HURLY-BURLY 9

were uttered by the poor little creatures.
They hopped to and fro round the nurse,
and seemed to be striving to speak in their
own natural voices, but were unable to do so.
The good nurse wept bitterly as she looked
upon them, and thought of the misery which
awaited the King and Queen, when they
should hear of the terrible misfortune which
had befallen their children. She reflected,
however, that crying and sobbing would do
no good, and began to cast about in her
mind what would be the best thing to do
under the melancholy circumstances of the
case. It was some way off to the palace,
for she had been persuaded by the children
to take a somewhat longer walk than ‘usual,
in consequence of the day being so remark-
ably fine; and although ‘the little boys and
girls had come to the forest easily enough,
it was a very different matter for sixteen
. little frogs to travel the same distance. -
Therefore, after thinking over the matter for
a little while, she came to the conclusion
that there was nothing for it but to carry
them in her apron, and accordingly she sat
down, and invited the little creatures to hop
into her lap. This they presently did, and,