s about grandmamma's
house. She first took me into the farm-yard, and I peeped into the
barn; there I saw a man thrashing, and as he beat the corn with his
flail, he made such a dreadful noise that I was frightened and ran
away: my sister persuaded me to return; she said Will Tasker was very
good-natured: then I went back, and peeped at him again; but as I
could not reconcile myself to the sound of his flail, or the sight of
his black beard, we proceeded to see the rest of the farm-yard.

There was no end to the curiosities that Sarah had to shew me. There
was the pond where the ducks were swimming, and the little wooden
houses where the hens slept at night. The hens were feeding all over
the yard, and the prettiest little chickens, they were feeding too,
and little yellow ducklings that had a hen for their mamma. She was so
frightened if they went near the water. Grandmamma says a hen is not
esteemed a very wise bird.

We went out of the farm-yard into the orchard. O what a sweet place
grandmamma's orchard is! There were pear-trees, and apple-trees,
and cherry-trees, all in blossom. These blossoms were the prettiest
flowers that ever were seen, and among the grass under the trees there
grew butter-cups, and cowslips, and daffodils, and blue-bells. Sarah
told me all their names, and she said I might pick as many of them as
ever I pleased.

I filled my lap with flowers, I filled my bosom with flowers, and I
carried as many flowers as I could in both my hands; but as I was
going into the parlour to shew them to my mamma, I stumbled over a
threshold which was placed across the parlour, and down I fell with
all my treasure.

Nothing could have so well pacified me for the misfortune of my fallen
flowers, as the sight of a delicious syllabub which happened at that
moment to be brought in. Grandmamma said it was a present from the
red cow to me because it was my birthday; and then because it was the
first of May, she ordered the syllabub to be placed under the May-bush
that grew before the parlour door, and when we were seated on the
grass round it, she helped me the very first to a large glass full of
the syllabub, and wished me many happy returns of that day, and then
she said I was myself the sweetest little May-blossom in the orchard.

After the syllabub there was the garden to see, and a most beautiful
garden it was;--long and narrow, a straight gravel walk down the
middle of it, at the end of the gravel walk there