For the first time in his life Nimble felt quite grown up. He forgot that he had not yet lived a whole summer. He had made a suggestion to his mother which she had promptly¹ acted upon. It had never happened before. And that was enough to cause him great pleasure.  
Then there was something else that made Nimble believe himself to be a person of some account: A strange affair had happened at the lake. He had seen it all. He had taken part in it himself. Really it was no wonder that he began to talk quite importantly.
 
"It was lucky I was with you," he remarked to his mother as they rested amid the tangle² of Cedar³ Swamp⁴.
 
"It was lucky we weren't any further out in the lake," she exclaimed. "If you hadn't been with me no doubt I'd have gone where the water was much deeper. And that light would have caught me before I could have reached the shore."
 
What his mother said made Nimble feel bigger than ever. He wasn't quite sure what had happened back there, where they had been surprised while eating water lilies. But he meant to find out, for he thought it would make a good story to tell his friends.
 
"Would the moon have burnt us if it had hit us?" he inquired.
 
"What in the world are you talking about?" his mother asked him.
 
He looked puzzled at her question.
 
"Wasn't that the moon that lit up the lake along the shore?" he demanded.
 
"Certainly not!" she replied.
 
"Didn't the moon fall into the water?" he asked.
 
"No, indeed!" his mother cried. She was astonis............