X. NEW TENANTS FOR THE BRIAR-PATCH
Who proves himself a neighbor kind
Will find content and peace of mind.
ONE, two, three, four—oh, dear, they run so fast I can't count them! Aren't they darlings? I'm so glad you brought them over for us to see, Mrs. Bob. How many are there?” cried little Mrs. Peter, as she and Peter watched the tiny little babies of Bob White scamper to the shelter of their mother's wings under the friendly brambles of the dear Old Briar-patch.
“There are fifteen,” replied Mrs. Bob White proudly.
“My gracious, what a family!” exclaimed Peter. “I don't see how you keep track of all of them. I should think you would be worried to death.”
“They are a great care,” confessed little Mrs. Bob White. “That is why I have brought them over to the Old Briar-patch. I hope you and Mrs. Peter will not mind if we live here for a while. Until they can fly it is the safest place I know of.”
“We'll be tickled to death to have you here,” declared Peter. “We don't own the dear Old Briar-patch, though we've lived here so long we almost feel as if it belongs to us. But of course any one who wants to is free to live here. I don't know of any one we would rather have here than you and your family. By the way, I don't see how you could travel far with such little babies. May I ask where you came from?”
Little Mrs. Bob's eyes twinkled.
“Certainly,” she replied. “We haven't traveled far. We came straight from our home here.”