MISS HARE’S SCHOOL.
A number of animals sat on wooden benches facing Miss Hare. Reynard Redfox, who was the largest animal in school, sat in one corner by himself. His big, dark eyes were as mild as Tiny’s. His coarse, shaggy fur was neatly brushed.
The room was decorated with flowers and carpeted with moss. An old-fashioned fireplace with bellows and tongs stood at one end of the room. Tiny, who had never before seen a fireplace, wondered where the fire came from. He afterwards learned that Billy Beaver made the fire by rubbing two sticks together, and that it was never permitted to go out.
Toadstools, cat-tails, and elderberry bushes were arranged against the walls, looking quite as artistic as the bay-trees and other ornaments we see in fashionable hotels. Window curtains, woven of silk by spiders, and screens and cushions, woven of weeds, reeds, and grass by birds and mice, added to the comfort of the place. Snail shells and pretty stones, gathered by the pupils, also lent beauty to the room.
NOT WISHING TO BE OUTDONE BY HIS CLASSMATES, HE WENT FORWARD AND, WITH A LOW BOW, GAVE MISS HARE AN ACORN.
Tiny observed that each pupil presented the teacher with flowers and delicacies, which were laid on her desk. Not wishing to be outdone by his classmates, he went forward and, with a low bow, gave Miss Hare an acorn.
“Thank you,” said Miss Hare with a pleased smile, as she bent forward and gazed admiringly at him through her dark spectacles. “I see that you have already learned the lesson of generosity. You are the little animal that Mr. Owl brought here last night, I suppose. I hope you will be very studious and learn a great deal. I will introduce you to two pupils in the language class. Mr. Redsquirrel, this pupil is Winkie Weasel; that pupil just coming in is Sammy Rabbit. Those pupils, who are sitting in the back row of seats, are well advanced in their work; those pupils in the front seats are beginners. I will introduce them later on.”
Tiny bowed to each of the pupils in the room, which included Shifty Woodchuck, who was very fat and sleepy-looking; Mr. Rabbitt, who had pink eyes and rosy ears; Mew Mew, who wore a blue bow; Bow Wow, with curly locks hanging over his eyes; Little Winkie Weasel, who possessed a long body and very short legs; Miss Field Mouse, who sat upon a toadstool; and several other pupils.
“I usually teach in rhyme,” said Miss Hare, with an air of assurance that made Tiny think she was vastly learned. “I teach the multiplication table in rhyme, and in language I teach the use of verbs, nouns, and other parts of speech in the same way. There is no reason why one should not teach in rhyme, for it is natural and not easily forgotten.”