farm-house. The farmer's wife, Mrs. Hill, was very glad to have him
come, for she had no girls or boys of her own, to make the house
pleasant. She liked to see Willie running about, and hear his shrill
voice calling after the great house-dog Bruno.

One morning Willie had been as busy as ever at his play: he had been in
the orchard, hunting for ripe apples; he had been in the barn, looking
for hen's eggs in the sweet hay; he had been down to the brook, sailing
his boat; and he had played market-man, with Bruno harnessed for a
horse.

[Illustration]

After all this, the little boy was both tired and hungry: so he went
back to the house, and sat down on the broad stone steps outside the
kitchen-door to rest. Mrs. Hill was busy in the kitchen, frying
doughnuts, and, when Willie saw what she was doing, he was more hungry
than ever. The doughnuts looked very brown and nice; but Willie was too
bashful to ask for one.

At last Mrs. Hill looked up, and, seeing Willie's blue eyes fixed upon
her with such an eager gaze, she guessed at once what he wanted. She
gave him a doughnut and a kiss, and he sat down on the doorstep with
the doughnut in his hand. But he had hardly taken two bites of it, when
a strange thing happened.

Some hens were scratching around in the yard to find food for themselves
and their chickens. Now one old Biddy, who had a large family to provide
for, and who was almost tired out with hunting for worms, looked at
Willie's doughnut with a longing eye. She walked close up to the