LESSON XLVIII.

heed sight sly'ly stream drift'ing

flock flight snaps hid'den cir'cling


THE FOX AND THE DUCKS.

1. On a summer day, a man sitting on the bank of a river, in the shade of
some bushes, watched a flock of ducks on the stream.

2. Soon a branch with leaves came drifting among them, and they all took
wing. After circling in the air for a little time, they settled down again
on their feeding ground.

[Illustration: Fox watching ducks from a distance.]

3. Soon another branch came drifting down among them, and again they took
flight from the river; but when they found the branch had drifted by and
done them no harm, they flew down to the water as before.

4. After four or five branches had drifted by in this way, the ducks gave
little heed to them. At length, they hardly tried to fly out of their way,
even when the branches nearly touched them.

5. The man who had been watching all this, now began to wonder who had set
these branches adrift. He looked up the stream, and spied a fox slyly