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A N ANT, walking by the river one day, said to himself, "How nice and cool this water looks! I must drink some of it." But as he began to drink, his foot slipped, and he fell in.
"Oh, somebody please help me, or I shall drown!" cried he.
A dove, sitting in a tree that overhung the river, heard him, and threw him a leaf. "Climb up on that leaf," said she, "and you will float ashore."
The Ant climbed up onto the leaf, which the wind blew to the shore, and he stepped upon dry land again.
"good-by, kind Dove," said he, as he ran home. "You have saved my life, ad I wish I could do something for you."
"Good-by," said the Dove; "be careful not to fall in again."
A few days after this, when the Dove was busy building her nest, the At saw a man just raising his gun to shoot her.
He ran quickly, and bit the ma's leg so hard that he cried "Oh! Oh!" and dropped his gun.
This startled the Dove and she flew away. The man picked up his gun, and walked away.
When he was gone, the Dove came back to her nest.
"Thank you, my little friend," she said. "You have saved my life."
And the little Ant was overjoyed to think he had been able to do for the Dove what the Dove had so lately done for him.