itty Bell quite out of sight. In a short time
she came back with a mouse in her mouth, which she laid at Alice's feet.

Do you see what had been the trouble? The bell had frightened the mice
away, so that Kitty Bell could not get near enough to catch them.

W.

A CLEVER FOX.

ON a summer day, a gentleman was lying under the shelter of some shrubs
on the banks of the River Tweed, when he saw a large brood of ducks,
which had been made to rise on the wing by the drifting of a fir-branch
among them. After circling in the air for a little time, they again
settled down on their feeding-ground.

There was a pause for two or three minutes, and then the same thing took
place again. A branch drifted down with the stream into the midst of the
ducks, and made them take to flight once more. But when they found that
the bough had drifted by, and done no harm, they flew down to the water
as before.

After four or five boughs had drifted by in this way, the ducks gave no
heed to them, and hardly tried to fly out of their way on the stream,
even when they were near to being touched.

[Illustration]

The gentleman who had been observing all this now watched for the cause
of the drifting of the boughs. At length he saw, higher up the bank of
the stream, a fox, which, having set the boughs adrift, was watching for
the moment when the ducks should cease to be startled by them.

This wise and clever fox at last seemed satisfied that the moment had
come. So what did he do but take a larger branch of spruce-fir than any
he had yet used, and, spreading himself down on it so as to be almost
hidden from sight, set it adrift as he had done the others!

The ducks, now having ceased to fear the boughs, hardly moved till the
fox was in the midst of them, when, making rapid snaps right and left,
he seized two fine young ducks as his prey, and floated forward in
triumph on his raft. The ducks flew off in fright, and did not come
back.

That fox must have had a fine dinner that day, I think. The gentleman
who saw the trick pitied the poor ducks, but could not help laughing at
the fox's cunning.

UNCLE CHARLES.

HOW PONTO GOT HIS DINNER.

PONTO in his youth had been a very wise and active dog. Not only had he
been brave at watching, but he had been taught to carry packages and
notes for his master.

But, as he gr