`SO, when they got to the top of the hill, Bruno openedthe hamper: and he took out the Bread, and the Apples, and the Milk: andthey ate, and they drank. And when they'd finished the Milk, and eatenhalf the Bread and half the Apples, the Lamb said "Oh, my paws is so sticky!I want to wash my paws!" And the Lion said "Well, go down the hill, andwash them in the brook, yonder. We'll wait for you!"'

`It never comed back!' Bruno solemnly whispered to me.

But Sylvie overheard him. `You're not to whisper, Bruno!It spoils the story! And when the Lamb had been gone a long time, the Lionsaid to Bruno "Do go and see after that silly little Lamb! It must havelost its way." And Bruno went down the hill. And when he got to the brook,he saw the Lamb sitting on the bank: and who should be sitting by it butan old Fox!'

`Don't know who should be sitting by it,' Bruno said thoughtfullyto himself. `A old Fox were sitting by it.'

`And the old Fox were saying,' Sylvie went on, for onceconceding the grammatical point. `"Yes, my dear, you'll be ever so happywith us, if you'll only come and see us! I've got three little Foxes there,and we do love little Lambs so dearly!" And the Lamb said "But you nevereat them, do you, Sir?" And the Fox said "Oh, no! What, eat a Lamb? Wenever dream of doing such a thing!" So the Lamb said "Then I'll come withyou." And off they went, hand in hand.'

`That Fox were welly extremely wicked, weren't it?' saidBruno.

`No, no!' said Sylvie, rather shocked at such violentlanguage. `It wasn't quite so bad as that!'

`Well, I mean, it wasn't nice,' the little fellow correctedhimself.

`And so Bruno went back to the Lion. "Oh, come quick!"he said. "The Fox has taken the Lamb to his house with him! I'm sure hemeans to eat it!" And the Lion said "I'll come as quick as ever I can!"And they trotted down the hill.'

`Do oo think he caught the Fox, Mister Sir?' said Bruno.I shook my head, not liking to speak: and Sylvie went on.

`And when they got to the house, Bruno looked in at thewindow. And there he saw the three little Foxes sitting round the table,with their clean pinafores on, and spoons in their hands--'

`Spoons in their hands!' Bruno repeated in an ecstasyof delight.

`And the Fox had got a great big knife--all ready to killthe poor little Lamb--' (`Oo needn't be flightened, Mister Sir!' Brunoput in, in a hasty whisper.)

`And just as he was going to do it, Bruno heard a greatROAR--' (The real Bruno put his hand into mine, and held tight), `and theLion came bang through the door, and the next moment it had bitten offthe old Fox's head! And Bruno jumped in at the window, and went leapinground the room, and crying out "Hooray! Hooray! The old Fox is dead! Theold Fox is dead!"'

Bruno got up in some excitement. `May I do it now?' heenquired.

Sylvie was quite decided on this point. `Wait till afterwards,'she said. `The speeches come next, don't you know? You always love thespeeches, don't you?'

`Yes, I doos,' said Bruno: and sat down again.

`The Lion's speech. "Now, you silly little Lamb, go hometo your mother, and never listen to old Foxes again. And be very good andobedient."'

`The Lamb's speech. "Oh, indeed, Sir, I will, Sir!" andthe Lamb went away.' (`But oo needn't go away!' Bruno explained. `It'squite the nicest part--what's coming now!' Sylvie smiled. She liked havingan appreciative audience.)

`The Lion's speech to Bruno. "Now, Bruno, take those littleFoxes home with you, and teach them to be good obedient little Foxes! Notlike that wicked old thing there, that's got no head!"' (`That hasn't gotno head,' Bruno repeated.)

`Bruno's speech to the Lion. "Oh, indeed, Sir, I will,Sir!" And the Lion went away.' (`It gets betterer and betterer, now,' Brunowhispered to me, `right away to the end!')

`Bruno's speech to the little Foxes. "Now, little Foxes,you're going to have your first lesson in being good. I'm going to putyou into the hamper, along with the Apples and the Bread: and you're notto eat the Apples: and you're not to eat the Bread: and you're not to eatanything--till we get to my house: and then you'll have your supper."'

`The little Foxes' speech to Bruno. The little Foxes saidnothing.

`So Bruno put the Apples into the hamper--and the littleFoxes--and the Bread--' (`They had picnicked all the Milk,' Bruno explainedin a whisper) `--and he set off to go to his house.' (`We're getting nearthe end now,' said Bruno.)

`And, when he had got a little way, he thought he wouldlook into the hamper, and see how the little Foxes were getting on.'

`So he opened the door--' said Bruno.

`Oh, Bruno!' Sylvie exclaimed, `you're not telling thestory! So he opened the door, and behold, there were no Apples! So Brunosaid "Eldest little Fox, have you been eating the Apples?" And the eldestlittle Fox said "No no no!"' (It is impossible to give the tone in whichSylvie repeated this rapid little "No no no!" The nearest I can come toit is to say that it was much as if a young and excited duck had triedto quack the words. It was too quick for a quack, and yet too harsh tobe anything else.) `Then he said "Second little Fox, have you been eatingthe Apples?" And the second little Fox said "No no no!" Then he said "Youngestlittle Fox, have you been eating the Apples?" And the youngest little Foxtried to say "No no no!" but its mouth was so full, it couldn't, and itonly said "Wauch! Wauch! Wauch!" And Bruno looked into its mouth. And itsmouth was full of Apples! And Bruno shook his head, and he said "Oh dear,oh dear! What bad creatures these Foxes are!"'

Bruno was listening intently: and, when Sylvie pausedto take breath, he could only just gasp out the words `About the Bread?'

`Yes,' said Sylvie, `the Bread comes next. So he shutthe door again; and he went a little further; and then he thought he'djust peep in once more. And behold, there was no Bread!' (`What do "behold"mean?' said Bruno. `Hush!' said Sylvie.) `And he said "Eldest little Fox,have you been eating the Bread?" And the eldest little Fox said "No nono!" "Second little Fox, have you been eating the Bread?" And the secondlittle Fox only said "Wauch! Wauch! Wauch!" And Bruno looked into its mouth,and its mouth was full of Bread!' (`It might have chokeded it,' said Bruno.)`So he said "Oh dear, oh dear! What shall I do with these Foxes?" And hewent a little further.' (`Now comes the most interesting part,' Bruno whispered.)

`And when Bruno opened the hamper again, what do you thinkhe saw?' (`Only two Foxes!' Bruno cried in a great hurry.) `You shouldn'ttell it so quick. However, he did see only two Foxes. And he said "Eldestlittle Fox, have you been eating the youngest little Fox?" And the eldestlittle Fox said "No no no!" "Second little Fox, have you been eating theyoungest little Fox?" And the second little Fox did its very best to say"No no no!" but it could only say "Weuchk! Weuchk! Weuchk!" And when Brunolooked into its mouth, it was half full of Bread, and half full of Fox!'(Bruno said nothing in the pause this time. He was beginning to pant alittle, as he knew the crisis was coming.)

`And when he'd got nearly home, he looked once more intothe hamper, and he saw--'

`Only--' Bruno began, but a generous thought struck him,and he looked at me. `Oo may say it, this time, Mister Sir!' he whispered.It was a noble offer, but I wouldn't rob him of the treat. `Go on, Bruno,'I said, `you say it much the best.' `Only--but--one--Fox!' Bruno said withgreat solemnity.

`"Eldest little Fox,"' Sylvie said, dropping the narrative-formin her eagerness, `"you've been so good that I can hardly believe you'vebeen disobedient: but I'm afraid you've been eating your little sister?"And the eldest little Fox said "Whihuauch! Whihuauch!" and then it choked.And Bruno looked into its mouth, and it was full!' (Sylvie paused to takebreath, and Bruno lay back among the daisies, and looked at me triumphantly.`Isn't it grand, Mister Sir?' said he. I tried hard to assume a criticaltone. `It's grand,' I said: `but it frightens one so!' `Oo may sit a littlecloser to me, if oo like,' said Bruno.)

`And so Bruno went home: and took the hamper into thekitchen, and opened it. And he saw--' Sylvie looked at me, this time, asif she thought I had been rather neglected and ought to be allowed oneguess, at any rate.

`He ca'n't guess!' Bruno cried eagerly. `I 'fraid I musttell him! There weren't--nuffin in the hamper!' I shivered in terror, andBruno clapped his hands with delight. `He is flightened, Sylvie! Tell therest!'

`So Bruno said "Eldest little Fox, have you been eatingyourself, you wicked little Fox?" And the eldest little Fox said "Whihuauch!"And then Bruno saw there was only its mouth in the hamper! So he took themouth, and he opened it, and shook, and shook! And at last he shook thelittle Fox out of its own mouth! And then he said "Open your mouth again,you wicked little thing!" And he shook, and shook! And he shook out thesecond little Fox! And he said "Now open your mouth!" And he shook, andshook! And he shook out the youngest little Fox, and all the Apples, andall the Bread!

`And then Bruno stood the little Foxes up against thewall: and he made them a little speech. "Now, little Foxes, you've begunvery wickedly--and you'll have to be punished. First you'll go up to thenursery, and wash your faces, and put on clean pinafores. Then you'll hearthe bell ring for supper. Then you'll come down: and you wo'n't have anysupper: but you'll have a good whipping! Then you'll go to bed. Then inthe morning you'll hear the bell ring for breakfast. But you wo'n't haveany breakfast! You'll have a good whipping! Then you'll have your lessons.And, perhaps, if you're very good, when dinner-time comes, you'll havea little dinner, and no more whipping!"' (`How very kind he was!' I whisperedto Bruno. `Middling kind,' Bruno corrected me gravely.)

`So the little Foxes ran up to the nursery. And soon Brunowent into the hall, and rang the big bell. "Tingle, tingle, tingle! Supper,supper, supper!" Down came the little Foxes, in such a hurry for theirsupper! Clean pinafores! Spoons in their hands! And, when they got intothe dining-room, there was ever such a white table-cloth on the table!But there was nothing on it but a big whip. And they had such a whipping!'(I put my handkerchief to my eyes, and Bruno hastily climbed upon my kneeand stroked my face. `Only one more whipping, Mister Sir!' he whispered.`Don't cry more than oo ca'n't help!')

`And the next morning early, Bruno rang the big bell again."Tingle, tingle, tingle! Breakfast, breakfast, breakfast!" Down came thelittle Foxes! Clean pinafores! Spoons in their hands! No breakfast! Onlythe big whip! Then came lessons,' Sylvie hurried on, for I still had myhandkerchief to my eyes. `And the little Foxes were ever so good! And theylearned their lessons backwards, and forwards, and upside-down. And atlast Bruno rang the big bell again. "Tingle, tingle, tingle! Dinner, dinner,dinner!" And when the little Foxes came down--' (`Had they clean pinaforeson?' Bruno enquired. `Of course!' said Sylvie. `And spoons?' `Why, youknow they had!' `Couldn't be certain,' said Bruno.) `--they came as slowas slow! And they said "Oh! There'll be no dinner! There'll only be thebig whip!" But, when they got into the room, they saw the most lovely dinner!'(`Buns?' cried Bruno, clapping his hands.) `Buns, and cake, and--' (`--andjam?' said Bruno.) `Yes, jam--and soup--and--' (`--and sugar plums!' Brunoput in once more; and Sylvie seemed satisfied.)

`And ever after that, they were such good little Foxes!They did their lessons as good as gold--and they never did what Bruno toldthem not to--and they never ate each other any more--and they never atethemselves!'

The story came to an end so suddenly, it almost took mybreath away; however I did my best to make a pretty speech of thanks. `I'msure it's very--very--very much so, I'm sure!' I seemed to hear myselfsay.