woods with me, oh!'
Daisy is murmuring at his feet,
'Princekin lovely, and Princekin sweet,
Come live with us, 'mid the corn and wheat,
Out in the field so free, oh!'

"Round they flutter, and round they dance,
Wheel and hover and creep and prance,
Bird, beast, blossom, all bent on the chance
Of winning the pearl of boys, oh!
Clinging and kissing o'er and o'er,
Singing, chattering, more and more,--
But _oh!_--who slammed the nursery door,
And made such a dreadful noise, oh!

* * * * *

"Princekin sits on his nursery throne,
Prettiest Princekin, all alone.
Sighing a sigh and moaning a moan,
'Oh--dear--_me_, oh!
Had such a bootiful, bootiful p'ay!
No! I _not_ been as'eep, I say!
And now dem's everyone gone away,
Nobody left but me, oh!'"

Then Nibble stopped reading, and closed the book softly, for Downy was
just as fast asleep as Princekin had been.

"That is always the way!" he said to himself. "I never saw a child sleep
so much in the daytime. In fact, there is no use in reading to him,
unless you want him to go to sleep. But perhaps," he added "that is just
what Mrs. Posset did want, and it is the best thing to do when one
cannot go out of doors. Heigh ho! how pleasant it is out there! I wonder
where Brighteyes is! She might come in and stay with me, I think, if she
knows I am in the house." And Nibble sat down by the window, and looked
mournfully out into the garden.

[Illustration]

I also had been wondering where Brighteyes was, for I had not seen her
since breakfast. I was just going to look in another part of the mirror,
(for I can see the whole of the garden in it, and more too,) when I
heard a deep sigh at my elbow. I turned, and saw my dog standing by,
gazing into the mirror with a very wistful look. I followed the
direction of his eyes, and saw that the cat was still up in the tree,
and the dogs still at the foot of it. Gruff was tired of jumping, which
indeed was not exactly in his line; and had gone quietly to sleep; but
Grim and Grab kept up the game, occasionally lying down to rest and take
breath, and then going at it again.

"What ails thee, Bmfkmgth?" I asked. "Doth the sight of the other dogs
grieve thee?"

"Nay, master!" he answ