Tiny was glad when the rosy dawn peeped over the eastern hills once more. The little dark room in which he lay did not look so cheerless in the bright light of day.

Again there came the sound of knocking that resembled the beating of a drum.

“That is Billy Beaver,” again explained Reynard Redfox, yawning. “He is calling for us to get up. We have just an hour in which to eat our breakfasts.”

“Who gets breakfast for us?” asked Tiny, feeling much out of place in the strange new land.

“Each one gets his own breakfast, of course,” replied Reynard, much amused. “We all require different kinds of food; and Miss Hare does not care how or where we get it, if we keep from injuring one another.”

“Katie Goose, who is very cleanly, takes a swim in the creek, and hunts for seeds along the bank; Sammy Rabbit, a relative of Miss Hare, hunts for grain; and Winkie Weasel chases insects and catches frogs. Since I have become civilized, I am particularly fond of grapes, although I am never so happy as when strawberry season comes round.

“Shifty Woodchuck has less trouble in searching for his breakfast than any other pupil, for he goes to a field of red clover or wild buckwheat, and many a time he eats until he is not in good condition to study. Shifty is a sleepy little animal. He spends the winter in a nest of dried grasses that he builds in a hole in the ground. When the cold weather comes, he will get sleepy and will lay aside his studies to prepare for a long rest. Maybe he will sleep all winter, for no other animal sleeps so long or so soundly as the woodchuck.”

It took Tiny but a few moments to smooth down his silken fur and to brush out his bushy tail. With a shrill cry of delight, he sprang from his new home and ran out into the bracing, frosty air. He sped over the willow brush that surrounded the village of quaint beaver houses, and soon found himself in an oak tree where there were plenty of ripe acorns, moist with dew.

Hardly had he finished his breakfast when again he heard the tail of the beaver pounding heavily. He hastened back to the cluster of beaver houses with their round domes. Little animals of all kinds were bustling about on their way to the various recitation rooms. Billy Beaver, the janitor, told Tiny that he should go into the auditorium, which was the largest building of all. There he found Miss Hare, sitting behind a rough, wooden table. She wore a gray robe and a pair of large earrings. Her spectacles were so heavy that her eyes seemed very large; but he at once decided that she must be a kind teacher, as her voice was soft and gentle.

A number of animals sat on wooden benches facing Miss Hare. Reynard Redfox, who was the largest animal in school, sat in one corner by himself. His big, dark eyes were as mild as Tiny’s. His coarse, shaggy fur was neatly brushed.

The room was decorated with flowers and carpeted with moss. An old-fashioned fireplace with bellows and tongs stood at one end of the room. Tiny, who had never before seen a fireplace, wondered where the fire came from. He afterwards learned that Billy Beaver made the fire by rubbing two sticks together, and that it was never permitted to go out.

Toadstools, cat-tails, and elderberry bushes were arranged against the walls, looking quite as artistic as the bay-trees and other ornaments we see in fashionable hotels. Window curtains, woven of silk by spiders, and screens and cushions, woven of weeds, reeds, and grass by birds and mice, added to the comfort of the place. Snail shells and pretty stones, gathered by the pupils, also lent beauty to the room.

Tiny observed that each pupil presented the teacher with flowers and delicacies, which were laid on her desk. Not wishing to be outdone by his classmates, he went forward and, with a low bow, gave Miss Hare an acorn.

“Thank you,” said Miss Hare with a pleased smile, as she bent forward and gazed admiringly at him through her dark spectacles. “I see that you have already learned the lesson of generosity. You are the little animal that Mr. Owl brought here last night, I suppose. I hope you will be very studious and learn a great deal. I will introduce you to two pupils in the language class. Mr. Redsquirrel, this pupil is Winkie Weasel; that pupil just coming in is Sammy Rabbit. Those pupils, who are sitting in the back row of seats, are well advanced in their work; those pupils in the front seats are beginners. I will introduce them later on.”

Tiny bowed to each of the pupils in the room, which included Shifty Woodchuck, who was very fat and sleepy-looking; Mr. Rabbitt, who had pink eyes and rosy ears; Mew Mew, who wore a blue bow; Bow Wow, with curly locks hanging over his eyes; Little Winkie Weasel, who possessed a long body and very short legs; Miss Field Mouse, who sat upon a toadstool; and several other pupils.

“I usually teach in rhyme,” said Miss Hare, with an air of assurance that made Tiny think she was vastly learned. “I teach the multiplication table in rhyme, and in language I teach the use of verbs, nouns, and other parts of speech in the same way. There is no reason why one should not teach in rhyme, for it is natural and not easily forgotten.”

She then told Tiny to sit by Winkie Weasel and, after opening her book, she looked over the class to be sure that each pupil was ready to give his attention.

“The class may read aloud together our lesson for to-day,” she said, finally.

All the animals rose and read as follows: