Produced by Susan Skinner, Ross Wilburn and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net WOODSIDE [Illustration: THE VISIT TO THE WATCH-DOG. _Page 13._] Thomas Nelson and Sons, _LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND NEW YORK._ [Illustration: THE ARRIVAL AT GRANDPAPA'S. _Page 10._] WOODSIDE OR, _Look, Listen, and Learn._ BY Caroline Hadley, AUTHOR OF "CHILDREN'S SAYINGS," "STORIES OF OLD," "STORIES OF THE APOSTLES," ETC. ETC. London: T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW. EDINBURGH; AND NEW YORK. 1902 "And Nature, the old nurse, took The child upon her knee, Saying: 'Here is a story-book Thy Father has written for thee. "'Come wander with me,' she said, 'Into regions yet untrod, And read what is still unread Of the manuscripts of God.' "And he wandered away and away With Nature, the dear old nurse, Who sang to him night and day The rhymes of the universe." H. W. LONGFELLOW. Contents. I. GRANDPAPA'S HOUSE, 9 II. LISTENING IN THE WOODS, 17 III. TOM'S BIRDS' EGGS, 27 IV. JACK AND THE GARDENER, 36 V. HIVING THE BEES, 47 VI. WASPS AND THEIR WAYS, 58 VII. CHARLEY FOSTER'S PETS, 66 VIII. A TALK WITH AUNT LIZZIE, 80 IX. AFTER THE RAIN, 95 X. THE SIX CLOSED DOORS, 105 List of Illustrations. THE ARRIVAL AT GRANDPAPA'S, _Frontispiece_ THE VISIT TO THE WATCH-DOG, _Vignette_ THE VISIT TO THE PONY, 13 TOM SHOWING THE REDBREAST'S EGGS, 29 JACK AND THE THRUSH'S NEST, 36 REYNARD HARD PUSHED, 45 CHARLEY FOSTER'S COLLECTION, 68 THE TEA ON THE LAWN, 82 WOODSIDE. I. _GRANDPAPA'S HOUSE._ "Now for the dear, dear country, Its trees and meadows fair, Its roses, cowslips, violets, Whose sweetness fills the air. "'Tis there we hear the music Of lark's and blackbird's song, And merry little finches, Singing the whole day long."--C. H. One bright spring day, not so very long ago, three little children arrived at their grandfather's house. They had come to pay a long visit, as their parents were travelling abroad for two or three months. Now grandpapa lived less than twenty miles from London, yet his house was quite in the country,--indeed you might have thought that it was a hundred miles away from any town,--and it was called Woodside.