She thought it must be the stork, and that she would keep out of his way; but, when he really came at last, she couldn't help feeling how nice it would be to sit high and dry on his back while he waded up and down the stream. So Minnie came out of her hiding-place, and asked stork if he remembered her.
"Don't I? It's all I have lingered here for--the hope of seeing my queer little woman again. My own home is far off, beside the blue ocean, where I can hear the pleasant music of the waves."
"How I should like to hear them!" Minnie exclaimed. "Do they make as loud a sound as the water of the brook?"
"Not much louder when the weather is fair; but, in a storm, they roar like thunder, and don't they throw dainty breakfasts upon the rocks for me, then!"
"What! honey, and rose leaves, and berries?"
"No; where should they come from? The waves bring good fat fish, and clams, and black lobster-claws, that get broken in the storm."
"O, dear, is that all?"
"If you like it better, they bring shells, and pebbles white as eggs, and beautiful seaweeds gay as any garden-flower, and little red crabs, and curious star-fish. Come home with me, and I'll show what the waves can do!"
Minnie's Ride.