climbed up into the barn loft and looked in the hay. Here they found
Mrs. Nicker on her nest. When they came near she ruffled up her feathers
and gave an angry cluck. "Don't be afraid," laughed Betty; "we are
looking for something worth much more than one little hen's egg."

Then hidden down in the hay they came across a mouse's home with four
baby mice in it. They looked very small and young and funny. Their tiny
eyes were shut tight. "You are cunning little things but you won't buy
us a picnic," said Peggy.

In the eaves of the barn they found a swallow's nest, but the baby birds
had flown away. Only some pieces of eggshell were left.

All that day and part of the next and the next and the next the children
hunted and hunted but no Brown Betty and no turkey eggs could they find.

One bright June morning Mary said, "Let's go into the woods to play."

"Oh, may we?" Betty and Peggy asked their mothers. And little Dot said,
"Oh, please may I?" and looked from one mother to the other.

"Yes, let them go," said Mrs. White. "The woods are not far away and
there is nothing to harm them there."

So the four little girls started out.

They went down a shady lane and through a meadow. Then they came to the
woods and wandered about for a while. At last they stopped by the side
of a little brook that flowed merrily on its way.