t be careful about:
they must never wet their feet, nor drink any water."

"Dear me, Doctor, I don't know what I _shall_ do, for they seem to have
a particular fancy for getting into water."

"Yes, a morbid tendency often found in these cases of bony tumification
of the vascular tissue of the mouth; but you must resist it, ma'am,
as their life depends upon it." And with that Doctor Peppercorn
glared gloomily on the young ducks, who were stealthily poking the
objectionable little spoon-bills out from under their mothers' feathers.

After this poor Mrs. Feathertop led a weary life of it; for the young
fry were as healthy and enterprising a brood of young ducks as ever
carried saucepans on the end of their noses, and they most utterly set
themselves against the doctor's prescriptions, murmured at the muriate
of fleas and the bicarbonate of frogs' toes and took every opportunity
to waddle their little ways down to the mud and water which was in their
near vicinity. So their bills grew larger and larger, as did the rest of
their bodies, and family government grew weaker and weaker.

"You'll wear me out children, you certainly will," said poor Mrs.
Feathertop.

"You'll go to destruction, do ye hear?" said Master Gray Cock.

"Did you ever see such frights as poor Mrs. Feathertop has got?" said
Dame Scratchard. "I knew what would come of _her_ family--all deformed,
and with a dreadful sort of madness, which makes them love to shovel mud
with those shocking spoon-bills of theirs."

[Illustration: "THEY MUST NEVER WET THEIR FEET, NOR DRINK ANY WATER,"
SAID THE DOCTOR]

"It's a kind of idiocy," said Goody Kertarkut. "Poor things! they
can't be kept from the water, nor made to take powders, and so they got
worse and worse."

"I understand it's affecting their feet so that they can't walk, and a
dreadful sort of net is growing between their toes; what a shocking
visitation!"

"She brought it on herself," said Dame Scratchard. "Why didn't she come
to me before she set? She was always an upstart, self-conceited thing,
but I'm sure I pity her."

Meanwhile the young ducks throve apace. Their necks grew glossy like
changeable green and gold satin, and though they would not take the
doctor's medicine, and would waddle in the mud and water--for which they
always felt themselves to be very naughty ducks--yet they grew quite
vigorous and hearty. At last one day the whole little tribe waddled off
down to the bank of the river.