new things to do! Of course Joyce had to write a long letter to Mother,
telling her about the sting of the bee, the new little calf, and many
other interesting things.

Late in the afternoon the children remembered about the cows, and they
thought they would pump the trough full of water ahead of time. It was
such fun that they kept on pumping until the trough overflowed, and the
ground around it was all muddy.

After supper, they let down the bars for the cows to come through. The
cows had just finished drinking, when Don slipped in the mud and fell
backward right into the trough. He kicked and splashed about, trying to
get out; and Joyce got a good drenching when she tried to help him.
Grandpa had to come to the rescue, and fish him out; and then they all
had a good laugh--even Don. The children could not watch the milking
that night, because they had to go to the house and put on dry clothes.

Later in the evening, they reminded Grandma that she had promised to
tell them a story. They drew their chairs close to hers, and she began:

"It was to be a story about a bee, wasn't it? Well, this bee has a sharp
sting, and it goes very deep."

"I hope it will never sting me, then," said Joyce.

"I hope not," said Grandma. "The boy and girl in my story were stung
severely; but it was all their own fault, as you shall see.

"Anna and her brother lived near a pond, and when the cold weather came
it was great fun to skate on the ice. Oftentimes they would slide across