In another moment she heard his usual greeting, "Cuckoo, cuckoo!" "Oh, cuckoo!" she exclaimed, "I am so glad you have come at last.

I _am_ so dull, and it has nothing to do with lessons this time.

It's that I've got such a bad cold, and my head's aching, and I'm so tired of reading, all by myself." "What would you like to do ?" said the cuckoo.

"You don't want to go to see the mandarins again ?" "Oh no; I couldn't dance." "Or the mermaids down under the sea ?" "Oh, dear, no," said Griselda, with a little shiver, "it would be far too cold.

I would just like to stay where I am, if some one would tell me stories.