{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_11315/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_11315","id":"gutenberg_11315","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11315","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Fairies -- Juvenile fiction"],"text":"FRIENDLY FAIRIES\n\nWritten & Illustrated by\n\nJOHNNY GRUELLE\n\n\n1919\n\n\n\nTo MY MOTHER\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS:\n\n\n_Here are the Titles of the Stories in this Book:_\n\n1 The Three Little Gnomes\n\n2 The Happy Rattle\n\n3 Recipe for a Happy Day\n\n4 Grandfather Skeeterhawk\n\n5 Crow Talk\n\n6 The Fairy Ring\n\n7 Mr. and Mrs. Thumbkins\n\n8 The Old, Rough Stone and The Gnarled Tree\n\n9 Sally Migrundy\n\n10 How Johnny Cricket Saw Santa Claus\n\n11 The Twin Sisters\n\n12 Little Thumbkin's Good Deed\n\n13 The Wishbone\n\n14 Tim Tim Tamytam\n\n15 A Change of Coats\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE LITTLE GNOMES\n\n\nA silvery thread of smoke curled up over the trunk of the old tree and\nfloated away through the forest, and tiny voices came from beneath the\ntrunk of the old tree.\n\nLong, long ago, the tree had stood strong and upright and its top\nbranches reached far above any of the other trees in the forest, but the\ntree had grown so old it began to shiver when the storms howled through\nthe branches. And as each storm came the old tree shook more and more,\nuntil finally in one of the fiercest storms it tumbled to the earth with\na great crash.\n\nThere it lay for centuries, and vines and bushes grew about in a tangled\nmass until it was almost hidden from view.\n\nNow down beneath the trunk of the fallen tree lived three little gnomes,\nand it was the smoke from their fire which curled up over the trunk of\nthe old tree and floated away through the forest.\n\nThey were preparing dinner and laughing and talking together when they\nheard the sound of a horn.\n\n\"What can it be?\" one asked.\n\n\"It sounds like the horn of a huntsman!\" another cried.\n\nAs the sound came nearer, the three little gnomes stamped upon their\nfire and put it out so that no one would discover their home. Then they\nclimbed upon the trunk of the tree and ran along it to where they could\nsee across an open space in the forest without being seen themselves.\nAnd when the sound of the horn drew very close, they saw a little boy\nclimb through the thick bushes.\n\nAs the little boy came out into the open space the three little gnomes\nsaw that he was crying.\n\n\"He must be lost!\" said the first little gnome.\n\n\"He looks very tired and hungry!\" said the second little gnome.\n\n\"Let us go and ask him!\" said the third little gnome.\n\nSo the three little gnomes scrambled down from the trunk of the fallen\ntree and went up to where the little boy had thrown himself upon the\nground. They stood about him and watched him, for he had put his face in\nthe crook of his arm and was crying.\n\nFinally one of the little gnomes sat down in front of the little boy and\nspoke to him.\n\n\"I am lost!\" the little boy said. \"My father went hunting yesterday with\nall his men and when they were out of sight I took my little horn and\nfollowed them, but I soon lost their track, and I have wandered about\nwith nothing to eat. Last night I climbed into a tree and slept!\"\n\nThe three little gnomes wiped the little boy's eyes and led him to their\nhome under the fallen tree. There they finished preparing the dinner and\nsat about until the little boy had eaten and had fallen asleep.\n\nThen the three little gnomes carried him into their house, away back in\nthe trunk of the tree, and placed him upon one of their little beds.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWhen the three little gnomes had finished their dinner they lit their\npipes and wondered how they might help the little boy find his way home.\n\n\"Let us go to old Wizzy Owl and see if he can suggest anything!\" said\none.\n\n\"Yes, brothers,\" cried another, \"Let us go to old Wizzy Owl.\"\n\nSo the three little gnomes went to the home of Wizzy Owl and Wizzy Owl\nsaid he would fly high above the forest and try and see the little boy's\nhome.\n\n\"I can not see his home!\" cried Wizzy Owl. \"Maybe Fuzzy Fox can tell\nyou!\"\n\nSo the three little gnomes went to the home of Fuzzy Fox and Fuzzy Fox\nsaid he would run through the forest and see if he could find the little\nboy's home. So Fuzzy Fox ran through the forest, but could not find the\nlittle boy's home. \"But,\" said Fuzzy Fox, \"I came upon a wounded deer\nwho told me that a party of huntsmen had passed through the forest\nyesterday and had shot her with an arrow.\" So the three little gnomes\nwent to see the wounded deer and they washed the wound the arrow had\nmade and bound it up for her.\n\nThen the three little gnomes sat upon Fuzzy Fox's back and he ran on\nthrough the forest with them until they came to a wild boar.\n\nThe wild boar had been crippled by the huntsmen, he told the three\nlittle gnomes, but had managed to hide himself in the thick bushes and\nescape. \"It must have been the little boy's father and his men,\" said\nthe wild boar. \"I am sorry that I am wounded for I would like to help\nhim!\"\n\nThen Fuzzy Fox ran with the three little gnomes through the forest and\nthey met a wounded bear, and a wounded squirrel, and five or six wounded\nbunny rabbits, and they all told the three little gnomes that the\nhuntsmen had shot them with arrows and that they just managed to escape.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe three little gnomes felt very sorry for their wounded friends and\nhelped them all they could by washing their wounds and tying them up.\n\"We are sorry that we can not go with you and help find the little boy's\nhome,\" they all said, \"For his mother will miss him and cry for him. And\nwe know how much a Mamma or a Daddy can miss a little boy or girl, for\nwe have all grieved for our own little ones that the huntsmen who roam\nthis forest have killed. That is why we feel sorry that we can not help\nyou bring him back to his mother.\"\n\nSo Fuzzy Fox ran until he came to the edge of the forest and then the\nthree little gnomes saw a large castle away in the distance with bright\nred roofs on the tall towers.\n\n\"That must be the little boy's home!\" said one little gnome.\n\n\"Let us return at once to our home under the fallen tree and ask the\nlittle boy!\" said another. So Fuzzy Fox ran with them back to their home\nand the little boy told them it was his home.\n\nThen the kind Fuzzy Fox took the three little gnomes and the little boy\nupon his back and ran to the edge of the forest and on the way they\nstopped to see the wounded animals, and they were all glad that the\nlittle boy's Mamma and Daddy would soon see him. \"Oh, if we could only\nsee the children who have been taken away from us by the huntsmen!\" they\nsaid as they bade the little boy goodbye.\n\nSo Fuzzy Fox carried the three little gnomes and the little boy almost\nto the castle gate and shook hands with him.\n\n\"I will remember the way to your home,\" the boy told the three little\ngnomes, \"and I will be back to see you soon!\"\n\nThe next day when the three little gnomes were preparing dinner they\nagain heard the little boy's horn, and ran along the trunk of the tree\nuntil they came to where they could see across the open space.\n\nSoon there came a great many people, and riding upon a fine horse in\nfront of his Daddy was the little boy, but this day he wore fine silk\nand satin clothes and they were not torn by the brambles and bushes.\nNear him rode a beautiful lady. She was the little boy's Mamma.\n\nSo the three little gnomes went out to meet them, and the little boy\nslid from the horse and ran to them and threw his arms around them.\n\"This is my Daddy, and this is my Mamma!\" he told them.\n\nThe little boy's Mamma and the little boy's Daddy dismounted and came to\nthe three little gnomes and thanked them for returning the little boy to\nthem. \"We will give you anything you wish for!\" said the little boy's\nMamma and Daddy.\n\n\"We wish for nothing!\" said the three little gnomes, \"We live happily\nhere in the forest and our wants are simple, but if you could send\nus some clean white cloths to bind up the wounds you give our forest\nfriends we would be very grateful!\"\n\n\"I told Daddy of the wounded creatures!\" said the little boy. \"Yes,\" his\nDaddy said, \"and I have given orders that no one in my country shall\nhunt through this forest, and from now on your forest friends will be\nunmolested and can always live here in peace and happiness.\" For the\ngreat king was sorry that he or his men had ever caused any of the\nforest creatures any sorrow. And after that the creatures of the forest\nwere never harmed and they grew up so tame they would wander right up to\nthe castle, where the king's men would feed them.\n\nThe tiny thread of smoke still curls up over the trunk of the fallen\ntree, and the voices of the little boy and his Daddy mingle with the\ntiny voices of the three little gnomes as they prepare their dinner; for\nthe great King and the little Prince come often to visit their friends,\nthe three little gnomes.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE HAPPY RATTLE\n\n\nWillie Woodchuck sat at the entrance of his burrow home whittling upon a\ntiny dried gourd.\n\n\"What are you making?\" asked Timothy Toad, as he hopped through the\ngrass and sat in front of Willie.\n\n\"Oh, I am just whittling because I have nothing else to do!\" replied\nWillie Woodchuck.\n\nSo Timothy Toad hopped on down the path until he met Eddie Elf.\n\n\"Willie Woodchuck is whittling because he has nothing else to do!\" said\nTimothy Toad.\n\n\"I will stop by and see him!\" said Eddie Elf. So Timothy Toad hopped\nalong the path until he met Gerty Gartersnake.\n\n\"Willie Woodchuck is whittling because he has nothing better to do!\"\nsaid Timothy Toad.\n\n\"I will go down that way and see him!\" said Gerty Gartersnake, and she\nstarted down the path.\n\nSo Timothy Toad hopped down the path until he met Wallie Woodpecker.\n\"Willie Woodchuck is whittling because he has nothing better to do!\"\nsaid Timothy Toad.\n\n\"I will fly down and see him!\" said Wallie Woodpecker, and away he flew.\nTimothy Toad hopped on down the road until he met Billie Bumblebee.\n\n\"Willie Woodchuck is whittling because he has nothing else to do!\" said\nTimothy Toad.\n\n\"I will buzz down that way and see him!\" said Billie Bumblebee, as he\nbuzzed away.\n\nWhen Timothy Toad arrived at his home his wife, Tilly Toad, was sweeping\noff the front steps. \"What do you think, Tilly?\" Timothy Toad cried,\n\"Willie Woodchuck is, whittling because he has nothing else to do!\"\n\n\"Dear me! You don't say so!\" cried Tilly Toad, as she stood her broom in\nthe corner and started down the path. \"I will hop down and see him!\" she\nsaid.\n\n\"I will hop back with you, Tilly!\" said Timothy Toad.\n\nThey had not hopped far before they met Eddie Elf, who was singing\nhappily to himself as he walked along. \"Willie Woodchuck is whittling on\na rattle!\" he said, when the two Toads stopped him.\n\n\"We are hopping back to see him,\" said Tilly and Timothy Toad. \"I will\ngo back with you!\" said Eddie Elf.\n\nThey had not gone far until they met Gerty Gartersnake, singing away\nvery happily. \"Willie Woodchuck is whittling on a beautiful red and\nblack rattle!\" said Gerty Gartersnake.\n\n\"We are going back to see him!\" said Tilly and Timothy Toad and Eddie\nElf.\n\n\"Then I will go back with you!\" said Gerty Gartersnake.\n\nThey had not gone far until they met Wallie Woodpecker, who also was\nsinging happily. \"Willie Woodchuck is whittling on a rattle and it is\nblue, red and black and rattles beautifully.\"\n\n\"We are going back to see him!\" said Tilly and Timothy Toad and Eddie\nElf and Gerty Gartersnake.\n\n\"Then I will go back with you!\" said Wallie Woodpecker.\n\nThey had not gone far before they met Billie Bumblebee. \"Willie\nWoodchuck is whittling on a beautiful yellow and blue and red and black\nrattle and it rattles beautifully.\"\n\n\"We are going back to see him!\" said Tilly and Timothy Toad and Eddie\nElf and Gerty Gartersnake and Wallie Woodpecker.\n\n\"Then I will go back with you!\" said Billie Bumblebee, so away they all\nwent until they came to Willie Woodchuck's home.\n\n\"Where is Willie Woodchuck?\" they asked of Winnie Woodchuck, his wife.\n\n\"He has taken his beautiful new yellow and red and blue and black and\nwhite rattle, which rattles so beautifully, over to show to Grumpy\nGrundy, the Owl!\" said Winnie Woodchuck.\n\n\"Then we will go there!\" said the others.\n\n\"Then I will go with you!\" said Winnie Woodchuck.\n\nGrumpy Grundy, the Owl, was a very cross old creature, and if everything\ndid not go to suit her all the time, she hooted and howled; in fact she\nhad cried so much she had made large red rings around her eyes.\n\nWhen Tilly and Timothy Toad and Eddie Elf and Gerty Gartersnake and\nWallie Woodpecker and Billie Bumblebee and Winnie Woodchuck arrived\nat Grumpy Grundy's place they heard merry laughter and whenever the\nlaughter ceased, they heard the buzz and rattle and hum of Willie\nWoodchuck's rattle.\n\nSo they went inside.\n\nAnd there was Willie Woodchuck with the beautiful yellow and red and\nblue and black and white rattle, and when he rattled it Grumpy Grundy\nrolled on the floor and laughed until the tears ran from her eyes.\n\nSo they all lifted Grumpy Grundy on a chair and wiped her eyes and what\ndo you think! the red rings around them were wiped away and she looked\nyoung and pretty again.\n\n\"Oh dear!\" said Grumpy Grundy, the Owl. \"I have never enjoyed myself so\nmuch before, and I will never be grumpy and be called a Grundy again! No\nsir! never!\" and her eyes twinkled with merriment.\n\nAnd all were greatly pleased at the great change in Grumpy Grundy.\n\nEddie Elf laughed, Tilly and Timothy Toad chuckled, Gerty Gartersnake\ngiggled, Wallie Woodpecker beat a tattoo on wood, Billie Bumblebee\nbuzzed and Winnie Woodchuck sang a woodchuck song.\n\nAnd after that no one could say that Willie Woodchuck had nothing else\nto do, for he spent his time making beautiful \"happy rattles\" which he\ngave away to all the creatures, and everyone laughed and made merry\nwhenever they heard the beautiful yellow and red and blue and black and\nwhite rattles which rattled so beautifully and drove away the grumpies.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\nRECIPE FOR A HAPPY DAY\n\n\nOne morning Marjorie's Mamma called to her several times before Marjorie\nanswered, for her pretty brown eyes were very sleepy and would hardly\nstay open.\n\n\"Come, dear! Please hurry, for I want you to run to the grocery before\nbreakfast!\" Mamma called from the foot of the stairs.\n\n\"Oh dear!\" exclaimed Marjorie, \"I don't want to get up!\" and keeping her\nhead on the pillow just as long as she could Marjorie crawled out of bed\nbackwards.\n\nHer clothes were scattered about the room and her stockings were turned\ninside out. Her dress would not fasten and she cried, so that Mamma had\nto come upstairs and dress her.\n\nSo you see Marjorie's day began all wrong, for everything started\ntopsy-turvy.\n\n\"Now hurry, dear!\" Mamma said as she handed Marjorie the basket.\n\nMarjorie slammed the door as she went out and she was so cross she\ndid not notice the beautiful sunshine nor hear the pretty songs which\ngreeted her from the tree tops.\n\n\"It's so far to the old store!\" Marjorie grumbled to herself, as she\npouted her pretty lips and shuffled her feet along the path.\n\n\"Hello, Marjorie!\" laughed a merry voice.\n\nMarjorie saw a queer little elf sitting upon a stone at the side of the\nroad. His little green suit was so near the color of the leaves Marjorie\ncould scarcely distinguish him from the foliage. He wore a funny little\npointed cap of a brilliant red, and sticking in it was a long yellow\nfeather.\n\nTwo long hairs grew from his eyebrows and curled over his cap. He was\nhardly as large as Marjorie's doll, Jane.\n\n\"Who are you, and where did you come from?\" Marjorie cried, for she\nthought him the most comical little creature she had ever seen.\n\n\"Why, I'm Merry Chuckle from Make-Believe Land!\" replied the elf. \"And\naren't you very cross this lovely day?\"\n\n\"I did not want to get up!\" cried Marjorie, \"and I just hate to go to\nthe store! It's too far!\" She dropped her basket on the ground and sat\ndown beside the elf on the large stone.\n\n\"Isn't it funny?\" laughed Merry Chuckle. \"There are hundreds of children\njust like you who make hard work of getting up when they are called in\nthe morning and who remain cross and ugly all day long!\"\n\n\"I really do not mean to be cross, but I just can't help it sometimes!\"\nMarjorie said.\n\n\"Oh, but indeed you can help it, Marjorie!\" the elf solemnly said as\nhe shook his tiny finger at her nose. \"And I am going to tell you how.\nFirst of all, when you awaken in the morning you must say to yourself,\n'Oh what a lovely, happy day this is going to be!' then raise your arms\nabove your head and take three long, deep breaths. Jump out of bed\nquickly, always remembering to put your toes on the floor first.\n\n\"For,\" continued Merry Chuckle, \"Old Witchy Crosspatch is always waiting\nfor children to get out of bed backwards. And when they do, she catches\nthem by the heels and turns everything topsy-turvy all day long; but\nwhen you get out of bed toes first, I'll be there to start you on a\npleasant day and Witchy Crosspatch will have to return to Make-Believe\nLand and hide her head!\" \"Sure enough, I did crawl out of bed backwards\nthis morning!\" Marjorie said.\n\n\"I know you did, my dear!\" Merry Chuckle giggled. \"And every time you do\nold Witchy Crosspatch makes everything seem disagreeable!\"\n\n\"But I hate to run errands, Mister Chuckle!\" cried Marjorie. \"The old\nroad is so dreadfully long and tiresome!\"\n\n\"But the longer the road the more happiness you can find along the\nway, my dear!\" Merry Chuckle replied, quick as a wink, his little eyes\ntwinkling brightly. \"If you look up at the blue sky and the beautiful\nsunshine and sing with the birds as you run along you'll find the road\nseems too short and you'll be back before you notice it. Just try it and\nsee.\"\n\nSo Marjorie looked up the road with a smile and, sure enough, it did not\nseem so far to the store, and when she turned around, she was sitting\nupon the stone alone. The little elf had suddenly disappeared. Marjorie\npicked up her basket and skipped down the road singing at the top of her\nvoice and before she had time to think about how far it was she was back\nhome telling Mamma all about the queer little elf from Make-Believe\nLand.\n\n\"You haven't been away long enough to stop and talk with anyone on\nthe road!\" laughed Mamma. \"Are you sure you have not been dreaming?\"\nMarjorie wondered if it really had only been a dream, but the next\nmorning when the golden sunshine peeped through her bedroom curtains,\nMarjorie did as Merry Chuckle had told her the day before. First of all\nshe woke up and cried, \"Oh what a lovely day this is going to be!\"\nThen she took three long, deep breaths and then she jumped out of bed\nquickly, right on her toes. And, sure enough, old Witchy Crosspatch had\nto go back to Make-Believe Land and hide her head, so Marjorie spent a\nlovely, happy day with Merry Chuckle.\n\n\"I hope all children will hear of my recipe for a joyous day,\" said\nMerry Chuckle, \"so that each day for them can be filled with sunshine\nand happiness!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\nGRANDFATHER SKEETER-HAWK'S STORY\n\n\nIt was a beautiful day in the late summer. Tommy Grasshopper, Johnny\nCricket and Willy Ladybug were playing on a high bank of the river, and\nwatching the little fish jumping after tiny flies and bugs that fell\nupon the surface of the stream.\n\n\"Let's go up higher so that we can see them better,\" Willy Ladybug said.\n\n\"Yes, let's climb up on the tall reeds so that we can look right down in\nthe water,\" Johnny Cricket said. \"But we must be very careful and not\nfall, for the fish would soon swallow us, and that would not be very\nmuch fun!\" he laughed.\n\nSo Tommy Grasshopper and Johnny Cricket caught hold of Willy Ladybug's\nfour little hands and helped him to climb up the tall reeds, for Willy\nwas not as old as the other Bug Boys, and might fall in the water if\nthey did not help him.\n\nFrom the tall reeds the three Bug Boys could look down in the water and\nsee the pretty little sun fish and the long slim pickerel darting around\nand turning their shiny sides so that the sun would reflect its rays on\nthem, just as if they were looking glasses.\n\nThe Bug Boys watched the fish until they grew tired, and they were just\nstarting down the tall reed when a great big dragon fly flew upon the\ntop of the reed and called to them.\n\nOf course all the Bug Boys knew old Gran'pa Skeeterhawk--for it was\nhe--so the three returned to the reed and sat down again to pass the\ntime of day with Gran'pa.\n\nPresently Willy Ladybug saw a strange fish in the water.\n\n\"What kind of a fish is that, Gran'pa Skeeterhawk?\" he asked.\n\n\"That's a catfish!\" Gran'pa replied. \"Queer looking fish, the catfish\nare; they do most of their feeding at night since Omasko, the elk,\nflattened their heads.\"\n\n\"Dear me! Are their heads flat?\" Johnny Cricket asked.\n\n\"Flat as a pancake!\" Gran'pa Skeeterhawk replied, and then told them\nthis story:\n\n\"I've heard _my_ Gran'pa tell that once the catfish had heads that were\nshaped like sunfish,\" Gran'pa Skeeterhawk said, \"and they thought that\nthey were not only the most beautiful fish but the fiercest fighters in\nthe world, although they would always swim away as fast as they could\nwhenever anything came near them. You see, they really were not even a\nteeney, weeney bit brave.\n\n\"But when the catfish got by themselves and they thought there was no\none else to overhear them, they would make up fairy tales of wonderful\nadventures they had gone through, and fierce monsters they had\ndestroyed. One would say 'I wish I were large enough to drag home the\nenormous giant eel I killed today. He was sixteen feet long, and weighed\nfive hundred pounds.' Another would say, 'Pooh, that is nothing! Why,\nyou ought to see an Indian who tried to catch me in a net! Why, I not\nonly pulled him in the water and dragged him all over the bottom, but I\nmade him promise he would never disturb any of the catfish tribe after\nthis!'\n\n\"Just then a little bird flew over the water and his shadow so startled\nthe boastful catfish, they buried themselves in the mud at the bottom of\nthe stream.\n\n\"After a while,\" Grand'pa Skeeterhawk continued, \"They got up courage\nto peek out of the mud, and as they saw nothing to frighten them, they\nformed in a circle and told more tales of their fighting qualities.\n\n\"One old catfish who had been the leader because he could tell the\nbiggest tales and hide under the mud quicker than any of the others\nfinally said: 'We are the best fish in the water, as you all know, so\nI think it will be a good plan to fight everything that comes near the\nwater from the land!'\n\n\"'Shall we fight the big hawk who wades in the water and catches some of\nus?' asked a little kitten fish.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"'Kitten fish should be seen and not heard!' the old chief catfish\nanswered quickly. I do not believe we should harm the hawk. He is not\nlarge enough. I was thinking of the large beast who comes wading along\nthe shores and eats the grasses that grow beneath the surface. You know\nhe has to raise his head every once-in-a-while in order to breathe, so\nif we should all hang on to him we could pull him under the water.'\n\n\"So the catfish, although they were so frightened that their fins grew\nstiff, decided that they would follow their chief, for they expected he\nwould be the first to hide under the mud when the big beast came.\n\n\"Finally old Omasko, the elk, came down to the river to feed, and the\nold chief catfish swam out and pulled on Omasko's whiskers, and all the\nother catfish cried: 'See how brave and fearless the mighty catfish\nare!' and they all swam out and pulled Omasko's whiskers, too. This made\nOmasko very angry, for he never harmed any fish in his life.\n\n\"He began jumping and pawing with his heavy hoofs, and smashed all the\ncatfish down in the mud and when they finally came out again, which was\nnot until two or three days later, their heads were as flat as they are\nnow!\n\n\"That is why all catfish have flat heads,\" Grandfather Skeeterhawk\nfinished.\n\n\"It served them right for being so boastful!\" Johnny Cricket said.\n\n\"It served them right for trying to harm someone who never harmed them!\"\nGran'pa Skeeterhawk replied, as he darted up in the air and flew over\nthe tall cat-tails.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\nCROW TALK\n\n\n\"Caw, Caw, Caw,\" one old crow cried as he faced the other two crows.\n\"Caw?\" asked the second old crow as he plumed his feathers and screwed\nhis head around to get a better view of the little boy lying under the\ntree.\n\n\"Caw-AAAAH! Ca--aaaaw!\" replied the first crow.\n\n\"Those crows must be talking to each other!\" Dickie Dorn thought to\nhimself, as he lay upon his back under the big oak tree and watched the\nthree crows.\n\nThe third crow now cried, \"Awww! Ca-ca-caw!\"\n\nDickie jumped up and ran down the hill to where Granny lived. It was a\ntiny little house, not much larger than a piano box, but it was plenty\nlarge enough for Granny, for Granny was only two feet high. Some people\neven thought Granny was a witch.\n\nOf course Dickie knew that Granny was not a witch, for Granny was very\ngood and kind. So Dickie knocked at Granny's tiny front door.\n\n\"Come in!\" Granny cried. \"Good morning, Dickie!\" she said, as Dickie\ncrawled into the tiny living room.\n\nWhen Dickie took a seat upon a tiny sofa he did not know just how to ask\nGranny for what he wanted, so he twiddled his thumbs.\n\n\"Why do you twiddle your thumbs, Dickie?\" Granny asked, as she smiled\nthrough her glasses at him.\n\n\"I was wondering what the three crows were talking of!\" Dickie replied.\nGranny went to her tiny cupboard and brought out a little bottle of\npurple fluid. She dropped three drops of this into a tiny spoon and held\nit to Dickie.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Am I to take it, Granny?\"\n\n\"Yes, my dear, and you will be able to understand what the three crows\nare talking about.\"\n\nDickie swallowed the purple fluid, for he was very anxious to return to\nthe big oak tree and listen to the crows. Granny watched him for a few\nmoments with her eyes full of twinkles, then she told him to run along\nto the tree.\n\nAnd Dickie thanked Granny and ran as fast as he could to the tree where\nthe three crows were still talking.\n\nThe first crow cried, \"I know where there is a box filled with golden\npennies!\"\n\n\"Ah, my brother, where?\" asked the second crow.\n\n\"In the middle of the great meadow, and it will belong to the one who\nfinds it first!\"\n\n\"I know where there is a box full of candy!\" the third crow cried.\n\n\"Ahhhh! Where is it, my brother?\" asked the first crow.\n\n\"In the middle of the great meadow, and it will belong to the one who\nfinds it first.\"\n\n\"I know where there is a box full of ice cream!\" cried the second crow.\n\"Aha! My brother, where?\" asked the third crow.\n\n\"In the middle of the great meadow, and it will belong to the one who\nfinds it first!\"\n\nThen the crows went on talking about other things, but Dickie did not\nhear them, for he was running in the direction of the great meadow as\nfast as he could.\n\nAnd when he came to the middle of the great meadow there was a large\nbox, and in the large box were three other boxes. One contained the\ngolden pennies, another the candy and the third was full of ice cream.\n\n\"I found it first!\" Dickie cried and he took a pencil stub from his\npocket and, with much twisting of mouth and thinking, he printed his\nname upon the box.\n\nThen Dickie ran home as fast as he could and told Daddy Dorn. Daddy Dorn\nhitched up Dobbin Dorn and Dickie and Daddy went to the middle of the\ngreat meadow and put the big box in the wagon and took it home.\n\nThen they called Mamma Dorn and they all ate some of the ice cream and\ncandy. Then Dickie took some of the ice cream and candy and some of the\ngolden pennies to Granny.\n\nThen Dickie ran back home and had some more ice cream and candy, and\nasked Daddy if he might take some of the golden pennies downtown and buy\nsomething, and Daddy Dorn said: \"Of course, Dickie Dorn, for they are\nyour golden pennies.\" So Dickie took two handfuls of the golden pennies\ndowntown and bought a fine little pony with a little round stomach, and\nhe bought a pretty pony cart and harness. Then Dicky drove the pony back\nhome.\n\nBy the time Dickie reached home he was hungry for more ice cream and\ncandy, so he went to the box to get some. \"Oh Mamma and Daddy!\" he\ncried, \"Come see! The box is full of candy and ice cream!\" And sure\nenough that was the case, for although they had eaten almost all of the\nice cream and candy before now the two boxes were filled again. Then\nDaddy Dorn took two large handfuls of golden pennies from the golden\npenny box and they watched the box fill up with pennies again.\n\n\"Whee!\" cried Dickie Dorn. \"Whee!\" cried Mamma Dorn, and \"Whee!\"\ncried Daddy Dorn. \"We will give a party!\" So Dickie drove around to\neverybody's house in his pony cart and invited everybody to come to the\nparty.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAnd they all had such a nice time they ate the ice cream box empty\nsixteen times and it filled right up again, and they ate the candy box\nempty seventeen times and it filled right up again, and Dickie and Mamma\nand Daddy Dorn gave everybody all the golden pennies they could carry\nhome and emptied the penny box eighteen times, and whenever they emptied\nthe golden penny box it filled right up again.\n\nAnd every one felt very grateful to Dickie Dorn and thanked him for such\na nice time, and Dickie brought Granny out of a corner where she was\neating her eighth dish of ice cream and told everybody that it was\nGranny who had really given the party, and he told them how Granny had\nhelped him to learn crow talk.\n\nSo the people never called Granny a witch after that, for they knew she\nwas very good and kindly.\n\nAnd Dickie put the three boxes--the candy box, the ice cream box and the\nbox with the golden pennies--out in front of his house so that whenever\nanyone wished candy or ice cream or golden pennies they might walk up\nand help themselves.\n\nDickie Dorn calls it an \"All-The-Time Party,\" for there is always\nsomeone out in front of Dickie Dorn's house eating from the candy and\nthe ice cream box and filling their pockets with golden pennies.\n\nSome day I hope to see you there.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE FAIRY RING\n\n\nA little old man with a violin tucked under his arm shuffled down the\nattic steps and the many flights of stairs until finally he reached the\nstreets.\n\nAs he shuffled down the street, he clutched his coat tightly about his\nthroat, for the air was chill and he felt the cold.\n\nAt the first street corner he stopped and placed his violin to his\nshoulder to play, but catching a glance from the policeman across the\nstreet he hastily tucked his violin under his arm and shuffled on.\n\nHe walked a great distance before he again stopped.\n\nIt was a busy corner where hundreds of people passed every few minutes,\nbut when he played no one stopped to listen to his music, much less to\ndrop anything in the tiny tin cup he had placed on the sidewalk before\nhim.\n\nTears came to the poor little old man's eyes; everyone was too busy to\nstop to hear his music.\n\nSo in the evening when he slowly retraced his steps towards his attic\nhome, his feet were very tired and he shuffled more than he had in the\nmorning. His back humped and his head drooped more, and the tears nearly\nblinded him. He had to stop and rest at each flight of stairs and he\nfell to his knees just as he reached the attic door.\n\nHe sat there and rested awhile, then caught hold of the doorknob and\nraised himself to his feet.\n\nA quaint little white-haired woman greeted him with a cheery smile as he\nentered, then, seeing his sad face, she turned her head and tears came\nto her eyes.\n\n\"Honey!\" the little old man sobbed, as he stumbled towards her chair and\nfell to his knees before her, burying his face in her lap.\n\nNeither could say a word for a long time, then the little old man told\nher he had been unable to make a single penny by playing.\n\n\"No one cares to hear an old man play the violin!\" he said. \"No one\ncares that we go hungry and cold! And I can still play,\" he added\nfiercely, \"just as well as ever I could! Listen to this!\" and the little\nold man stood up and drew his bow across the violin strings in a sure,\nfiery manner, so that the lamp chimney rattled and sang with the\nvibrations of the strings.\n\nAnd in his fierceness he improvised a melody so wild and beautiful his\nsister sat entranced.\n\nAs the little old man finished the melody he stood still more upright.\nThen straightening his old shoulders and pulling his hat firmly on his\nhead, he stooped and kissed the old lady and walked with a firm tread to\nthe door.\n\n\"I shall make them take notice tonight!\" he cried. \"I shall return with\nsuccess!\"\n\nSo again he went down the long flights of stairs and down the street\nuntil he came to a good corner where traffic was heavy.\n\nThere, with the mood upon him which had fired him in the attic, he\nplayed again the wild melody.\n\nA few people hesitated as they passed, but only one stopped. This was an\nold woman, bent and wrinkled, who helped herself along with a cane. She\nstopped and looked him squarely in the eye and the little old man felt\nhe should recognize her, but he could not remember where he had seen her\nbefore, nor was he sure that he had ever looked upon her until now.\n\nAt any rate, the faint memory inspired him and, raising his violin, he\nplayed a beautiful lullaby.\n\nBefore he had finished the old woman leaned over and dropped something\ninto his little tin cup.\n\nIt sounded as loud as a silver dollar would have sounded.\n\n\"The dear old generous soul!\" the old man thought as he continued\nplaying.\n\nHe played for hours, but the old woman was the only one who stopped.\n\"I will at least have enough to get Cynthia some warm food!\" he said,\nthinking of what the old lady had dropped into his tin cup.\n\nBut when he looked, what was his dismay to see only a large iron ring!\n\nAgain he climbed the stairs to the attic but he felt too weary to say a\nthing and his sister knew that he had met with disappointment. He tossed\nthe iron ring to her lap and went over to the bed and threw himself upon\nit.\n\n\"This is the end!\" he said, and told her about the iron ring.\n\n\"The old woman seemed interested in my playing!\" he said, \"And perhaps\nshe gave all she could give!\"\n\n\"Let us not be downhearted, Brother!\" said the sister. \"Surely tomorrow\nyou will find someone who will reward your talent!\"\n\nThe little old man was quiet for a long time and then he arose and again\ndrew his bow across the violin strings. The old lady sat very still and\ndreamed, for her brother was playing one of their childhood songs.\n\nAs she lost herself in reverie, she turned the iron ring around her\nfinger and saw upon its surface, as she turned it, the faces of her\nplaymates of long ago.\n\nAnd as the brother swept from one melody to another, she saw the iron\nring change color and grow larger and larger.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAnd, as she turned it, she saw the figures of her childhood playmates\nturn before her upon her lap, and they joined their voices with the\nsilvery notes of the violin's long ago songs until the attic was filled\nwith the melody and the figures danced from her lap and, taking her by\nthe hand, circled in the center of the attic room laughing and singing.\n\nThe little old man had been playing with his eyes closed, but as the\nsongs grew louder he opened them and beheld the ring of little figures,\nwith his sister holding hands with two of them. And, rising from the\nbed, still playing the childhood songs of long ago, he walked to the\ncenter of the room. As he did so, the figures rose in the air and seemed\nto grow lighter and larger. And suddenly the scene changed! He was out\nin the woods, with lofty trees towering above him, while all about,\nlaughing and talking, were hundreds of little fairies, gnomes and\nsprites, and there, too, were the playmates of long ago, just as he had\nseen them when he had closed his eyes and played in the attic.\n\nAnd there, too, was his sister as she had been when a child. He looked\nat himself, and lo! he was no longer wrinkled and old. He was young\nagain!\n\nIn his gladness he danced with joy, and catching his sister to his\nbreast he kissed her again and again.\n\nAnd, looking about him with shining eyes, he again drew his bow across\nthe strings and played a tune so lively and full of sweet happiness the\nchildhood friends caught hands and danced in a circle, and the little\nsprites, elves, gnomes and fairies caught hands and danced around the\nchildren, and as they passed before the brother he caught a mischievous\nglance from the eyes of one of the little fairies, and he knew in a\nmoment she was the one who had played the old woman, and who had given\nhim the iron ring....\n\nThe people who lived in the room below the attic room missed the little\nold man's shuffling step, and, not hearing it for two days, they told\nthe landlady, a kindly soul who had let the brother and sister have the\nattic room free of charge, and all went up to investigate....\n\nThey rapped upon the attic door. All was quiet within. Timidly they\nopened the door and looked in. There upon the floor lay an old rusty\niron ring. It was the Fairy Ring.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\nMR. AND MRS. THUMBKINS\n\n\nThumbkins ran beneath the bushes and down the tiny path until he came\nto where Tommy Grasshopper sat upon a blade of grass swinging in the\nbreeze.\n\n\"Have you seen Mrs. Thumbkins, Tommy Grasshopper?\" Thumbkins called.\n\n\"I have been asleep,\" replied Tommy Grasshopper, \"And I haven't seen\nher!\"\n\n\"Oh dear! Oh dear!\" cried Thumbkins. \"She has not been home all day!\"\n\n\"Perhaps she went over to see Granpa Tobackyworm!\" suggested Tommy\nGrasshopper, as he flicked his wings and made the blade of grass swing\nup and down.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSo Thumbkins thanked Tommy Grasshopper and ran over to Granpa\nTobacyworm's house.\n\nGranpa Tobackyworm was sitting upon a blade of grass, swinging in the\nbreeze and smoking his old clay pipe.\n\n\"Oh, Granpa Tobackyworm! Have you seen Mrs. Thumbkins? She has not been\nat home all day and I can not find her!\" cried Thumbkins.\n\n\"Yes, I saw her early this morning going down the path with her acorn\nbasket,\" said Granpa Tobackyworm as he blew a few rings of smoke in\nthe air. \"Perhaps she has gone to the Katydid grocery store to buy\nsomething,\" Granpa Tobackyworm added as he bounced up and down on his\nblade of grass.\n\nSo Thumbkins thanked Granpa Tobackyworm and went on down the tiny path.\n\n\"Hello, Thumbkins!\" cried a cheery voice as Thumbkins ran under a bunch\nof flowers. \"Where are you going in such a hurry?\"\n\nThumbkins saw Billy Bumblebee sitting upon one of the flowers, swinging\nin the breeze.\n\n\"Mrs. Thumbkins has not been home all day!\" said Thumbkins. \"And I can\nnot find her anywhere!\"\n\n\"HUMMMM!\" replied Billy Bumblebee. \"Let me think! HUMMMM!\" This was his\nway of thinking very hard.\n\n\"Perhaps she has gone over to see Granpa Tobackyworm, Mr Thumbkins!\"\n\n\"No!\" replied Thumbkins, \"I went there, and also over to the Katydid\nstore, but she was not there!\"\n\n\"Suppose you climb upon my back, Thumbkins, and let me help you find\nher!\" said Billy Bumblebee, as he buzzed his wings, making the flower\nsway up and down. So Thumbkins climbed up the flower stalk and took a\nseat upon Billy Bumblebee's back.\n\n\"Let us fly way up in the air so that we may look down over all the\ncountry!\" said Billy Bumblebee, as he made his wings whirr and climbed\nhigh in the air.\n\nBilly Bumblebee and Thumbkins looked over the country carefully, but\nthey could not see Mrs. Thumbkins anywhere.\n\nFinally Billy's sharp eyes discovered something shiny down by the side\nof the pond, so they flew down towards it. It was a new tin can house.\nThe door was closed.\n\nThumbkins alighted from Billy Bumblebee's back and knocked at the door.\n\nTINKY-TINKY-TINK!\n\n\"GRUMP! GRUMP!\" said a deep voice from inside the tin can house. Billy\nBumblebee peeped through a chink in a window, and saw a hoppy-toad with\nhis mouth full of pancakes.\n\nSo Thumbkins picked up a pebble and knocked louder. TONKY-TONKY-TONK!\n\nOld Man Hoppy-toad came to the door with a pancake in each hand and\nanother large one in his mouth. \"GRUMP! GRUMP!\" he said.\n\n\"Where is Mrs. Thumbkins?\" Billy Bumblebee demanded, as he buzzed around\nOld Man Hoppy-toad's head.\n\n\"I don't know!\" said Old Man Hoppy-toad when he had swallowed the\npancake.\n\n\"Yes, you do!\" Thumbkins cried as he caught Old Man Hoppy-toad's hand.\n\"Who made those pancakes for you?\"\n\nBilly Bumblebee buzzed closer to Old Man Hoppy-toad's head and Old Man\nHoppy-toad blinked his big round eyes and finally said, \"She is locked\nup in the kitchen!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSo Thumbkins ran to the kitchen and came out with Mrs.\nThumbkins. Old Man Hoppy-toad had locked her in the kitchen so she would\nhave to bake lots and lots of pancakes for him.\n\nThumbkins was so glad to see Mrs. Thumbkins he came very near crying.\nAnd Billy Bumblebee said to Old Man Hoppy-toad, \"Now you must leave our\nneighborhood, for we do not permit anyone to bother anyone else in the\nTown of Tinythings.\"\n\nSo Old Man Hoppy-toad had to pack up all his things in a red\nhandkerchief and hustle out of town.\n\nAnd Billy Bumblebee buzzed right around his head as Old Man Hoppy-toad\nwent down the path \"Lickity split-Hoppity hop!\" and never once looked\nbehind him.\n\nThumbkins and Mrs. Thumbkins went back home, and when Billy Bumblebee\nreturned and told them he had made Old Man Hoppy-toad go 'way down to\nthe river they knew they would never be troubled with him again.\n\nMrs. Thumbkins said she had fried pancakes all day but she was not too\ntired to fry more. So she made a lot of pancakes, while Billy Bumblebee\nflew home and returned with a bucket of honey, and they had so many\npancakes Mrs. Thumbkins asked Billy Bumblebee if he would fly around and\ninvite all the neighbors in to help eat them.\n\nTommy Grasshopper, Granpa Tobackyworm, and all the other friends of the\nThumbkins came and ate the lovely pancakes, covered with the delicious\nhoney.\n\nAnd, after eating as much as they could, everybody caught hold of hands\nand danced until late in the night, for the Katydid orchestra was there\nto furnish the music.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE OLD, ROUGH STONE AND THE GNARLED TREE\n\n\nA great rough stone lay beneath a gnarled old tree. Years ago a tiny\nsquirrel had climbed upon the stone to nibble some nuts, but before he\nhad finished he was startled away.\n\n\"There!\" thought the stone to himself as he saw a nut roll to the\nground, \"now that nut will take root and grow into a tree and I will\nhave to lie here for ages beneath its branches. I wish the silly\nsquirrel had gone some other place to eat the nuts!\"\n\nWhen the little nut took root and sent its tiny shoots up in the air,\nthe old, rough Stone said, \"There! I knew it!\" and he disliked the tree\nfrom that time on.\n\nThe old, rough Stone watched the tiny green shoot grow and grow until it\ngrew into an enormous tree.\n\n\"Just see how he pushes me up in the air with his roots!\" the old, rough\nStone said to himself.\n\nWhen the gnarled tree was covered with leaves in the summer time, the\nold, rough Stone said, \"Just see how he hides the blue sky from my\nview!\"\n\nAnd in the winter time when the limbs of the tree were bare, the old,\nrough Stone said, \"Just see how he lets the snow and the cold rain fall\nright on me!\"\n\nOne night during a heavy storm the old, rough Stone heard a crash, and\nin the morning he saw the gnarled tree lying upon the ground. \"Now I\nshall be all by myself again!\" he said. Then he counted the rings in the\ntrunk of the gnarled tree until he came to three hundred, which was as\nfar as he could count. \"More than three hundred years have passed since\nthat silly little squirrel dropped the nut from which this tree grew!\"\nsaid the old, rough Stone to himself.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThen men came with axes and cut up the tree and carried all of it away.\n\nWhen the hot summer days came the sun beat down upon the old, rough\nStone and he missed the shade of the gnarled tree. \"My! It's hot!\" said\nthe old, rough Stone, \"I wish the gnarled tree with its pretty rustling\nleaves were here again to shade me and keep me cool!\"\n\nWhen winter came the old, rough Stone missed the leaves which fell\naround him and kept him warm.\n\n\"Oh dear! How cold it is!\" he cried, \"I wish the gnarled tree would come\nback and scatter his leaves about me to protect me from the cold!\"\n\nSo years and years and years passed, and the great old, rough Stone lay\nall alone.\n\n\"I wish another squirrel would come to eat nuts upon me!\" he thought.\n\"Squirrels are such knowing little creatures, I am sure another might\ndrop a nut which would grow into a lovely tree to keep me company.\"\n\nBut, many more years passed, and never again did a tiny squirrel sit\nupon the old, rough Stone and eat nuts. And never again did another tree\ngrow above the old, rough Stone to keep him company.\n\n\"Ah me!\" sighed the old, rough Stone, \"We never know how well off we are\nuntil we lose something we really need!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\nSALLY MIGRUNDY\n\n\nSally Migrundy lived all alone in a tiny little cottage no larger than a\npiano box. This was plenty large enough for Sally Migrundy though, for\nshe was a tiny little lady herself. Sally Migrundy's tiny little cottage\nstood at the edge of a stream, a beautiful crystal clear stream of\ntinkling water which sang in a continual murmur all day and all night to\nSally Migrundy.\n\nThe stream tinkled merrily through a great forest which lay for miles\nand miles, a green mantle over the hills and valleys, and Sally\nMigrundy's tiny little cottage stood in the exact center of the great\nwhispering forest.\n\nAll the wood creatures knew and loved Sally Migrundy and she knew and\nloved all of the wood creatures.\n\nEach morning she would scatter food upon the surface of the singing\nstream and the lovely fish, their sides reflecting rainbow colors, would\nleap from the tinkling waters and splash about to show their pleasure.\nAnd she would place food about her little garden for the birds and they\nin turn repaid her by their wonderful melodies.\n\nEven the mama deer brought their little, wabbly-legged baby deer to\nintroduce to Sally Migrundy; and she rubbed their sleek sides and talked\nto them so they couldn't but love her.\n\nNow Sally Migrundy had always lived in her tiny cottage on the bank of\nthe tinkling stream which ran through the whispering forest. She had\nlived there when the largest trees in the forest were tiny little\nsprouts. She had lived there long before that, and even still longer\nthan that, and that, and that. Ever so much longer!\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOne day a man who lived on a hill many, many miles away from the\nwhispering forest said to his wife: \"Mother, wouldn't you like to know\nwhere the water that flows from our spring goes to?\" And his wife\nreplied: \"It must travel until it reaches the ocean!\"\n\n\"Yes, I know that, mother\" he replied, \"but I mean, wouldn't it be\ninteresting to know all of the country through which the water flows?\"\n\nSo the more they talked of it, the more interested they became until the\nman finally wrote upon a slip of paper and put the paper into a tiny\nbottle. Then he put the bottle upon the surface of the spring water and\nwatched it float away.\n\nThe little bottle floated along, tumbling over the tiny falls and\ntinkling ripples and bobbing up and down in the deep, blue, quiet,\nplaces until finally it floated to Sally Migrundy's and came to rest in\nthe mass of pretty flowers where Sally Migrundy came each morning to dip\nher tiny bucket of water.\n\nAnd so Sally Migrundy found the tiny bottle and took it into her tiny\nhouse to read the tiny note she saw inside.\n\nIt was such a nice, happy-hearted note Sally Migrundy said: \"I will\nanswer it!\" So she wrote a happy-hearted note and asked whoever read it\nto come and visit her. Then she put her note in the tiny bottle and sent\nit dancing and bobbing down through the whispering forest, riding upon\nthe surface of the singing stream. And Sally Migrundy's note floated\nalong in the bottle until a little boy and a little girl saw it and\npicked it up.\n\nAnd when they read Sally Migrundy's happy-hearted note asking them to\nvisit her they started following up the stream until after a long, long\ntime they came to the tiny little cottage.\n\nSally Migrundy was very much surprised to see the two children, for she\nhad almost forgotten she had written the invitation.\n\n\"Howdeedoo!\" said Sally Migrundy, \"Where in the world did you children\ncome from?\"\n\n\"We found a note in a bottle and traveled up the stream until we came to\nyour little cottage,\" they answered.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"But won't your mamas and daddies be worried because you have been away\nfrom home so long?\" Sally Migrundy asked.\n\n\"We are orphans,\" the children said.\n\nThen Sally Migrundy kissed them and asked them into her tiny cottage.\n\nThe door was so small the children had to get down upon their hands and\nknees to crawl through. But when they got inside they were surprised to\nfind that the rooms were very large. In fact, Sally Migrundy's living\nroom was larger inside than the whole little cottage was on the outside,\nfor, as you have probably guessed, Sally Migrundy's cottage was a magic\nhouse.\n\nAnd in one corner of the living room there was a queer stand with a\nsilver stem sticking up through the center, and the stem curved over and\ndown towards five or six little crystal glasses.\n\nIt was a magic soda fountain, as the children soon found out, and they\ncould have all the soda water they wished at any time.\n\nIn another room were two little snow white beds. These belonged to them,\nSally Migrundy told the children. As you have probably guessed, the\nmagic cottage took care to make everything comfortable for those who\ncame inside.\n\nAnd when Sally Migrundy had shown the children their pretty bed room\nshe took them to the dining room and there they found a table which had\neverything nice to eat upon it. And so the children ate and ate and ate,\nfor the magic table knew just what the person wished for who sat at\nit. So you may be sure there were plenty of cookies and ice cream and\ncandies and golden doughnuts and everything.\n\nSo the two little orphan children lived all the time with Sally\nMigrundy. And each morning when they tumbled, laughing and shouting, out\nof their little snow white beds, they found underneath a new present. So\neach morning they had a new toy to play with, for the magic beds knew\njust what a child would like most each day.\n\nSally Migrundy was very, very glad the children had come to live with\nher, so she wrote more notes and sent them down the singing stream, and\nmore and more children came until Sally Migrundy's house was very, very\nlarge inside, but still the same tiny little cottage on the outside. The\nsinging and happy laughter of the children echoed through the whispering\nforest all day, and the ground about the cottage was filled with toys\nand playthings,--merry-go-rounds, sliding boards, sand piles, hundreds\nof sand toys, and play houses filled with beautiful dolls and doll\nfurniture.\n\nThere was a roller coaster which knew just when to stop and start so\nthat none of the children could ever hurt themselves upon it, and a\nlittle play grocery, a little play candy store, and a little play ice\ncream parlor so that the children could go there at any time and get\ncookies and candy and ice cream whenever they wished. You may be sure it\nwas a very happy place to live and the children made Sally Migrundy very\nhappy. At first the creatures who lived in the whispering forest were\nsurprised to hear the happy laughter and to see so many children playing\nabout, but they soon grew accustomed to the children and came right up\nto the grocery and candy store and ice cream parlor to be fed.\n\nEach year Sally Migrundy sends happy-hearted invitations floating down\nthe stream and more orphan children come to live with her. However Sally\nMigrundy's tiny cottage is just the same tiny cottage on the outside.\nBut when once you crawl through the tiny door, you look upon rows and\nrows of little rooms, each having one or more little snow white beds in\nit.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAnd, while Sally Migrundy remains a tiny little lady only two feet high,\nshe has as much happiness inside as if she were as large as a great big\nmountain, for as you have probably also guessed, she is a fairy and can\nhave as much room inside for happiness as the little magic cottage could\nhave room inside for all the happy children.\n\nOne day the man who lived upon the hill where the spring bubbles up from\nthe ground and makes the beginning of the singing stream said to his\nwife: \"Mother, I will follow the stream and see where it leads to!\" So\nhe started down the stream and walked and walked and walked until the\nstream took him down through the whispering forest clear down to the\nsea.\n\nThen he turned around and walked back up the stream from the ocean--up\nthrough the whispering forest until he came again to his home at the top\nof the hill.\n\n\"I followed the stream down through a great whispering forest, mother,\"\nhe said, \"until I came to the sea. Then I turned around and came back\nthe same way. It was a beautiful trip and when I came to the center of\nthe great whispering forest there was a clearing at the side of the\ntinkling, singing stream, and the lovely fish leaped from the crystal\nwaters and showed me their wonderful coloring, and the clearing was\nfilled with beautiful flowers and the music of birds. And it was so\nbeautiful I stopped and watched and listened.\n\n\"It seemed as if hundreds of children were playing around me, and\nalthough I could not hear them yet it seemed to me that I felt they were\nshouting and laughing at their play!\"\n\n\"How wonderful it must have been!\" said his wife.\n\n\"It was indeed very wonderful, mother. And when I returned I again\nstopped at the same place and sat and listened to the singing of the\nwaters and the birds, and I saw the wild creatures come down into the\nclearing and act as if they were being fed, and all the time I seemed\nto feel the laughter and happy shouting of children at play. And a most\ndelightful feeling of contentment and happiness came over me as if I sat\nwithin the borders of Fairyland!\n\n\"Then as I stooped to drink of the tinkling waters before I started on\nmy way home, I saw, tied to a flower growing in the water, the tiny\nlittle bottle with the note inside which I had floated off a long time\nago, so I brought it home with me!\"\n\nAnd from his knapsack the man took the tiny bottle and placed it on the\ntable before his wife.\n\n\"I wish we knew just who tied the bottle to the flower!\" said the wife\nas she picked the bottle up to look at it. And because the bottle had\nbeen used by Sally Migrundy, the two good people suddenly knew all about\nSally Migrundy, the magic little cottage, and the happy children who\nlived there.\n\nEvery year the man takes his wife, and together they walk down the\ntinkling stream until they came to the exact center of the great\nwhispering forest; there they sit for hours at a time, feeling the\nhappiness that overflows from the hearts of Sally Migrundy and the\nchildren. And while the good couple have not been able to see the\nchildren or Sally Migrundy, or even the tiny magic cottage, they know\nthey are all there, for at times they can hear the laughter and once\nin a while they feel the touch of a tiny hand. And when they return to\ntheir home upon the hill they find they have received enough happiness\nat the clearing beside the tinkling, singing water to last them for a\nwhole year.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\nHOW JOHNNY CRICKET SAW SANTA CLAUS\n\n\nWhen the first frost came and coated the leaves with its film of\nsparkles, Mamma Cricket, Papa Cricket, Johnny Cricket and Grandpa\nCricket decided it was time they moved into their winter home.\n\nPapa and Mamma and Grandpa Cricket carried all the heavy Cricket\nfurniture, while Johnny Cricket carried the lighter things, such as the\nfamily portraits, looking glasses, knives and forks and spoons, and his\nown little violin.\n\nAunt Katy Didd wheeled Johnny's little sister Teeny in the Cricket baby\nbuggy and helped Mamma Cricket lay the rugs and wash the stone-work,\nfor you see the Cricket winter home was in the chimney of a big\nold-fashioned house and the walls were very dusty, and everything was\ntopsy-turvy.\n\nBut Mamma Cricket and Aunt Katy Didd soon had everything in tip-top\norder, and the winter home was just as clean and neat as the summer home\nout under the rose bush had been.\n\nThere the Cricket family lived happily and every thing was just as cozy\nas any little bug would care to have; on cold nights the people who\nowned the great big old fashioned house always made a fire in the\nfireplace, so the walls of the Cricket's winter home were nice and\nwarm, and little Teeny Cricket could play on the floor in her bare feet\nwithout fear of catching cold and getting the Cricket croup.\n\nThere was one crack in the walls of the Crickets' winter home which\nopened right into the fireplace, so the light from the fire always lit\nup the Crickets' living room. Papa Cricket could read the Bugville News\nwhile Johnny Cricket fiddled all the latest popular Bug Songs and Mamma\nCricket rocked and sang to little Teeny Cricket.\n\nOne night, though, the people who owned the great big old fashioned\nhouse did not have a fire in the fireplace, and little Teeny Cricket\nwas bundled up in warm covers and rocked to sleep, and all the Cricket\nfamily went to bed in the dark.\n\nJohnny Cricket had just dozed into dreamland when he was awakened by\nsomething pounding ... ever so loudly ... and he slipped out of bed and\ninto his two little red topped boots and felt his way to the crack in\nthe living room wall.\n\nJohnny heard loud voices and merry peals of laughter, so he crawled\nthrough the crack and looked out into the fireplace.\n\nThere in front of the fireplace he saw four pink feet and two laughing\nfaces way above, while just a couple of Cricket-hops from Johnny's nose\nwas a great big man. Johnny could not see what the man was pounding, but\nhe made an awful loud noise.\n\nFinally the pounding ceased and the man leaned over and kissed the\nowners of the pink feet. Then there were a few more squeals of laughter,\nand the four pink feet pitter-patted across the floor and Johnny could\nsee the owners hop into a snow-white bed.\n\nThen Johnny saw the man walk to the lamp and turn the light down low,\nand leave the great big room.\n\nJohnny Cricket jumped out of the crack into the fireplace and ran out\ninto the great big room so that he might see what the man had pounded.\nThe light from the lamp was too dim for him to make out the objects\nhanging from the mantel above the fireplace. All he could see were four\nlong black things, so Johnny Cricket climbed up the bricks at the side\nof the fireplace until he came to the mantel shelf, then he ran along\nthe shelf and looked over. The black things were stockings.\n\nJohnny began to wish that he had stopped to put on his stockings, for he\nwas in his bare feet. He had removed his little red topped boots when\nhe decided to climb up the side of the fireplace and now his feet were\ncold.\n\nSo Johnny started to climb over the mantel shelf and down the side of\nthe fireplace when there came a puff of wind down the chimney which made\nthe stockings swing away out into the room, and snowflakes fluttered\nclear across the room.\n\nThere was a tiny tinkle from a bell and, just as Johnny hopped behind\nthe clock, he saw a boot stick out of the fireplace.\n\nThen Johnny Cricket's little bug heart went pitty-pat, and sounded as if\nit would run a race with the ticking of the clock.\n\nFrom his hiding place, Johnny Cricket heard one or two chuckles, and\nsomething rattle. Johnny crept along the edge of the clock and holding\nthe two feelers over his back looked from his hiding place....\n\nAt first all he could see were two hands filling the stockings with\nrattly things, but when the hands went down below the mantel for more\nrattly things, Johnny Cricket saw a big round smiling face all fringed\nwith snow-white whiskers.\n\nJohnny drew back into the shadow of the clock, and stayed there until\nthe rattling had ceased and all had grown quiet, then he slipped from\nbehind the clock and climbed down the side of the fireplace as fast as\nhe could. Johnny Cricket was too cold to stop and put on his little red\nboots, but scrambled through the crack in the fireplace and hopped into\nbed. In the morning Mamma Cricket had a hard time getting Johnny Cricket\nout of bed. He yawned and stretched, put on one stocking, rubbed his\neyes, yawned, put on another stocking and yawned again. Johnny was still\nvery sleepy and could hardly keep his eyes open as he reached for his\nlittle red-topped boots.\n\nJohnny's toe struck something hard, he yawned, rubbed his eyes and\nlooked into the boot. Yes, there was something in Johnny Cricket's boot!\nHe picked up the other boot; it, too, had something in it!\n\nIt was candy! With a loud cry for such a little Cricket, Johnny rushed\nto the kitchen and showed Mamma, then he told her of his adventure of\nthe night before.\n\nMamma Cricket called Papa and they both had a laugh when Johnny told how\nstartled he had been at the old man with the white whiskers who filled\nthe stockings in front of the fireplace. \"Why, Johnny!\" said Mamma and\nPapa Cricket. \"Don't you know? That was Santa Claus. We have watched him\nevery Christmas in the last four years fill the stockings, and he saw\nyour little red topped boots and filled them with candy, too. If you\nwill crawl through the crack into the fireplace you will see the\nchildren of the people who own this big house playing with all the\npresents that Santa Claus left them!\"\n\nAnd, sure enough, it was so!\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWIN SISTERS\n\n\nEverybody in the little village called them the twin houses because they\nwere built exactly alike. But the two little cottages looked different\neven if they were built alike, for one was covered with climbing vines\nand beautiful scarlet roses while the other had no vines or flowers\nabout it at all.\n\nEverybody called the two cottages the twin houses for another reason:\nthe owners were twins. One of the twins was Matilda and the other\nKatrinka and they were as much alike on the outside as their two\ncottages were alike; but as their two cottages differed, so did the two\ntwins differ.\n\nMatilda could not be told from Katrinka should you just see them walking\ndown the street, but the minute either of them spoke you would know\nwhich was Matilda and which was Katrinka. Matilda, who lived in the bare\ncottage, was sour and disagreeable, while Katrinka was happy and cheery.\n\nSo the people in the little village called Matilda \"Matilda Grouch\" and\nthey called Katrinka \"Katrinka Sunshine\". All the children of the little\nvillage loved Katrinka, for she always had a cooky or a dainty in her\napron pocket to give them, or she would pat them on their curly heads\nand smile cheerily at them through her glasses. And all the children\navoided Matilda, for, sometimes mistaking her for Katrinka and running\nclose to greet her, they would have their noses tweeked for their\ntrouble.\n\nMatilda's life was lonely and cold; no one went to see her. She was\nalways unhappy.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nKatrinka's house always echoed with the laughter of children;\neveryone went to see her. She was always joyful and cheery.\n\nOne night while Matilda sat at her dark window looking across at\nKatrinka's house, she saw a crowd of people tip-toeing up to the stoop\nwith baskets under their arms and flowers in their hands and when all\nhad crowded upon the porch they stamped their feet and made a great\nnoise.\n\nMatilda was very angry, but Katrinka ran laughing to the door and\ngreeted all with her kindliest smile. It was a surprise party for\nKatrinka, for it was her birthday.\n\nMatilda watched the party from her dark window and the longer she\nwatched, the more angry she grew, for the longer the party lasted, the\nlouder grew the happy laughter.\n\nFinally when all the guests had gone, Matilda saw Katrinka gather up\nhalf of the presents and put them in a basket.\n\nThen Katrinka stole softly up to Matilda's stoop and stamped her feet.\nMatilda sat scowling by the dark window a long time before she finally\nwent to the door, for she was very peevish.\n\n\"This is a fine time to come stamping upon a person's stoop!\" she\nscolded, as Katrinka walked into the living room.\n\n\"Oh, sister,\" Katrinka cried, as she tried to kiss Matilda. \"This is our\nbirthday and I have brought you half of the presents which were given\nme! See?\" and she piled the presents high upon the table.\n\n\"I do not wish them!\" said Matilda, frowning at her sister. But Katrinka\ncould see that Matilda _did_ wish them.\n\n\"The presents were not for me, Katrinka!\" she said.\n\n\"Oh yes they are!\" Katrinka replied. \"They were given to me and I give\nthem to you! I have saved one half for myself! But you should have been\nto the party!\" said Katrinka, \"We had such a happy time!\"\n\n\"I do not enjoy being with people!\" Matilda scolded, \"I wish to be left\nto myself!\"\n\n\"Yes, but Matilda,\" her sister said, \"you do not know the happiness in\nbeing kind and friendly to others!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Pooh!\" sniffed Matilda.\n\n\"I just wish you could take my place and know the happiness that is in\nmy heart tonight,\" Katrinka smiled.\n\n\"I just wish you could take my place and know the unhappiness that is in\nmy heart tonight!\" said Matilda, \"You would see that a lot of children\nscreeching about the house with all their presents could not bring me\nhappiness!\"\n\nKatrinka thought a moment, \"I have it, Matilda! We will change places!\nYou must live in my house and pretend that you are me, and I will live\nin your house and pretend that I am you! And you must smile and be\nfriendly just as I would do.\"\n\nAfter a great deal of coaxing, Matilda finally agreed that she would\nchange places with Katrinka and try to smile when anyone came to see\nher.\n\n\"But only for three days!\" she said.\n\nSo Matilda went over to Katrinka's cottage and went to bed and Katrinka\nstayed in Matilda's cottage, but she did not go to bed.\n\nInstead she went all over the house and tidied everything up and placed\npretty white curtains at the windows. In the morning neighbors came to\nKatrinka's house, and Matilda, taking Katrinka's place met them with\na smile, and soon in spite of herself she was laughing and enjoying\nherself.\n\nAnd when they left, Matilda felt that she enjoyed having them there.\n\nBut what was the callers' surprise when they passed Matilda's cottage\nto see someone planting flowers around the stoop. They stopped in\nwonderment and, as Katrinka looked up at them with a cheery \"Good\nMorning!\" and a happy smile they could scarce believe their eyes and\nears, for they thought it was Matilda.\n\nAnd these callers told other neighbors and they called at Katrinka's\nhouse and visited with Matilda and Matilda was so pleased she laughed\nas cheerily as Katrinka could laugh. And as the neighbors left they saw\nKatrinka in Matilda's front yard planting flowers and stopped in open\nmouthed wonder to gaze at her, for _they_ thought she was Matilda.\n\nAnd when Katrinka smiled at them and said her cheery \"Good morning\"\n_they_ could scarcely believe their eyes and ears.\n\nThe neighbors all put their heads together, and that evening they filled\ntheir baskets with goodies and presents and, with large bouquets of\nflowers, they tiptoed up to Matilda's front stoop and stamped their\nfeet.\n\nNow Katrinka had called Matilda over to her own house to see the changes\nshe had made and Matilda was beginning to see what she had missed all\nalong. And as they were talking, there came a noise at the front stoop.\n\n\"Shall I go to the door, Matilda?\" asked Katrinka.\n\n\"No, I will go, Katrinka!\" Matilda replied, her face alight with\nhappiness. So Matilda welcomed her guests as cheerily as Katrinka had\ndone the evening before and the laughter lasted until 'way in the night.\n\nAnd when the last guest had left, Matilda took Katrinka in her arms and\nsaid, \"I will not need to change places with you again, Katrinka, for I\nhave found that there is far more pleasure in being happy than in being\nunhappy!\" \"Of course there is, Matilda!\" Katrinka replied. \"You see, in\norder to be happy ourselves we must reflect happiness to others, and the\nmore cheer we give to others the more joy we receive ourselves, so we\nmust continue to change from one house to another every other day so\nthat no one will know which of us is Matilda and which is Katrinka and\nwe will share our happiness with each other.\"\n\nSo Matilda's house was soon surrounded with beautiful flowers and her\nhouse echoed with the fun and laughter of happy children.\n\nAnd the two sisters who looked alike now acted alike and could not be\ntold apart, and they changed about so often people never knew whether\nthey were visiting Katrinka or whether they were visiting Matilda, for\none was as cheery as the other and was as happy in the love of all the\npeople in the little village.\n\nAnd, as they could not be told apart, everyone called Matilda or\nKatrinka the Cheery Twins whenever they spoke of either.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE THUMBKIN'S GOOD DEED\n\n\nThumbkins lived in a tiny, cozy little house right down beneath a\nmushroom. The tiny, little house was made of cobwebs which Thumbkins had\ngathered from the bushes and weeds. These he had woven together with\nthistle-down, making the nicest little nest imaginable.\n\nOne day Thumbkins was passing through the meadow and it began to rain.\n\"Dear me! I shall get soaking wet!\" Thumbkins cried as he hurried along.\n\nA mamma meadow-lark, sitting upon her nest, saw Thumbkins running and\ncalled to him: \"Come here, little man, and get beneath my wing and I\nwill keep you warm and dry!\"\n\nSo Thumbkins crawled beneath Mamma Meadow-Lark's wings and, snuggling\ndown close to the bottom of the meadow-lark's nest, he found three tiny\nlittle baby meadow-larks. It was too dark for Thumbkins to see them, but\nhe felt that the baby Meadow-Larks were as warm as toast.\n\nThumbkins kept very quiet, for the baby meadow-larks were sleepy little\nfellows, and before he knew it Thumbkins was sound asleep himself, with\nan arm around one of the baby birds.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThumbkins did not know how long he had been asleep, but when he awakened\nthe rain had ceased. Thumbkins knew it had stopped raining for he could\nno longer hear the rain drops pattering upon Mamma Meadow-Lark's back.\nSo now he climbed out of the nest and looked about.\n\nThe ground about the Meadow-Lark's nest was covered with tiny puddles,\nand Mamma Meadow-Lark was soaking wet. She looked very uncomfortable.\nHer feathers stuck out in all directions and a drop of water fell from\nher head and rolled down her beak.\n\nThumbkins thought at first Mamma Meadow-Lark was crying, and he said:\n\"Are you cold, Mamma Meadow-Lark?\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed!\" Mamma Meadow-Lark replied as she shook her ruffled\nfeathers, sending the water flying in all directions.\n\n\"But, you see,\" she continued, \"if I did not cover my baby Meadow-Lark\nchicks they would get very, very cold, for they have little bald heads\nwith not a single feather upon them to protect them! So, while I get\nwet, it does not matter so much, for I know I have kept my little\nMeadow-Lark chicks dry and warm and cozy and that, of course, makes me\nvery happy! And I had the pleasure of keeping you warm and dry, too!\"\nMamma Meadow-Lark added.\n\n\"Perhaps Mamma Meadow-Lark is very happy inside!\" Thumbkins thought to\nhimself as he stood and looked at her. \"But she does not look very happy\nwith such wet feathers.\"\n\n\"I thank you ever and ever so much, Mamma Meadow-Lark!\" Thumbkins said.\n\n\"You are indeed very welcome,\" Mamma Meadow-Lark replied, \"and any time\nit rains you can come back to my nest and crawl beneath my wing and keep\nwarm and dry. For you are tiny and do not take up much room!\"\n\nThumbkins thanked Mamma Meadow-Lark again, and told her of his nice\nwarm cozy little nest beneath the mushroom. \"It is always nice and dry\nthere,\" he said, \"for the rain runs right off the mushroom and does not\ntouch my little cobweb home!\"\n\nThat night as he lay in his little thistle-down bed, Thumbkins heard it\nthundering. \"I'm very glad that I haven't a home built right out upon\nthe bare ground like the meadow-larks!\" he said. And as the thunder grew\nlouder, Thumbkins turned over and tried to go to sleep.\n\nPresently the raindrops began to patter on the round top of the mushroom\nand \"drip-dropped\" to the ground without getting Thumbkins' little house\nthe least bit wet. Usually when it rained, the patter of the raindrops\nupon his mushroom roof lulled Thumbkins right to sleep, but tonight\nThumbkins lay wide awake and thought and thought.\n\n\"I can't go to sleep!\" Thumbkins said, so he hopped out of his warm\nlittle bed and lit his tiny lantern. Then, though it was raining ever so\nhard, he pulled his little hat well down on his head and ran out into\nthe storm.\n\nYes! There was Mamma Meadow-Lark sitting upon her nest with her head\ntucked under her wing, sound asleep. But when he held his tiny lantern\nclose, Thumbkins could see that she shivered as the cold raindrops\nsplashed upon her back.\n\nSo Thumbkins ran to the woods where he knew the mushrooms grew, and\nbreaking off the largest one he could find he carried it to where Mamma\nMeadow-Lark sat sleeping upon her nest, and planted it so the raindrops\nrolled off the round roof and did not touch her at all.\n\nThen, shivering himself, for he was soaking wet, he ran home as fast as\nhe could, took off his dripping clothes, put on his little pajamas, and\nclimbed into his warm little cozy cobweb bed.\n\nNow of course Thumbkins was happy because he had helped another, and\nwhen a person is happy there is nothing to worry about, and when there\nis nothing to worry about, of course there is nothing to keep one awake.\n\nSo Thumbkins fell fast asleep and dreamed the most pleasant dreams.\n\nAnd they were such happy dreams Thumbkins slept until almost half-past\neight the next morning.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE WISHBONE\n\n\nThe stove lifter lay upon his iron side and looked across the top of the\nshelf which stood above the stove. \"Who is he?\" he asked of the box of\nmatches lying near him.\n\nThe box of matches looked at the strange new object standing upon two\nthin white legs and leaning against the wall near the coffee pot.\n\n\"I do not know!\" the match box answered.\n\nThen they asked a number of other objects lying about if they knew who\nthe newcomer was, but none of them had ever seen anything like him\nbefore.\n\nWhen the new two-legged object with the bald head heard everyone\nwhispering he felt they were talking about him, and he stepped out where\nall might see him, and walked up and down the shelf at the back of the\nstove.\n\nThe stove lifter, the match box and all the other objects watched him\nwith interest as he strutted back and forth.\n\nAt last the new object stood still and with his head thrown back he\nsaid: \"I am a wish-bone, but as none of you know what a wishbone is,\nI shall tell you! A wishbone is an object of great importance in this\nworld. Some of us come from the breasts of chickens and some from the\nbreasts of turkeys. When we are placed above a doorsill in a house, we\nbring good luck!\"\n\n\"Don't the people in the house here wish good luck?\" asked the match\nbox.\n\n\"What a silly question!\" replied the wishbone, \"Anyone could easily see\nyou do not know much!\"\n\n\"Then why didn't they place you above the door?\" asked the stove lifter.\n\n\"Because I have greater qualities than bringing good luck!\" the wishbone\nanswered. \"The children placed me here to dry, for they have heard that\nI make wishes come true! And if you keep your eyes and ears open you\nwill see just what a great object a wishbone really is!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAll the other objects upon the shelf on the back of the stove held their\nbreaths to think such an important object deigned to talk to them.\n\nThen the children came romping into the kitchen. \"Here they come!\" cried\nthe wishbone. \"Now watch me make their wishes come true!\"\n\nAnd all the other objects scarcely breathed while they watched the\nchildren as they took the wishbone from the shelf. They could see how\nproud he looked as the children each took one of the wishbone's legs\nbetween their fingers.\n\n\"I wish that this kitchen were just filled with candy and cake, then we\ncould eat all we wish to!\" one of the children said. \"And I wish for a\nmillion golden pennies piled high upon the kitchen table!\" the other\nchild cried.\n\n\"Now watch!\" the wishbone winked to the objects upon the shelf behind\nthe stove.\n\nThe two children pulled upon the wishbone's legs. \"Ouch!\" he cried.\nThere was a loud snap, and the wishbone broke in two.\n\n\"I get my Wish!\" cried the child with the longest part of the broken\nwishbone, \"The room will be filled with candy!\"\n\n\"Watch the room fill with candy!\" cried all the objects upon the shelf.\n\"How wonderful it must be to be a wishbone!\"\n\nBut the room did not fill with candy.\n\n\"That's another time the wish did not come true!\" cried one child.\n\n\"They never come true!\" cried the other child as the broken wishbone was\ntossed in the coal scuttle. \"Wishbones are just ordinary bones and do\nnot make wishes come true!\" And the children ran outside to romp and\nplay.\n\n\"How much better it is to be a useful object!\" said the stove lifter.\n\n\"Yes indeed!\" replied the match box. \"And the more useful one is,\nusually, the less he brags about himself!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\nTIM TIM TAMYTAM\n\n\n\"This looks like an excellent place, Tim Tim!\" Mrs. Tamytam said, as she\nthrew her little poke bonnet back from her head. \"An excellent place!\"\nTim Tim Tamytam scrambled up the root of the tree and peered into the\ndark hole in the tree trunk. \"HMMM!\" he said by way of reply, \"Did you\nbring the candle with you, Tum Tum?\"\n\n\"Oh, I forgot it, Tim Tim!\" his little wife replied, \"I will run right\nback and get it!\"\n\n\"No, Tum Tum! I will run home and get it! You sit down upon this soft\nlittle toad-stool and wait until I return. It will take me but a\nmoment!\"\n\nSo Mrs. Tamytam sat down to wait upon the little soft toad-stool, with\nher bonnet hanging over her shoulders, and she sang and knitted.\n\nNow, Mrs. Tamytam was a delightful little elfish lady, and she and Tim\nTim were very, very happy together, even though they were only six\ninches tall.\n\nSo, while she sang and knitted, Tim Tim ran down the tiny path made by\nthe woodfolk, past the bubbling spring and around the bend in the bank\nof the tumbling brooklet until he came to his home, which was another\nhole in the trunk of an old tree.\n\nAs Tim Tim climbed into his doorway, he stood and looked with dismay at\nwhat had been his cozy living room, for now it was filled with sawdust\nand small pieces of sticks and twigs, for the whole top of the old tree\nhad broken off and now the rain would splash right down on everything\nthe first time there was a shower.\n\nTim Tim Tamytam searched about in the sawdust and twigs until he found a\ntiny bit of bayberry candle, and, putting this in his pocket, he turned\nto go out of the hole. But just then Tom Tom Teenyweeny walked in the\ndoor.\n\n\"Hello, Tom Tom Teenyweeny!\" Tim Tim cried cheerily.\n\n\"Hello, Tim Tim Tamytam!\" Tom Tom cried at the same time, \"What ever has\nhappened to your lovely home, Tim Tim?\"\n\n\"Well, I will tell you, Tom Tom,\" Tim Tim answered, \"You know Mrs.\nFuzzytail lived with her grandchildren squirrels up in the top of the\ntree, and they had a very cozy den up there, too, but Mrs. Fuzzytail\nwished to make some small improvements, such as a new peep-hole window\nand a little cupboard for Chinkapins and hickory nuts. So last summer\nshe sent for the carpenter ants and arranged with them to do the\ncarpenter work. And do you know, Tom Tom,\" and here Tim Tim Tamytam\nput his hand upon Tom Tom's shoulder and got very confidential, \"those\nmischievous carpenter ants, when they once got started, they sawed and\nchipped, until they had cut almost all of the shell of the tree away,\nand when it blew so very hard last night the top of the tree broke right\nin two, where the ants had made their tunnels, and down it fell with a\ngreat crash and made this great pile of sawdust and sticks!\" \"Dear me!\"\nsaid Tom Tom. \"Was anyone hurt when the top of the tree fell?\"\n\n\"Fortunately no one was injured!\" Tim Tim replied, \"But our home was\nruined and so was Mrs. Fuzzytail's and Wally Woodpecker's, the bachelor\nand we have been out looking for another home. If you will come with me,\nTom Tom, I will show it to you, for now I have a candle and can look\nabout inside!\"\n\nSo Tim Tim and Tom Tom ran back along the tiny wood-folk path until they\ncame to the place where Tim Tim had left Mrs. Tamytam.\n\nThere hung her knitting bag upon the stem of a flower, but Tum Tum\nTamytam was no where about.\n\n\"OOOHooooo!\" Tim Tim called, putting his hands to his mouth and forming\na sort of horn. Charley Chipmunk stopped whittling upon a hickory nut\nand peeped over the limb to see who called.\n\nMrs. Tamytam did not answer, so Tom Tom took a leaf and rolled it into\na horn. Across the small end he strung a fibre from a piece of moss and\nwith this elfin horn he blew the Tim Tim Tamytam wood-call: \"Tahoo Tahoo\nTahoo-hoo-hoo!\"\n\n\"That's the Tim Tim Tamytam call!\" all the wood creatures, said, as they\nlistened.\n\n\"Tahoo Tahoo Tahoo-hoo-hoo!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAnd as Tim Tim and Tom Tom listened, they heard away off the answering\nTamytam wood-call: \"Toowoo-toowoo-tooawoooooo!\" sounding like the\nplaintive notes of the turtle dove but was easily distinguished by any\nof the woodfolk.\n\nTim Tim and Tom Tom followed the sound of the answering call until they\ncame to a beautiful woodland glade. There, where the sweet ferns and\nfragrant flowers grew in profusion and a carpet of velvety moss spread\nupon the ground, they saw Mrs. Tom Tom Teenyweeny and Mrs. Tim Tim\nTamytam with tiny brooms sweeping out a little hole in a great\nblue-gray beech tree.\n\n\"I came upon Mrs. Tamytam sitting upon the toad stool,\" said Mrs.\nTeenyweeny, \"and as I had just heard of this lovely home for rent, she\ncame with me to see it and we decided to take it!\"\n\n\"And will Tom Tom and Mrs. Teenyweeny live with us, Tum Tum?\" Tim Tim\nasked.\n\n\"They have the little nook right across the hall!\" Mrs. Tamytam replied.\nUpon hearing this Tom Tom and Tim Tim caught hold of hands and danced\nabout, kicking up their heels with pleasure.\n\n\"Just wait until you see inside, Tom Tom and Tim Tim!\" Mrs. Teenyweeny\nand Mrs. Tamytam cried, and then they led the way inside the trunk of\nthe great blue-gray beech tree.\n\nAnd after they had inspected Mrs. Tamytam's home, Mrs. Teenyweeny's Tom\nTom and Tim Tim were as delighted with the new homes as their tiny wives\nhad been, so Tim Tim and Tom Tom ran to their old homes and brought all\ntheir furniture and placed it about the large living rooms.\n\nWhen all was finished and the tiny rugs had been placed just right, they\nheard a stamping of tiny feet in the hallway.\n\nAnd as they ran to the door a merry, laughing crowd of tiny creatures\nlike themselves, each carrying an acorn basket, trooped into the living\nroom.\n\n\"It's a surprise party!\" they all shouted and then one, Tee Tee\nTubbytee, a great speaker, said: \"We watched you moving in, and decided\nto have a nice, fine, lovely party for you, so I called all the\nneighbors together and here we are!\"\n\nSome of the tiny creatures had brought their tiny violins and some their\nelfin flutes, and as all were in a merry mood they played rollicking\nairs such as \"The Wind Tinkles the Fairy Bells\" and \"Mother Hulda Picks\nHer Geese.\"\n\nTim Tim and Tom Tom danced and sang elfin songs. And then the merry tiny\ncreatures ate the goodies brought in the acorn baskets.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAfter the dinner all the tiny creatures went outside, and upon the soft,\nmossy carpet they held a wood-folk dance while the silvery moon peeped\ndown through the leaves of the woodland glade and bathed the scene in\nfairy light.\n\nWhen the first rooster crowed, far away in a distant farm yard chicken\ncoop, the tiny creatures, after planning another surprise party the next\nmoonlit night, bade each other good night and went to their tree trunk\nhomes.\n\nSo upon soft summer evenings, should you pass near the woodland glade,\nyou may hear the \"Tahoo Tahoo Tahoo-hoo-hoo!\" and the answering notes of\nplaintive melody, \"Toowoo-toowoo Tooawoooooo!\" For the tiny creatures\nhave adopted the Tamytam call as the call to the evening parties. And\nyou must step quietly and approach softly so as not to disturb the tiny\ncreatures, when you wish to see one of their moonlight surprise parties.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\nA CHANGE OF COATS\n\n\nTwo mischievous little gnomes were walking along the beach one day and\nas they came to a pile of rocks they heard voices. One of the little\ngnomes put his finger to his lips for silence and peeped cautiously\naround the largest stone. There he saw a crab and a lobster sitting upon\na bunch of sea-weed in the sunshine.\n\nThe other little gnome tip-toed up and joined his brother and when they\nhad listened a while they winked at each other and quietly walked back\nto the beach. After whispering together a moment one of the little\ngnomes ran up the beach and over a sand dune.\n\nThe other gnome again crept up behind the large stone and listened to\nthe lobster and the crab.\n\n\"Yes,\" said the crab, \"I agree with you, Mr. Lobster! While our coats\nare just a plain green they are still quite beautiful!\"\n\n\"Ah! You speak the truth, Friend Crab,\" the lobster replied, \"Green is a\nlovely color and I am very glad that we are not purple!\"\n\n\"I am very glad that we are green, too.\" the crab said, \"Just suppose we\nwere colored blue! I know I should not be able to stand it! Would you,\nFriend Lobster?'\n\n\"No indeed!\" the lobster cried, \"Nor would I care to change to any other\ncolor, would you, Friend Crab!\" \"It is nice to be satisfied! Isn't it,\nFriend Lobster?\"\n\n\"Yes! Especially when we are as satisfied as we are!\" The lobster\nanswered.\n\nThe little gnome listening behind the large stone winked at himself and\nsmiled. He knew the lobster and the crab would give anything if they\nwere of a different color, for he could tell by their conversation they\nwere dissatisfied with their green coats.\n\nSoon the other little gnome appeared over the sand dunes carrying a\nlarge kettle, and when he got to a spot on the beach where the crab and\nthe lobster could see and hear him he began shouting in a sing-song\nmanner: \"Old clothes changed to new! Old clothes changed to new! Old\nclothes changed to new!\"\n\n\"Pooh!\" said the lobster. \"Who is foolish enough to wish to change their\nnatural coats?\"\n\n\"Hmm!\" said the crab as he sidled towards the beach. \"Let's go over and\ntalk with him, anyway, and ask him if anyone ever changes the color\nof their clothes. Not that I wish to change my lovely green coat, you\nunderstand, but--\"\n\n\"It would be interesting to hear about it, anyway!\" the lobster replied,\nas he crawled after the crab.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe little gnome with the large kettle sat upon the beach and pretended\nhe did not see the crab and lobster, but continued crying: \"Old coats\nchanged to new! Green ones changed to red! Old coat changed to new! Old\ncoats changed to new!\"\n\nWhen the crab and the lobster came up quite near the little gnome pulled\na number of pieces of colored cloth from his pocket and placed them upon\nthe sand.\n\n\"How pretty!\" said the crab.\n\n\"Very lovely!\" said the lobster.\n\n\"Do you wish your coats changed in color?\" asked the little gnome.\n\n\"Ah, no, thank you!\" the two hypocrites said. \"We were just looking\naround a bit!\"\n\n\"Well, I am glad to have your company,\" said the little gnome as he took\na piece of scarlet cloth and laid it over the lobster's back.\n\n\"How do you like that?\" he asked of the crab.\n\n\"It looks fine!\" said the crab. \"Try it on me!\"\n\nThe little gnome placed the scarlet piece of cloth over the crab's back.\n\n\"How do you like it?\" he asked the lobster.\n\n\"Did I look that well in that color?\" asked the lobster by way of reply.\n\n\"I think both of you will look far better if you let me change you\nto scarlet. It's in far better taste, too!\" the little gnome added,\npinching himself to keep from laughing.\n\n\"Shall we change?\" the crab asked the lobster and the lobster asked the\ncrab.\n\n\"You will find the color a great deal warmer,\" said the little gnome.\n\"Green is decidedly cold, you know!\"\n\nSo the little gnome gathered an armful of drift-wood and built a fire.\nThen he dipped the kettle into the sea and placed the crab and the\nlobster in the kettle of water and put the lid on.\n\n\"Be sure and make us a brilliant scarlet!\" cried the lobster and the\ncrab, as the little gnome placed the kettle over the fire. An hour later\nthe two little gnomes lay upon their backs upon the sand and yawned\ncontentedly, their little round stomachs almost bursting their belts.\nNear them was the upturned kettle, and scattered all about them on the\nsand were lovely pieces of scarlet lobster and crab shells.\n\n\"It's funny,\" one little gnome said drowsily, \"how one sometimes will\nbecome dissatisfied with the way he was made by Mother Nature and try to\nimprove upon her work! It usually leads to misfortune.\"\n\n\"Yes, that is true,\" the other little gnome replied, \"We should be\nsatisfied and contented just as we are!\"\n\n\"Well, I for one am satisfied!\" the little gnome said, stroking his fat\nstomach.\n\n\"So am I!\" his brother laughed.\n\n[Illustration]","title":"Friendly Fairies","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":16300}