few yards flapping her shawl, and then she jumped off into the air.

[Illustration]

She flew beautifully when she had got a good start.

She skimmed along over the tree-tops until she saw an open place in the
middle of the wood, where the trees and brushwood had been cleared.

[Illustration]

Jemima alighted rather heavily, and began to waddle about in search of a
convenient dry nesting-place. She rather fancied a tree-stump amongst some
tall fox-gloves.

But--seated upon the stump, she was startled to find an elegantly dressed
gentleman reading a newspaper.

He had black prick ears and sandy coloured whiskers.

"Quack?" said Jemima Puddle-duck, with her head and her bonnet on one
side--"Quack?"

[Illustration]

The gentleman raised his eyes above his newspaper and looked curiously at
Jemima--

"Madam, have you lost your way?" said he. He had a long bushy tail which
he was sitting upon, as the stump was somewhat damp.

Jemima thought him mighty civil and handsome. She explained that she had
not lost her way, but that she was trying to find a convenient dry
nesting-place.

[Illustration]

"Ah! is that so? indeed!" said the gentleman with sandy whiskers, looking
curiously at Jemima. He folded up the newspaper, and put it in his
coat-tail pocket.

Jemima complained of the superfluous hen.

"Indeed! how interesting! I wish I could meet with that fowl. I would
teach it to mind its own business!"

[Illustration]

"But as to a nest--there is no difficulty: I have a sackful of feathers in
my wood-shed. No, my dear madam, you will be in nobody's way. You may sit
there as long as you like," said the bushy long-tailed gentleman.

He led the way to a very retired, dismal-looking house amongst the
fox-gloves.

It was built of faggots and turf, and there were two broken pails, one on
top of another, by way of a chimney.

[Illustration]

"This is my summer residence; you would not find my earth--my winter
house--so convenient," said the hospitable gentleman.

There was a tumble-down shed at the back of the house, made of old
soap-boxes. The gentleman opened the door, and showed Jemima in.

[Illustration]

The shed was almost quite full of feathers--it was almost suffocating; but
it was comfortable and very soft.

Jemima Puddle-duck was rather surprised to find such a vast quantity of
feathers. But it was very comfortable; and she made a nest without any
trouble at all.

[Illustration]

When she