

Redruff 



And then came the drink, the purest of hV 

 ing water, though silly men had called it Mud 

 Creek. 



At first the little fellows didn't know how to 

 drink, but they copied their mother, and soon 

 learned to drink like her and give thanks after 

 every sip. There they stood in a row along the 

 edge, twelve little brown and golden balls on 

 twenty-four little pink-toed, in-turned feet, with 

 twelve sweet little golden heads gravely bowing, 

 drinking and giving thanks like their mother. 



Then she led them by short stages, keeping 

 the cover, to the far side of the beaver-meadow, 

 where was a great grassy dome. The mother had 

 made a note of this dome some time before. It 

 takes a number of such domes to raise a brood of 

 partridges. For this was an ant's nest. The 

 old one stepped on top, looked about a moment, 

 then gave half a dozen vigorous rakes with her 

 claws. The friable ant-hill was broken open, 

 and the earthen galleries scattered in ruins down 

 the slope. The ants swarmed out and quarrelled 

 with each other for lack of a better plan. Some 

 ran around the hill with vast energy and little 

 purpose, while a few of the more sensible begaj 



