enting
over his pea-sticks, they saw something that looked like a large
covered basket come floating along. It chanced that it passed
very near the bank on which they stood, and little Robert cried
out, "Stop it!" and began to try to reach it with a long pole he
had in his hands, with which he had been pretending to be a ship,
and holding this up for the mast. He could not reach it; but the
gardener took the pole, and after failing once or twice, managed
to push and poke at the basket till he got it so near that the
dairy-maid and nurse reached it with their hands, and pulled it
to the bank. It was only covered with a few arched sticks, over
which a white cloth was fastened.

They all crowded round it to see what it contained. They lifted
up the white cloth. O, wonder and surprise! What did they see?

"What was it? _What_ did they see?" cried Mary and Willie both at
once.

They saw a pretty little baby fast asleep, and at its feet a cat
coiled up comfortably.

"And was the baby not hurt, mamma?"

No, it was quite safe, and did not awake directly. Puss awoke and
jumped out, and ran off before any one could stop her.

The gardener said, that the basket, which they now saw to be a
cradle, must have floated away from some cottage in the village
just above. "Some poor woman is perhaps now in great grief about
her child," said he.

[Illustration]

"But we've got it safe," said Charlotte. "We'll take great care
of it, and give it back to her. Let us take it into a warm room."

As she said this the baby opened its eyes and began to cry. Nurse
lifted it up and tried to quiet it, and they all went in with it,
the children kissing its poor little red arms, and saying all
sorts of soothing things to it. When they got into the house,
nurse asked for some warm whey with a little sugar in it. She
said that was the best thing for such a little baby; and it
sucked it in, and seemed to like it, and soon began to smile, and
crow, and kick about its feet, and throw about its arms. The
children were quite delighted at this; and now being happy about
the baby they began to think of poor puss; and Robert and Helen
went out to look for her. They found her just outside the house
door, mewing and making a great fuss. Helen ran away and got a
saucer full of milk, and put it down in the lobby. At this, puss
began to walk slowly in, and then ran up to it and lapped it all
up; and then she let Helen take her up, and carry her into the