from the rich moss in the roots of that old beech-tree! Pray, let
us gather some. Here are baskets.' So, quickly and carefully we
began gathering, leaves, blossoms, roots and all, for the plant is
so fragile that it will not brook separation;--quickly and carefully
we gathered, encountering divers petty misfortunes in spite of all
our care, now caught by the veil in a holly bush, now hitching our
shawls in a bramble, still gathering on, in spite of scratched
fingers, till we had nearly filled our baskets and began to talk of
our departure:--

'But where is May? May! May! No going home without her. May!
Here she comes galloping, the beauty!'--(Ellen is almost as fond of
May as I am.)--'What has she got in her mouth? that rough, round,
brown substance which she touches so tenderly? What can it be? A
bird's nest? Naughty May!'

'No! as I live, a hedgehog! Look, Ellen, how it has coiled itself
into a thorny ball! Off with it, May! Don't bring it to me!'--And
May, somewhat reluctant to part with her prickly prize, however
troublesome of carriage, whose change of shape seemed to me to have
puzzled her sagacity more than any event I ever witnessed, for in
general she has perfectly the air of understanding all that is going
forward--May at last dropt the hedgehog; continuing, however, to pat
it with her delicate cat-like paw, cautiously and daintily applied,
and caught back suddenly and rapidly after every touch, as if her
poor captive had been a red-hot coal. Finding that these pats
entirely failed in solving the riddle (for the hedgehog shammed
dead, like the lamb the other day, and appeared entirely
motionless), she gave him so spirited a nudge with her pretty black
nose, that she not only turned him over, but sent him rolling some