10.  A number of persons, men and boys, dispersed themselves through the woods in search of the little creature, but without success; they all returned to the village, reporting that the fawn had not been seen.  Some thought that after its fright had passed it would return of its own accord.  It wore a pretty collar with its owner’s name engraved upon it, so that it could be easily known from any other fawn that might be straying about the woods.

11.  Before many hours had passed, a hunter presented himself to the lady whose pet the little creature had been, and showed a collar with her name upon it.  He said that he was out hunting in the morning, and saw a fawn in the distance.  The little pet, instead of bounding away, as he expected, moved toward him; he took aim, fired, and shot it through the heart.

Definitions.—­l.  Fawn, a young deer.  Ca-ressed’, fondled, petted. 3.  Di-lat’ed, extended, spread out. 4.  Spec-ta’tors, those who look on. 6.  In-ter-cept’, to stop, to seize. 7.  Be-trayed’, showed. 8.  In-tense’, extreme. 9.  Scent, track followed by the sense of smell.  Cowed, made afraid.

LXIV.  ANNIE’S DREAM. (175)

1.  It was a clear, cold, winter evening, and all the Sinclairs but Annie had gone out for a neighborly visit.  She had resolved to stay at home and study a long, difficult lesson in Natural Philosophy.

2.  Left to herself, the evening passed quickly, but the lesson was learned a full half hour before the time set for the family to come home.

3.  Closing her book, she leaned back in the soft armchair in which she was sitting, soon fell asleep, and began to dream.  She dreamed that it was a very cold morning, and that she was standing by the dining-room stove, looking into the glass basin which was every day filled with water for evaporation.

4.  “Oh, dear,” she sighed, “it is nearly school time.  I don’t want to go out in the cold this morning.  Then there is that long lesson.  I wonder if I can say it.  Let me see—­it takes two hundred and twelve degrees of heat, I believe, for water to evaporate—­”

5.  “Nonsense!” “Ridiculous!” shouted a chorus of strange little voices near by; “Look here! is this water boiling?  What an idea; two hundred and twelve degrees before we can fly, ha, ha!”

6.  “Who are you?” asked Annie, in amazement.  “Where must I look?” “In the basin, of course.” 7.  Annie looked, and saw a multitude of tiny forms moving swiftly around, their numbers increasing as the heat of the fire increased.  “Why you dear little things!” said she, “what are you doing down there?”

8.  “We are water sprites,” answered one, in the clearest voice that can be imagined, “and when this delightful warmth comes all about us, we become so light that we fly off, as you see.”

9.  In another moment he had joined a crowd of his companions that were spreading their wings and flying off in curling, white clouds over Annie’s head.  But they were so light and thin that they soon disappeared in the air.