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 The Pig Brother 
 
 La^ura^ E.Richzwrds 
 
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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Education 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 Jane Eshleman Conant 
 
THE PIG BROTHER 
 
 AND 
 
 OTHER FABLES AND STORIES 
 
 A SUPPLEMENTARY READER 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 FOURTH SCHOOL YEAR 
 
 BT 
 
 LAURA E. RICHARDS 
 
 4UTHOB OF '*THE GOLDEN WINDOWS," "THE 8ILVER CROWN,' 
 
 *'IN MY NURSERY," '' THE JOYOU8 3TOBY 
 
 OF TOTO," ETC., ETC. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 
 1911 
 
Copyright, 1881, 1885, 1890, by Roberts Brothers^ 
 
 Copyright, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, by The Century Co. 
 
 Copyright, 1895, ft^ Estes and Lauriat. 
 
 Copyright, 1903, 1906, 1908, by Little, Brown, and Company. 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
 JIduoation 
 
 GIFT 
 
 iPrfntera 
 8. J. Pabkhill & Co., BoaxoK, U. 8. A. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 95:4 
 
 no?. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 The Pig Brother 1 
 
 The Golden Windows . » 5 
 
 The Coming of the King 11 
 
 Swing Song 15 
 
 The Great Feast 17 
 
 The Owl and the Eel and the Warming - pan . 20 
 
 The Wheat Field 21 
 
 About Angels 24 
 
 The Apron String 29 
 
 The Shadow 32 
 
 The Sailor Man 34 
 
 " Go " and " Come " 37 
 
 Child's Play 39 
 
 Little John Bottlejohn 42 
 
 A Fortune , 44 
 
 The Stars 46 
 
 Buttercup Gold 48 
 
 The Patient Cat . . . . . . . .57 
 
 Alice's Supper 60 
 
 The Quacky Duck 62 
 
 At the Little Boy's Home 65 
 
 New Year 67 
 
 Jacky Frost 71 
 
 The Cake 72 
 
 "Oh, Dear!" . 75 
 
 The Useful Coal 84 
 
 Song of the Little Winds 92 
 
 vii 
 
 422 
 
viii CONTENTS 
 
 FA«X 
 
 The Three Remarks 93 
 
 HoKEY Pokey 106 
 
 The Tangled Skein 119 
 
 A Song for Hal 122 
 
 For You and Me 125 
 
 The Burning House 127 
 
 The Naughty Comet 129 
 
 Day Dreams 141 
 
THE PIG BROTHER 
 
 HERE was once a child 
 who was untidy. He 
 left his books on the 
 floor, and his muddy 
 shoes on the table ; 
 he put his fingers in 
 the jam-pots, and spilled 
 ink on his best pina- 
 fore ; there was really no end to his un- 
 tidiness. 
 
 One day the Tidy Angel came into his 
 nursery. 
 
 " This will never do ! " said the Angel. 
 "This is really shocking. You must go 
 out and stay with your brother while I 
 set things to rights here." 
 
 " I have no brother ! " said the child. 
 " Yes, you have ! " said the Angel. " You 
 may not know him, but he will know you. 
 Go out in the garden and watch for him, 
 and he will soon come." 
 
 1 
 
2 THE PIG BROTHER 
 
 "I don't know what you mean!'* said 
 the child ; but he went out into the garden 
 and waited. 
 
 Presently a squirrel came along, whisk- 
 ing his tail. 
 
 *' Are you my brother ? " asked the child. 
 
 The squirrel looked him over carefully. 
 
 "Well, I should hope not!" he said. 
 " My fur is neat and smooth, my nest is 
 handsomely made, and in perfect order, 
 and my young ones are properly brought 
 up. Why do you insult me by asking 
 such a question?" 
 
 He whisked off, and the child waited. 
 
 Presently a wren came hopping by. 
 
 " Are you my brother ? " asked the child. 
 
 " No indeed I " said the wren. " What 
 impertinence ! You will find no tidier 
 person than 1 in the whole garden. Not 
 a feather is out of place, and my eggs 
 are the wonder of all for smoothness and 
 beauty. Brother, indeed 1 " He hopped 
 off, ruffling his feathers, and the child 
 waited. 
 
 By arid by a large Tommy Cat came 
 along. 
 
 " Are you my brother ? " asked the child. 
 
THE PIG BROTHER 3 
 
 " Go and look at yourself in the glass," 
 said the Tommy Cat haughtily, " and you 
 will have your answer. I have been wash- 
 ing myself in the sun all the morning, 
 while it is clear that no water has come 
 near you for a long time. There are no 
 such creatures as you in my family, I am 
 humbly thankful to say." 
 
 He walked on, waving his tail, and the 
 child waited. - 
 
 Presently a pig came trotting along. 
 
 The child did not wish to ask the pig 
 if he were his brother, but the pig did not 
 wait to be asked. 
 
 " Hallo, brother ! " he grunted. 
 
 " I am not your brother I " said the child. 
 
 " Oh, yes, you are ! " said the pig. " I 
 confess I am not proud of you, but there 
 is no mistaking the members of our family. 
 Come along, and have a good roll in the 
 barnyard I There is some lovely black 
 mud there." 
 
 " I don't like to roll in mud 1 " said the 
 child. 
 
 " Tell that to the hens 1 " said the pig 
 brother. " Look at your hands, and your 
 shoes, and your pinafore! Come along, 
 
4 THE PIG BROTHER 
 
 I say ! You may have some of the pig- 
 wash for supper, if there is more than I 
 want." 
 
 " I don't want pig- wash ! " said the child ; 
 and he began to cry. 
 
 Just then the Tidy Angel came out. 
 
 " I have set everything to rights," she 
 said, " and so it must stay. Now, will 
 you go wdth the Pig Brother, or will you 
 come back with me, and be a tidy child ? " 
 
 " With you, with you ! " cried the child ; 
 and he clung to the Angel's dress. 
 
 The Pig Brother grunted. 
 
 " Small loss ! " he said. " There will be 
 all the more wash for me ! " and he trotted 
 on. 
 
THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 LL day long the little boy 
 worked hard, in field and 
 barn and shed, for his people 
 were poor farmers, and 
 could not pay a workman; 
 but at sunset there came 
 an hour that was all his 
 own, for his father had given it to him. 
 Then the boy would go up to the top of 
 a hill and look across at another hill that 
 rose some miles away. On this far hill 
 stood a house with windows of clear gold 
 and diamonds. They shone and blazed 
 so that it made the boy wink to look at 
 them : but after a while the people in the 
 house put up shutters, as it seemed, and 
 then it looked like any common farm- 
 
 6 
 
6 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 house. The boy supposed they did this 
 because it was supper-time; and then he 
 would go into the house and have his 
 supper of bread and milk, and so to bed. 
 
 One day the boy's father called him and 
 said: "You have been a good boy, and 
 have earned a holiday. Take this day for 
 your own ; but remember that God gave 
 it, and try to learn some good thing." 
 
 The boy thanked his father and kissed 
 his mother ; then he put a piece of bread 
 in his pocket, and started off to find the 
 house with the golden windows. 
 
 It was pleasant walking. His bare feet 
 made marks in the white dust, and when 
 he looked back, the footprints seemed to 
 be following him, and making company 
 for him. His shadow, too, kept beside 
 him, and would dance or run with him as 
 he pleased ; so it was very cheerful. 
 
 By and by he felt hungry ; and he sat 
 down by a brown brook that ran through 
 the alder hedge by the roadside, and ate 
 his bread, and drank the clear water. 
 Then he scattered the crumbs for the 
 birds, as his mother had taught him to 
 do, and went on his way. 
 
THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 7 
 
 AiPter a long time he came to a high 
 green hill ; and when he had climbed the 
 hill, there was the house on the top ; but 
 it seemed that the shutters were up, for 
 he could not see the golden windows. He 
 came up to the house, and then he could 
 well have wept, for the windows were of 
 clear glass, like any others, and there was 
 no gold anywhere about them. 
 
 A woman came to the door, and looked 
 kindly at the boy, and asked him what he 
 wanted. 
 
 " I saw the golden windows from our 
 hilltop," he said, " and I came to see them, 
 but now they are only glass." 
 
 The woman shook her head and laughed. 
 
 " We are poor farming people," she said, 
 "and are not likely to have gold about 
 our windows; but glass is better to see 
 through." 
 
 She bade the boy sit down on the 
 broad stone step at the door, and brought 
 him a cup of milk and a cake, and bade 
 him rest; then she called her daugh- 
 ter, a child of his own age, and nodded 
 kindly at the two, and went back to her 
 work. 
 
8 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 The little girl was barefooted like him- 
 self, and wore a brown cotton gown, but 
 her hair was golden like the windows he 
 had seen, and her eyes were blue like the 
 sky at noon. She led the boy about the 
 farm, and showed him her black calf with 
 the white star on its forehead, and he 
 told her about his own at home, which 
 was red like a chestnut, with four white 
 feet. Then when they had eaten an apple 
 together, and so had become friends, the 
 boy asked her about the golden windows. 
 The little girl nodded, and said she knew 
 all about them, only he had mistaken the 
 house. 
 
 " You have come quite the wrong way I " 
 she said. " Come with me, and I will 
 show you the house with the golden win- 
 dows, and then you will see for yourself" 
 
 They went to a knoll that rose behind 
 the farmhouse, and as they went the little 
 girl told him that the golden windows 
 could only be seen at a certain hour, about 
 sunset. 
 
 " Yes, I know that I " said the boy. 
 
 When they reached the top of the knoll, 
 the girl turned and pointed ; and there on 
 
THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 9 
 
 a hill far away stood a house with windows 
 of dear gold and diamond, just as he had 
 seen them. And when they looked again, 
 the boy saw that it was his own home. 
 
 Then he told the little girl that he must 
 go; and he gave her his best pebble, the 
 white one with the red band, that he had 
 carried for a year in his pocket ; and she 
 gave him three horse-chestnuts, one red 
 like satin, one spotted, and one white like 
 milk. He kissed her, and promised to 
 come again, but he did not tell her what 
 he had learned ; and so he went back down 
 the hill, and the little girl stood in the 
 sunset light and watched him. 
 
 The way home was long, and it was 
 dark before the boy reached his father's 
 house ; but the lamplight and firelight 
 shone through the windows, making them 
 almost as bright as he had seen them from 
 the hilltop ; and when he opened the door, 
 his mother came to kiss him, and his little 
 sister ran to throw her arms about his 
 neck, and his father looked up and smiled 
 from his seat by the fire. 
 
 " Have you had a good day ? " asked his 
 mother. 
 
10 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 Yes, the boy had had a very good day. 
 
 " And have you learned anything ? " asked 
 his father. 
 
 " Yes ! " said the boy. " I have learned 
 that our house has windows of gold and 
 diamond." 
 
THE COMING OF THE KING 
 
 OME children were at play 
 in their play-ground one 
 day, when a herald rode 
 through the town, blow- 
 ing a trumpet, and crying 
 aloud, " The King ! the 
 King passes by this road 
 to-day. Make ready for the King I " 
 
 The children stopped their play, and 
 looked at one another. 
 
 " Did you hear that ? " they said. " The 
 King is coming. He may look over the 
 wall and see our playground ; who knows ? 
 We must put it in order." 
 
 The playground was sadly dirty, and 
 in the corners were scraps of paper and 
 broken toys, for these were careless chil- 
 dren. But now, one brought a hoe, and 
 another a rake, and a third ran to fetch 
 the wheelbarrow from behind the garden 
 gate. They labored hard, till at length 
 
 all was clean and tidy, 
 
 11 
 
12 THE COMING OF THE KING 
 
 " Now it is clean ! " they said ; " but we 
 must make it pretty, too, for kings are 
 used to fine things ; maybe he would not 
 notice mere cleanness, for he may have it 
 all the time/' 
 
 Then one brought sweet rushes and 
 strewed them on the ground ; and others 
 made garlands of oak leaves and pine 
 tassels and hung them on the walls ; and 
 the littlest one pulled marigold buds and 
 threw them all about the playground, " to 
 look like gold," he said. 
 
 When all was done the playground was 
 so beautiful that the children stood and 
 looked at it, and clapped their hands with 
 pleasure. 
 
 " Let us keep it always like this ! " said 
 the littlest one; and the others cried, 
 " Yes 1 yes ! that is what we will do." 
 
 They waited all day for the coming 
 of the King, but he never came ; only, 
 towards sunset, a man wdth travel-worn 
 clothes, and a kind, tired face passed along 
 the road, and stopped to look over the 
 wall. 
 
 " What a pleasant place ! '' said the man. 
 " May I come in and rest, dear children ? " 
 
THE COMING OF THE KING 13 
 
 The children brought him in gladly, and 
 set him on the seat that they had made 
 out of an old cask. They had covered it 
 with the old red cloak to make it look Uke 
 a throne, and it made a very good one. 
 
 " It is our playgTound ! ' they said. 
 " We made it pretty for the King, but he 
 did not come, and now we mean to keep 
 it so for ourselves." 
 
 " That is good ! " said the man. 
 
 " Because we think pretty and clean is 
 nicer than ugly and dirty ! " said another. 
 
 " That is better 1 " said the man. 
 
 " And for tired people to rest in ! " said 
 the littlest one. 
 
 " That is best of all ! " said the man. 
 
 He sat and rested, and looked at the 
 children with such kind eyes that they 
 came about him, and told him all they 
 knew ; about the five puppies in the barn, 
 and the thrush's nest with four blue 
 eggs, and the shore where the gold shells 
 grew; and the man nodded and under- 
 stood all about it. 
 
 By and by he asked for a cup of water, 
 and they brought it to him in the best 
 cup, with the gold sprigs on it: then he 
 
14 THE COMING OF THE KING 
 
 thanked the children, and rose and went 
 on his way; but before he went he laid 
 his hand on their heads for a moment, 
 and the touch went warm to their hearts. 
 
 The children stood by the wall and 
 watched the man as he went slowly along. 
 The sun was setting, and the light fell in 
 long slanting rays across the road. 
 
 " He looks so tired ! " said one of the 
 children. 
 
 " But he was so kind ! " said another. 
 
 "See!" said the littlest one. "How 
 the sun shines on his hair! it looks like 
 a crown of gold." 
 
SWING SONG 
 
 S I swing, as I swing, 
 Here beneath my 
 
 mother's wing, 
 Here beneath my 
 
 mother's arm. 
 Never earthly thing 
 can harm. 
 Up and down, to and fro. 
 With a steady sweep I go. 
 Like a swallow on the wing. 
 As I swing, as I swing. 
 
 As I swing, as I swing. 
 Honey-bee comes murmuring. 
 Humming softly in my ear, 
 " Come away with me, my dear ! 
 In the tiger-lily's cup 
 Sweetest honey we will sup." 
 Go away, you velvet thing ! 
 I must swing ! I must swing ! 
 
 15 
 
16 SWING SONG 
 
 As I swing, as I swing, 
 Butterfly comes fluttering, 
 ** Little child, now come away 
 'Mid the clover-blooms to play; 
 Clover-blooms are red and white. 
 Sky is blue and sun is bright. 
 Why then thus, with folded wing. 
 Sit and swing, sit and swing ? " 
 
 As I swing, as I swing. 
 Oriole comes hovering. 
 " See my nest in yonder tree ! 
 Little child, come work with me. 
 Learn to make a perfect nest. 
 That of all things is the best. 
 Come ! nor longer loitering 
 Sit and swing, sit and swing ! " 
 
 As I swing, as I swing, 
 Though I have not any wing. 
 Still I would not change with you. 
 Happiest bird that ever flew. 
 Butterfly and honey-bee, 
 Sure 't is you must envy me, 
 Safe beneath my mother's wing 
 As I swing, as I swing. 
 
THE GREAT FEAST 
 
 NCE the Play Angel 
 came into a nursery 
 where four little chil- 
 dren sat on the floor 
 with sad and troubled 
 faces. 
 
 " What is the matter, 
 dears ? " asked the Play Angel. 
 
 "We wanted to have a grand feast!" 
 said the child whose nursery it was. 
 
 "Yes, that would be delightful!" said 
 the Play Angel. 
 
 " But there is only one cooky ! " said the 
 child whose nursery it was. 
 
 " And it is a very small cooky ! " said 
 the child who was a cousin, and therefore 
 felt a right to speak. 
 
 "Not big enough for myself!" said the 
 child whose nursery it was. 
 
 The other two children said nothing, 
 because they were not relations ; but they 
 
 17 
 
18 THE GREAT FEAST 
 
 looked at the cooky with large eyes, and 
 their mouths went up in the middle and 
 down at the sides. 
 
 " Well," said the Play Angel, " suppose 
 we have the feast just the same ! I think 
 we can manage it." 
 
 She broke the cooky into four pieces, 
 and gave one piece to the littlest child. 
 
 " See I " she said. " This is a roast 
 chicken, a Brown Bantam. It is just as 
 brown and crispy as it can be, and there 
 is cranberry sauce on one side, and on the 
 other a little mountain of mashed potato ; 
 it must be a volcano, it smokes so. Do 
 you see?" 
 
 " Yes 1 " said the littlest one ; and his 
 mouth went down in the middle and up 
 at the corners. 
 
 The Play Angel gave a piece to the 
 next child. 
 
 " Here," she said, " is a little pie ! Out- 
 side, as you see, it is brown and crusty, 
 with a wreath of pastry leaves round the 
 edge and * For You' in the middle; but 
 inside it is all chicken and ham and jelly 
 and hard-boiled eggs. Did ever you see 
 such a pie ? " 
 
THE GREAT FEAST 19 
 
 " Never I did ! " said the child. 
 
 "Now here," said the Angel to the 
 third child, "is a round cake. Look at 
 it ! the frosting is half an inch thick, with 
 candied rose-leaves and angelica laid on 
 in true-lovers' knots ; and inside there are 
 chopped-up almonds, and raisins, and great 
 slices of citron. It is the prettiest cake 
 I ever saw, and the best." 
 
 " So it is I did ! " said the third child. 
 
 Then the Angel gave the last piece to 
 the child whose nursery it was. 
 
 " My dear ! " she said. " Just look ! 
 Here is an ice-cream rabbit. He is 
 snow-white outside, with eyes of red 
 barley sugar; see his ears, and his little 
 snubby tail ! but inside, I think you will 
 find him pink. Now, when I clap my 
 hands and count one, two, three, you 
 must eat the feast all up. One — two — 
 three!" 
 
 So the children ate the feast all up. 
 
 " There ! " said the Angel. " Did ever 
 you see such a grand feast ? " 
 
 " No, never we did ! " said all the four 
 children together. 
 
 *' And there are some crumbs left over,*' 
 
20 THE GREAT FEAST 
 
 said the Angel. " Come, and we will give 
 them to the brother birds ! " 
 
 *' But you did n't have any ! " said the 
 child whose nursery it was. 
 
 "Oh, yes I" said the Angel. "I had 
 it aUI" 
 
 THE OWL AND THE EEL AND 
 THE WARMING-PAN 
 
 The owl and the eel and the warming- 
 pan, 
 
 They went to call on the soap-fat man. 
 
 The soap-fat man he was not within: 
 
 He'd gone for a ride on his rolling-pin. 
 
 So they all came back by the way of the 
 town. 
 
 And turned the meeting-house upside 
 down. 
 
THE WHEAT-FIELD 
 
 OME children were set 
 to reap in a wheat-field. 
 The wheat was yellow 
 as gold, the sun shone 
 gloriously, and the but- 
 terflies flew hither and 
 thither. Some of the 
 children worked better, and some worse; 
 but there was one who ran here and there 
 after the butterflies that fluttered about 
 his head, and sang as he ran. 
 
 By and by evening came, and the Angel 
 of the wheat-field called to the children 
 and said, "Come now to the gate, and 
 bring your sheaves with you." 
 
 So the children came, bringing their 
 sheaves. Some had great piles, laid close 
 and even, so that they might carry more ; 
 some had theirs laid large and loose, so 
 that they looked more than they were; 
 but one, the child that had run to and fro 
 after the butterflies, came empty-handed. 
 
 21 
 
22 THE WHEAT- FIELD 
 
 The Angel said to this child, " Where 
 are your sheaves ? " 
 
 The child hung his head. " I do not 
 know I " he said. " I had some, but I 
 have lost them, I know not how." 
 
 " None enter here without sheaves," said 
 the Angel. 
 
 " I know that," said the child. '' But 
 I thought I would like to see the place 
 where the others were going ; besides, they 
 would not let me leave them." 
 
 Then all the other children cried out 
 together. One said, " Dear Angel, let him 
 in ! In the morning I was sick, and this 
 child came and played with me, and 
 showed me the butterflies, and I forgot 
 my pain. Also, he gave me one of his 
 sheaves, and I would give it to him again, 
 but I cannot tell it now from my own." 
 
 Another said, " Dear Angel, let him in I 
 At noon the sun beat on my head so 
 fiercely that I fainted and fell down like 
 one dead ; and this child came running by, 
 and when he saw me he brought water 
 to revive me, and then he showed me the 
 butterflies, and was so glad and merry 
 that my strength returned ; to me also he 
 
THE WHEAT FIELD. 
 
 [P<ifl«22, 
 
THE WHEAT -FIELD 23 
 
 gave one of his sheaves, and I would give 
 it to him again, but it is so like my own 
 that I cannot tell it." 
 
 And a third said, " Just now, as evening 
 was coming, I was weary and sad, and 
 had so few sheaves that it seemed hardly 
 worth my while to go on working; but 
 this child comforted me, and showed me 
 the butterflies, and gave me of his sheaves. 
 Look ! it may be that this was his ; and 
 yet I cannot tell, it is so like my own." 
 
 And all the children said, " We also had 
 sheaves of him, dear Angel ; let him in, 
 we pray you ! " 
 
 The Angel smiled, and reached his hand 
 inside the gate and brought out a pile 
 of sheaves ; it was not large, but the glory 
 of the sun was on it, so that it seemed to 
 lighten the whole field. 
 
 " Here are his sheaves ! " said the Angel. 
 " They are known and counted, every one." 
 And he said to the child, " Lead the way 
 inl" 
 
ABOUT ANGELS 
 
 OTHER;^ said 
 the child ; " are 
 there really an- 
 gels ? " 
 
 "The Good 
 
 Book says so," 
 
 said the mother. 
 
 " Yes," said the child ; " I have seen 
 
 the picture. But did you ever see one, 
 
 mother ? " 
 
 " I think 1 have," said the mother ; " but 
 she was not dressed like the picture." 
 
 "I am going to find one I" said the 
 child. " I am going to run along the road, 
 miles, and miles, and miles, until I find an 
 angel." 
 
 " That will be a good .plan I " said the 
 mother. "And I will go with you, for 
 you are too little to run far alone." 
 
 " I am not little any more ! " said the 
 child. " I have trousers ; I am big." 
 
 24 
 
ABOUT ANGELS 25 
 
 " So you are ! " said the mother. " I 
 forgot. But it is a fine day, and I should 
 like the walk." 
 
 " But you walk so slowly, with your 
 lame foot." 
 
 " I can walk faster than you think ! " 
 said the mother. 
 
 So they started, the child leaping and 
 running, and the mother stepping out so 
 bravely with her lame foot that the child 
 soon forgot about it. 
 
 The child danced on ahead, and pres- 
 ently he saw a chariot coming towards 
 him, drawn by prancing white horses. 
 In the chariot sat a splendid lady in 
 velvet and furs, with white plumes wav- 
 ing above her dark hair. As she moved 
 in her seat, she flashed with jewels and 
 gold, but her eyes were brighter than her 
 diamonds. 
 
 "Are you an angel?" asked the child, 
 running up beside the chariot. 
 
 The lady made no reply, but stared 
 coldly at the child : then she spoke a word 
 to her coachman, and he flicked his whip, 
 and the chariot rolled away swiftly in a 
 cloud of dust, and disappeared. 
 
26 ABOUT ANGELS 
 
 The dust filled the child's eyes and 
 mouth, and made him choke and sneeze. 
 He gasped for breath, and rubbed his 
 eyes ; but presently his mother came up, 
 and wiped away the dust with her blue 
 gingham apron. 
 
 *' That was not an angel ! " said the child. 
 
 " No, indeed ! " said the mother. " Noth- 
 ing like one 1 " 
 
 The child danced on again, leaping and 
 running from side to side of the road, 
 and the mother followed as best she 
 might. 
 
 By and by the child met a most beauti- 
 ful maiden, clad in a white dress. Her 
 eyes were Uke blue stars, and the blushes 
 came and went in her face like roses look- 
 ing through snow. 
 
 " I am sure you must be an angel ! " cried 
 the child. 
 
 The maiden blushed more sweetly than 
 before. " You dear little child ! " she cried. 
 " Some one else said that, only last even- 
 ing. Do I really look like an angel ? " 
 
 " You are an angel 1 " said the child. 
 
 The maiden took him up in her arms 
 and kissed him, and held him tenderly. 
 
ABOUT ANGELS 27 
 
 " You are the dearest little thing I ever 
 saw!" she said. "Tell me what makes 
 you think sol" But suddenly her face 
 changed. 
 
 " Oh ! " she cried. ** There he is, com- 
 ing to meet me 1 And you have soiled 
 my white dress with your dusty shoes, 
 and pulled my hair all awry. Run away, 
 child, and go home to your mother ! " 
 
 She set the child down, not unkindly, 
 but so hastily that he stumbled and fell ; 
 but she did not see that, for she was hasten- 
 ing forward to meet her lover, who was 
 coming along the road. (Now if the 
 maiden had only known, he thought her 
 twice as lovely with the child in her arms ; 
 but she did not know.) 
 
 The child lay in the dusty road and 
 sobbed, till his mother came along and 
 picked him up, and wiped away the tears 
 with her blue gingham apron. 
 
 ** I don't believe that was an angel, after 
 all," he said. 
 
 " No ! " said the mother. " But she may 
 be one some day. She is young yet." 
 
 "I am th-edl" said the child. "Will 
 you carry me home, mother ? " 
 
28 ABOUT ANGELS 
 
 " Why, yes ! " said the mother. " That 
 is what I came for." 
 
 The child put his arms round his mother's 
 neck, and she held him tight and trudged 
 along the road, singing the song he liked 
 best. 
 
 Suddenly he looked up in her face. 
 
 " Mother," he said ; " I don't suppose 
 you could be an angel, could you ? " 
 
 "Oh, what a foolish child 1" said the 
 mother. "Who ever heard of an angel 
 in a blue gingham apron ? " and she went 
 on singing, and stepped out so bravely on 
 her lame foot that no one would ever have 
 known she was lame. 
 
THE APRON-STRING 
 
 NCE upon a time a boy 
 played about the house, 
 running by his moth- 
 er's side ; and as he 
 was very httle, his 
 mother tied him to the 
 string of her apron. 
 "Now," she said, "when you stumble, 
 you can pull yourself up by the apron- 
 string, and so you will not fall." 
 
 The boy did that, and all went well, 
 and the mother sang at her work. 
 
 By and by the boy grew so tall that his 
 head came above the window-sill; and 
 looking through the window, he saw far 
 away green trees waving, and a flowing 
 river that flashed in the sun, and rising 
 above all, blue peaks of mountains. 
 
 "Oh, mother," he said; "untie the 
 apron-string and let me gol" 
 
 But the mother said, "Not yet, my 
 child 1 only yesterday you stumbled, and 
 
 29 
 
30 THE APRON » STRING 
 
 would have fallen but for the apron-string. 
 Wait yet a little, till you are stronger." 
 
 So the boy waited, and all went as be- 
 fore ; and the mother sang at her work. 
 
 But one day the boy found the door of 
 the house standing open, for it was spring 
 weather; and he stood on the threshold 
 and looked across the valley, and saw the 
 green trees waving, and the swift-flowing 
 river with the sun flashing on it, and the 
 blue mountains rising beyond ; and this 
 time he heard the voice of the river call- 
 ing, and it said " Come ! " 
 
 Then the boy started forward, and as 
 he started, the string of the apron broke, 
 
 " Oh ! how weak my mother's apron- 
 string is ! " cried the boy ; and he ran out 
 into the world, with the broken string 
 hanging beside him. 
 
 The mother gathered up the other end 
 of the string and put it in her bosom, and 
 went about her work again ; but she sang 
 no more. 
 
 The boy ran on and on, rejoicing in his 
 freedom, and in the fresh air and the 
 morning sun. He crossed the valley, and 
 began to climb the foothills among which 
 
THE APRON -STRING 31 
 
 the river flowed swiftly, among rocks and 
 cliffs. Now it was easy climbing, and 
 again it was steep and craggy, but always 
 he looked upward at the blue peaks be- 
 yond, and alw^ays the voice of the river 
 was in his ears, saying " Come ! " 
 
 By and by he came to the brink of a 
 precipice, over which the river dashed in 
 a cataract, foaming and flashing, and send- 
 ing up clouds of silver spray. The spray 
 filled his eyes, so that he did not see his 
 footing clearly; he grew dizzy, stumbled, 
 and fell. But as he fell, something about 
 him caught on a point of rock at the 
 precipice-edge, and held him, so that he 
 hung dangling over the abyss ; and when 
 he put up his hand to see what held him, 
 he found that it was the broken string of 
 the apron, which still hung by his side. 
 
 " Oh ! how strong my mother's apron- 
 string is ! " said the boy : and he drew 
 himself up by it, and stood firm on his 
 feet, and went on climbing toward the 
 blue peaks of the mountains. 
 
THE SHADOW 
 
 N Angel heard a child 
 crying one day, and 
 came to see what 
 ailed it. He found 
 the little one sitting 
 on the ground, with 
 the sun at its back 
 (for the day was young), looking at its 
 own shadow, which lay on the ground 
 before it, and weeping bitterly. 
 
 " What ails you, little one ? " asked the 
 Angel. 
 
 " The world is so dark ! " said the child. 
 " See, it is all dusky gray, and there is no 
 beauty in it. Why must I stay in this 
 sad, gray world?" 
 
 " Do you not hear the birds singing, and 
 the other children calling at their play?" 
 asked the Angel. 
 
 " Yes," said the child ; " I hear them, 
 but I do not know where they are. I 
 cannot see them, 1 see only the shadow. 
 
 32 
 
THE SHADOW 33 
 
 Moreover, if they saw it, they would not 
 sing and call, but would weep as I do." 
 
 The Angel lifted the child, and set it on 
 its feet, with its face to the early sun. 
 
 " Look ! " said the Angel. 
 
 The child brushed away the tears from 
 its eyes and looked. Before them lay the 
 fields all green and gold, shining with 
 dewdrops, and the other children were 
 running to and fro, laughing and shout- 
 ing, and crowning one another with 
 blossoms. 
 
 " Why, there are the children ! " said the 
 little one. 
 
 " Yes," said the Angel ; ** there they 
 are. 
 
 " And the sun is shining I " cried the 
 child. 
 
 ** Yes," said the Angel ; " it was shining 
 all the time." 
 
 " And the shadow is gone I " 
 
 " Oh, no ! " said the Angel ; " the shadow 
 is behind you, where it belongs. Run, 
 now, and gather flowers for the littlest 
 one, who sits in the grass there!" 
 
THE SAILOR MAN 
 
 NCE upon a time two chil- 
 dren came to the house 
 of a sailor man, who 
 lived beside the salt 
 sea ; and they found the 
 sailor man sitting in his 
 doorway knotting ropes. 
 "How do you do?" asked the sailor 
 man. 
 
 " We are very well, thank you," said the 
 children, who had learned manners, "and 
 we hope you are the same. We heard 
 that you had a boat, and we thought that 
 perhaps you would take us out in her, and 
 teach us how to sail, for that is what we 
 wish most to know." 
 
 " All in good time," said the sailor man. 
 " I am busy now, but by and by, when my 
 work is done, I may perhaps take one of 
 you if you are ready to learn. Meantime 
 here are some ropes that need knotting; 
 you might be doing that, since it has to 
 
 34 
 
THE SAILOR MAN. 
 
 [Pnf/e 34. 
 
THE SAILOR MAN 35 
 
 be done." And he showed them how the 
 knots should be tied, and went away and 
 left them. 
 
 When he was gone the first child ran 
 to the window and looked out. 
 
 "There is the sea/' he said. "The 
 waves come up on the beach, almost 
 to the door of the house. They run 
 up all white, like prancing horses, and 
 then they go dragging back. Come and 
 look I'' 
 
 " I cannot," said the second child. " I 
 am tying a knot." 
 
 " Oh ! " cried the first child, " I see the 
 boat. She is dancing Uke a lady at a 
 ball; I never saw such a beauty. Come 
 and look!" 
 
 " I cannot," said the second child. " I 
 am tying a knot." 
 
 " I shall have a delightful sail in that 
 boat," said the first child. " I expect that 
 the sailor man will take me, because I am 
 the eldest and I know more about it. 
 There was no need of my watching when 
 he showed you the knots, because I knew 
 how already." 
 
 Just then the sailor man came in. 
 
36 THE SAILOR MAN 
 
 " Well," he said, " my work is over. 
 What have you been doing in the 
 meantime ? " 
 
 " I have been looking at the boat," said 
 the first child. " What a beauty she is I 
 I shall have the best time in her that ever 
 I had in my life." 
 
 "I have been tying knots," said the 
 second child. 
 
 "Come, then," said the sailor man, and 
 he held out his hand to the second child. 
 " I will take you out in the boat, and teach 
 you to sail her." 
 
 " But I am the eldest," cried the first 
 child, " and I know a great deal more 
 than she does." 
 
 " That may be," said the sailor man ; 
 "but a person must learn to tie a knot 
 before he can learn to sail a boat." 
 
 " But I have learned to tie a knot," cried 
 the child. " I know all about it ! " 
 
 " How can I tell that ? " asked the sailor 
 man. 
 
"GO" AND "COME" 
 
 ITTLE boy," said the nurse 
 one day, " you would be far 
 better at work. Your gar- 
 den needs weeding sadly ; 
 go now and weed it, like 
 a good child I " 
 But the little boy did not feel like 
 weeding that day. 
 
 " I can't do it," he said. 
 " Oh ! yes, you can," said the nurse. 
 " Well, I don't want to," said the little 
 boy. 
 
 " But you must ! " said the nurse. 
 "Dont be naughty, but go at once and 
 do your work as I bid you ! " 
 
 She went away about her own work, for 
 she was very industrious ; but the little boy 
 sat still, and thought himself ill-used. 
 
 By and by his mother came into the 
 room and saw him. 
 
 87 
 
38 **GO" AND "COME" 
 
 "What is the matter, httle boy?" she 
 asked ; for he looked Hke a three-days' 
 rain. 
 
 " Nurse told me to weed my garden," 
 said the little boy. 
 
 " Oh," said his mother, " what fun that 
 will be ! I love to weed, and it is such a 
 fine day ! May n't I come and help ? " 
 
 " Why, yes," said the little boy. " You 
 may." And they weeded the garden beau- 
 tifully, and had a glorious time. 
 
CHILD'S PLAY 
 
 NCE a child was sitting 
 on a great log that 
 lay by the roadside, 
 playing ; and an- 
 other child came 
 along, and stopped to 
 speak to him. 
 " What are you doing ? " asked the 
 second child. 
 
 " I am sailing to the Southern Seas,'* 
 replied the first, *'to get a cargo of mon- 
 keys, and elephant tusks, and crystal balls 
 as large as oranges. Come up here, and 
 you may sail with me if you like." 
 
 So the second child climbed upon the 
 log. 
 
 "Look!" said the first child. "See 
 how the foam bubbles up before the ship, 
 and trails and floats away behind ! Look ! 
 the water is so clear that we can see the 
 fishes swimming about, blue and red and 
 
 39 
 
40 CHILD'S PLAY 
 
 green. There goes a parrot-fish ; my 
 father told me about them. I should not 
 wonder if we saw a whale in about a 
 minute." 
 
 " What are you talking about ? " asked 
 the second child, peevishly. " There is no 
 water here, only grass ; and anyhow this 
 is nothing but a log. You cannot get to 
 islands in this way." 
 
 " But we have got to them," cried the 
 first child. " We are at them now. I see 
 the palm-trees waving, and the white sand 
 glittering. Look 1 there are the natives 
 gathering to welcome us on the beach. 
 They have feather cloaks, and necklaces, 
 and anklets of copper as red as gold. 
 Oh ! and there is an elephant coming 
 straight toward us." 
 
 " I should think you would be ashamed," 
 said the second child. " That is Widow 
 Slocum." 
 
 " It 's all the same," said the first child. 
 
 Presently the second child got down 
 from the log. 
 
 "I am going to play stick-knife," he 
 said. "I don't see any sense in this. I 
 think you are pretty dull to play things 
 
CHILD'S PLAY 41 
 
 that are n't really there." And he walked 
 slowly away. 
 
 The first child looked after him a 
 moment. 
 
 " I think you are pretty dull," he said 
 to himself, " to see nothing but what is 
 under your nose." 
 
 But he was too well-mannered to say 
 this aloud ; and having taken in his cargo, 
 he sailed for another port. 
 
LITTLE JOHN BOTTLEJOHN 
 
 ITTLE John Bottle- 
 john lived on the 
 hill, 
 And a blithe little 
 man was he. 
 And he won the 
 heart of a pretty 
 mermaid 
 Who lived in the deep blue sea. 
 And every evening she used to sit 
 
 And sing on the rocks by the sea, 
 '' Oh ! little John Bottlejohn, pretty John 
 Bottlejohn, 
 Won't you come out to me ? '* 
 
 Little John Bottlejohn heard her song, 
 And he opened his little door. 
 
 And he hopped and he skipped, and he 
 skipped and he hopped, 
 Until he came down to the shore. 
 
 42 
 
LITTLE JOHN BOTTLEJOHN 43 
 
 And there on the rocks sat the little mer- 
 maid, 
 And still she was singing so free, 
 " Oh ! little John Bottlejohn, pretty John 
 Bottlejohn, 
 Won't you come out to me ? " 
 
 Little John Bottlejohn made a bow. 
 
 And the mermaid, she made one too, 
 And she said, " Oh ! I never saw any 
 one half 
 
 So perfectly sweet as you ! 
 In my lovely home 'neath the ocean foam, 
 
 How happy we both might be ! 
 Oh ! little John Bottlejohn, pretty John 
 Bottlejohn, 
 
 Won't you come down with me ? " 
 
 Little John Bottlejohn said, " Oh yes ! 
 
 I '11 willingly go with you. 
 And I never shall quail at the sight of 
 your tail, 
 
 For perhaps I may grow one too." 
 So he took her hand, and he left the land. 
 
 And plunged in the foaming main. 
 And little John Bottlejohn, pretty John 
 Bottlejohn, 
 
 Never was seen again. 
 
A FORTUNE 
 
 NE day a man was walking 
 along the street, and he 
 was sad at heart. Busi- 
 ness was dull ; he had 
 set his desire upon a 
 horse that cost a thousand 
 dollars, and he had only eight 
 hundred to buy it with. There were other 
 things, to be sure, that might be bought 
 with eight hundred dollars, but he did 
 not want those ; so he was sorrowful, and 
 thought the world a bad place. 
 
 As he walked, he saw a child running 
 toward him ; it was a strange child, but 
 when he looked at it, its face lightened 
 like sunshine, and broke into smiles. The 
 child held out its closed hand. 
 
 " Guess what I have ! " it cried gleefully. 
 " Something fine, I am sure ! " said the 
 man. 
 
 The child nodded and drew nearer ; then 
 opened its hand. 
 
 44 
 
A FORTUNE 45 
 
 " Look I " it said ; and the street rang 
 with its happy laughter. The man looked, 
 and in the child's hand lay a penny. 
 
 " Hurrah ! " said the child. 
 
 " Hurrah ! " said the man. 
 
 Then they parted, and the child went 
 and bought a stick of candy, and saw all 
 the world red and white in stripes. 
 
 The man went and put his eight hun- 
 dred dollars in the savings-bank, all but 
 fifty cents, and with the fifty cents he 
 bought a hobby-horse for his own little 
 boy, and the little boy saw all the world 
 brown, with white spots. 
 
 " Is this the horse you wanted so to 
 buy, father ? " asked the little boy. 
 
 " It is the. horse I have bought 1 " said 
 the man. 
 
 " Hurrah 1 " said the little boy. 
 
 " Hurrah ! " said the man. And he saw 
 that the world was a good place after all. 
 
THE STARS 
 
 LITTLE dear child lay in its 
 crib andjsobbed, because it was 
 afraid of the dark. And its 
 father, in the room below, heard 
 the sobs, irfid came up, and said, 
 " What jails you, my dearie, 
 and why do you cry ? " 
 And the child said, " Oh, father, I am 
 afraid of the dark.^ Nurse says I am too 
 big to have a taper ; but all the corners 
 are full of dreadful blackness, and I think 
 there are Things in them with eyes, that 
 would look at me if I looked at them; 
 and if they looked at me I should die. 
 Oh, father, why is it dark? why is there 
 such a terrible thing as darkness ? why 
 cannot it be always day ? " 
 
 The father took the child in his arms 
 and carried it downstairs and out into the 
 summer night. 
 
 46 
 
THE STARS 47 
 
 " Look up, dearie ! " he said, in his strong, 
 kind voice. " Look up, and see God's 
 httle hghts!" 
 
 The little one looked up, and saw^ the 
 stars, spangling the blue veil of the sky ; 
 bright as candles they burned, and yellow 
 as gold. 
 
 " Oh, father," cried the child ; ** what are 
 thoiSfe lovely things ? " 
 
 " Those are stars'," said the father. 
 "Those are God's little lights." 
 
 " But why have I never seen them be- 
 fore?" 
 
 " Because you are a very little child, and 
 have never been out in the night before." - ' 
 
 " Can I see the stars only at night, 
 father ? " 
 
 " Only at night, my child ! " 
 
 " Do they only come then, father ? " 
 
 "No; they are always there, but we 
 cannot see them when the sun is shining." 
 
 " But, father, the darkness is not terrible 
 here, it is beautiful ! " 
 
 " Yes, dearie ; the darkness is always 
 beautiful, if we will only look up at the 
 stars, .instead of into the corners." 
 
BUTTERCUP GOLD 
 
 H ! the cupperty-buts ! 
 and oh! the cup- 
 perty-buts ! out in 
 the meadow, shining 
 under the trees, and 
 sparkling over the 
 lawn, milHons and 
 millions of them, 
 each one a bit of pur- 
 est gold from Mother Nature's mint. Jessy 
 stood at the window, looking out at them, 
 and thinking, as she often had thought 
 before, that there were no flowers so 
 beautiful. " Cupperty-buts," she had 
 been used to call them, when she was a 
 wee baby-girl and could not speak without 
 tumbling over her words and mixing them 
 up in the queerest fashion; and now that 
 she was a very great girl, actually six 
 years old, they were still cupperty-buts 
 to her, and would never be anything else. 
 
 48 
 
BUTTERCUP GOLD 49 
 
 she said. There was nothing she liked 
 better than to watch the lovely golden 
 things, and nod to them as they nodded 
 to her; but this morning her little face 
 looked anxious and troubled, and she 
 gazed at the flowers with an intent and in- 
 quiring look, as if she had expected them 
 to reply to her unspoken thoughts. What 
 these thoughts were I am going to tell you. 
 
 Half an hour before, she had called 
 to her mother, who was just going out, 
 and begged her to come and look at the 
 cupperty-buts. 
 
 ** They are brighter than ever, Mamma ! 
 Do just come and look at them ! golden, 
 golden, golden ! There must be fifteen 
 thousand million dollars' worth of gold 
 just on the lawn, I should think." 
 
 And her mother, pausing to look out, 
 said, very sadly, — 
 
 " Ah, my darling ! if I only had this 
 day a little of that gold, what a happy 
 woman I should be ! " 
 
 And then the good mother went out, 
 and there little Jessy stood, gazing at 
 the flowers, and repeating the words to 
 herself, over and over again, — 
 
50 BUTTERCUP GOLD 
 
 " If I only had a little of that gold ! " 
 
 She knew that her mother was very, 
 very poor, and had to go out to work every 
 day to earn food and clothes for herself 
 and her little daughter; and the child's 
 tender heart ached to think of the sadness 
 in the dear mother's look and tone. Sud- 
 denly Jessy started, and the sunshine 
 flashed into her face. 
 
 *' Why !" she exclaimed, "why should n't 
 I get some of the gold from the cupperty- 
 buts ? I believe I could get some, perfectly 
 well. When Mamma wants to get the 
 juice out of anything, meat, or fruit, or 
 anything of that sort, she just boils it. 
 And so, if I should boil the cupperty-buts, 
 would n't all the gold come out ? Of 
 course it would ! Oh, joy ! how pleased 
 Mamma will be ! " 
 
 Jessy's actions always followed her 
 thoughts with great rapidity. In five 
 minutes she was out on the lawn, with 
 a huge basket beside her, pulling away 
 at the buttercups with might and main. 
 Oh ! how small they were, and how long 
 it took even to cover the bottom of the 
 basket. But Jessy worked with a- will, 
 
BUTTERCUP GOLD 51 
 
 and at the end of an hour she had picked 
 enough to make at least a thousand 
 dollars, as she calculated. That would 
 do for one day, she thought; and now 
 for the grand experiment 1 Before going 
 out she had with much labor filled the 
 great kettle with water, so now the water 
 was boiling, and she had only to put the 
 buttercups in and put the cover on. When 
 this was done, she sat as patiently as she 
 could, trying to pay attention to her 
 knitting, and not to look at the clock 
 oftener than every two minutes. 
 
 " They must boil for an hour," she said ; 
 ** and by that time all the gold will have 
 come out." 
 
 Well, the hour did pass, somehow or 
 other, though it was a very long one; 
 and at eleven o'clock, Jessy, with a mighty 
 effort, lifted the kettle from the stove and 
 carried it to the open door, that the fresh 
 air might cool the boiling water. At first, 
 when she lifted the cover, such a cloud 
 of steam came out that she could see 
 nothing ; but in a moment the wind blew 
 the steam aside, and then she saw, — oh, 
 poor little Jessy ! — she saw a mass of 
 
52 BUTTERCUP GOLD 
 
 weeds floating about in a quantity of 
 dirty, greenish water, and that was all. 
 Not the smallest trace of gold, even in the 
 buttercups themselves, was to be seen. 
 Poor little Jessy ! she tried hard not to 
 cry, but it was a bitter disappointment; 
 the tears came rolling down her cheeks 
 faster and faster, till at length she sat 
 down by the kettle, and, burying her face 
 in her apron, sobbed as if her heart would 
 break. 
 
 Presently, through her sobs, she heard 
 a kind voice saying, " What is the matter, 
 little one ? Why do you cry so bitterly ? " 
 She looked up and saw an old gentleman 
 with white hair and a bright, cheery face, 
 standing by her. At first, Jessy could say 
 nothing but " Oh ! the cupperty-buts ! 
 oh ! the cupperty-buts ! " but, of course, 
 the old gentleman didn't know what she 
 meant by that, so, as he urged her to tell 
 him about her trouble, she dried her eyes, 
 and told him the melancholy little story: 
 how her mother was very poor, and said 
 she wished she had some gold; and how 
 she herself had tried to get the gold out 
 of the buttercups by boiling them. " I 
 
BUTTERCUP GOLD 53 
 
 was so sure I could get it out," she said, 
 " and I thought Mamma would be so 
 pleased ! And now — " 
 
 Here she was very near breaking down 
 again ; but the gentleman patted her head 
 and said, cheerfully, " Wait a bit, little 
 woman ! Don't give up the ship yet. 
 You know that gold is heavy, very heavy 
 indeed, and if there were any it would be 
 at the very bottom of the kettle, all covered 
 with the weeds, so that you could not see 
 it. I should not be at all surprised if 
 you found some, after all. Run into the 
 house and bring me a spoon with a long 
 handle, and we will fish in the kettle, and 
 see what we can find." 
 
 Jessy's face brightened, and she ran 
 into the house. If any one had been 
 standing near just at that moment, I 
 think it is possible that he might have seen 
 the old gentleman's hand go into his pocket 
 and out again very quickly, and might 
 have heard a little splash in the kettle; 
 but nobody was near, so, of course, I 
 cannot say anything about it. At any rate, 
 when Jessy came out with the spoon, he 
 was standing with both hands in his pockets, 
 
54 BUTTERCUP GOLD 
 
 looking in the opposite direction. He 
 took the great iron spoon and fished about 
 in the kettle for some time. At last there 
 was a little clinking noise, and the old 
 gentleman lifted the spoon. Oh, wonder 
 and delight ! In it lay three great, broad, 
 shining pieces of gold ! Jessy could hardly 
 believe her eyes. She stared and stared ; 
 and when the old gentleman put the gold 
 into her hand, she still stood as if in a 
 happy dream, gazing at it. Suddenly she 
 started, and remembered that she had 
 not thanked her kindly helper. She looked 
 up, and began, "Thank you, sir;" but 
 the old gentleman was gone. 
 
 Well, the next question was. How could 
 Jessy possibly wait till twelve o'clock for 
 her mother to come home ? Knitting was 
 out of the question. She could do nothing 
 but dance and look out of window, and 
 look out of window and dance, holding 
 the precious coins tight in her hand. At 
 last, a well-known footstep was heard 
 outside the door, and Mrs. Gray came in, 
 looking very tired and worn. She smiled, 
 however, when she saw Jessy, and said, — 
 
 *' Well, my darling, I am glad to see 
 
BUTTERCUP GOLD 55 
 
 you looking so bright. How has the morn- 
 ing gone with my little housekeeper ? " 
 
 ** Oh, mother ! " cried Jessy, hopping 
 about on one foot, *' it has gone very well ! 
 oh, very, very, very well ! Oh, my mother 
 dear, what do you think I have got in 
 my hand? What do you think? oh, 
 what do you think ? " and she went dancing 
 round and round, till poor Mrs. Gray 
 was quite dizzy with watching her. At 
 last she stopped, and holding out her hand, 
 opened it and showed her mother what 
 was in it. Mrs. Gray was really frightened. 
 
 " Jessy, my child ! " she cried, ** where 
 did you get all that money ? " 
 
 ** Out of the cupperty-buts. Mamma ! " 
 said Jessy, " out of the cupperty-buts ! 
 and it 's all for you, every bit of it ! Dear 
 Mamma, now you will be happy, will 
 you not ? " 
 
 " Jessy,'* said Mrs. Gray, " have you 
 lost your senses, or are you playing some 
 trick on me ? Tell me all about this at 
 once, dear child, and don't talk nonsense." 
 
 *' But it is n't nonsense. Mamma ! " 
 cried Jessy, " and it did come out of the 
 cupperty-buts ! " 
 
56 BUTTERCUP GOLD 
 
 And then she told her mother the whole 
 story. The tears came into Mrs. Gray's 
 eyes, but they were tears of joy and grati- 
 tude. 
 
 " Jessy dear," she said, " when we say 
 our prayers at night, let us never forget 
 to pray for that good gentleman. May 
 Heaven bless him and reward him ! for 
 if it had not been for him, Jessy dear, I 
 fear you would never have found the 
 ' Buttercup Gold.' " 
 
THE PATIENT CAT 
 
 HEN the spotted cat 
 first found the nest, 
 there was nothing in 
 it, for it was only just 
 finished. So she said, 
 " I will wait ! " for she was a patient cat, 
 and the summer was before her. She waited 
 a week, and then she climbed up again to 
 the top of the tree, and peeped into the nest. 
 There lay two lovely blue eggs, smooth and 
 shining. 
 
 The spotted cat said, " Eggs may be 
 good, but young birds are better. I will 
 wait." So she waited; and while she 
 was waiting, she caught mice and rats, 
 and washed herself and slept, and did 
 all that a spotted cat should do to pass 
 the time away. 
 
 "WTien another week had passed, she 
 climbed the tree again and peeped into the 
 
58 THE PATIENT CAT 
 
 nest. This time there were five eggs. 
 But the spotted cat said again, " Eggs 
 may be good, but young birds are better. 
 I will wait a little longer ! " 
 
 So she waited a little longer and then 
 went up again to look. Ah ! there were 
 five tiny birds, with big eyes and long 
 necks, and yellow beaks wide open. Then 
 the spotted cat sat down on the branch, 
 and licked her nose and purred, for she 
 was very happy. "It is worth while to 
 be patient ! " she said. 
 
 But when she looked again at the young 
 birds, to see which one she should take 
 first, she saw that they were very thin, — 
 oh, very, very thin they were ! The spotted 
 cat had never seen anything so thin in her 
 Hfe. 
 
 " Now," she said to herself, " if I were 
 to wait only a few days longer, they 
 would grow fat. Thin birds may be good, 
 but fat birds are much better. I will 
 wait ! " 
 
 So she waited; and she watched the 
 father-bird bringing worms all day long 
 to the nest, and said, " Aha ! they must 
 be fattening fast! they will soon be as 
 
THE PATIENT CAT 59 
 
 lilt as I wish them to be. Aha! what a 
 good thing it is to be patient." 
 
 At last, one day she thought, " Surely, 
 now they must be fat enough ! I will not 
 wait another day. Aha! how good they 
 will be ! " 
 
 So she climbed up the tree, licking her 
 chops all the way and thinking of the fat 
 young birds. And when she reached 
 the top and looked into the nest, it was 
 empty ! ! 
 
 Then the spotted cat sat down on the 
 branch and spoke thus, *' Well, of all the 
 horrid, mean, ungrateful creatures I ever 
 saw, those birds are the horridest, and 
 the meanest, and the most ungrateful ! 
 Mi-a-u-ow 11 ! ! " 
 
ALICE'S SUPPER 
 
 AR down in the meadow 
 the wheat grows 
 green, 
 And the reapers are 
 whetting their sickles 
 so keen ; 
 And this is the song that 
 I hear them sing, 
 While cheery and loud their voices ring: 
 " 'T is the finest wheat that ever did grow ! 
 And it is for Alice's supper, ho ! ho ! " 
 
 Far down in the valley the old mill stands, 
 And the miller is rubbing his dusty white 
 
 hands ; 
 And these are the words of the miller's lay. 
 As he watches the millstones a-grinding 
 
 away: 
 ** 'T is the finest flour that money can buy, 
 And it is for Alice's supper, hi ! hi ! " 
 
 60 
 
ALICE'S SUPPER 61 
 
 Downstairs in the kitchen the fire doth 
 
 glow. 
 And Maggie is kneading the soft white 
 
 dough. 
 And this is the song that she 's singing 
 
 to-day. 
 While merry and busy she 's working away : 
 " 'T is the finest dough, by near or by far. 
 And it is for Alice's supper, ha ! ha ! '* 
 
 And now to the nursery comes Nannie 
 
 at last, 
 And what in her hand is she bringing so 
 
 fast ? 
 'Tis a plate full of something all yellow 
 
 and white, 
 And she sings as she comes with her smile 
 
 so bright: 
 " 'T is the best bread-and-butter I ever 
 
 did see ! 
 And it is for Alice's supper, he ! he ! " 
 
THE QUACKY DUCK 
 
 HE Quacky Duck 
 stood on the bank of 
 the stream. And the 
 frogs came and sat on 
 stones and insulted him. 
 Now the words which 
 the frogs used were 
 these, — 
 
 " Ya ! ha ! he has n*t any hind-legs ! 
 Ya ! ha ! he has n't any fore-legs ! 
 Oh ! what horrid luck 
 To be a Quacky Duck ! " 
 
 These were not pleasant words. And 
 when the Quacky Duck heard them, he 
 considered within himself whether it would 
 not be best for him to eat the frogs. 
 
 " Two good things would come of it," 
 he said. " I should have a savoury meal, 
 
THE QUACKY DUCK 63 
 
 and their remarks would no longer be 
 audible." 
 
 So he fell upon the frogs, and they fled 
 before him. And one jumped into the 
 water, and one jumped on the land, and 
 another jumped into the reeds; for such 
 is their manner. But one of them, being 
 in fear, saw not clearly the way he should 
 go, and jumped even upon the back of the 
 Quacky Duck. Now, this displeased the 
 Quacky Duck, and he said, " If you will 
 remove yourself from my person, we will 
 speak further of this." 
 
 So the frog, being also willing, strove 
 to remove himself, and the result was that 
 they two, being on the edge of the bank, 
 fell into the water. Then the frog departed 
 swiftly, saying, " Solitude is best for 
 meditation." 
 
 But the Quacky Duck, having hit his 
 head against a stone, sank to the bottom 
 of the pond, where he found himself in 
 the frogs' kitchen. And there he spied 
 a fish, which the frogs had caught for 
 their dinner, intending to share it in a 
 brotherly manner, for it was a savoury 
 fish. When the Quacky Duck saw it, he 
 
64 * THE QUACKY DUCK 
 
 was glad ; and he said, *' Fish is better 
 than frog " (for he was an English duck) ! 
 And, taking the fish, he swam with speed 
 to the shore. 
 
 Now the frogs lamented when they saw 
 him go, for they said, *' He has our savoury 
 fish ! " And they wept, and reviled the 
 Quacky Duck. 
 
 But he said, *' Be comforted ! for if I 
 had not found the fish, I should assuredly 
 have eaten you. Therefore, say now, 
 which is the better for you ? " And he 
 ate the fish, and departed joyful. 
 
AT THE LITTLE BOY'S HOME 
 
 T was a very hot day, 
 and the little boy was 
 lying on his stomach 
 under the big linden 
 tree, reading the '* Scot- 
 tish Chiefs." 
 
 "Little Boy," said his 
 mother, "will you please go out in the gar- 
 den and bring me a head of lettuce ? " 
 
 "Oh, I — can't!" said the Httle boy. 
 "I'm — too — feo^'" 
 
 The little boy's father happened to be 
 close by, weeding the geranium bed; and 
 when he heard this, he lifted the little boy 
 gently by his waistband, and dipped him 
 in the great tub of water that stood ready 
 for watering the plants. 
 
 " There, my son ! " said the father. 
 " Now you are cool enough to go and get 
 the lettuce; but remember next time that 
 
 65 
 
66 AT THE LITTLE BOY'S HOME 
 
 it will be easier to go at once when you 
 are told, as then you will not have to change 
 your clothes." 
 
 The little boy went drip, drip, dripping 
 out into the garden and brought the lettuce ; 
 then he went drip, drip, dripping into the 
 house and changed his clothes; but he 
 said never a word, for he knew there was 
 nothing to say. 
 
 That is the way they do things where 
 the little boy lives. Would you like to 
 live there .^ Perhaps not; yet he is a 
 happy little boy, and he is learning the 
 truth of the old saying, — 
 
 " Come when you 're called, do as you *re bid, 
 Shut the door after you, and you '11 never be chid." 
 
NEW YEAR 
 
 HE little sweet Child tied 
 on her hood, and put 
 on her warm cloak and 
 mittens. " I am going 
 to the wood," she said, 
 " to tell the creatures all 
 about it. They cannot 
 understand about Christmas, mamma says, 
 and of course she knows, but I do think 
 they ought to know about New Year ! " 
 
 Out in the wood the snow lay light and 
 powdery on the branches, but under foot it 
 made a firm, smooth floor, over which 
 the Child could walk lightly without 
 sinking in. She saw other footprints 
 beside her own, tiny bird-tracks, little 
 hopping marks, which showed where a 
 rabbit had taken his way, traces of mice 
 and squirrels and other little wild-wood 
 beasts. 
 
 67 
 
68 NEW YEAR 
 
 The child stood under a great hemlock- 
 tree, and looked up toward the clear blue 
 sky, which shone far away beyond the 
 dark tree-tops. She spread her hands 
 abroad and called, " Happy New Year ! 
 Happy New Year to everybody in the 
 wood, and all over the world ! " 
 
 A rustling was heard in the hemlock 
 branches, and a striped squirrel peeped 
 down at her. " What do you mean by 
 that, little Child ? " he asked. And then 
 from all around came other squirrels, 
 came little field-mice, and hares swiftly 
 leaping, and all the winter birds, titmouse 
 and snow-bird, and many another; and 
 they all wanted to know what the Child 
 meant by her greeting, for they had never 
 heard the words before. 
 
 " It means that God is giving us 
 another year ! " said the Child. " Four 
 more seasons, each lovelier than the last, 
 just as it was last year. Flowers will bud, 
 and then they will blossom, and then the 
 fruit will hang all red and golden on the 
 branches, fof birds and men and little 
 children to eat." " And squirrels, too ! " 
 cried the chipmunk, eagerly. 
 
NEW YEAR 69 
 
 " Of course ! " said the Child. " Squir- 
 rels, too, and every creature that lives in 
 the good green wood. And this is not 
 all ! We can do over again the things that 
 we tried to do last year, and perhaps 
 failed in doing. We have another chance 
 to be good and kind, to do little loving 
 things that help, and to cure ourselves 
 of doing naughty things. Our hearts 
 can have lovely new seasons, like the 
 flowers and trees and all the sweet things 
 that grow and bear leaves and fruit. I 
 thought I would come and tell you all 
 this, because sometimes one does not 
 think of things till one hears them from 
 another's Hps. Are you glad I came.^ 
 If you are glad, say Happy New Year ! 
 each in his own way ! I say it to you all 
 now in my way. Happy New Year ! 
 , Happy New Year ! " 
 
 Such a noise as broke out then had never 
 been heard in the wood since the oldest 
 hemlock was a baby, and that was a long 
 time ago. Chirping, twittering, squeak- 
 ing, chattering ! The wood-doves lit on 
 the Child's shoulder and cooed in her ear, 
 and she knew just what they said. The 
 
70 NEW YEAR 
 
 squirrels made a long speech, and meant 
 every word of it, which is more than 
 people always do; the field-mouse said 
 that she was going to turn over a new leaf, 
 the very biggest cabbage-leaf she could 
 find ; while the titmouse invited the whole 
 company to dine with him, a thing he 
 had never done in his life before. 
 
 When the Child turned to leave the 
 wood, the joyful chorus followed her, 
 and she went, smiling, home and told her 
 mother all about it. " And, mother," 
 she said, ** I should not be surprised if 
 they had got a little bit of Christmas, after 
 all, along with their New Year ! " 
 
JACKY FROST 
 
 |ACKY Frost, Jacky 
 Frost, 
 
 Came in the night; 
 Left the meadows that 
 he crossed 
 All gleaming white. 
 Painted with his silver brush 
 
 Every window-pane ; 
 Kissed the leaves and made them 
 blush, 
 Blush and blush again. 
 
 Jacky Frost, Jacky Frost, 
 
 Crept around the house, 
 Sly as a silver fox. 
 
 Still as a mouse. 
 Out little Jenny came. 
 
 Blushing like a rose; 
 Up jumped Jacky Frost, 
 
 And pinched her little nose. ^ 
 
 7X 
 
THE CAKE 
 
 ^CE a Cake would go 
 seek his fortune in the 
 world, and he took his 
 leave of the Pan he was 
 baked in. 
 
 " I know my destiny,'* 
 said the Cake. " I must 
 be eaten, since to that end I was made ; 
 but I am a good cake, if I say it who 
 should not, and I would fain choose the 
 persons I am to benefit." 
 
 " 1 don't see what difference it makes to 
 you I " said the Pan. 
 
 " But imagination is hardly your strong 
 point 1 " said the Cake. 
 " Huh 1 " said the Pan. 
 The Cake went on his way, and soon he 
 passed by a cottage door where sat a 
 woman spinning, and her ten children play- 
 ing about her. 
 
 " Oh 1 " said the woman, " what a beauti- 
 
 72 
 
THE CAKE 73 
 
 ful cake ! " and she put out her hand to 
 take him. 
 
 " Be so good as to wait a moment 1 " 
 said the Cake. " Will you kindly tell me 
 what you would do with me if I should 
 yield myself up to you ? " 
 
 " I shall break you into ten pieces," said 
 the woman, " and give one to each of my 
 ten children. So you will give ten pleas- 
 ures, and that is a good thing." 
 
 " Oh, that would be very nice, I am 
 sure," said the Cake ; " but if you will ex- 
 cuse me for mentioning it, your children 
 seem rather dirty, especially their hands, 
 and I confess I should like to keep my 
 frosting unsullied, so I think I will go a 
 little further." 
 
 " As you will ! " said the woman. " After 
 all, the brown loaf is better for the chil- 
 dren." 
 
 So the Cake went further, and met a fair 
 child, richly dressed, with coral Ups and 
 eyes like sunlit water. When the child 
 saw the Cake, he said like the woman, 
 " Oh, what a beautiful Cake I " and put out 
 bis hand to take it. 
 
74 THE CAKE 
 
 " I am sure I should be most happy ! " 
 said the Cake. " And you will not take it 
 amiss, I am confident, if I ask with whom 
 you will share me," 
 
 " I shall not share you with any one I " 
 said the child. " I shall eat you myself, 
 every crumb. What do you take me for ? " 
 
 " Good gracious I " cried the Cake. " This 
 will never do. Consider my size, — and 
 yours ! You would be very ill ! " 
 
 " I don't care ! " said the child. " 1 'd 
 rather be ill than give any away." And 
 he fixed greedy eyes on the Cake, and 
 stretched forth his hand again. 
 
 " This is really terrible I " cried the Cake. 
 " What is one's frosting to this ? I will go 
 back to the woman with the ten children." 
 
 He turned and ran back, leaving the 
 child screaming with rage and disappointed 
 greed. But as he ran, a hungry Puppy 
 met him, and swallowed him at a gulp, 
 and went on licking his chops and wagging 
 his tail. 
 
 " Huh 1 " said the Pan. 
 
OH, DEAR!'* 
 
 HIMBORAZO was a very 
 unhappy boy. He 
 pouted, and he sulked, 
 and he said , *' O h, dear ! 
 oh, dear ! oh, dear ! oh, 
 dear!" He said it till 
 everybody was tired of 
 hearing it. 
 " Chimborazo," his mother would say, 
 " please don't say, ' Oh, dear ! ' any more. 
 It is very annoying. Say something else." 
 ** Oh, dear ! " the boy would answer, 
 ** I can't ! I don't know anything else to 
 say. Oh, dear ! Oh, dear!! oh, dear ! ! ! " 
 One day his mother could not bear it 
 any longer, and she sent for his fairy god- 
 mother, and told her all about it. 
 
 " Humph ! " said the fairy godmother. 
 
 " I will see to it. Send the boy to me ! " 
 
 So Chimborazo was sent for, and came, 
 
 hanging his head as usual. When he 
 
 saw his fairy godmother, he said, ** Oh, 
 
 76 
 
76 "OH, DEAR!" 
 
 dear ! " for he was rather afraid of her. 
 
 " ' Oh, dear ! ' it is ! " said the god- 
 mother sharply; and she put on her 
 spectacles and looked at him. " Do 
 you know what a bell-punch is ? " 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " said Chimborazo. " No, 
 ma'am, I don't ! " 
 
 " Well," said the godmother, " I am 
 going to give you one." 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " said Chimborazo, " I 
 don't want one." 
 
 " Probably not," replied she, *' but that 
 does n't make much difference. You have 
 it now, in your jacket pocket." 
 
 Chimborazo felt in his pocket, and took 
 out a queer-looking instrument of shining 
 metal. *' Oh, dear ! " he said. 
 
 " ' Oh, dear ! ' it is ! " said the fairy 
 godmather. " Now," she continued, 
 ** listen to me, Chimborazo ! I am going 
 to put you on an allowance of * Oh, dears.' 
 This is a self-acting bell-punch, and it 
 will ring whenever you say * Oh, dear ! ' 
 How many times do you generally say 
 it in the course of the day ? " 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " said Chimborazo, " I 
 don't know. Oh, dear! " 
 
"OH, DEAR!" 77 
 
 ''Ting! ting!'' the bell-punch rang 
 twice sharply; and looking at it in dis- 
 may, he saw two little round holes punched 
 in a long slip of pasteboard which was 
 fastened to the instrument. 
 
 "Exactly!" said the fairy. "That 
 is the way it works, and a very pretty 
 way, too. Now, my boy, I am going to 
 make you a very liberal allowance. You 
 may say * Oh, dear ! ' forty-five times a 
 day. There 's liberality for you ! " 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " cried Chimborazo, " I — " 
 
 " Ting! " said the bell-punch. 
 
 " You see ! " observed the fairy. ** Noth- 
 ing could be prettier. You have now 
 had three of this day's allowance. It is 
 still some hours before noon, so I advise 
 you to be careful. If you exceed the 
 allowance — " Here she paused, and 
 glowered through her spectacles in a 
 very dreadful manner. 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " cried Chimborazo. " What 
 will happen then ? " 
 
 ** You will see ! " said the fairy god- 
 mother, with a nod. " Something will 
 happen, you may be very sure of that. 
 Good-by. Remember, only forty-five ! " 
 
78 "OH, DEAR!" 
 
 And away she flew out of the window. 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " cried Chimborazo, burst- 
 ing into tears. " I don't want it ! I won't 
 have it! Oh, dear! oh, dear! oh, dear! 
 oh, dear ! oh, dear ! ! ! " 
 
 *' Ting ! ting ! ting - ting - ting - ting I " 
 said the bell-punch; and now there were 
 ten round holes in the strip of pasteboard. 
 Chimborazo was now really frightened. 
 He was silent for some time; and when 
 his mother called him to his lessons he 
 tried very hard not to say the dangerous 
 words. But the habit was so strong that 
 he said them unconsciously. By dinner- 
 time there were twenty-five holes in the 
 cardboard strip; by tea-time there were 
 forty ! Poor Chimborazo ! he was afraid 
 to open his lips, for whenever he did the 
 words would slip out in spite of him. 
 
 " Well, Chimbo," said his father after 
 tea, " I hear you have had a visit from 
 your fairy godmother. What did she say 
 to you, eh ? " 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " said Chimborazo, " she 
 said — oh, dear ! I 've said it again ! " 
 
 *' She said, ' Oh, dear ! I 've said it 
 again ! ' " repeated his father. " What 
 do you mean by that ? '* 
 
"OH, DEAR!" 79 
 
 " Oh, dear ! I didn't mean that," cried 
 Chimborazo hastily; and again the in- 
 exorable bell rang, and he knew that 
 another hole was punched in the fatal 
 cardboard. He pressed his lips firmly 
 together, and did not open them again 
 except to say " Good-night," until he 
 was safe in his own room. Then he hastily 
 drew the hated bell-punch from his pocket, 
 and counted the holes in the strip of card- 
 board ; there were forty-three ! " Oh, 
 dear! " cried the boy, forgetting himself 
 again in his alarm, " only two more ! 
 Oh, dear! oh, dear ! I 've done it again ! 
 oh — " "Ting! ting!" went the bell- 
 punch; and the cardboard was punched 
 to the end. '* Oh, dear ! " cried Chim- 
 borazo, now beside himself with terror. 
 ** Oh, dear ! oh, dear ! oh, dear ! oh, 
 dear!! what will become of me .'^ " 
 
 A strange whirring noise was heard, 
 then a loud clang; and the next moment 
 the bell-punch, as if it were alive, flew 
 out of his hand, out of the window, and 
 was gone ! 
 
 Chimborazo stood breathless with terror 
 for a few minutes, momentarily expecting 
 
80 "OH, DEAR!" 
 
 that the roof would fall in on his head, 
 or the floor blow up under his feet, or 
 some appalling catastrophe of some kind 
 follow ; but nothing followed. Everything 
 was quiet, and there seemed to be nothing 
 to do but go to bed ; and so to bed he went, 
 and slept, only to dream that he was shot 
 through the head with a bell-punch, and 
 died saying, " Oh, dear ! " 
 
 The next morning, when Chimborazo 
 came downstairs, his father said, ** My 
 boy, I am going to drive over to your 
 grandfather's farm this morning; would 
 you like to go with me ? " 
 
 A drive to the farm was one of the 
 greatest pleasures Chimborazo had, so he 
 answered promptly, *' Oh, dear! " 
 
 " Oh, very well ! " said his father, 
 looking much surprised. " You need not 
 go, my son, if you do not want to. I will 
 take Robert instead." 
 
 Poor Chimborazo ! He had opened his 
 lips to say, '* Thank you, papa. I should 
 like to go very much ! " and, instead of 
 these words, out had popped, in his most 
 doleful tone, the now" hated ** Oh, dear ! " 
 He sat amazed; but was roused by his 
 mother's calling him to breakfast. , ^ 
 
"OH, DEAR!" 81 
 
 " Come, Chimbo," she said. ** Here 
 are sausages and scrambled eggs: and 
 you are very fond of both of them. Which 
 will you have ? " 
 
 Chimborazo hastened to say, " Sau- 
 sages, please, mamma," — that is, he 
 hastened to try to say it; but all his 
 mother heard was, " Oh, dear! " 
 
 His father looked much displeased. 
 ** Give the boy some bread and water, 
 wife," he said sternly. " If he cannot an- 
 swer properly, he must be taught. I have 
 had enough of this * oh, dear ! ' business." 
 
 Poor Chimborazo ! He saw plainly 
 enough now what his punishment was 
 to be; and the thought of it made him 
 tremble. He tried to ask for some more 
 bread, but only brought out his " Oh, 
 dear! " in such a lamentable tone that his 
 father ordered him to leave the room. He 
 went out into the garden, and there he met 
 John the gardener, carrying a basket of 
 rosy apples. Oh ! how good they looked ! 
 
 " I am bringing some of the finest apples 
 up to the house, little master," said John. 
 *' Will you have one to put in your pocket ? " 
 
 " Oh, dear! " was all the poor boy could 
 
82 "OH, DEAR!** 
 
 say, though he wanted an apple, oh, so 
 much ! And when John heard that he 
 put the apple back in his basket, mutter- 
 ing something about ungrateful monkeys. 
 
 Poor Chimborazo ! I will not give the 
 whole history of that miserable day, — 
 a miserable day it was from beginning to 
 end. He fared no better at dinner than 
 at breakfast ; for at the second ** Oh, 
 dear ! " his father sent him up to his room, 
 " to stay there until he knew how to take 
 what was given him, and be thankful 
 for it." He knew well enough by this 
 time; but he could not tell his father so. 
 He went to his room, and sat looking out 
 of the window, a hungry and miserable boy. 
 
 In the afternoon his cousin Will came 
 up to see him. " Why, Chimbo ! " he 
 cried. " Why do you sit moping here in 
 the house, when all the boys are out.^ 
 Come and play marbles with me on the 
 piazza. Ned and Harry are out there 
 waiting for you. Come on ! '* 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " said Chimborazo. 
 
 "What's the matter?" asked Will. 
 " Have n't you any marbles ? Never mind. 
 I '11 give you half of mine, if you like. 
 Come ! " 
 
"OH, DEAR!" 83 
 
 " Oh, DEAR ! " said Chimborazo. 
 
 " Well/' said Will, " if that 's all you 
 have to say when I offer you marbles, I '11 
 keep them myself. I suppose you ex- 
 pected me to give you all of them, did you ? 
 I never saw such a fellow ! " and off he 
 went in a huff. 
 
 " Well, Chimborazo," said the fairy 
 godmother, " what do you think of * Oh, 
 dear ! ' now ? " 
 
 Chimborazo looked at her beseechingly, 
 but said nothing. 
 
 *' Finding that forty-five times was not 
 enough for you yesterday, I thought I 
 would let you have all you wanted to-day, 
 you see," said the fairy wickedly. 
 
 The boy still looked imploringly at her, 
 but did not open his lips. 
 
 " Well, well," she said at last, touching 
 his lips with her wand, " I think that is 
 enough in the way of punishment, though 
 I am sorry you broke the bell-punch. 
 Good-by! I don't believe you will say 
 * Oh, dear ! ' any more." 
 
 And he did n't. 
 
THE USEFUL COAL 
 
 HERE was once a king 
 whose name was Sligo. 
 He was noted both for 
 his riches and his kind 
 heart. One evening, 
 as he sat by his fire- 
 side, a coal fell out on 
 the hearth. The king 
 took up the tongs, intending to put it 
 back on the fire, but the coal said : — 
 
 " If you will spare my life, and do as 
 I tell you, I will save your treasure three 
 times, and tell you the name of the thief 
 who steals it." 
 
 These words gave the king great joy, 
 for much treasure had been stolen from 
 him of late, and none of his officers could 
 discover the culprit. So he set the coal 
 on the table, and said : — 
 
 84 
 
THE USEFUL COAL 85 
 
 " Pretty little black and red bird, tell 
 me, what shall I do ? " 
 
 "Put me in your waistcoat-pocket," said 
 the coal, " and take no more thought for 
 to-night." 
 
 Accordingly the king put the coal in his 
 pocket, and then, as he sat before the warm 
 fire, he grew drowsy, and presently fell 
 fast asleep. 
 
 When he had been asleep some time, 
 the door opened, very softly, and the High 
 Cellarer peeped cautiously in. This was 
 the one of the king's officers who had 
 been most eager in searching for the thief. 
 He now crept softly, softly, toward the 
 king, and seeing that he was fast asleep, 
 put his hand into his waistcoat-pocket; 
 for in that waistcoat-pocket King Sligo 
 kept the key of his treasure-chamber, 
 and the High Cellarer was the thief. He 
 put his hand into the waistcoat-pocket. 
 S-s-s-s-s ! the coal burned it so frightfully 
 that he gave a loud shriek, and fell on his 
 knees on the hearth. 
 
 ** What is the matter ? " cried the king, 
 waking with a start. 
 
 " Alas ! your Majesty," said the High 
 
86 THE USEFUL COAL 
 
 Cellarer, thrusting his burnt fingers into 
 his bosom, that the king might not see 
 them. " You were just on the point of 
 falling forward into the fire, and I cried 
 out, partly from fright and partly to waken 
 you." 
 
 The king thanked the High Cellarer, 
 and gave him a ruby ring as a reward. 
 But when he was in his chamber, and 
 making ready for bed, the coal said to 
 him : — 
 
 " Once already have I saved your 
 treasure, and to-night I shall save it again. 
 Only put me on the table beside your bed, 
 and you may sleep with a quiet heart." 
 
 So the king put the coal on the table, 
 and himself into the bed, and was soon 
 sound asleep. At midnight the door of 
 the chamber opened very softly, and the 
 High Cellarer peeped in again. He knew 
 that at night King Sligo kept the key under 
 his pillow, and he was coming to get it. 
 He crept softly, softly, toward the bed, 
 but as he drew near it, the coal cried 
 out: — 
 
 '* One eye sleeps, but the other eye 
 wakes ! one eye sleeps, but the other eye 
 
THE USEFUL COAL 87 
 
 wakes ! Who is this comes creeping, 
 while honest men are sleeping ? " 
 
 The High Cellarer looked about him 
 in affright, and saw the coal burning fiery 
 red in the darkness, and looking for all 
 the world like a great flaming eye. In 
 an agony of fear he fled from the chamber, 
 crying, — 
 
 " Black and red ! black and red ! 
 The king has a devil to guard his bed." 
 
 And he spent the rest of the night shivering 
 in the farthest garret he could find. 
 
 The next morning the coal said to the 
 king: — 
 
 *' Again this night have I saved your 
 treasure, and mayhap your life as well. 
 Yet a third time I shall do it, and this time 
 you shall learn the name of the thief. But 
 if I do this, you must promise me one thing, 
 and that is that you will place me in your 
 royal crown and wear me as a jewel. 
 Will you do this ? " 
 
 " That will I, right gladly ! " replied 
 King Sligo, *' for a jewel indeed you are.'* 
 
 " That is well ! " said the coal. ** It 
 
88 THE USEFUL COAL 
 
 is true that I am dying; but no matter. 
 It is a fine thing to be a jewel in a king's 
 crown, even if one is dead. Now Hsten, 
 and follow my directions closely. As 
 soon as I am quite black and dead, — 
 which will be in about ten minutes from 
 now, — you must take me in your hand 
 and rub me all over and around the handle 
 of the door of the treasure-chamber. 
 A good part of me will be rubbed off, but 
 there will be enough left to put in your 
 crown. When you have thoroughly rubbed 
 the door, lay the key of the treasure- 
 chamber on your table, as if you had 
 left it there by mistake. You may then 
 go hunting or riding, but not for more 
 than an hour; and when you return, you 
 must instantly call all your court together, 
 as if on business of the greatest importance. 
 Invent some excuse for asking them to 
 raise their hands, and then arrest the man 
 whose hands are black. Do you under- 
 stand .'^ " 
 
 "I do ! " replied King Sligo, fervently, 
 "I do, and my warmest thanks, good 
 Coal, are due to you for this — " 
 
 But here he stopped, for already the 
 
THE USEFUL COAL 89 
 
 coal was quite black, and in less than ten 
 minutes it was dead and cold. Then the 
 king took it and rubbed it carefully over 
 the door of the treasure-chamber, and lay- 
 ing the key of the door in plain sight on 
 his dressing-table, he called his huntsmen 
 together, and mounting his horse, rode 
 away to the forest. As soon as he was 
 gone, the High Cellarer, who had pleaded 
 a headache when asked to join the hunt, 
 crept softly to the king's room, and to his 
 surprise found the key on the table. Full 
 of joy, he sought the treasure-chamber 
 at once, and began filling his pockets 
 with gold and jewels, which he carried 
 to his own apartment, returning greedily 
 for more. In this way he opened and 
 closed the door many times. Suddenly, 
 as he was stooping over a silver barrel 
 containing sapphires, he heard the sound 
 of a trumpet, blown once, twice, thrice. 
 The wicked thief started, for it was the 
 signal for the entire court to appear in- 
 stantly before the king, and the penalty 
 of disobedience was death. Hastily cram- 
 ming a handful of sapphires into his 
 pocket, he stumbled to the door, which 
 
90 THE USEFUL COAL 
 
 he closed and locked, putting the key 
 also in his pocket, as there was no time 
 to return it. He flew to the presence- 
 chamber, where the lords of the kingdom 
 were hastily assembling. 
 
 The king was seated on his throne, 
 still in his hunting-dress, though he had 
 put on his crown over his hat, which 
 presented a peculiar appearance. It was 
 with a majestic air, however, that he rose 
 and said : — 
 
 ** Nobles, and gentlemen of my court ! 
 I have called you together to pray 
 for the soul of my lamented grand- 
 mother, who died, as you may remember, 
 several years ago. In token of respect, I 
 desire you all to raise your hands to 
 Heaven." 
 
 The astonished courtiers, one and all, 
 lifted their hands high in air. The king 
 looked, and, behold ! the hands of the 
 High Cellarer were as black as soot ! 
 The king caused him to be arrested and 
 searched, and the sapphires in his pocket, 
 besides the key of the treasure-chamber, 
 gave ample proof of his guilt. His head 
 was removed at once, and the king had 
 
THE USEFUL COAL 91 
 
 the useful coal, set in sapphires, placed 
 in the very front of his crown, where it 
 was much admired and praised as a 
 Black Diamond. 
 
SONG OF THE LITTLE WINDS 
 
 HE birdies may sleep, 
 but the winds must 
 wake 
 Early and late, for the 
 
 birdies' sake. 
 Kissing them, fanning 
 them, soft and sweet, 
 E'en till the dark and the dawning meet« 
 
 The flowers may sleep, but the winds 
 
 must wake 
 Early and late, for the flowers* sake. 
 Rocking the buds on the rose-mother's 
 
 breast. 
 Swinging the hyacinth-bells to rest. 
 
 The children may sleep, but the winds 
 
 must wake 
 Early and late, for the children's sake. 
 Singing so sweet in each little one's ear. 
 He thinks his mother's own song to hear. 
 
THE THREE REMARKS 
 
 HERE was once a 
 princess, the most 
 beautiful princess 
 that ever was seen. 
 Her hair was black 
 and soft as the ra- 
 ven's wing; her eyes 
 were like stars dropped in a pool of clear 
 water, and her speech like the first tinkling 
 cascade of the baby Nile. She was also 
 wise, graceful, and gentle, so that one would 
 have thought she must be the happiest 
 princess in the world. 
 
 But, alas ! there was one terrible draw- 
 back to her happiness. She could make 
 only three remarks. No one knew whether 
 it was the fault of her nurse, or a peculiarity 
 born with her; but the sad fact remained, 
 that no matter what was said to her, she 
 could only reply in one of three phrases. 
 The first was, — 
 
 93 
 
94 THE THREE REMARKS 
 
 " What is the price of butter ? " 
 The second, ** Has your grandmother 
 sold her mangle yet ? " 
 
 And the third, " With all my heart ! " 
 You may well imagine what a great 
 misfortune this was to a young and lively 
 princess. How could she join in the sports 
 and dances of the noble youths and maidens 
 of the court? She could not always be 
 silent, neither could she always say, " With 
 all my heart ! " though this was her fa- 
 vorite phrase, and she used it whenever 
 she possibly could; and it was not at all 
 pleasant, when some gallant knight asked 
 her whether she would rather play croquet 
 or Aunt Sally, to be obliged to reply, 
 " What is the price of butter ? " 
 
 On certain occasions, however, the 
 princess actually found her infirmity of 
 service to her. She could always put an 
 end suddenly to any conversation that did 
 not please her, by interposing with her 
 first or second remark; and they were 
 also a very great assistance to her when, 
 as happened nearly every day, she re- 
 ceived an offer of marriage. Emperors, 
 kings, princes, dukes, earls, marquises, 
 
THE THREE REMARKS 95 
 
 viscounts, baronets, and many other lofty 
 personages knelt at her feet, and offered 
 her their hands, hearts, and other posses- 
 sions of greater or less value. But for 
 all her suitors the princess had but one 
 answer. Fixing her deep radiant eyes 
 on them, she would reply with thrilling 
 earnestness, '* Has your grandmother sold 
 her mangle yet ? " and this always im- 
 pressed the suitors so deeply that they 
 retired, weeping, to a neighboring mon- 
 astery, where they hung up their armor 
 in the chapel, and taking the vows, passed 
 the remainder of their lives mostly in 
 flogging themselves, wearing hair shirts, 
 and putting dry toast-crumbs in their beds. 
 
 Now, when the king found that all his 
 best nobles were turning into monks, 
 he was greatly displeased, and said to 
 the princess : — 
 
 *' My daughter, it is high time that all 
 this nonsense came to an end. The next 
 time a respectable person asks you to 
 marry him, you will say, ' With all my 
 heart ! ' or I will know the reason why." 
 
 But this the princess could not endure, 
 for she had never yet seen a man whom 
 
96 THE THREE REMARKS 
 
 she was willing to marry. Nevertheless, 
 she feared her father's anger, for she knew 
 that he always kept his word; so that 
 very night she slipped down the back 
 stairs of the palace, opened the back door, 
 and ran away out into the wide world. 
 
 She wandered for many days, over 
 mountain and moor, through fen and 
 through forest, until she came to a fair 
 city. Here all the bells were ringing, 
 and the people shouting and flinging caps 
 into the air; for their old king was dead, 
 and they were just about to crown a new 
 one. The new king was a stranger, who 
 had come to the town only the day before ; 
 but as soon as he heard of the old monarch's 
 death, he told the people that he was a 
 king himself, and as he happened to be 
 without a kingdom at that moment, he 
 would be quite willing to rule over them. 
 The people joyfully assented, for the late 
 king had left no heir; and now all the 
 preparations had been completed. The 
 crown had been polished up, and a new 
 tip put on the sceptre, as the old king had 
 quite spoiled it by poking the fire with it 
 for upwards of forty years. 
 
THE THREE REMARKS 97 
 
 When the people saw the beautiful 
 princess, they welcomed her with many 
 bows, and insisted on leading her before 
 the new king. 
 
 *' Who knows but that they may be 
 related ? " said everybody. " They both 
 came from the same direction, and both are 
 strangers." 
 
 Accordingly the princess was led to the 
 market-place, where the king was sitting 
 in royal state. He had a fat, red, shining 
 face, and did not look like the kings whom 
 she had been in the habit of seeing; but 
 nevertheless the princess made a graceful 
 courtesy, and then waited to hear what 
 he would say. 
 
 The new king seemed rather embarrassed 
 when he saw that it was a princess who 
 appeared before him; but he smiled 
 graciously, and said, in a smooth oily 
 voice, — 
 
 " I trust your 'Ighness is quite well. 
 And 'ow did yer Tghness leave yer pa 
 and ma ? " 
 
 At these words the princess raised her 
 head and looked fixedly at the red-faced 
 king; then she replied, with scornful 
 distinctness, — 
 
98 THE THREE REMARKS 
 
 " ^Vliat is the price of butter ? " 
 At these words an alarming change came 
 over the king's face. The red faded 
 from it, and left it a livid green ; his teeth 
 chattered; his eyes stared, and rolled 
 in their sockets ; while the sceptre dropped 
 from his trembling hand and fell at the 
 princess's feet. For the truth was, this 
 was no king at all, but a retired butterman, 
 who had laid by a little money at his trade, 
 and had thought of setting up a public 
 house; but chancing to pass through this 
 city at the very time when they were 
 looking for a king, it struck him that he 
 might just as well fill the vacant place as 
 any one else. No one had thought of his 
 being an impostor; but when the princess 
 fixed her clear eyes on him and asked him 
 that familiar question, which he had been 
 in the habit of hearing many times a day 
 for a great part of his life, the guilty 
 butterman thought himself detected, and 
 shook in his guilty shoes. Hastily de- 
 scending from his throne, he beckoned 
 the princess into a side-chamber, and 
 closing the door, besought her in moving 
 terms not to betray him. 
 
THE THREE REMARKS 99 
 
 " Here," he said, ** is a bag of rubies 
 as big as pigeon's eggs. There are six 
 thousand of them, and I 'umbly beg your 
 Tghness to haccept them as a slight token 
 hof my hesteem, if your Tghness will 
 kindly consent to spare a respeckable 
 tradesman the disgrace of being hexposed." 
 
 The princess reflected, and came to the 
 conclusion that, after all, a butterman 
 might make as good a king as any one else ; 
 so she took the rubies with a gracious little 
 nod, and departed, while all the people 
 shouted, " Hooray ! " and followed her, 
 waving their hats and kerchiefs, to the 
 gates of the city. 
 
 With her bag of rubies over her shoulder, 
 the fair princess now pursued her journey, 
 and fared forward over heath and hill, 
 through brake and through brier. After 
 several days she came to a deep forest, 
 which she entered without hesitation, for 
 she knew no fear. She had not gone a 
 hundred paces under the arching limes, 
 when she was met by a band of robbers, 
 who stopped her and asked what she did 
 in their forest, and what she carried in her 
 bag. They were fierce, black-bearded 
 
100 THE THREE REMARKS 
 
 men, armed to the teeth with daggers, 
 cutlasses, pistols, dirks, hangers, blunder- 
 busses, and other defensive weapons; but 
 the princess gazed calmly on them, and 
 said haughtily, — 
 
 *' Has your grandmother sold her mangle 
 yet?" 
 
 The effect was magical. The robbers 
 started back in dismay, crying, ** The 
 countersign ! " Then they hastily lowered 
 their weapons, and assuming attitudes 
 of abject humility, besought the princess 
 graciously to accompany them to their 
 master's presence. With a lofty gesture 
 she signified assent, and the cringing, 
 trembling bandits led her on through the 
 forest till they reached an open glade, 
 into which the sunbeams glanced right 
 merrily. Here, under a broad oak-tree 
 which stood in the centre of the glade, 
 reclined a man of gigantic stature and 
 commanding mien, with a whole armory 
 of weapons displayed upon his person. 
 Hastening to their chief, the robbers 
 conveyed to him, in agitated whispers, 
 the circumstance of their meeting the 
 princess, and of her unexpected reply 
 
THE THREE REMARKS 101 
 
 to their questions. Hardly seeming to 
 credit their statement, the gigantic chief- 
 tain sprang to his feet, and advancing 
 toward the princess with a respectful 
 reverence, begged her to repeat the remark 
 which had so disturbed his men. With 
 a royal air, and in clear and ringing tones, 
 the princess repeated, — 
 
 " Has your grandmother sold her mangle 
 yet ? " and gazed steadfastly at the robber 
 chief. 
 
 He turned deadly pale, and staggered 
 against a tree, which alone prevented him 
 from falling. 
 
 "It is true ! " he gasped. " We are 
 undone ! The enemy is without doubt 
 close at hand, and all is over. Yet," 
 he added with more iBrmness, and with 
 an appealing glance at the princess, " yet 
 there may be one chance left for us. If 
 this gracious lady will consent to go for- 
 ward, instead of returning through the 
 wood, we may yet escape with our lives. 
 Noble princess ! " and here he and the 
 whole band assumed attitudes of suppli- 
 cation, " consider, I pray you, whether 
 it would really add to your happiness to 
 
102 THE THREE REMARKS 
 
 betray to the advancing army a few poor 
 foresters, who earn their bread by the 
 sweat of their brow. Here," he continued, 
 hastily drawing something from a hole 
 in the oak-tree, " is a bag containing ten 
 thousand sapphires, each as large as a 
 pullet's egg. If you will graciously deign 
 to accept them, and to pursue your 
 journey in the direction I shall indicate, 
 the Red Chief of the Rustywhanger will 
 be your slave forever." 
 
 The princess, who of course knew that 
 there was no army in the neighborhood, 
 and who moreover did not in the least 
 care which way she went, assented to the 
 Red Chief's proposition, and taking the 
 bag of sapphires, bowed her farew^ell 
 to the grateful robbers, and followed their 
 leader down a ferny path which led to the 
 farther end of the forest. When they 
 came to the open country, the robber 
 chieftain took his leave of the princess, 
 with profound bows and many protesta- 
 tions of devotion, and returned to his 
 band, who were already preparing to 
 plunge into the impenetrable thickets of 
 the midforest. 
 
THE THREE REMARKS 103 
 
 The princess, meantime, with her two 
 bags of gems on her shoulders, fared 
 forward with a hght heart, by dale and 
 by down, through moss and through 
 meadow. By-and-by she came to a fair 
 high palace, built all of marble and 
 shining jasper, with smooth lawns about 
 it, and sunny gardens of roses and gilly- 
 flowers, from which the air blew so sweet 
 that it was a pleasure to breathe it. The 
 princess stood still for a moment, to taste 
 the sweetness of this air, and to look her 
 fill at so fair a spot; and as she stood 
 there, it chanced that the palace-gates 
 opened, and the young king rode out with 
 his court, to go a-catching of nighthawks. 
 
 Now when the king saw a right fair 
 princess standing alone at his palace-gate, 
 her rich garments dusty and travel-stained, 
 and two heavy sacks hung upon her 
 shoulders, he was filled with amazement; 
 and leaping from his steed, like the gallant 
 knight that he was, he besought her to tell 
 him whence she came and whither she 
 was going, and in what way he might 
 be of service to her. 
 
 But the princess looked down at her 
 
104 THE THREE REMARKS 
 
 little dusty shoes, and answered never a 
 word ; for she had seen at the first glance 
 how fair and goodly a king this was, and 
 she would not ask him the price of butter, 
 nor whether his grandmother had sold her 
 mangle yet. But she thought in her heart, 
 " Now, I have never, in all my life, seen 
 a man to whom I would so willingly say, 
 * With all my heart ! ' if he should ask 
 me to marry him." 
 
 The king marvelled much at her silence, 
 and presently repeated his questions, add- 
 ing, " And what do you carry so carefully 
 in those two sacks, which seem over- 
 heavy for your delicate shoulders ? " 
 
 Still holding her eyes downcast, the 
 princess took a ruby from one bag, and 
 a sapphire from the other, and in silence 
 handed them to the king, for she willed 
 that he should know she was no beggar, 
 even though her shoes were dusty. Thereat 
 all the nobles were filled with amazement, 
 for no such gems had ever been seen in 
 that country. 
 
 But the king looked steadfastly at the 
 princess, and said, " Rubies are fine, and 
 sapphires are fair; but, maiden, if I 
 
THE THREE REMARKS 105 
 
 could but see those eyes of yours, I warrant 
 that the gems would look pale and dull 
 beside them." 
 
 At that the princess raised her clear 
 dark eyes, and looked at the king and 
 smiled ; and the glance of her eyes pierced 
 straight to his heart, so that he fell on his 
 knees and cried : 
 
 " Ah ! sweet princess, now do I know 
 that thou art the love for whom I have 
 waited so long, and whom I have sought 
 through so many lands. Give me thy 
 white hand, and tell me, either by word 
 or by sign, that thou wilt be my queen 
 and my bride ! " 
 
 And the princess, like a right royal 
 maiden as she was, looked him straight 
 in the eyes, and giving him her little 
 white hand, answered bravely, ** With 
 all my heart! " 
 
HOKEY POKEY 
 
 lOKEY POKEY was the 
 
 youngest of a large family 
 
 of children. His elder 
 
 brothers, as they grew up, 
 
 all became either butchers 
 
 or bakers or makers of 
 
 candle-sticks, for such was the custom of 
 
 the family. But Hokey Pokey would be 
 
 none of these things ; so when he was grown 
 
 to be a tall youth he went to his father 
 
 and said, '* Give me my fortune." 
 
 " ' Will you be a butcher ? " asked 
 
 his father. 
 
 No,' said Hokey Pokey. 
 
 Will you be a baker ? ' 
 
 No, again.' 
 
 Will you make candlesticks ? * 
 
 Nor that either.' 
 
 '* * Then,' said his father, * this is the 
 loa 
 
HOKEY POKEY 107 
 
 only fortune I can give you ; ' and with 
 that he took up his cudgel and gave the 
 youth a stout beating. ' Now you cannot 
 complain that I gave you nothing,' said he. 
 
 '' ' That is true,' said Hokey Pokey. 
 * But give me also the wooden mallet 
 which lies on the shelf, and I will make 
 my way through the world.' 
 
 " His father gave him the mallet, glad 
 to be so easily rid of him, and Hokey 
 Pokey went out into the world to seek his 
 fortune. He walked all day, and at night- 
 fall he came to a small village. Feeling 
 hungry, he went into a baker's shop, 
 intending to buy a loaf of bread for his 
 supper. There was a great noise and 
 confusion in the back part of the shop; 
 and on going to see what was the matter, 
 he found the baker on his knees beside 
 a large box or chest, which he was trying 
 with might and main to keep shut. But 
 there was something inside the box which 
 was trying just as hard to get out, and 
 it screamed and kicked, and pushed the 
 lid up as often as the baker shut it down. 
 
 " ' What have you there in the box ? * 
 asked Hokey Pokey. 
 
108 HOKEY POKEY 
 
 " ' I have my wife/ replied the baker. 
 ' She is so frightfully ill-tempered that 
 whenever I am going to bake bread I 
 am obliged to shut her up in this box, 
 lest she push me into the oven and bake 
 me with the bread, as she has often 
 threatened to do. But to-day she has 
 broken the lock of the box, and I know 
 not how to keep her down.' 
 
 " ' That is easily managed,' said Hokey 
 Pokey. ' Do you but tell her, when she 
 asks who I am, that I am a giant with 
 three heads, and all will be well.' So 
 saying, he took his wooden mallet and 
 dealt three tremendous blows on the box, 
 saying in a loud voice, — 
 
 * Hickory Hox ! 
 I sit by the box, 
 Waiting to give you a few of my knocks/ 
 
 " * Husband, husband ! whom have you 
 there ? ' cried the wife in terror. 
 
 " * Alas ! ' said the baker; * it is a fright- 
 ful giant with three heads. He is sitting 
 by the box, and if you open it so much 
 as the width of your little finger, he will 
 pull you out and beat you to powder.' 
 
HOKEY POKEY 109 
 
 " When the wife heard that she crouched 
 down in the box, and said never a word, 
 for she was afraid of her life. 
 
 " The baker then took Hokey Pokey 
 into the other part of the shop, thanked 
 him warmly, and gave him a good supper 
 and a bed. The next morning he gave 
 him for a present the finest loaf of bread 
 in his shop, which was shaped like a large 
 round ball; and Hokey Pokey, after 
 knocking once more on the lid of the box, 
 continued his travels. 
 
 ** He had not gone far before he came 
 to another village, and wishing to inquire 
 his way he entered the first shop he came 
 to, which proved to be that of a confec- 
 tioner. The shop was full of the most 
 beautiful sweetmeats imaginable, and 
 everything was bright and gay; but the 
 confectioner himself sat upon a bench, 
 weeping bitterly. 
 
 " ' What ails you, friend ? ' asked Hokey 
 Pokey ; ' and why do you weep, when 
 you are surrounded by the most delightful 
 things in the world ? ' 
 
 '' ' Alas ! ' replied the confectioner. 
 * That is just the cause of my trouble. 
 
110 HOKEY POKEY 
 
 The sweetmeats that I make are so good 
 that their fame has spread far and wide, 
 and the Rat King, hearing of them, has 
 taken up his abode in my cellar. Every 
 night he comes up and eats all the sweet- 
 meats I have made the day before. There 
 is no comfort in my life, and I am thinking 
 of becoming a rope-maker and hanging 
 myself with the first rope I make.' 
 
 " * Why don't you set a trap for him ? ' 
 asked Hokey Pokey. 
 
 " * I have set fifty-nine traps,' replied 
 the confectioner, ' but he is so strong that 
 he breaks them all.' 
 
 " * Poison him,' suggested Hokey Pokey. 
 
 " * He dislikes poison,' said the con- 
 fectioner, ' and will not take it in any 
 form.' 
 
 " * In that case,' said Hokey Pokey, 
 ' leave him to me. Go away, and hide 
 yourself for a few minutes, and all will 
 be well.' 
 
 " The confectioner retired behind a large 
 screen, having first showed Hokey Pokey 
 the hole of the Rat King, which was 
 certainly a very large one. Hokey Pokey 
 
HOKEY POKEY 111 
 
 sat down by the hole, with his mallet in his 
 hand, and said in a squeaking voice, — 
 
 • Ratly King ! Kingly Rat ! 
 Here your mate comes pit-a-pat. 
 Come and see; the way is free; 
 Hear my signal : one ! two ! three ! ' 
 
 And he scratched three times on the floor. 
 Almost immediately the head of a rat 
 popped up through the hole. He was a 
 huge rat, quite as large as a cat; but 
 his size was no help to him, for as soon 
 as he appeared, Hokey Pokey dealt him 
 such a blow with his mallet that he fell 
 down dead without even a squeak. Then 
 Hokey Pokey called the confectioner, who 
 came out from behind the screen and 
 thanked him warmly; he also bade him 
 choose anything he liked in the shop, in 
 payment for his services. 
 
 " ' Can you match this ? ' asked Hokey 
 Pokey, showing his round ball of bread. 
 
 " ' That can I ! ' said the confectioner; 
 and he brought out a most beautiful ball, 
 twice as large as the loaf, composed of 
 the finest sweetmeats in the world, red 
 and yellow and white. Hokey Pokey 
 
112 HOKEY POKEY 
 
 took it with many thanks, and then went 
 on his way. 
 
 " The next day he came to a third village 
 in the streets of which the people were 
 all running to and fro in the wildest con- 
 fusion. 
 
 " ' What is the matter ? ' asked Hokey 
 Pokey, as one man ran directly into his 
 arms. 
 
 " * Alas ! ' replied the man. ' A wild 
 bull has got into the principal china-shop, 
 and is breaking all the beautiful dishes.' 
 
 " * Why do you not drive him out .? ' 
 asked Hokey Pokey. 
 
 " * We are afraid to do that,' said the 
 man ; ' but we are running up and down 
 to express our emotion and sympathy, 
 and that is s®mething.' 
 
 " ' Show me the china-shop,' said Hokey 
 Pokey. 
 
 ** So the man showed him the china- 
 shop; and there, sure enough, was a 
 furious bull, making most terrible havoc. 
 He was dancing up and down on a Dres- 
 den dinner set, and butting at the Chinese 
 mandarins, and switching down finger- 
 bowls and teapots with his tail, bellowing 
 
HOKEY POKEY 113 
 
 meanwhile in the most outrageous manner. 
 The floor was covered with broken crockery, 
 and the whole scene was melancholy to 
 behold. 
 
 ** Now when Hokey Pokey saw this, 
 he said to the owner of the china-shop, 
 who was tearing his hair in a frenzy of 
 despair, ' Stop tearing your hair, which 
 is indeed a senseless occupation, and I 
 will manage this matter for you. Bring 
 me a red cotton umbrella, and all will 
 yet be well.' 
 
 '' So the china-shop man brought him 
 a red cotton umbrella, and Hokey Pokey 
 began to open and shut it violently in front 
 of the door. When the bull saw that, he 
 stopped dancing on the Dresden dinner 
 set and came charging out of the shop, 
 straight towards the red umbrella. When 
 he came near enough, Hokey Pokey 
 dropped the umbrella, and raising his 
 wooden mallet hit the bull such a blow on 
 the muzzle that he fell down dead, and 
 never bellowed again. 
 
 " The people all flung up their hats, and 
 cheered, and ran up and down all the 
 more, to express their gratification. As 
 
114 HOKEY POKEY 
 
 for the china-shop man, he threw his arms 
 round Hokey Pokey's neck, called him 
 his cherished preserver, and bade him 
 choose anything that was left in his shop 
 in payment for his services. 
 
 " * Can you match these ? ' asked Hokey 
 Pokey, holding up the loaf of bread and 
 the ball of sweetmeats. 
 
 " * That can I,' said the shop-man ; 
 and he brought out a huge ball of solid 
 ivory, inlaid with gold and silver, and truly 
 lovely to behold. It was very heavy, 
 being twice as large as the ball of sweet- 
 meats; but Hokey Pokey took it, and, 
 after thanking the shop-man and receiving 
 his thanks in return, he proceeded on his 
 way. 
 
 " After w^alking for several days, he 
 came to a fair, large castle, in front of 
 which sat a man on horseback. When 
 the man saw Hokey Pokey, he called out, — 
 
 " ' Who are you, and what do you bring 
 to the mighty Dragon, lord of this castle ? ' 
 
 " * Hokey Pokey is my name,' replied 
 the youth, * and strange things do I bring. 
 But what does the mighty Dragon want, 
 for example ? ' 
 
HOKEY POKEY 115 
 
 " * He wants something new to eat,' 
 said the man on horseback. * He has eaten 
 of everything that is known in the world, 
 and pines for something new. He who 
 brings him a new dish, never before tasted 
 by him, shall have a thousand crowns 
 and a new jacket; but he who fails, after 
 three trials, shall have his jacket taken 
 away from him, and his head cut off 
 besides.' 
 
 " ' I bring strange food,' said Hokey 
 Pokey. * Let me pass in, that I may 
 serve the mighty Dragon.' 
 
 " Then the man on horseback lowered 
 his lance, and let him pass in, and in short 
 space he came before the mighty Dragon. 
 The Dragon sat on a silver throne, with 
 a golden knife in one hand, and a golden 
 fork in the other. Around him were many 
 people, who offered him dishes of every 
 description; but he would none of them, 
 for he had tasted them all before ; and he 
 howled with hunger on his silver throne. 
 Then came forward Hokey Pokey, and 
 said boldly, — 
 
 " ' Here come I, Hokey Pokey, bringing 
 strange food for the mighty Dragon.' 
 
116 HOKEY POKEY 
 
 ** The Dragon howled again, and wav- 
 ing his knife and fork, bade Hokey Pokey 
 give the food to the attendants, that they 
 might serve him. 
 
 "'Not so,' said Hokey Pokey. *I 
 must serve you myself, most mighty Dragon, 
 else you shall not taste of my food. There- 
 fore put down your knife and fork, and 
 open your mouth, and you shall see what 
 you shall see.' 
 
 " So the Dragon, after summoning the 
 man-with-the-thousand-crowns and the 
 man-with-the-new- jacket to one side of 
 his throne, and the man-to-take-away-the 
 old-jacket and the executioner to the 
 other, laid down his knife and fork and 
 opened his mouth. Hokey Pokey stepped 
 lightly forward, and dropped the round 
 loaf down the great red throat. The 
 Dragon shut his jaws together with a snap, 
 and swallowed the loaf in two gulps. 
 
 *' * That is good,' he said ; ' but it is 
 not new. I have eaten much bread, though 
 never before in a round loaf. Have you 
 anything more.? Or shall the man take 
 away your jacket ? ' 
 
 " ' I have this, an it please you/ said 
 
HOKEY POKEY . 117 
 
 Hokey Pokey; and he dropped the ball 
 of sweetmeats into the Dragon's mouth. 
 
 " When the Dragon tasted this, he rolled 
 his eyes round and round, and was speech- 
 less with delight for some time. At 
 length he said, ' Worthy youth, this is 
 very good; it is extremely good; it is 
 better than anything I ever tasted. Never- 
 theless, it is not new; for I have tasted 
 the same kind of thing before, only not 
 nearly so good. And now, unless you are 
 positively sure that you have something 
 new for your third trial, you really might 
 as well take off your jacket; and the 
 executioner shall take off your head at 
 the same time, as it is getting rather late. 
 Executioner, do your — ' 
 
 " * Craving your pardon, most mighty 
 Dragon,' said Hokey Pokey, ' I will first 
 make my third trial ; ' and with that he 
 dropped the ivory ball into the Dragon's 
 mouth. 
 
 *' ' Gug-wugg-gUU-grrr ! ' said the Dragon, 
 for the ball had stuck fast, being too 
 big for him to swallow. 
 
 *' Then Hokey Pokey lifted his mallet 
 and struck one tremendous blow upon 
 
118 HOKEY POKEY 
 
 the ball, driving it far down the throat 
 of the monster, and killing him most 
 fatally dead. He rolled off the throne 
 like a scaly log, and his crown fell off and 
 rolled to Hokey Pokey's feet. The youth 
 picked it up and put it on his own head, 
 and then called the people about him and 
 addressed them. 
 
 " * People,' he said, * I am Hokey Pokey, 
 and I have come from a far land to rule 
 over you. Your Dragon have I slain, 
 and now I am your king ; and if you will 
 always do exactly what I tell you to do, 
 you will have no further trouble.' 
 
 " So the people threw up their caps 
 and cried, * Long live Hokey Pokey ! ' 
 and they always did exactly as he told 
 them, and had no further trouble. 
 
 " And Hokey Pokey sent for his three 
 brothers, and made them Chief Butcher, 
 Chief Baker, and Chief Candlestick-maker 
 of his kingdom. But to his father he sent 
 a large cudgel made of pure gold, with 
 these words engraved on it : * Now you 
 cannot complain that I have given you 
 nothing ! ' " 
 
THE TANGLED SKEIN 
 
 'Y dear child," said the 
 Angel-who-attends-to 
 things, "why are you 
 crying so very hard ? " 
 " Oh dear ! oh dear I " 
 said the child. " No one ever had such a 
 dreadful time before, I do believe, and it 
 all comes of trying to be good. Oh dear I 
 Oh dear I I wish I was bad ; then I should 
 not have all this trouble." 
 
 " Yes, you would," said the Angel ; " a 
 great deal worse. Now tell me what is the 
 matter ! " 
 
 " Look I " said the child. " Mother gave 
 me this skein to wind, and I promised to 
 do it. But then father sent me on an 
 errand, and it was almost school-time, and 
 I was studying my lesson and going on the 
 
 119 
 
120 THE TANGLED SKEIN 
 
 errand and winding the skein, all at the 
 same time, and now I have got all tangled 
 up in the wool, and I cannot walk either 
 forward or back, and oh ! dear me, what 
 ever shall I do ? '' 
 
 " Sit down ! " said the Angel. 
 
 " But it is school-time ! " said the child. 
 
 " Sit down ! " said the Angel. 
 
 " But father sent me on an errand ! '* 
 said the child. 
 
 " Sit Down ! " said the Angel ; and he 
 took the child by her shoulders and set her 
 down. 
 
 " Now sit still ! " he said, and he began 
 patiently to wind up the skein. It was 
 wofully tangled, and knotted about the 
 child's hands and feet; it was a wonder 
 she could move at all ; but at last it was 
 all clear, and the Angel handed her the 
 ball. 
 
 " I thank you so very much ! " said the 
 child. " I w^as not naughty, was I ? " 
 
 " Not naughty, only foolish ; but that 
 does just as much harm sometimes." 
 
 " But I was doing right things I " said 
 the child. 
 
THE TANGLED SKEIN 121 
 
 " But you were doing them in the wrong 
 way I " said the Angel. " It is good to do 
 an errand, and it is good to go to school, 
 but when you have a skein to wind you 
 must sit stilL" 
 
A SONG FOR HAL 
 
 NCE I saw a little boat, 
 and a pretty, pretty 
 boat, 
 When daybreak the 
 hills was adorning, 
 And into it I jumped, 
 and away I did float, 
 So very, very early in the morning. 
 
 Chorus 
 And every little wave had its nightcap on, 
 Its nightcap, white cap, nightcap on. 
 And every little wave had its nightcap on. 
 So very, very early in the morning. 
 
 All the fishes were asleep in their caves 
 
 cool and deep. 
 When the ripple round my keel flashed 
 
 a warning. 
 Said the minnow to the skate, " We must 
 
 certainly be late. 
 Though I thought 't was very early in the 
 
 morning.'* 
 
 122 
 
A SONG FOR HAL 123 
 
 Chorus 
 For every little wave has its nightcap on. 
 Its nightcap, white cap, nightcap on. 
 For every httle wave has its nightcap on, 
 So very, very early in the morning. 
 
 The lobster darkly green soon appeared 
 upon the scene. 
 
 And pearly drops his claws were adorn- 
 ing. 
 
 Quoth he, " May I be boiled, if I '11 have 
 my slumber spoiled. 
 
 So very, very early in the morning ! " 
 
 Chorus 
 For every little wave has its nightcap on, 
 Its nightcap, white cap, nightcap on. 
 For every little wave has its nightcap on. 
 So very, very early in the morning. 
 
 Said the sturgeon to the eel, " Just imagine 
 
 how I feel, 
 Thus roused without a syllable of warning. 
 People ought to let us know when a-sail- 
 
 ing they would go, 
 So very, very early in tlje morning." 
 
124 A SONG FOR HAL 
 
 Chorus 
 When every little wave has its nightcap on. 
 Its nightcap, white cap, nightcap on. 
 When every little wave has its nightcap on, 
 So very, very early in the morning. 
 
 Just then up jumped the sun, and the 
 
 fishes every one 
 For their laziness at once fell a-mourning. 
 But I stayed to hear no more, for my boat 
 
 had reached the shore, 
 So very, very early in the morning. 
 
 Chorus 
 And every little wave took its nightcap off. 
 Its nightcap, white cap, nightcap off. 
 And every little wave took its nightcap off. 
 And courtesied to the sun in the morning. 
 
FOR YOU AND ME 
 
 HAVE come to speak to 
 you about your work," 
 said the Angel-who-at- 
 tends-to-things. " It 
 appears to be unsatisfac- 
 tory." 
 
 "Indeed!" said the 
 man. " I hardly see how that can be. 
 Perhaps you will explain." 
 
 " I will I " said the Angel. " To begin 
 with, the work is slovenly." 
 
 " I was born heedless," said the man. 
 " It is a family failing which I have always 
 regretted." 
 
 " It is ill put together, too ; " said the 
 Angel. "The parts do not fit." 
 
 " I never had any eye for proportion,*' 
 
 said the man ; " I admit it is unfortunate." 
 
 " The whole thing is a botch," said the 
 
 Angel. " You have put neither brains 
 
 nor heart into it, and the result is ridic- 
 
 126 
 
126 FOR YOU AND ME 
 
 ulous failure. What do you propose to 
 do about it?" 
 
 " I credited you with more comprehen- 
 sion," said the man. " My faults, such as 
 they are, were born with me. I am sorry 
 that you do not approve of me, but this is 
 the way I was made ; do you see ? " 
 
 " I see 1 " said the Angel. He put out a 
 strong white hand, and taking the man by 
 the collar, tumbled him neck and crop into 
 the ditch. 
 
 " What is the meaning of this ? " cried 
 the man, as he scrambled out breathless 
 and dripping. " I never saw such behav- 
 ior. Do you see what you have done? 
 you have ruined my clothes, and nearly 
 drowned me beside." 
 
 ** Oh yes !" said the Angel: " this is the 
 way / was made." 
 
THE BURNING HOUSE 
 
 OME neighbours were 
 walking together in the 
 cool of the day, watch- 
 ing the fall of the twi- 
 light, and talking of this 
 and that ; and as they 
 t^^^^^^^ walked, they saw at a 
 little distance a light, as it were a house 
 on fire. 
 
 " From the direction, that must be 
 our neighbour William's house," said one. 
 "Ought we not to warn him of the 
 danger ? " 
 
 " I see only a Uttle flame," said another ; 
 " perchance it may go out of itself, and no 
 harm done." 
 
 " I should be loth to carry ill news," said 
 a third ; " it is always a painful thing to 
 do." 
 
 "William is not a man who welcomes 
 interference," said a fourth. " I should not 
 
 127 
 
128 THE BURNING HOUSE 
 
 like to be the one to intrude upon his pri- 
 vacy ; probably he knows about the fire, 
 and is managing it in his own wayo" 
 
 While they were talking, the house 
 burned up^ 
 
THE NAUGHTY COMET 
 
 HE door of the 
 Comet House was 
 open. In the great 
 court-yard stood 
 hundreds of comets, 
 of all sizes and 
 shapes. Some were 
 puffing and blowing, and arranging their 
 tails, all ready to start; others had just 
 come in, and looked shabby and forlorn 
 after their long journeyings, their tails 
 drooping disconsolately; while others still 
 were switched off on side-tracks, where 
 the tinker and the tailor were attending 
 to their wants, and setting them to rights. 
 In the midst of all stood the Comet Master, 
 with his hands behind him, holding a very 
 long stick with a very sharp point. The 
 comets knew just how the point of that 
 stick felt, for they were prodded with it 
 
 129 
 
130 THE NAUGHTY COMET 
 
 whenever they misbehaved themselves; 
 accordingly, they all remained very quiet, 
 while he gave his orders for the day. 
 
 In a distant corner of the court-yard 
 lay an old comet, with his tail comfortably 
 curled up around him. He was too old 
 to go out, so he enjoyed himself at home 
 in a quiet way. Beside him stood a very 
 young comet, with a very short tail. He 
 was quivering with excitement, and occa- 
 sionally cast sharp impatient glances at 
 the Comet Master.' 
 
 " Will he never call me .? " he exclaimed, 
 but in an undertone, so that only his com- 
 panion could hear. " He knows I am 
 dying to go out, and for that very reason 
 he pays no attention to me. I dare not 
 leave my place, for you know what he is." 
 
 ** Ah ! " said the old comet, slowly, 
 " if you had been out as often as I have, 
 you would not be in such a hurry. Hot, 
 tiresome work, I call it. And what does 
 it all amount to ? " 
 
 '* Ay, that's the point ! " exclaimed the 
 young comet. ** What does it all amount 
 to ? That is what I am determined to find 
 out. I cannot understand your going on. 
 
THE NAUGHTY COMET 131 
 
 travelling and travelling, and never find- 
 ing out why you do it. / shall find out, 
 you may be very sure, before I have 
 finished my first journey." 
 
 " Better not ! better not ! " answered 
 the old comet. ''You'll only get into 
 trouble. Nobody knows except the Comet 
 Master and the Sun. The Master would 
 cut you up into inch pieces if you asked 
 him, and the Sun — " 
 
 '* Well, what about the Sun ? " asked 
 the young comet, eagerly. 
 
 '' Short-tailed Comet No. 73 ! " rang 
 suddenly, clear and sharp, through the 
 court-yard. 
 
 The young comet started as if he had 
 been shot, and in three bounds he stood 
 before the Comet Master, who looked 
 fixedly at him. 
 
 " You have never been out before,*' 
 said the Master. 
 
 " No, sir ! " replied No. 73 ; and he 
 knew better than to add another word. 
 
 ** You will go out now," said the Comet 
 Master. " You will travel for thirteen 
 weeks and three days, and will then return. 
 You will avoid the neighborhood of the 
 
132 THE NAUGHTY COMET 
 
 Sun, the Earth, and the planet Bungo. 
 You will turn to the left on meeting other 
 comets, and you are not allowed to speak 
 to meteors. These are your orders. Go ! " 
 
 At the word, the comet shot out of the 
 gate and off into space, his short tail 
 bobbing as he went. 
 
 Ah ! here was something worth living 
 for. No longer shut up in that tiresome 
 court-yard, waiting for one's tail to grow, 
 but out in the free, open, boundless realm 
 of space, with leave to shoot about here 
 and there and everywhere — well, nearly 
 everywhere — for thirteen whole weeks ! 
 Ah, what a glorious prospect ! How swiftly 
 he moved ! How well his tail looked, even 
 though it was still rather short ! What 
 a fine fellow he was, altogether ! 
 
 For two or three weeks our comet was 
 the happiest creature in all space; too 
 happy to think of anything except the 
 joy of frisking about. But by-and-by 
 he began to wonder about things, and that 
 is always dangerous for a comet. 
 
 " I wonder, now," he said, " why I 
 may not go near the planet Bungo. I 
 have always heard that he was the most 
 
THE NAUGHTY COMET 133 
 
 interesting of all the planets. And the 
 Sun ! how I should like to know a little 
 more about the Sun ! And, by the way, 
 that reminds me that all this time I have 
 never found out why I am travelling. It 
 shows how I have been enjoying myself, 
 that I have forgotten it so long; but now 
 I must certainly make a point of finding 
 out. Hello ! there comes Long-Tail No. 
 45. I mean to ask him." 
 
 So he turned out to the left, and waited 
 till No. 45 came along. The latter was 
 a middle-aged comet, very large, and with 
 an uncommonly long tail, — quite pre- 
 posterously long, our little No. 73 thought, 
 as he shook his own tail and tried to make 
 as much of it as possible. 
 
 " Good morning, Mr. Long-Tail ! " he 
 said as soon as the other was within speak- 
 ing distance. " Would you be so very good 
 as to tell me what you are travelling for ? " 
 
 *' For six months," answered No. 45 
 with a puff and a snort. *' Started a 
 month ago; five months still to go." 
 
 '* Oh, I don't mean that ! " exclaimed 
 Short-Tail No. 73. "I mean why are 
 you travelling at all ? " 
 
134 THE NAUGHTY COMET 
 
 ** Comet Master sent me ! " replied No. 
 45, briefly. 
 
 " But what for ? " persisted the Httle 
 comet. "What is it all about? What 
 good does it do? Why do we travel for 
 weeks and months and years ? That 's 
 what I want to find out." 
 
 "Don't know, I'm sure!" said the 
 elder, still more shortly. ** What 's more, 
 don't care ! " 
 
 The little comet fairly shook with amaze- 
 ment and indignation. " You don't care ! " 
 he cried. "Is it possible ? And how 
 long, may I ask, have you been travelling 
 hither and thither through space, without 
 knowing or caring why ? " 
 
 " Long enough to learn not to ask 
 stupid questions ! " answered Long-Tail 
 No. 45. " Good morning to you ! " 
 
 And without another word he was off, 
 with his preposterously long tail spreading 
 itself like a luminous fan behind him. 
 The little comet looked after him for some 
 time in silence. At last he said : — 
 
 " Well, I call that simply disgusting! 
 An ignorant, narrow-minded old — " 
 
 " Hello, cousin ! " called a clear merry 
 
THE NAUGHTY COMET 135 
 
 voice just behind him. *' How goes it 
 with you ? Shall we travel together ? Our 
 roads seem to go in the same direc- 
 tion." 
 
 The comet turned and saw a bright and 
 sparkling meteor. *' I — I — must not 
 speak to you ! " said No. 73, confusedly 
 
 '* Not speak to me ! " exclaimed the 
 meteor, laughing. " Why, what 's the 
 matter ? What have I done ? I never saw 
 you before in my life." 
 
 " N-nothing that I know of," answered 
 No. 73, still more confused. 
 
 " Then why must n't you speak to me ? " 
 persisted the meteor, giving a little skip 
 and jump. '* Eh ? tell me that, will you ? 
 Why must n't you ? " 
 
 *' I — don't — know ! " answered the 
 little comet, slowly, for he was ashamed 
 to say boldly, as he ought to have done, 
 that it was against the orders of the Comet 
 Master. 
 
 ** Oh, gammon ! " cried the meteor, 
 with another skip. " I know ! Comet 
 Master, eh.? But a fine high-spirited 
 young fellow like you is n't going to be 
 afraid of that old tyrant. Come along, 
 
136 THE NAUGHTY COMET 
 
 I say ! If there were any real reason why 
 you should not speak to me — " 
 
 " That 's just what I say," interrupted 
 the comet, eagerly. " What is the 
 reason ? Why don't they tell it to me ? " 
 
 *' 'Cause there is n't any ! " rejoined 
 the meteor. " Come along ! " 
 
 After a little more hesitation, the comet 
 yielded, and the two frisked merrily along, 
 side by side. As they went. No. 73 con- 
 fided all his vexations to his new friend, 
 who sympathized warmly with him, and 
 spoke in most disrespectful terms of the 
 Comet Master. 
 
 " A pretty sort of person to dictate 
 to you, when he has n't the smallest sign 
 of a tail himself ! I would n't submit 
 to it ! " cried the meteor. "As to the 
 other orders, some of them are not so bad. 
 Of course, nobody would want to go near 
 that stupid, poky Earth, if he could 
 possibly help it; and the planet Bungo 
 is ^ ah — is not a very nice planet, I 
 believe." [The fact is, the planet Bungo 
 contains a large reform-school for unruly 
 meteors, but our friend made no mention 
 of that.] '* But as for the Sun, — the 
 
THE NAUGHTY COMET 137 
 
 bright, jolly, delightful Sun, — why, I 
 am going to take a nearer look at him 
 myself. Come on ! We will go together, 
 in spite of the Comet Master." 
 
 Again the little comet hesitated and 
 demurred; but after all, he had already 
 broken one rule, and why not another.^ 
 He would be punished in any case, and 
 he might as well get all the pleasure he 
 could. Reasoning thus, he yielded once 
 more to the persuasions of the meteor, 
 and together they shot through the great 
 space-world, taking their way straight 
 toward the Sun. 
 
 When the Sun saw them coming, he 
 smiled and seemed much pleased. He 
 stirred his fire, and shook his shining 
 locks, and blazed brighter and brighter, 
 hotter and hotter. The heat seemed to 
 have a strange effect on the comet, for he 
 began to go faster and faster. 
 
 " Hold on ! " said the meteor. " ^Vhy 
 are you hurrying so? I cannot keep up 
 with you." 
 
 " I cannot stop myself! " cried No. 73. 
 *' Something is drawing me forward, faster 
 and faster ! " 
 
138 THE NAUGHTY COMET 
 
 On he went at a terrible rate, the meteor 
 following as best he might. Several planets 
 that he passed shouted to him in warning 
 tones, but he could not hear what they 
 said. The Sun stirred his fire again, and 
 blazed "^^ %hter and brighter, hotter and 
 hotter; and onward rushed the wretched 
 little comet, faster and faster, faster and 
 faster ! 
 
 " Catch hold of my tail and stop me ! " 
 he shrieked to the meteor. " I am shrivel- 
 ling, burning up, in this fearful heat ! 
 Stop me, for pity's sake ! " 
 
 But the meteor was already far behind, 
 and had stopped short to watch his com- 
 panion's headlong progress. And now, — 
 ah, me ! — now the Sun opened his huge 
 fiery mouth. The comet made one des- 
 perate effort to stop himself, but it was 
 in vain. An awful, headlong plunge 
 through the intervening space; a hissing 
 and crackling ; a shriek, — and the fiery 
 jaws had closed on Short-Tail No. 73 
 forever ! 
 
 ** Dear me ! " said the meteor. " How 
 very shocking ! I quite forgot that the 
 Sun ate comets. I must be off, or I shall 
 
THE NAUGHTY COMET 139 
 
 get an aeon in the Reform School for this. 
 I am really very sorry, for he was a nice 
 little comet ! " 
 
 And aw ^''^d the meteor, and soon 
 
 forgot all 
 
 But in the great couxt ^ ^ mSont of 
 the Comet House, the Master took a piece 
 of chalk, and crossed out No. 73 from the 
 list of short-tailed c mets on the slate 
 that hangs on the door. Then he called 
 out, ** No. 1 Express, come forward ! " 
 and the swiftest of all the comets stood 
 before him, brilliant and beautiful, with a 
 bewildering magnificence of tail. The 
 Comet Master spoke sharply and de- 
 cidedly, as usual, but not unkindly. 
 
 "No. 73, Short-Tail," he said, "has 
 disobeyed orders, and has in consequence 
 been devoured by the Sun." 
 
 Here there was a great sensation among 
 the comets. 
 
 "No. 1," continued the Master, "you 
 will start immediately, and travel until 
 you find a runaway meteor, with a red 
 face and blue hair. You are permitted 
 to make inquiries of respectable bodies, 
 such as planets or satellites. When found. 
 
140 THE NAUGHTY COMET 
 
 you will arrest him and take him to the 
 planet Bungo. My compliments to the 
 Meteor Keeper, and I shall be obliged 
 if he will give this meteor two aeons in the 
 Reform School. I trust," he continued, 
 turning to the assembled comets, *' that 
 this will be a lesson to all of you ! " 
 And I believe it was. 
 
DAY DREAMS 
 
 'HITE wings over the 
 water. 
 Fluttering, fluttering 
 
 over the sea. 
 White wings over the 
 water. 
 What are you bringing to me ? 
 A fairy prince in a golden boat. 
 With golden ringlets that fall and float, 
 A velvet cap, and a taffety cloak. 
 This you are bringing to me. 
 
 Fairy, fairy princekin. 
 Sailing, sailing hither to me. 
 Silk and satin and velvet. 
 What are you coming to see ? 
 A little girl in a calico gown. 
 With hair and eyes of dusky brown, 
 W^ho sits on the wharf of the fishing-town. 
 Looking away to sea. 
 Ul 
 
142 DAY DREAMS 
 
 Golden, golden sunbeams. 
 
 Touch me now with your wands of gold; 
 
 Make me a beautiful princess. 
 
 Radiant to behold. 
 
 Blue and silver and ermine fine. 
 
 Diamond drops that flash and shine; 
 
 So shall I meet this prince of mine. 
 
 Fairer than may be told. 
 
 White wings over the water. 
 Fluttering ever farther away; 
 Dark clouds shrouding the sunbeams. 
 Sullen and cold and gray. 
 Back I go in my calico gown. 
 Back to the hut in the fishing-town. 
 And oh, but the night shuts darkly down 
 After the summer day ! 
 
YB 37095 
 
' itrA 1 1 
 
 %,V''A