There was once a poor farmer who had two children named Johnnie and Grizzle. Now things grew worse and worse for the farmer till he could scarcely earn enough to eat and drink. All his crops went to pay rent and taxes. So one night he said to his wife, “Betty, my dear, I really do not know what to do; there is scarcely anything in the house to eat, and in a few days we shall all be starving. What I think of doing is to take the poor lad and lassie into the forest and leave them there; if somebody finds them they will surely keep them alive, and if nobody finds them they might as well die there as here; I cannot see any other way; it is their lives or ours; and if we die what can become of them?” “No, no, father,” said the farmer’s wife; “wait but a few days and perhaps something will turn up. “We have waited and have waited and things are getting worse every day; if we wait much longer we shall all be dead. No, I am determined on it; tomorrow the children to the forest.” Now it happened that Johnnie was awake in the next room and heard his father and his mother talking. He said nothing but thought and thought and thought; and early next morning he went out and picked a large number of bright coloured pebbles and put them in his pocket. After breakfast, which consisted of bread and water, the farmer said to Johnnie and Grizzle, “Come, my dears, I am going to take you for a walk,” and with that he went with them into the forest nearby. Johnnie said nothing, but dropped one of his pebbles at every turning, which would show him the way back. When they got far into the forest the farmer said to the children, “My dears, I have to go and get something. Stay here and don’t go away, and I’ll soon come back. Give me a kiss, children, “ and with that he hurried away and went back home by another road. After a time Grizzle began to cry and said, “Where’s father? Where’s father? We can’t get home. We can’t get home.” But Johnnie said, “Never mind, Grizzle, I can take you home; you just follow me.”
