se fish are
too fine to lose." So they hurried away.

The three fish were very much frightened. The first one thought a
moment, then swam through the outlet of the pond into the river.

When the men came back with their nets, there were only two fish to be
seen. They found the outlet of the pond and made a dam across it.

The second fish now began to think; he came to the top of the water and
floated on his back. One of the men picked him up in his net, but he
seemed dead, so he threw him back into the water.

The fish that never thought sank to the bottom of the pond and was
easily caught.

[Footnote: Adapted from "The Three Fish" in The Tortoise
and the Geese, published by Houghton, Mifflin Co]

THE WAGONER

"We must have coal," said the farmers to the wagoner.

"But the roads are very bad," replied the wagoner. "I never saw them
worse."

"We can not wait for the roads to dry," said the farmers, "for without
a fire we should take cold. Besides, we should have to eat uncooked
food."

So the wagoner went into the country with a load of coal. He had not
gone far when his wagon stuck fast in the mud.

"What am I to do now?" he asked himself. "I ought to have known better
than to start out."

"Get up!" he cried to his horses. "Get up there, you lazy brutes! Pull
out of here!"

The horses struggled hard, but they could not start the load.

"Hey there!" he called to a man who was working in a field near by.
"Come and help us out of this mud-hole."

The man in the field had been watching the poor horses as they pulled
with all their strength. He was angry at the wagoner for beating them
so cruelly.

"Put your shoulder to the wheel," he called back. "When you have done
all you can to help yourself, I shall be willing to help you."

The wagoner climbed down, muttering to himself, "I don't want to get
down into this mud."

He put his shoulder to the wheel, pushed long and steadily while the
horses pulled. Slowly the load began to move. Before long it was on
firm ground.

The wagoner climbed up to his seat and called back to the man who was
working in the field, "My load is out, but no thanks to you."

The man replied, "You took my advice and put your shoulder to the
wheel; that is what brought you out."

THE LARK AND THE FARMER

A meadow lark built her nest in a field of wheat. She had a happy time
raising her family, for no one came near her nest.

There were four little larks in