{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_15170/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_15170","id":"gutenberg_15170","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15170","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Poetry","Children's Instructional Books","Readers (Primary)"],"text":"Produced by Suzanne Shell, David King, and the PG Online Distributed\nProofreading Team\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHILD'S WORLD\n\nTHIRD READER\n\nBY\n\nHETTY S. BROWNE\nExtension worker in rural school practice\nWinthrop Normal and Industrial College\nRock Hill, S.C.\n\nSARAH WITHERS\nPrincipal Elementary Grades and Critic Teacher\nWinthrop Normal and Industrial College\n\nAND\n\nW.K. TATE\nProfessor of Rural Education\nGeorge Peabody College for Teachers\nNashville, Tenn.\n\nJOHNSON PUBLISHING COMPANY\nRichmond, Virginia\n\nTEACHERS' AIDS\n\nSuccess with the Child's World Readers is in no wise dependent on the\nuse of the chart, manual, or cards.\n\nModern teachers of reading, however, recognize the saving of time and\neffort to be accomplished for both their pupils and themselves by the\nuse of cards, chart, and manual, and look to the publisher to provide\nthese accessories in convenient form and at moderate cost.\n\nThe following aids are therefore offered in the belief that they will\nmake the work of the teacher, trained or untrained, more effective.\n\nChild's World Reader Charts......................$6.00\n  (10 beautiful charts in colors 27x37--20 lessons)\n\nChild's World Manual.............................75c\n  (Suggestions and outlines for first 5 grades)\n\nChild's World Word Cards........................$1.00\n  (129 cards--258 words in Primer vocabulary)\n\nChild's World Phrase Cards........................75c\n  (48 cards--96 phrases)\n\nChild's World Phonic Cards...................80c\n  (80 cards printed both sides)\n\nJOHNSON PUBLISHING COMPANY\n\nRichmond, Virginia.\n\n\n\nACKNOWLEDGMENTS\n\nFor permission to use copyrighted material the authors and publishers\nexpress their indebtedness to _The Independent_ for \"Who Loves the Trees\nBest?\" by Alice M. Douglas; to Oliver Herford and the Century Company\nfor \"The Elf and the Dormouse\"; to the American Folklore Society for\n\"How Brother Rabbit Fooled the Whale and the Elephant,\" by Alcee\nFortier; to the _Outlook_ for \"Making the Best of It,\" by Frances M.\nFox, and \"Winter Nights,\" by Mary F. Butts; to Harper Brothers for \"The\nAnimals and the Mirror,\" from _Told by the Sand Man_; to Rand McNally &\nCompany for \"Little Hope's Doll,\" from _Stories of the Pilgrims_, by\nMargaret Pumphrey; to Daughady & Company for \"Squeaky and the Scare\nBox,\" from _Christmas Stories_, by Georgene Faulkner; to D.C. Heath &\nCompany for \"The Little Cook's Reward,\" from _Stories of the Old North\nState_, by Mrs. L.A. McCorkle; to Charles Scribner's Sons for \"A Good\nPlay\" and \"Block City,\" by Robert Louis Stevenson, \"The Glad New Year,\"\nfrom _Rhymes and Jingles_, by Mary Mapes Dodge, \"A Christmas Wish\" and\n\"Rock-a-by-Lady,\" by Eugene Field; to Houghton Mifflin Company for\npermission to adapt selections from _Hiawatha_; to Doubleday, Page &\nCompany for \"The Sand Man,\" by Margaret Vandergrift, from _The Posy\nRing_--Wiggin and Smith; to James A. Honey for \"The Monkey's Fiddle,\"\nfrom _South African Tales_; to Maud Barnard for \"Donal and Conal\"; to\nMaud Barnard and Emilie Yonker for their versions of Epaminondas.\n\n\nSupplementary Historical Reading\n\nLife of General Robert E. Lee\n_For Third and Fourth Grades_\n\nLife of General Thomas J. Jackson\n_For Third and Fourth Grades_\n\nLife of Washington\n_For Fourth and Fifth Grades_\n\nLife of General N.B. Forrest\n_For Fifth Grade_\n\nLife of General J.E.B. Stuart\n_For Fifth and Sixth Grades_\n\nSoldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia\n_For Fifth Grade_\n\nTennessee History Stories\n_For Third and Fourth Grades_\n\nNorth Carolina History Stories\n_For Fourth and Fifth Grades_\n\nTexas History Stories\n_For Fifth and Sixth Grades_\n\nHalf-Hours in Southern History\n_For Sixth and Seventh Grades_\n\nThe Yemassee (_Complete Edition_)\n_For Seventh and Eighth Grades_\n\n(Ask for catalog containing list of other supplementary reading)\n\nJOHNSON PUBLISHING COMPANY\nRICHMOND, VA.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nPHILEMON AND BAUCIS, _Flora J. Cooke_, 9\n\nTHE POPLAR TREE, _Flora J. Cooke_, 15\n\nWHO LOVES THE TREES BEST?, _Alice May Douglas_, 18\n\nLEAVES IN AUTUMN, 19\n\nA STORY OF BIRD LIFE, _Henry Ward Beecher_, 20\n\nBOB WHITE, _George Cooper_, 25\n\nHOW MARY GOT A NEW DRESS, 26\n\nTHE PLAID DRESS, 30\n\nTHE GODDESS OF THE SILKWORM, 34\n\nTHE FLAX, _Hans Christian Andersen_, 37\n\nTHE WONDERFUL WORLD, _William Brighty Rands_, 41\n\nTHE HILLMAN AND THE HOUSEWIFE, _Juliana H. Ewing_, 42\n\nTHE ELF AND THE DORMOUSE, _Oliver Herford_, 46\n\nTHE BELL OF ATRI, _Italian Tale_, 48\n\nA DUMB WITNESS, _Arabian Tale_, 53\n\nGIVING THANKS, 56\n\nTHE HARE AND THE HEDGEHOG, _Grimm_, 58\n\nEPAMINONDAS, _Southern Tale_, 67\n\nHOW BROTHER RABBIT FOOLED THE WHALE AND THE ELEPHANT, _Southern Folk\nTale_, 73\n\nA CHRISTMAS WISH, _Eugene Field_, 79\n\nTHE CHRISTMAS BELLS, _Old Tale Retold_, 82\n\nGOD BLESS THE MASTER OF THE HOUSE, _Old English Rime_, 89\n\nSQUEAKY AND THE SCARE BOX, _Georgene Faulkner_, 90\n\nTHE GLAD NEW YEAR, _Mary Mapes Dodge_, 99\n\nMAKING THE BEST OF IT, _Frances M. Fox_, 100\n\nTHE ANIMALS AND THE MIRROR, _F.A. Walker_, 106\n\nTHE BARBER OF BAGDAD, _Eastern Tale_, 115\n\nWINTER NIGHTS, _Mary F. Butts_, 122\n\nLITTLE HOPE'S DOLL, _Margaret Pumphrey_, 123\n\nNAHUM PRINCE, 130\n\nTHE LITTLE COOK'S REWARD, _Mrs. L.A. McCorkle_, 134\n\nROCK-A-BY, HUSH-A-BY, LITTLE PAPOOSE, _Charles Myall_, 139\n\nTHE TAR WOLF, _The Indian Tar-Baby Story_, 140\n\nTHE RABBIT AND THE WOLF, _Southern Indian Tale_, 149\n\nBLOCK CITY, _Robert Louis Stevenson_, 154\n\nA GOOD PLAY, _Robert Louis Stevenson_, 155\n\nTHE MONKEY'S FIDDLE, _African Tale_, 156\n\nTHE THREE TASKS, _Grimm_, 163\n\nTHE WORLD'S MUSIC, _Gabriel Setoun_, 170\n\nTHE SLEEPING BEAUTY, _Grimm_, 172\n\nTHE UGLY DUCKLING, _Hans Christian Andersen_, 181\n\nTHE WHITE BLACKBIRD, _Adapted from Alfred de Musset_, 192\n\nTHE BROWN THRUSH, _Lucy Larcom_, 199\n\nTHE KING AND THE GOOSEHERD, _Old Tale_, 200\n\nDONAL AND CONAL, _Irish Tale_, 206\n\nWHO TOLD THE NEWS?, 212\n\nTHE BIRDS OF KILLINGWORTH, _Adapted from Longfellow_, 213\n\nTHE TRAILING ARBUTUS, _Indian Legend_, 218\n\nHIDDEN TREASURE, _Grimm_, 223\n\nTHE LITTLE BROWN BROTHER, _Emily Nesbit_, 228\n\nHOW THE FLOWERS GROW, _Gabriel Setoun_, 229\n\nWISE MEN OF GOTHAM, _Old English Story_, 230\n\nTHE MILLER'S GUEST, _English Ballad (adapted)_, 233\n\nSADDLE TO RAGS, _English Ballad (adapted)_, 239\n\nTHE ROCK-A-BY LADY, _Eugene Field_, 244\n\nTHE SAND MAN, _Margaret Vandergrift_, 246\n\nA DICTIONARY, 249\n\nSUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS, 253\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Girl reading a book]\n\n  Oh, for a nook and a story-book,\n    With tales both new and old;\n  For a jolly good book whereon to look\n    Is better to me than gold.\n\n--OLD ENGLISH SONG.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Country house]\n\nPHILEMON AND BAUCIS\n\nI\n\n\nLong ago, on a high hill in Greece, Philemon and Baucis lived.\n\nThey were poor, but they were never unhappy. They had many hives of bees\nfrom which they got honey, and many vines from which they gathered\ngrapes. One old cow gave them all the milk that they could use, and they\nhad a little field in which grain was raised.\n\nThe old couple had as much as they needed, and were always ready to\nshare whatever they had with any one in want. No stranger was ever\nturned from their door.\n\nAt the foot of the hill lay a beautiful village, with pleasant roads and\nrich pasture lands all around. But it was full of wicked, selfish,\npeople, who had no love in their hearts and thought only of themselves.\n\nAt the time of this story, the people in the village were very busy.\nZeus, who they believed ruled the world, had sent word that he was about\nto visit them. They were preparing a great feast and making everything\nbeautiful for his coming.\n\nOne evening, just at dark, two beggars came into the valley. They\nstopped at every house and asked for food and a place to sleep; but the\npeople were too busy or too tired to attend to their needs. They were\nthinking only of the coming of Zeus.\n\nFootsore and weary, the two beggars at last climbed the hill to the hut\nof Philemon and Baucis. These good people had eaten very little, for\nthey were saving their best food for Zeus.\n\nWhen they saw the beggars, Philemon said, \"Surely these men need food\nmore than Zeus. They look almost starved.\"\n\n\"Indeed, they do!\" said Baucis, and she ran quickly to prepare supper\nfor the strangers.\n\nShe spread her best white cloth upon the table, and brought out bacon,\nherbs, honey, grapes, bread, and milk. She set these upon the table in\nall the best dishes she had and called the strangers in.\n\nThen what do you suppose happened? The dishes that the strangers touched\nturned to gold. The pitcher was never empty, although they drank glass\nafter glass of milk. The loaf of bread stayed always the same size,\nalthough the strangers cut slice after slice.\n\n\"These are strange travelers,\" whispered the old couple to each other.\n\"They do wonderful things.\"\n\n\nII\n\n\nThat night Philemon and Baucis slept upon the floor that the strangers\nmight have their one bed. In the morning they went with the travelers to\nthe foot of the hill to see them safely started on their way.\n\n\"Now, good people,\" said one of the strangers, \"we thank you, and\nwhatever you wish shall be yours.\"\n\nAs he said this, his face became like that of the sun. Then Philemon and\nBaucis knew that Zeus had spoken to them.\n\n\"Grant, O Zeus, that one of us may not outlive the other,\" they cried in\none voice.\n\n\"Your wish is granted,\" said Zeus; \"yes, and more. Return to your home\nand be happy.\"\n\n[Illustration: Philemon and Baucis walking home]\n\nPhilemon and Baucis turned homeward, and, lo! their hut was changed to a\nbeautiful castle.\n\nThe old people turned around to thank their guests, but they had\ndisappeared.\n\nIn this castle Philemon and Baucis lived many years. They still did all\nthey could for others, and were always so happy that they never thought\nof wishing anything for themselves.\n\nAs the years passed, the couple grew very old and feeble. One day Baucis\nsaid to Philemon, \"I wish we might never die, but could always live\ntogether.\"\n\n\"Ah, that is my wish, too!\" sighed old Philemon.\n\nThe next morning the marble palace was gone; Baucis and Philemon were\ngone; but there on the hilltop stood two beautiful trees, an oak and a\nlinden.\n\nNo one knew what became of the good people. After many years, however, a\ntraveler lying under the trees heard them whispering to each other.\n\n\"Baucis,\" whispered the oak.\n\n\"Philemon,\" replied the linden.\n\nThere the trees stood through sun and rain, always ready to spread their\nleafy shade over every tired stranger who passed that way.\n\n--FLORA J. COOKE.\n\n\n\n\nTHE POPLAR TREE\n\n\nLong ago the poplar used to hold out its branches like other trees. It\ntried to see how far it could spread them.\n\nOnce at sunset an old man came through the forest where the poplar trees\nlived. The trees were going to sleep, and it was growing dark.\n\nThe man held something under his cloak. It was a pot of gold--the very\npot of gold that lies at the foot of the rainbow. He had stolen it and\nwas looking for some place to hide it. A poplar tree stood by the path.\n\n\"This is the very place to hide my treasure,\" the man said. \"The\nbranches spread out straight, and the leaves are large and thick. How\nlucky that the trees are all asleep!\"\n\nHe placed the pot of gold in the thick branches, and then ran quickly\naway.\n\nThe gold belonged to Iris, the beautiful maiden who had a rainbow bridge\nto the earth. The next morning she missed her precious pot. It always\nlay at the foot of the rainbow, but it was not there now.\n\nIris hurried away to tell her father, the great Zeus, of her loss. He\nsaid that he would find the pot of gold for her.\n\nHe called a messenger, the swift-footed Mercury, and said, \"Go quickly,\nand do not return until you have found the treasure.\"\n\nMercury went as fast as the wind down to the earth. He soon came to the\nforest and awakened the trees.\n\n\"Iris has lost her precious pot of gold that lies at the foot of the\nrainbow. Have any of you seen it?\" he asked.\n\nThe trees were very sleepy, but all shook their heads.\n\n\"We have not seen it,\" they said.\n\n\"Hold up your branches,\" said Mercury. \"I must see that the pot of gold\nis not hidden among them.\"\n\nAll of the trees held up their branches. The poplar that stood by the\npath was the first to hold up his. He was an honest tree and knew he had\nnothing to hide.\n\n[Illustration: Mercury among the trees]\n\nDown fell the pot of gold. How surprised the poplar tree was! He dropped\nhis branches in shame. Then he held them high in the air.\n\n\"Forgive me,\" he said. \"I do not know how it came to be there; but,\nhereafter, I shall always hold my branches up. Then every one can see\nthat I have nothing hidden.\"\n\nSince then the branches have always grown straight up; and every one\nknows that the poplar is an honest and upright tree.\n\n--FLORA J. COOKE.\n\n\n\n\nWHO LOVES THE TREES BEST?\n\n\n  Who loves the trees best?\n  \"I,\" said the Spring;\n  \"Their leaves so beautiful\n  To them I bring.\"\n\n  Who loves the trees best?\n  \"I,\" Summer said;\n  \"I give them blossoms,\n  White, yellow, red.\"\n\n  Who loves the trees best?\n  \"I,\" said the Fall;\n  \"I give luscious fruits,\n  Bright tints to all.\"\n\n  Who loves the trees best?\n  \"I love them best,\"\n  Harsh Winter answered;\n  \"I give them rest.\"\n\n--ALICE MAY DOUGLAS.\n\n\n\n\nLEAVES IN AUTUMN\n\n\n  Red and gold, and gold and red,\n  Autumn leaves burned overhead;\n    Hues so splendid\n    Softly blended,\n  Oh, the glory that they shed!\n  Red and gold, and gold and red.\n\n  Gold and brown, and brown and gold,\n  Of such fun the west wind told\n    That they listened,\n    And they glistened,\n  As they wrestled in the cold;\n  Gold and brown, and brown and gold.\n\n  Brown and gold, and red and brown,\n  How they hurried, scurried down\n    For a frolic,\n    For a rolic,\n  Through the country and the town,\n  Brown and gold, and red and brown.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: A bird in a tree]\n\nA STORY OF BIRD LIFE\n\nI\n\n\nOnce there came to our fields a pair of birds. They had never built a\nnest nor seen a winter.\n\nOh, how beautiful was everything! The fields were full of flowers, the\ngrass was growing tall, and the bees were humming everywhere.\n\nOne of the birds fell to singing, and the other bird said, \"Who told you\nto sing?\"\n\nHe answered, \"The flowers and the bees told me. The blue sky told me,\nand you told me.\"\n\n\"When did I tell you to sing?\" asked his mate.\n\n\"Every time you brought in tender grass for the nest,\" he replied.\n\"Every time your soft wings fluttered off again for hair and feathers to\nline it.\"\n\nThen his mate asked, \"What are you singing about?\"\n\n\"I am singing about everything,\" he answered. \"I sing because I am\nhappy.\"\n\nBy and by five little speckled eggs were in the nest, and the mother\nbird asked, \"Is there anything in all the world as pretty as my eggs?\"\n\nA week or two afterward, the mother said, \"Oh, what do you think has\nhappened? One of my eggs has been peeping and moving.\"\n\nSoon another egg moved, then another, and another, till five eggs were\nhatched.\n\nThe little birds were so hungry that it kept the parents busy feeding\nthem. Away they both flew. The moment the little birds heard them coming\nback, five yellow mouths flew open wide.\n\n\"Can anybody be happier?\" said the father bird to the mother bird. \"We\nwill live in this tree always. It is a tree that bears joy.\"\n\n\nII\n\n\nThe very next day one of the birds dropped out of the nest, and in a\nmoment a cat ate it up. Only four remained, and the parent birds were\nvery sad. There was no song all that day, nor the next.\n\nSoon the little birds were big enough to fly. The first bird that tried\nhis wings flew from one branch to another. His parents praised him, and\nthe other baby birds wondered how he had done it.\n\nThe little one was so proud of it that he tried again. He flew and flew\nand couldn't stop flying. At last he fell plump! down by the kitchen\ndoor. A little boy caught him and carried him into the house.\n\nNow only three birds were left. The sun no longer seemed bright to the\nbirds, and they did not sing so often.\n\nIn a little time the other birds learned to use their wings, and they\nflew away and away. They found their own food and made their own nests.\n\nThen the old birds sat silent and looked at each other a long while. At\nlast the mother bird asked, \"Why don't you sing?\"\n\n\"I can't sing,\" the father bird answered. \"I only think and think!\"\n\n\"What are you thinking of?\"\n\n\"I am thinking how everything changes. The leaves are falling, and soon\nthere will be no roof over our heads. The flowers are all gone. Last\nnight there was a frost. Almost all the birds have flown away, and I am\nrestless. Something calls me, and I feel that I must fly away, too.\"\n\n[Illustration: Two birds flying over a field]\n\n\"Let us fly away together!\" the mother bird said.\n\nThen they rose silently up in the air. They looked to the north; far\naway they saw the snow coming. They looked to the south; there they saw\ngreen leaves.\n\nAll day they flew. All night they flew and flew, till they found a land\nwhere there was no winter. There it was summer all the time; flowers\nalways blossomed and birds always sang.\n\n--HENRY WARD BEECHER\n\n\n\n\nBOB WHITE\n\n\n  There's a plump little chap in a speckled coat,\n  And he sits on the zigzag rails remote,\n  Where he whistles at breezy, bracing morn,\n  When the buckwheat is ripe, and stacked is the corn:\n  \"Bob White! Bob White! Bob White!\"\n\n  Is he hailing some comrade as blithe as he?\n  Now I wonder where Robert White can be!\n  O'er the billows of gold and amber grain\n  There is no one in sight--but, hark again:\n  \"Bob White! Bob White! Bob White!\"\n\n  Ah! I see why he calls; in the stubble there\n  Hide his plump little wife and babies fair!\n  So contented is he, and so proud of the same,\n  That he wants all the world to know his name:\n  \"Bob White! Bob White! Bob White!\"\n\n--GEORGE COOPER.\n\n\n\n\nHOW MARY GOT A NEW DRESS\n\n\nMary lived a long time ago. She was a little girl when your\ngreat-great-grandmother was a little girl.\n\nIn those days all cloth had to be made at home. Aunt Dinah, Aunt Chloe,\nand Aunt Dilsey were kept busy spinning and weaving to make clothes for\nthe whole plantation.\n\nOne day Mary's mother said, \"Aunt Dilsey, Mary needs a new dress, and I\nwant you to weave some cloth at once. Can you weave some very fine\ncloth?\"\n\n\"Yes, ma'am,\" said Aunt Dilsey. \"I have some cotton I've been saving to\nmake her a dress.\"\n\nAunt Dilsey got out the cards and carded the cotton smooth and fine.\nThen she fastened a roll of this cotton to the spindle and sent the\nwheel whirling around with a \"Zum-m-m-m--Zum-m-m-m!\"\n\nMary stood and watched the old woman.\n\n[Illustration: Mary watching Aunt Dilsey at spinning wheel]\n\n\"Aunt Dilsey,\" she said, \"the spinning wheel sings a song, and I know\nwhat it says. Grandmother told me. It says,\n\n  'A hum and a whirl,\n  A twist and a twirl,\n  This is for the girl\n  With the golden curl!\n  Zum-m-m-m-m-m!\n  Zum-m-m-m-m-m!'\"\n\n\"And that means you, honey,\" said Aunt Dilsey.\n\nWhen the yarn was ready, Aunt Dilsey fastened it in the loom and began\nto weave. The threads went over and under, over and under. As Aunt\nDilsey wove, she hummed. Mary stood by and sang this song,\n\n  \"Over and under and over we go,\n  Weaving the cotton as white as the snow,\n  Weaving the cloth for a dress, oh, ho!\n  As over and under and over we go.\"\n\nAfter the cloth had been woven, Aunt Dilsey took it out of the loom.\nThen she bleached it until it was as white as snow. Now it was ready to\nbe made into a dress.\n\n\"Mother, do tell me how you are going to make the dress,\" said Mary.\n\"Will it have ruffles on it like Sue's? Will it have trimming on it? And\nhow many buttons will you put on it? Sue's dress has twelve; I know, for\nI counted them.\"\n\nMother did not answer all these questions; she just smiled as the\nscissors went snip, snip into the cloth. But she did cut out ruffles,\nand Aunt Maria began to hem them.\n\n[Illustration: Mary with her mother and grandmother]\n\nBy and by grandmother came into the room.\n\n\"Mary,\" she said, \"here is some lace I got in England. Mother may put it\non your dress.\"\n\nHow happy Mary was! She danced for joy.\n\nMother put on the lace, and grandmother worked the buttonholes. How many\ndo you suppose she worked? Why, she worked twelve!\n\nWhen the dress was finished, it was just like Sue's. Only it was a great\ndeal finer, for Mary's dress had three ruffles and Sue's had only two!\nAnd, then, there was the lace from England!\n\n\n\n\nTHE PLAID DRESS\n\n\n\"I want a warm plaid dress,\" said a little girl. \"The days are colder,\nand the frost will soon be here. But how can I get it? Mother says that\nshe cannot buy one for me.\"\n\nThe old white sheep in the meadow heard her, and he bleated to the\nshepherd, \"The little girl wants a warm plaid dress. I will give my\nwool. Who else will help?\"\n\nThe kind shepherd said, \"I will.\" Then he led the old white sheep to the\nbrook and washed its wool. When it was clean and white, he said, \"The\nlittle girl wants a warm plaid dress. The sheep has given his wool, and\nI have washed it clean and white. Who else will help?\"\n\n\"We will,\" said the shearers. \"We will bring our shears and cut off the\nwool.\"\n\nThe shearers cut the soft wool from the old sheep, and then they called,\n\"The little girl wants a new dress. The sheep has given his wool. The\nshepherd has washed it; and we have sheared it. Who else will help?\"\n\n[Illustration: Shearer shearing the sheep]\n\n\"We will,\" cried the carders. \"We will comb it out straight and smooth.\"\n\nSoon they held up the wool, carded straight and smooth, and they cried,\n\"The little girl wants a new dress. The sheep has given his wool. The\nshepherd has washed the wool. The shearers have cut it, and we have\ncarded it. Who else will help?\"\n\n\"We will,\" said the spinners. \"We will spin it into thread.\"\n\n\"Whirr, whirr!\" How fast the spinning wheels turned, singing all the\ntime.\n\nSoon the spinners said, \"The little girl wants a new dress. The sheep\nhas given his wool. The shepherd has washed the wool. The shearers have\ncut it. The carders have carded it, and we have spun it into thread. Who\nelse will help?\"\n\n\"We will,\" said the dyers. \"We will dye it with beautiful colors.\"\n\nThen they dipped the woven threads into bright dye, red and blue and\ngreen and brown.\n\nAs they spread the wool out to dry, the dyers called: \"The little girl\nwants a new dress. The sheep has given his wool. The shepherd has washed\nthe wool. The shearers have cut it. The carders have carded it. The\nspinners have spun it, and we have dyed it with bright beautiful colors.\nWho else will help?\"\n\n\"We will,\" said the weavers. \"We will make it into cloth.\"\n\n[Illustration: Weaver at loom]\n\n\"Clickety-clack! clickety-clack!\" went the loom, as the colored thread\nwas woven over and under over and under. Before long it was made into\nbeautiful plaid cloth.\n\nThen the little girl's mother cut and made the dress. It was a beautiful\nplaid dress, and the little girl loved to wear it. Every time she put it\non, she thought of her friends who had helped her,--the sheep, the\nshearers, the carders, the spinners, the dyers, the weavers, and her own\ndear mother.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GODDESS OF THE SILKWORM\n\n\nHoangti was the emperor of China. He had a beautiful wife whose name was\nSi-ling. The emperor and his wife loved their people and always thought\nof their happiness.\n\nIn those days the Chinese people wore clothes made of skins. By and by\nanimals grew scarce, and the people did not know what they should wear.\nThe emperor and empress tried in vain to find some other way of clothing\nthem.\n\nOne morning Hoangti and his wife were in the beautiful palace garden.\nThey walked up and down, up and down, talking of their people.\n\nSuddenly the emperor said, \"Look at those worms on the mulberry trees,\nSi-ling. They seem to be spinning.\"\n\nSi-ling looked, and sure enough, the worms were spinning. A long thread\nwas coming from the mouth of each, and each little worm was winding this\nthread around its body.\n\nSi-ling and the emperor stood still and watched the worms. \"How\nwonderful!\" said Si-ling.\n\nThe next morning Hoangti and the empress walked under the trees again.\nThey found some worms still winding thread. Others had already spun\ntheir cocoons and were fast asleep. In a few days all of the worms had\nspun cocoons.\n\n\"This is indeed a wonderful, wonderful thing!\" said Si-ling. \"Why, each\nworm has a thread on its body long enough to make a house for itself!\"\n\nSi-ling thought of this day after day. One morning as she and the\nemperor walked under the trees, she said, \"I believe I could find a way\nto weave those long threads into cloth.\"\n\n\"But how could you unwind the threads?\" asked the emperor.\n\n[Illustration: Hoangti and Si-ling walking among the trees]\n\n\"I'll find a way,\" Si-ling said. And she did; but she had to try many,\nmany times.\n\nShe put the cocoons in a hot place, and the little sleepers soon died.\nThen the cocoons were thrown into boiling water to make the threads\nsoft. After that the long threads could be easily unwound.\n\nNow Si-ling had to think of something else; she had to find a way to\nweave the threads into cloth. After many trials, she made a loom--the\nfirst that was ever made. She taught others to weave, and soon hundreds\nof people were making cloth from the threads of the silkworm.\n\nThe people ever afterward called Si-ling \"The Goddess of the Silkworm.\"\nAnd whenever the emperor walked with her in the garden, they liked to\nwatch the silkworms spinning threads for the good of their people.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FLAX\n\nI\n\n\nIt was spring. The flax was in full bloom, and it had dainty little blue\nflowers that nodded in the breeze.\n\n\"People say that I look very well,\" said the flax. \"They say that I am\nfine and long and that I shall make a beautiful piece of linen. How\nhappy I am! No one in the world can be happier.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes,\" said the fence post, \"you may grow and be happy, and you may\nsing, but you do not know the world as I do. Why, I have knots in me.\"\nAnd it creaked;\n\n  \"Snip, snap, snurre,\n  Basse, lurre,\n  The song is ended.\"\n\n\"No, it is not ended,\" said the flax. \"The sun will shine, and the rain\nwill fall, and I shall grow and grow. No, no, the song is not ended.\"\n\nOne day some men came with sharp reap hooks. They took the flax by the\nhead and cut it off at the roots. This was very painful, you may be\nsure.\n\nThen the flax was laid in water and was nearly drowned. After that it\nwas put on a fire and nearly roasted. All this was frightful. But the\nflax only said, \"One cannot be happy always. By having bad times as well\nas good, we become wise.\"\n\nAfter the flax had been cut and steeped and roasted, it was put on a\nspinning wheel. \"Whir-r-r, whir-rr-r,\" went the spinning wheel; it went\nso fast that the flax could hardly think.\n\n\"I have been very happy in the sunshine and the rain,\" it said. \"If I am\nin pain now, I must be contented.\"\n\nAt last the flax was put in the loom. Soon it became a beautiful piece\nof white linen.\n\n\"This is very wonderful,\" said the flax. \"How foolish the fence post was\nwith its song of--\n\n  'Snip, snap, snurre,\n  Basse, lurre,\n  The song is ended.'\n\nThe song is not ended, I am sure. It has only just begun.\n\n\"After all that I have suffered, I am at last made into beautiful linen.\nHow strong and fine I am, and how long and white! This is even better\nthan being a plant bearing flowers. I have never been happier than I am\nnow.\"\n\nAfter some time the linen was cut into pieces and sewed with needles.\nThat was not pleasant; but at last there were twelve pretty white\naprons.\n\n\"See,\" said the flax, \"I have been made into something. Now I shall be\nof some use in the world. That is the only way to be happy.\"\n\n\nII\n\n\nYears passed by, and the linen was so worn that it could hardly hold\ntogether.\n\n\"The end must come soon,\" said the flax.\n\nAt last the linen did fall into rags and tatters; it was torn into\nshreds and boiled in water. The flax thought the end had come.\n\nBut no, the end was not yet. After being made into pulp and dried, the\nflax became beautiful white paper.\n\n\"This is a surprise, a glorious surprise,\" it said. \"I am finer than\never, and I shall have fine things written on me. How happy I am!\"\n\nAnd sure enough, the most beautiful stories and verses were written upon\nit. People read the stories and verses, and they were made wiser and\nbetter. Their children and their children's children read them, too, and\nso the song was not ended.\n\n--HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN.\n\n[Illustration: Girl reading a book]\n\n\n\n\nTHE WONDERFUL WORLD\n\n\n  Great, wide, beautiful, wonderful World,\n  With the wonderful water round you curled,\n  And the wonderful grass upon your breast,\n  World, you are beautifully drest.\n\n  The wonderful air is over me,\n  And the wonderful wind is shaking the tree--\n  It walks on the water, and whirls the mills,\n  And talks to itself on the top of the hills.\n\n  You friendly Earth, how far do you go,\n  With the wheat-fields that nod and the rivers that flow,\n  With cities and gardens, and cliffs and isles,\n  And people upon you for thousands of miles?\n\n  Ah! you are so great, and I am so small,\n  I hardly can think of you, World, at all;\n  And yet, when I said my prayers to-day,\n  A whisper within me seemed to say,\n  \"You are more than the Earth, though you are such a dot!\n  You can love and think, and the Earth cannot!\"\n\n--William Brighty Rands.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Hillman at the housewife's door]\n\nTHE HILLMAN AND THE HOUSEWIFE\n\n\nAs every one knows, fairies are always just. They are kind to others,\nand in return they expect others to be kind to them. In some countries\nacross the sea there are fairies called Hillmen.\n\nNow, there once lived a certain housewife who liked to make bargains.\nShe gave away only those things for which she had no use, and then\nexpected always to get something in return.\n\nOne day a Hillman knocked at her door.\n\n\"Can you lend us a saucepan?\" he asked. \"There's a wedding on the hill,\nand all the pots are in use.\"\n\n\"Is he to have one?\" whispered the servant who opened the door.\n\n\"Aye, to be sure,\" answered the housewife; \"one must be neighborly. Get\nthe saucepan for him, lass.\"\n\nThe maid turned to take a good saucepan from the shelf, but the\nhousewife stopped her.\n\n\"Not that, not that,\" she whispered. \"Get the old one out of the\ncupboard. It leaks, but that doesn't matter. The Hillmen are so neat and\nare such nimble workers that they are sure to mend it before they send\nit home. I can oblige the fairies and save sixpence in tinkering, too.\"\n\nThe maid brought the old saucepan that had been laid by until the\ntinker's next visit, and gave it to the Hillman. He thanked her and went\naway.\n\nWhen the saucepan was returned, it had been neatly mended, just as the\nhousewife thought it would be.\n\nAt night the maid filled the pan with milk and set it on the fire to\nheat for the children's supper. In a few moments the milk was so smoked\nand burnt that no one would touch it. Even the pigs refused to drink it.\n\n\"Ah, you good-for-nothing!\" cried the housewife. \"There's a quart of\nmilk wasted at once.\"\n\n\"And that's twopence,\" cried a queer little voice that seemed to come\nfrom the chimney.\n\nThe housewife filled the saucepan again and set it over the fire. It had\nnot been there more than two minutes before it boiled over and was burnt\nand smoked as before.\n\n\"The pan must be dirty,\" muttered the woman, who was very much vexed.\n\"Two full quarts of milk have been wasted.\"\n\n\"And that's fourpence!\" added the queer little voice from the chimney.\n\nThe saucepan was scoured; then it was filled with milk the third time\nand set over the fire. Again the milk boiled over and was spoiled.\n\nNow the housewife was quite vexed. \"I have never had anything like this\nto happen since I first kept house,\" she exclaimed. \"Three quarts of\nmilk wasted!\"\n\n\"And that's sixpence,\" cried the queer little voice from the chimney.\n\"You didn't save the tinkering after all, mother!\"\n\nWith that the Hillman himself came tumbling from the chimney and ran off\nlaughing. But from that time, the saucepan was as good as any other.\n\n--JULIANA H. EWING.\n\n[Illustration: The Hillman running off from the fire]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Elf and the Dormouse under the toadstool]\n\nTHE ELF AND THE DORMOUSE\n\n\n  Under a toad stool\n    Crept a wee Elf,\n  Out of the rain\n    To shelter himself.\n\n  Under the toad stool\n    Sound asleep,\n  Sat a big Dormouse\n    All in a heap.\n\n  Trembled the wee Elf\n    Frightened, and yet\n  Fearing to fly away\n    Lest he get wet.\n\n  To the next shelter--\n    Maybe a mile!\n  Sudden the wee Elf\n    Smiled a wee smile;\n\n  Tugged till the toad stool\n    Toppled in two;\n  Holding it over him,\n    Gayly he flew.\n\n  Soon he was safe home,\n    Dry as could be.\n  Soon woke the Dormouse--\n    \"Good gracious me!\n\n  \"Where is my toad stool?\"\n    Loud he lamented.\n  And that's how umbrellas\n    First were invented.\n\n--OLIVER HERFORD.\n\n[Illustration: The elf flying away with the toadstool as the Dormouse\nwatches]\n\n\n\n\nTHE BELL OF ATRI\n\nI\n\n\nGood King John of Atri loved his people very much and wished to see them\nhappy. He knew, however, that some were not; he knew that many suffered\nwrongs which were not righted. This made him sad.\n\nOne day the king thought of a way to help his people. He had a great\nbell hung in a tower in the market place. He had the rope made so long\nthat a child could reach it.\n\nThen the king sent heralds through the streets to tell the people why he\nhad put the bell in the market place. The heralds blew their trumpets\nlong and loud, and the people came from their homes to hear the message.\n\n\"Know ye,\" cried a herald, \"that whenever a wrong is done to any man, he\nhas but to ring the great bell in the square. A judge will go to the\ntower to hear the complaint, and he will see that justice is done.\"\n\n\"Long live our good king!\" shouted the people. \"Now our wrongs shall be\nrighted.\"\n\nAnd so it was. Whenever anyone was wronged, he rang the bell in the\ntower. The judge put on his rich robes and went there. He listened to\nthe complaint, and the guilty were punished.\n\nThe people in Atri were now very happy, and the days went swiftly by.\nThe bell hung in its place year after year, and it was rung many times.\nBy and by the rope became so worn that one could scarcely reach it.\n\nThe king said, \"Why, a child could not reach the rope now, and a wrong\nmight not be righted. I must put in a new one.\"\n\nSo he ordered a rope from a distant town. In those days it took a long\ntime to travel from one town to another. What should they do if somebody\nwished to ring the bell before the new rope came?\n\n\"We must mend the rope in some way,\" said a man.\n\n\"Here,\" said another; \"take this piece of grapevine and fasten it to the\nrope. Then it will be long enough for any one to reach.\"\n\nThis was done, and for some time the bell was rung in that way.\n\n\nII\n\n\nOne hot summer noon everything was very still. All the people were\nindoors taking their noonday rest.\n\nSuddenly they were awakened by the arousing bell:\n\n  Some one--hath done--a wrong,\n  Hath done--a wrong!\n  Hath done--a wrong!\n\nThe judge started from a deep sleep, turned on his couch, and listened.\nCould it be the bell of justice?\n\nAgain the sound came:\n\n  Some one--hath done--a wrong!\n  Hath done--a wrong!\n  Hath done--a wrong!\n\nIt was the bell of justice. The judge put on his rich robes and,\npanting, hurried to the market place.\n\nThere he saw a strange sight: a poor steed, starved and thin, tugging at\nthe vines which were fastened to the bell. A great crowd had gathered\naround.\n\n\"Whose horse is this?\" the judge asked.\n\n\"It is the horse of the rich soldier who lives in the castle,\" said a\nman. \"He has served his master long and well, and has saved his life\nmany times. Now that the horse is too old to work, the master turns him\nout. He wanders through the lanes and fields, picking up such food as\ncan be found.\"\n\n\"His call for justice shall be heard,\" said the judge. \"Bring the\nsoldier to me.\"\n\nThe soldier tried to treat the matter as a jest. Then he grew angry and\nsaid in an undertone, \"One can surely do what he pleases with his own.\"\n\n[Illustration: The judge sees the horse in the market place]\n\n\"For shame!\" cried the judge. \"Has the horse not served you for many\nyears? And has he not saved your life? You must build a good shelter for\nhim, and give him the best grain and the best pasture. Take the horse\nhome and be as true to him as he has been to you.\"\n\nThe soldier hung his head in shame and led the horse away. The people\nshouted and applauded.\n\n\"Great is King John,\" they cried, \"and great the bell of Atri!\"\n\n--ITALIAN TALE.\n\n\n\n\nA DUMB WITNESS\n\n\nOne day at noontime a poor man was riding along a road. He was tired and\nhungry, and wished to stop and rest. Finding a tree with low branches,\nhe tied his horse to one of them. Then he sat down to eat his dinner.\n\nSoon a rich man came along and started to tie his horse to the same\ntree.\n\n\"Do not fasten your horse to that tree,\" cried the poor man. \"My horse\nis savage and he may kill yours. Fasten him to another tree.\"\n\n\"I shall tie my horse where I wish,\" the rich man replied; and he tied\nhis horse to the same tree. Then he, too, sat down to eat.\n\nVery soon the men heard a great noise. They looked up and saw that their\nhorses were kicking and fighting. Both men rushed to stop them, but it\nwas too late; the rich man's horse was dead.\n\n\"See what your horse has done!\" cried the rich man in an angry voice.\n\"But you shall pay for it! You shall pay for it!\"\n\nThen he dragged the man before a judge.\n\n\"Oh, wise judge,\" he cried, \"I have come to you for justice. I had a\nbeautiful, kind, gentle horse which has been killed by this man's savage\nhorse. Make the man pay for the horse or send him to prison.\"\n\n\"Not so fast, my friend,\" the judge said. \"There are two sides to every\ncase.\"\n\nHe turned to the poor man. \"Did your horse kill this man's horse?\" he\nasked.\n\nThe poor man made no reply.\n\nThe judge asked in surprise, \"Are you dumb? Can you not talk?\"\n\nBut no word came from the poor man's lips.\n\nThen the judge turned to the rich man.\n\n\"What more can I do?\" he asked. \"You see for yourself this poor man\ncannot speak.\"\n\n\"Oh, but he can,\" cried the rich man. \"He spoke to me.\"\n\n\"Indeed!\" said the judge. \"When?\"\n\n\"He spoke to me when I tied my horse to the tree.\"\n\n\"What did he say?\" asked the judge.\n\n\"He said, 'Do not fasten your horse to that tree. My horse is savage and\nmay kill yours.'\"\n\n\"0 ho!\" said the judge. \"This poor man warned you that his horse was\nsavage, and you tied your horse near his after the warning. This puts a\nnew light on the matter. You are to blame, not he.\"\n\nThe judge turned to the poor man and said, \"My man, why did you not\nanswer my questions?\"\n\n\"Oh, wise judge,\" said the poor man, \"if I had told you that I warned\nhim not to tie his horse near mine, he would have denied it. Then how\ncould you have told which one of us to believe? I let him tell his own\nstory, and you have learned the truth.\"\n\nThis speech pleased the judge. He praised the poor man for his wisdom,\nand sent the rich man away without a penny.\n\n--ARABIAN TALE.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Workers leaving a reaped field]\n\nGIVING THANKS\n\n\n  For the hay and the corn and the wheat that is reaped,\n  For the labor well done, and the barns that are heaped,\n  For the sun and the dew and the sweet honeycomb,\n  For the rose and the song, and the harvest brought home--\n    Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!\n\n[Illustration: A house]\n\n  For the trade and the skill and the wealth in our land,\n  For the cunning and strength of the working-man's hand,\n  For the good that our artists and poets have taught,\n  For the friendship that hope and affection have brought--\n    Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!\n\n  For the homes that with purest affection are blest,\n  For the season of plenty and well-deserved rest,\n  For our country extending from sea to sea,\n  The land that is known as \"The Land of the Free\"--\n    Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!\n\n\n\n\nTHE HARE AND THE HEDGEHOG\n\nI\n\n\nPLACE: A farmer's cabbage field.\n\nTIME: A fine morning in spring.\n\n(The hedgehog is standing by his door looking at the cabbage field which\nhe thinks is his own.)\n\nHEDGEHOG: Wife, have you dressed the children yet?\n\nWIFE: Just through, my dear.\n\nHEDGEHOG: Well, come out here and let us look at our cabbage patch.\n\n(Wife comes out.)\n\nHEDGEHOG: Fine crop, isn't it? We should be happy.\n\nWIFE: The cabbage is fine enough, but I can't see why we should be so\nhappy.\n\n[Illustration: The hare and the hedgehog with a cabbage]\n\nHEDGEHOG: Why, my dear, there are tears in your voice. What is the\nmatter?\n\nWIFE: I suppose I ought not to mind it, but those dreadful hares nearly\nworry the life out of me.\n\nHEDGEHOG: What are they doing now?\n\nWIFE: Doing? What are they not doing? Why, yesterday I brought my pretty\nbabies out here to get some cabbage leaves. We were eating as\nwell-behaved hedgehogs always eat, and those horrid hares almost made us\ncry.\n\nHEDGEHOG: What did they do?\n\nWIFE: They came to our cabbage patch and they giggled and said, \"Oh, see\nthe little duck-legged things! Aren't they funny?\" Then one jumped over\na cabbage just to hurt our feelings.\n\nHEDGEHOG: Well, they are mean, I know, but we won't notice them. I'll\nget even with them one of these days. Ah, there comes one of them now.\n\nWIFE: Yes, and he laughed at me yesterday. He said, \"Good-morning, Madam\nShortlegs.\" I won't speak to him. I'll hide till he goes by.\n\n(Wife hides behind a cabbage.)\n\nHEDGEHOG: Good-morning, sir.\n\nHARE: Are you speaking to me?\n\nHEDGEHOG: Certainly; do you see any one else around?\n\nHARE: How dare you speak to me?\n\nHEDGEHOG: Oh, just to be neighborly.\n\nHARE: I shall ask you not to speak to me hereafter. I think myself too\ngood to notice hedgehogs.\n\nHEDGEHOG: Now, that is strange.\n\nHARE: What is strange?\n\nHEDGEHOG: Why, I have just said to my wife that we wouldn't notice you.\n\nHARE: Wouldn't notice me, indeed, you silly, short-legged, duck-legged\nthing!\n\nHEDGEHOG: Well, my legs are quite as good as yours, sir.\n\nHARE: As good as mine! Who ever heard of such a thing? Why, you can do\nlittle more than crawl.\n\nHEDGEHOG: That may be as you say, but I'll run a race with you any day.\n\nHARE: Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho! A race with a hedgehog! Well, well, well!\n\nHEDGEHOG: Are you afraid to run with me?\n\nHARE: Of course not. It will be no race at all, but I'll run just to\nshow you how silly you are.\n\nHEDGEHOG: Good! You run in that furrow; I will run in this. We shall see\nwho gets to the fence first. Let's start from the far end of the furrow.\n\nHARE: I will run to the brook and back while you are getting there. Go\nahead.\n\nHEDGEHOG: I wouldn't stay too long if I were you.\n\nHARE: Oh, I'll be back before you reach the end of the furrow.\n\n(The hare runs off to the brook.)\n\n\nII\n\n\nHEDGEHOG: Wife, wife, did you hear what I said to the hare?\n\nWIFE: Did I hear? I should say I did. What are you thinking of? Have you\nlost your senses?\n\nHEDGEHOG: You shouldn't speak that way to me. What do you know about a\nman's business? Come here and let me whisper something to you.\n\n(He whispers and then walks to far end of the furrow. His wife laughs.)\n\nWIFE: Ha, ha! I see. I see. Nothing wrong with your brains.\n\n  \"Short legs, long wit,\n  Long legs, not a bit,\"\n\nas my grandmother used to say. The hare will find that out today.\n\n(She stoops down in the near end of the furrow. The hare returns and\ntakes his place.)\n\nHARE: Well, are you ready?\n\nHEDGEHOG: Of course I am,--ready and waiting.\n\n  HARE: One for the money,\n  Two for the show,\n  Three to make ready,\n  And here we go!\n\n(The hare runs as swiftly as the wind. The hedgehog starts with him, but\nstops and stoops low in the furrow. When the hare reaches the other end,\nthe hedgehog's wife puts up her head.)\n\nWIFE: Well, here I am.\n\nHARE: What does this mean?\n\nWIFE: It means what it means.\n\nHARE: We'll try again. Are you ready?\n\nWIFE: Of course I am.\n\n  HARE: One for the money,\n  Two for the show,\n  Three to make ready,\n  And here we go!\n\n(The hare runs swiftly back again. Wife starts, but stops and stoops\nlow. The hare reaches the other end. The hedgehog puts up his head.)\n\nHEDGEHOG: Here I am.\n\nHARE: I can't understand this.\n\nHEDGEHOG: It is very clear to me.\n\nHARE: Well, we'll try again. Are you ready?\n\nHEDGEHOG: I'm always ready.\n\n  HARE: One for the money,\n  Two for the show,\n  Three to make ready,\n  And here we go!\n\n(Again the wife puts up her head and the hare is bewildered.)\n\n[Illustration: The hare racing as the hedhog looks on]\n\nWIFE: You see I am here.\n\nHARE: I just can't believe it.\n\nWIFE: A perfectly simple thing.\n\nHARE: We'll try once more. You can't beat me another time.\n\nWIFE: Don't boast. You had better save your breath for the race; you\nwill need it.\n\n  HARE: One for the money,\n  Two for the show,\n  Three to make ready,\n  And here we go!\n\n(When the hare reaches the other end of the field, the hedgehog puts up\nhis head.)\n\nHARE: This is very strange.\n\nHEDGEHOG: Shall we run again? You seem a little tired, but I am\nperfectly fresh.\n\nHARE (_panting_): No, no! The race is yours.\n\nHEDGEHOG: Will you call my wife and children names any more?\n\nHARE: No, no! I'll never do that again.\n\nHEDGEHOG: Very well. And if you wish a race at any time, friend hare,\njust call by for me.\n\nHARE (_walking off shaking his head_): It's very strange. I hope none of\nthe other hares will hear of this race.\n\nWIFE (_as she meets the hedgehog_): I thought I should hurt myself\nlaughing. As my grandmother used to say,\n\n  \"Short legs, long wit,\n  Long legs, not a bit.\"\n\n--GRIMM.\n\n\n\n\nEPAMINONDAS\n\n\nEpaminondas had a good kind granny, who cooked at \"the big house.\"\nEpaminondas liked to go to see her, for she always gave him something to\ntake home with him.\n\nOne day when Epaminondas went to see granny, she was baking a cake, and\nshe gave Epaminondas a piece to eat. As he was leaving, granny said,\n\"Epaminondas, you may take a slice home to your mammy.\"\n\nEpaminondas took it in his little hands and squeezing it just as tight\nas he could, ran all the way home. When his mammy saw him, she said,\n\"What's that, Epaminondas?\"\n\n\"Cake, mammy. Granny sent it to you.\"\n\n\"Cake!\" cried his mammy. \"Epaminondas, don't you know that's no way to\ncarry cake? When your granny gives you cake, put it in your hat; then\nput your hat on your head and come home. You hear me, Epaminondas?\"\n\n\"Yes, mammy.\"\n\nThe next time Epaminondas went to see his granny, she was churning, and\nshe gave him a pat of fresh butter to carry to his mammy.\n\nEpaminondas said to himself, \"What was it mammy said? Oh, yes! I know.\nShe said, 'Put it in your hat and put the hat on your head and come\nhome.' I'll do just what she told me.\"\n\nEpaminondas put the pat of butter in his hat, put his hat on his head,\nand went home.\n\nIt was a hot day, and soon the butter began to melt. Drip, drip, drip,\nit went into his ears. Drip, drip, drip, it went into his eyes. Drip,\ndrip, drip, it went down his back. When Epaminondas reached home, he had\nno butter in his hat. It was all on him.\n\nLooking at him hard, his mammy said, \"Epaminondas, what in the world is\nthat dripping from your hat?\"\n\n\"Butter, mammy. Granny sent it to you.\"\n\n\"Butter!\" cried his mammy. \"Oh, Epaminondas! Don't you know how to carry\nbutter? You must wrap it in a cabbage leaf, and take it to the spring.\nThen you must cool it in the water, and cool it in the water, and cool\nit in the water. When you have done this, take the butter in your hands\nand come home. You hear me, Epaminondas?\"\n\n\"Yes, mammy.\"\n\nThe next time Epaminondas went to see his granny, she wasn't baking cake\nand she wasn't churning. She was sitting in a chair knitting.\n\nShe said, \"Epaminondas, look in the woodshed, and you'll see something\nyou like.\"\n\nEpaminondas looked in the woodshed, and there he found four little\npuppies. He played with them all the afternoon, and when he started\nhome, his granny gave him one.\n\nEpaminondas remembered what his mammy had told him. He wrapped the puppy\nin a big cabbage leaf, and took it to the spring. He cooled it in the\nwater, and cooled it in the water, and cooled it in the water. Then he\ntook it in his hands, and went home.\n\nWhen his mammy saw him, she said, \"Epaminondas, what is that in your\nhands?\"\n\n\"A puppy dog, mammy.\"\n\n\"A puppy dog!\" cried his mammy. \"Oh, Epaminondas! What makes you act so\nfoolish? That's no way to carry a puppy. The way to carry a puppy is to\ntie a string around his neck and put him on the ground. Then you take\nthe other end of the string in your hand and come along home. You hear\nme, Epaminondas?\"\n\n\"Yes, mammy.\"\n\nEpaminondas was going to be right the next time; he got a piece of\nstring and put it in his pocket to have it ready.\n\nThe next day company came to see Epaminondas's mammy, and she had no\nbread for dinner. She called Epaminondas and said, \"Run to 'the big\nhouse' and ask your granny to send me a loaf of bread for dinner.\"\n\n\"Yes, mammy,\" said Epaminondas. And off he ran.\n\nGranny gave him a loaf just from the oven--a nice, brown, crusty loaf.\nThis time Epaminondas was certainly going to do what mammy had told him.\n\nHe proudly got out his string and tied it to the loaf. Then he put the\nloaf on the ground, and taking the other end of the string in his hand,\nhe went along home.\n\nWhen he reached home, his mammy gave one look at the thing tied to the\nend of the string.\n\n\"What have you brought, Epaminondas?\" she cried.\n\n\"Bread, mammy. Granny sent it to you.\"\n\n\"Oh, Epaminondas! Epaminondas! How could you be so foolish?\" cried his\nmammy. \"Now I have no bread for dinner. I'll have to go and get some\nmyself.\"\n\nShe went into the house and got her bonnet. When she came out, she said,\n\"Epaminondas, do you see those three mince pies I've put on the doorstep\nto cool. Well, now, you hear me, Epaminondas. You be careful how you\nstep on those pies!\"\n\n\"Yes, mammy.\"\n\nHis mammy went off down the road; Epaminondas went to the door and\nlooked out. \"Mammy told me to be careful how I step on those mince\npies,\" he said, \"so I must be careful how I do it. I'll step right in\nthe middle of every one.\"\n\nAnd he did!\n\nWhen his mammy came home, there were no pies for dinner.\n\nNow she was angry all over, and something happened. I don't know, and\nyou don't know, but we can guess.\n\nPoor Epaminondas!--SOUTHERN TALE.\n\n[Illustration: Epaminondas stepping in the pies]\n\n\n\n\nHOW BROTHER RABBIT FOOLED THE WHALE AND THE ELEPHANT\n\nI\n\n\nOne day Brother Rabbit was running along on the sand, lippety, lippety,\nlippety. He was going to a fine cabbage field. On the way he saw the\nwhale and the elephant talking together.\n\nBrother Rabbit said, \"I'd like to know what they are talking about.\" So\nhe crouched down behind some bushes and listened.\n\nThis is what Brother Rabbit heard the whale say:\n\n\"You are the biggest thing on the land, Brother Elephant, and I am the\nbiggest thing in the sea. If we work together, we can rule all the\nanimals in the world. We can have our own way about everything.\"\n\n\"Very good, very good,\" trumpeted the elephant. \"That suits me. You keep\nthe sea, and I will keep the land.\"\n\n[Illustration: Brother Rabbit listening]\n\n\"That's a bargain,\" said the whale, as he swam away.\n\nBrother Rabbit laughed to himself. \"They won't rule me,\" he said, as he\nran off.\n\nBrother Rabbit soon came back with a very long and a very strong rope\nand his big drum. He hid the drum in some bushes. Then taking one end of\nthe rope, he walked up to the elephant.\n\n\"Oh, dear Mr. Elephant,\" he said, \"you are big and strong; will you have\nthe kindness to do me a favor?\"\n\nThe elephant was pleased, and he trumpeted, \"Certainly, certainly. What\nis it?\"\n\n\"My cow is stuck in the mud on the shore, and I can't pull her out,\"\nsaid Brother Rabbit. \"If you will help me, you will do me a great\nservice. You are so strong, I am sure you can get her out.\"\n\n\"Certainly, certainly,\" trumpeted the elephant.\n\n\"Thank you,\" said the rabbit. \"Take this rope in your trunk, and I will\ntie the other end to my cow. Then I will beat my drum to let you know\nwhen to pull. You must pull as hard as you can, for the cow is very\nheavy.\"\n\n\"Huh!\" trumpeted the elephant, \"I'll pull her out, or break the rope.\"\n\nBrother Rabbit tied the rope to the elephant's trunk and ran off,\nlippety, lippety.\n\n\nII\n\n\nHe ran till he came to the shore where the whale was. Making a bow,\nBrother Rabbit said, \"0, mighty and wonderful Whale, will you do me a\nfavor?\"\n\n\"What is it?\" asked the whale.\n\n\"My cow is stuck in the mud on the shore,\" said Brother Rabbit, \"and I\ncannot pull her out. Of course you can do it. If you will be so kind as\nto help me, I shall be very much obliged.\"\n\n\"Certainly,\" said the whale, \"certainly.\"\n\n\"Thank you,\" said Brother Rabbit, \"take hold of this rope, and I will\ntie the other end to my cow. Then I will beat my big drum to let you\nknow when to pull. You must pull as hard as you can, for my cow is very\nheavy.\"\n\n\"Never fear,\" said the whale, \"I could pull a dozen cows out of the\nmud.\"\n\n\"I am sure you could,\" said the rabbit politely. \"Only be sure to begin\ngently. Then pull harder and harder till you get her out.\"\n\nThe rabbit ran away into the bushes where he had hidden the drum and\nbegan to beat it. Then the whale began to pull and the elephant began to\npull. In a minute the rope tightened till it was stretched as hard as a\nbar of iron.\n\n\"This is a very heavy cow,\" said the elephant, \"but I'll pull her out.\"\nBracing his fore feet in the earth, he gave a tremendous pull.\n\nBut the whale had no way to brace himself.\n\n\"Dear me,\" he said. \"That cow must surely be stuck tight.\" Lashing his\ntail in the water, he gave a marvelous pull.\n\nHe pulled harder; the elephant pulled harder. Soon the whale found\nhimself sliding toward the land. He was so provoked with the cow that he\nwent head first, down to the bottom of the sea.\n\nThat was a pull! The elephant was jerked off his feet, and came slipping\nand sliding toward the sea. He was very angry.\n\n\"That cow must be very strong to drag me in this way,\" he said. \"I will\nbrace myself.\"\n\nKneeling down on the ground, he twisted the rope around his trunk. Then\nhe began to pull his very best, and soon the whale came up out of the\nwater.\n\nThen each saw that the other had hold of the rope.\n\n\"How is this?\" cried the whale. \"I thought I was pulling Brother\nRabbit's cow.\"\n\n\"That is what I thought,\" said the elephant. \"Brother Rabbit is making\nfun of us. He must pay for this. I forbid him to eat a blade of grass on\nland, because he played a trick on us.\"\n\n\"And I will not allow him to drink a drop of water in the sea,\" said the\nwhale.\n\nBut Little Rabbit sat in the bushes and laughed, and laughed, and\nlaughed.\n\n\"Much do I care,\" he said. \"I can get all the green things I want, and I\ndon't like salt water.\"\n\n--SOUTHERN FOLK TALE.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: A mother with children in winter]\n\nA CHRISTMAS WISH\n\n\n  I'd like a stocking made for a giant,\n    And a meeting house full of toys;\n  Then I'd go out on a happy hunt\n    For the poor little girls and boys;\n  Up the street and down the street,\n    And across and over the town,\n  I'd search and find them every one,\n    Before the sun went down.\n\n  One would want a new jack-knife\n    Sharp enough to cut;\n  One would long for a doll with hair,\n    And eyes that open and shut;\n  One would ask for a china set\n    With dishes all to her mind;\n  One would wish a Noah's ark\n    With beasts of every kind.\n\n  Some would like a doll cook-stove\n    And a little toy wash tub;\n  Some would prefer a little drum,\n    For a noisy rub-a-dub;\n  Some would wish for a story book,\n    And some for a set of blocks;\n  Some would be wild with happiness\n    Over a new tool-box.\n\n  And some would rather have little shoes,\n    And other things warm to wear,\n  For many children are very poor,\n    And the winter is hard to bear;\n  I'd buy soft flannels for little frocks,\n    And a thousand stockings or so,\n  And the jolliest little coats and cloaks,\n    To keep out the frost and snow.\n\n[Illustration: Christmas toys]\n\n  I'd load a wagon with caramels\n    And candy of every kind,\n  And buy all the almond and pecan nuts\n    And taffy that I could find;\n  And barrels and barrels of oranges\n    I'd scatter right in the way,\n  So the children would find them the very first thing,\n    When they wake on Christmas day.\n\n--EUGENE FIELD.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The church tower]\n\nTHE CHRISTMAS BELLS\n\nI\n\n\nLong, long ago, in a far away city, there was a large church. The tower\nof this church was so high that it seamed to touch the clouds, and in\nthe high tower there were three wonderful bells. When they rang, they\nmade sweet music.\n\nThere was something strange about these bells. They were never heard to\nring except on Christmas eve, and no one knew who rang them. Some people\nthought it was the wind blowing through the tower. Others thought the\nangels rang them when a gift pleased the Christ Child.\n\nAlthough the people did not know what rang the bells, they loved to hear\nthem. They would come from miles around to listen to the wonderful\nmusic. When they had heard the bells, they would go out of the church,\nsilent but happy. Then all would go back to their homes feeling that\nChristmas had come, indeed.\n\nOne Christmas eve the people in the church waited and waited, but the\nbells did not ring. Silently and sadly they went home. Christmas after\nChristmas came and went. Nearly one hundred years passed by, and in all\nthat time the bells did not ring.\n\nPeople sometimes asked one another, \"Do you suppose the bells ever did\nring?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said one very old man. \"I have often heard my father tell how\nbeautifully they rang on Christmas eve. There was more love in the world\nthen.\"\n\nEvery Christmas eve the church was filled with people who waited and\nlistened. They hoped that the bells would ring again as they had rung\nlong ago. Though many gifts were laid on the altar, still the bells did\nnot ring.\n\n\nII\n\n\nChristmas was near at hand again, and every one was happy.\n\nNot far from the city two little brothers lived on a farm--Pedro and\nLittle Brother.\n\nTheir father was poor and had no gift to lay on the altar. But Pedro had\nsaved all his earnings, and he had one shining silver piece. His father\nhad promised the little boys that they might go to the church on\nChristmas eve and take the gift.\n\nIt was quite dark when the lads started on their way to the city. The\nsnow was falling fast, but they buttoned their little jackets close\nabout them and walked along briskly. They were not far from the church\nwhen they heard a low whine of distress. Little Brother, clinging to\nPedro in fear, cried, \"What is it, Pedro, what is it?\"\n\nPedro ran across the street, and there under a small heap of snow, what\ndo you think he found? A little black and white dog, shivering with\ncold, and nearly starved. Pedro opened his jacket, and put the dog\ninside to keep it warm.\n\n\"You will have to go to the church alone, Little Brother,\" Pedro said.\n\"I must take this little dog back to the farm, and give it food, else it\nwill die.\"\n\n\"But I don't want to go alone, Pedro,\" said Little Brother.\n\n\"Won't you please go and put my gift on the altar, Little Brother? I\nwish so much to have it there to-night.\"\n\n\"Yes, Pedro, I will,\" said Little Brother.\n\nHe took the gift and started toward the church. Pedro turned and went\nhome.\n\nWhen Little Brother came to the great stone church and looked up at the\nhigh tower, he felt that he could not go in alone. He stood outside a\nlong time watching the people as they passed in. At last he entered\nquietly and took a seat in a corner.\n\n\nIII\n\n\nWhen Little Brother went into the church, all the people were seated.\nThey sat quietly hoping that at last the bells would ring again as in\nthe days of old.\n\nThe organ pealed out a Christmas hymn. The choir and the people arose,\nand all sang the grand old anthem. Then a solemn voice said, \"Bring now\nyour gifts to the altar.\"\n\nThe king arose and went forward with stately tread. Bowing before the\naltar, he laid upon it his golden crown. Then he walked proudly back to\nhis seat. All the people listened, but the bells did not ring.\n\nThen the queen arose and with haughty step walked to the front. She took\nfrom her neck and wrists her beautiful jewels and laid them upon the\naltar. All the people listened, but the bells did not ring.\n\nThen the soldiers came marching proudly forward. They took their jeweled\nswords from their belts and laid them upon the altar. All the people\nlistened, but the bells did not ring.\n\nThen the rich men came hurrying forward. They counted great sums of gold\nand laid them in a businesslike way upon the altar. All the people\nlistened, but the bells did not ring.\n\n\"Can I go all alone to the front of the church and lay this small gift\non the altar?\" said Little Brother. \"Oh, how can I? how can I?\"\n\nThen he said, \"But I told Pedro I would, and I must.\"\n\nSo he slipped slowly around by the outer aisle. He crept quietly up to\nthe altar and softly laid the silver piece upon the very edge.\n\nAnd listen! What do you think was heard? The bells, the bells!\n\nOh, how happy the people were! And how happy Little Brother was! He ran\nout of the church and down the road toward the farm.\n\nPedro had warmed the dog and fed it, and was now on the way to the city.\nHe hoped that he might see the people come out of the church.\n\nDown the road Little Brother came running. Throwing himself into Pedro's\narms, he cried, \"Oh, Pedro, Pedro! The bells, the bells! I wish you\ncould have heard them; and they rang when I laid your gift on the\naltar.\"\n\n\"I did hear them, Little Brother,\" said Pedro. \"Their sound came to me\nover the snow,--the sweetest music I ever heard.\"\n\nLong years after, when Pedro grew to be a man, he was a great musician.\nMany, many people came to hear him play.\n\nSome one said to him one day, \"How can you play so sweetly? I never\nheard such music before.\"\n\n\"Ah,\" said Pedro, \"but you never heard the Christmas bells as I heard\nthem that Christmas night years and years ago.\"\n\n--OLD TALE RETOLD.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Family at prayer at the table]\n\nGOD BLESS THE MASTER OF THIS HOUSE\n\n\n  God bless the master of this house,\n    The mistress, also,\n  And all the little children\n    That round the table go:\n  And all your kin and kinsfolk,\n    That dwell both far and near;\n  I wish you a merry Christmas\n    And a happy new year.\n\n--OLD ENGLISH RIME.\n\n\n\n\nSQUEAKY AND THE SCARE BOX\n\nI\n\n\nOnce upon a time a family of mice lived in the pantry wall. There was a\nfather mouse, there was a mother mouse, and there were three little baby\nmice.\n\nOne little mouse had sharp bright eyes and could see everything, even in\nthe darkest holes. He was called Sharpeyes. His brother could sniff and\nsmell anything, wherever it might be hidden, and he was called Sniffy.\nThe baby mouse had such a squeaky little voice that he was called\nSqueaky. He was always singing, \"Ee-ee-ee!\"\n\nMother mouse was very wise, and she had taught her babies to run and\nhide when they saw the old cat coming. She had also taught them not to\ngo near a trap. The little mice obeyed their mother, and they were happy\nin their home in the pantry wall.\n\nThey had many good times together. I could not tell you about all of\nthese, but I am going to tell you about their Christmas party and what\nhappened to Squeaky.\n\nIt was the night before Christmas. The stockings hung by the chimney,\nand the tall tree was standing in the parlor. The children were asleep,\nand the father and mother had gone upstairs to bed.\n\nIn the pantry wall, the little mice were all wide-awake.\n\n\"Ee-ee-ee!\" squeaked Squeaky; \"why can't we creep into the big room and\nsee the tall Christmas tree? The children have talked about it for days,\nand we have never seen one. Mother, please let us go and see it.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said Sniffy, \"do let us go. Everything smells so good. The\nchildren and the cook made long strings of pop corn to-day. I found a\nlittle on the pantry floor, and I want some more.\"\n\n\"I peeped out of our hole,\" said Sharpeyes, \"and I saw cake and candy\nall ready for the children. Oh, I do want a bite of those good things!\nPlease let us have a Christmas party.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said mother mouse, \"I will ask your father. If he says it is\nsafe, we will go.\"\n\nWhen mother mouse asked father mouse, he said, \"I will go out first and\nlook all about. If it is safe, I will come back for you.\"\n\nSo father mouse crept softly through the pantry, down the long hall, and\ninto the parlor. The cat was nowhere to be seen. Father mouse ran back\nto the pantry and cried, \"The cat is not near; come and see the tree.\"\n\n\nII\n\n\nThen all the mice came scampering from the hole in the wall. They crept\nthrough the pantry, down the long hall, and into the parlor. When they\nsaw the tall Christmas tree, they squeaked again and again in their joy.\nThen they ran around and around the tree to see what was on it.\n\n[Illustration: The mice look at the Christmas tree]\n\nOn the floor they saw a wonderful doll's house. \"How fine it would be to\nlive there!\" they squeaked.\n\nThey ran up and down the stairs, sat on the chairs, and lay down in the\nbeds. Oh, they had a merry time!\n\nThen Sniffy said, \"I smell that good pop corn again. Let's climb up into\nthe Christmas tree and get some.\"\n\nThey climbed up into the tree. They nibbled the pop corn; they nibbled\nthe candy; they nibbled the nuts; and they nibbled the cakes.\n\nSoon Sharpeyes cried out, \"Come here, I see a mouse! I see a mouse! But\nhe doesn't look like our family at all.\"\n\n\"I should say not,\" sniffed Sniffy; \"and how good he smells!\"\n\n\"Why, he is good to eat!\" squeaked Squeaky; and they all began to eat\nthe chocolate mouse.\n\nThen they found another candy mouse--a pretty pink one. They were so\nbusy eating it that they forgot to watch and listen; then--bang! The\ndoor was opened, and the lights were turned on.\n\nWith a squeak, the mice scampered down from the tree; then they ran\nalong the hall, through the pantry, and back to their home. There was\nthe father mouse, and the mother mouse, and Sharpeyes, and Sniffy. But\nwhere was Squeaky?\n\n\nIII\n\n\nNow, as Squeaky tried to run down the tree, he fell heels over head.\nDown, down, down, he fell until he was caught in a funny box. An ugly\nman with black hair and black whiskers seemed to be hopping out of the\nbox.\n\nWhen Squeaky saw the lights turned on, he hid under the dress of this\nqueer man. He lay very, very still, for he had been taught to be still\nwhen danger was near. He heard voices. The father and mother had come\nback.\n\n\"Yes,\" the father was saying; \"it would have been a shame to forget this\ntrain. I would like it to come right out from under the tree. Help me\nput the track down, mother.\"\n\nWhen the train was just where it should be, the mother turned to the\nbeautiful tree.\n\n\"Why, look at that Jack-in-the-box,\" she said. \"The man is hanging out.\nThat will never do. I will shut the box. Teddy must see the man jump\nout.\"\n\nThe mother pushed the man with the black hair down, down, into the box\nand shut the lid. Poor Squeaky felt the springs close down on him and\nsqueaked, \"Ee-ee-\"\n\n\"That was a fine squeak,\" said the father. \"The toys are wonderful these\ndays.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said the mother, as she turned off the light. \"When I was a\nchild, we did not have such toys.\"\n\n\"I am in a trap,\" said poor Squeaky, \"but there isn't even a bit of\ncheese in it. I wonder what kind of trap it is; nothing seems to hurt\nme. Well, I am safe for a while, and I hope I shall soon get out.\"\n\nSqueaky lay in the box all night, and wondered what Sniffy and Sharpeyes\nwere doing. The next morning, he heard children calling, \"Merry\nChristmas! Merry Christmas!\" And soon the toys were taken down, one by\none. Then such a noise was heard--drums beating, horns tooting, children\nshouting. You should have heard it.\n\n[Illustration: The mother is surprised as Squeaky escapes]\n\n\"See our new doll's house!\" cried one child.\n\n\"See my new train! How fast it goes!\" cried another.\n\n\"And see my beautiful dolly!\" cried another. \"She can open and shut her\neyes.\"\n\nBy and by the mother took the box from the tree. \"Come here, Teddy,\" she\nsaid. \"Here is a scare box. We will have some fun. Watch me open the\nlid.\"\n\nTeddy stood by his mother and watched closely.\n\n\"Are you ready?\" asked his mother. \"Well, let us count. One, two,\nthree!\"\n\nThe lid flew open, and out jumped the man with the black hair and black\nwhiskers. And with a squeak of joy, out jumped the mouse.\n\n\"Ee-ee-ee!\" he cried, as he ran away.\n\n\"Ee!\" said the Jack-in-the-box.\n\n\"Whee-ee-ee!\" cried the boy with delight.\n\n\"Oh,--a mouse! a mouse!\" cried the mother. Then she threw the box on the\nfloor and jumped up on her chair.\n\n\"Where? where?\" cried all the children.\n\nBut they saw only the tip of Squeaky's tail as he ran across the hall to\nthe pantry. Another moment and he was safe in the hole in the pantry\nwall.\n\nThe children's father laughed as he helped their mother climb down from\nthe chair.\n\n\"Well,\" he said, \"how did _you_ enjoy Teddy's scare box?\"\n\n--GEORGENE FAULKNER.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GLAD NEW YEAR\n\n\n  It's coming, boys,\n    It's almost here.\n  It's coming, girls,\n    The grand New Year.\n\n  A year to be glad in,\n    Not to be sad in;\n  A year to live in,\n    To gain and give in.\n\n  A year for trying,\n    And not for sighing;\n  A year for striving\n    And healthy thriving.\n\n  It's coming, boys,\n    It's almost here.\n  It's coming, girls,\n    The grand New Year.\n\n--MARY MAPES DODGE.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The goose and the hen]\n\nMAKING THE BEST OF IT\n\n\n\"What a dreary day it is!\" grumbled the old gray goose to the brown hen.\nThey were standing at the henhouse window watching the falling snow\nwhich covered every nook and corner of the farmyard.\n\n\"Yes, indeed,\" said the brown hen. \"I should almost be willing to be\nmade into a chicken pie on such a day.\"\n\nShe had scarcely stopped talking when Pekin duck said fretfully, \"I am\nso hungry that I am almost starved.\"\n\nA little flock of chickens all huddled together wailed in sad tones,\n\"And we are so thirsty!\"\n\nIn fact, all the feathered folk in the henhouse seemed cross and\nfretful. It is no wonder they felt that way, for they had had nothing to\neat or drink since early in the morning. The cold wind howled around\ntheir house. Hour after hour went by, but no one came near the henhouse.\n\nThe handsome white rooster, however, seemed as happy as usual. That is\nsaying a great deal, for a jollier old fellow than he never lived in a\nfarmyard. Sunshine, rain, or snow were all the same to him, and he\ncrowed quite as merrily in stormy weather as in fair.\n\n\"Well,\" he said, laughing, as he looked about the henhouse, \"you all\nseem to be having a fit of dumps.\"\n\nNobody answered the white rooster, but a faint cluck or two came from\nsome of the hens. They immediately put their heads back under their\nwings, however, as if ashamed of having spoken at all.\n\nThis was too much for the white rooster. He stood first on one yellow\nfoot and then on the other. Turning his head from side to side, he said,\n\"What's the use of looking so sad? Any one would think that you expected\nto be eaten by a band of hungry foxes.\"\n\nJust then a brave little white bantam rooster hopped down from his\nperch. He strutted over to the big rooster and caused quite a flutter in\nthe henhouse by saying:\n\n\"We're lively enough when our crops are full, but when we are starving,\nit is a wonder that we can hold our heads up at all. If I ever see that\nfarmer's boy again, I'll--I'll--I'll peck his foot!\"\n\n\"You won't see him until he feeds us,\" said the white rooster, \"and then\nI guess you will peck his corn.\"\n\n\"Oh, oh!\" moaned the brown hen. \"Don't speak of a peck of corn.\"\n\n\"Madam,\" said the white rooster, bowing very low, \"your trouble is my\nown,--that is, I'm hungry, too. But we might be worse off. We might be\nin a box on our way to market. It is true that we haven't had anything\nto eat to-day, but we at least have room enough to stretch our wings.\"\n\n\"Why, that is a fact,\" clucked the brown hen. And all the feathered\nfamily--even the smallest chickens--stretched their wings, and looked a\nlittle more cheerful.\n\n\"Now, then,\" went on the rooster, \"suppose we have a little music to\ncheer us and help pass the hours until roosting time. Let us all crow.\nThere, I beg your pardon, ladies; I am sorry you can't crow. Let us sing\na happy song. Will you be kind enough to start a merry tune, Mrs. Brown\nHen?\"\n\nThe brown hen shook herself proudly, tossed her head back and\nbegan,--\"Ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca!\" In less than two minutes every one in the\nhenhouse had joined her. The white rooster was the loudest of all, and\nthe little bantam rooster stretched his neck and did the best he could.\n\nNow, the horses, cows, and sheep were not far away. They heard the happy\nvoices, and they, too, joined in the grand chorus. The pigs did their\nbest to sing louder than all the rest.\n\nHigher and higher, stronger and stronger, rose the chorus. Louder and\nlouder quacked the ducks. Shriller and shriller squealed the pigs.\n\nThey were all so happy that they quite forgot their hunger until the\ndoor of the henhouse burst open, and in came three chubby children. Each\nwas carrying a dish of hot chicken food.\n\n\"Don't stop your music, Mr. Rooster,\" said the little girl, who was\nbundled up until you could scarcely see her dear little face.\n\n[Illustration: The children arrive with food]\n\n\"You see, we were so lonesome that we didn't know what to do. We heard\nyou folk singing out here, and we laughed and laughed until we almost\ncried. Then we went to tell Jack about you. He was lonesome, too, for\nhe's sick with a sore throat, you know. He said, 'Why, those poor hens!\nThey haven't been fed since morning! Go and feed them.' And so we came.\"\n\n\"Cock-a-doodle-doo!\" said the white rooster. \"This comes of making the\nbest of things. Cock-a-doodle-doo!\" And nobody asked him to stop\ncrowing.\n\n--FRANCES M. FOX.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ANIMALS AND THE MIRROR\n\nI\n\n\nAunt Susan sent an old-fashioned looking-glass to the barn to be stored\nin the loft, with other old furniture. The farm boy stood it on the\nfloor of the barn until he should have time to put it away. The mirror\nwas broad and long, and it was set in a dark wooden frame.\n\nAn old duck wandered into the barn and caught sight of herself in the\nmirror. \"There is another duck,\" she said. \"I wonder who she is.\"\n\nAnd she walked toward the reflection. \"She is rather friendly,\" the duck\nwent on. \"She is walking toward me. What large feet she has, but her\nfeathers are very handsome.\"\n\nJust then she bumped into the mirror. \"Goodness!\" she cried; \"if that\nduck isn't in a glass case! Why are you in there?\"\n\n\"Well, you needn't answer if you don't want to,\" she said, walking away.\n\"A glass case is a good place for you.\"\n\nJust then a pig came along, and nosing around, he came in front of the\nmirror.\n\n\"What are you doing here?\" he asked, thinking he saw another pig. His\nnose hit the glass, and he stepped back.\n\n\"So you are in a glass pen,\" he said. \"You are not very handsome, and\nyour nose is not so long as mine; I cannot see why you should have a\nglass pen.\"\n\nAnd away he trotted to tell the other pigs about the very plain-looking\npig.\n\nKitty came along next and walked in front of the mirror, turning her\nhead and swinging her tail. She had seen a mirror before and knew what\nit was. The cat wished to look in the mirror, but she saw the dog coming\nin the door, and she did not want him to think her vain.\n\nThe dog walked over to the mirror and gazed in it. Then he looked\nfoolish, although he had seen a mirror before, too, but not so often as\npuss.\n\n\"Thought it was another dog, didn't you?\" she laughed. \"Here comes the\ndonkey. Let us hide behind those barrels and see what he does.\"\n\n\nII\n\n\nThe donkey went up to the mirror.\n\n\"If they haven't another donkey!\" he said. \"I suppose I should speak\nfirst, as I have lived here so long. Why, he is coming to meet me. That\nis friendly, indeed.\"\n\nBump! his nose hit the glass.\n\n\"Well, I had better give up!\" he said. \"You are in a glass case, but I\ndon't know why you should be. You are a homely creature, and your ears\nare not so long as mine.\" And he walked off with a disgusted air.\n\nThe cat rolled over and over, and the dog buried his head in his paws.\n\"Did you ever see anything so funny?\" he said to puss.\n\n\"Hush!\" she replied, \"Here is the rooster.\"\n\n[Illustration: The rooster and the mirror]\n\nThe rooster stopped quite still when he saw himself in the mirror.\n\n\"Well, where did you come from?\" he asked, ruffling up his feathers. He\nwalked straight to the mirror and flew at the other rooster. Bang! He\nwent against the glass.\n\n\"In a glass case, are you?\" he said. He stretched out his neck and\nlooked very fierce. \"You should be; you are a sight--your feathers are\nruffled, and you are not half so handsome as I am.\"\n\nAnd off he walked, satisfied that he was handsomer than the other\nrooster.\n\n\"Oh, dear!\" laughed the cat. \"I certainly shall scream. They all think\nthey are handsomer than their reflections. Here comes the turkey\ngobbler. Let us see what he does.\"\n\nThe gobbler walked slowly over to the mirror and looked at his\nreflection.\n\n\"Now,\" he asked, \"where in the world did they get you? You are an old,\nbald-headed creature, and your feathers need oiling. You look like a\nlast year's turkey.\" And off he strutted.\n\nThe cat and the dog leaned against the barrels and laughed until the\ntears ran down their faces.\n\n\"Keep still,\" said the dog. \"Here comes speckled hen and her chickens.\"\n\nSpeckled hen walked around, picking up bits of corn. Suddenly she looked\nup and saw the mirror.\n\n\"There is a hen with a brood of chicks, but they are not so handsome as\nmine,\" she said, walking toward the looking-glass. \"Where do you live? I\nknow you do not belong here.\" And she looked closer at the other hen.\n\nClick! Her bill hit the glass.\n\n\"Well, if she isn't in a glass coop!\" the hen said, stepping back. \"If\nmaster has bought her and those chicks, there will be trouble. Mercy!\nOne of the chicks is bow-legged, and they are a skinny looking lot.\"\n\nThen she clucked to her chicks and walked out of the barn.\n\n\"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!\" laughed the dog; \"they all think the same. They\ncertainly are a conceited lot. Here comes the goose.\"\n\n\nIII\n\n\nThe goose waddled over to the mirror.\n\n\"Well, well! If there isn't a new goose!\" she said, \"and she is walking\ntoward me. I must be friendly.\"\n\nSnap! Her bill struck the mirror.\n\n\"Oh, you are in a glass box!\" she said. \"Have you come to stay?\" And she\nstretched out her neck.\n\n\"My, but you have a long neck!\" she went on, \"and your feathers are nice\nand smooth. I suppose you cannot hear in that box.\"\n\nThen she walked away, nodding good-by. The other goose, of course,\nnodded also, and goosey went away satisfied.\n\n\"She is not so much of a goose as the others,\" the cat remarked.\n\n\"The peacock is coming,\" said the dog. \"Keep quiet.\"\n\nIn walked the peacock. Seeing another bird, as he supposed, he spread\nhis beautiful tail to its full width. He walked about, but never a word\ndid he say.\n\n\"Now, what do you make out of that?\" asked the dog. \"Did he know that he\nwas looking in a looking-glass, or wouldn't he speak to another bird?\"\n\n\"I do not know,\" said the cat, \"but here comes the goat. Hide, quick!\"\n\nBilly was clattering over the boards, when suddenly he saw the other\ngoat. He looked at him a minute. \"I'll show him,\" he said, running at\nthe mirror with head down.\n\n[Illustration: The goat crashes into the mirror]\n\nBang! Smash! Crash! and Billy jumped back, a very much astonished goat.\n\n\"Now you have done it,\" said the horse, who had been watching all the\ntime from his stall. \"All the animals will get out and run away.\"\n\n\"What are you talking about?\" said the dog, who was laughing so hard he\ncould scarcely talk. \"There are no animals in there. That is a\nlooking-glass; you see yourself when you are in front of it.\"\n\n\"Do you mean to tell me that those animals have all been looking at\nthemselves and finding fault with their own looks?\" asked the horse,\nwith his eyes nearly popping out of his head.\n\n\"Of course,\" said the cat. \"Can't you see that Billy has smashed the\nlooking-glass?\"\n\n\"Well, that is the best I ever heard,\" said the horse, laughing, \"but I\nwish I had known that was a looking-glass before Billy broke it. I\nshould very much like to know how I look.\"\n\n\"You might not have recognized yourself; the others didn't,\" said the\ndog.\n\n--F.A. WALKER.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BARBER OF BAGDAD\n\nACT I\n\n\nPLACE: Ali's barber shop.\n\nTIME: Morning.\n\nWOODCUTTER: I have a load of wood which I have just brought in on my\ndonkey. Would you like to buy it, good barber?\n\nALI: Well, let me see. Is it good wood?\n\nWOODCUTTER: The best in the country.\n\nALI: I'll give you five shekels for all the wood upon the donkey.\n\nWOODCUTTER: Agreed. I'll put the wood here by your door.\n\n(Lays wood at door.)\n\nNow, good sir, give me the silver.\n\nALI: Not so fast, my good friend. I must have your wooden pack saddle,\ntoo. That was the bargain. I said, \"All the wood upon your donkey.\"\nTruly, the saddle is wood.\n\n[Illustration: Ali and the woodcutter with the donkey]\n\nWOODCUTTER: Who ever heard of such a bargain? Surely you cannot mean\nwhat you say? You would not treat a poor woodcutter so. It is\nimpossible.\n\nALI: Give me the saddle, or I'll have you put in prison. And take\nthat--and that--and that!\n\n(Ali strikes the woodcutter.)\n\nWOODCUTTER: Ah, me, what shall I do? What shall I do? I know. I'll go to\nthe caliph himself.\n\n\nACT II\n\n\nPLACE: Caliph's Palace.\n\nTIME: Hour later.\n\nCOURTIER: My lord, a good woodcutter is at the door and begs leave to\ncome into your presence.\n\nCALIPH: Bid him enter. There is none too poor to be received by me.\n\n(Courtier goes out and returns with woodcutter, who kneels and kisses\nthe ground. Then he stands with arms folded.)\n\nCALIPH: Tell me, good man, what brought you here? Has any one done you a\nwrong?\n\nWOODCUTTER: Great wrong, my lord. The rich barber Ali did buy a load of\nwood from me. He offered me five shekels for all the wood on my donkey.\nWhen I had put down the load, I asked for my money, but he refused to\npay me until I had given him my pack saddle. He said the bargain was\n\"all the wood on the donkey,\" and that the saddle is wood. He said he\nwould put me in prison if I did not give up the saddle. Then he took it\nand drove me away with blows.\n\nCALIPH: A strange story, truly. The barber has law on his side, and yet\nyou have right on yours. The law must be obeyed, but--come here and let\nme whisper something to you.\n\n(The woodcutter listens smilingly and bowing low, leaves the room.)\n\n\nACT III\n\n\nPLACE: The barber's shop.\n\nTIME: A few days later.\n\nALI: Ah! here comes my stupid friend the woodcutter. I suppose he has\ncome to quarrel about the wood. No, he is smiling.\n\nWOODCUTTER: Good day to you, friend Ali. I have come to ask if you will\nbe so kind as to shave me and a companion from the country.\n\nALI: Oh, yes, I suppose so.\n\nWOODCUTTER: How much will you charge?\n\nALI: A shekel for the two.\n\n(To himself.)\n\nThe poor fool cannot pay that sum.\n\nWOODCUTTER. Very good. Shave me first.\n\n(Ali shaves him.)\n\nALI: Now you are shaved. Where is your companion?\n\nWOODCUTTER: He is standing outside. He will come in at once.\n\n(He goes out and returns leading his donkey.)\n\nThis is my companion. Shave him.\n\nALI (_in a rage_): Shave him! Shave a donkey, indeed! Is it not enough\nthat I should lower myself by touching you? And then you insult me by\nasking me to shave your donkey! Away with you!\n\n\nACT IV\n\n\nPLACE: Caliph's Palace.\n\nTIME: Half-hour later.\n\nCALIPH: Well, my friend, did you do as I told you?\n\nWOODCUTTER: Yes, and Ali refused to shave my donkey.\n\nCALIPH (_to Courtier_): Bid Ali come to me at once and bring his razors\nwith him.\n\n(Courtier leaves and returns with Ali.)\n\nCALIPH: Why did you refuse to shave this man's companion? Was not that\nyour agreement?\n\nALI (_kissing the ground_): It is true, O caliph, such was the\nagreement, but who ever made a companion of a donkey before?\n\nCALIPH: True enough, but who ever thought of saying that a pack saddle\nis a part of a load of wood? No, no, it is the woodcutter's turn now.\nShave his donkey instantly.\n\n(Ali lathers the beast and shaves him in the presence of the whole\ncourt, and then slips away amid the laughter of the bystanders.)\n\nCALIPH: Now, my honest woodcutter, here is a purse of gold for you.\nAlways remember that the caliph gladly listens to the complaints of his\npeople, poor and rich, and will right their wrongs if he can.\n\nWOODCUTTER: Long live the Caliph!\n\nCOURTIERS: Long live the Caliph!\n\n--EASTERN TALE.\n\n\n\n\nWINTER NIGHT\n\n\n    Blow, wind, blow!\n    Drift the flying snow!\n  Send it twirling, twirling overhead.\n    There's a bedroom in a tree\n    Where snug as snug can be,\n  The squirrel nests in his cozy bed.\n\n    Shriek, wind, shriek!\n    Make the branches creak!\n  Battle with the boughs till break of day!\n    In a snow cave warm and tight\n    Through the icy winter night\n  The rabbit sleeps the peaceful hour away.\n\n    Scold, wind, scold!\n    So bitter and so bold!\n  Shake the windows with your tap, tap, tap!\n    With half-shut, dreamy eyes\n    The drowsy baby lies\n  Cuddled closely in his mother's lap.\n\n--MARY F. BUTTS.\n\n\n\n\nHOPE'S DOLL\n\n\nIt was Saturday morning. Elizabeth Brown sat by a window in the big\nkitchen making a pink dress for little Hope's doll.\n\nOn the chair beside her lay the doll, though you might not have thought\nof calling it one. It did not have curly hair--nor eyes that open and\nshut. In those days no child had toys like ours. Hope's doll was made of\na corncob; the face was painted on a piece of linen stretched over a\nball of wool on the end of the cob.\n\nLittle Hope was taking her morning nap. When Elizabeth had sewed the\nlast neat stitches, she dressed the doll and laid it on the bed by the\nlittle girl. How happy Hope was when she awoke and saw it! She thought\nit the most beautiful doll in the world.\n\n\"What will you call your doll, Hope?\" asked Elizabeth.\n\n\"I will name her for mother,\" said Hope. \"I will call her Mary Ellen.\"\n\n[Illustration: Hope and her doll]\n\nHope played all the afternoon with her doll and was very happy. When the\nsunset gun sounded, she had to stop playing. With the Puritans, the\nSabbath began at sunset, and no child could play after the gun was\nheard.\n\nThe little maid kissed her baby and went into the bedroom to find a warm\nplace for it to stay until the next evening. There lay father's Sunday\ncoat; what warmer nest could she find for Mary Ellen than its big\npocket?\n\nAfter breakfast the next day, every one got ready to go to meeting.\nMaster Brown filled the little tin foot stove with hot coals from the\nhearth; then he took his gun from its hook. In those days no man went\nanywhere without his gun--not even to church, for the Indians were\nlikely to come at any time.\n\nSometimes the firing of a gun was the call to worship. More often a big\ndrum, beaten on the steps of the meeting house, told the people it was\ntime to come together.\n\nAt the sound of the drum, Master Brown and his wife, with Elizabeth and\nHope, started to church. From every house in the village came men,\nwomen, and children. They were always ready when the drum began to beat,\nfor no one was ever late to meeting in those days.\n\nMaster Brown led his family to their pew and opened a little door to let\nthem in. The pew was very much like a large box with seats around the\nsides.\n\nThe church was cold, for there was no fire. The children warmed their\nfingers and toes by the queer little foot stove their father had brought\nfrom home.\n\nWhen every one was seated, the minister climbed the steps to his high\npulpit. The sermon was always very long--three hours at least. The\nchildren could not understand what it was all about, and it was very\nhard for them to sit still and listen quietly.\n\nElizabeth was four years older than Hope, so she felt quite like a\nlittle woman. She sat up beside her mother and looked at the minister\nalmost all the time; but sometimes she had to wink hard to keep awake.\nWhen she thought she could not let her feet hang down another minute,\nshe would slip down to the footstool to rest.\n\nElizabeth was often ashamed of Hope, who could not sit still ten\nminutes. She tried to listen to the sermon, but could not. When she\nbegan to stir about a little, her mother shook her head at her. She sat\nstill for a few minutes, but was soon restless again.\n\nPresently she began to be sleepy and laid her head upon her father's arm\nfor a nap. Just then she felt something in his pocket. A happy smile\ncame over Hope's face; she was wide-awake now. Slipping her hand into\nthe wide pocket, she drew out Mary Ellen and smoothed her wrinkled gown.\n\nMaster Brown's thoughts were all on the sermon, and even Mistress Brown\ndid not notice Hope for a little time. When she did, what do you suppose\nshe saw? Hope was standing on the seat showing her doll to the little\ngirl in the pew behind her.\n\nOh, how ashamed her mother was! She pulled her little daughter down\nquickly and whispered, \"Do you want the tithingman to come? Well, sit\ndown and listen.\" Taking Mary Ellen, she slipped the doll into her muff.\n\nLittle Hope did sit down and listen. She did not even turn around when\nthe kind lady behind them dropped a peppermint over the high-backed pew\nfor her. She was very much afraid of the tithingman, who sat on a high\nseat. He had a long rod with a hard knob on one end and a squirrel's\ntail on the other.\n\n[Illustration: The tithingman tickling the nodding lady]\n\nWhen he saw a lady nodding during the sermon, he stepped around to her\npew and tickled her face with the fur end of the rod. She would waken\nwith a start and be, oh! so ashamed. She would be very glad the pew had\nsuch high sides to hide her blushing face.\n\nPerhaps you think the boys who sat on the other side of the church had a\ngood time. But there was the tithingman again. When he saw a boy\nwhispering or playing, he rapped him on the head with the knob end of\nthe rod. The whispering would stop at once, for the rod often brought\ntears and left a headache.\n\nBesides keeping the boys from playing and the grown people from going to\nsleep, the tithingman must turn the hourglass. In those days very few\npeople could afford clocks, but every one had an hourglass. It took the\nfine sand just one hour to pour from the upper part of the glass into\nthe lower part.\n\nWhen the sand had all run through, the tithingman turned the glass over\nand the sand began to tell another hour. The glass was always turned\nthree times before the minister closed the service. Then the men picked\nup their muskets and foot stoves, the women wrapped their long capes\nclosely about them, and all went home.\n\nAt sunset the Puritan Sabbath ended. The women brought out their\nknitting and spinning, or prepared for Monday's washing, and the\nchildren were free to play until bedtime.\n\n--MARGARET PUMPHREY.\n\n\n\n\nNAHUM PRINCE\n\n\nMore than a hundred years ago, our country was at war with England.\nGeorge Washington was at the head of our army. As you know, he and his\nmen were fighting for our country's freedom.\n\nThe English army was larger than our army, and General Washington needed\nall the men he could get. The regular troops were with him.\n\nIn one little town in Vermont all the strong, able-bodied men had gone\nto the front. News came that the English and the Americans were about to\nmeet in battle. The Americans needed more men and called for volunteers.\nOld men with white hair and long beards volunteered. Young boys with\nsmooth cheeks and unshaven lips volunteered. There wasn't a boy in the\nvillage over thirteen years of age who didn't volunteer.\n\nEven lame Nahum Prince offered himself. He brought out his grandfather's\nold gun and got in line with the others. He stood as straight and tall\nas he could--as a soldier should stand.\n\nSoon the captain came along the line to inspect the volunteers. When he\nsaw Nahum, he said, \"No, no, Nahum, you cannot go; you know you cannot.\nWhy, you could not walk a mile. Go home, my lad.\"\n\nJust then the good old minister came by. \"Yes, Nahum,\" he said, \"you\nmust stay at home. Who knows but that you will find a greater work to do\nfor your country right here?\"\n\nAnd lame Nahum dropped out of the line.\n\nThen the volunteers marched off, every man and boy in the village except\nNahum Prince. Poor Nahum! His heart was heavy.\n\n\"What can I do for my country in this small village?\" he said to\nhimself. \"Oh, I wish I could be a soldier!\"\n\nHe walked toward his home slowly and sadly. Just as he passed the\nblacksmith shop, three horseman galloped up to the door.\n\n[Illustration: The horseman speaks to Nahum]\n\n\"Where is the blacksmith?\" asked one.\n\n\"He and all the men and boys have gone to join the army,\" said Nahum.\n\"There isn't a man or a boy in town except me. I wouldn't be here if I\nwere not lame.\"\n\n\"We cannot have this horse shod,\" said the rider to the others. \"We\nshall not reach there in time.\"\n\n\"Why, I can set a shoe,\" said Nahum.\n\n\"Then it is lucky you are left behind,\" said the man. \"Light up the\nforge and set the shoe.\"\n\nNahum lighted the fire, blew the coals with the bellows, and soon put on\nthe shoe.\n\n\"You have done a great deed to-day, my boy,\" said the rider as he\nthanked Nahum and rode away.\n\nThe next week the boys came home and told of a great battle. They told\nhow the Americans were about to lose the fight when Colonel Seth Warner,\nleading a band of soldiers, rode up just in time to save the day.\n\nNahum said nothing, but he knew that Colonel Warner would not have\narrived in time if he had not set that shoe. And it was really Nahum\nPrince and Colonel Seth Warner who won the victory of Bennington.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LITTLE COOK'S REWARD\n\n\nBetty lived a long, long time ago on a farm in North Carolina. She knew\nhow to clean up the house, to wash the dishes, to sew, and to cook. She\nknew how to knit, and to spin and weave, too.\n\nOne day Betty's father said, \"Let us go to town to-morrow. President\nWashington is passing through the South, and a man told me to-day that\nhe will be in Salisbury to-morrow.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said Betty's brother Robert, \"and our company has been asked to\nmarch in the parade. One of the boys is going to make a speech of\nwelcome.\"\n\n\"I should like to go,\" said their mother, \"but I can't leave home.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes, you can, mother,\" said Betty. \"I have stayed here by myself\nmany times, and I can stay to-morrow. You go with father, and I will\ntake care of things.\"\n\nThe next morning every one on the place was up before the sun. Robert\nwas so impatient to start to town that he could scarcely eat any\nbreakfast. Mother was so excited that she forgot to put coffee in the\ncoffee pot.\n\nAt last every one had left, and Betty was alone. \"I wish I could see the\nPresident,\" she said, \"and I do wish I could see his great coach. Father\nsays that it is finer than the Governor's. Four men ride in front of it,\nand four behind it. The servants are dressed in white and gold. How I\nwish I could see it all!\"\n\nWhile Betty was talking to herself, she was not idle. She washed the\ndishes and she cleaned the house. Then, as it was not time to get\ndinner, she sat down on the shady porch.\n\n\"I wonder whether General Washington looks like his picture,\" she said.\n\"Oh, if I could only see him!\"\n\nBut what sound was that? Betty stood up, and shading her eyes with her\nhands, looked down the road. Four horsemen came along at a gallop. Then\nthere followed a great white coach, trimmed with gold and drawn by four\nwhite horses. There were four horsemen behind the coach, and last of all\ncame several black servants.\n\n[Illustration: Betty looking up at the great coach]\n\nAll stopped at the gate. A tall handsome man stepped from the coach and\ncame up the walk. Betty felt as if she could neither move nor speak. She\nremembered, however, all that her mother had taught her, and she made a\nlow curtsy as the gentleman reached the steps.\n\n\"Good morning, my little maid,\" he said. \"I know it is late, but would\nyou give an old man some breakfast?\"\n\nBetty's cheeks grew as pink as the rose by the porch. She made another\ncurtsy and said, \"Indeed, I will. I am the only one at home, for father,\nmother, and Robert have gone to Salisbury to see the great Washington.\nBut I am sure I can give you some breakfast. Father says that I am a\ngood cook.\"\n\n\"I know you are, and that you are as brisk as you are pretty. Just give\nme a breakfast, and I promise you that you shall see Washington before\nyour father, mother, or brother Robert does.\"\n\n\"I will do the best I can, sir,\" Betty said.\n\nThe other men came in, and all sat on the porch and talked while Betty\nworked. Getting her mother's whitest cloth and the silver that came from\nEngland, she quickly set the table. She brought out a loaf of new bread\nand a jar of fresh honey. Then she ran to the spring house and got\nyellow butter and rich milk. She had some fresh eggs that had been laid\nby her own hens. These she dropped into boiling water. Last of all she\ncut thin slices of delicious ham.\n\nWhen everything was ready, Betty went to the porch and invited the\nstrangers in. Her cheeks were now the color of the red rose by the gate.\n\nThe visitors ate heartily of all the good things Betty had prepared. As\nthe tall, handsome gentleman rose to go, he leaned over and kissed her.\n\"My pretty little cook,\" he said, \"you may tell your brother Robert that\nyou saw Washington before he did, and that he kissed you, too.\"\n\nYou may believe that Betty did tell it. She told it to her children, and\nthey told it to their children, and I am telling it to you to-day.\n\n--MRS. L.A. McCORKLE.\n\n\n\n\nROCK-A-BY, HUSH-A-BY, LITTLE PAPOOSE\n\n\n  Rock-a-by, hush-a-by, little papoose,\n    The stars come into the sky,\n  The whip-poor-will's crying, the daylight is dying,\n    The river runs murmuring by.\n\n  The pine trees are slumbering, little papoose,\n    The squirrel has gone to his nest,\n  The robins are sleeping, the mother bird's keeping\n    The little ones warm with her breast.\n\n  The roebuck is dreaming, my little papoose,\n    His mate lies asleep at his side,\n  The breezes are pining, the moonbeams are shining\n    All over the prairie wide.\n\n  Then hush-a-by, rock-a-by, little papoose,\n    You sail on the river of dreams;\n  Dear Manitou loves you and watches above you\n    Till time when the morning light gleams.\n\n--CHARLES MYALL.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TAR WOLF\n\nI\n\n\nMany hundreds of moons ago, there was a great drought. The streams and\nlakes were drying up. Water was so scarce that the animals held a\ncouncil to decide what they should do.\n\n\"I hope it will rain soon and fill the streams and lakes,\" Great Bear\nsaid. \"If it does not, all the animals will have to go to a land where\nthere is more water.\"\n\n\"I know where there is plenty of water,\" said Wild Goose.\n\n\"I do, too,\" said Wild Duck.\n\nMost of the animals did not wish to go away. \"It is well enough for the\nducks and geese to go,\" said Wild Cat; \"they like to move about. It is\nwell enough for Great Bear to go; he can sleep through the winter in one\nhollow tree as soundly as in another. But we do not wish to leave our\nhunting grounds.\"\n\n\"If we go to a new country,\" said Gray Wolf, \"we shall have to make new\ntrails.\"\n\n\"And we shall have to clear new land,\" said Big Beaver, who had to cut\ndown the trees when land was cleared.\n\nAll this time the Rabbit said nothing. \"Brother Rabbit,\" Great Bear\nasked, \"what do you think about this matter?\"\n\nBrother Rabbit did not answer. His eyes were shut, and he seemed too\nsleepy to think about anything.\n\nGreat Bear asked again, \"What do you think about it, Brother Rabbit?\nShall we go to the place the ducks and geese have found, where there is\nplenty of water?\"\n\n\"Oh,\" answered Brother Rabbit, \"I do not mind the drought. I drink the\ndew on the grass in the early morning; I do not need to go where there\nis more water.\"\n\nAnd he shut his eyes again.\n\n\"Well,\" said Red Deer, \"if there is dew enough for Brother Rabbit every\nmorning, there is dew enough for us. We need not go to another country.\"\n\n\"Those are wise words, my brother,\" said Brown Terrapin.\n\nAll the others said, \"Those are wise words, my brother,\" and the council\nwas over. The animals were happy because they thought they need not go\naway from their homes.\n\nDays passed, and still it did not rain. The animals found that the dew\ndid not keep them from suffering from thirst. They were afraid that,\nafter all, they would have to go to another country.\n\nStill the Rabbit looked sleek and fat. He declared that he got all the\nwater he needed from the dew on the grass in the early morning.\n\n\"You sleep too late,\" he said. \"By the time you get up, the sun has\ndried the dew.\"\n\n\nII\n\n\nAfter that, the animals came out earlier than before, but they could not\nget water enough from the morning dew. They did not understand why the\nRabbit looked so well.\n\nOne day Gray Wolf said to Wild Cat, \"Let us watch the Rabbit and see\nwhere he gets so much dew that he is never thirsty.\"\n\nThat night they stayed in the woods near Rabbit's wigwam, so as to\nfollow him on the trail. They kept awake all night for fear that they\nmight sleep too late.\n\nVery early in the morning, Brother Rabbit came out of his wigwam and ran\nswiftly down the hill. Wild Cat and Gray Wolf followed as fast and as\nquietly as they could.\n\nThe dew was on the grass and leaves, but Brother Rabbit did not stop to\nget it. Instead, he ran down the hill and pushed away a heap of brush.\nWild Cat and Gray Wolf hid behind some bushes and watched him.\n\nBrother Rabbit drank from a little spring. Then he filled a jar with\nclear, fresh water, piled the brush over the spring again, and went up\nthe hill to his wigwam.\n\nAh! now Gray Wolf and Wild Cat knew why Brother Rabbit did not mind the\ndrought; and they made a plan to punish him for being so selfish.\n\nThey got tar and resin from the pine trees, and out of these they made a\ngreat wolf. After placing it close to the spring, they hid again in the\nbushes, to see what would happen.\n\nEarly the next morning, Brother Rabbit came running down the hill for\nmore water. He stopped when he saw the tar wolf by his spring.\n\n\"What are you doing here, Gray Wolf?\" he asked. Of course there was no\nanswer.\n\n\"Has my brother no ears?\" asked Brother Rabbit.\n\nAs the wolf was still silent, Brother Rabbit became angry. \"Answer me,\nGray Wolf,\" he cried. But there was no answer.\n\nThen Brother Rabbit slapped the tar wolf with his right front paw. It\nstuck fast, and Brother Rabbit could not pull it away.\n\n[Illustration: Brother Rabbit and the wolf]\n\n\"Let me go,\" he cried, \"or I will slap you with the other paw.\"\n\nHe slapped the tar wolf with the left front paw. That too, stuck fast.\n\nNow Brother Rabbit was very angry. \"Let me go, Gray Wolf,\" he cried.\n\"Let me go, I say!\"\n\nAs Grey Wolf did not let him go, Brother Rabbit kicked the tar wolf,\nfirst with one of his hind paws and then with the other. Both stuck\nfast, and so he was held by all four paws.\n\nJust then Gray Wolf and Wild Cat came from their hiding place.\n\n\"We have caught you, Brother Rabbit,\" they said. \"Now we are going to\ntake you to the council and tell how you tried to keep all the water for\nyourself.\"\n\n\nIII\n\n\nThey took Brother Rabbit to the council house, and sent for Great Bear\nand all the other animals. Soon all came, and the council began. Gray\nWolf told that he had seen Brother Rabbit go to the spring, uncover it,\nget water, and cover the spring up again.\n\nThe animals said that Brother Rabbit must be punished, but how they\ncould not decide.\n\n\"Burn him alive,\" said Gray Wolf.\n\n\"I am quite willing,\" Brother Rabbit said, smiling. \"Fire is my friend\nand will not hurt me.\"\n\n\"We might cut off his head,\" said Brown Terrapin.\n\n\"Very well,\" said the Rabbit, quietly. \"Try that. It will not hurt me,\nfor a better head will grow back.\"\n\nHe said he was not afraid of each thing that was mentioned.\n\n\"Is there nothing of which you are afraid?\" asked Great Bear, at last.\n\"Is there nothing that can hurt you?\"\n\n\"Of only one thing am I afraid,\" answered Brother Rabbit, in a low\nvoice. \"I am afraid you will turn me loose in the brier patch. Please do\nnot throw me in the brier patch.\"\n\n\"Turn him loose in the brier patch!\" cried all the animals.\n\nHow frightened Brother Rabbit looked now!\n\n\"Oh, Gray Wolf,\" he begged, \"burn me; cut off my head. Do anything else\nwith me, but please don't throw me in the brier patch.\"\n\nThe more he begged, the faster Gray Wolf hurried to the brier patch. The\nother animals followed close behind. They were all talking about the\ntricks Brother Rabbit had played on them and how they had never before\nbeen able to get even with him.\n\nWhen they came to the edge of the brier patch, Brother Rabbit begged\nharder than ever.\n\n\"Good Wolf,\" he cried, \"do anything else with me, but don't throw me in\nthe brier patch!\"\n\nGray Wolf laughed and threw Brother Rabbit far into the patch.\n\nBrother Rabbit landed on his feet, and off he ran through the briers. He\ncalled back, \"Thank you, good Wolf! You threw me right on my trail! I\nwas born and bred in the brier patch. I was born and bred in the brier\npatch!\"\n\nHe was running so fast that by the time he said this, he was out of\nsight.\n\n--THE INDIAN TAR-BABY STORY.\n\n\n\n\nTHE RABBIT AND THE WOLF\n\n\nThe rabbit liked to play tricks on the other animals. Best of all, he\nliked to play tricks on the wolf. At last the wolf grew angry and said\nthat he was going to get even with the rabbit.\n\nOne day he caught the rabbit coming through a field.\n\n\"Now,\" said the wolf, \"I am going to pay you for all the tricks you have\nplayed on me. I will cut off your ears and use them for spoons to stir\nmy hominy pot. As soon as I sharpen this stone, off your ears go!\"\n\nWhile the wolf sharpened the stone, he sang in his harsh voice a song\nsomewhat like this:\n\n  \"Watch me sharpen,\n  Watch me sharpen;\n  Soon I am going to cut off your ears.\n  Sicum, sicum, sicum, sicum,\n  Sicum, se mi su!\"\n\nWhen he sang,\n\n  \"Sicum, sicum, sicum, sicum,\n  Sicum, se mi su!\"\n\nthe rabbit could almost feel the sharp stone cutting his ears. But he\nwas a brave little rabbit and said nothing.\n\nAt last the wolf stopped singing for a moment.\n\nThen the rabbit said, \"Brother Wolf, I know a new dance. Don't you wish\nme to teach it to you?\"\n\n\"Yes, when I have cut off your ears,\" said the wolf.\n\nThen he went on singing,\n\n  \"Sicum, sicum, sicum, sicum,\n  Sicum, se mi su!\"\n\n\"After my ears are cut off,\" said the rabbit, \"I can never dance any\nmore.\"\n\nNow the wolf knew that the rabbit could sing and dance better than any\nother animal, and he wished very much to learn the new dance. He went on\nsharpening the stone, but he did not sing while he worked.\n\nAfter a while he asked, \"Is the new dance as pretty as the Snake Dance?\"\n\n\"Oh, a great deal prettier,\" answered the rabbit.\n\n\"Is it as pretty as the Turkey Dance?\"\n\n\"Oh, a great deal prettier than the Turkey Dance.\"\n\n\"Is it as pretty as the Eagle Dance?\"\n\n\"Oh, a great deal prettier than the Eagle Dance.\"\n\nThe wolf asked if the new dance was as pretty as other dances he had\nseen, and the rabbit said that it was much prettier.\n\nThis pleased the wolf, as he wished to have a new dance for the green\ncorn festival.\n\n\"You may teach me the dance now,\" he said. \"I can cut off your ears\nafterward.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said the rabbit; \"pat your foot to keep time, and watch me\nwhile I dance.\"\n\n[Illustration: The rabbit danced as the wolf shook the rattle]\n\nSo the wolf stood in the middle of the field, patting his foot and\nshaking a rattle while the rabbit danced around him and sang,\n\n  \"Watch me dance around the field,\n  Watch me dance around the field,\n      Hi, la, hi, la, hi!\"\n\nThen the rabbit made a ring in the middle of the field. He said to the\nwolf, \"Now, you dance around this ring, and sing just as I do.\"\n\nHe made a larger ring for himself and danced around just beyond the\nwolf. The wolf thought that this was the finest dance he had ever seen.\nHe and the rabbit danced faster and faster, and sang louder and louder.\n\nAs the rabbit danced, he moved nearer and nearer to the edge of the\nfield. The wolf was dancing so fast and singing so loud that he did not\nnotice this.\n\nThe rabbit kept on singing,\n\n  \"Now I dance on the edge of the field,\n  Now I dance on the edge of the field,\n  Hi, la, hi, la, hi!\"\n\nAt last, Brother Rabbit reached the edge of the field; then he jumped\ninto the blackberry bushes and ran away. The wolf tried to give chase,\nbut he was so dizzy that he could not run. And the rabbit got away\nwithout having his ears cut off.\n\n--SOUTHERN INDIAN TALE.\n\n\n\n\nBLOCK CITY\n\n\n  What are you able to build with your blocks?\n  Castles and palaces, temples and docks.\n  Rain may keep raining, and others go roam,\n  But I can be happy and building at home.\n\n  Let the sofa be mountains, the carpet be sea,\n  There I'll establish a city for me:\n  A kirk and a mill and a palace beside,\n  And a harbor as well where my vessels may ride.\n\n  Great is the palace with pillar and wall,\n  A sort of a tower on the top of it all,\n  And steps coming down in an orderly way\n  To where my toy vessels lie safe in the bay.\n\n  This one is sailing and that one is moored:\n  Hark to the song of the sailors on board!\n  And see on the steps of my palace, the kings\n  Coming and going with presents and things!\n\n  Now I have done with it, down let it go.\n  All in a moment the town is laid low,\n  Block upon block lying scattered and free,\n  What is there left of my town by the sea?\n\n--ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.\n\n\n\n\nA GOOD PLAY\n\n\n  We built a ship upon the stairs\n  All made of the back-bedroom chairs,\n  And filled it full of sofa pillows\n  To go a-sailing on the billows.\n\n  We took a saw and several nails,\n  And water in the nursery pails;\n  And Tom said, \"Let us also take\n  An apple and a slice of cake;\"--\n  Which was enough for Tom and me\n  To go a-sailing on, till tea.\n\n  We sailed along for days and days,\n  And had the very best of plays;\n  But Tom fell out and hurt his knee,\n  So there was no one left but me.\n\n--ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MONKEY'S FIDDLE\n\nI\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a great famine in the land, and Monkey could\nfind no food. There were no bulbs, no beans, no insects, nor anything\nelse to eat.\n\nAt last Monkey said to himself, \"Why should I perish here with hunger?\nMy uncle Orang-outang has enough and to spare; I shall go to him, and he\nwill give me food and shelter.\"\n\nSo he set out and soon came to the place where Orang-outang lived. For a\nlong time Monkey was happy in his new home, but by and by he heard that\nthere was no longer a famine in his own land. Then he decided to go\nback.\n\nBefore he started, Orang-outang made him a present of a fiddle and of a\nbow and arrow,\n\n\"With this bow and arrow you can kill any animal,\" he said. \"With this\nfiddle you can make anything dance until you bid it stop.\"\n\nThanking his uncle for the presents, Monkey set out on his homeward\njourney. On the way he met Brother Wolf.\n\n\"What news, Brother Wolf?\" asked Monkey.\n\nWhen Wolf had told him the news, Monkey asked, \"What have you been doing\nto-day?\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said Wolf, \"I have been following a deer all the morning, but I\nhave been unable to get near enough to kill him. Now I am faint with\nhunger.\"\n\n\"I can help you,\" said Monkey. \"I have a magic bow and arrow. Show me\nthe deer, and I will bring him down.\"\n\nWhen Wolf showed him the deer, Monkey fitted an arrow to the bow and\ntook aim. Hardly had the arrow left the bow when the deer fell dead.\n\nMonkey and Wolf sat down and had a good feast. As Wolf ate, he thought\nof the magic bow and arrow, and he planned to get them away from Monkey.\n\n\"First I will ask for them,\" he said to himself. \"If Monkey will not\ngive them to me, I will use force.\"\n\n[Illustration: Wolf demands the bow and arrow]\n\nWhen Wolf had finished eating, he said to Monkey, \"Please give me the\nbow and arrow.\"\n\n\"I will not,\" said Monkey. \"They were a present from my dear uncle; why\nshould I give them to you?\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said Wolf. \"I am stronger than you, and I will take them by\nforce.\"\n\n\nII\n\n\nWolf was just about to snatch the bow and arrow from Monkey when Jackal\ncame along. Then Wolf thought of a new plan.\n\nHe called out to Jackal, \"Help! help! Monkey has stolen my magic bow and\narrow.\"\n\nJackal came running to them. Wolf told his side of the story, and Monkey\ntold his.\n\n\"I cannot believe either of you,\" said Jackal. \"Let us lay the question\nbefore the court. There Lion, Tiger, and the other animals will hear you\nboth; perhaps they will be able to decide to whom the magic bow and\narrow belong. But to keep you two from quarreling, I had better take\ncare of the bow and arrow.\"\n\nMonkey gave them to Jackal, and all three started off to court. When\nthey arrived, there sat Lion on the throne. Seated around were the other\nanimals of the jungle.\n\nMonkey told his story first. Standing in front of the throne, he made a\nlow bow and said, \"The great famine, my lord, drove me out of my\ncountry, and I had to take refuge with my uncle. When I started back\nhome, he gave me this bow and arrow. Finding Wolf almost starving, I\nshot a deer for him. Instead of being grateful for the food, he tried to\nrob me of the bow and arrow. I am here to ask that you restore them to\nme.\"\n\n\"He does not tell the truth,\" cried Wolf.\n\nThen Jackal said, \"I believe that the bow and arrow belong to Wolf; he\nand Monkey were quarreling about them when I came along. They agreed to\nleave the question to you, King Lion. I know you will see that justice\nis done.\"\n\nWolf looked very innocent and said nothing.\n\nKing Lion rose and asked, \"What say you? To whom do the bow and arrow\nbelong?\"\n\n\"To Wolf,\" they all cried.\n\n\"Stealing is a crime that must be punished,\" said King Lion. \"What shall\nbe done?\"\n\n\"Let Monkey be hanged,\" they all cried.\n\nMonkey still had his magic fiddle. Holding it in his hand, he made a\ndeep bow and said: \"Give me leave to play a tune on my fiddle before I\nhang, O King.\"\n\nNow, the beasts all loved a merry tune, and knowing that Monkey was a\nmaster player they called out, \"Let him play.\"\n\n\nIII\n\n\nMonkey placed the fiddle under his chin, drew the bow across the\nstrings, and struck up \"Cockcrow.\" This was a favorite tune with the\ncourt. At the first notes all nodded their heads in time to the music.\nAs Monkey played on, the entire court began to dance.\n\nRound and round they went like a whirlwind. Over and over, quicker and\nquicker sounded the tune of \"Cockcrow.\" Faster and faster flew the\ndancers, until one after another fell to the ground worn out.\n\nMonkey saw nothing of all this. With eyes closed and his head placed\nlovingly against the fiddle, he played on and on, keeping time with his\nfoot.\n\nWolf was the first one to cry out, \"Please stop, Cousin Monkey. For\npity's sake, stop.\"\n\nBut Monkey did not seem to hear him. Again and again sounded the magic\nnotes of \"Cockcrow.\"\n\nKing Lion had gone round and round with his young wife so many times\nthat both were ready to drop. At last, as he passed Monkey, he roared,\n\"Stop, ape! My whole kingdom is yours if you will only stop playing.\"\n\n\"I do not want it,\" said Monkey. \"Make Wolf confess that he tried to\nsteal my bow and arrow. Then I will stop playing.\"\n\n\"I confess! I confess!\" panted Wolf, who was ready to fall to the\nground.\n\n\"Good,\" cried King Lion, as the music stopped. \"Monkey is innocent. Let\nhim have his bow and arrow.\"\n\n\"Punish Wolf!\" cried the animals.\n\nSo Wolf was soundly beaten and driven from the court. Then Monkey went\noff rejoicing, carrying with him his magic gifts.\n\n--AFRICAN TALE.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE TASKS\n\nI\n\n\nThere were once two brothers who set out to seek their fortune. They\nwasted their time and their money in all sorts of foolish ways, and\nbefore long they were nearly penniless.\n\nAfter the two brothers had been gone some time, their younger brother,\nwho had always been thought the simpleton of the family, set out to seek\nhis fortune.\n\nOne day as he was passing through a village far away from home, he found\nhis two brothers.\n\n\"Where are you going?\" they asked.\n\n\"I am going to seek my fortune,\" he replied.\n\n\"Ha, ha! how foolish you are!\" they cried. \"With all our wit and wisdom\nwe have been unable to make our fortune. It is silly of you even to\ntry.\" And they laughed and made fun of him.\n\nNevertheless, the three brothers decided to travel on together. As they\njourneyed on, they saw a large ant hill by the side of the road. The two\nelder brothers were about to destroy it, when the simpleton said, \"Leave\nthe poor ants alone. I will not let you disturb them.\"\n\nThey went on their way until they came to a pond upon which two ducks\nwere swimming. The two older brothers were about to kill them, when the\nsimpleton said, \"Leave them alone. I will not let you kill them.\"\n\nSoon the three came to a tree, in the trunk of which was a wild bee's\nnest. The two older brothers wished to steal the honey. They started to\nmake a fire under the tree and smoke out the bees. The simpleton said,\n\"Leave the poor bees alone. I will not let you rob them.\"\n\n\nII\n\n\nAt last the three brothers came to a castle where everything looked as\nif it had been turned to stone. There was not a single human being to be\nseen. They walked along the great wide hall, but still they saw no one.\n\n\"The castle must be enchanted,\" the brothers said to one another.\n\nAfter passing through many rooms, they came to a door in which there\nwere three locks. In the middle of the door was a little grating through\nwhich they could look into the room beyond.\n\nThey saw a little man, dressed in gray, seated at a table. Twice they\ncalled to him, but he did not answer. They called a third time. Then he\nrose, opened the three locks, and came out.\n\nHe said not a word, but led them to a table on which a feast was spread.\nWhen they had eaten and drunk as much as they wished, the old man showed\neach of them to a bedroom. There they rested well all night.\n\nThe next morning the little gray man came to the eldest brother and\nbeckoned him to follow. He led him to a room in which there was a stone\ntable, and on the table there lay three stone tablets.\n\n[Illustration: The little gray man and the tablets]\n\nOn the table near the tablets was written:\n\n\"This castle is enchanted. Before the enchantment can be broken, there\nare three tasks to be performed. The one who performs these three tasks\nshall marry the youngest and dearest of the three princesses who now lie\nasleep in the castle.\"\n\nWhen the eldest brother had read this, the old man gave him the first\ntablet. On it was written:\n\n\"In the forest, hidden beneath the thick moss, are the pearls which\nbelonged to the princesses. They are a thousand in number. These must be\ncollected by sunset. If one single pearl is missing, then he who has\nsought them shall be turned to stone.\"\n\nThe eldest brother searched the whole day long, but by sunset he had\nfound only a hundred pearls. So he was turned to stone.\n\nThe following day the second brother tried his luck, but by sunset he\nhad found but two hundred pearls. So he, too, was turned to stone.\n\nThen it came the simpleton's turn. He searched all day amidst the moss,\nbut he fared little better than his brothers. At last he sat down upon a\nstone and burst into tears.\n\nAs he sat there, the king of the ants, whose life he had once saved,\ncame with five thousand ants. Before long the little creatures had found\nevery one of the pearls and piled them up in a heap.\n\nThe little gray man then gave the simpleton the second tablet. Upon it\nwas written the second task:\n\n\"The key that opens the chamber in which the princesses are sleeping\nlies in the bottom of the lake. He who has performed the first task must\nfind the key.\"\n\nWhen the simpleton came to the lake, the ducks which he had saved were\nswimming upon it. At once they dived down into the depths below and\nbrought up the key.\n\nThe simpleton showed the key to the little gray man, who then gave him\nthe third tablet. On it was written the third task:\n\n\"The one who has gathered the pearls and found the key to the chamber\nmay now marry the youngest and dearest princess. He must, however, first\ntell which is she. The princesses are exactly alike, but there is one\ndifference. Before they went to sleep, the eldest ate sugar, the second\nate syrup, and the youngest ate honey.\"\n\nThe simpleton laid down the tablet with a sigh. \"How can I find out\nwhich princess ate the honey?\" he asked himself.\n\nHowever, he put the key he had found in the lock and opened the door. In\nthe chamber the three princesses were lying. Ah, which was the youngest?\n\nJust then the queen of the bees flew in through the window and tasted\nthe lips of all three. When she came to the lips that had sipped the\nhoney, she remained there. Then the young man knew that this was the\nyoungest and dearest princess.\n\nSo the enchantment came to an end. The sleepers awoke, and those who had\nbeen turned to stone became alive again. The simpleton married the\nyoungest and dearest princess, and was made king after her father's\ndeath. His two brothers, who were now sorry for what they had done,\nmarried the other two princesses, and lived happily ever after.\n\n--GRIMM.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: A child dancing]\n\nTHE WORLD'S MUSIC\n\n\n  The world's a very happy place,\n    Where every child should dance and sing,\n  And always have a smiling face,\n    And never sulk for anything.\n\n  I waken when the morning's come,\n    And feel the air and light alive\n  With strange sweet music like the hum\n    Of bees about their busy hive.\n\n  The linnets play among the leaves\n    At hide-and-seek, and chirp and sing;\n  While, flashing to and from the eaves,\n    The swallows twitter on the wing.\n\n  From dawn to dark the old mill-wheel\n    Makes music, going round and round;\n  And dusty-white with flour and meal,\n    The miller whistles to its sound.\n\n  The brook that flows beside the mill,\n    As happy as a brook can be,\n  Goes singing its old song until\n    It learns the singing of the sea.\n\n  For every wave upon the sands\n    Sings songs you never tire to hear,\n  Of laden ships from sunny lands\n    Where it is summer all the year.\n\n  The world is such a happy place\n    That children, whether big or small,\n  Should always have a smiling face\n    And never, never sulk at all.\n\n--GABRIEL SETOUN.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SLEEPING BEAUTY\n\nI\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a king and queen who were very unhappy\nbecause they had no children. But at last a little daughter was born,\nand their sorrow was turned to joy. All the bells in the land were rung\nto tell the glad tidings.\n\nThe king gave a christening feast so grand that the like of it had never\nbeen known. He invited all the fairies he could find in the\nkingdom--there were seven of them--to come to the christening as\ngodmothers. He hoped that each would give the princess a good gift.\n\nWhen the christening was over, the feast came. Before each of the\nfairies was placed a plate with a spoon, a knife, and a fork--all pure\ngold. But alas! as the fairies were about to seat themselves at the\ntable, there came into the hall a very old fairy who had not been\ninvited. She had left the kingdom fifty years before and had not been\nseen or heard of until this day.\n\nThe king at once ordered that a plate should be brought for her, but he\ncould not furnish a gold one such as the others had. This made the old\nfairy angry, and she sat there muttering to herself.\n\nHer angry threats were overheard by a young fairy who sat near. This\ngood godmother, fearing the old fairy might give the child an unlucky\ngift, hid herself behind a curtain. She did this because she wished to\nspeak last and perhaps be able to change the old fairy's gift.\n\nAt the end of the feast, the youngest fairy stepped forward and said,\n\"The princess shall be the most beautiful woman in the world.\"\n\nThe second said,\n\n\"She shall have a temper as sweet as an angel.\"\n\nThe third said,\n\n\"She shall have a wonderful grace in all she does or says.\"\n\n[Illustration: The old fairy looks at the princess in her cradle]\n\nThe fourth said,\n\n\"She shall sing like a nightingale.\"\n\nThe fifth said,\n\n\"She shall dance like a flower in the wind.\"\n\nThe sixth said,\n\n\"She shall play such music as was never heard on earth.\"\n\nThen the old fairy's turn came. Shaking her head spitefully, she said,\n\n\"When the princess is seventeen years old, she shall prick her finger\nwith a spindle, and--she--shall--die!\"\n\nAt this all the guests trembled, and many of them began to weep. The\nking and queen wept loudest of all.\n\nJust then the wise young fairy came from behind the curtain and said:\n\"Do not grieve, O King and Queen. Your daughter shall not die. I cannot\nundo what my elder sister has done; the princess shall indeed prick her\nfinger with the spindle, but she shall not die. She shall fall into\nsleep that will last a hundred years. At the end of that time, a king's\nson will find her and awaken her.\"\n\nImmediately all the fairies vanished.\n\n\nII\n\n\nThe king, hoping to save his child even from this misfortune, commanded\nthat all spindles should be burned. This was done, but it was all in\nvain.\n\nOne day when the princess was seventeen years of age, the king and queen\nleft her alone in the castle. She wandered about the palace and at last\ncame to a little room in the top of a tower. There an old woman--so old\nand deaf that she had never heard of the king's command--sat spinning.\n\n\"What are you doing, good old woman?\" asked the princess.\n\n\"I am spinning, my pretty child.\"\n\n\"Ah,\" said the princess. \"How do you do it? Let me see if I can spin\nalso.\"\n\nShe had just taken the spindle in her hand when, in some way, it pricked\nher finger. The princess dropped down on the floor. The old woman called\nfor help, and people came from all sides, but nothing could be done.\n\nWhen the good young fairy heard the news, she came quickly to the\ncastle. She knew that the princess must sleep a hundred years and would\nbe frightened if she found herself alone when she awoke. So the fairy\ntouched with her magic wand all in the palace except the king and the\nqueen. Ladies, gentlemen, pages, waiting maids, footmen, grooms in the\nstable, and even the horses--she touched them all. They all went to\nsleep just where they were when the wand touched them. Some of the\ngentlemen were bowing to the ladies, the ladies were embroidering, the\ngrooms stood currying their horses, and the cook was slapping the\nkitchen boy.\n\nThe king and queen departed from the castle, giving orders that no one\nwas to go near it. This command, however, was not needed. In a little\nwhile there sprang around the castle a wood so thick that neither man\nnor beast could pass through.\n\n\nIII\n\n\nA great many changes take place in a hundred years. The king had no\nother child, and when he died, his throne passed to another royal\nfamily. Even the story of the sleeping princess was almost forgotten.\n\nOne day the son of the king who was then reigning was out hunting, and\nhe saw towers rising above a thick wood. He asked what they were, but no\none could answer him.\n\nAt last an old peasant was found who said, \"Your highness, fifty years\nago my father told me that there is a castle in the woods where a\nprincess sleeps--the most beautiful princess that ever lived. It was\nsaid that she must sleep there a hundred years, when she would be\nawakened by a king's son.\"\n\nAt this the young prince determined to find out the truth for himself.\nHe leaped from his horse and began to force his way through the wood. To\nhis astonishment, the stiff branches gave way, then closed again,\nallowing none of his companions to follow.\n\nA beautiful palace rose before him. In the courtyard the prince saw\nhorses and men who looked as if they were dead. But he was not afraid\nand boldly entered the palace. There were guards motionless as stone,\ngentlemen and ladies, pages and footmen, some standing, some sitting,\nbut all like statues.\n\n[Illustration: The prince finds the princess]\n\nAt last the prince came to a chamber of gold, where he saw upon a bed\nthe fairest sight one ever beheld--a princess of about seventeen years\nwho looked as if she had just fallen asleep. Trembling, the prince knelt\nbeside her, and awakened her with a kiss. And now the enchantment was\nbroken.\n\nThe princess looked at him with wondering eyes and said: \"Is it you, my\nprince? I have waited for you long.\"\n\nSo happy were the two that they talked hour after hour. In the meantime\nall in the palace awaked and each began to do what he was doing when he\nfell asleep. The gentlemen went on bowing to the ladies, the ladies went\non with their embroidery. The grooms went on currying their horses, the\ncook went on slapping the kitchen boy, and the servants began to serve\nthe supper. Then the chief lady in waiting, who was ready to die of\nhunger, told the princess aloud that supper was ready.\n\nThe prince gave the princess his hand, and they all went into the great\nhall for supper. That very evening the prince and princess were married.\nThe next day the prince took his bride to his father's palace, and there\nthey lived happily ever afterward.\n\n--GRIMM.\n\n\n\n\nTHE UGLY DUCKLING\n\nI\n\n\nIt was summer. The country was lovely just then. The cornfields were\nwaving yellow, the wheat was golden, the oats were still green, and the\nhay was stacked in the meadows. Beyond the fields great forests and\nponds of water might be seen.\n\nIn the sunniest spot of all stood an old farmhouse, with deep canals\naround it. At the water's edge grew great burdocks. It was just as wild\nthere as in the deepest wood, and in this snug place sat a duck upon her\nnest. She was waiting for her brood to hatch.\n\nAt last one eggshell after another began to crack. From each little egg\ncame \"Cheep! cheep!\" and then a little duckling's head.\n\n\"Quack! quack!\" said the duck; and all the babies quacked too. Then they\nlooked all around. The mother let them look as much as they liked, for\ngreen is good for the eyes.\n\n\"How big the world is!\" said all the little ducklings.\n\n\"Do you think this is all the world?\" asked the mother. \"It stretches a\nlong way on the other side of the garden and on to the parson's field,\nbut I have never been so far as that. I hope you are all out. No, not\nall; that large egg is still unbroken. I am really tired of sitting so\nlong.\" Then the duck sat down again.\n\n\"Well, how goes it?\" asked an old duck who had come to pay her a visit.\n\n\"There is one large egg that is taking a long time to hatch,\" replied\nthe mother. \"But you must look at the ducklings. They are the finest I\nhave ever seen; they are all just like their father.\"\n\n\"Let me look at the egg which will not hatch,\" said the old duck. \"You\nmay be sure that it is a turkey's egg. I was once cheated in that way.\nOh, you will have a great deal of trouble, for a turkey will not go into\nthe water. Yes, that's a turkey's egg. Leave it alone and teach the\nother children to swim.\"\n\n\"No, I will sit on it a little longer,\" said the mother duck.\n\n\"Just as you please,\" said the old duck, and she went away.\n\nAt last the large egg cracked. \"Cheep! cheep!\" said the young one, and\ntumbled out. How large it was! How ugly it was!\n\n\"I wonder if it can be a turkey chick,\" said the mother. \"Well, we shall\nsee when we go to the pond. It must go into the water, even if I have to\npush it in myself.\"\n\nNext day the mother duck and all her little ones went down to the water.\nSplash! she jumped in, and all the ducklings went in, too. They swam\nabout very easily, and the ugly duckling swam with them.\n\n\"No, it is not a turkey,\" said the mother duck. \"See how well he can use\nhis legs. He is my own child! And he is not so very ugly either.\"\n\n\nII\n\n\nThen she took her family into the duck yard. As they went along, she\ntold the ducklings how to act.\n\n\"Keep close to me, so that no one can step on you,\" she said. \"Come;\nnow, don't turn your toes in. A well-brought-up duck turns its toes out,\njust like father and mother. Bow your heads before that old duck yonder.\nShe is the grandest duck here. One can tell that by the red rag around\nher leg. That's a great honor, the greatest honor a duck can have. It\nshows that the mistress doesn't want to lose her. Now bend your necks\nand say 'Quack!'\"\n\nThey did so, but the other ducks did not seem glad to see them.\n\n\"Look!\" they cried. \"Here comes another brood, as if there were not\nenough of us already. And oh, dear, how ugly that large one is! We won't\nstand him.\"\n\nThen one of the ducks flew at the ugly duckling and bit him in the neck.\n\n[Illustration: The ugly duckling and the other ducks]\n\n\"Let him alone,\" said the mother; \"he is doing no harm.\"\n\n\"Perhaps not,\" said the duck who had bitten the poor duckling, \"but he\nis too ugly to stay here. He must be driven out.\"\n\n\"Those are pretty children that the mother has,\" said the old duck with\nthe rag around her leg. \"They are all pretty but that one. What a pity!\"\n\n\"Yes,\" replied the mother duck, \"he is not handsome, but he is\ngood-tempered, and he swims as well as any of the others. I think he\nwill grow to be pretty. Perhaps he stayed too long in the egg.\"\n\n\"Well, make yourselves at home,\" said the old duck. \"If you find an\neel's head, you may bring it to me.\"\n\nAnd they did make themselves at home--all but the poor ugly duckling.\nHis life was made quite miserable. The ducks bit him, and the hens\npecked him. So it went on the first day, and each day it grew worse.\n\nThe poor duckling was very unhappy. At last he could stand it no longer,\nand he ran away. As he flew over the fence, he frightened the little\nbirds on the bushes.\n\n\"That is because I am so ugly,\" thought the duckling.\n\nHe flew on until he came to a moor where some wild ducks lived. They\nlaughed at him and swam away from him.\n\nSome wild geese came by, and they laughed at the duckling, too. Just\nthen some guns went bang! bang! The hunters were all around. The hunting\ndogs came splash! into the swamp, and one dashed close to the duckling.\nThe dog looked at him and went on.\n\n\"Well, I can be thankful for that,\" sighed he. \"I am so ugly that even\nthe dog will not bite me.\"\n\nWhen all was quiet, the duckling started out again. A storm was raging,\nand he found shelter in a poor hut. Here lived an old woman with her cat\nand her hen. The old woman could not see well, and she thought he was a\nfat duck. She kept him three weeks, hoping that she would get some duck\neggs, but the duckling did not lay.\n\nAfter a while the fresh air and sunshine streamed in at the open door,\nand the duckling longed to be out on the water. The cat and the hen\nlaughed when he told them of his wish.\n\n\"You must be crazy,\" said the hen. \"I do not wish to swim. The cat does\nnot; and I am sure our mistress does not.\"\n\n\"You do not understand me,\" said the duckling. \"I will go out into the\nwide world.\"\n\n\"Yes, do go,\" said the hen.\n\nAnd the duckling went away. He swam on the water and dived, but still\nall the animals passed him by because he was so ugly; and the poor\nduckling was lonesome.\n\n\nIII\n\n\nNow the winter came, and soon it was very cold. Snow and sleet fell, and\nthe ugly duckling had a very unhappy time.\n\nOne evening a whole flock of handsome white birds rose out of the\nbushes. They were swans. They gave a strange cry, and spreading their\ngreat wings, flew away to warmer lands and open lakes.\n\nThe ugly duckling felt quite strange, and he gave such a loud cry that\nhe frightened himself. He could not forget those beautiful happy birds.\nHe knew not where they had gone, but he wished he could have gone with\nthem.\n\nThe winter grew cold--very cold. The duckling swam about in the water to\nkeep from freezing, but every night the hole in which he swam became\nsmaller and smaller. At last he was frozen fast in the ice.\n\nEarly the next morning a farmer found the duckling and took him to the\nfarmhouse. There in a warm room the duckling came to himself again. The\nchildren wished to play with him, but he was afraid of them.\n\nIn his terror he fluttered into the milk pan and splashed the milk about\nthe room. The woman clapped her hands at him, and that frightened him\nstill more. He flew into the butter tub and then into the meal barrel.\n\nHow he did look then! The children laughed and screamed. The woman\nchased him with the fire tongs. The door stood open, and the duckling\nslipped out into the snow.\n\nIt was a cruel, hard winter, and he nearly froze. At last the warm sun\nbegan to shine, and the larks to sing. The duckling flapped his wings\nand found that they were strong. Away he flew over the meadows and\nfields.\n\nSoon he found himself in a beautiful garden where the apple trees were\nin full bloom, and the long branches of the willow trees hung over the\nshores of the lake. Just in front of him he saw three beautiful white\nswans swimming lightly over the water.\n\n\"I will fly to those beautiful birds,\" he said. \"They will kill me\nbecause I am so ugly; but it is all the same. It is better to be killed\nby them than to be bitten by the ducks and pecked by the hens.\"\n\nSo he flew into the water and swam towards the beautiful birds. They saw\nthe duckling and came sailing down toward him. He bowed his head saying,\n\"Kill me, oh, kill me.\"\n\nBut what was this he saw in the clear water? It was his own image, and\nlo! he was no longer a clumsy dark-gray bird, but a--swan, a beautiful\nwhite swan. It matters not if one was born in a duck yard, if one has\nonly lain in a swan's egg. The other swans swam around him to welcome\nhim.\n\n[Illustration: The little children see the new swan]\n\nSome little children came into the garden with corn and other grains\nwhich they threw into the water. The smallest one cried, \"Oh, see! there\nis a new swan, and it is more beautiful than any of the others.\"\n\nThe ugly duckling was shy and at first hid his head under his wing. Then\nhe felt so happy that he raised his neck and said, \"I never dreamed of\nso much happiness when I was an ugly duckling.\"\n\n--HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WHITE BLACKBIRD\n\nI\n\n\nI was born a blackbird in a bushy thicket near a meadow. My father took\ngood care of his family and would peck about all day for insects. These\nhe brought home to my mother, holding them by the tail so as not to mash\nthem. He had a sweet voice, too, and every evening sang beautiful songs.\n\nI should have been happy, but I was not. I ate little and was weak; and\nfrom the first, I was different from my brothers and sisters. They had\nglossy, black feathers, while mine were dirty gray. These made my father\nangry whenever he looked at them.\n\nWhen I moulted for the first time, he watched me closely. While the\nfeathers were falling out and while I was naked, he was kind; but my new\nfeathers drove him wild with anger. I did not wonder. I was no longer\neven gray; I had become snow white. I was a white blackbird! Did such a\nthing ever happen in a blackbird family before?\n\nIt made me very sad to see my father so vexed over me. But it is hard to\nstay sad forever, and one sunshiny spring day I opened my bill and began\nto sing. At the first note my father flew up into the air like a\nsky-rocket.\n\n\"What do I hear?\" he cried. \"Is that the way a blackbird whistles? Do I\nwhistle that way?\"\n\n\"I whistle the best I can,\" I replied.\n\n\"That is not the way we whistle in my family,\" my father said. \"We have\nwhistled for many, many years and know how to do it. It is not enough\nfor you to be white; you must make that horrible noise. The truth is you\nare not a blackbird.\"\n\n\"I will leave home,\" I answered with a sob. \"I will go far away where I\ncan pick up a living on earthworms and spiders.\"\n\n\"Do as you please,\" my father said. \"You are not a blackbird.\"\n\n\nII\n\n\nI flew away early the next morning, and was lucky enough to find shelter\nunder an old gutter. It rained hard that night. I was just about to go\nto bed, when a very wet bird came in and sat down beside me. His\nfeathers were grayish like mine, but he was much larger than myself.\n\n\"Who are you?\" he asked.\n\n\"I don't know,\" I replied. \"I pass for a blackbird but I am white.\"\n\n\"I am the finest bird in the world,\" he said. \"I am a carrier pigeon and\ncarry messages.\"\n\nThen I saw that a traveling bag hung from his neck.\n\n\"Maybe I am a pigeon,\" I said, \"since I am not a blackbird.\"\n\n\"No,\" he answered, \"a runt like you could not be a pigeon.\"\n\nThe next morning the pigeon sprang from the gutter and flew away as fast\nas the wind. As I was lonely, I followed him. He flew faster and faster,\nbut I kept up for a good while. At last my strength gave out and I fell\ndown into a meadow.\n\nI was stunned by the fall. When I came to my senses, two birds stood\nnear by looking at me. One was a dainty little magpie; the other a\nsoft-eyed turtle dove. The magpie kindly offered me some berries she had\ngathered.\n\n\"Who are you?\" she asked.\n\n[Illustration: The three birds meet]\n\n\"A blackbird or a pigeon,\" I said sadly. \"I don't know which.\"\n\n\"Are you joking?\" she cried. \"You are a magpie.\"\n\n\"But magpies are not white,\" I said.\n\n\"Russian magpies are,\" she answered; \"perhaps you belong to that\nfamily.\"\n\nMy joy was great for a moment at finding out what I was. Still I was not\nsure that I was a magpie and thought I might settle the matter by\nsinging. I burst into song and warbled and whistled, and whistled and\nwarbled.\n\nThe magpie looked at me in surprise. Then her face grew sad and she\nbacked off from me. At last she flew away without another word. Whatever\nI might be, I was not a magpie--not even a Russian magpie.\n\nI made up my mind not to rest until I found out what bird I was. So I\nflew off to a place where birds of all kinds met to talk and enjoy\nthemselves. There were robins and sparrows and crows and wrens and\nmartins and every sort of bird. But I was not like any of them and\nwhenever I began to sing, they all laughed.\n\n\"You are not one of us,\" they said; \"you are a white blackbird. That is\nwhat you are.\"\n\n\nIII\n\n\nI had now seen all the birds, but none of them were as fine as the\nblackbirds. I did not want to be like any of these birds; I longed to be\na blackbird, a real blackbird. That was not possible. So I made up my\nmind to be content with my lot, as I had the heart of a blackbird even\nif I were not black.\n\nA great flock of blackbirds lived on the edge of a cornfield. I went to\nthem and asked them to let me be their helper.\n\n\"I am only a white blackbird,\" I said, \"but I have the heart of a true\nblackbird.\"\n\nThey let me stay. I waited on them early and late, bringing straw to\nmake nests and tender little worms for the baby blackbirds. The old\nbirds were kind to me, and I began to be happy.\n\nHard work did me good. I soon grew strong, and when the crows tried to\ndrive us away, I led the blackbirds to victory. My sight was keen, and I\nwas the first to find out that the scarecrow was not a man. I caught\nmore worms, too, than any of the blackbirds.\n\nBy and by a strange thing happened. I saw one day that my white feathers\nwere speckled with brown dots. They grew larger and larger until the\ndots covered me all over; I was no longer white but brown. And now,\nlittle by little, my brown coat turned darker and darker until one\nmorning it was black--a rich, glossy black! I was a blackbird at last.\n\nThen the other blackbirds hopped around me with joy, crying, \"He is the\nlargest and bravest of the blackbirds. Let him be king! Long live the\nking of the blackbirds!\"\n\n--ALFRED DE MUSSET (_Adapted_).\n\n\n\n\nTHE BROWN THRUSH\n\n\n  There's a merry brown thrush sitting up in\n      the tree,\n  He's singing to me! He's singing to me!\n  And what does he say, little girl, little boy?\n  \"Oh, the world's running over with joy!\n    Don't you hear? don't you see?\n    Hush! look! in my tree,\n  I'm as happy as happy can be!\"\n\n  And the brown thrush keeps singing, \"A nest\n     do you see,\n  And five eggs hid by me in the juniper tree?\n  Don't meddle! don't touch! little girl, little boy,\n  Or the world will lose some of its joy!\n    Now I'm glad! now I'm free!\n    And I always shall be,\n  If you never bring sorrow to me.\"\n\n  So the merry brown thrush sings away in the tree,\n  To you and to me, to you and to me.\n\n--LUCY LARCOM.\n\n\n\n\nTHE KING AND THE GOOSEHERD\n\nACT I\n\n\n(King in plain clothes had gone out for a walk in the park. He sat under\na tree to read a book and fell asleep. When he waked up he walked on,\nforgetting his book. He sees a lad looking after a flock of geese and\ncalls him.)\n\nKING: Boy, I left a book lying under a tree in the park. Will you please\nget it for me? If you do, I will give you a gold piece.\n\nBOY: Give me a gold piece to go to the park, indeed! You must have a\npocketful of gold pieces. Or you must think me more stupid than I am.\n\nKING: Stupid! Who thinks you stupid?\n\nBOY: Why, who would be so foolish as to give me a gold piece just for\nrunning half a mile for a book? No, no, you are joking. You couldn't\nmake me believe that.\n\nKING: Well, you know \"seeing is believing.\" Look! here is the gold piece\nfor you.\n\nBOY: But it is in _your_ hand. If I saw it in my own hand, that would be\na different matter.\n\nKING (_laughing_): You are certainly not stupid, my boy; but you may\nhave it in your own hand. Here it is.\n\n(Boy stands still, looking worried,)\n\nKING: Well, why don't you go?\n\nBOY: I only wish I could. But what would become of the geese while I am\naway? If they strayed into the meadow over yonder, I should have to pay\ntrespass-money--more than the gold piece--and lose my place besides.\n\nKING: I'll tell you what we'll do. You go for the book, and I'll herd\nthe geese.\n\nBOY (_laughing_): You herd the geese--a pretty gooseherd you would make!\nYou are too fat and too old.\n\nKING (_to himself, shaking with laughter_): Well, Well, \"fat and old.\"\nWhat next, I wonder!\n\nBOY: Why, you couldn't mind the geese. Just look at the \"court gander\"\nthere--the one with the black head and wings. He is the ringleader\nwhenever there is any mischief. He would lead you a pretty dance.\n\nKING: Never mind the geese. I'll answer for them, and I promise to pay\nall damages if they get away.\n\nBOY (_handing the king his whip_): Well, then, be careful. Watch the\n\"court gander.\"\n\n(Boy walks on a few feet, then hurries back.)\n\nKING: What's the matter now?\n\nBOY: Crack the whip!\n\n(King tries but fails.)\n\nBOY: Just as I thought. Here, this way! Can't you see? You are stupid!\n\nKING: Just let me try once more.\n\n(King tries.)\n\nBOY: Well, that did pretty well.\n\n(Moves off muttering.)\n\nHe is as big a goose as any in the flock.\n\n\nACT II\n\n\nKING (_lying on the ground and laughing so that the tears run down his\ncheeks_): Oh, but this is fine! First I was fat and old. Now I am as big\na goose as any in the flock. What would my courtiers say?\n\n(Springing up suddenly.)\n\nLook at that \"court gander\"! There he goes with the whole flock.\n\n(He dashes wildly after the geese and tries to crack the whip, but\ncannot.)\n\nNow they are in the meadow; what will the boy say?\n\n(Boy returns and sees the geese in the meadow; the king looks ashamed.)\n\nBOY: Just as I expected. I have found the book, but you have lost the\ngeese. What a time I shall have trying to find them!\n\nKING: Never mind; I will help you get them together again.\n\n[Illustration: The king and the boy look for the geese]\n\nBOY: Humph! Much help you'll be. But go there by that stump and don't\nlet the geese pass you. Wave your arms at them and shout at them. Surely\nyou can do that!\n\nKING: I'll try.\n\n\nACT III\n\n\nBoy: Well, they are back again! Thanks to goodness, but none to you.\nWhat can you do?\n\nKING: Pray excuse me for not doing any better, but you see, I am not\nused to work. I am the king.\n\nBOY: I was a simpleton to trust you with the geese; but I am not such a\nsimpleton as to believe that you are the king.\n\nKING: Just as you will. You are a good lad. Here is another gold coin as\na peace offering. Good-day.\n\nBOY (_as king walks away_): He is a kind gentleman, whoever he may be;\nbut take my word for it, he will never make a gooseherd.\n\n--OLD TALE.\n\n\n\n\nDONAL AND CONAL\n\nI\n\n\nThere was once in old Ireland a very fine lad by the name of Donal. He\nwas not only a very fine lad, but a very gay lad. He would go for miles\nto a party or a wedding; and he was always welcome, for Donal knew where\nto wear his smile. He wore it on his face instead of keeping it in his\npocket.\n\nThe dearest wish of Donal's heart no one knew but himself. His soul was\nfull of music, and he longed to have a violin.\n\nOne night Donal was going home through a dark forest when a storm came\nup. He found an old hollow tree and got inside of it to keep dry. Soon\nhe fell asleep.\n\nAfter a while Donal was awakened by a strange noise. He peeped out, and\nhe saw a queer sight. The storm had passed, and the moon was shining.\nMany elves were dancing to strange music played by an old, old elf.\n\n[Illustration: Donal sees the fairies dancing]\n\nSuch queer dancing it was! Donal crept out of the tree and drew nearer\nand nearer. Suddenly he laughed out loud and said, \"Well, that's the\nworst dancing I have ever seen!\"\n\nThe fairies were astonished and angry, and they all began to talk at the\nsame time.\n\n\"We have a man among us!\" cried one.\n\n\"Let us hang him!\" cried another.\n\n\"Cut his head off!\" cried a third.\n\nBut the queen stepped out among them and said, \"Leave him to me.\"\n\nThen she called Donal to her. Now Donal was a wee bit frightened, but he\nknew where to wear his smile, you remember. So he went up to the queen,\nsmiling and bowing.\n\n\"You say our dancing is the worst you have ever seen,\" she said. \"Now,\nshow us that you can do better.\"\n\nDonal smiled again and bowed low. Then he began to dance. Such dancing\nthe elves had never seen! They clapped their hands and made him dance\nagain and again. Finally, Donal was exhausted, and after making a low\nbow to the queen, sat down on the ground.\n\nThe fairies crowded around him.\n\n\"Give him our silver!\" cried one.\n\n\"Make it gold!\" cried another.\n\n\"Diamonds!\" cried a third.\n\nBut the queen said, \"Leave it to me.\"\n\nShe went up to the old, old elf who had been playing for the dance.\nTaking his violin from him, she gave it to Donal. You see, the queen\nknew the dearest wish of his heart.\n\nThen Donal was a happy lad, indeed! He thanked the queen and went home\nplaying on his new violin.\n\n\nII\n\n\nThere lived near Donal's home a lad named Conal. He was not such a fine\nlad as Donal, nor such a gay one. He was a greedy lad, and the dearest\nwish of his heart was to be rich. And he did not know where to wear his\nsmile. If he had one, he kept it in his pocket.\n\nWhen Conal heard what had happened to Donal, he wished to know all about\nit. So he went to him and said, \"Donal, man, how did you get that\nbeautiful violin?\"\n\nDonal told the story backward and forward, and forward and backward,\nfrom beginning to end, until Conal knew it by heart.\n\nThen Conal said to himself, \"I will go to the hollow tree and dance for\nthe elves; but I shall not be so foolish as Donal. I will take their\ngold and silver, and their diamonds, too.\"\n\nThat night Conal went to the hollow tree and waited until the elves\nappeared. Then he crept out and watched them dance. And he said, just as\nDonal had, \"Well, that's the worst dancing I have ever seen!\"\n\nThe fairies were astonished and angry again, and again they all began to\ntalk at once.\n\n\"Another man among us!\" cried one.\n\n\"Let us hang him!\" cried another.\n\n\"Cut off his head!\" cried a third.\n\nBut the queen said, \"Leave it to me.\"\n\nThen she called Conal to her. Now Conal did not know where to wear his\nsmile, you remember; he always kept it in his pocket. So he went up to\nthe queen with a very sour face.\n\nThe queen said to him, as she had to Donal, \"You say our dancing is the\nworst you have ever seen. Now, show us that you can do better.\"\n\nConal began to dance, and he could dance well. The elves were delighted.\nThey clapped their hands and asked him to dance again, but he said\nroughly, \"No, that is enough. Do you expect me to dance all night?\"\n\nThe elves were silent then, and the queen's face was stern. But she was\na just queen, and she said, \"You have danced well. Will you have some of\nour silver?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said Conal, without a word of thanks; and he filled his coat\npockets.\n\n\"Will you have gold?\" asked the queen.\n\n\"Yes,\" said Conal greedily, as he filled the pockets in his trousers.\n\n\"Will you have some of our diamonds?\" the queen asked, and her face was\ndark with anger.\n\n\"Yes, yes,\" cried Conal.\n\n\"You shall not have them, you greedy lad!\" cried the queen; \"you shall\nhave nothing.\"\n\nJust then a cloud passed across the moon, and the elves vanished.\n\n\"Oh, well,\" said Conal, \"I have the gold and silver.\"\n\nHe plunged his hands into his pockets and lo! the gold and silver had\nturned to stones. Then Conal went home a sadder and a wiser lad.\n\n--IRISH TALE.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: A bird singing]\n\nWHO TOLD THE NEWS?\n\n\n  Oh, the sunshine told the bluebird,\n    And the bluebird told the brook,\n  That the dandelions were peeping\n    From the woodland's sheltered nook.\n\n  Then the brook was blithe and happy,\n    And it babbled all the way,\n  As it ran to tell the river\n    Of the coming of the May.\n\n  Soon the river told the meadow,\n    And the meadow told the bee,\n  That the tender buds were swelling\n    On the old horse-chestnut tree.\n\n  And the bee shook off its torpor,\n    And it spread each gauzy wing,\n  As it flew to tell the flowers\n    Of the coming of the spring.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BIRDS OF KILLINGWORTH\n\nI\n\n\nIt was spring. The apple trees and the cherry trees were pink and white\nwith blossoms. They filled the air with fragrance. The maples were red,\nand on the oak and poplar the buds were swelling. The brooklets were\nrushing and leaping on toward the sea.\n\nIt was spring everywhere. The robin and the bluebird were piping sweetly\nin the blossoming orchard. The sparrows were chirping, and hungry crows\nwere calling loudly for food. The farmers of Killingworth were plowing\nthe fields, and the broken clods, too, told of spring.\n\nA farmer heard the cawing of the crows and the song of the birds.\n\nHe said, \"Did one ever see so many birds? Why, when we plant our seeds,\nthese birds will take them all. When the fruit ripens, they will destroy\nit. I, for one, wish there were no birds, and I say kill them all.\"\n\nAnother farmer said, \"Yes, let us call a meeting of the people of the\nvillage and decide what is to be done with the pests.\"\n\nThe meeting was called, and all came: the squire, the preacher, the\nteacher, and the farmers from the country round about.\n\nUp rose the farmer who had said he wished there were no birds.\n\n\"Friends,\" he said, \"the crows are about to take my field of corn. I put\nup scarecrows, but the birds fly by them and seem to laugh at them. The\nrobins are as saucy as they can be. Soon they will eat all the cherries\nwe have. I say kill all birds; they are a pest.\"\n\n\"So say I,\" said another farmer.\n\n\"And I,\" said another.\n\n\"And I,\" \"And I,\" came from voices in every part of the hall.\n\nThe teacher arose and timidly said:\n\n\"My friends, you know not what you do. You would put to death the birds\nthat make sweet music for us in our dark hours: the thrush, the oriole,\nthe noisy jay, the bluebird, the meadow lark.\n\n\"You slay them all, and why? Because they scratch up a little handful of\nwheat or corn, while searching for worms or weevils.\n\n\"Do you never think who made them and who taught them their songs of\nlove? Think of your woods and orchards without birds!\n\n\"And, friends, would you rather have insects in the hay? You call the\nbirds thieves, but they guard your farms. They drive the enemy from your\ncornfields and from your harvests.\n\n\"Even the blackest of them, the crow, does good. He crushes the beetle\nand wages war on the slug and the snail.\n\n\"And, what is more, how can I teach your children gentleness and mercy\nwhen you contradict the very thing I teach?\"\n\nBut the farmers only shook their heads and laughed. \"What does the\nteacher know of such things?\" they asked. And they passed a law to have\nthe birds killed.\n\nSo the dreadful war on birds began. They fell down dead, with\nbloodstains on their breasts. Some fluttered, wounded, away from the\nsight of man, while the young died of starvation in the nests.\n\n\nII\n\n\nThe summer came, and all the birds were dead. The days were like hot\ncoals. In the orchards hundreds of caterpillars fed. In the fields and\ngardens hundreds of insects of every kind crawled, finding no foe to\ncheck them. At last the whole land was like a desert.\n\nFrom the trees caterpillars dropped down upon the women's bonnets, and\nthey screamed and ran. At every door, the women gathered and talked.\n\n\"What will become of us?\" asked one. \"The men were wrong,--something\nmust be done.\"\n\n\"The teacher was right,\" said another.\n\nAt last, the farmers grew ashamed of having killed the birds. They met\nand did away with the wicked law, but it was too late.\n\n[Illustration: The wagon filled with branches and cages]\n\nHarvest time came, but there was no harvest. In many a home there was\nwant and sorrow.\n\nThe next spring a strange sight was seen--a sight never seen before or\nsince. Through the streets there went a wagon filled with great branches\nof trees. Upon them were hung cages of birds that were making sweet\nmusic.\n\nFrom all the country round these birds had been brought by order of the\nfarmers. The cages were opened, and once more the woods and fields were\nfilled with the beautiful birds, who flew about singing their songs of\njoy. And again the harvests grew in the fields and filled to overflowing\nthe farmers' barns.\n\n--_Adapted from_ LONGFELLOW.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TRAILING ARBUTUS\n\nI\n\n\nMany, many moons ago, in a lodge in a forest, there lived an old man.\nHis hair was white as the snowdrift. All the world was winter; snow and\nice were everywhere, and the old man wore heavy furs.\n\nThe winds went wildly through the forest searching every bush and tree\nfor birds to chill. The old man looked in vain in the deep snow for\npieces of wood to keep up the fire in his lodge. Then he sat down by his\ndull and low fire.\n\nShaking and trembling he sat there, hearing nothing but the tempest as\nit roared through the forest, seeing nothing but the snowstorm as it\nwhirled and hissed and drifted.\n\nAll the coals became white with ashes, and the fire was slowly dying.\nSuddenly the wind blew aside the door of the lodge, and there came in a\nmost beautiful maiden.\n\nHer cheeks were like the wild rose, her eyes were soft and glowed like\nthe stars in springtime; and her hair was as brown as October's nuts.\n\nHer dress was of ferns and sweet grasses, her moccasins were of white\nlilies, on her head was a wreath of wild flowers, and in her hands were\nbeautiful blossoms. When she breathed, the air became warm and fragrant.\n\n\"Ah, my daughter,\" exclaimed the old man. \"Happy are my eyes to see you.\nSit here on the mat beside me; sit here by the dying embers. Tell me of\nyour strange adventures, and I will tell you of my deeds of wonder.\"\n\nFrom his pouch he drew his peace pipe, very old and strangely fashioned.\nHe filled the pipe with bark of willow, and placed a burning coal upon\nit.\n\nThen he said, \"I am Manito, the Mighty. When I blow my breath about me,\nthe rivers become motionless and the waters hard as stone.\"\n\nThe maiden smiling said, \"When I blow my breath about me, flowers spring\nup over all the meadows. And all the rivers rush onward, singing songs\nof joy.\"\n\n\"When I shake my hoary tresses,\" said the old man, darkly frowning, \"all\nthe ground is covered with snow. All the leaves fade and wither.\"\n\n\"When I shake my flowing ringlets,\" said the maiden, \"the warm rains\nfall over all the land.\"\n\nThen proudly the old man replied, \"When I walk through the forest,\neverything flees before me. The animals hide in their holes. The birds\nrise from the lakes and the marshes, and fly to distant regions.\"\n\nSoftly the maiden answered, \"When I walk through the forest, all is\nbright and joyous. The animals come from their holes. The birds return\nto the lakes and marshes. The leaves come back to the trees. The plants\nlift up their heads to kiss the breezes. And where-ever my footsteps\nwander, all the meadows wave their blossoms, all the woodlands ring with\nmusic.\"\n\n\nII\n\n\nWhile they talked, the night departed. From his shining lodge of silver\ncame the sun. The air was warm and pleasant; the streams began to\nmurmur; the birds began to sing. And a scent of growing grasses was\nwafted through the lodge.\n\nThe old man's face dropped upon his breast, and he slept. Then the\nmaiden saw more clearly the icy face before her--saw the icy face of\nwinter.\n\nSlowly she passed her hands above his head. Streams of water ran from\nhis eyes, and his body shrunk and dwindled till it faded into the\nair--vanished into the earth--and his clothing turned to green leaves.\n\nThe maiden took from her bosom the most precious flowers. Kneeling upon\nthe ground, she hid them all about among the leaves.\n\n[Illustration: The maiden hides the flowers among the leaves]\n\n\"I give you my most precious flowers and my sweetest breath,\" she said,\n\"but all who would pluck you must do so upon bended knee.\"\n\nThen the maiden moved away--through the forest and over the waking\nfields; and wherever she stepped, and nowhere else in all the land,\ngrows the trailing arbutus.\n\n--INDIAN LEGEND.\n\n\n\n\nHIDDEN TREASURE\n\nI\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was an old farmer named John Jacobs. He had heard\nthat treasures were found in odd places. He thought and thought about\nsuch treasures until he could think of nothing else; and he spent all\nhis time hunting for them. How he wished he could find a pot of gold!\n\nOne morning he arose with a bright face and said to his wife, \"At last,\nMary, I've found the treasure.\"\n\n\"No, I cannot believe it,\" she said.\n\n\"Yes,\" he answered; \"at least it is as good as found. I am only waiting\nuntil I have my breakfast. Then I will go out and bring it in.\"\n\n\"Oh, how did you find it?\" asked the wife.\n\n\"I was told about it in a dream,\" said he.\n\n\"Where is it?\"\n\n\"Under a tree in our orchard,\" said John.\n\n\"Oh, John, let us hurry and get it.\"\n\nSo they went out together into the orchard.\n\n\"Which tree is it under?\" asked the wife.\n\nJohn scratched his head and looked silly.\n\n\"I really do not know,\" he said.\n\n\"Oh, you foolish man,\" said the wife. \"Why didn't you take the trouble\nto notice?\"\n\n\"I did notice,\" said he. \"I saw the exact tree in my dream, but there\nare so many trees, here that I am confused. There is only one thing to\ndo now. I must begin with the first tree and keep on digging until I\ncome to the one with the treasure under it.\"\n\nThis made the wife lose all hope. There were eighty apple trees and a\nscore of peach trees.\n\nShe sighed and said, \"I suppose if you must, you must, but be careful\nnot to cut any of the roots.\"\n\nBy this time John was in a very bad humor. He went to work saying, \"What\ndifference does it make if I cut all the roots? The whole orchard will\nnot bear one bushel of good apples or peaches. I don't know why, for in\nfather's time it bore wagonloads of choice fruit.\"\n\n\"Well, John,\" said his wife, \"you know father used to give the trees a\ngreat deal of attention.\"\n\nBut John grumbled to himself as he went on with his digging. He dug\nthree feet deep around the first tree, but no treasure was there. He\nwent to the next tree, but found nothing; then to the next and the next,\nuntil he had dug around every tree in the orchard. He dug and dug, but\nno pot of gold did he find.\n\n\nII\n\n\nThe neighbors thought that John was acting queerly. They told other\npeople, who came to see what he was doing.\n\nThey would sit on the fence and make sly jokes about digging for hidden\ntreasure. They called the orchard \"Jacobs' folly.\"\n\nSoon John did not like to be seen in the orchard. He did not like to\nmeet his neighbors. They would laugh and say, \"Well, John, how much\nmoney did you get from the holes?\"\n\nThis made John angry. At last he said, \"I will sell the place and move\naway.\"\n\n\"Oh, no,\" said the wife, \"this has always been our home, and I cannot\nthink of leaving it. Go and fill the holes; then the neighbors will stop\nlaughing. Perhaps we shall have a little fruit this year, too. The heaps\nof earth have stood in wind and frost for months, and that will help the\ntrees.\"\n\nJohn did as his wife told him. He filled the holes with earth and\nsmoothed it over as level as before. By and by everybody forgot \"Jacobs'\nfolly.\"\n\nSoon the spring came. April was warm, and the trees burst into bloom.\n\n\"Mary,\" said John one bright spring day, \"don't you think the blossoms\nare finer than usual this year?\"\n\n\"Yes, they look as they did when your father was alive,\" said his wife.\n\n[Illustration: John's trees full of fruit]\n\nBy and by, the blooms fell, leaving a million little green apples and\npeaches. Summer passed and autumn followed. The branches of the old\ntrees could hardly hold up all the fine fruit on them.\n\nNow the neighbors came, not to make fun, but to praise. \"How did you do\nit?\" they asked.\n\n\"The trees were old and needed attention,\" said John. \"By turning the\nsoil and letting in the air, I gave them strength to bear fruit. I have\nfound the treasure after all, and I have learned a lesson. Tilling the\nsoil well is the way to get treasure from it.\"\n\n--GRIMM.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LITTLE BROWN BROTHER\n\n\n  Little brown brother, oh! little brown brother,\n    Are you awake in the dark?\n  Here we lie cozily, close to each other;\n    Hark to the song of the lark--\n\n  \"Waken!\" the lark says, \"waken and dress you;\n    Put on your green coats and gay,\n  Blue sky will shine on you, sunshine caress you--\n    Waken! 'tis morning--'tis May!\"\n\n  Little brown brother, oh! little brown brother,\n    What kind of flower will you be?\n  I'll be a poppy--all white, like my mother;\n    Do be a poppy like me.\n\n  What! you're a sunflower? How I shall miss you\n    When you're grown golden and high!\n  But I shall send all the bees up to kiss you;\n    Little brown brother, good-by!\n\n--EMILY NESBIT.\n\n\n\n\nHOW THE FLOWERS GROW\n\n\n  This is how the flowers grow;\n  I have watched them and I know:\n\n  First, above the ground is seen\n  A tiny blade of purest green,\n  Reaching up and peeping forth\n  East and west, and south and north.\n\n  Then the sunbeams find their way\n  To the sleeping bud and say,\n  \"We are children of the sun\n  Sent to wake thee, little one.\"\n\n  And the leaflet opening wide\n  Shows the tiny bud inside,\n  Peeping with half-opened eye\n  On the bright and sunny sky.\n\n  Breezes from the west and south\n  Lay their kisses on its mouth;\n  Till the petals all are grown,\n  And the bud's a flower blown.\n\n--GABRIEL SETOUN.\n\n\n\n\nWISE MEN OF GOTHAM\n\n\nOnce upon a time there were some wise men who lived in Gotham. Listen\nand you will hear how wise they were.\n\nTwelve of these wise men went fishing one day. Some went into the stream\nand some stayed on dry ground. They caught many fish and had a good\ntime.\n\nAs they came home, one of the men said, \"We have risked much wading in\nthat stream. I pray God no one of us is drowned.\"\n\n\"Why, one of us might be! Who knows?\" cried another. \"Let's see about\nit. Twelve of us went fishing this morning. We must count and see if\ntwelve are returning.\"\n\nSo one man counted, \"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,\nnine, ten, eleven.\" And he did not count himself!\n\n\"Alas! One of us is drowned!\" he cried.\n\n\"Woe be unto us! Let me count,\" said another. And he did not count\nhimself.\n\n\"Alas! alas!\" he wailed; \"truly one of us is drowned!\"\n\nThen every man counted, and each one failed to count himself.\n\n\"Alas! alas!\" they all cried; \"one of us is drowned! Which one is it?\"\n\nThey went back to the shore, and they looked up and down for him that\nwas drowned. All the time they were lamenting loudly.\n\nA courtier came riding by. \"What are you seeking?\" he asked, \"and why\nare you so sorrowful?\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said they, \"this day we came to fish in the stream. There were\ntwelve of us, but one is drowned.\"\n\n\"Why,\" said the courtier, \"count yourselves and see how many there be.\"\n\nAgain they counted, and again each man failed to count himself.\n\n\"Well, this is sad,\" said the courtier, who saw how the mistake had been\nmade. \"What will you give me if I find the twelfth man?\"\n\n\"Sir,\" cried all together, \"you may have all the money we own.\"\n\n\"Give me the money,\" said the courtier.\n\nThen he began to count. He gave the first man a whack over the shoulders\nand said, \"There is one.\"\n\nHe gave the next a whack and said, \"There is two.\" And so he counted\nuntil he came to the last man. He gave this one a sounding blow, saying,\n\"And here is the twelfth.\"\n\n\"God bless you!\" cried all the company. \"You have found our neighbor.\"\n\n--OLD ENGLISH STORY.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MILLER'S GUEST\n\nI\n\n\nA hunter who had ridden ahead in the chase was lost. The sun went down,\nand darkness fell upon the forest. The hunter blew his horn, but no\nanswer came. What should he do?\n\nAt last he heard the sound of horse's hoofs. Some one was coming. Was it\nfriend or foe? The hunter stood still, and soon a miller rode out into\nthe moonlight.\n\n\"Pray, good fellow, be so kind as to tell me the way to Nottingham,\"\nsaid the hunter.\n\n\"Nottingham? Why should you be going to Nottingham? The king and his\ncourt are there. It is not a place for the like of you,\" replied the\nmiller.\n\n\"Well, well, perhaps you are right, good miller,\" said the hunter. \"And\nyet who knows? I'll wager that the king is no better man than I am.\nHowever, it is getting late, and lodging I must have. Will you give me\nshelter for the night?\"\n\n\"Nay, nay, not so fast,\" said the miller. \"Stand forth and let me see if\nyou are a true man. Many thieves wear fine clothes these days.\"\n\nThe hunter stepped forward. \"Well, and what do you think of me?\" he\nasked gayly. \"Will you not give a stranger lodging?\"\n\n\"How do I know that you have one penny in your purse?\" asked the miller.\n\"You may carry your all on your back, for aught I know. I've heard of\nlords who are like that.\"\n\n\"True, good miller, but I have gold. If it be forty pence, I will pay\nit,\" said the hunter.\n\n\"If you are a true man, and have the pence, then lodging you may have.\nMy good wife may not like it, but we'll see,\" said the miller.\n\n\"Good!\" cried the hunter. \"And here's my hand on it.\"\n\n\"Nay, nay, not so fast,\" replied the miller. \"I must know you better\nbefore I shake hands. None but an honest man's hand will I take.\"\n\n\"Some day, my good miller,\" replied the hunter, \"I hope to have you take\nmy hand in yours. Proud will I be when the day comes.\"\n\n\nII\n\n\nAnd so to the miller's house they went. The miller again looked at the\nstranger and said, \"I like his face well. He may stay with us, may he\nnot, good wife?\"\n\n\"Yes, he is a handsome youth, but it's best not to go too fast,\" said\nthe good wife. \"He may be a runaway servant. Let him show his passport,\nand all shall be well.\"\n\nThe hunter bowed low, and said, \"I have no passport, good dame, and I\nnever was any man's servant. I am but a poor courtier who has lost his\nway. Pray give me lodging for the night. Your kindness I will surely\nrepay.\"\n\nThen the wife whispered to the miller, \"The youth is of good manners and\nto turn him out would be sin.\"\n\n\"Yea, a well-mannered youth--and one who knows his betters when he sees\nthem,\" the miller replied. \"Let the lad stay.\"\n\n\"Well, young man,\" said the wife, \"you are welcome here; and well lodged\nyou shall be, though I do say it myself. You shall have a fresh bed with\ngood brown sheets.\"\n\n\"Aye,\" said the miller, \"and you shall sleep with our own son Richard.\"\n\nThen they all sat down to supper--such a supper: pudding, apple pie, and\ngood things of all kinds. Then at a wink from the miller, the wife\nbrought out a venison pasty.\n\n\"Eat!\" said the miller. \"This is dainty food.\"\n\n\"Faith!\" cried the hunter, \"I never before ate such meat.\"\n\n\"Pshaw!\" said Richard. \"We eat this every day.\"\n\n\"Every day? Where do you buy it?\"\n\n\"Oh, never a penny pay we. In merry Sherwood Forest we find it. Now and\nthen, you see, we make bold with the king's deer.\"\n\n\"Then I think that it is venison,\" said the hunter.\n\n\"To be sure. Any fool would know that,\" replied Richard; \"but say\nnothing about it. We would not have the king hear of it.\"\n\n\"I'll keep your secret,\" said the hunter. \"Don't fear. The king shall\nnever know more than he knows now.\"\n\nAnd so the evening passed merrily. It was late when the guest sought his\nbed, but right soundly did he sleep.\n\nThe next morning the miller, the good wife, and Richard came out to see\nthe hunter on his way. Just then a party of nobles rode up.\n\n\"There's the king!\" cried one.\n\n\"Pardon, your majesty!\" cried another, and all fell upon their knees\nbefore the hunter.\n\nThe miller stood shaking and quaking, and for once his wife could not\nspeak. The king, with a grave face, drew his sword, but not a word did\nhe say.\n\nThe terrified miller threw himself at his ruler's feet, crying out for\nmercy. Again the sword was raised, and down it fell, but lightly, upon\nthe miller's shoulder, and the king said:\n\n[Illustration: The king knights the miller]\n\n\"Your kind courtesy I will repay; so I here dub thee Knight. Rise, Sir\nJohn of Mansfield.\"\n\nFor many a day the miller and his wife told of the night the king spent\nwith them. And for many a day the king told of the time he was taken for\na thief and ate of his own deer in the miller's house.\n\n--ENGLISH BALLAD (Adapted).\n\n\n\n\nSADDLE TO RAGS\n\nI\n\n\n  This story I'm going to sing,\n    I hope it will give you content,\n  Concerning a silly old man\n    That was going to pay his rent,\n  With a till-a-dill, till-a-dill-dill,\n    Till-a-dill, dill-a-dill, dee,\n  Sing fol-de-dill, dill-de-dill, dill,\n    Fol-de-dill, dill-de-dill, dee.\n\nA silly old man said to his wife one day, \"Well, 'tis time I paid my\nrent. The landlord has been away for a year and a day, but now he is\nback, and I must pay for twelve months.\"\n\n\"Yes, it's twice forty pounds that is due, and it should be paid,\" said\nthe good wife. \"So much money in the house keeps me from sleeping at\nnight.\"\n\n\"Well, I'll bridle old Tib, and away we shall go,\" said the old man.\n\"Right glad I'll be, too, to be rid of the gold.\"\n\nThe silly old man bridled old Tib and saddled her too. And away they\nstarted. As he was jogging along, a stranger came riding up on a fine\nhorse with fine saddle bags.\n\n\"Good morning, old man,\" said the stranger.\n\n\"Good morning,\" said the old man.\n\n\"How far are you going?\"\n\n\"To tell the truth, kind sir, I am going just two miles,\" said the old\nman.\n\n\"And where are you going?\" asked the stranger.\n\n\"I am going to pay my rent, kind sir,\" said the old man. \"I am but a\nsilly old man who farms a piece of ground. My rent for a half year is\nforty pounds; but my landlord has been away for a year, and now I owe\nhim eighty pounds. Right glad I am to pay it.\"\n\n\"Eighty pounds! That is indeed a large sum,\" cried the stranger, \"and\nyou ought not to tell anybody you carry so much. There are many thieves\nabout, and you might be robbed.\"\n\n\"Oh, never mind!\" said the old man. \"I do not fear thieves. My money is\nsafe in my saddle bags, on which I ride.\"\n\nSo they rode along most pleasantly.\n\nWhen they came to a thick wood, the stranger pulled out a pistol and\nsaid, \"Stand still, and give me your money.\"\n\n\"Nay,\" said the old man. \"The money is for my landlord. I will not give\nit to you.\"\n\n\"Your money or your life!\"\n\n\"Well, if you will have it, you can go for it,\" cried the old man, as he\nthrew his old saddle bags over a hedge.\n\nThe thief dismounted and said, \"Stand here and hold my horse while I go\nover the hedge. You are silly, but surely you can do that.\"\n\nThe thief climbed through the hedge. When he was on the other side, the\nold man got on the thief's horse, and away he galloped.\n\n\"Stop, stop!\" cried the thief. \"And half of my share you shall have.\"\n\n\"Nay,\" cried the man. \"I think I'll go on. I'd rather have what's in\nyour bag.\"\n\n[Illustration: The old man gallops away]\n\nAnd away he galloped, riding as he never rode before.\n\n\nII\n\n\nThe thief thought there must be something in the old man's bags; so with\nhis big rusty knife he chopped them into rags. But no money did he find,\nfor the silly old man was not so silly as he seemed. His money was in\nhis pocket.\n\nThe old man rode on to his landlord's home and paid his rent. Then he\nopened the thief's bag, which was glorious to behold. There were five\nhundred pounds in gold and silver.\n\n\"Where did you get the silver?\" asked the landlord. \"And where did you\nget the gold?\"\n\n\"I met a proud fool on the way,\" said the old man with a laugh. \"I\nswapped horses with him, and he gave me this to boot.\"\n\n\"Well, well! But you're too old to go about with so much money,\" said\nthe landlord.\n\n\"Oh, I think no one would harm a silly old man like me,\" said the\nfarmer, as he rode away.\n\nThe old man went home by a narrow lane, and there he spied Tib tied to a\ntree.\n\n\"The stranger did not like his trade, I fear,\" said he. \"So I think I'll\ntake Tib home.\"\n\nThe old man went home much richer than when he left. When she heard the\nstory, the wife danced and sang for glee. \"'Tis hard to fool my old\nman,\" said she.\n\n--ENGLISH BALLAD (_Adapted_).\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Rock-a-By Lady walking by]\n\nTHE ROCK-A-BY LADY\n\n\n  The Rock-a-By Lady from Hushaby street\n    Comes stealing; comes creeping;\n  The poppies they hang from her head to her\n      feet,\n  And each hath a dream that is tiny and fleet--\n  She bringeth her poppies to you, my sweet,\n    When she findeth you sleeping!\n\n  There is one little dream of a beautiful drum--\n    \"Rub-a-dub!\" it goeth;\n  There is one little dream of a big sugar-plum,\n  And lo! thick and fast the other dreams come\n  Of pop-guns that bang, and tin tops that hum,\n    And a trumpet that bloweth!\n\n  And dollies peep out of those wee little dreams\n    With laughter and singing;\n  And boats go a-floating on silvery streams,\n  And the stars peek-a-boo with their own misty gleams,\n  And up, up, and up, where the Mother Moon beams,\n    The fairies go winging!\n\n  Would you dream all these dreams that are tiny and fleet?\n    They'll come to you sleeping;\n  So shut the two eyes that are weary, my sweet,\n  For the Rock-a-By Lady from Hushaby street\n  With poppies that hang from her head to her feet,\n    Comes stealing; comes creeping.\n\n--EUGENE FIELD.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SANDMAN\n\n\n  The rosy clouds float overhead,\n    The sun is going down;\n  And now the sandman's gentle tread\n    Comes stealing through the town.\n  \"White sand, white sand,\" he softly cries,\n    And as he shakes his hand,\n  Straightway there lies on babies' eyes\n    His gift of shining sand.\n  Blue eyes, gray eyes, black eyes, and brown,\n  As shuts the rose, they softly close,\n    When he goes through the town.\n\n  From sunny beaches far away--\n    Yes, in another land--\n  He gathers up at break of day\n    His store of shining sand.\n  No tempests beat that shore remote,\n    No ships may sail that way;\n  His little boat alone may float\n    Within that lovely bay.\n  Blue eyes, gray eyes, black eyes, and brown,\n  As shuts the rose, they softly close,\n    When he goes through the town.\n\n[Illustration: The sandman]\n\n  He smiles to see the eyelids close\n    Above the happy eyes;\n  And every child right well he knows,\n    Oh, he is very wise!\n  But, if as he goes through the land,\n    A naughty baby cries,\n  His other hand takes dull gray sand\n    To close the wakeful eyes.\n  Blue eyes, gray eyes, black eyes, and brown,\n  As shuts the rose, they softly close,\n    When he goes through the town.\n\n  So when you hear the sandman's song\n    Sound through the twilight sweet,\n  Be sure you do not keep him long\n    A-waiting on the street.\n  Lie softly down, dear little head,\n    Rest quiet, busy hands,\n  Till, by your bed his good-night said,\n    He strews the shining sands.\n  Blue eyes, gray eyes, black eyes, and brown,\n  As shuts the rose, they softly close,\n    When he goes through the town.\n\n--MARGARET VANDERGRIFT.\n\n\n\n\nA DICTIONARY\n\n\nTo the Children: Below you will find the words in the Third Reader that\nyou may not know the meaning of, or how to pronounce. Some words have\nmore than one meaning. In looking for the meaning of a word, choose the\nmeaning that best fits the sentence in which the word occurs.\n\nad ven ture: a bold undertaking.\naf fec tion: love.\na gree ment: a bargain.\nal mond: a nut.\nam ber: of the color of amber-yellow.\nap plaud ed: praised.\nar bu tus: a trailing plant with small pinkish-white blossoms.\nA tri (Ah tree): a town in Italy.\naught: anything.\n\nBau cis (Bor sis): a Greek woman.\nbel lows (lus): an instrument for blowing a fire, used by blacksmiths.\nbil low: a great wave.\nblithe (bl=ithe): joyous, glad.\nbred: brought up.\nbur dock: a coarse plant with bur-like heads.\ncard: an instrument for combing cotton, wool, or flax.\nchase: hunt; pursuit.\nchris ten ing: naming a child at baptism.\ncliff: a high, steep face of rock.\ncom rade (kom rad): a mate, a companion.\nCon al (C~on' al): an Irish lad.\ncon ceit ed: proud, vain.\ncon fess: to own; to admit.\ncoun cil: a small body called together for a trial, or to decide a matter.\ncourt ier (court' yer): an attendant at the court of a prince.\ncrime: a wicked act punishable by law.\ncrouch: to stoop low.\n\ndan ger: risk.\nde li cious: pleasing to the taste.\nde nied: disowned.\ndepths: deep part of sea.\nde stroy: break up; kill.\ndis tress: suffering of mind.\ndock: a place between piers where vessels may anchor.\nDon al (D~on' al): an Irish lad.\ndor mouse (dor mous'): a small animal that looks like a squirrel.\ndrought (drout): want of water.\ndub: call.\ndumps: low spirits.\n\neaves: overhanging lower edges of a roof.\nem bers: smouldering ashes.\nem per or: ruler of an empire.\nem press: wife of an emperor; a female ruler.\nen chant ed: bewitched.\nen e my: foe.\nes tab lish: to found.\nex act ly: completely.\nex haust ed: tired, worn out.\nex tend ing: reaching.\n\nfam ine: scarcity of food.\nfes ti val: a time of feasting.\nflax: a slender plant with blue flowers, used to make thread and cloth.\nfol ly: foolishness.\nfoot man: a man servant.\nforge: a place with its furnace where metal is heated and hammered into\n    different shapes.\nfra grance: sweetness.\nfree dom: independence, liberty.\n\ngauz y: like gauze, thin.\nGot ham (Got am): a village in Old England, commonly called G=o tham.\ngrate ful: thankful.\ngroom: a servant in charge of horses.\nguard: one that guards; a watch.\n\nhail ing: calling.\nhar bor: a protected body of water where vessels may anchor safely.\nhaught y: proud.\nher ald: a messenger.\nHo ang ti (H=o ~ang tee): an emperor of China.\nhoar y: white.\nhorse-chest nut: a tree.\nhu man: like men.\nhu mor: mood, disposition.\n\nin no cent: guiltless.\nin spect: examine.\nin stant ly: at once.\nin vent ed: made.\n\njest: joke.\nju ni per: an evergreen, tree.\njus tice: right treatment.\n\nking dom: country belonging\nto king or queen.\nkirk: church.\nknight: a mounted man-at-arms.\n\nlad en: loaded.\nla ment ed: wailed, wept.\nlin en: thread or cloth made of flax.\nlodge: dwelling place; wigwam.\nloom: a machine for weaving threads into cloth.\nlus cious: delicious.\n\nMan i tou (too): a name given by the Indians to the \"Great Spirit,\" or God.\nmarsh es: swamps.\nmer cy: pity, kindness.\nmin is ter: a pastor, a clergyman.\nmis for tune: bad fortune.\nmoc ca sin: Indian shoes.\nmoor: to secure in place, as a vessel: a great tract of waste land.\nmoult ed: shed feathers.\n\nno bles: lords.\nnurs er y: play room for children.\n\no blige: do a favor.\no rang ou tang: a kind of ape.\nor der ly: regular; in order.\n\npage: a youth training for knighthood.\npas try (p=as): article of food made with crust of paste (or dough) as a\n    pie.\npeas ant (p~es): a tiller of the soil.\npe can: a kind of nut.\nPe kin duck: a large, creamy white duck.\npest: a nuisance.\nPhi le mon (F=i l=e' mon): a Greek peasant.\npil lar: a support.\npin ing: drooping; longing.\npound: a piece of English money, equal to about $5.00 in United States\n    money.\nprai rie: an extensive tract of level or rolling land.\n\nrag ing: furious, violent.\nrec og nized: known.\nre flec tion: image.\nref uge: shelter.\nre fused: declined to do.\nreign ing (rain): ruling.\nre mote: distant.\nrest less: eager for change, discontented; unquiet.\nre store: to return, to give back.\nroe buck: male deer.\nrunt: an animal unusually small of its kind.\n\nsad dle bags: a pair of pouches attached to a saddle, used to carry\n    small articles.\nSalis bur y (Sauls): a town in North Carolina.\nsav age: wild, untamed.\nscare crow: an object set up to scare crows and other birds away from\n    crops.\nscore: the number twenty.\nserv ice: benefit, favor.\nshek el: ancient coin.\nshreds: strips, fragments.\nSi ling (Se): a Chinese empress.\nsim ple ton: a foolish person.\nsix pence: six pennies--about twelve cents in United States money.\nsquire: a justice of the peace.\nstate ly: dignified, majestic.\nstat ues: likeness of a human being cut out of stone.\nsteeped: soaked.\nstriv ing: laboring, endeavoring.\nstub ble: stumps of grain left in ground, as after reaping.\n\ntab lets: a flat piece on which to write.\ntasks: work, undertaking.\ntem pest: storm.\ntem ple: a kind of church.\nthriv ing: prospering, succeeding.\ntid ings: news.\ntill ing: cultivating.\ntim id ly: shyly.\ntink er ing: mending.\ntithing man (t=ith): officer who enforced good behavior.\ntor por: numbness, dullness.\ntread: step.\ntri als: efforts, attempts.\ntroop: an armed force.\n\n\nu su al: ordinary, common.\n\nvain: proud, conceited; to no purpose.\nvan ished: disappeared.\nven i son (ven' z'n): flesh of deer.\nvic to ry: triumph.\nvol un teer: one who offers himself for a service.\n\nwa ger (wa jer): bet.\nwages: carries on.\nwand: a small stick.\nwidth: breadth.\nwig wam: Indian tent.\nwis dom: learning, knowledge.\n\nyarn: thread.\n\nZeus (Z=us): a Greek god.\n\n\n\n\nWORD LIST\n\n\nThis list contains the words in the Child's World Third Reader, except\nthose already used in the earlier books of this series, and a few that\npresent no difficulty in spelling, pronunciation or meaning.\n\n9\nGreece\nPhilemon\nBaucis\nunhappy\nhives\n\n10\ngathered\ncouple\nZeus\nbeggars\n\n11\nattend\nfootsore\nherbs\nalthough\npitcher\n\n13\ndisappeared\nhomeward\n\n14\nfeeble\nlinden\n\n15\ntreasure\nlucky\nIris\nprecious\n\n16\nmessenger\nswift-footed\nMercury\nawakened\n\n17\nhereafter\nhonest\nupright\n\n18\nblossoms\nluscious\nharsh\n\n19\nhues\nfrolic\nglistened\nwrestled\nscurried\n\n21\nfluttered\nspeckled\ntender\n\n22\nparents\nmoment\nremained\npraised\n\n25\nzigzag\nremote\ncomrade\nblithe\namber\nbillows\nstubble\nbracing\n\n26\nplantation\nspindle\n\n28\nwoven\nloom\nruffles\n\n29\nEngland\nbuttonholes\n\n30\nshepherd\nshearers\n\n32\ndyers\n\n33\ncolored\nplaid\n\n34\nHoangti\nemperor\nChina\nSi-ling\nempress\nsuddenly\n\n35\ncocoons\n\n37\ndainty\nlinen\n\n38\nfrightful\nsteeped\n\n39\nsuffered\naprons\n\n40\nshreds\npulp\nglorious\nsurprise\nverses\n\n41\nisles\nthousands\nprayers\n\n42\nHillmen\nhousewife\nbargains\n\n43\nsaucepan\naye\nsixpence\ntinkering\n\n44\nrefused\nmuttered\nvexed\nchimney\n\n45\nscoured\nspoiled\nexclaimed\n\n46\nshelter\nDormouse\nlest\n\n47\ngracious\nlamented\ninvented\n\n48\nAtri\nheralds\nye\ncomplaint\nmessage\n\n49\nguilty\n\n50\narousing\njustice\n\n51\nsteed\nundertone\njest\n\n52\napplauded\n\n53\nsavage\n\n54\ndragged\njudge\nprison\n\n55\ndenied\nwisdom\n\n56\nlabor\nhoneycomb\n\n57\nartists\nextending\npoets\naffection\nwell-deserved\n\n59\ndreadful\nworry\nhorrid\nnotice\n\n62\nbusiness\n\n65\nperfectly\nbreath\n\n67\nEpaminondas\ngranny\n\n75\nservice\n\n76\nobliged\ngently\n\n77\ntremendous\nmarvelous\n\n78\nforbid\nallow\n\n81\ncaramels\nalmond\npecan\ntaffy\n\n82\nexcept\nChrist\n\n84\nPedro\naltar\ndistress\n\n86\nstately\nhaughty\n\n88\nmusician\n\n90\nfamily\nscare\npantry\n\n94\nchocolate\n\n95\nwhiskers\ndanger\n\n101\nhuddled\nwailed\nusual\nfaint\n\n102\ncheerful\npardon\n\n104\nchorus\nshriller\nchubby\nbundled\n\n106\nfurniture\nmirror\nreflection\n\n108\ndisgusted\n\n110\nsatisfied\noiling\n\n111\nbow-legged\nconceited\n\n112\nremarked\nwidth\n\n113\nclattering\nastonished\n\n114\nfault\nrecognized\n\n115\nshekels\n\n116\nimpossible\ncaliph\n\n117\ncourtier\npresence\nrefused\n\n119\ncompanion\n\n120\nrazors\nagreement\n\n121\ninstantly\n\n122\ncozy\ndrowsy\n\n124\nPuritans\nSabbath\n\n125\nIndians\nworship\n\n126\nsermon\nminister\n\n127\ntithingman\npeppermint\n\n130\nfreedom\nregular\nVermont\nable-bodied\nAmericans\nvolunteers\n\n131\ninspect\n\n133\nvictory\n\n134\npresident\nSalisbury\n\n135\nimpatient\ngovernor\n\n138\ndelicious\nheartily\n\n139\nmurmuring\npapoose\nprairie\nManitou\n\n140\ndrought\ncouncil\n\n142\ndeclared\nsleek\n\n144\nresin\nselfish\n\n147\nmentioned\nloose\n\n149\nhominy\nsharpened\n\n154\nestablish\nharbor\nmoored\norderly\n\n155\nnursery\nscattered\n\n156\nfamine\nOrang-outang\n\n157\njourney\nmagic\n\n160\nrefuge\ngrateful\nrestore\ninnocent\n\n161\nfavorite\nwhirlwind\n\n162\nkingdom\nconfess\nrejoicing\n\n163\npenniless\nsimpleton\nnevertheless\n\n164\ndestroy\nhuman\n\n165\nenchanted\ntablets\n\n166\nperforms\nprincesses\n\n167\ncollected\npearls\n\n168\ndepths\nexactly\nsyrup\n\n172\nchristening\ngodmothers\n\n174\nnightingale\nspitefully\n\n175\ngrieve\nvanished\nmisfortune\n\n177\nembroidering\ndeparted\nroyal\n\n178\nreigning\npeasant\ndetermined\nguards\nmotionless\n\n179\nstatues\n\n181\ncanals\nburdocks\n\n182\nparson\ncheated\n\n186\nmiserable\nmoor\n\n189\nterror\ncruel\n\n190\nclumsy\nmatters\n\n192\nglossy\nmoulted\nnaked\n\n193\nhorrible\nsky-rocket\n\n195\nstrength\nturtle dove\n\n196\nRussian\n\n199\njuniper\n\n201\ntrespass-money\n\n202\nmischief\ndamages\nringleader\n\n205\ngooseherd\nexcuse\n\n206\nIreland\n\n208\nexhausted\ndiamonds\n\n211\ntrousers\ngreedily\n\n212\ntorpor\ngauzy\n\n213\nfragrance\nKilling-worth\n\n214\nsquire\ntimidly\n\n215\noriole\nweevils\nenemy\ncontradict\n\n216\nstarvation\ncaterpillars\nfoe\n\n218\narbutus\ntempest\n\n219\nmoccasins\nembers\nadventures\n\n220\nhoary\njoyous\nmarshes\nringlets\n\n221\nshrunk\nbosom\nscent\n\n223\ntreasures\n\n224\nconfused\nhumor\nscore\n\n225\nattention\nfolly\n\n227\nmillion\ntilling\n\n228\ncaress\n\n229\nleaflet\npetals\n\n230\nGotham\nwoe\n\n223\nNottingham\nwager\n\n234\naught\nlodging\n\n235\npassport\nyouth\nservant\n\n236\nvenison\npasty\nSherwood\n\n237\nmajesty\nterrified\n\n246\nstraightway\nbeaches\n\n248\ntwilight\nstrews","title":"The Child's World: Third Reader","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":34905}