he ground.
That was exactly what Mr. Hook wanted. He went quickly up to it and
lifted the paper and the white cloth.

"Just what I thought!" he said to himself. "That would taste pretty good
for dinner. The dog won't know the difference."

He reached down to take the beefsteak out.

But Rover had finished chasing Ponto and was on the way back. When he
saw the man reaching into his basket, he ran back as fast as he could
go.

"Bow-wow! bow-wow!" he barked. He looked so big and savage, and he
barked and growled so loud, that Mr. Hook dropped the meat back into
the basket. But he did not wait to put the white cloth and the brown
paper over it.

Rover took the basket up and walked swiftly toward home. Mr. Hook stood
looking after him and thinking, "I wish that dog were not so big and
savage."

Bobby was waiting for Rover under the maple tree in the front yard, and
they walked to the house side by side.

As Rover set the basket on the floor, Mrs. Hill picked it up and said,
"I wonder why the meat is on top of the cloth and the paper."

But Rover did not tell.

[Illustration: THE DUCKS A-SWIMMING GO]

XI

"Quack, quack, quack!" said the Big White Duck, as he started down to
the Duck Pond below the orchard.

"Quack, quack, quack!" said the six other ducks, as they fell in line
behind the leader.

"Let's all a-swimming go," they said.

And away they all went, waddling along in a procession, one behind
another.

But when they got there, the Duck Pond was dry.

"It is very strange," thought the ducks. "What has happened to our
pond?"

But all they said was, "Quack, quack, quack!" as they walked on the dry
earth where the water had been.

Before long the leader started back toward the farmyard.

So all the ducks fell in line and waddled back, one behind another. They
drank from the tub of water at the pump, but they could not swim in it
because it was too small, and so they could not keep their feathers
clean and white.

Now this is why the Duck Pond was dry.

For weeks there had been no rain at Cloverfield Farm.

Every day the sun had shone brightly all day.

The ground was very dry. The grass was dead and brown. The cistern had
become empty. In the road the dust was several inches deep.

"The plums and peaches are falling from the trees," said Farmer Hill.
"If it doesn't rain soon, we won't have any fruit."

"My flowers are dying," said Mother.

They watched the sky every day, to see