to eat
from what you get in England. One day Hazel and I went such a
long walk that we got lost, and we couldn't remember enough
French to ask our way home. A woman came along with a donkey
and two big baskets on it, and when she saw us crying she gave
us each an apple, and took us to the cure of the village, who
could speak English. He was very kind; he showed us round his
garden, and then he borrowed a cart from the farmer, and drove
us home to Aunt Cecily's. This is all I can tell you about my
visit to France.

"I know it's horrid!" said Brenda. "But I really can't write well, and
make up tales like Nina. I don't know how she does it!"

"It's jolly!" said Marian. "We've none of us been to France, so we
like to hear about it. I wish you had written more. The next one's
very short indeed.

THE LADY AND THE SNAKE

By JESSIE ELLIS

A lady who lived in Australia one day put a great log of wood on
to the fire. In a little while she was going to poke it, and she
stooped to pick up what she thought was the poker, but it was
really a horrible black snake, which coiled at once round her
arm. She had the presence of mind not to move, but remained very
still, and in a few moments it slid down on to the ground. A
gentleman who was in the room killed it, and taking the log from
the fire he carried it into the yard, where seven more snakes
dropped out of it. The wood was hollow, and they had made a nest
inside it, and gone to sleep, and the warmth of the fire had
wakened them up."

"It's quite true," said Jessie. "The lady was my aunt. She told us
about it in a letter."

"What a horrid thing to happen!" cried the girls.

"A nice tale, but too short," commented the President. "I'm afraid
Linda hasn't written a long one either.

THE STORY OF A DOG

By LINDA ACTON MARSHALL

I have a little dog called Scamp, that follows me wherever I go.
He can sit up and beg, and catch biscuits on his nose, and do
all kinds of tricks. One day I was in bed with a bad cold, and
Scamp came upstairs to my room. I told him I was ill, and he
gave a sharp bark, and ran out. I could hear him trot up to the
attic, and soon he returned with a biscuit in his mouth, and
laid it on my pillow, wagging his tail, and looking very sorry
for me, and very pleased at himself. He must have kept a store
of biscuits in the at