of the pond, at the far edge, by a big willow tree.

And, honestly, though I don't like to mention it, for fear you'll think
Bully a greedy little boy, there wasn't a single bit of candied sweet-flag
root in the house. No, sir, not a tiny, weeny bit. So Mrs. Greenie gave
the Wibblewobble children some nice snails, which they liked very much,
and then they went on swimming around. Jimmie was looking for Bully, but
the little boy frog had hopped off to see his cousin. Now, in a few
minutes Jimmie is going to have an adventure, and, if you please, I want
you to listen very carefully, so as not to miss it.

Well, the three ducklings swam on, thinking how nice it was on the water,
with the warm sun on their backs, when they suddenly came to the end of
the pond. And who should be standing there but the man who owned the
little puddle. And, more than that, there was another man also standing
there in the road and beside him was a queer thing, with big fat wheels,
fatter than the fattest duck or goose you ever saw. It was puffing away,
and some smoke and a funny smell came from it. Of course, you've guessed
it! An automobile! Now, what do you think about that? The ducks listened
to what the men were saying, for, though the Wibblewobbles couldn't talk
as the men did, they could understand our language.

"It's too bad," said the man who owned the pond. "Can't you go any
farther?"

"No," said the man who had the automobile, "I can't. You see my horn, that
I blow to tell people to get out of the way, is broken. I can't sound any
warning, and if I ran my machine I might hurt some one; and I wouldn't do
that for the world; no, not for two worlds, if you were to offer them to
me."