put the garden straight again, after the dogs; but the crocuses, which
were just showing nicely for bloom, were quite spoiled. They sent the
fox's brush--that's his tail, you know--to the mistress. I've been
inside this very house, and seen where the fox went to hide himself.
It's not the way of the creatures that live in the woods to come into
houses, but the poor fox was hard drove; he was.

"But now, Master Jack, I've finished my job in this shed, and I must
go."




V.

_HIVING THE BEES._

"Busy bee, busy bee, where do you go?"--
"To meadows and gardens whose sweets I know;
Filling my baskets with spoils from the flowers,
Working hard for the hive in sunny hours."--C. H.


In a sunny corner of the kitchen garden stood a row of bee-hives. Many a
time did the children stand to watch the busy workers, flying out of the
hive to gather honey from the flowers, either to feed the bees or to
store it into cells for future use.

They would watch them returning laden, not only with honey, but with
pollen, the yellow dust found in the inside of flowers.