98 Fairy Tales

by himself in the garden, where, as they said,
he was safe, yet gave them no trouble. And
as for him, it was the one place in the world
where he was quite happy.

So one morning in early June there had
been a bad week for poor Dick, for what the
gardeners called a fine growing rain had
fallen day after day, and he had not been
allowed to leave the house. The rocking-
horse had done what he could, and never
grumbled, though even his sturdy legs must
have ached at last; and Agrippa had behaved
nobly, and allowed himself to be placed in
positions which in ordinary times he would
not have endured for a moment. . But at
last, to the relief of every one, the weather
changed. The ash-coloured clouds, now
grown flimsy and empty, fluttered away;
white lights shone out, and_ half-a-dozen
blackbirds and thrushes flew up in a great
hurry, to know whether Dick was never
coming. Dick said his lessons to the nurse
as fast as he possibly could, because at this
season of the year there was an immense