Don Daily dedicates the illustrations in this book to his Aunt Anna
Contents The River Bank 10 The Open Road 19 The Wild Wood 27 Mr Badger 34 Mr Toad 40 Toad’s Adventures 48 The Further Adventures of Toad 54 Away from Home 58 The Return of the Heroes 61
The River Bank The Mole had been working very hard all the morning spring cleaning his little home First with brooms then with dusters then on ladders and chairs till he had dust in his throat and an aching back and weary arms Spring was moving in the air above his burrow with its spirit of divine discontent and longing It was small wonder then that he suddenly flung down his brush on the floor said Bother and Hang spring cleaning and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat Something above ground was calling him and he made for his steep little tunnel So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled till at last pop his snout came out into the sunlight and he found himself rolling in the warm grass of a great meadow This is fine he said to himself The sunshine struck hot on his fur and soft breezes caressed his heated brow Jumping up in the delight of spring without its cleaning he pursued his way across the meadow It all seemed too good to be true Hither and thither through the meadows he rambled 10 busily finding everywhere birds building flowers budding leaves thrusting everything happy And instead of having an uneasy conscience whispering cleaning he could only feel jolly He thought his happiness was complete when suddenly he stood by the edge of a river Never in his life had he seen a river before this sleek full bodied animal chasing and chuckling gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh All was glints and gleams and sparkles rustle and swirl chatter and bubble The Mole was fascinated By the side of the river
he trotted and when tired at last he sat on the bank while the river chattered on a babbling procession of the best stories in the world As he sat on the grass and looked across the river a dark hole in the bank opposite caught his eye As he gazed something bright and small seemed to twinkle down in the heart of it like a tiny star Then as he looked it winked at him and so declared itself to be an eye and a small face began gradually to grow up round it a serious little brown face with whiskers small neat ears and thick silky hair 11
