They saw some little yellow heads peeping out from under her wings.

"Quack, quack!" she said. "See my ducks. They are the prettiest ducks you ever saw.

"And they have the brightest eyes in the world."

One little duck wriggled out from under her mother's wing and tried to stand on her little yellow feet.

But they were not strong yet.

"Come back, come back!" said Mrs. Duck. "You must stay in the nest until you are strong."

And the little duck wriggled back again under her mother's wing.

"We will come again to see your ducks," said Bunny.

After two or three days the three rabbits went back to see the little ducks.

There was nothing in the nest under the bushes but a few broken sh.e.l.ls.

"Where can the ducks be?" said Bunny.

"Tweet, tweet!" sang the sparrow. "I saw Mrs. Duck and all the little ducks going to the barn."

"There they are now," sang another sparrow.

Bunny and Bobtail and Billy looked across the field.

They saw Mrs. Duck leading her family to the barnyard.

Mr. Rooster saw them coming.

He flapped his big wings and flew up on the fence.

"c.o.c.k-a-doodle-doo!" he said. "See Mrs. Duck and all the little ducks."

The three rabbits watched the ducks until they were in the barnyard.

Then they hopped off to the woods to tell Mrs. Duck's secret to all their friends.

THE SWIMMING LESSON

I

"Quack, quack, quack!" said Mrs. Duck, as she walked along the little path through the meadow.

"Quack, quack, quack! Follow me, little ducks."

One, two, three, four, five, six little yellow ducks waddled after their mother along the little path through the meadow.

Bunny Rabbit was sitting under a tree, fast asleep, and he did not hear them coming.

He was dreaming of flying away with the little birds.

He could fly high up over the trees and over the houses.

Oh, it was great fun! All the other rabbits were sitting on the ground watching him.

"Good-by," he called to Billy.

Then he waked up, and he was not under the oak tree.

"Quack, quack, quack!" said Mrs. Duck. "What are you talking about, Bunny? I cannot see Billy anywhere."

"I was dreaming of flying," said Bunny. "I said good-by to Billy because I was going far away."

"Quack, quack!" said Mrs. Duck. "I should like to see you fly. You can't even swim."

"Perhaps I could," said Bunny, "if you would teach me."

"Come with me," said Mrs. Duck "I am going to teach my little ones to swim, and I will teach you, too."

"Quack, quack!" said all the little ducks, as they waddled after their mother.

"Come and see how soon we will learn to swim."

Bunny did not like to think that these little ducks could do something that he could not do.

"I have four feet," he said to himself, "and they have only two. I am sure I can do what they can do."

So Bunny jumped up and followed the ducks along the path through the meadow.

In a few minutes they came to the brook.

The water looked cool to the little ducks.

But the water looked very wet to Bunny.

Mrs. Duck stood on the bank for one minute to talk to her ducklings.

"Follow me," she said, "and do what I do. Swimming is the easiest thing in the world.

"When I count three we will all go into the water together."

"I think I will wait and see how you do it," said Bunny. "That will be the best way for me to learn."

So Bunny sat down on the bank, and the little ducks stood in a row behind their mother.