242 Zom Seven Years Old.

 

aearinatea eran A.

a ae a nc tra

 

they grew up into plants, and the buds be-
fore they burst into flowers; blackberries
before they boil into jam, and tadpoles before
they turn into frogs; and that even grown-
up people could not always get what they
wanted the first minute they wished for it.
But Tom was very sorry when he thought
of all the dear birds and beasts in the Zoo-
logical Gardens, who were obliged to wait
till his ship was ready to carry them back to
their own homes in the north and south and
east and west, scattered over the world, where
they might run about again quite free and
happy ever after. He was also very sorry to
think they did not even know he was coming.
His only comfort was, that the surprise of his
going suddenly might make them all the
happier. And Tom had another surprise in
his head, which he meant to keep as a great
secret and tell nobody. .After he had been
to school, and could write a small hand, and .
do all sums without a single mistake, and
name all the towns, and rivers, and mountains

in his geography book, and after he had