rain, Floss," he said, "there are the little curly clouds
in the sky that Matthew says come when it rains."

Floss looked up at the sky and down at the sea.

"The sea looks cross to-day," she said.

There were no pretty ripples this morning; the water looked dull and
leaden.

"Floss," said Carrots, with a sigh, "I do get so tired when you are at
lessons all the morning and I have _nucken_ to do. Can't you think of a
plan for me to have something to do?" Carrots' head was running on
"plans."

Floss considered.

"Would you like to tidy my drawer for me?" she said. "This isn't the
regular day for tidying it, but it is in a mess, because I turned all
the things upside down when I was looking for our race horses' reins
yesterday. Will you put it _quite_ tidy, Carrots?"

"Oh, yes, _quite_, dear Floss," said Carrots, "I'll put all the dolls
neat, and all the pieces, and all the sewing things. Oh, dear Floss,
what nice plans you make."

So when Floss had gone to her lessons, and nurse was busy with her
morning duties, in and out of the room, so as not to lose sight of
Carrots, but still too busy to amuse him, he, with great delight, set to
work at the drawer. It certainly was much in need of "tidying," and
after trying several ways, Carrots found that the best plan was to take
everything out, and then put the different things back again in order.
It took him a good while, and his face got rather red with stooping down
to the floor to pick up all the things he had deposited there, for the
drawer itself was too heavy for him to lift out bodily, if, indeed, such
an idea had occurred to him. It was the middle drawer of the cupboard,
the top part of which was divided into shelves where the nursery cups
and saucers and those sort of things stood. The drawer above Floss's was
nurse's, where she kept her work, and a few books, and a little
note-paper and so on; and the drawer at the bottom, so that he could
easily reach it, was Carrots' own.

One end of Floss's drawer was given up to her dolls. She still had a
good many, for though she did not care for them now as much as she used,
she never could be persuaded to throw any of them away. But they were
not very pretty; even Carrots could see that, and Carrots, to tell the
truth, was very fond of dolls.

"If I had some money," he said to himself, "I would buy Floss such a
most beautiful doll. I wish I had some money."

For the moment he forgot about the hoops and the "plan"