er said a truer word in his
life. If my mirror were not so big, even I could not have seen them all.
Nibble was up in a tree, of course, picking apple-blossoms, for which he
ought to have been whipped. Indeed, the old tree did its best, for it
caught him by the leg, and tore a hole in his new trousers, which was
shocking to think of. Then he found an old bird's nest; and on the
whole, the tree seemed so very "jolly" that he decided to stay there; so
that was why Uncle Jack did not see _him_ when he looked round.
Brighteyes, after seeing her brother safely up in the tree, flew off
like a bird, here and there and everywhere. First she filled both hands
with dandelions. Then she saw a butterfly; down went the dandelions; off
went her best hat to serve as a butterfly-net; and away she went. A
pretty chase Master Butterfly led her, through last year's brambles and
this year's mud, until at last he left her high and dry on the top of a
fence, and flew off so fast that he was soon out of sight. There I left
her too, for I wanted to see what the twin mice were about.

[Illustration: NIBBLE IN THE APPLE TREE.]

I looked this way and that, but they were nowhere to be seen. At length
I caught a glimpse of something blue, among some very thick bushes. I
looked closer, and saw a sight that was truly melancholy. Among these
bushes stood a huge old wooden trough, which old Jonas had built to
receive the water that bubbled out of a spring close by. So the trough
was full of water, and this being the case, of course Fluff the unlucky
had fallen into it. How she had done it I do not know, but there she
was, splashing about in fine style.

"Give me your hand, Fluffy, and I'll pull you out!" said Puff.

"Oh! no, you can't!" cried poor little Fluff. "You're not any bigger as
I am, Puffy, and I'm so wet I feel very heavy."

And no wonder she did, for she had on a long thick coat which was
completely soaked. But Puffy was very sure about it. She gave a great
pull, and Fluff made a scramble, and out she came, knocking Puff down
and tumbling on top of her. Well, they were both wet enough when they
got up. Just then a very loud and strange noise was heard. At least, it
was strange to me, but the children cried "Oh! the rattle, the rattle!"
and away they scampered towards the house, as fast as they could go.

Poor Uncle Jack! he had been working hard all the afternoon, with John
and Thomas, (who had come in a cart with the other servants and