on gaily down the path toward the river, while the older fowls followed more slowly.

As soon as the little ones reached the river Squdge, who had taken a great fancy to a little chicken named Bright-Eyes, ran down to a shallow where the tadpoles lived, and caught a nice fat one, and brought it to her in his beak. Instead of taking it, however, Bright Eyes looked quite disgusted.

“Ugh!” she cried. “Take it way. The nasty thing!”

“Nasty!” cried Squdge with surprise. “Why it’s good. Haven’t you ever eaten a tadpole before?”

“No, and I don’t want to eat one now, either.”

All the other chickens said the same, so Squdge ate the tadpole himself, and very good it tasted to him, too.

“I’ll tell you what,” said Queek; “I don’t believe mother would mind if we went in here where the water is shallow, and had a swim. It’s deep enough if we hold up our legs.”

On and on they went, leaping and snatching

“But we don’t know how to swim,” cried the chickens.

Not know how to swim! The ducklings could hardly believe it. “Why, what do you do when you go in the water?” they asked.

“We don’t go in the water!”

The ducklings stared at them with pity and surprise. They had never heard of such a thing as not going in the water. Then Squdge had a bright idea. “I know!” he cried; “let’s give the chicks a ride on the river. We’ll get a big leaf and have it for a boat, and then the chicks can get on it, and we’ll pull it.”

The chicks did not like the idea very much. They were afraid. But the ducklings were so eager about it that they hardly knew how to say no.

Squdge found a big leaf and he and the others nipped it off with their sharp beaks, and pulled it down into the river. “Now get on it,” they shouted joyously.

“But we’re afraid,” whimpered the chicks.

“Oh, come on! it won’t hurt you. You’ll just love it, it’s such fun.”

Timidly the chicks stepped onto the leaf, and huddled together in the middle of it while the ducklings pulled it out into the stream.

“Faster, faster,” cried Squdge, holding the stem with his beak, and swimming as hard as he could. “Here! Take it around this rock.”

The water washed over the leaf, and the chickens shrieked with fear. A moment later the boat caught on a ledge and at once tilted over so that the chickens were upset into the water.

“Oh! oh!” cried Buff. “Look what we’ve done.”

The ducklings hurried to the help of the chicks, and pushing and pulling they managed to get them up on the rock where they were safe.