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 The Frog turned toward the pool, while the Mouse wrung her pretty claws and worried about her four babies, left at home under the fern patch. The Hedgehog tried to comfort her, when from the great Above came a shower of pelting hail and a flare of blinding lightning, and the three scampered away from the clearing and into a thicket. The Hedgehog was the first to speak.

»No snivelling, remember,« he ordered grandly like a general. »We can’t get to our homes now. Better look about for some sort of shelter here.« The three, very frightened, scrambled but a few feet when they found a splendid shelter. On the ground lay an immense china water jug, large as a cavern to the bedraggled friends. True, the painted flowers on the pitcher had long since faded and the handle and spout were broken, but the bulging round sides were sound and waterproof, and the Hedgehog poked his head into the opening. Strange noises came from the dim corners.