"Jimmie, is your hair combed?" asked his mamma.

 

"No, ma'am," he answered; "but I'm just going to comb it."

 

"And did you brush your teeth?"

 

"No, mamma, but I'm just going—"

 

"Now, now, Jimmie, that's what you always say. Hurry to the bathroom and clean your teeth at once, or else there'll be a dentist coming to the school looking into your mouth and goodness¹ knows what will happen then. Hurry, now, or you'll be late."

 

Jimmie cleaned his teeth quickly, and ran on to school so he wouldn't be late and get a bad mark. What's that? You didn't know ducks had teeth? Well, the next time you get a chance, when a duck opens his mouth real wide, you look in, and maybe you'll see them. They're very small, I know, but that doesn't count.

 

Well, Lulu and Alice ran on ahead, and Jimmie came following after. He wasn't late at school because he met Bully² the frog, who hopped³, and so Jimmie had to run to keep up. The little boy duck was the first one in the classroom, and the teacher said:

 

"Why, Jimmie, this is a delightful⁴ surprise. You are not late this morning, though you were every other day this week."

 

"Yes, ma'am," was all Jimmie said, as he took his seat.

 

Well, you should have seen it rain! Honestly, I don't know when it ever rained so hard before; maybe not since the animals came out of the ark, or the last time I wanted to go to a picnic. Some of the kindergarten children got quite wet, because, you see, they were so little that they couldn't hold their umbrellas up straight. And even some of the high school girls got wet, too; but they didn't mind.

 

Jimmie and his sisters didn't need an umbrella, for, you know, water always runs off a duck's back, and doesn't do a bit of harm. It rained when the duck children got home from school, and it was still raining when Mrs. Wibblewobble said:

 

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