thought it must be a rude man, and I dropped all my primroses and ran
back to the gates.

"Then I thought, 'How foolish of me to be frightened; it is the 18th of
April, the right time for the cuckoo to come back to England from the
warm country where he has been all the winter,--of course it is a real
cuckoo.' So I went back and picked up my primroses, but I heard no more
of that cuckoo.

"I told my children when I came indoors about my adventure; and how they
did laugh at their mother for being frightened at a bird.

"I shall always think, though, that that particular cuckoo must have
caught a bad cold on his long journey to England, or soon after his
arrival, for his voice sounded as if he had a sore throat."

"Now children," said grandmamma, rising from her seat, "it is time we
walked homewards."

As they came near to the house they saw Smut sitting on the door-step,
waiting patiently to be let in at the front door.

Within a short distance of the house was a brook, almost hidden in
places by overhanging bushes and long reedy grass. Then it flowed into
more open ground; but it was very quiet in its flow, for the bed was
soft and not stony.

Of course the next day the children set off for this brook, to listen to
its "murmuring sound." Jack lay down upon the ground and leaned his
head over the brook, thinking he could hear better in that fashion. Mary