"Then we shall not see Mrs. Duck when she walks along the path."

So the three rabbits played tag.

They ran round and round the maple tree. They ran back and forth along the little path.

All at once Bunny heard Mrs. Duck coming across the field.

She was going to the barn.

"Good-morning, Mrs. Duck," said Bunny.

"Where are you going this fine morning?"

"Quack, quack!" said Mrs. Duck, "I am going to the barn."

"Where have you been?" asked Billy.

"Quack, quack!" said Mrs. Duck. "That is a secret. I can not tell you."

Then Mrs. Duck walked quickly along the little path and across the road.

She went into the barn-yard and hunted around for something to eat.

She talked to the other ducks and hens. But she did not tell them her secret.

When she had eaten all she wanted she went out of the yard and across the road.

Then she walked back again along the path across the field.

When she came to the maple tree she saw Bunny and Bobtail and Billy.

And Bunny and Bobtail and Billy saw Mrs. Duck.

"Where are you going, now?" asked Bunny.

"I am going down to the brook," she said. "That is where my secret is."

"May we go with you?" asked Billy.

"Yes," said Mrs. Duck. "I will show you my secret if you will all promise not to tell."

So the three little rabbits hopped along behind Mrs. Duck until they came to the brook.

The water in the brook was running over the stones and singing a sweet little song.

Mr. Green Frog was sitting on a stone taking a nap in the warm sun.

"Now, follow me," said Mrs. Duck. "I will show you my secret."

She led the three rabbits to some bushes that grew close beside the water.

"Quack, quack!" she said. "Look in here. What can you see?"

Bunny peeped in under the bushes.

"Oh, oh!" he said, "how pretty they are."

Billy peeped in under the bushes.

"Oh, oh!" he said, "how many there are."

Bobtail peeped in under the bushes.

"Oh, oh!" he said. "That is a very good secret."

Now what do you think the three rabbits saw hidden away under the bushes?

Perhaps you have guessed Mrs. Duck's secret by this time.

Yes! there was a nest full of eggs,--just the prettiest eggs you ever saw.

Mrs. Duck was very proud of them.

She let the rabbits look at the eggs for a few minutes.

"Now I must cover my eggs up," she said. "I must keep them warm."

So Mrs. Duck sat down on the nest and cuddled the eggs under her soft warm wings.

Not one egg could be seen. And Mrs. Duck sat so still that Bunny thought she had gone to sleep.

III

Every day after that the rabbits went to visit Mrs. Duck.

But they did not tell the secret to any of their friends.

Then, one day, when the rabbits went to visit Mrs. Duck, she would not get off the nest.

"Quack, quack!" she said. "I can not let you see the eggs to-day. I you will come to-morrow I will show you what I have in my nest."

So the rabbits hopped away, leaving Mrs. Duck alone on her nest under the bushes.

The next morning, bright and early, the rabbits hopped along the little path.

They found Mrs. Duck still sitting in the nest.