ember what
she taught him.

They lay there together till the sun began to fall low, and then they
rose and went down to the water to cross it. And there what should
they see but a large shoal of little Fish with bright red spots, and
bands, like the marks of a finger, striping their sides from gills to
tail; for the stream was so clear that they could distinguish every
mark upon them. The little Fish seemed to be very anxious about
something, for they kept darting about, now spreading out and now all
coming together again; and the Calf could hear them whispering, "Shall
we ask her? Shall we, shall we?" And at last one little Fish rose,
with a little splash, and said in a watery little voice:

"Oh! please can you tell us how far it is to the sea?"

"Why, my little fellow," said the Hind, "surely it isn't time for you
to go to sea yet?"

"Oh, no," said the little Salmon, "for we haven't got our silver
jackets yet. But we are so looking forward to it. Will our silver
jackets come soon, do you think?"

"Not just yet, I expect," said the Hind kindly; "you must have
patience, you know, for a little time, only for a little time."

"Oh," said the little Salmon, in a sadly disappointed tone; and the
whole shoal began to move away, but almost directly came back and
began popping up to the surface of the water by dozens, saying, "Thank
you," "thank you," "thank you." For little Salmon are not only very
well-bred but very well-mannered besides, which all well-bred
creatures ought to be, but unfortunately very often are not.

So they left the little Salmon, and went their way to the cliffs that
overhang the sea, where they made their home in a great plantation of
Scotch firs, so closely cropped by wind and salt that they cannot grow
up into trees but run along the ground almost like ivy. And let me
warn you, by the way, when you ride fast through these stunted
plantations, as I hope you may many times, to grip your saddle tight
with your legs and keep your toes turned in, or you may find yourself
on the ground on the broad of your back; which will not hurt you in
the least, but may lose you your start in a good run. Well, here they
lay, and very much the Calf liked his new home; but they had not been
there for three days when one morning they heard faint sounds of a
great trampling of hoofs. It lasted for a long time, but they lay
quite still, though the Hind was very uneasy. Then suddenly they heard
the voice of hounds ris