It was a good idea， for down by the brook it was cool andpleasant； so Bobby took his fiddle under his arm and carriedhis dish of bread and milk down to the bank that sloped tothe edge of the brook. It was rather a steep bank， but Bobbysat upon the edge， and placing his fiddle beside him， leanedagainst a tree and began to eat his supper.
The little dog had followed at his heels， and the cat alsocame slowly walking after him， and as Bobby ate， they satone on either side of him and looked earnestly into his faceas if they too were hungry. So he threw some of the breadto Towser， who grabbed it eagerly and swallowed it in thetwinkling of an eye. And Bobby left some of the milk in thedish for the cat， also， and she came lazily up and drank it in adainty， sober fashion， and licked both the dish and spoon untilno drop of the milk was left.
Then Bobby picked up his fiddle and tuned it and began toplay some of the pretty tunes he knew. And while he played hewatched the moon rise higher and higher until it was reflectedin the smooth， still water of the brook. Indeed， Bobby couldnot tell which was the plainest to see， the moon in the sky orthe moon in the water. The little dog lay quietly on one sideof him， and the cat softly purred upon the other， and even themoolie-cow was attracted by the music and wandered nearuntil she was browsing the grass at the edge of the brook.
After a time， when Bobby had played all the tunes he knew，he laid the fiddle down beside him， near to where the cat slept，and then he lay down upon the bank and began to think.
It is very hard to think long upon a dreamy summer nightwithout falling asleep， and very soon Bobby’s eyes closed andhe forgot all about the dog and the cat and the cow and thefiddle， and dreamed he was Jack the Giant Killer and was justabout to slay the biggest giant in the world.
And while he dreamed， the cat sat up and yawned andstretched herself； and then began wagging her long tail from sideto side and watching the moon that was reflected in the water.
But the fiddle lay just behind her， and as she moved her tail，she drew it between the strings of the fiddle， where it caughtfast. Then she gave her tail a jerk and pulled the fiddle againstthe tree， which made a loud noise. This frightened the catgreatly， and not knowing what was the matter with her tail， shestarted to run as fast as she could. But still the fiddle clung toher tail， and at every step it bounded along and made such anoise that she screamed with terror. And in her fright she ranstraight towards the cow， which， seeing a black streak comingat her， and hearing the racket made by the fiddle， became alsofrightened and made such a jump to get out of the way thatshe jumped right across the brook， leaping over the very spotwhere the moon shone in the water！
Bobby had been awakened by the noise， and opened his eyesin time to see the cow jump； and at first it seemed to him thatshe had actually jumped over the moon in the sky， instead ofthe one in the brook.
The dog was delighted at the sudden excitement caused bythe cat， and ran barking and dancing along the bank， so that hepresently knocked against the dish， and behold！ it slid downthe bank， carrying the spoon with it， and fell with a splash intothe water of the brook.
As soon as Bobby recovered from his surprise he ran afterthe cat， which had raced to the house， and soon came to wherethe fiddle lay upon the ground， it having at last dropped fromthe cat’s tail. He examined it carefully， and was glad to findit was not hurt， in spite of its rough usage. And then he hadto go across the brook and drive the cow back over the littlebridge， and also to roll up his sleeve and reach into the waterto recover the dish and the spoon.
Then he went back to the house and lighted a lamp， and satdown to compose a new tune before his father and motherreturned.
The cat had recovered from her fright and lay quietly underthe stove， and Towser sat upon the floor panting， with hismouth wide open， and looking so comical that Bobby thoughthe was actually laughing at the whole occurrence.
And these were the words to the tune that Bobby composedthat night：
Hey， diddle， diddle，
The cat and the fiddle，
The cow jumped over the moon！
The little dog laughed
To see such sport，
And the dish ran off with the spoon！