One summer Alma and her brother Philip spent their vacation with their
auntie, who lived in a beautiful village, so near the pretty country
that they could take a ride out into it on their wheels, at any time
they wished.
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They both rode very well indeed, and they were always finding pretty
little spots along the road-side, where they played camp out; for
auntie let them take a lunch if they wanted to, and the air was so
fresh and pure that they were hungry almost all the time.
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One morning they started off quite early with their wheels and their
lunch, and they rode out into the country on a pretty road where they
had never been before.
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It had great trees along the side and a little river winding along
with it, and they saw the cattle and horses in the fields, and the
hens and chickens and turkeys and geese along the road-side, and once
they got off their wheels to talk to a pretty bossy and her calf that
were very near the fence.
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The bossy was a little afraid they might hurt her baby, so she wasn't
quite friendly. But she didn't try to drive them away.
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At one side of a farm-house near, a big dog was lying in his kennel,
and a great black cat came up to him very slyly and tapped him on the
nose with one paw. It was funny to see the dog jump up.
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The birds sang, and the hens and chickens talked to each other, and
once or twice they stopped to let a flock of geese cross the road in
front of them.
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Then they came upon a big flock of turkeys, and the gobbler put on
airs and pretended he was going to stop them; but they flew past and
laughed at him.
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By the side of the road in one place, a big, fat, clean-looking pig
was standing, sunning himself; but when he saw them, he ran away,
squealing.
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"You needn't run from us," Philip called after him; "we don't want any
pork to-day--we've got chicken for our lunch."
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"Yes," said Alma, "and nice, fresh strawberries, and everything good."
They saw a big dog lying near a chicken-coop, with the chickens
running over him just as they pleased, and Philip called out again,
"Be careful, you little fellows, or you might happen to run down his
throat."
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They got off their wheels and walked for a little while just for fun;
and all at once, as they were passing a barn, Alma cried, "Look! Did
you see that cat after the mouse?"
Philip said he didn't; but pretty soon Mrs Pussy came out.
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"You didn't get it, did you?" said Alma. "Well, you're fat enough now;
you don't need to catch mice."
They stopped to eat their lunch under a clump of trees not very far
from a pleasant farm-house. There was a cunning little fat dog lying
in front of the house, and as they watched him, up came a bee and lit
on his nose.
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The little doggy jumped up and barked at the bee; then he sat down and
put up his nose in a friendly way, to see what it was.
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"Look out, sir!" cried Philip. "You'll get hurt!"
But he spoke just a little too late, for puppy-dog found out his
mistake, and the next minute he was running away and yelping at the
top of his voice.
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"The poor little thing!" said Alma. "Wasn't that too bad?"
"Yes," said Philip, "but he'll get over it pretty quick, and I can't
help laughing, it did look so funny."
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When they went back to their auntie's, they told her that was the best
bicycle ride they had ever had.
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--_Fannie E. Ostrander._
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