What fun it was to climb over the sweet hay, sliding down little hills of it and landing on the barn floor, where more hay made a place like a cushion! What fun it was to look in at the horses chewing their fodder! And when the children poked their heads in the horses stopped eating, to turn around and look to see who was watching them.
"Oh, I've found some eggs!" suddenly cried Flossie, as she spied some of the white objects in a nest in the hay.
"Pick them up carefully," advised Nan. "Eggs break very easily."
"I want to help pick up the eggs!" cried Freddie, hurrying over to his little sister's side.
"No, you go find a nest of your own!" exclaimed Flossie. "These are my eggs!"
"There are plenty of nests," said Nan. "You ought each to find two or three. Come on, Freddie, we'll look for a nest for you. Be careful of those eggs, Flossie! I guess I'd better help you pick them up and put them in a basket while Freddie looks for another nest."
So while Nan stayed with Flossie, Freddie started off by himself to look for another nest. And as Nan discovered a second nest not far from where Flossie had found the first one, it took the sisters some time to pick up all the eggs.
This gave Freddie more time to himself, and he saw a ladder leading into the upper part of the barn where most of the hay was stored.
"I guess maybe I'll find eggs up there," he said.
He climbed the ladder, going slowly and carefully, and soon found himself up in the haymow. It was rather dark there, but when he had been in the place a little while Freddie could see better.