it rains you can come back to my nest and crawl beneath my wing and keep
warm and dry. For you are tiny and do not take up much room!"

Thumbkins thanked Mamma Meadow-Lark again, and told her of his nice
warm cozy little nest beneath the mushroom. "It is always nice and dry
there," he said, "for the rain runs right off the mushroom and does not
touch my little cobweb home!"

That night as he lay in his little thistle-down bed, Thumbkins heard it
thundering. "I'm very glad that I haven't a home built right out upon
the bare ground like the meadow-larks!" he said. And as the thunder grew
louder, Thumbkins turned over and tried to go to sleep.

Presently the raindrops began to patter on the round top of the mushroom
and "drip-dropped" to the ground without getting Thumbkins' little house
the least bit wet. Usually when it rained, the patter of the raindrops
upon his mushroom roof lulled Thumbkins right to sleep, but tonight
Thumbkins lay wide awake and thought and thought.

"I can't go to sleep!" Thumbkins said, so he hopped out of his warm
little bed and lit his tiny lantern. Then, though it was raining ever so
hard, he pulled his little hat well down on his head and ran out into
the storm.

Yes! There was Mamma Meadow-Lark sitting upon her nest with her head
tucked under her wing, sound asleep. But when he held his tiny lantern
close, Thumbkins could see that she shivered as the cold raindrops
splashed upon her back.

So Thumbkins ran to the woods where he knew the mushrooms grew, and