n it till dirty water was squirted over her frock,
after which she climbed the fence and had a series of incredible
adventures, one of the least of which was that she kicked off both her
boots. At last she came to the gate that is now called after her, out
of which she ran into streets David and I have never been in though we
have heard them roaring, and still she ran on and would never again
have been heard of had not her mother jumped into a 'bus and thus
overtaken her. It all happened, I should say, long ago, and this is
not the Mabel Grey whom David knows.

[Illustration: There is almost nothing that has such a keen sense of
fun as a fallen leaf (missing from book)]

Returning up the Broad Walk we have on our right the Baby Walk, which
is so full of perambulators that you could cross from side to side
stepping on babies, but the nurses won't let you do it. From this walk
a passage called Bunting's Thumb, because it is that length, leads into
Picnic Street, where there are real kettles, and chestnut-blossom falls
into your mug as you are drinking. Quite common children picnic here
also, and the blossom falls into their mugs just the same.

Next comes St. Govor's Well, which was full of water when Malcolm the
Bold fell into it. He was his mother's favourite, and he let her put
her arm round his neck in public because she was a widow; but he was
also partial to adventures, and liked to play with a chimney-sweep who
had killed a good many bears. The sweep's name was Sooty, and one day,
when they were playing near the well, Malcolm fell in and would have
been drowned had not Sooty dived in and rescued him; and the water had
washed Sooty clean, and he now stood revealed as Malcolm's long-lost
father. So Malcolm would not let his mother put her arm round his neck
any more.

Between the well and the Round Pond are the cricket pitches, and
frequently the choosing of sides exhausts so much time that there is
scarcely any cricket. Everybody wants to bat first, and as soon as he
is out he bowls unless you are the better wrestler, and while you are
wrestling with him the fielders have scattered to play at something
else. The Gardens are noted for two kinds of cricket: boy cricket,
which is real cricket with a bat, and girl cricket, which is with a
racquet and the governess. Girls can't really play cricket, and when
you are watching their futile efforts you make funny sounds at them.
Nevertheless, there was a very d