He had black prick ears and sandy coloured whiskers.
"Quack?" said Jemima Puddle-duck, with her head and her bonnet on one
side--"Quack?"
[Illustration]
The gentleman raised his eyes above his newspaper and looked curiously at
Jemima--
"Madam, have you lost your way?" said he. He had a long bushy tail which
he was sitting upon, as the stump was somewhat damp.
Jemima thought him mighty civil and handsome. She explained that she had
not lost her way, but that she was trying to find a convenient dry
nesting-place.
[Illustration]
"Ah! is that so? indeed!" said the gentleman with sandy whiskers, looking
curiously at Jemima. He folded up the newspaper, and put it in his
coat-tail pocket.
Jemima complained of the superfluous hen.
"Indeed! how interesting! I wish I could meet with that fowl. I would
teach it to mind its own business!"
[Illustration]
"But as to a nest--there is no difficulty: I have a sackful of feathers in
my wood-shed. No, my dear madam, you will be in nobody's way. You may sit
there as long as you like," said the bushy long-tailed gentleman.
He led the way to a very retired, dismal-looking house amongst the
fox-gloves.
It was built of faggots and turf, and there were two broken pails, one on
top of another, by way of a chimney.
[Illustration]
"This is my summer residence; you would not find my earth--my winter
house--so convenient," said the hospitable gentleman.
There was a tumble-down shed at the back of the house, made of old
soap-boxes.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19