that
he could not be satisfied till he had passed through the deer-park to
let the Fallow-Deer see him. But here he was a little abashed, for the
horns of the Bucks were many of them much bigger than his own, though
flat, like your hand, and, as he thought, not nearly so handsome.

The Hind now became restless and inclined to wander, so that they went
the round of all the woods in the neighbourhood; and thus it was that
one day they came upon ground covered with rhododendrons, and azaleas,
and tall pine-trees of a kind that they had never seen before. They
would hardly have ventured upon it if they had not heard the quacking
of wild-ducks, which led them on till they came upon a little stream.
They followed the water downward till they came to a waterfall, where
they stopped for a minute in alarm; for at its foot lay the remains of
three little ducks quite dead, little more indeed than heaps of wet
feathers, only to be recognised by their poor little olive-green
beaks. But they still heard quacking below, and going on they
presently found a dozen Mallards and Ducks exactly like those that
they had seen on the moor, all full-plumed and full-grown.

The Hind went up to them at once, but they took not the least notice
of her. She wished them good-morning, but still they took no notice;
so then she said in her gentlest voice: "I am afraid that you have
had a dreadful misfortune with your little Flappers."

Then at last a little Duck turned round and said very rudely: "Ey?
What yer s'yin'?"

"Your little Ducklings which I saw lying dead by the fall," she said.

"Well," said the Duck still more rudely, "let 'em lie there. I can't
be bothered with 'em. Who asked you to come poking your nose into our
water?"

The Hind was very angry, for she had never been spoken to like this,
and she remembered how very differently the Duck had talked to her on
the moor. So instead of leaving these disgraceful little Ducks alone,
which would perhaps have been wiser, she began to scold them. "What,"
she said, "do you mean to say that you let the poor little things
drown for want of proper care? I never heard of such a thing. You
ought to be ashamed of yourselves."

And then all the Ducks broke out in chorus. "'Ow, I s'y, 'ere's an old
party come to teach us 'ow to bring up our chicks," said one. "Shall I
just step out and teach your little feller 'ow to run?" said another.
"Look out, little 'un, or your 'orns will drop off," said a thi