"Yes, my lady, and to fishes also, I make no doubt; for the good God has
cast it so abundantly abroad on the waters, that I dare say they also have
their share. When the rice is fully ripe, the sun shining on it gives it a
golden hue, just like a field of ripened grain. Surrounded by the deep
blue waters, it looks very pretty."

"I am very much obliged to you, nurse, for telling me so much about the
Indian rice, and I will ask mamma to let me have some one day for my
dinner, that I may know how it tastes."

Just then Lady Mary's governess came to bid her nurse dress her for a
sleigh-ride, and so for the present we shall leave her; but we will tell
our little readers something more in another chapter about Lady Mary and
her flying squirrel.




CHAPTER II.

SLEIGHING--SLEIGH ROBES--FUR CAPS--OTTER SKINS--OLD SNOW-STORM--OTTER
HUNTING--OTTER SLIDES--INDIAN NAMES--REMARKS ON WILD ANIMALS AND THEIR
HABITS.


"Nurse, we have had a very nice sleigh-drive. I like sleighing very much
over the white snow. The trees look so pretty, as if they were covered
with white flowers, and the ground sparkled just like mamma's diamonds."

"It is pleasant, Lady Mary, to ride through the woods on a bright