in the far distance, and which I remembered lay to our left in coming, and ought of course to be on our right in returning. This I suggested to Charlotte, without allusion to her past remarks on the subject, and at once commenced trying to trace our way, followed by my sister. Notwithstanding Lotty's frequently declared contempt for my tastes, pursuits and opinions, it a little amused me to observe that directly we were in any state of difficulty or danger she generally preferred trusting to my judgment and guidance to extricate us from our trouble; and so in the present instance I naturally took the lead, and to a certain extent was fortunately successful in finding the right path. This I knew by the fading blossoms Charlotte had scattered right and left on her course, and which I now looked out for. There must have been a slight inclination of the ground where the hotel stood, which, together with the thick growth of shrubs and bushes, quite concealed it from our view.

At last the deepening shades of evening deprived me of this only means of retracing our steps—Lotty's castaway flowers—and utterly perplexed I came to a standstill, trying to think what next to do. Charlotte, who was considerably more frightened than I was, added to my bewilderment by giving way to the most unreasonable temper, bewailing our dreadful situation, as she termed it, and railing at me for my stupidity in allowing my mind to be always so childishly absorbed by every folly which presented itself, instead of keeping my wits about me and acting as if I possessed one grain of common sense. Thus worried, I am sorry to say I lost my patience, and asked her pettishly in what manner she had been more wisely occupied, that she had not observed for herself in place of depending entirely on me to regulate the time and distance of our walk. Upon this she flew out, saying that of course, as I had objected so much in the first instance to our coming this way at all, she naturally concluded I should be sure to keep these objections in view and not go farther than was prudent; but it was just like me, and she had been a simpleton for trusting to me!

Repenting my hasty temper the next instant, I felt it was of no avail to dispute with one who, in her calmest mood, never to me admitted herself to be in fault, and was certainly not likely to do so now under the influence of her excited feelings. I took her hand soothingly in mine, and briefly pointed out how yet more injudiciously we were acting in thus losing the precious moments still left to us in profitless disputation, whereas our only sensible course was to make the best and speediest use of them to find our way back.

Appeased by this concession and admitting the truth of my words, Charlotte followed in quietness. We walked on over flowers and heaths, and through tangled underwood and between growths of bushes, many of them a mass of blossoms, trusting to chance to bring us right at last. But no, not chance: how could I say that, well aware as I am that there is no such thing as chance—that it is solely a word of man's own coining? Are we not expressly told that so loving an interest does God take in all the works of his hands that not a sparrow falls to the ground unnoticed by him? Silently I prayed for help out of this our trouble, for trouble it was, though not so great in itself as because of the anxiety and distress it would occasion our dear, kind uncle and aunt. I remembered in my anxiety that our heavenly Father has mercifully desired us to make known our requests unto him by prayer and supplication. This I said to Lotty, begging her to add her petitions to mine, which I believe that she did.

Well, on we went, and never before had Charlotte and I taken so wearisome a walk. The rapidly-gathering gloom rendering it more difficult every moment to direct our steps, we often became so entangled among the prickly shrubs with which these flats abound that our dresses were torn and our hands scratched painfully in our efforts to extricate ourselves, nor did there appear as yet any termination to these annoyances. Seemingly, we were far as ever from the hotel or any of its surroundings, and Charlotte became at last so tired and hopeless that she stopped, declaring she thought it worse than useless to go any farther, as we might, for aught we knew, be wandering in quite an opposite direction to that leading to the hotel, and thus go so far away from those who would be certain to look for us that they might not find us until morning, if even then. It was in vain I reasoned with her, pointing out that, though we might not be pursuing a straight path home, it was yet more certain we were not going directly wrong; the keeping the range of mountains on our right saved us from that, for if she remembered, they bounded the horizon facing the hotel. And as for danger, I urged, there could be none here; the Malays and negroes at the Cape were remarkable for their harmless, peaceful characters, and again I begged her to come on. But Charlotte was too nervous and altogether miserable even to wish to be pacified or persuaded, and would not