fears, such as are ready to bestir themselves in
every mother's heart, when she finds it necessary
to go away from her dear children without leav-
ing them under the care of some maiden aunt,
or other such faithful guardian. So she quickly
Wt the field in which she had been so busy;
and, as her work was not half done, the grain
looked, next day, as if it needed both sun and
rain, and as if it were blighted in the ear, and
had something the matter with its roots.

The pair of dragons must have had very nim"
ble wings; for, in less than an hour, Mother
Ceres had alighted at the door of her home, and
found it empty. Knowing, however, that the
child was fond of sporting on the sea shore, she
hastened thither as fast as she could, and there
beheld the wet faces of the poor sea nymphs
peeping over a wave. All this while, the good
creatures had been waiting on the bank of
sponge, and, once every half minute or so, had
popped up their four heads above water, to see
if theii playmate were yet coming back. When
they saw Mother Ceres, they sat down on the
crest of the surf wave, and let it toss them ashore
at her feet.

[[233]]

p232 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p233w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p234

v?