ied, when the children would have protested. "I know how I'd feel if
I was away from home in a strange country and had nobody but queer
people to talk to. We are too old. Even Chickamy Crany Crow and
Tickle-My-Toes are too old, and Mr. Thimblefinger is too little."

[Illustration: BROTHER TERRAPIN TUMBLING INTO THE CREEK]

"Well, what are we going to do about it?" asked Mr. Rabbit, running
his thumb in the bowl of his pipe.

"I was just thinking," responded Mrs. Meadows. "Hadn't we better bring
out the Looking-Glass family?"

"Well," said Mr. Rabbit, "I leave that to you." To hide the smile that
gathered around his mouth Mr. Rabbit leaned his head over and
scratched his left ear lazily with his left foot.

"That's what I'll do," Mrs. Meadows declared decisively. "These
children want company they can appreciate, poor things!"

She went into the house, and presently came out again, bringing a
mirror about three feet wide and five feet high.

IX.

THE LOOKING-GLASS CHILDREN.

The frame of the mirror was of dark wood, curiously carved, and it was
set on pivots between two small but stout upright posts, made of the
same kind of wood. As Mrs. Meadows brought the looking-glass out, it
swung back and forth between these posts, and its polished surface
shone with great brilliancy. The children wondered how they were to
amuse themselves with this queer toy. Mrs. Meadows placed the
looking-glass a little way from them, but not facing them. The frame
was in profile, so that they could see neither the face nor the back
of the mirror.

"You come first," she said to Buster John.

He went forward, and Mrs. Meadows placed him in front of the
looking-glass. As he turned to face it, his reflection (as it seemed)
stepped from the mirror and stared at him. Buster John looked at Mrs.
Meadows for an explanation, but at that moment she beckoned to
Sweetest Susan. When Buster John moved, his image moved. Mrs.
Meadows pushed him gently aside to make room for Sweetest Susan, and
it seemed that some invisible hand pushed his reflection gently aside.

[Illustration: SWEETEST SUSAN MEETING HER REFLECTION]

Sweetest Susan stepped before the looking-glass, and her reflection
walked out to meet her. Drusilla now came forward, and her image
stepped forth, looking somewhat scared and showing the whites of its
eyes. Mrs. Meadows went to the looking-glass, gave it a sudden turn on
its pivots, and carried it into the house.

All th