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She jumped up, and she could see the deep, shady pool under the s It was cool and wet, and her whole skin felt thirsty But she reo there

The tableland see when Pa was there, but noas just flat land, and Laura thought she would go hoet a drink She was very thirsty

She slid down the side of the tableland and slowly started back along the way she had corasses the air was sout was far away and Laura was terribly thirsty

She reo near that deep, shady swi-pool, and suddenly she turned around and hurried toward it She thought she would only look at it Just looking at it would ht wade in the edge of it but she would not go into the deep water

She came into the path that Pa had made, and she trotted faster

Right in the middle of the path before her stood an animal

Laura jumped back, and stood and stared at it She had never seen such an anis were very short Long gray fur bristled all over it It had a flat head and small ears Its flat head slowly tilted up and it stared at Laura

She stared back at its funny face And while they stood still and staring, that anirew flatter and flatter, till it was a gray fur laid there It was not like a whole ani up

Slowly and carefully Laura stooped and reached and picked up astick She felt better then She stayed bent over, looking at that flat gray fur

It did not move and neither did Laura She wondered ould happen if she poked it It ently with the short stick

A frightful snarl came out of it Its eyes sparkled mad, and fierce white teeth snapped almost on Laura’s nose

Laura ran with all heruntil she was in the dugout

“Goodness, Laura!” Ma said “You’llaround so in this heat”

All that ti out words in the book that Ma was teaching her to read Mary was a good little girl

Laura had been bad and she knew it She had broken her promise to Pa But no one had seen her No one knew that she had started to go to the swi-hole If she did not tell, no one would ever know Only that strange animal knew, and it could not tell on her But she felt worse and worse inside