Edward listened, and heard something like the sound of a little hammer
against a tree. He ran into the wood, and there he saw a little bird
knocking with its bill against the trunk of a tree, just as if it wanted
some one to _open the door!_ Soon he saw it draw out of the bark of
the tree, a little worm, which hung upon the end of its tongue as if it
had been a hook! His mother told him this little bird, was called a
woodpecker, and this was the way it took its food.

Edward's father now put him in the carriage, and they proceeded on their
journey. For the first few miles Edward could think of nothing but the
squirrel, the bird, and the pleasant spot where he had been looking at
them. Then he began to think of the friends he was going to see, and
wondered what his cousins would say, and how they would look when they
saw him.

A short time before sunset, they stopped before a neat and pretty
cottage, with a large yard before it; in which two rosy boys and a sweet
little girl were playing together.

"There, Edward," said his mother, "are your cousins, William, George,
and Ann, all clapping their hands with joy at seeing us; and there is
aunt Harriet just coming to the door with her baby in her arms."

Oh, what a joyful time these little cousins had. Edward told all the
wonders he had seen, and William and George told of many more that they
would show him. George said he should ride on his little pony, and
William promised to show him all his pet rabbits, while Ann insisted
that he would be delighted to see her pretty chickens, and to go to her
play-room, and see her dolls.