When she came to the maple tree she saw Bunny and Bobtail and Billy.

And Bunny and Bobtail and Billy saw Mrs. Duck.

“Where are you going, now?” asked Bunny.

“I am going down to the brook,” she said.  “That is where my secret is.”

“May we go with you?” asked Billy.

“Yes,” said Mrs. Duck.  “I will show you my secret if you will all promise not to tell.”

So the three little rabbits hopped along behind Mrs. Duck until they came to the brook.

The water in the brook was running over the stones and singing a sweet little song.

Mr. Green Frog was sitting on a stone taking a nap in the warm sun.

“Now, follow me,” said Mrs. Duck.  “I will show you my secret.”

She led the three rabbits to some bushes that grew close beside the water.

“Quack, quack!” she said.  “Look in here.  What can you see?”

Bunny peeped in under the bushes.

“Oh, oh!” he said, “how pretty they are.”

Billy peeped in under the bushes.

“Oh, oh!” he said, “how many there are.”

Bobtail peeped in under the bushes.

“Oh, oh!” he said.  “That is a very good secret.”

Now what do you think the three rabbits saw hidden away under the bushes?

Perhaps you have guessed Mrs. Duck’s secret by this time.

Yes! there was a nest full of eggs,—­just the prettiest eggs you ever saw.

Mrs. Duck was very proud of them.

She let the rabbits look at the eggs for a few minutes.

“Now I must cover my eggs up,” she said.  “I must keep them warm.”

So Mrs. Duck sat down on the nest and cuddled the eggs under her soft warm wings.

Not one egg could be seen.  And Mrs. Duck sat so still that Bunny thought she had gone to sleep.

III

Every day after that the rabbits went to visit Mrs. Duck.

But they did not tell the secret to any of their friends.

Then, one day, when the rabbits went to visit Mrs. Duck, she would not get off the nest.

“Quack, quack!” she said.  “I can not let you see the eggs to-day.  I you will come to-morrow I will show you what I have in my nest.”

So the rabbits hopped away, leaving Mrs. Duck alone on her nest under the bushes.

The next morning, bright and early, the rabbits hopped along the little path.

They found Mrs. Duck still sitting in the nest.

They saw some little yellow heads peeping out from under her wings.

“Quack, quack!” she said.  “See my ducks.  They are the prettiest ducks you ever saw.

“And they have the brightest eyes in the world.”

One little duck wriggled out from under her mother’s wing and tried to stand on her little yellow feet.

But they were not strong yet.

“Come back, come back!” said Mrs. Duck.  “You must stay in the nest until you are strong.”