e so good as that lunch.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

One day Speckle, the big hen, made a great fuss because her brood of
ducklings went into the water. She flew about here and there on the
bank of the stream, and called to them to come back, but the ducklings
were having great fun and paid no attention at all to her.

[Illustration]

Chanticleer seemed to think they were not very well behaved and needed
a good scolding; so he began to strut about and talk at the top of his
voice; but the ducklings had their swim and came out as happy as could
be.

Nelly thought the little chicks were prettier.

[Illustration]

Shep, the dog, could hunt eggs as well as they could, and he always
helped them. After he had found a nest, he took each egg carefully in
his mouth, and laid it in the basket which the children had brought;
and he never broke one.

"I believe he could count them if he tried," said Nelly.

"Of course he can count," said Fred. "When we send him after the cows,
he never leaves one behind, nor the sheep either. If one strays away,
he hunts for it until he finds it. But he wouldn't hurt one of them
for anything, no matter how hard he had to work to bring them in."

[Illustration]

They watched the milking, and drank all the warm milk they wanted; and
one day they helped churn.

"I believe I could make butter, too," said Nelly.

"Of course you could, dear," said her auntie; "it wouldn't take long
for you to learn, either."

Nelly was delighted with this, and wanted to begin right away.

FAIRY STORIES

Laura, Eva, and Susy are three sisters who are very fond of fairy
stories, as most little girls are. Laura is the oldest, and reads the
stories aloud to the others, while Humpty-Dumpty, the kitten, sits
near and listen--or, at least, he seems to be listening.

[Illustration]

But sometimes he gets tired of sitting still and jumps right up on
Laura's book, so she has to stop. Then they all have a great frolic,
and very often little brother Harry comes in to join in the fun, and
they play until they are tired out.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

One story which they like very much is about a little girl who was
lost in the woods and wandered about for a long, long time, until she
was so tired that she fell asleep on the ground, with the flowers all
around her and the birds singing.

[Illustration]

But the birds were really fairies and were watching over her to see
that she w