{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_26177/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_26177","id":"gutenberg_26177","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26177","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Storytelling","Tales"],"text":"Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Delphine Lettau, and the\nOnline Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\n THE\n\n BOOK OF STORIES\n\n FOR THE STORY-TELLER\n\n\n\n by\n\n FANNY E. COE\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n GEORGE G. HARRAP & CO. LTD.\n\n LONDON CALCUTTA SYDNEY\n\n\n\n\n\n\n _First published March 1914_\n\n _by_ GEORGE G. HARRAP & COMPANY\n\n _39-41 Parker Street, Kingsway, London, W. C._\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n\n\n_Preface_\n\n\nThere is no need here to enter a plea for story-telling. Its value in\nthe home and in the school is assured. Miss Bryant, in her charming\nbook, _How to Tell Stories to Children_, says, \"Perhaps never, since\nthe really old days, has story-telling so nearly reached a recognized\nlevel of dignity as a legitimate and general art of entertainment as\nnow.\" And, in the guise of entertainment, the story is often the\nvehicle conveying to the child the wholesome moral lesson or the bit\nof desirable knowledge so necessary to his well-being at the time.\nThus it has come to be recognized that the ability to tell a story\nwell is an important part of the equipment of the parent or the\nteacher of little children.\n\nThe parent is often at a loss for fresh material. Sometimes he \"makes\nup\" a story, with but poor satisfaction to himself or his child. The\nteacher's difficulty is quite otherwise. She knows of many good\nstories, but these same stories are scattered through many books, and\nthe practical difficulty of finding time in her already overcrowded\ndays for frequent trips to the library is well-nigh insurmountable.\nThe quest is indefinitely postponed, with the result that the stories\nare either crowded out altogether, or that the teacher repeats the few\ntales she has at hand month after month, and year after year, until\nall freshness and inspiration are gone from the story time.\n\nThe stories in the present collection are drawn from many nations and\nfrom widely differing sources. Folk tales, modern fairy tales, and\nmyths have a generous showing; and there is added a new field as a\nsource for stories. This is Real Life, in which children soon begin to\ntake decided interest. Under this heading appear tales of child life,\nof child heroes, of adult heroes, and of animals.\n\nMr Herbert L. Willett, of the University of Chicago, has said: \"It is\nnot through formal instruction that a child receives his impulses\ntoward virtue, honour and courtesy. It is rather from such appeal to\nthe emotions as can be made most effectually through the telling of a\nstory. The inculcation of a duty leaves him passionless and unmoved.\nThe narrative of an experience in which that same virtue finds\nconcrete embodiment fires him with the desire to try the same conduct\nfor himself. Few children fail to make the immediate connection\nbetween the hero or heroine of the story and themselves.\"\n\nBecause of this great principle of imitation, a large number of the\nstories in this little volume have been chosen for their moral value.\nThey present the virtues of persistence, faithfulness, truthfulness,\nhonesty, generosity, loyalty to one's word, tender care of animals,\nand love of friends and family. Some themes are emphasized more than\nonce. \"Hans the Shepherd Boy,\" \"The Story of Li'l' Hannibal,\" and\n\"Dust under the Rug,\" teach wholesome facts in regard to work. \"The\nFeast of Lanterns\" and \"The Pot of Gold\" emphasize the truth that\n\n East or west,\n Hame's best.\n\nFilial devotion shines from the stories of \"Anders' New Cap,\" \"How the\nSun, the Moon, and the Wind went out to Dinner,\" and \"The Wolf-Mother\nof Saint-Ailbe.\"\n\nThe form of each story is such that the parent or teacher can tell or\nread the story, as it appears in the book, with only such slight\nmodification as his intimate knowledge of the individual child or\nclass would naturally prompt him to make.\n\nThe compiler wishes especially to express her appreciation for many\nhelpful suggestions as to material received from Mrs Mary W. Cronan,\nteller of stories at various branches of the Boston Public Library.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n\n\n_Contents_\n\n\nFOLK TALES\n PAGE\n\nTHE FOX AND THE WOLF 11\n\nTHE FOX AND THE CAT _R. Nesbit Bain_ 16\n\nTHE HOBYAHS _Carolyn Sherwin Bailey_ 19\n\nHOW THE SUN, THE MOON, AND THE WIND\n WENT OUT TO DINNER _Fanny E. Coe_ 23\n\nA LEGEND OF THE NORTH WIND _Mary Catherine Judd_ 26\n\nHOW THE ROBIN'S BREAST BECAME RED _Flora J. Cooke_ 30\n\nHOW THE ROBIN CAME 32\n\nTHE STORY OF THE RED-HEADED WOODPECKER 35\n\nTHE LITTLE RABBITS _Joel Chandler Harris_ 38\n\n\"HEYO, HOUSE\" _Joel Chandler Harris_ 44\n\nTEENCHY DUCK\n\n _From the French of Frederic Ortoli_\n\n _Translated by Joel Chandler Harris_ 49\n\nST CHRISTOPHER 63\n\nWONDERING JACK _James Baldwin_ 68\n\nTHE FEAST OF LANTERNS\n\n _From W. T. Stead's \"Books for the Bairns\"_ 81\n\n\nMODERN FAIRY TALES\n\n\nPRINCE HARWEDA AND THE MAGIC PRISON _Elizabeth Harrison_ 93\n\nTHE HOP-ABOUT MAN _Agnes Grozier Herbertson_ 107\n\nTHE STREET MUSICIANS _Lida McMurry_ 118\n\nTHE STRAW OX _R. Nesbit Bain_ 124\n\nTHE NECKLACE OF TRUTH _Jean Mace_ 131\n\nANDERS' NEW CAP _Anna Wohlenberg_ 136\n\nDUST UNDER THE RUG _Maud Lindsay_ 142\n\nA NIGHT WITH SANTA CLAUS _Annie R. Annan_ 149\n\nTHE STORY OF LI'L' HANNIBAL _Carolyn Sherwin Bailey_ 157\n\nHOW WRY-FACE PLAYED A TRICK ON\n ONE-EYE, THE POTATO-WIFE _Agnes Grozier Herbertson_ 164\n\nTHE POT OF GOLD _Horace E. Scudder_ 176\n\nTHE FROG-TSAREVNA _R. Nesbit Bain_ 188\n\nOEYVIND AND MARIT _Bjoerne Bjoerneson_ 197\n\nTHE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES 207\n\n\nMYTHS\n\n\nRHOECUS _Fanny E. Coe_ 214\n\nKING SOLOMON AND THE ANTS _Flora J. Cooke_ 217\n\nTHE STORY OF PEGASUS _Fanny E. Coe_ 219\n\nTHE WOLF-MOTHER OF SAINT AILBE _Abbie Farwell Brown_ 223\n\nWHO WAS THE MIGHTIER? _Fanny E. Coe_ 231\n\n\nSTORIES FROM REAL LIFE\n\n\nHANS THE SHEPHERD BOY _Ella Lyman Cabot_ 234\n\nNATHAN AND THE BEAR _M. A. L. Lane_ 236\n\nTHE MAN ON THE CHIMNEY _Fanny E. Coe_ 241\n\nPOCAHONTAS _E. A. and M. F. Blaisdell_ 244\n\nTHE DAY KIT AND KAT WENT FISHING _Lucy Fitch Perkins_ 247\n\nTHE HONEST FARMER _Ella Lyman Cabot_ 257\n\nDAMON AND PYTHIAS _Ella Lyman Cabot_ 259\n\nLINCOLN'S UNVARYING KINDNESS _Fanny E. Coe_ 261\n\nHOW MOLLY SPENT HER SIXPENCE _Eliza Orne White_ 265\n\nHANS AND HIS DOG _Maud Lindsay_ 275\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n\n\n_The Fox and the Wolf_\n\n_A Russian Fable_\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a fox so shrewd that, although he was\nneither so fleet of foot, nor so strong of limb, as many of his\nkindred, he nevertheless managed to feed as comfortably as any of\nthem.\n\nOne winter's day, feeling rather hungry, he trotted out of his lair to\ntake a look round. The neighbouring farmers guarded their hen-roosts\nso carefully from his depredations that a nice fat hen was out of the\nquestion, and the weather was too cold to tempt the rabbits out of\ntheir snug warren. Therefore Mr Fox set his wits to work and kept his\neyes open for what might come along.\n\nAfter a while, as he slunk along the bottom of a dry ditch, he\ndescried in the distance an old man driving a cart. This was Truvor,\nthe fisherman, who, since two or three days of December sunshine had\nmelted the ice, had had a good catch of fish in the lake by the\nmountain-side.\n\n\"Aha!\" said the fox to himself, \"I should relish a dinner of fine,\nfresh trout. Truvor is far too selfish to share them with me, so I\nwill have them all.\"\n\nTo achieve the purpose in view, he laid himself flat in the road over\nwhich the fisherman must pass and pretended to be dead. The fisherman\nbeheld him with surprise when he drew near, and jumping from his seat\npoked his sleek sides with his whip. The fox did not move a muscle,\nand Truvor decided that he had been frozen to death by the cold of the\npreceding night.\n\n\"I will take him home to my wife,\" he remarked, as he flung the limp\nbody into his cart. \"His coat will make a very nice rug for our\nparlour, and she can use his brush to dust with.\"\n\nThe fox had much ado to refrain from laughing when he heard this and\nfound himself amongst the fish. They smelt delicious, but he did not\nthink it wise to eat them then, so he silently dropped them one by one\ninto the road, and when the cart was empty, sprang out himself.\nKnowing nothing of what had been going on, the old man drove on until\nhe reached his cottage.\n\n\"Come and see what I have brought you!\" he called to his wife. You can\nimagine the good woman's disgust when she found the cart quite empty.\nNot only was she without the rug, but they would have no dinner.\n\nMeanwhile, the fox was thoroughly enjoying himself. The fish that he\ncould not eat he hid away under a heap of grasses that he might make\nuse of them some other time. While engaged in this occupation a wolf\ncame up.\n\n\"Won't you give me a taste, little brother?\" he asked. \"I have had no\nfood for the last two days, and know not where to seek it.\"\n\n\"You have nothing to do but to go to the lake and dip your tail over\nthe edge of the bank, or through a hole in the ice if the water has\nfrozen over again, as I expect it has done from the nip in the air. If\nyou say these words: 'Come, little fish and big fish. Come!' the\nfinest fish will take hold of the bait, and when you feel them hanging\non you will have only to whisk your tail out of the water.\"\n\nThe wolf was a dull and stupid fellow and, never doubting the fox,\nhied him off to the lake. Sure enough the water had once more frozen\nover, but, finding a hole, he thrust in his tail and rammed it\nthrough, and sat down to wait till the fish should come. The fox was\ndelighted to find him still sitting there as he passed by, and looking\nat the sky above him murmured: \"Sky, sky, keep clear! Water, water,\nfreeze, freeze!\"\n\n\"What are you saying?\" inquired the wolf, without turning his head.\n\n\"Nothing at all,\" replied the fox. \"I was only trying to help you.\"\nThen he went his way, and the wolf sat on all through the night.\n\nWhen morning came he was cramped with cold, and tried to draw out his\ntail. Finding this impossible, since the water had frozen fast around\nit, he congratulated himself on having caught so many fish that their\nweight prevented him from lifting his tail. He was still pondering how\nto transfer them to the surface when some women came to fill their\nwater jars.\n\n\"A wolf! a wolf!\" they exclaimed excitedly. \"Oh, come and kill it!\"\n\nTheir cries soon brought their husbands to their sides, and all united\nin belabouring the wolf. With a great effort, however, he managed to\nfree his tail, and ran off howling into the woods.\n\nThe fox, meantime, had profited by the absence of the householders to\nmake a good meal, visiting the various larders, and feasting at will\non the daintiest morsels he could find. Having eaten rather more than\nwas good for him, he felt disinclined for much exercise, and\ndetermined to go in search of the wolf that he might induce him to\ncarry him home.\n\nHis sense of hearing being unusually keen, even for a fox, he was soon\nguided to the wolf's retreat by his mournful howls.\n\n\"Look at my tail,\" cried the wretched animal, as the fox poked his\nnose through the bushes. \"See what trouble you brought upon me with\nyour advice! I am in such pain that I can scarcely keep still.\"\n\n\"Look at my head,\" returned the fox, who had carefully dipped it into\na flour bin after greasing it with butter that it might have the\nappearance of having been skinned. The wolf was kind-hearted, though\nstupid, and his sympathy was at once aroused.\n\n\"Jump on my back, little brother,\" he said, \"and I will carry you\nhome.\"\n\nThis was exactly what the fox had been scheming for, and the words\nwere hardly out ere he had taken a comfortable seat. As he rode home\nin this way he hummed to himself a sly little song to the effect that\nhe who was hurt carried him who had no hurt. Arrived at the end of his\njourney, he scampered off without a word of thanks, and, as he made a\nhearty supper on the remaining fish, he chuckled at the remembrance of\nthe trick he had played the stupid wolf.\n\n\n\n\nThe Fox and the Cat[1]\n\nR. NESBIT BAIN\n\n\nIn a certain forest there once lived a fox, and near to the fox lived\na man who had a cat that had been a good mouser in its youth, but was\nnow old and half blind.\n\n[Footnote 1: From _Cossack Fairy Tales_ (London: George G. Harrap and\nCompany).]\n\nThe man didn't want Puss any longer, but not liking to kill it he took\nit out into the forest and lost it there. Then the fox came up and\nsaid: \"Why, Mr Shaggy Matthew, how d'ye do? What brings you here?\"\n\n\"Alas!\" said Pussy, \"my master loved me as long as I could bite, but\nnow that I can bite no longer and have left off catching mice--and I\nused to catch them finely once--he doesn't like to kill me, but he has\nleft me in the wood, where I must perish miserably.\"\n\n\"No, dear Pussy!\" said the fox; \"you leave it to me, and I'll help you\nto get your daily bread.\"\n\n\"You are very good, dear little sister foxey!\" said the cat, and the\nfox built him a little shed with a garden round it to walk in.\n\nNow one day the hare came to steal the man's cabbage.\n\"_Kreem-kreem-kreem!_\" he squeaked. But the cat popped his head out of\nthe window, and when he saw the hare he put up his back and stuck up\nhis tail and said: \"_Ft-t-t-t-t-Frrrrrrr!_\"\n\nThe hare was frightened and ran away, and told the bear, the wolf and\nthe wild boar all about it.\n\n\"Never mind,\" said the bear. \"I tell you what, we'll all four give a\nbanquet, and invite the fox and the cat, and do for the pair of them.\nNow, look here! I'll steal the man's mead; and you, Mr Wolf, steal his\nfat-pot; and you, Mr Wildboar, root up his fruit-trees; and you, Mr\nBunny, go and invite the fox and the cat to dinner.\"\n\nSo they made everything ready as the bear had said, and the hare ran\noff to invite the guests. He came beneath the window and said: \"We\ninvite your little ladyship Foxey-Woxey, together with Mr Shaggy\nMatthew, to dinner,\" and back he ran again.\n\n\"But you should have told them to bring their spoons with them,\" said\nthe bear.\n\n\"Oh, what a head I've got!--if I didn't quite forget!\" cried the hare,\nand back he went again, ran beneath the window and cried: \"Mind you\nbring your spoons!\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said the fox.\n\nSo the cat and the fox went to the banquet, and when the cat saw the\nbacon he put up his back and stuck out his tail, and cried: \"_Mee-oo,\nmee-oo!_\" with all his might. But they thought he said: \"_Ma-lo,\nma-lo!_\"[2]\n\n[Footnote 2: \"What a little! What a little!\"]\n\n\"What!\" said the bear, who was hiding behind the beeches with the\nother beasts, \"here have we four been getting together all we could,\nand this pig-faced cat calls it too little! What a monstrous cat he\nmust be to have such an appetite!\"\n\nSo they were all four very frightened, and the bear ran up a tree, and\nthe others hid where they could.\n\nBut when the cat saw the boar's bristles sticking out from behind the\nbushes he thought it was a mouse, and put up his back again and cried:\n\"_Ft! ft! ft! Frrrrrrr!_\" Then they were more frightened than ever.\nAnd the boar went into a bush still farther off, and the wolf went\nbehind an oak, and the bear got down from the tree, and climbed up\ninto a bigger one, and the hare ran right away.\n\nBut the cat remained in the midst of all the good things and ate away\nat the bacon, and the little fox gobbled up the honey, and they ate\nand ate till they couldn't eat any more, and then they both went home\nlicking their paws.\n\n\n\n\n_The Hobyahs_\n\nCAROLYN SHERWIN BAILEY\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a little old man and a little old woman\nin a house all made of hemp stalks. And they had a little dog named\nTurpie who always barked when anyone came near the house.\n\nOne night when the little old man and the little old woman were fast\nasleep, _creep_, _creep_, through the woods came the Hobyahs, skipping\nalong on the tips of their toes.\n\n\"Tear down the hemp stalks. Eat up the little old man, and carry away\nthe little old woman,\" cried the Hobyahs.\n\nThen little dog Turpie ran out, barking loudly, and he frightened the\nHobyahs so that they ran away home again.\n\nBut the little old man woke from his dreams, and he said:\n\n\"Little dog Turpie barks so loudly that I can neither slumber nor\nsleep. In the morning I will take off his tail.\"\n\nSo when morning came, the little old man took off little Turpie's tail\nto cure him of barking.\n\nThe second night along came the Hobyahs, _creep_, _creep_, through the\nwoods, skipping along on the tips of their toes, and they cried:\n\n\"Tear down the hemp stalks. Eat up the little old man, and carry away\nthe little old woman.\"\n\nThen the little dog Turpie ran out again, barking so loudly that he\nfrightened the Hobyahs, and they ran away home again.\n\nBut the little old man tossed in his sleep, and he said:\n\n\"Little dog Turpie barks so loudly that I can neither slumber nor\nsleep. In the morning I will take off his legs.\"\n\nSo when morning came, the little old man took off Turpie's legs to\ncure him of barking.\n\nThe third night the Hobyahs came again, skipping along on the tips of\ntheir toes, and they called out:\n\n\"Tear down the hemp stalks. Eat up the little old man, and carry away\nthe little old woman.\"\n\nThe little dog Turpie barked very loudly, and he frightened the\nHobyahs so that they ran away home again.\n\nBut the little old man heard Turpie, and he sat up in bed, and he\nsaid:\n\n\"Little dog Turpie barks so loudly that I can neither slumber nor\nsleep. In the morning I will take off his head.\"\n\nSo when morning came, the little old man took off Turpie's head, and\nthen Turpie could not bark any more.\n\nThat night the Hobyahs came again, skipping along on the tips of their\ntoes, and they called out:\n\n\"Tear down the hemp stalks. Eat up the little old man, and carry off\nthe little old woman.\"\n\nNow, since little dog Turpie could not bark any more, there was no one\nto frighten the Hobyahs away. They tore down the hemp stalks, they\ntook the little old woman away in their bag, but the little old man\nthey could not get, for he hid himself away under the bed.\n\nThen the Hobyahs hung the bag which held the little old woman up in\ntheir house, and they poked it with their fingers, and they cried:\n\n\"Look you! Look you!\"\n\nBut when daylight came, they went to sleep, for Hobyahs, you know,\nsleep all day.\n\nThe little old man was very sorry when he found that the little old\nwoman was gone. He knew then what a good little dog Turpie had been to\nguard the house at night, so he fetched Turpie's tail, and his legs,\nand his head, and gave them back to him again.\n\nThen Turpie went sniffing and snuffing along to find the little old\nwoman, and soon came to the Hobyahs' house. He heard the little old\nwoman crying in the bag, and he saw that the Hobyahs were all fast\nasleep. So he went inside.\n\nThen he cut open the bag with his sharp teeth, and the little old\nwoman hopped out and ran home; but Turpie got inside the bag to hide.\nWhen night came, the Hobyahs woke up, and they went to the bag, and\nthey poked it with their fingers, crying:\n\n\"Look you! Look you!\"\n\nBut out of the bag jumped little dog Turpie, and he ate every one of\nthe Hobyahs. And that is why there are not any Hobyahs now.\n\n\n\n\n_How the Sun, the Moon, and the Wind went out to Dinner_[3]\n\nFANNY E. COE\n\n\nOnce upon a time the Sun, the Moon, and the Wind went to dine with\ntheir uncle and aunt, the Thunder and the Lightning. They said\ngood-bye to their mother, the Evening Star, crossed the great dark\narching sky, and came to the deep cave where live Thunder and\nLightning.\n\n[Footnote 3: A folk-story of India.]\n\nHere a wonderful feast was spread, and all sat down to enjoy it.\n\nNow the Sun and the Wind were very greedy. They bent their heads low\nover their plates and they ate and ate of every dish that was passed\nto them. They thought of nothing but themselves and the good food\nbefore them.\n\nBut the Moon remembered her mother at home. Of every delicious dish\nshe saved a portion for the Star.\n\nAt last the evening was over and they returned to their home.\n\n\"Well, my children, what have you brought to me?\" asked their mother,\nthe Star.\n\n\"I have brought you nothing,\" said the Sun. \"I was having a jolly\nevening with my friends, and, of course, I couldn't fetch a dinner to\nyou!\"\n\n\"Neither have I brought you anything, mother!\" said the Wind. \"How it\nwould have looked to be taking double portions of every dish!\"\n\nThen the Moon stepped forward. \"Bring a plate, mother, for see!\" She\nopened her hands and showered down rich fruit and delicious cakes\nwhich she had saved for her mother.\n\nThen the Star turned to the Sun and said: \"Because you forgot your\nmother at home, in the midst of your selfish pleasures, this is your\ndoom. You shall burn, and burn, and burn with great heat, and men\nshall hate you. They shall cover their heads when you appear and seek\nthe spots where your heat cannot beat upon them.\"\n\nAnd that is why the Sun is so hot even to-day.\n\nThen the Star turned to the Wind and said: \"Because you also forgot\nyour mother at home, in the midst of your selfish pleasures, this is\nyour doom. You shall blow, blow, blow the hot sand and dust before you\nuntil men shall hate you. They shall flee from your face to the cool\nhills and even to faraway lands where the trees and grass are not\nparched and shrivelled by your fiery breath.\"\n\nAnd that is why the Wind in the hot weather is so disagreeable.\n\nThen the Star turned to the Moon and said: \"Because you thought of\nyour mother, in the midst of your happiness, receive my blessing.\nHenceforth your light shall be so soft, so cool, and so silvery, that\nall men shall delight in you and your beams. They shall seek to have\nyou smile with favour upon all their loves and all their plans. They\nshall call you blessed.\"\n\nAnd that is why the light of the Moon is so cool, and so bright, and\nso beautiful to this very day.\n\n\n\n\n_A Legend of the North Wind_\n\nMARY CATHERINE JUDD\n\n\nNorth wind likes a bit of fun as dearly as a boy does, and it is with\nboys he likes best to play.\n\nOne day, North Wind saw a brave little fellow eating his lunch under a\ntree. Just as he went to bite his bread, North Wind blew it out of his\nhand and swept away everything else that he had brought for his lunch.\n\n\"You hateful North Wind!\" cried the little fellow. \"Give me back my\nsupper, I'm so hungry.\"\n\nNow North Wind, like all brave beings, is noble, and so he tried to\nmake up for the mischief he had done.\n\n\"Here, take this tablecloth,\" said North Wind, \"and in whatever house\nyou stay, spread it on the table; then wish, and you shall have\neverything you wish for to eat.\"\n\n\"Thank you!\" said the boy, and he took the tablecloth and ran as fast\nas he could to the first house, which proved to be an inn.\n\n\"I have enough to pay for lodging, so I'll stay all night,\" he said to\nhimself.\n\n\"Bring me a table,\" he ordered the innkeeper, as he went to his room.\n\n\"Ha! ha!\" laughed the innkeeper. \"You mean bring me a supper.\"\n\n\"No, I don't. I want only a table and that right quick. I'm hungry.\"\n\nThe innkeeper brought the table, but after the door was shut he\nwatched through the keyhole to see what would happen.\n\n\"Beans, bread and bacon,\" ordered the boy, as he spread out his\ntablecloth. On came beans, bread and bacon through the open window,\nwhirled in by North Wind. Smoking hot they all were, too, for the\ndishes were tightly covered. After supper was over, the boy fell sound\nasleep.\n\nNorth Wind did not waken him as the innkeeper took the table and the\ntablecloth and carried them downstairs. Next morning the boy was\nhungry again, but there was no tablecloth and so no breakfast.\n\n\"You are a cheat, North Wind; you have taken back your tablecloth.\"\n\n\"No,\" said North Wind, \"that is not the sort of thing I do.\" But the\nboy did not get his tablecloth.\n\nAfter a time North Wind met him again out under the trees.\n\n\"This time I will give you a sheep,\" he said. \"Each time that you rub\nhis wool, out will drop a gold-piece. Take care of him.\"\n\nThe boy ran back and found the sheep at the door of the stable, behind\nthe inn. He caught the sheep by a strap which was round its neck, and\nled it slowly up the stairs of the inn, to the room from which the\ntablecloth had disappeared the night before.\n\nAs the boy was hungry for his breakfast, he obeyed North Wind's\ncommand and patted the sheep upon its back. A gold-piece fell out of\nits fleece upon the floor.\n\n\"Good old North Wind!\" said the boy. \"Here's my breakfast and some hay\nfor my sheep. Come breakfast, come hay,\" and through the open window\ncame first a bundle of hay, and then a fine breakfast for the hungry\nboy. After breakfast, the boy paid for a week's lodging with the\ngold-piece.\n\nHe slept soundly that night with his sheep for a pillow, and the next\nnight also, but the third morning, when the boy awoke, his head lay\nupon the floor and the sheep was gone.\n\nPerhaps too many gold-pieces had been seen in the boy's hand, for he\nhad patted his sheep very often.\n\nHe blamed North Wind again. \"You have taken back your sheep. I don't\nlike you. You are as cold-hearted as you can be.\"\n\nBut North Wind said nothing. He put a queer stick into a bag and gave\nit to the boy and told him to go back and lock his door as tightly as\nbefore.\n\n\"Talk to the bag,\" he said, \"and guard it as carefully as if there\nwere a jewel in it.\"\n\nThat night the boy was wakened out of his soundest sleep by screams\nfor help in his room. There was the innkeeper running about, and that\nqueer stick was pounding him, first on the head, then on the feet,\nthen on his back, then in his face.\n\n\"Help! help!\" he cried.\n\n\"Give me back my sheep,\" said the boy.\n\n\"Get it, it is hidden in the barn,\" said the innkeeper.\n\nThe boy went out and found his sheep in the barn and drove it away as\nfast as he could, but he forgot about the innkeeper, and maybe that\nstick is pounding him to this day.\n\n\n\n\n_How the Robin's Breast became Red_\n\nFLORA J. COOKE\n\n\nLong ago in the far North, where it is very cold, there was only one\nfire. A hunter and his little son took care of this fire and kept it\nburning day and night. They knew that if the fire went out the people\nwould freeze and the white bear would have the Northland all to\nhimself. One day the hunter became ill, and his son had all the work\nto do.\n\nFor many days and nights he bravely took care of his father and kept\nthe fire burning.\n\nThe white bear was always hiding near, watching the fire. He longed to\nput it out, but he did not dare, for he feared the hunter's arrows.\n\nWhen he saw how tired and sleepy the little boy was, he came closer to\nthe fire and laughed to himself.\n\nOne night the poor boy could endure the fatigue no longer and fell\nfast asleep.\n\nThe white bear ran as fast as he could and jumped upon the fire with\nhis wet feet, and rolled upon it. At last he thought it was all out\nand went happily away to his cave.\n\nA brown robin was flying near and saw what the white bear was doing.\n\nShe waited until the bear went away. Then she flew down and searched\nwith her sharp little eyes until she found a tiny live coal. This she\nfanned patiently with her wings for a long time.\n\nHer little breast was scorched red, but she did not stop until a fine\nred flame blazed up from the ashes.\n\nThen she flew away to every hut in the Northland. Wherever she touched\nthe ground, a fire began to burn. Soon, instead of one little fire,\nthe whole North country was lighted up.\n\nThe white bear went farther back into his cave in the iceberg and\ngrowled terribly. He knew that there was now no hope that he would\never have the Northland all to himself.\n\nThis is the reason that the people in the North countries love the\nrobin, and are never tired of telling their children how its breast\nbecame red.\n\n\n\n\n_How the Robin Came_[4]\n\n\nLong ago, as you know, the Indians roved over the plains and through\nthe forests of America. Their leaders were called chiefs. This story\ntells about an Indian chief and his son.\n\n[Footnote 4: This story is based upon a legend of the Algonquin\nIndians. John Greenleaf Whittier has a poem with a similar title,\nwritten upon the same theme.]\n\nThe Indian chief was very strong and very brave. He could bear cold,\nhunger and pain without a word. He was a wonderful hunter and a fierce\nenemy. Nothing ever made him afraid.\n\nHe had one son, whom he loved with all his heart. He hoped that this\nson would grow up to be a warrior, greater than his father.\n\nBut the lad was slender and white-faced. He did not seem strong; long\nmarches wearied him. When the Indian boys are about eighteen years of\nage, they like to show that they will make brave warriors. To do this\nthey take certain tests. These are some of them. They go without food\nand water, five, seven, or even ten days. Again they go without sleep\nfor ten days. They let their friends cut them with knives and never\neven cry out.\n\nThe time came when the son of the chief must take the test. He went\naway to the wigwam, or lodge, where the testing took place. His father\nhoped that he would act like a brave young man.\n\nWhen some days had passed, the father went to see his son. Pale and\nweak, he lay on the ground. He had not eaten nor slept.\n\n\"Father,\" he whispered, \"I cannot bear this. Let me go free.\"\n\n\"Ah no, my boy,\" said the chief. \"They will call you woman, if you\nfail. It is but two days more. Then you shall have good meat and deep\nsleep. Think of the time when you will be a great chief, with a\nhundred scalps at your belt. Be strong.\"\n\nBut the lad only shook his head.\n\nTwo days later, the father rose with the sun. He heaped moose-meat and\ncorn into a wooden bowl and set off to his son.\n\nAs he drew near the wigwam he called, \"Here is food, my son.\"\n\nThere was no reply.\n\nHe entered, and there, on the ground before him, lay his boy, dead.\n\nThey dug his grave close by the lodge, and brought his bow, pipe, and\nknife to bury with him.\n\nAs they were placing the youth in his grave, they heard a strange, new\nsong. They looked up and saw, on the top of the lodge, an unknown\nbird. It had a brown coat and a red breast. As they watched, it began\nto sing. Its song seemed to say:\n\n\"I was once the chief's son. But now I am a bird. I am happier than if\nI had lived to be a fierce warrior, with scalps at my belt. Now I\nshall make all glad with my song. I shall tell the little children\nwhen spring has come. Then they will search for pussy-willows and\nanemones. I am the robin, a little brother to man! Who so happy as I?\"\n\nEven the father's grief was comforted by the bright little messenger.\n\"It is best after all,\" he said. \"My son could not kill men nor\nbeasts; he is happier as a singer, even as this little bird.\"\n\n\n\n\n_The Story of the Red-Headed Woodpecker_[5]\n\n\nLong, long ago, there lived an old woman in a little cottage by the\nforest. She was not a poor old woman. She had plenty of wood to burn\nin winter, and plenty of meal to bake into bread all the year round.\nHer clothes were old-fashioned but warm. She always wore a grey dress\nand a little red cap.\n\n[Footnote 5: This story is told in verse in Phoebe Cary's _A Legend\nof the Northland_].\n\nLate one summer afternoon, the cottage door was open. The old woman\nstood by her fire, baking cakes for her evening meal. How good they\nsmelled!\n\nA tall old man who was passing by the cottage stopped a moment. Then\nhe pushed open the garden gate and walked up the path to the door.\n\nThe old woman was bending low over the cakes, but she saw his shadow\nand looked up.\n\n\"Will you give me one of your cakes?\" said the man.\n\nThe woman thought to herself, \"Why did I leave the door open? The\nsmell of these hot cakes will bring every beggar within miles to my\nhouse.\" Then she looked a second time at the man and saw that he was\nno beggar. He stood like a king in the doorway. His blue eyes were\nkind but very keen.\n\nShe looked at the six cakes that lay crisp and hot on the hearth.\n\"Well, I will give him one,\" she thought, \"but these are all too\nlarge.\"\n\nShe took a small handful of meal from the barrel and began to bake it\ninto a cake. The man watched her from the door. As she turned the\ncake, it seemed to her too large to give away.\n\n\"I will bake a smaller one,\" she said to herself. She did not glance\ntoward the stranger, but caught up a wee bit of meal and began to cook\nthe second cake.\n\nBut that also looked too large to give away. She cooked a third cake\nthat was no larger than a thimble. But when it was done, she shook her\nhead, for it also was too large to give away. And still the old man\nwaited patiently in the doorway, watching it all.\n\nThen the old woman gathered up the cakes, large and small, and put\nthem on a plate. The plate she set on the pantry shelf and then locked\nthe door.\n\n\"I have no food for you,\" she said to the old man. \"My cakes seem very\nsmall when I eat them, but they are far too large to give away. Ask\nbread at another door.\"\n\nThe old man's blue eyes flashed with fire as he drew himself up\nproudly.\n\n\"I have been round the world but never have I met a soul so small. You\nhave shelter, food, and fire, but you will not share with another.\nThis is your punishment. You shall seek your scanty food with pain.\nYou shall bore, bore, bore in hard tree-trunks for your food.\"\n\nThe old man struck his staff on the floor. A strong gust of wind\ncarried the old woman up the chimney. The flames scorched her grey\nclothes black; but her red cap was unharmed.\n\nA woodpecker flew out of the chimney and away to the wood. Rap! rap!\nrap! you can hear her tapping her beak on the tree-trunks as she hunts\nfor food. But always and everywhere, she wears a black coat and a\nlittle red cap. Watch for the woodpecker and see if it is not so.\n\n\n\n\n_The Little Rabbits_[6]\n\nJOEL CHANDLER HARRIS\n\n\n\"Honey,\" said Uncle Remus to the little boy, \"why don' you git some\nflesh on yo' bones? If I wuz ole Brer Wolf en you wuz a young rabbit,\nI wouldn't git hongry 'nuff fer ter eat you, caze you's too bony.\"\n\n[Footnote 6: From _Uncle Remus and his Friends_.]\n\n\"Did Brother Wolf want to eat the young rabbit, Uncle Remus?\" inquired\nthe little boy.\n\n\"Ain't I done tole you 'bout dat, honey? Des run over in yo' min' en\nsee ef I ain't.\"\n\nThe youngster shook his head.\n\n\"Well,\" said Uncle Remus, \"ole Brer Wolf want ter eat de little Rabs\nall de time, but dey wuz one time in 'tickeler dat dey make his mouf\nwater, en dat wuz de time when him en Brer Fox wuz visitin' at Brer\nRabbit's house. De times wuz hard, but de little Rabs wuz slick and\nfat, en des ez frisky ez kittens. Ole Brer Rabbit wuz off som'ers, en\nBrer Wolf en Brer Fox wuz waitin' fer 'im. De little Rabs wuz playin'\n'roun', en dough dey wuz little dey kep' der years open. Brer Wolf\nlook at um out'n de cornder uv his eyes, en lick his chops en wink at\nBrer Fox, en Brer Fox wunk back at 'im. Brer Wolf cross his legs, en\nden Brer Fox cross his'n. De little Rabs, dey frisk en dey frolic.\n\n\"Brer Wolf ho'd his head to'rds um en 'low, 'Dey er mighty fat.'\n\n\"Brer Fox grin, en say, 'Man, hush yo' mouf!'\n\n\"De little Rabs frisk en dey frolic, en play furder off, but dey keep\nder years primed.\n\n\"Brer Wolf look at um en 'low, 'Ain't dey slick en purty?'\n\n\"Brer Fox chuckle, en say, 'Oh, I wish you'd hush!'\n\n\"De little Rabs play off furder en furder, but dey keep der years\nopen.\n\n\"Brer Wolf smack his mouf, en 'low, 'Dey er joosy en tender.'\n\n\"Brer Fox roll his eye en say, 'Man, ain't you gwine ter hush up, 'fo'\nyou gi' me de fidgets?'\n\n\"Der little Rabs dey frisk en dey frolic, but dey hear ev'ything dat\npass.\n\n\"Brer Wolf lick out his tongue quick, en 'low, 'Less us whirl in en\neat um.'\n\n\"Brer Fox say, 'Man, you make me hongry! Please hush up!'\n\n\"De little Rabs play off furder en furder, but dey know 'zackly what\ngwine on. Dey frisk en dey frolic, but dey got der years wide open.\n\n\"Den Brer Wolf make a bargain wid Brer Fox dat when Brer Rabbit git\nhome, one un um ud git 'im wropped up in a 'spute 'bout fust one thing\nen den anudder, whiles tudder one ud go out en ketch de little Rabs.\n\n\"Brer Fox 'low, 'You better do de talkin', Brer Wolf, en lemme coax de\nlittle Rabs off. I got mo' winning ways wid chilluns dan what you is.'\n\n\"Brer Wolf say, 'You can't make gourd out'n punkin, Brer Fox. I ain't\nno talker. Yo' tongue lots slicker dan mine. I kin bite lots better'n\nI kin talk. Dem little Rabs don't want no coaxin'; dey wants\nketchin'--dat what dey wants. You keep ole Brer Rabbit busy, en I'll\nten' der de little Rabs.'\n\n\"Bofe un um know'd dat whichever cotch de little Rabs, de tudder one\nain't gwine smell hide ner hair un um, en dey flew up en got ter\n'sputin', en whiles dey wuz 'sputin', en gwine on dat way, de little\nRabs put off down de road--_blickety-blickety_,--fer ter meet der\ndaddy. Kase dey know'd ef dey stayed dar dey'd git in big trouble.\n\n\"Dey went off down de road, de little Rabs did, en dey ain't gone so\nmighty fur 'fo' dey meet der daddy comin' 'long home. He had his\nwalkin' cane in one han' en a jug in de udder, en he look ez big ez\nlife, en twice ez natchul.\n\n\"De little Rabs run to'rds 'im en holler, 'What you got, daddy? What\nyou got, daddy?'\n\n\"Brer Rabbit say, 'Nothin' but er jug er 'lasses.'\n\n\"De little Rabs holler, 'Lemme tas'e, daddy! Lemme tas'e, daddy!'\n\n\"Den ole Brer Rabbit sot de jug down in de road en let um lick de\nstopper a time er two, en atter dey is done get der win' back, dey\nup'n tell 'im 'bout de 'greement dat Brer Wolf en Brer Fox done make,\nen 'bout de 'spute what dey had. Ole Brer Rabbit sorter laugh ter\nhisse'f en den he pick up his jug en jog on to'rds home. When he git\nmos' dar he stop en tell de little Rabs fer stay back dar out er\nsight, en wait twel he call um 'fo' dey come. Dey wuz mighty glad ter\ndo des like dis, kaz dey done seed Brer Wolf tushes, en Brer Fox red\ntongue, en dey huddle up in de broom-sage ez still ez a mouse in de\nflour bar'l.\n\n\"Brer Rabbit went on home, en sho 'nuff, he fin' Brer Wolf en Brer Fox\nwaitin' fer 'im. Dey'd done settle der 'spute, en dey wuz settin' dar\ndes ez smilin' ez a basket er chips. Dey pass the time er day wid Brer\nRabbit, en den dey ax 'im what he got in de jug. Brer Rabbit hummed\nen haw'd, en looked sorter sollum.\n\n\"Brer Wolf looked like he wuz bleedz ter fin' out what wuz in de jug,\nen he keep a-pesterin' Brer Rabbit 'bout it; but Brer Rabbit des shake\nhis head en look sollum, en talk 'bout de wedder en de craps, en one\nthing en anudder. Bimeby Brer Fox make out he wuz gwine atter a drink\ner water, en he slip out, he did, fer to ketch de little Rabs. Time he\ngit out de house, Brer Rabbit look all 'roun' ter see ef he lis'nen,\nen den he went ter de jug en pull out de stopper.\n\n\"He han' it ter Brer Wolf en say, 'Tas'e dat.'\n\n\"Brer Wolf tas'e de 'lasses, en smack his mouf. He 'low, 'What kinder\ntruck dat? Hit sho is good.'\n\n\"Brer Rabbit git up close ter Brer Wolf en say, 'Don't tell nobody.\nHit's Fox-blood.'\n\n\"Brer Wolf looked 'stonish'. He 'low, 'How you know?'\n\n\"Brer Rabbit say, 'I knows what I knows!'\n\n\"Brer Wolf say, 'Gimme some mo'!'\n\n\"Brer Rabbit say, 'You kin git some mo' fer yo'se'f easy 'nuff, en de\nfresher 'tis, de better.'\n\n\"Brer Wolf 'low, 'How you know?'\n\n\"Brer Rabbit say, 'I knows what I knows!'\n\n\"Wid dat Brer Wolf stepped out, en start to'rds Brer Fox. Brer Fox\nseed 'im comin', en he sorter back off. Brer Wolf got little closer,\nen bimeby he make a dash at Brer Fox. Brer Fox dodge, he did, en den\nhe put out fer de woods wid Brer Wolf right at his heels.\n\n\"Den atter so long a time, atter Brer Rabbit got done laughin', he\ncall up de little Rabs, gi' um some 'lasses fer supper, en spanked um\nen sont um ter bed.'\"\n\n\"Well, what did he spank 'em for, Uncle Remus?\" asked the little boy.\n\n\"Ter make um grow, honey,--des ter make um grow!\"\n\n\"Did Brother Wolf catch Brother Fox?\"\n\n\"How I know, honey? Much ez I kin do ter foller de tale when it keeps\nin de big road, let 'lone ter keep up wid dem creeturs whiles dey gone\nsailin' thoo de woods. De tale ain't persoo on atter um no furder dan\nde place whar dey make der disappear'nce. I tell you now, when I goes\nin de woods, I got ter know whar I'm gwine.\"\n\n\n\n\n_\"Heyo, House\"_[7]\n\nJOEL CHANDLER HARRIS\n\n\nOne evening Uncle Remus was telling the little boy a mighty tale of\nhow Brer Rabbit got the better of ole Brer Lion. He ended in this way:\n\"All de creeturs hear 'bout it, en dey go 'roun' en say dat Brer\nRabbit sholy is got deze 'ere things up here.\" Uncle Remus tapped his\nforehead, and the little boy laughed.\n\n[Footnote 7: From _Uncle Remus and his Friends_.]\n\n\"I don't think Brother Lion had much sense,\" remarked the little boy.\n\n\"Yes, he had some,\" said Uncle Remus. \"He bleedz ter had some, but he\nain't got much ez Brer Rabbit. Dem what got strenk ain't got so mighty\nmuch sense.\n\n\"After Brer Rabbit done make way wid ole Brer Lion, all de yuther\ncreeturs say he sholy is a mighty man, en dey treat 'im good. Dis make\n'im feel so proud dat he bleedz ter show it, en so he strut 'roun'\nlike a boy when he git his fust pa'r er boots.\n\n\"'Bout dat time, Brer Wolf tuck a notion dat ef Brer Rabbit kin outdo\nole Brer Lion, he can't outdo him. So he pick his chance one day\nwhiles ole Miss Rabbit en de little Rabs is out pickin' sallid for\ndinner. He went in de house, he did, en wait fer Brer Rabbit ter come\nhome. Brer Rabbit had his hours, en dis was one un um, en 't wan't\nlong 'fo' here he come. He got a mighty quick eye, mon, en he tuck\nnotice dat ev'ything mighty still. When he got a little nigher, he\ntuck notice dat de front door wuz on de crack, en dis make 'im feel\nfunny, kaze he know dat when his ole 'oman en de chillun out, dey\nallers pulls de door shet en ketch de latch. So he went up a little\nnigher, en he step thin ez a batter-cake. He peep here, en he peep\ndar, yit he ain't see nothin'. He lissen in de chimbley cornder, en he\nlissen und' de winder, yit he ain't hear nothin'.\n\n\"Den he sorter wipe his mustach en study. He 'low ter hisse'f, 'De pot\nrack know what gwine up de chimbley, de rafters know who's in de loft,\nde bed-cord know who und' de bed. I ain't no pot-rack, I ain't no\nrafter, en I ain't no bed-cord, but, please gracious! I'm gwine ter\nfin' who's in dat house, en I ain't gwine in dar nudder. Dey mo' ways\nter fin' out who fell in de mill-pond widout fallin' in yo'se'f.'\n\n\"Some folks,\" Uncle Remus went on, \"would 'a' rushed in dar, en ef dey\nhad, dey wouldn't 'a' rushed out no mo', kaze dey wouldn't 'a' been\nnothin' 'tall lef' un um but a little scrap er hide en a han'ful er\nha'r.\n\n\"Brer Rabbit got better sense dan dat. All he ax anybody is ter des\ngi' 'im han'-roomance, en den what kin ketch 'im is mo' dan welly-come\nter take 'im. Dat 'zackly de kinder man what Brer Rabbit is. He went\noff a little ways fum de house en clum a 'simmon stump en got up dar\nen 'gun ter holler.\n\n\"He 'low, 'Heyo, house!'\n\n\"De house ain't make no answer, en Brer Wolf, in dar behime de door,\nopen his eyes wide. He ain't know what ter make er dat kinder doin's.\n\n\"Brer Rabbit holler, 'Heyo, house! Why n't you heyo?'\n\n\"House ain't make no answer, en Brer Wolf in dar behime de door sorter\nmove roun' like he gittin' restless in de min'.\n\n\"Brer Rabbit out dar on de 'simmon stump holler mo' louder dan befo',\n'Heyo, house! Heyo!'\n\n\"House stan' still, en Brer Wolf in dar behime de door 'gun ter feel\ncol' chills streakin' up and down his back. In all his born days he\nain't never hear no gwines on like dat. He peep thoo de crack er de\ndoor, but he can't see nothin'.\n\n\"Brer Rabbit holler louder, 'Heyo, house! Ain't you gwine ter heyo? Is\nyou done los' what little manners you had?'\n\n\"Brer Wolf move 'bout wuss'n befo'. He feel like sum un done hit 'im\non de funny-bone.\n\n\"Brer Rabbit holler hard ez he kin, but still he ain't git no answer,\nen den he 'low, 'Sholy sump'n nudder is de matter wid dat house, kaze\nall de times befo' dis, it been holler'n back at me, \"Heyo, yo'se'f!\"'\n\n\"Den Brer Rabbit wait little bit, en bimeby he holler one mo' time,\n'Heyo, house!'\n\n\"Ole Brer Wolf try ter talk like he speck a house 'ud talk, en he\nholler back, 'Heyo, yo'se'f!'\n\n\"Brer Rabbit wunk at hisse'f. He 'low, 'Heyo, house! why n't you talk\nhoarse like you got a bad col'?'\n\n\"Den Brer Wolf holler back, hoarse ez he kin, 'Heyo, yo'se'f!'\n\n\"Dis make Brer Rabbit laugh twel a little mo' en he'd a drapt off'n\ndat ar 'simmon stump en hurt hisse'f.\n\n\"He 'low, 'Eh-eh, Brer Wolf! dat ain't nigh gwine ter do. You'll\nhatter stan' out in de rain a mighty long time 'fo' you kin talk\nhoarse ez dat house!'\n\n\"I let you know,\" continued Uncle Remus, laying his hand gently on the\nlittle boy's shoulder, \"I let you know, Brer Wolf come a-slinkin'\nout, en made a break fer home. Atter dat, Brer Rabbit live a long time\nwid'out any er de yuther creeturs a-pesterin' un 'im!\"\n\n\n\n\n_Teenchy Duck_[8]\n\nFREDERIC ORTOLI\n\n\n_Teenchy Duck finds a Purse of Gold_\n\nOnce upon a time there lived in a village in some country (I do not\nknow where, but certainly nowhere near here), an old man and an old\nwoman who were very poor indeed. They had never been able to save a\nsingle penny. They had no farm, not even a garden. They had nothing\nbut a little Duck that walked around on her two feet every day singing\nthe song of famine. \"Quack! quack! Who will give me a piece of bread?\nQuack! quack! Who will give me a piece of bread?\" This little duck was\nso small that she was named Teenchy Duck.\n\n[Footnote 8: Translated from the French by Joel Chandler Harris.]\n\nIt so happened one day that Teenchy Duck was paddling in the water\nnear the river's edge when she saw a fine purse filled with gold. At\nonce she began to flap her wings and cry: \"Quack! quack! Who has lost\nhis beautiful money? Quack! quack! Who has lost his beautiful money?\"\n\nJust at that moment the Prince of the Seven Golden Cows passed along\nthe road. He was richer than all the kings and emperors, but he was\nmean and miserly. He walked along with a stick in his hand, and as he\nwalked he counted in his mind the millions that he had stored away in\nhis strong-box.\n\n\"Quack! quack! Who lost his beautiful money? Quack! quack! Who lost\nhis beautiful money?\" cried Teenchy Duck.\n\n\"I have lost it,\" cried the Prince of the Seven Golden Cows, and then\nhe seized the purse full of money that Teenchy Duck held in her bill,\nand went on his way.\n\nThe poor Puddle Duck was so astonished at this that she could scarcely\nstand on her feet.\n\n\"Well, well!\" she exclaimed, \"that rich lord has kept all for himself\nand given me nothing. May he be destroyed by a pestilence!\"\n\nTeenchy Duck at once ran to her master, and told him what had\nhappened. When her master learned the value of what Teenchy Duck had\nfound, and the trick that had been played on her by the Prince of the\nSeven Golden Cows, he went into a rage.\n\n\"Why, you big simpleton!\" he exclaimed, \"you find money and you do not\nbring it to us! You give it to a big lord, who did not lose it, when\nwe poor people need it so much! Go out of this house instantly, and\ndon't dare to come back until you have brought me the purse of gold!\"\n\nPoor Teenchy Duck trembled in all her limbs, and made herself small\nand humble; but she found her voice to say:\n\n\"You are right, my master! I go at once to find the Prince of the\nSeven Golden Cows.\"\n\nBut once out of doors the poor Puddle Duck thought to herself\nsorrowfully: \"How and where can I find the Prince who was so mean as\nto steal the beautiful money?\"\n\nTeenchy Duck was so bewildered that she began to strike her head\nagainst the rocks in despair. Suddenly an idea came into her mind. She\nwould follow his tracks and the marks that his walking-stick made in\nthe ground until she came to the castle of the Prince of the Seven\nGolden Cows.\n\nNo sooner thought than done. Teenchy Duck went waddling down the road\nin the direction taken by the miserly Prince, crying with all her\nmight:\n\n\"Quack! quack! Give me back my beautiful money! Quack! quack! Give me\nback my beautiful money!\"\n\n\n_Teenchy Duck's Friends go with her on her Quest_\n\nBrother Fox, who was taking his ease a little way from the road, heard\nTeenchy Duck's cries, and knew her voice. He went to her and said:\n\n\"What in the world is the matter with you, my poor Teenchy Duck? You\nlook sad and broken-hearted.\"\n\n\"I have good reason to be,\" said Teenchy Duck. \"This morning, while\npaddling in the river, I found a purse full of gold, and gave it to\nthe Prince of the Seven Golden Cows, thinking it was his. But now,\nhere comes my master and asks me for it, and says he will kill me if I\ndo not bring it to him soon.\"\n\n\"Well, where are you going in this style?\" asked Brother Fox.\n\n\"I am going straight to the Prince of the Seven Golden Cows,\" said\nTeenchy Duck.\n\n\"Shall I go with you?\" asked Brother Fox.\n\n\"I'd be only too glad if you would,\" exclaimed Teenchy Duck.\n\n\"But how can I go?\" said Brother Fox.\n\n\"Get into my satchel,\" said Teenchy Duck, \"and I'll try to carry you.\"\n\n\"It isn't big enough,\" said Brother Fox.\n\n\"It will stretch,\" said Teenchy Duck. So Brother Fox got into the\nsatchel, and Teenchy Duck went waddling along the road, crying:\n\"Quack! quack! Give me back my beautiful money!\"\n\nShe had not gone far when she met Brother Wolf, who was passing that\nway.\n\n\"What are you crying so for?\" he inquired. \"One would think you were\ngoing to die on the journey.\"\n\n\"It is only too true,\" said Teenchy Duck, and then she told Brother\nWolf about finding the money-purse, just as she had told Brother Fox.\n\n\"Perhaps I can be of some service to you,\" said Brother Wolf. \"Shall I\ngo with you?\"\n\n\"I am willing,\" said Teenchy Duck.\n\n\"But how can I go so far?\" Brother Wolf asked.\n\n\"Get into my satchel,\" said Teenchy Duck, \"and I'll carry you as best\nI can.\"\n\n\"It is too small,\" said Brother Wolf.\n\n\"It will stretch mightily,\" said Teenchy Duck.\n\nSo Brother Wolf also got into the satchel with Brother Fox.\n\nTeenchy went on her way again. She didn't walk very fast, for her\nsatchel was heavy; but she never ceased crying: \"Quack! quack! Give me\nback my beautiful money!\"\n\nNow it happened, as she was going along, she came up with a Ladder,\nwhich said, without asking after her health:\n\n\"My poor Teenchy Duck! You do not seem to be very happy.\"\n\n\"I should think not!\" exclaimed Teenchy Duck.\n\n\"What can the matter be?\" the Ladder asked.\n\nTeenchy Duck then told her story over again.\n\n\"I am not doing anything at present,\" said the Ladder, \"shall I go\nwith you?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said Teenchy Duck.\n\n\"But how can I go, I who never walk?\" inquired the Ladder.\n\n\"Why, get into my satchel,\" said Teenchy Duck, \"and I'll carry you the\nbest I know how.\"\n\nThe Ladder was soon in the satchel with Brother Fox and Brother Wolf,\nand Teenchy Duck went on her way, following the tracks of the Prince\nof the Seven Golden Cows, and always crying:\n\n\"Quack! quack! Give me back my beautiful money!\"\n\nGoing along and crying thus, Teenchy Duck came to her best and oldest\nfriend, the River.\n\n\"What are you doing here?\" said the River, in astonishment, \"and why\nare you crying so? When I saw you this morning you seemed very happy.\"\n\n\"Ah!\" said Teenchy Duck, \"would you believe it? I have not eaten since\nyesterday.\"\n\n\"And why not?\" asked the sympathetic River.\n\n\"You saw me find the purse of gold,\" said Teenchy Duck, \"and you saw\nthe Prince seize it. Ah, well! my master will kill me if I do not get\nit and return it to him.\"\n\n\"Sometimes,\" the River replied, \"a little help does a great deal of\ngood. Shall I go with you?\"\n\n\"I should be very happy,\" said Teenchy Duck.\n\n\"But how can I follow you--I that have no limbs?\" said the River.\n\n\"Get into my satchel,\" said Teenchy Duck. \"I'll carry you as best I\ncan.\"\n\nThen the River got into the satchel by the side of the other friends\nof Teenchy Duck.\n\nShe went on her journey, keeping her eyes on the ground, so as not to\nlose sight of the tracks of the thief, but still crying for her\nbeautiful money. On her way she came to a Bee-Hive, which had a mind\nto laugh because Teenchy Duck was carrying such a burden.\n\n\"Hey, my poor Teenchy Duck! What a big fat satchel you have there,\"\nsaid the Bee-Hive.\n\n\"I'm not in the humour for joking, my dear,\" said Teenchy Duck.\n\n\"Why are you so sad?\"\n\n\"I have been very unfortunate, good little people,\" said Teenchy Duck,\naddressing herself to the Bees, and then she told her story.\n\n\"Shall we go with you?\" asked the Bees.\n\n\"Yes, yes!\" exclaimed Teenchy Duck. \"In these days of sorrow I stand\nin need of friends.\"\n\n\"How shall we follow you?\" asked the Bees.\n\n\"Get into my satchel,\" said Teenchy Duck. \"I'll carry you the best I\nknow how.\"\n\nThen the Bees shook their wings for joy and swarmed into the satchel\nalong with the other friends of Teenchy Duck.\n\nShe went on her way always crying for the return of her beautiful\nmoney. She walked and walked without stopping to rest a moment, until\nher legs almost refused to carry her. At last, just as night was\ncoming on, Teenchy Duck saw with joy that the tracks of the Prince of\nthe Seven Golden Cows stopped at the iron gate that barred the way to\na splendid castle.\n\n\"Ah!\" she exclaimed, \"I have arrived at my journey's end, and I have\nno need to knock on the gate. I will creep under.\"\n\n\n_What befell Teenchy Duck at the Castle_\n\nTeenchy Duck entered the grounds and cried out: \"Quack! quack! Give me\nback my beautiful money!\"\n\nThe Prince heard her and laughed scornfully. How could a poor Teenchy\nDuck compel a great lord to return the purse of gold?\n\nTeenchy Duck continued to cry:\n\n\"Quack! quack! Give me back my beautiful money!\"\n\nIt was night, and the Prince of the Seven Golden Cows ordered one of\nhis servants to take Teenchy Duck and shut her up in the henhouse with\nthe turkeys, the geese, and the chickens, thinking that these fowls\nwould kill the stranger, and that her disagreeable song would for ever\nbe at an end.\n\nThis order was immediately carried out by the servant, but no sooner\nhad Teenchy Duck entered the henhouse than she exclaimed:\n\n\"Brother Fox, if you do not come to my aid, I am lost.\"\n\nBrother Fox came out of the satchel promptly, and worked so well at\nhis trade that of all the fowls he found there, not one remained\nalive.\n\nAt break of day the servant-girl, whose business it was to attend to\nthe poultry-yard, opened the door of the henhouse, and was astounded\nto see Teenchy Duck come out, singing the same old song:\n\n\"Quack! quack! Give me back my beautiful money!\"\n\nThe astonished girl immediately told her master, the Prince, what had\nhappened, and the wife of the Prince, who had at that moment learned\nall, said to her husband:\n\n\"This Duck is a witch. Give her the money, or it will bring us bad\nluck.\"\n\nThe Prince of the Seven Golden Cows refused to listen. He believed\nthat the fox had only happened to enter his henhouse by accident.\n\nTeenchy Duck made herself heard all day, and at night the Prince said\nto his servants:\n\n\"Take this squaller and throw her into the stable under the feet of\nthe mules and horses. We will see in the morning what she will say.\"\n\nThe servants obeyed, and Teenchy Duck immediately cried:\n\n\"Brother Wolf, if you do not come quickly to my aid I shall be\nkilled.\"\n\nBrother Wolf made no delay, and it was not long before he had\ndestroyed the horses and the mules. Next morning, before day, the\nservants went to get the animals to put them to the ploughs and\nwaggons; but when they saw them lying dead their astonishment was\ngreat. In the stable Teenchy Duck stood alone, singing in her most\nbeautiful voice:\n\n\"Quack! quack! Give me back my beautiful money!\"\n\nWhen the Prince of the Seven Golden Cows heard the sad news, he became\nwhite with rage, and in his fury he wanted to give his servants a\nthousand lashes for not having taken better care of the animals. But\nhis wife calmed him little by little, then: \"My husband, give back to\nTeenchy Duck this purse you have taken, or else we shall be ruined,\"\nshe said.\n\n\"No,\" cried the Prince, \"she shall never have it!\"\n\nAll this time Teenchy Duck was walking up and down, to the right and\nto the left, singing at the top of her voice:\n\n\"Quack! quack! Give me back my beautiful money!\"\n\n\"Heavens!\" said the Prince, stopping his ears, \"I am tired of hearing\nthis ugly fowl squall and squawk. Quick! throw her into the well or\nthe furnace, so that we may be rid of her.\"\n\n\"What shall we do first?\" the servants asked.\n\n\"It matters not,\" said the Prince, \"so long as we are rid of her.\"\n\nThe servants took Teenchy Duck and threw her into the well, thinking\nthis the easier, and the quickest way to be rid of her.\n\nAs Teenchy Duck was falling, she cried: \"Come to my assistance, good\nLadder, or I am undone.\"\n\nThe Ladder immediately came out of the satchel, and leaned against\nthe walls of the well. Teenchy Duck came up the rounds, singing:\n\n\"Quack! quack! Give me back my beautiful money!\"\n\nEverybody was astonished, and the Prince's wife kept saying: \"Give the\nwitch her money.\"\n\n\"They would say that I am afraid of a Teenchy Duck,\" said the Prince\nof the Seven Golden Cows. \"I will never give it up.\" Then, speaking to\nhis servants, he said: \"Heat the oven, heat it to a white heat, and\nthrow this witch in.\"\n\nThe servants had to obey, but they were so frightened that none dared\ntouch her. At last, one bolder than the rest seized her by the end of\nthe wing and threw her into the red-hot oven. Everyone thought that\nthis was the end of Teenchy Duck, but she had had time to cry out:\n\n\"Oh! my dear friend River, come to my assistance, or I shall be\nroasted.\"\n\nThe River rushed out and quenched the fire and cooled the oven.\n\nWhen the Prince went to see what was left of Teenchy Duck, she met him\nand began to repeat her familiar song:\n\n\"Quack! quack! Give me back my beautiful money!\"\n\nThe Prince of the Seven Golden Cows was furious.\n\n\"You are all blockheads!\" he cried to his servants. \"You never knew\nhow to do anything. Get out of here! I will drive you off the place.\nHereafter I will take charge of this witch myself.\"\n\nThat night, before retiring, the Prince and his wife went and got\nTeenchy Duck, and prepared to give her such a beating as they had no\ndoubt would cause her death.\n\nFortunately, Teenchy Duck saw the danger and cried out:\n\n\"Friend Bees! come out and help me.\"\n\nA buzzing sound was heard, and then the Bees swarmed on the Prince and\nhis wife, and stung them so badly that they became frightful to\nbehold.\n\n\"Return the money to this ugly witch,\" groaned the unfortunate wife.\n\"Run, or we are done for.\"\n\nThe Prince did not wait to be told twice. He ran and got the purse\nfull of gold, and returned it to Teenchy Duck.\n\n\"Here,\" said he, \"I am conquered. But get out of my grounds quickly.\"\n\nFull of joy, Teenchy Duck went out into the road singing: \"Quack!\nquack! I have got my beautiful money! Quack! quack! Here is my\nbeautiful money!\"\n\nOn her way home she returned the friends that had aided her to the\nplaces where she had found them, thanking them kindly for their help\nin time of need.\n\nAt break of day Teenchy Duck found herself at her master's door. She\naroused him by her loud cries. After that, the family was rich and\nTeenchy Duck was well taken care of. If she went to the village pond\nit was only to tell her comrades of her remarkable way of gaining the\nbeautiful money.\n\n\n\n\n_St Christopher_\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a great giant. He had mighty arms and\nlegs and could carry tons upon his back. His name was Offero.\n\nOffero had one wish. He wished to serve the greatest king on earth. He\nwas told that the emperor was the most powerful. So he went to him and\nsaid, \"Lord Emperor, will you have me for your servant?\"\n\nThe emperor was delighted with him. \"Promise to serve me for ever, my\ngood fellow,\" he said.\n\n\"Ah no,\" said Offero. \"I dare not promise that. But of this be sure,\nas long as I am your servant, no harm shall come to you.\"\n\nSo they journeyed on together. The emperor was delighted with his new\nservant. All his soldiers were poor and weak compared to Offero.\n\nIn the evening when the soldiers rested, the emperor loved to listen\nto music. He had with him a harper who would play upon his harp and\nsing sweetly.\n\nOnce the harper sang a song in which the name of Satan was heard. At\nthis name the emperor trembled and made the sign of the cross.\n\n\"Why do you tremble, Lord Emperor?\" asked the giant.\n\n\"Hush!\" said the emperor.\n\n\"Tell me, or I will leave you,\" said Offero.\n\n\"I tremble because I fear Satan,\" answered the emperor. \"I made the\nsign of the cross so that he cannot harm me. He is as wicked as he is\nstrong.\"\n\n\"Farewell,\" said the giant. \"I seek Satan now. If he is stronger than\nyou, I must serve him.\"\n\nSo he journeyed through the land and soon found Satan at the head of a\nlarge army.\n\n\"Where do you go? Whom do you seek?\" asked Satan.\n\n\"I seek Satan,\" said Offero. \"I would have him for my master, for he\nis the mightiest king on earth.\"\n\n\"I am he,\" answered Satan. \"Come with me and you shall have happy and\neasy days.\"\n\nOffero served Satan for months and was well pleased with his master.\nAt last, as they were marching through the land one day, they came\nupon a place where four roads met. Just here stood a cross.\n\nWhen Satan saw the cross, he turned his army and marched quickly away.\n\"What does this mean?\" asked the giant. \"Are you afraid of that\ncross, my master?\"\n\nSatan was silent.\n\n\"Answer me,\" said Offero, \"or I leave you at once.\"\n\nThen Satan said, \"Yes, it is true that I fear the cross. Upon it hung\nthe Son of Mary.\"\n\n\"Then I leave you straightway,\" said Offero. \"I seek the Son of Mary.\nHe shall be my king, since he is stronger than you.\"\n\nMany days he searched, but alas! few could tell him anything of his\nnew king, the Son of Mary. At last he found an old hermit and asked\nhim the question he had asked so many others.\n\n\"How can I serve the Son of Mary?\"\n\n\"You must fast,\" said the hermit.\n\n\"Ah, no!\" said Offero. \"If I fasted I should lose my great strength.\"\n\n\"Then you must pray,\" said the hermit.\n\n\"How can I pray?\" asked Offero, \"I know no prayers.\"\n\n\"Then,\" said the gentle old man, \"I think the Son of Mary would be\npleased to have you use your strength in some good work. Why not carry\ntravellers across the stream in the name of the Son of Mary?\"\n\n\"That is just to my mind,\" cried Offero, overjoyed. So straightway he\nbuilt a hut by the swift stream, and cut a stout staff to steady his\nsteps when the river roared high.\n\nTravellers were glad to be helped on their way by this rough yet\nkindly giant. Sometimes they offered him money, but he always shook\nhis great head. \"I do this for the love of the Son of Mary,\" he said.\n\nMany years went by. Offero's hair was now white as snow and his back\nwas a little bent. But his strength was still great. One night, as he\nlay asleep, he was awakened by a voice, such a gentle, pleading little\nvoice--\"Dear, good, kind Offero, carry me across!\"\n\nHe sprang to his feet, caught up his staff, and crossed to the farther\nshore. No one was there.\n\n\"I must have been dreaming,\" thought Offero as he laid himself down in\nhis bed once more.\n\nAgain he fell asleep and again the same voice awoke him. How sweet,\nyet sad it sounded! \"Dear, good, kind Offero, carry me across!\"\n\nHe patiently crossed the deep, swift river, but again no one was to be\nseen. Once more he lay down in his bed and fell asleep. And once more\ncame the pleading little voice, \"Dear, good, kind Offero, carry me\nacross!\"\n\nAnd now, for the third time, the old giant seized his palm-tree staff\nand pressed through the cold river. There on the shore stood \"a\ntender, fair little boy with golden hair. He looked at the giant with\neyes full of trust and love.\"\n\nOffero tossed him on his shoulder and then turned to the river. Dark\nand surging it rose to his waist. The child grew heavier and heavier.\nThe giant bent under his burden. Now and then he felt he should surely\nsink into the river and be swept away.\n\nAt last he struggled up the bank and set down the child. \"My little\nMaster,\" he gasped, \"do not pass this way again; I have come near\nlosing my life.\"\n\nBut the fair child said to Offero, \"Fear not, but rejoice. All thy\nsins are forgiven thee. Know that thou hast carried the Son of Mary.\nThat thou mayest be sure of this, fix thy staff in the earth.\"\n\nOffero obeyed, and lo! out of the bare palm-staff sprang leaves and\ndates. Then Offero knew that it was Christ whom he had borne, and he\nfell at His feet.\n\nA little hand rested in blessing upon the giant's bowed head.\n\"Henceforth,\" said the Son of Mary, \"thy name shall be, not Offero but\nChristoffero.\"\n\nThus it was that Christopher came by his name. Because he was true to\nhis name we always call him St Christopher.\n\n\n\n\n_Wondering Jack_[9]\n\nJAMES BALDWIN\n\n\n_The Brothers set out to seek their Fortunes_\n\nOnce there was a poor farmer who had three sons--Peter, Paul, and\nJack.\n\n[Footnote 9: A fairy-tale of Finland.]\n\nNow Peter was big, fat, red-faced, and slow; Paul was slender,\nawkward, and ill-natured; Jack was quick, and bright, and so little\nthat he might have hidden himself in one of Peter's big boots.\n\nThe poor farmer had nothing in the world but a little hut that seemed\nready to tumble down every time the wind blew. He worked hard, but it\nwas all he could do to earn bread for his family.\n\nThe boys grew very fast, and by-and-by they were old enough to work.\nThen their father said to them, \"Boys, I have taken care of you these\nmany days when you were too little to take care of yourselves. Now I\nam old, and you are strong. It is time for you to go out and earn your\nliving.\"\n\nSo, early the next morning, the three boys started out to seek their\nfortunes.\n\n\"Where shall we go?\" asked Peter.\n\n\"Yes, where shall we go?\" said Paul. \"Things have come to a pretty\npass when one can't stay at home.\"\n\n\"Well, I am going to the King's palace,\" said Jack.\n\n\"And what will you do there?\" said Paul. \"You are a fine fellow to be\ngoing to kings' palaces.\"\n\n\"I will tell you,\" said Jack. \"The King's palace is a very grand\nplace. It is built of white stones and it has six glass windows on the\nfront side of it.\n\n\"But a huge oak-tree has grown up right against the glass windows. The\nleaves are so many and so big that they shut out all the sunlight, and\nthe rooms of the palace are dark even in midday.\"\n\n\"Well, what of that?\" asked Peter.\n\n\"Yes, what of that?\" growled Paul. \"What have you to do with the oak?\"\n\n\"The King wants it cut down,\" said Jack.\n\n\"Well, then, why don't his men cut it down?\" asked Paul.\n\n\"They can't,\" said Jack. \"The tree is so hard that it blunts the edge\nof every axe; and whenever one of its branches is cut off, two bigger\nones spring out in place of it. The King has offered three bags of\ngold to anyone who will cut the tree down.\"\n\n\"How did you learn all this?\" asked Peter.\n\n\"Oh, a little bird told me,\" said Jack. \"You see, I can read and you\ncannot. I am going to the King's palace to see if I can't earn those\nbags of gold.\"\n\n\"Not till I try it,\" cried Paul; \"for I am older than you.\"\n\n\"I should have the first trial,\" said Peter; \"for I am older than\neither of you. Come along, boys, let's all go down and take a look at\nthe big oak.\"\n\nAnd so all three took the road that led to the King's palace.\n\n\n_Their Adventures by the Way_\n\nPeter and Paul went jogging along with their hands in their pockets.\nThey did not look either to the right or to the left.\n\nBut little Jack skipped this way and that, noticing everything by the\nroadside. He watched the bees buzzing among the flowers, the\nbutterflies fluttering in the sunlight and the birds building their\nnests in the trees.\n\nHe asked questions about everything. \"What is this? Why is this? How\nis this?\"\n\nBut his brothers only growled and answered, \"We don't know.\"\n\nBy-and-by they came to a mountain and a great forest of pine-trees.\nFar up the side of the mountain they could hear the sound of an axe\nand the noise of falling branches.\n\n\"I wonder who is chopping wood up there,\" said Jack. \"Do you know,\nPaul?\"\n\n\"Of course I don't know,\" growled Paul. \"Hold your tongue.\"\n\n\"Oh, he is always wondering,\" said Peter. \"You would think he'd never\nheard an axe before.\"\n\n\"Well, wonder or no wonder,\" said Jack, \"I mean to go up and see who\nis chopping wood.\"\n\n\"Go, then,\" said Paul. \"You will tire yourself out and be left behind.\nBut it will be a good lesson to you.\"\n\nJack did not stop to listen to these words. For he was already\nclimbing up the mountain toward the place where the chopping was\nheard.\n\nWhen he came to the top, what do you think he saw?\n\nHe saw a bright steel axe working all alone and cutting down a big\npine-tree. No man was near it.\n\n\"Good-morning, Mr Axe,\" he said. \"I think you must be tired chopping\nat that old tree all by yourself.\"\n\n\"Ah, master,\" said the axe. \"I have been waiting for you a long time.\"\n\n\"Well, here I am,\" said Jack; and he took the axe and put it into his\npocket.\n\nThen he ran down the mountain and soon overtook his brothers.\n\n\"Well, Mr Why-and-How,\" said Paul, \"what did you find up there?\"\n\n\"It was really an axe that we heard,\" answered Jack.\n\n\"Of course it was,\" said Peter. \"You might have saved yourself all\nyour trouble by staying with us.\"\n\nAfter the boys had passed through the woods they came to a great rocky\nplace between two mountains. The path was narrow and crooked, and\nsteep cliffs towered above it on both sides.\n\nSoon they heard a dull sound high up on the top of a cliff. _Thump!\nThump! Thud!_ it went, like someone striking iron against stone.\n\n\"I wonder why anyone is breaking stones up there,\" said Jack.\n\n\"Yes, of course you wonder,\" growled Paul; \"you are always wondering.\"\n\n\"It is nothing but a woodpecker tapping on a hollow tree,\" said Peter.\n\"Come along, and mind your own business.\"\n\n\"Business or no business,\" said Jack, \"I mean to see what is going on\nup there.\"\n\nWith these words he began to climb up the side of the cliff. But Peter\nand Paul stood still and laughed at him, and cried, \"Good-bye, Mr\nWhy-and-How!\"\n\nAnd what do you think Jack found far up on the great rock?\n\nHe found a bright steel pickaxe working all alone. It was so hard and\nsharp that when it struck a rock it went into it a foot or more.\n\n\"Good-morning, Mr Pickaxe,\" he said. \"Are you not tired digging here\nall by yourself?\"\n\n\"Ah, my master,\" answered the pickaxe, \"I have been waiting for you a\nlong time.\"\n\n\"Well, here I am,\" said Jack; and he took the pickaxe and put it into\nhis other pocket.\n\nThen he slid merrily down between the rocks to the place where Peter\nand Paul were resting themselves.\n\n\"Well, Mr Why-and-How,\" said Paul, \"what great wonder did you find up\nthere?\"\n\n\"It was really a pickaxe that we heard,\" answered Jack.\n\nAbout noon the boys came to a pleasant brook. The water was cool and\nclear, and it flowed in shady places among reeds and flowers.\n\nThe boys were thirsty, and they stopped to drink. Then they lay down\non the grass to rest.\n\n\"I wonder where this brook comes from,\" said Jack.\n\n\"Of course you do,\" growled Paul. \"You are always trying to pry into\nthings and find out where they come from. You are foolish.\"\n\n\"Foolish or not foolish,\" answered Jack, \"I am going to find out all\nabout this brook.\"\n\nSo, while his brothers went to sleep in the shade, he ran along up its\nbanks, looking at this thing and that and wondering at them all.\n\nThe stream became narrower and narrower until at last it was not\nbroader than his hand. And when he came to the very beginning of it,\nwhat do you think he found?\n\nHe found a walnut shell out of which the water was spouting as from a\nfountain.\n\n\"Good-morning, Mr Spring,\" said Jack. \"Are you not tired staying here\nall alone in this little nook where nobody comes to see you?\"\n\n\"Ah, my master,\" answered the spring in the walnut shell, \"I have been\nwaiting a long time for you.\"\n\n\"Well, here I am,\" said Jack; and he took the walnut shell and put it\ninto his cap.\n\nHis brothers were just waking up when he rejoined them.\n\n\"Well, Mr Why-and-How,\" said Peter, \"did you find where the brook\ncomes from?\"\n\n\"Indeed, I did,\" answered Jack. \"It spouts up from a spring.\"\n\n\"You are too clever for this world,\" growled Paul.\n\n\"Clever or not clever,\" said Jack, \"I have seen what I wished to see,\nand I have learned what I wished to learn.\"\n\n\n_Jack's Victory at the Palace_\n\nAt last the three boys came to the King's palace. They saw the great\noak that darkened the windows, and on the gateposts they saw a big\nposter printed in red and black letters.\n\n\"See there, Jack,\" said Paul. \"Read that, and tell us what it says.\"\n\n\"Yes, I wonder what it says,\" said Jack, laughing. And this is what he\nread:\n\n NOTICE\n\n Know all men by these presents: If anyone will cut down this\n oak-tree and carry it away, the King will give him three\n bags full of gold. If anyone will dig a well in the\n courtyard so as to supply the palace with water, he may wed\n the King's daughter and the King will give him half of\n everything.\n\n The King has said it and it shall be done.\n\n\"Better and better,\" said Peter. \"There are three tasks instead of\none, and the prize is more than double.\"\n\n\"But it will take someone smarter than you to win it,\" said Paul; and\nhe stroked his head gently.\n\n\"It will take someone stronger than you,\" answered Peter; and he\nrolled up his shirt-sleeves and swung his big arms around till their\nmuscles stood out like whipcords.\n\nThe boys went into the courtyard. There they saw another placard\nposted over the door of the great hallway.\n\n\"Read that, Jack,\" said Paul. \"Read it and tell us what it says.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said Jack, \"I wonder what it says.\"\n\n SECOND NOTICE\n\n Know all men by these presents: If anyone shall try to cut\n down the oak and shall not succeed, he shall have both his\n ears cut off. If anyone shall try to dig the well and shall\n not succeed, he shall have his nose cut off. The King in his\n goodness has so commanded, and it shall be done.\n\n\"Worse and worse,\" said Peter. \"But hand me an axe, and I will show\nyou what I can do.\"\n\nThe sharpest axe in the country was given him. He felt its edge; he\nswung it over his shoulder. Then he began to chop on the oak with all\nhis might; but as soon as a bough was cut off, two bigger and stronger\nones grew in its place.\n\n\"I give it up,\" said Peter. \"It cannot be done.\"\n\nAnd the King's guards seized him and led him away to prison.\n\n\"To-morrow his ears shall come off,\" said the King.\n\n\"It was all because he was so awkward,\" said Paul. \"Now, see what a\nskilful man can do.\"\n\nHe took the axe and walked carefully round the tree. He saw a root\nthat was partly out of the ground, and chopped it off. All at once two\nother roots much bigger and stronger grew in its place.\n\nHe chopped at these, but the axe was dulled, and with all his skill he\ncould not cut them off.\n\n\"Enough!\" cried the King; and the guards hurried him also to jail.\n\nThen little Jack came forward.\n\n\"What does that wee bit of a fellow want?\" asked the King. \"Drive him\naway, and if he doesn't wish to go, cut off his ears at once.\"\n\nBut Jack was not one whit afraid. He bowed to the King and said,\n\"Please let me try. It will be time enough to cut off my ears when I\nhave failed.\"\n\n\"Well, yes, it will, I suppose,\" said the King. \"So go to work quickly\nand be done with it.\"\n\nJack took the bright steel axe from his pocket. He set it up by the\ntree and said, \"Chop, Mr Axe! Chop!\"\n\nYou should have seen the chips fly.\n\nThe little axe chopped and cut and split, this way and that, right and\nleft, up and down. It moved so fast that nobody could keep track of\nit, and there was no time for new twigs to grow.\n\nIn fifteen seconds the great oak-tree was cut in pieces and piled up\nin the King's courtyard, ready for firewood in the winter.\n\n\"What do you think of that?\" asked Jack, as he bowed again to the\nKing.\n\n\"You have done wonders, my little man,\" said the King. \"But the well\nmust be dug or I shall take off your ears.\"\n\n\"Kindly tell me where you would like to have the well,\" said Jack,\nbowing again.\n\nA place in the courtyard was pointed out. The King sat in his great\nchair on a balcony above, and by him sat his beautiful daughter, the\nPrincess. They wanted to see the little fellow dig.\n\nJack took the pickaxe from his other pocket. He set it down on the\nspot that had been pointed out.\n\n\"Now, Mr Pickaxe, dig! dig!\" he cried.\n\nYou should have seen how the rocks flew.\n\nIn fifteen minutes a well a hundred feet deep was dug.\n\n\"What do you think of that?\" asked Jack.\n\n\"It is a fine well,\" said the King, \"but it has no water in it.\"\n\nJack felt in his cap for his walnut shell. He took it out and dropped\nit softly to the bottom of the well. As he did so he shouted, \"Now, Mr\nSpring, spout! spout!\"\n\nThe water spouted out of the walnut shell in a great stream. It filled\nthe well. It ran over into the King's garden.\n\nAll the people shouted, and the Princess clapped her hands.\n\nWith his cap in his hands Jack went and kneeled down before the King.\n\"Sire,\" he said, \"do you think that I have won the prize?\"\n\n\"Most certainly I do,\" answered the King; and he bade his servants\nbring the three bags of gold and pour the coins out at Jack's feet.\n\n\"But, father,\" said the Princess, \"have you forgotten the other part\nof the prize?\" and she blushed very red.\n\n\"Oh no,\" said the King; \"but you both are very young. When you are a\nfew years older, we shall have a pretty wedding in the palace. Are you\nwilling to wait, young man?\"\n\n\"I am willing to obey you in everything,\" answered Jack; \"but I wonder\nif I might not ask you for one other little favour?\"\n\n\"Say on; and be careful not to ask too much,\" answered the King.\n\n\"May it please you, then,\" said Jack, \"to pardon my two brothers?\"\n\nThe King nodded, and in a short time Peter and Paul were brought\naround into the courtyard.\n\n\"Well, brothers,\" said Jack kindly, \"I wonder if I was very foolish\nwhen I wanted to know all about things.\"\n\n\"You have certainly been lucky,\" said Paul; \"and I am glad of it.\"\n\n\"You have saved our ears,\" said Peter, \"and we are all lucky.\"\n\n\n\n\n_The Feast of Lanterns_[10]\n\n\n_Wang Chih watches a Game of Chess_\n\nWang Chih was only a poor man, but he had a wife and children to love,\nand they made him so happy that he would not have changed places with\nthe Emperor himself.\n\n[Footnote 10: The story of a Chinese Rip Van Winkle. From Stead's\n_Books for the Bairns_, No. 52, _Fairy Tales from China_. By\npermission.]\n\nHe worked in the fields all day, and at night his wife always had a\nbowl of rice ready for his supper. And sometimes, for a treat, she\nmade him some bean soup, or gave him a little dish of fried pork.\n\nBut they could not afford pork very often; he generally had to be\ncontent with rice.\n\nOne morning, as he was setting off to his work, his wife sent Han\nChung, his son, running after him to ask him to bring home some\nfirewood.\n\n\"I shall have to go up into the mountain for it at noon,\" he said. \"Go\nand bring me my axe, Han Chung.\"\n\nHan Chung ran for his father's axe, and Ho-Seen-Ko, his little sister,\ncame out of the cottage with him.\n\n\"Remember it is the Feast of Lanterns to-night, father,\" she said.\n\"Don't fall asleep up on the mountain; we want you to come back and\nlight them for us.\"\n\nShe had a lantern in the shape of a fish, painted red and black and\nyellow, and Han Chung had got a big round one, all bright crimson, to\ncarry in the procession; and, besides that, there were two large\nlanterns to be hung outside the cottage door as soon as it grew dark.\n\nWang Chih was not likely to forget the Feast of Lanterns, for the\nchildren had talked of nothing else for a month, and he promised to\ncome home as early as he could.\n\nAt noontide, when his fellow-labourers gave up working, and sat down\nto rest and eat, Wang Chih took his axe and went up the mountain slope\nto find a small tree that he might cut down for fuel.\n\nHe walked a long way, and at last saw one growing at the mouth of a\ncave.\n\n\"This will be just the thing,\" he said to himself. But, before\nstriking the first blow, he peeped into the cave to see if it were\nempty.\n\nTo his surprise, two old men, with long, white beards, were sitting\ninside playing chess, as quietly as mice, with their eyes fixed on\nthe chessboard.\n\nWang Chih knew something of chess, and he stepped in and watched them\nfor a few minutes.\n\n\"As soon as they look up, I can ask them if I may chop down a tree,\"\nhe said to himself. But they did not look up, and by-and-by Wang Chih\ngot so interested in the game that he put down his axe and sat on the\nfloor to watch it better.\n\nThe two old men sat cross-legged on the ground, and the chessboard\nrested on a slab, like a stone table, between them.\n\nOn one corner of the slab lay a heap of small, brown objects which\nWang Chih took at first to be date stones; but after a time the\nchess-players ate one each, and put one in Wang Chih's mouth; and he\nfound it was not a date stone at all.\n\nIt was a delicious kind of sweetmeat, the like of which he had never\ntasted before; and the strangest thing about it was that it took his\nhunger and thirst away.\n\nHe had been both hungry and thirsty when he came into the cave, as he\nhad not waited to have his midday meal with the other field workers;\nbut now he felt quite comforted and refreshed.\n\nHe sat there some time longer, and noticed, as the old men frowned\nover the chessboard, their beards grew longer and longer, until they\nswept the floor of the cave, and even found their way out of the door.\n\n\"I hope my beard will never grow as quickly,\" said Wang Chih, as he\nrose and took up his axe again.\n\nThen one of the old men spoke, for the first time. \"Our beards have\nnot grown quickly, young man. How long is it since you came here?\"\n\n\"About half-an-hour, I daresay,\" replied Wang Chih. But as he spoke,\nthe axe crumbled to dust beneath his fingers, and the second\nchess-player laughed, and pointed to the little brown sweetmeats on\nthe table.\n\n\"Half-an-hour, or half-a-century--ay, half a thousand years--are alike\nto him who tastes of these. Go down into your village and see what has\nhappened since you left it.\"\n\n\n_The Sad Consequences_\n\nSo Wang Chih went down as quickly as he could from the mountain, and\nfound the fields where he had worked covered with houses, and a busy\ntown where his own little village had been. In vain he looked for his\nhouse, his wife, and his children.\n\nThere were strange faces everywhere; and although when evening came\nthe Feast of Lanterns was being held once more, there was no\nHo-Seen-Ko carrying her red and yellow fish, or Han Chung with his\nflaming red ball.\n\nAt last he found a woman, a very, very old woman, who told him that\nwhen she was a tiny girl she remembered her grandmother saying how,\nwhen _she_ was a tiny girl, a poor young man had been spirited away by\nthe Genii of the mountains, on the day of the Feast of Lanterns,\nleaving his wife and little children with only a few handfuls of rice\nin the house.\n\n\"Moreover, if you wait while the procession passes, you will see two\nchildren dressed to represent Han Chung and Ho-Seen-Ko, and their\nmother, carrying the empty rice bowl, between them; for this is done\nevery year to remind people to take care of the widow and fatherless,\"\nshe said.\n\nSo Wang Chih waited in the street; and in a little while the\nprocession came to an end; and the last three figures in it were a boy\nand girl, dressed like his own two children, walking on either side of\na young woman carrying a rice bowl. But she was not like his wife in\nanything but her dress, and the children were not at all like Han\nChung and Ho-Seen-Ko; and poor Wang Chih's heart was very heavy as he\nwalked away out of the town.\n\nHe slept out on the mountain, and early in the morning found his way\nback to the cave where the two old men were playing chess.\n\nAt first they said they could do nothing for him, and told him to go\naway and not disturb them; but Wang Chih would not go, and they soon\nfound the only way to get rid of him was to give him some really good\nadvice.\n\n\"You must go to the White Hare of the Moon, and ask him for a bottle\nof the elixir of life. If you drink that you will live for ever,\" said\none of them.\n\n\"But I don't want to live for ever,\" objected Wang Chih; \"I wish to go\nback and live in the days when my wife and children were here.\"\n\n\"Ah, well! For that you must mix the elixir of life with some water\nout of the Sky-Dragon's mouth.\"\n\n\"And where is the Sky-Dragon to be found?\" inquired Wang Chih.\n\n\"In the sky, of course. You really ask very stupid questions. He lives\nin a cloud-cave. And when he comes out of it he breathes fire, and\nsometimes water. If he is breathing fire, you will be burnt up, but if\nit is only water, you will easily be able to catch some in a bottle.\nWhat else do you want?\"\n\nFor Wang Chih still lingered at the mouth of the cave.\n\n\"I want a pair of wings to fly with, and a bottle to catch the water\nin,\" he replied boldly.\n\nSo they gave him a little bottle; and before he had time to say,\n\"Thank you!\" a White Crane came sailing past, and lighted on the\nground close to the cave.\n\n\"The Crane will take you wherever you like,\" said the old men. \"Go\nnow, and leave us in peace.\"\n\n\n_Wang Chih visits the Fire Dragon_\n\nWang Chih sat on the White Crane's back, and was taken up, and up, and\nup through the sky to the cloud-cave where the Sky-Dragon lived. And\nthe Dragon had the head of a camel, the horns of a deer, the eyes of a\nrabbit, the ears of a cow, and the claws of a hawk.\n\nBesides this, he had whiskers and a beard, and in his beard was a\nbright pearl.\n\nAll these things show that he was a real, genuine dragon, and if you\never meet a dragon who is not exactly like this, you will know he is\nonly a make-believe one.\n\nWang Chih felt rather frightened when he perceived the cave in the\ndistance, and if it had not been for the thought of seeing his wife\nagain, and his little boy and girl, he would have been glad to turn\nback.\n\nWhile he was far away, the cloud-cave looked like a dark hole in the\nmidst of a soft, white, woolly mass, such as one sees in the sky on an\nApril day; but as he came nearer he found the cloud was as hard as a\nrock, and covered with a kind of dry, white grass.\n\nWhen he got there, he sat down on a tuft of grass near the cave, and\nconsidered what he should do next.\n\nThe first thing was, of course, to bring the Dragon out, and the next\nto make him breathe water instead of fire.\n\n\"I have it!\" cried Wang Chih at last; and he nodded his head so many\ntimes that the White Crane expected to see it fall off.\n\nHe struck a light, and set the grass on fire, and it was so dry that\nthe flames spread all around the entrance to the cave, and made such a\nsmoke and crackling that the Sky-Dragon put his head out to see what\nwas the matter.\n\n\"Ho! ho!\" cried the Dragon, when he saw what Wang Chih had done, \"I\ncan soon put this to rights.\" And he breathed once, and the water came\nfrom his nose and mouth in three streams.\n\nBut this was not enough to put the fire out. Then he breathed twice,\nand the water came out in three mighty rivers, and Wang Chih, who had\ntaken care to fill his bottle when the first stream began to flow,\nsailed away on the White Crane's back as fast as he could, to escape\nbeing drowned.\n\nThe rivers poured over the cloud-rock, until there was not a spark\nleft alight, and rushed down through the sky into the sea below.\n\nFortunately, the sea lay right underneath the Dragon's cave, or he\nwould have done great mischief. As it was, the people on the coast\nlooked out across the water toward Japan, and saw three inky-black\nclouds stretching from the sky into the sea.\n\n\"My word! There is a fine rain-storm out at sea!\" they said to each\nother.\n\nBut of course it was nothing of the kind; it was only the Sky-Dragon\nputting out the fire Wang Chih had kindled.\n\n\n_Wang Chih visits the White Hare of the Moon_\n\nMeanwhile, Wang Chih was on his way to the Moon, and when he got there\nhe went straight to the hut where the Hare of the Moon lived, and\nknocked at the door.\n\nThe Hare was busy pounding the drugs which make up the elixir of life;\nbut he left his work, and opened the door, and invited Wang Chih to\ncome in.\n\nHe was not ugly, like the Dragon; his fur was quite white and soft and\nglossy, and he had lovely, gentle brown eyes.\n\nThe Hare of the Moon lives a thousand years, as you know, and when he\nis five hundred years old he changes his colour, from brown to white,\nand becomes, if possible, better tempered and nicer than he was\nbefore.\n\nAs soon as he heard what Wang Chih wanted, he opened two windows at\nthe back of the hut, and told him to look through each of them in\nturn.\n\n\"Tell me what you see,\" said the Hare, going back to the table where\nhe was pounding the drugs.\n\n\"I can see a great many houses and people,\" said Wang Chih, \"and\nstreets--why, this is the town I was in yesterday, the one which has\ntaken the place of my old village.\"\n\nWang Chih stared, and grew more and more puzzled. Here he was up in\nthe Moon, and yet he could have thrown a stone into the busy street of\nthe Chinese town below his window.\n\n\"How does it come here?\" he stammered, at last.\n\n\"Oh, that is my secret,\" replied the wise old Hare. \"I know how to do\na great many things which would surprise you. But the question is, do\nyou want to go back there?\"\n\nWang Chih shook his head.\n\n\"Then close the window. It is the window of the Present. And look\nthrough the other, which is the window of the Past.\"\n\nWang Chih obeyed, and through this window he saw his own dear little\nvillage, and his wife, and Han Chung and Ho-Seen-Ko jumping about her\nas she hung up the coloured lanterns outside the door.\n\n\"Father won't be in time to light them for us, after all,\" Han Chung\nwas saying.\n\nWang Chih turned, and looked eagerly at the White Hare.\n\n\"Let me go to them,\" he said. \"I have got a bottle of water from the\nSky-Dragon's mouth, and----\"\n\n\"That's all right,\" said the White Hare. \"Give it to me.\"\n\nHe opened the bottle, and mixed the contents carefully with a few\ndrops of the elixir of life, which was clear as crystal, and of which\neach drop shone like a diamond as he poured it in.\n\n\"Now, drink this,\" he said to Wang Chih, \"and it will give you the\npower of living once more in the Past, as you desire.\"\n\nWang Chih held out his hand, and drank every drop.\n\nThe moment he had done so, the window grew larger, and he saw some\nsteps leading from it down into the village street.\n\nThanking the Hare, he rushed through it, and ran toward his own house,\narriving in time to take from his wife's hand the taper with which she\nwas about to light the red and yellow lanterns which swung over the\ndoor.\n\n\"What has kept you so long, father? Where have you been?\" asked Han\nChung, while little Ho-Seen-Ko wondered why he kissed and embraced\nthem all so eagerly.\n\nBut Wang Chih did not tell them his adventures just then; only when\ndarkness fell, and the Feast of Lanterns began, he took part in it\nwith a merry heart.\n\n\n\n\n_Prince Harweda and the Magic Prison_\n\nBy ELIZABETH HARRISON\n\n(_Adapted_)\n\n\nLittle Harweda was born a prince. His father was king over all the\nland, and his mother was the most beautiful queen the world had ever\nseen, and Prince Harweda was their only child. From the day of his\nbirth, everything that love or money could do for him had been done.\nThe pillow on which his head rested was made out of the down from\nhumming-birds' breasts. The water in which his hands and face were\nwashed was always steeped in rose leaves before being brought to the\nnursery. Everything that could be done was done, and nothing which\ncould add to his ease or comfort was left undone.\n\nBut his parents, although they were king and queen, were not very\nwise, for they never thought of making the young prince think of\nanyone but himself. Never in all his life had he given up one of his\ncomforts that someone else might have a pleasure. So, of course, he\ngrew to be selfish and peevish, and by the time he was five years old\nhe was so disagreeable that nobody loved him. \"Dear! dear! what shall\nwe do?\" said the poor queen, and the king only sighed and answered,\n\"Ah, what indeed!\" They were both very much grieved, for they well\nknew that little Harweda would never grow up to be really a great king\nunless he could make his people love him.\n\nAt last they determined to send for his fairy godmother to see if she\ncould cure Prince Harweda of always thinking about himself. \"Well,\nwell, well!\" exclaimed his godmother when they laid the case before\nher, \"this is a pretty state of affairs! And I his godmother, too! Why\nwasn't I called in sooner?\" She told them she would have to think a\nday and a night and a day again before she could offer them any help.\n\"But,\" added she, \"if I take the child in charge, you must let me have\nmy way for a whole year.\" The king and queen gladly promised that they\nwould not even speak to or see their son for the year if the fairy\ngodmother would only cure him of his selfishness. \"We'll see about\nthat,\" said the godmother. \"Humph, expecting to be a king some day and\nnot caring for anybody but himself--a fine king he'll make!\" With that\nshe flew off, and the king and queen saw nothing more of her for a\nday and a night and another day. Then back she came in a great hurry.\n\n\"Give me the prince,\" said she, \"I have a house all ready for him. One\nmonth from to-day I'll bring him back to you. Perhaps he'll be cured\nand perhaps he won't. If he is not cured then, we shall try two months\nnext time. We'll see, we'll see.\" Without any more ado she picked up\nthe astonished young prince and flew away with him as lightly as if he\nwere nothing but a feather or a straw. In vain the poor queen wept and\nbegged for a last kiss. Before she had wiped her eyes, the fairy\ngodmother and Prince Harweda were out of sight.\n\nThey flew a long distance, until they reached a great forest. When\nthey had come to the middle of it, down flew the fairy, and in a\nminute more the young prince was standing on the green grass beside a\nbeautiful pink marble palace that looked something like a good-sized\nsummer-house.\n\n\"This is your home,\" said the godmother. \"In it you will find\neverything you need, and you can do just as you choose with your\ntime.\" Little Harweda was delighted at this, for there was nothing in\nthe world he liked better than to do as he pleased. He tossed his cap\nup into the air and ran into the lovely little house without so much\nas saying \"Thank you\" to his godmother. \"Humph,\" said she, as he\ndisappeared, \"you'll have enough of it before you have finished, my\nfine prince.\" With that, off she flew. Prince Harweda had no sooner\nset his foot inside the small rose-coloured palace than the iron door\nshut with a bang and locked itself. This was because it was an\nenchanted house, as of course all houses are that are built by\nfairies.\n\nPrince Harweda did not mind being locked in, as he cared very little\nfor the great beautiful outside world. The new home was very fine, and\nhe was eager to examine it. Then, too, he thought that when he was\ntired of it, all he would have to do would be to kick on the door and\na servant from somewhere would come and open it--he had always had a\nservant to obey his slightest command.\n\nHis fairy godmother had told him that it was _his_ house, therefore he\nwas interested in looking at everything in it.\n\nThe floor was made of a beautiful red copper that shone in the\nsunlight like burnished gold and seemed almost a dark red in the\nshadow. He had never seen anything half so fine before. The ceiling\nwas of mother-of-pearl, with tints of red and blue and yellow and\ngreen, all blending into gleaming white, as only mother-of-pearl can.\nFrom the middle of this handsome ceiling hung a large gilded bird-cage\ncontaining a beautiful bird, which just at this moment was singing a\nglad song of welcome to the prince. Harweda, however, cared very\nlittle about birds, so he took no notice of the singer.\n\nAround on every side were couches with richly embroidered coverings\nand soft down pillows. \"Ah,\" thought the prince, \"here I can lounge at\nmy ease with no one to call me to stupid lessons!\" Wonderfully carved\njars and vases of gold and silver stood about on the floor, and each\nwas filled with a different perfume. \"This is delicious,\" said Prince\nHarweda. \"Now I can have all the sweet odours I want without the\ntrouble of going into the garden for roses or lilies.\"\n\nIn the centre of the room was a fountain of sparkling water which\nleaped up and fell back into its marble basin with a faint, dreamy\nmusic very pleasant to hear.\n\nOn a table near at hand were various baskets of the most tempting\npears and grapes and peaches, and near them were dishes of sweetmeats.\n\"Good,\" said the greedy young prince, \"that is what I like best of\nall.\" Thereupon he fell to eating the fruit and sweetmeats as fast as\nhe could cram them into his mouth. He ate so much that he had a pain\nin his stomach, but strange to say, the table was just as full as\nwhen he began, for no sooner did he reach his hand out and take a\nsoft, mellow pear or a rich, juicy peach than another pear or peach\ntook its place in the basket. The same thing happened when he helped\nhimself to chocolate drops or marsh-mallows, for of course, as the\nlittle palace was enchanted, everything in it was enchanted also.\n\nWhen Prince Harweda had eaten until he could eat no more, he threw\nhimself down upon one of the couches and fell asleep. When he awoke,\nhe noticed, for the first time, the walls which, by the way, were\nreally the strangest part of his new home. They had in them twelve\nlong, chequered windows which reached from the ceiling to the floor.\nThe spaces between the windows were filled with mirrors exactly the\nsame size as the windows, so that the whole room was walled in with\nwindows and looking-glasses. Through the three windows that looked to\nthe north could be seen far distant mountains, towering high above the\nsurrounding country. From the three windows that faced the south could\nbe seen the great ocean, tossing and moving and gleaming with white\nand silver. The eastern windows gave each morning a glorious view of\nthe sunrise. The windows on the west looked out upon a great forest of\ntall fir-trees, and at the time of sunset most splendid colours could\nbe seen between the dark, green branches.\n\nBut little Harweda cared for none of these beautiful views. In fact he\nscarcely glanced out of the windows at all, he was so taken up with\nthe broad handsome mirrors. In each of them he could see himself\nreflected, and he was very fond of looking at himself in a\nlooking-glass. He was much pleased when he noticed that the mirrors\nwere so arranged that each one not only reflected his whole body,\nhead, arms, feet, and all, but that it also reflected his image as\nseen in several of the other mirrors. He could thus see his front, and\nback, and each side, all at the same time. As he was a handsome boy,\nhe enjoyed these many views of himself immensely, and would stand and\nsit and lie down just for the fun of seeing the many images of himself\ndo the same thing.\n\nHe spent so much time looking at and admiring himself in the wonderful\nlooking-glasses that he had very little time for the books and games\nin the palace. Hours were spent each day first before one mirror and\nthen another, and he did not notice that the windows were growing\nnarrower and narrower and the mirrors wider, until the former had\nbecome so small that they hardly admitted light enough for him to see\nhimself in the looking-glass. Still, this did not alarm him very much,\nas he cared nothing for the outside world. It only made him spend more\ntime at the mirror, as it was now getting quite difficult for him to\nsee himself at all. The windows at last became mere slits in the wall,\nand the mirrors grew so large that they not only reflected little\nHarweda but all of the room besides in a dim kind of way.\n\nFinally, however, Prince Harweda awoke one morning and found himself\nin total darkness. Not a ray of light came from the outside world,\nand, of course, not an object in the room could be seen. He rubbed his\neyes and sat up to make sure that he was not dreaming. Then he called\nloudly for someone to come and open a window for him, but no one came.\nHe got up and groped his way to the iron door and tried to open it,\nbut it was--as you know--locked. He kicked it, and beat upon it, but\nhe only bruised his fists and hurt his toes. He grew quite angry now.\nHow dare any one shut him, a prince, up in a dark prison like this! He\nabused the fairy godmother, calling her all sorts of names. In fact,\nhe blamed everybody and everything but himself for his trouble, but it\nwas of no use. The sound of his own voice was his only answer. The\nwhole of the outside world seemed to have forgotten him.\n\nAs he felt his way back to his couch, he knocked over one of the\ngolden jars which had held the liquid perfume, but the perfume was all\ngone now and only an empty jar rolled over the floor. He laid himself\ndown on the couch, but its soft pillows had been removed and a hard\niron framework received him. He was dismayed, and lay for a long time\nthinking of what he had best do with himself. All before him was blank\ndarkness, as black as the darkest night you ever saw. He reached out\nhis hand to get some fruit to eat, but only one or two withered apples\nremained on the table. Was he to starve to death? Suddenly he noticed\nthat the tinkling music of the fountain had ceased. He hastily groped\nhis way to it, and he found in the place of the dancing, running\nstream a silent pool of water. A hush had fallen upon everything about\nhim; a dead silence was in the room. He threw himself down upon the\nfloor and wished that he were dead also. He lay there for a long, long\ntime.\n\nAt last he heard, or thought he heard, a faint sound. He listened\neagerly. It seemed to be some tiny creature not far away, trying to\nmove about. For the first time for nearly a month, he remembered the\nbird in the gilded cage. \"Poor little thing,\" he cried as he sprang\nup, \"you too are shut within this terrible prison. This thick darkness\nmust be as hard for you to bear as it is for me.\" He went toward the\ncage, and, as he drew near, the bird gave a glad little chirp.\n\n\"That's better than nothing,\" said the boy. \"You must need some water\nto drink. Poor thing,\" continued he, as he filled the drinking-cup,\n\"this is all I have to give you.\"\n\nJust then he heard a harsh, grating sound as of rusty bolts sliding\nwith difficulty out of their sockets, and then faint rays of light,\nnot wider than a hair, began to shine between the heavy plate mirrors.\nPrince Harweda was filled with joy. \"Perhaps, perhaps,\" said he\nsoftly, \"I may yet see the light again. Ah, how beautiful the outside\nworld would look to me now!\"\n\nThe next day he was so hungry that he began to bite one of the old\nwithered apples, and as he bit it, he thought of the bird, his\nfellow-prisoner. \"You must be hungry too, poor little thing,\" said he,\nas he put part of the apple into the bird's cage. Again came the\nharsh, grating sound, and the boy noticed that the cracks of light\nwere growing larger. Still they were only cracks, as nothing of the\noutside world could be seen. However, it was a comfort not to have to\ngrope about in total darkness. Prince Harweda felt quite sure that\nthe cracks of light were wider, and on going up to one and putting his\neye close to it, as he would to a pinhole in a paper, he was glad to\nfind that he could tell the greenness of the grass from the blue of\nthe sky.\n\n\"Ah, my pretty bird, my pretty bird!\" he cried joyfully, \"I have had a\nglimpse of the great beautiful outside world, and you shall have it\ntoo.\"\n\nWith these words, he climbed up into a chair and, loosening the cage\nfrom the golden chain by which it hung, he carried it carefully to the\nnearest crack of light and placed it close to the narrow opening.\nAgain was heard the harsh, grating sound, and the walls moved a bit,\nand the windows were now at least an inch wide. At this, the poor\nprince clasped his hands with delight. He sat down near the bird-cage\nand gazed out of the narrow opening. Never before had the trees looked\nso tall and stately, or the white clouds floating through the sky so\nlovely.\n\nThe next day, as he was carefully cleaning the bird's cage so that his\nlittle friend might be more comfortable, the walls again creaked and\ngroaned and the mirrors grew narrower by just so many inches as the\nwindows widened. But Prince Harweda saw only the flood of sunshine\nthat poured in, and the beauty of the large landscape. He cared\nnothing now for the stupid mirrors which could only reflect what was\nplaced before them. Each day he found something new and beautiful in\nthe view from the narrow windows. Now it was a squirrel frisking about\nand running up some tall tree trunk so rapidly that Prince Harweda\ncould not follow it with his eyes; again it was a mother bird feeding\nher young. By this time, the windows were a foot wide or more.\n\nOne day, as two white doves suddenly soared aloft in the blue sky, the\npoor little bird, who had become the tenderly cared for comrade of the\nyoung prince, gave a pitiful little trill. \"Dear little fellow,\" cried\nHarweda, \"do you also long for your freedom? You shall at least be as\nfree as I am.\" So saying, he opened the cage door and the bird flew\nout.\n\nThe prince laughed as he watched it flutter about from chair to table\nand back to chair again. He was so occupied with the bird that he did\nnot notice that the walls had again shaken and that the windows were\nnow their full size, until the added light caused him to look around.\nHe turned and saw the room looking almost exactly as it had done on\nthe day he had entered it with so much pride because it was all his\nown. Now it seemed close and stuffy, and he would gladly have given it\nall for the humblest home in his father's kingdom where he could meet\npeople and hear them talk, and see them smile at each other, even if\nthey should take no notice of him.\n\nOne day soon after this, the little bird fluttered up against the\nwindow-pane and beat his wings against it in a vain effort to get out.\nA new idea seized the young prince, and taking up one of the golden\njars he went to the window and struck on one of its chequered panes of\nglass with all his force. \"You shall be free, even if I cannot,\" said\nhe to the bird. Two or three strong blows shivered the small pane and\nthe bird swept out into the free open air beyond. \"Ah, my pretty one,\nhow glad I am that you are free at last,\" cried the prince, as he\nstood watching the flight of his fellow-prisoner. His face was bright\nwith glad, unselfish joy over the bird's liberty.\n\nThe small, pink marble palace shook from top to bottom, the iron door\nflew open, and the fresh wind from the sea rushed in and seemed to\ncatch the boy in its invisible arms. Prince Harweda could hardly\nbelieve his eyes as he sprang to the door. There stood his fairy\ngodmother, smiling, and with her hand reached out toward him. \"Come,\nmy god-child,\" said she gently, \"we shall now go back to your father\nand mother, the king and the queen, and they will rejoice with us that\nyou have been cured of your terrible selfishness.\"\n\nGreat indeed was the rejoicing in the palace when Prince Harweda was\nreturned to them a sweet, loving boy, kind and thoughtful to all about\nhim. Many a struggle he had with the old habit of selfishness, but as\ntime passed by he grew to be a great, wise king, loving and tenderly\ncaring for all his people and loved by them in return.\n\n\n\n\n_The Hop-about Man_[11]\n\nAGNES GROZIER HERBERTSON\n\n\nWee-Wun was a little gnome who lived in the Bye-bye Meadow, in a fine\nnew house which he loved. To live in the Bye-bye Meadow was sometimes\na dangerous thing, for all the big people lived there. Wee-Wun might\nhave lived on the other common with the other gnomes and fairies if he\nhad liked; but he did not. He liked better to be among the big people\non the Bye-bye Meadow. And perhaps if he had not been such a careless\nfellow he might not have got into so much trouble there; but he was as\ncareless as he could be.\n\n[Footnote 11: _From Little Folks' Magazine_. By permission of Messrs\nCassell & Co., Ltd.]\n\nOne day Wee-Wun was flying across the Bye-bye Meadow, with his cap at\nthe back of his head, and his pockets full of blue blow-away seeds,\nwhen he saw lying upon the ground two little shoes of blue and silver,\nwith upturned toes.\n\n\"Here is a find!\" cried he, and he bent down over the little shoes\nwith round eyes.\n\nThere they were, and they said nothing about how they had come there,\nbut lay sadly on their sides, as silent as could be.\n\n\"I shall certainly take them home to my fine house,\" said Wee-Wun the\ngnome, \"for they must be lonely lying here. They shall stand upon my\nmantel shelf, and every morning I shall say, 'Good-morning, little\nblue shoes,' and every night I shall say, 'Good-night,' and we shall\nall be as happy as can be.\"\n\nSo he went to put the little shoes into his pockets, but he found they\nwere already full of blue blow-away seeds.\n\nThen Wee-Wun took the blue blow-away seeds, and cast them over the\nwall into the Stir-about Wife's garden. And he put the little shoes\ninto his pocket, and flew away.\n\nThe garden of the Stir-about Wife is full of golden dandelions. That\nis because the Stir-about Wife likes best to brew golden spells that\nwill make folk happy, and of course dandelions are the flowers you use\nfor golden spells.\n\nBut the very next day after Wee-Wun had passed, when she came into her\ngarden to gather every twentieth dandelion she could hardly see a\ndandelion because of the blow-aways that were growing everywhere, and\ncasting their fluff into the dandelions' eyes.\n\nWhen the Stir-about Wife saw this mournful sight she wept, because\nher beautiful spell, which she was about to finish, was quite spoiled.\nAnd after a little while she went into her house and made another\nspell instead.\n\nOn the morrow Wee-Wun the gnome came flying over the Bye-bye Meadow,\njust as careless as ever. He stopped for a moment by the Stir-about\nWife's garden to look at the spot where he had found the little blue\nshoes, to see if there were another pair there. And after he had seen\nthat no one had dropped another pair of little blue shoes, he hung\nover the Stir-about Wife's wall and looked at her garden, and when he\nsaw the blue blow-aways he laughed so that he fell upon the ground.\n\n\"That is a new kind of dandelion,\" said he, and he picked himself up,\nlaughing still. Then he saw that upon the ground where he had fallen\nthere lay a large seed that shone in the sun. It was as blue as the\nlittle blue shoes, and Wee-Wun had never seen any seed like it before.\nHe took it in his hand, and how it twinkled and shone!\n\n\"I shall plant this in my garden,\" said Wee-Wun, \"and I shall have a\nplant which will have sunbeams for flowers.\"\n\nSo he dropped it into his pocket and flew away home. That evening he\nmade a little hole, and when he had dropped the blue seed into it he\npatted the earth down.\n\n\"Grow quickly, little seed,\" said he. Then he thought of the\nStir-about Wife's garden, and he began to laugh, and he laughed now\nand again the whole night through.\n\nBut when he awakened in the morning, alack! he laughed no more, for\nhis fine home was so dark that he could see not a pace in front of\nhim.\n\n\"This is very odd, very odd, indeed!\" said Wee-Wun the gnome, and he\nrubbed his eyes very hard. But this was no dream, and no matter how\nhard he rubbed, he could not rub it away. Then he heard upon the floor\na clatter and a rustle, and then a stepping noise--one, two; one,\ntwo--and that was the little blue shoes that were marching round and\nround over the floor very steadily.\n\nAnd as they marched they sang this song:\n\n \"Ring-a-ding-dill, ring-a-ding-dill,\n The Hop-about Man comes over the hill.\n Why is he coming, and what will he see?\n Rickety, rackety--one, two, three.\"\n\nAnd they sang it over and over again.\n\n\"Well, this is a fine time to sing, when it is as dark as can be!\"\ncried Wee-Wun. But the little shoes took no notice at all.\n\nSo Wee-Wun went outside to his garden, and then he saw that the whole\nworld was not dark, as he had supposed, but only his little home. For\nin the spot where he had sown the blue seed had sprung up a huge plant\nwhich covered over the window of Wee-Wun's fine house, and reached far\nabove its roof.\n\nWee-Wun began to weep, for he did not see why this thing had come to\nhim. And after he had wept awhile he went close to the fearful plant\nand walked round it, and looked up and down.\n\nAnd then he said, \"Why, it is a blue blow-away!\" And so it was, but\nfar, far larger than any Wee-Wun had ever seen in his life before. And\nit had grown so high and as big as that in just one night.\n\n\"What will it be like to-morrow?\" thought Wee-Wun, and he began to\nweep again. But the blue blow-away took no notice of his tears, and\nthe little shoes inside the house went on singing; so Wee-Wun had to\nstir his wits, and consider what was to be done. And when he had\nconsidered awhile, he set off for the house of the Green Ogre, shaking\nin his shoes.\n\nThe Green Ogre was planting peas, one by one. When he saw Wee-Wun come\nalong, with tears still on his cheeks and shaking in his shoes, he\nsaid:\n\n\"My little gnome, you had better keep away, lest I plant you in\nmistake for a pea.\"\n\nBut Wee-Wun said:\n\n\"Oh, dear Green Ogre, wouldn't you like a nice blue blow-away for your\ngarden? I have one which is quite big enough for you; it is taller\nthan my little house. You have never seen a blow-away so fine.\"\n\n\"And are you weeping, my Wee-Wun, because you have such a fine blue\nblow-away?\" asked the Green Ogre, and he began to laugh.\n\nBut Wee-Wun said:\n\n\"I am weeping to see such a fine garden as yours without a blue\nblow-away in it. That is a sad sight.\"\n\n\"There is something in that,\" said the Green Ogre, and he set down his\npeas, and thought. Then he said: \"Very well, I will come and look at\nyour blue blow-away.\" And he set off at once.\n\nNow when the Green Ogre saw the blue blow-away in Wee-Wun's garden he\nthought it was certainly the best he had ever seen, and much too fine\nfor a little gnome like Wee-Wun. So he dug it up in a great hurry and\ncarried it away.\n\n\"There, that was managed very easily,\" said Wee-Wun the gnome joyously\nto himself, and he looked at the hole where the blue blow-away had\nbeen, and laughed. Then he went into his fine home, but that was no\nlonger empty, for in the seat by the fireside sat a little man in a\nblue smock and feather cap. And he looked quite happy and at home. And\nabove his head on the mantel shelf were the little blue shoes, as\nquiet as could be.\n\n\"This is a nice thing,\" said Wee-Wun, opening his eyes wide. \"Who are\nyou that you have come into my little house where I like to sit all\nalone?\"\n\nAnd the little man replied at once:\n\n\"I am the Hop-about Man, and since you have let the Green Ogre carry\naway the blue blow-away in which I lived, I have come to live with\nyou.\"\n\n\"But my fine house is not big enough to hold two people,\" cried\nWee-Wun, and he was in a way.\n\n\"It is big enough to hold twelve tigers,\" said the Hop-about Man, \"so\nit can easily hold two little gnomes. As for me, here I am, and here I\nmean to stay.\"\n\nAnd not another word would he say. At this Wee-Wun was in a terrible\nway, as you may think. But there was the Hop-about Man, and he did not\nseem to care, not one bit.\n\nSo Wee-Wun went on his way, and when he had made a platter of porridge\nfor his breakfast, the Hop-about Man said:\n\n\"Ah, that is my breakfast, I see,\" and he ate it up in a twink. So\nWee-Wun had to make another platterful, and alack, he was careless,\nand let that porridge burn, and he could not eat it, though he tried\nhard. Afterwards he went out to fetch wood for his fire, and when he\nhad fetched it, he threw it into a corner, and he left the door wide\nopen, so that a draught fell upon the Hop-about Man. But the Hop-about\nMan said nothing.\n\nThen Wee-Wun went out to dig in his garden, and he dug there the whole\nday long, and when he came in in the evening, there was the Hop-about\nMan sitting in his chair. When Wee-Wun looked at his blue smock and\nhis feather cap he saw that the Hop-about Man looked just like a blue\nblow-away growing in the chair at Wee-Wun's fireside. But when Wee-Wun\nthe gnome came in the Hop-about Man flew out of his chair, and he flew\nall around the room, singing this song:\n\n \"Ring-a-ding-dill, ring-a-ding-dill,\n Let all careless things hop about if they will.\"\n\nAlack! he had no sooner sung this song than the door which Wee-Wun had\nleft open jumped off its hinges and ran about the floor, and the wood\nwhich he had thrown into the corner flew out and rushed about too. The\nHop-about Man's platter, which Wee-Wun had forgotten to wash, flew up\nto the ceiling, and the wooden spoon spun round like a top on the\nfloor, and all the chairs and tables Wee-Wun had left awry began to\ndance.\n\n\"Certainly my fine house will come down about my ears,\" cried poor\nWee-Wun.\n\nThen he felt a tug at his hair, and that was his cap, which he had put\non inside out, and which was anxious to be off and join in the fun.\nAnd his spade, which he had left lying on the ground outside, came\nrunning in at the place where the door had been, stirring everything\nas it came. That was a muddle, and Wee-Wun began to weep.\n\n\"Oh, dear Hop-about Man,\" he cried, \"do tell everything to be quiet\nagain, please, for I can hear the walls of my fine house shaking!\"\n\nBut the Hop-about Man, who was again sitting in his chair, replied:\n\n\"Things will be quiet again when you have put all careless things\nstraight.\"\n\nSo Wee-Wun set to work, and he wept ever so fast. You see it is\ndifficult to put careless things straight when they are running about\nall the time, and you have to catch them first. But at last Wee-Wun\nset the door on its hinges, and put the wood in the wood cellar, and\nwashed the Hop-about Man's platter and spoon, and set straight all the\nchairs and tables, and put the spade in the place where it ought to\nbe, and he was so tired that he could hardly move another step. But\nthe Hop-about Man did not notice him at all, and when Wee-Wun cried\nout to the little blue shoes:\n\n\"See how hard I am working,\" they were quite silent. And you do not\nknow how silent blue shoes can be.\n\nThe Hop-about Man was falling asleep in his chair when all was\nfinished, and Wee-Wun again shed tears.\n\n\"Oh, Hop-about Man,\" he cried, \"are you never going away?\"\n\nAnd the Hop-about Man replied:\n\n\"Certainly I am very comfortable here, with half of this fine house\nfor my own, and I can only walk away if I have a pair of little blue\nshoes to walk in, and I can only go when you have set all careless\nthings straight.\"\n\nPoor Wee-Wun! He took the little blue shoes in a hurry, and his tears\nwere dropping all the time.\n\n\"Good-bye, little blue shoes,\" he said, but the Hop-about Man did not\nseem to notice. And when Wee-Wun gave them to him he put them upon his\nfeet, but he did not stir, not an inch.\n\nThen Wee-Wun sighed a long sigh, and he flew over the Bye-bye Meadow\ntill he reached the garden of the Stir-about Wife, which is bound\nabout by a wall. And there all night he weeded, pulling up blue\nblow-aways by the score. But when in the morning he went back to his\nfine house, the Hop-about Man was gone.\n\n\n\n\n_The Street Musicians_\n\nLIDA MCMURRY\n\n\nA donkey who had carried sacks to the mill for his master a great many\nyears became so weak that he could not work for a living any longer.\nHis master thought that he would get rid of his old servant, that he\nmight save the cost of his food. The donkey heard of this, and made up\nhis mind to run away. So he took the road to a great city where he had\noften heard the street band play. \"For,\" thought he, \"I can make music\nas well as they.\"\n\nHe had gone but a little way when he came to a dog stretched out in\nthe middle of the road and panting for breath, as if tired from\nrunning.\n\n\"Why are you panting so, friend?\" asked the donkey.\n\n\"Oh, dear!\" he replied. \"Now that I am old and growing weaker and\nweaker, and am not able to hunt any more, my master has ordered that I\nshould be killed. So I have run away, but how I am to earn a living I\nam sure I do not know.\"\n\n\"Will you come with me?\" said the donkey. \"You see, I am going to try\nmy luck as a street musician in the city. I think we might easily earn\na living by music. You can play the bass drum and I can play the\nflute.\"\n\n\"I will go,\" said the dog, and they both walked on together.\n\nNot long after they saw a cat sitting in the road, with a face as\ndismal as three days of rainy weather.\n\n\"Now what has happened to you, old Whiskers?\" said the donkey.\n\n\"How can I be happy when I am in fear for my life?\" said the cat. \"I\nam getting old, and my teeth are only stumps. I cannot catch mice any\nlonger, and I like to lie behind the stove and purr. But when I found\nthat they were going to drown me, away I ran as fast as my four legs\ncould carry me. But now that I have come away, what am I to do?\"\n\n\"Go with us to the city,\" said the donkey. \"You often give night\nconcerts, I know, so you can easily become a street musician.\"\n\n\"With all my heart,\" said the cat, so she walked on with them.\n\nAfter travelling quite a long distance the three \"runaways\" came to a\nfarmyard, and on the gate stood a rooster, crowing with all his\nmight.\n\n\"Why are you standing there and making such a fuss?\" said the donkey.\n\n\"I will tell you,\" replied the rooster. \"I heard the cook say that\nthere is company coming on Wednesday and she will want me to put into\nthe soup. That evening my head will be cut off, so I shall crow at the\ntop of my voice as long as I can.\"\n\n\"Listen, Red Comb,\" said the donkey. \"Would you like to run away with\nus? We are going to the city, and you will find something better there\nthan to be made into soup. You have a fine voice, and we are all\nmusicians.\"\n\nThe rooster was glad to go, and all four went on together.\n\nThey could not reach the city in one day, and evening came on just as\nthey reached a wood, so they agreed to stay there all night.\n\nThe donkey and the dog lay down under a large tree, the cat stretched\nherself out on one of the branches, and the rooster flew to the top,\nwhere he felt quite safe.\n\nBefore they slept the rooster, who from his high roost could see every\nway, spied far off a tiny light, and calling to his comrades told them\nhe thought they were near a house in which a light was shining.\n\n\"Then,\" said the donkey, \"we must rouse up and go on to this light,\nfor no doubt we shall find a good stopping-place there.\"\n\nThe dog said he would be glad of a little piece of meat, or a couple\nof bones if he could get nothing more.\n\nVery soon they were on their way to the place where the light shone.\nIt grew larger and brighter as they came nearer to it, till they saw\nthat it came from the window of a small hut. The donkey, who was the\ntallest, went near and looked in.\n\n\"What is to be seen, old Grey Horse?\" said the rooster.\n\n\"What do I see?\" answered the donkey. \"Why, a table spread with plenty\nto eat and drink, and robbers sitting at it and having a good time.\"\n\n\"That ought to be our supper,\" said the rooster.\n\n\"Yes, yes,\" the donkey answered; \"how I wish we were inside.\"\n\nThen they talked together about how they should drive the robbers\naway. At last they made a plan that they thought would work. The\ndonkey was to stand on his hind legs and place his forefeet on the\nwindow-sill. The dog was to stand on his back. The cat was to stand on\nthe dog's shoulders, and the rooster promised to light upon the cat's\nhead.\n\nAs soon as they were all ready they began to play their music\ntogether. The donkey brayed, the dog barked, the cat mewed, the\nrooster crowed. They made such a noise that the window rattled.\n\nThe robbers, hearing the dreadful din, were terribly frightened, and\nran as fast as they could to the woods. The four comrades, rushing in,\nhurried to the table and ate as if they had had nothing for a month.\nWhen they had finished their meal they put out the light, and each one\nchose a good bed for the night. The donkey lay down at full length in\nthe yard, the dog crouched behind the door, the cat curled herself up\non the hearth in front of the fire, while the rooster flew to the roof\nof the hut. They were all so tired after their long journey that they\nwere soon fast asleep.\n\nAbout midnight one of the robbers, seeing that the light was out and\nall quiet, said to his chief: \"I do not think that we had any reason\nto be afraid, after all.\"\n\nThen he called one of his robbers and sent him to the house to see if\nit was all right.\n\nThe robber, finding everything quiet, went into the kitchen to light a\nmatch. Seeing the glaring, fiery eyes of the cat, he thought they were\nlive coals, and held a match toward them that he might light it. But\nPuss was frightened; she spat at him and scratched his face. This\nfrightened the robber so terribly that he rushed to the door, but the\ndog, who lay there, sprang out at him and bit him on the leg as he\nwent by.\n\nIn the yard he ran against the donkey, who gave him a savage kick,\nwhile the rooster on the roof cried out as loud as he could,\n\"_Cock-a-doodle-doo_.\"\n\nThen the robber ran back to his chief.\n\n\"Oh! oh!\" he cried, \"in that house is a horrible woman, who flew at me\nand scratched me down the face with her long fingers. Then by the door\nstood a man with a knife, who stabbed me in the leg, and out in the\nyard lay a monster who struck me a hard blow with a huge club; and up\non the roof sat the judge, who cried, 'Bring me the scoundrel here.'\nYou may be sure I ran away as fast as I could go.\"\n\nThe robbers never went back to the house, but got away from that place\nas quickly as they could. The four musicians liked their new home so\nwell that they thought no more of going on to the city. The last we\nheard of them, they were still there and having happy times together.\n\n\n\n\n_The Straw Ox_[12]\n\nR. NESBIT BAIN\n\n\nThere was once upon a time an old man and an old woman. The old man\nworked in the fields as a pitch-burner, while the old woman sat at\nhome and spun flax. They were so poor that they could save nothing at\nall; all their earnings went in bare food, and when that was gone\nthere was nothing left. At last the old woman had a good idea:\n\n\"Look now, husband,\" cried she, \"make me a straw ox, and smear it all\nover with tar.\"\n\n[Footnote 12: From _Cossack Fairy Tales_ (London: George G. Harrap &\nCompany).]\n\n\"Why, you foolish woman!\" said he, \"what's the good of an ox of that\nsort?\"\n\n\"Never mind,\" said she, \"you just make it. I know what I am about.\"\n\nWhat was the poor man to do? He set to work and made the ox of straw,\nand smeared it all over with tar.\n\nThe night passed away, and at early dawn the old woman took her\ndistaff, and drove the straw ox out into the steppe to graze, and she\nherself sat down behind a hillock, and began spinning her flax, and\ncried:\n\n\"Graze away, little ox, while I spin my flax. Graze away, little ox,\nwhile I spin my flax!\" And while she spun, her head drooped down and\nshe began to doze, and while she was dozing, from behind the dark wood\nand from the back of the huge pines a bear came rushing out upon the\nox and said:\n\n\"Who are you? Speak, and tell me!\"\n\nAnd the ox said:\n\n\"A three-year-old heifer am I, made of straw and smeared with tar.\"\n\n\"Oh!\" said the bear, \"stuffed with straw and trimmed with tar, are\nyou? Then give me of your straw and tar, that I may patch up my ragged\nfur again!\"\n\n\"Take some,\" said the ox, and the bear fell upon him and began to tear\naway at the tar.\n\nHe tore and tore, and buried his teeth in it till he found he couldn't\nlet go again. He tugged and he tugged, but it was no good, and the ox\ndragged him gradually off, goodness knows where.\n\nThen the old woman awoke, and there was no ox to be seen. \"Alas! old\nfool that I am!\" cried she, \"perchance it has gone home.\" Then she\nquickly caught up her distaff and spinning board, threw them over her\nshoulders, and hastened off home, and she saw that the ox had dragged\nthe bear up to the fence, and in she went to her old man.\n\n\"Dad, dad,\" she cried, \"look, look! The ox has brought us a bear. Come\nout and kill it!\" Then the old man jumped up, tore off the bear, tied\nhim up, and threw him in the cellar.\n\nNext morning, between dark and dawn, the old woman took her distaff\nand drove the ox into the steppe to graze. She herself sat down by a\nmound, began spinning, and said:\n\n\"Graze, graze away, little ox, while I spin my flax! Graze, graze\naway, little ox, while I spin my flax!\" And while she spun, her head\ndropped down and she dozed. And, lo! from behind the dark wood, from\nthe back of the huge pines, a grey wolf came rushing out upon the ox\nand said:\n\n\"Who are you? Come, tell me!\"\n\n\"I am a three-year-old heifer, stuffed with straw and trimmed with\ntar,\" said the ox.\n\n\"Oh! trimmed with tar, are you? Then give me of your tar to tar my\nsides, that the dogs and the sons of dogs tear me not!\"\n\n\"Take some,\" said the ox. And with that the wolf fell upon him and\ntried to tear the tar off. He tugged and tugged, and tore with his\nteeth, but could get none off. Then he tried to let go, and couldn't;\ntug and worry as he might, it was no good. When the old woman woke,\nthere was no heifer in sight. \"Maybe my heifer has gone home!\" she\ncried. \"I'll go home and see.\" When she got there she was astonished,\nfor by the palings stood the ox with the wolf still tugging at it. She\nran and told her old man, and her old man came and threw the wolf into\nthe cellar also.\n\nOn the third day the old woman again drove her ox into the pastures to\ngraze, and sat down by a mound and dozed off. Then a fox came running\nup. \"Who are you?\" it asked the ox.\n\n\"I'm a three-year-old heifer, stuffed with straw and daubed with tar.\"\n\n\"Then give me some of your tar to smear my sides with, when those dogs\nand sons of dogs tear my hide!\"\n\n\"Take some,\" said the ox. Then the fox fastened her teeth in him and\ncouldn't draw them out again. The old woman told her old man, and he\ntook and cast the fox into the cellar in the same way. And after that\nthey caught Pussy Swift-foot[13] likewise.\n\n[Footnote 13: The hare.]\n\nSo when he had got them all safely the old man sat down on a bench\nbefore the cellar and began sharpening a knife. And the bear said to\nhim:\n\n\"Tell me, daddy, what are you sharpening your knife for?\"\n\n\"To flay your skin off, that I may make a leather jacket for myself\nand a pelisse for my old woman.\"\n\n\"Oh! don't flay me, daddy dear! Rather let me go, and I'll bring you a\nlot of honey.\"\n\n\"Very well, see you do it,\" and he unbound and let the bear go. Then\nhe sat down on the bench and again began sharpening his knife. And the\nwolf asked him:\n\n\"Daddy, what are you sharpening your knife for?\"\n\n\"To flay off your skin, that I may make me a warm cap against the\nwinter.\"\n\n\"Oh! Don't flay me, daddy dear, and I'll bring you a whole herd of\nlittle sheep.\"\n\n\"Well, see that you do it,\" and he let the wolf go.\n\nThen he sat down, and began sharpening his knife again. The fox put\nout her little snout, and asked him:\n\n\"Be so kind, dear daddy, as to tell me why you are sharpening your\nknife!\"\n\n\"Little foxes,\" said the old man, \"have nice skins that do capitally\nfor collars and trimmings, and I want to skin you!\"\n\n\"Oh! Don't take my skin away, daddy dear, and I will bring you hens\nand geese.\"\n\n\"Very well, see that you do it!\" and he let the fox go.\n\nThe hare now alone remained, and the old man began sharpening his\nknife on the hare's account.\n\n\"Why do you do that?\" asked Puss, and he replied:\n\n\"Little hares have nice little, soft, warm skins, which will make me\nnice gloves and mittens against the winter!\"\n\n\"Oh! daddy dear! Don't flay me, and I'll bring you kale and good\ncauliflower if only you let me go!\"\n\nThen he let the hare go also.\n\nThen they went to bed: but very early in the morning, when it was\nneither dusk nor dawn, there was a noise in the doorway like\n_Durrrrrr!_\n\n\"Daddy!\" cried the old woman, \"there's someone scratching at the door:\ngo and see who it is!\"\n\nThe old man went out, and there was the bear carrying a whole hive\nfull of honey. The old man took the honey from the bear; but no sooner\ndid he lie down again than there was another _Durrrrr!_ at the door.\nThe old man looked out and saw the wolf driving a whole flock of sheep\ninto the courtyard. Close on his heels came the fox, driving before\nhim geese and hens, and all manner of fowls; and last of all came the\nhare, bringing cabbage and kale, and all manner of good food.\n\nAnd the old man was glad, and the old woman was glad. And the old man\nsold the sheep and oxen, and got so rich that he needed nothing more.\n\nAs for the straw-stuffed ox, it stood in the sun till it fell to\npieces.\n\n\n\n\n_The Necklace of Truth_\n\nJEAN MACE\n\n\nOnce there was a little girl named Coralie. She had but one fault. She\ntold falsehoods. Her parents tried to cure her in many ways, but in\nvain. Finally they decided to take her to the enchanter Merlin.\n\nThe enchanter Merlin lived in a glass palace. He loved truth. He knew\nliars by their odour a league off. When Coralie came toward the\ncastle, Merlin was forced to burn vinegar to keep himself from being\nill.\n\nCoralie's mother began to explain the reason for their coming. But\nMerlin stopped her.\n\n\"I know all about your daughter, my good lady,\" he said. \"She is one\nof the greatest liars in the world. She often makes me ill.\"\n\nMerlin's face looked so stern that Coralie hid her face under her\nmother's cloak. Her father stood before her to keep her from harm.\n\n\"Do not fear,\" said Merlin. \"I am not going to hurt your little girl.\nI only wish to make her a present.\"\n\nHe opened a drawer and took from it a magnificent amethyst necklace.\nIt was fastened with a shining clasp of diamonds.\n\nMerlin put the necklace on Coralie's neck and said, \"Go in peace, my\nfriends. Your little daughter carries with her a sure guardian of the\ntruth.\"\n\nThen he looked sternly at Coralie and said, \"In a year I shall come\nfor my necklace. Do not dare to take it off for a single moment. If\nyou do, harm will come to you!\"\n\n\"Oh, I shall always love to wear it! It is so beautiful!\" cried\nCoralie. And this is the way she came by the wonderful Necklace of\nTruth.\n\nThe day after Coralie returned home she was sent to school. As she had\nlong been absent, the little girls crowded round her. There was a cry\nof admiration at sight of the necklace.\n\n\"Where did it come from? Where did you get it?\" they asked.\n\n\"I was ill for a long time,\" replied Coralie. \"When I got well, mamma\nand papa gave me the necklace.\"\n\nA loud cry rose from all. The diamonds of the clasp had grown dim.\nThey now looked like coarse glass.\n\n\"Yes, indeed, I have been ill! What are you making such a fuss\nabout?\"\n\nAt this second falsehood the amethysts, in turn, changed to ugly\nyellow stones. A new cry arose. Coralie was frightened at the strange\nbehaviour of the necklace.\n\n\"I have been to the enchanter Merlin,\" she said very humbly.\n\nImmediately the necklace looked as beautiful as ever. But the children\nteased her.\n\n\"You need not laugh,\" said Coralie, \"for Merlin was very glad to see\nus. He sent his carriage to the next town to meet us. Such a splendid\ncarriage, with six white horses, pink satin cushions, and a negro\ncoachman with powdered hair. Merlin's palace is all of jasper and\ngold. He met us at the door and led us to the dining-room. There stood\na long table covered with delicious things to eat. First of all we\nate----\"\n\nCoralie stopped, for the children were laughing till the tears rolled\ndown their cheeks. She glanced at the necklace and shuddered. With\neach new falsehood, the necklace had become longer and longer, till it\nalready dragged on the ground.\n\n\"Coralie, you are stretching the truth,\" cried the girls.\n\n\"Well, I confess it. We walked, and we stayed there only five\nminutes.\"\n\nThe necklace shrank at once to its proper size.\n\n\"The necklace--the necklace--where did it come from?\"\n\n\"He gave it to me without saying a word. I think----\"\n\nShe had not time to finish. The fatal necklace grew shorter and\nshorter till it choked her. She gasped for breath.\n\n\"You are keeping back part of the truth,\" cried her schoolmates.\n\n\"He said--that I was--one of the greatest--liars in the world.\" The\nnecklace loosened about her neck, but Coralie still cried with pain.\n\n\"That was why Merlin gave me the necklace. He said that it would make\nme truthful. What a silly I have been to be proud of it!\"\n\nHer playmates were sorry for her. \"If I were in your place,\" said one\nof them, \"I should send back the necklace. Why do you not take it\noff?\"\n\nPoor Coralie did not wish to speak. The stones, however, began to\ndance up and down and to make a terrible clatter.\n\n\"There is something you have not told us,\" laughed the little girls.\n\n\"I like to wear it.\"\n\nOh, how the diamonds and amethysts danced! It was worse than ever.\n\n\"Tell us the true reason.\"\n\n\"Well, I see I can hide nothing. Merlin forbade me to take it off. He\nsaid great harm would come if I disobeyed.\"\n\nThanks to the enchanted necklace, Coralie became a truthful child.\nLong before the year had passed, Merlin came for his necklace. He\nneeded it for another child who told falsehoods.\n\nNo one can tell to-day what has become of the wonderful Necklace of\nTruth. But if I were a little child in the habit of telling\nfalsehoods, I should not feel quite sure that it might not be found\nagain some fine day.\n\n\n\n\n_Anders' New Cap_[14]\n\nANNA WOHLENBERG\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a little boy, called Anders, who had a new\ncap. And a prettier cap you never could see, for mother herself had\nknitted it, and nobody could make anything quite as nice as mother\ncould. And it was altogether red, except a small part in the middle\nwhich was green, for the red yarn had given out; and the tassel was\nblue.\n\n[Footnote 14: _A Swedish Fairy Tale._]\n\nHis brothers and sisters walked about squinting at him, and their\nfaces grew long with envy. But Anders cared nothing about that. He put\nhis hands in his trousers pockets and went out for a walk, for he did\nnot begrudge anybody's seeing how fine he was.\n\nThe first person he met was a farm labourer walking alongside a load\nof peat and smacking at his horse. He made a bow so deep that his back\ncame near breaking, and he was dumbfounded, I can tell you, when he\nsaw it was nobody but Anders.\n\n\"Dear me,\" he said, \"if I did not think it was the gracious little\ncount himself.\" And then he invited Anders to ride on the peat load.\n\nBut when one has a fine red cap with a blue tassel, one is too fine to\nride on peat loads, and Anders trotted proudly by.\n\nAt the turn of the road he ran up against the tanner's boy, Lars. He\nwas such a big boy that he wore high boots and carried a jack-knife.\nHe gazed and gazed at the cap, and could not keep from fingering the\nblue tassel.\n\n\"Let's swap caps,\" he said, \"and I will give you my jack-knife to\nboot.\"\n\nNow this knife was a splendid one, though half the blade was gone, and\nthe handle was a little cracked; and Anders knew that one is almost a\nman as soon as one has a jack-knife. But still it did not come up to\nthe new cap which mother had made.\n\n\"Oh no, I am not as stupid as all that!\"\n\nAnd then he said good-bye to Lars with a nod; but Lars only made faces\nat him, for he was very much put out because he could not cheat Anders\nout of his cap which his mother had made.\n\nSoon after this, Anders met a very old, old woman who curtsied till\nher skirts looked like a balloon. She called him a little gentleman\nand said that he was so fine that he might go to the royal court ball.\n\n\"Yes, why not?\" thought Anders. \"Seeing that I am so fine, I may as\nwell go and visit the King.\"\n\nAnd so he did. In the palace yard stood two soldiers with shining\nhelmets, and with muskets over their shoulders; and when Anders came,\nboth the muskets were levelled at him.\n\n\"Where may you be going?\" asked one of the soldiers.\n\n\"I am going to the court ball,\" answered Anders.\n\n\"Indeed you are not,\" said the other soldier, and put his foot\nforward. \"Nobody is allowed there without a uniform.\"\n\nBut just at this instant the Princess came tripping across the yard.\nShe was dressed in white silk with bows of ribbon. When she became\naware of Anders and the soldiers, she walked over to them.\n\n\"Oh,\" she said, \"he has such an extraordinarily fine cap on his head,\nthat that will do just as well as a uniform.\"\n\nAnd she took Anders' hand and walked with him up the broad marble\nstairs, where soldiers were posted at every third step, and through\nthe magnificent halls where courtiers in silk and velvet stood bowing\nwherever he went. For, like as not, they must have thought him a\nprince when they saw his fine cap.\n\nAt the farther end of the largest hall a table was set with golden\ncups and golden plates in long rows. On huge silver platters were\npyramids of tarts and cakes, and red wine sparkled in glittering\ndecanters. The Princess sat down under a blue canopy with bouquets of\nroses; and she let Anders sit in a golden chair by her side.\n\n\"But you must not eat with your cap on your head,\" she said, and was\ngoing to take it off.\n\n\"Oh yes, I can eat just as well,\" said Anders, and held on to his cap,\nfor if they should take it away from him, nobody would any longer\nbelieve that he was a prince, and, besides, he did not feel sure that\nhe would get it back again.\n\n\"Well, well, give it to me,\" said the Princess, \"and I will give you a\nkiss.\"\n\nThe Princess certainly was beautiful, and he would have dearly liked\nto be kissed by her, but the cap which his mother had made he would\nnot give up on any condition. He only shook his head.\n\n\"Well, but now?\" said the Princess; and she filled his pockets with\ncakes, and put her own heavy gold chain around his neck, and bent down\nand kissed him.\n\nBut he only moved farther back in his chair, and did not take his\nhands away from his head.\n\nThen the doors were thrown open, and the King entered with a large\nsuite of gentlemen in glittering uniforms and plumed hats. And the\nKing himself wore an ermine-bordered purple mantle which trailed\nbehind him, and he had a large gold crown on his white curly hair.\n\nHe smiled when he saw Anders in the gilt chair.\n\n\"That is a very fine cap you have,\" he said.\n\n\"So it is,\" said Anders. \"And it is made of mother's best yarn, and\nshe knitted it herself, and everybody wants to get it away from me.\"\n\n\"But surely you would like to change caps with me,\" said the King, and\nraised his large, heavy gold crown from his head.\n\nAnders did not answer. He sat as before, and held on to his red cap\nwhich everybody was so anxious to get. But when the King came nearer\nto him, with his gold crown between his hands, then he grew frightened\nas never before, for a King can do what he likes, and he would be\nlikely to cheat him out of his cap, if he did not take good care.\n\nWith one jump Anders got out of his chair. He darted like an arrow\nthrough all the halls, down all the stairs, and across the yard. He\ntwisted himself like an eel between the outstretched arms of the\ncourtiers, and over the soldiers' muskets he jumped like a little\nrabbit. He ran so fast that the Princess's necklace fell off his\nneck, and all the cakes jumped out of his pockets. But he had his cap.\nHe still held on to it with both hands as he rushed into his mother's\ncottage.\n\nAnd his mother took him up in her lap, and he told her all his\nadventures, and how everybody wanted his cap. And all his brothers and\nsisters stood round and listened with their mouths open.\n\nBut when his big brother heard that he had refused to give his cap for\na King's golden crown, he said that Anders was a stupid. Just think\nwhat splendid things one might get in exchange for the crown; and\nAnders could have had a still finer cap.\n\nAnders' face grew red. That he had not thought of. He cuddled up to\nhis mother and asked:\n\n\"Mother, was I stupid?\"\n\nBut his mother hugged him close.\n\n\"No, my little son,\" she said. \"If you dressed in silk and gold from\ntop to toe, you could not look any nicer than in your little red cap.\"\n\nThen Anders felt brave again. He knew well enough that mother's cap\nwas the best cap in all the world.\n\n\n\n\n_Dust under the Rug_\n\nMAUD LINDSAY\n\n\nThere was once a mother, who had two little daughters; and, as her\nhusband was dead and she was very poor, she worked diligently all the\ntime that they might be well fed and clothed. She was a skilled\nworker, and found work to do away from home, but her two little girls\nwere so good and so helpful that they kept her house as neat and as\nbright as a new pin.\n\nOne of the little girls was lame, and could not run about the house;\nso she sat still in her chair, and sewed, while Minnie, the sister,\nwashed the dishes, swept the floor, and made the home beautiful.\n\nTheir home was on the edge of a great forest; and after their tasks\nwere finished the little girls would sit at the window and watch the\ntall trees as they bent in the wind, until it would seem as though the\ntrees were real persons, nodding and bending and bowing to each other.\n\nIn the spring there were birds, in the summer the wild flowers, in\nautumn the bright leaves, and in winter the great drifts of white\nsnow; so that the whole year was a round of delight to the two happy\nchildren. But one day the dear mother came home ill; and then they\nwere very sad. It was winter, and there were many things to buy.\nMinnie and her little sister sat by the fireside and talked it over,\nand at last Minnie said:\n\n\"Dear sister, I must go out to find work, before the food comes to an\nend.\" So she kissed her mother, and, wrapping herself up, started from\nhome. There was a narrow path leading through the forest, and she\ndetermined to follow it until she reached some place where she might\nfind the work she wanted.\n\nAs she hurried on, the shadows grew deeper. The night was coming fast\nwhen she saw before her a very small house, which was a welcome sight.\nShe made haste to reach it, and to knock at the door.\n\nNobody came in answer to her knock. When she had tried again and\nagain, she thought that nobody lived there; and she opened the door\nand walked in, meaning to stay all night.\n\nAs soon as she stepped into the house, she started back in surprise;\nfor there before her she saw twelve little beds with the bedclothes\nall tumbled, twelve little dirty plates on a very dusty table, and the\nfloor of the room so dusty that I am sure you could have drawn a\npicture on it.\n\n\"Dear me!\" said the little girl, \"this will never do!\" And as soon as\nshe had warmed her hands, she set to work to make the room tidy.\n\nShe washed the plates, she made up the beds, she swept the floor, she\nstraightened the great rug in front of the fireplace, and set the\ntwelve little chairs in a half-circle around the fire; and, just as\nshe finished, the door opened and in walked twelve of the queerest\nlittle people she had ever seen. They were just about as tall as a\ncarpenter's rule, and all wore yellow clothes; and when Minnie saw\nthis, she knew that they must be the dwarfs who kept the gold in the\nheart of the mountain.\n\n\"Well!\" said the dwarfs, all together, for they always spoke together\nand in rhyme,\n\n \"Now isn't this a sweet surprise?\n We really can't believe our eyes!\"\n\nThen they spied Minnie, and cried in great astonishment:\n\n \"Who can this be, so fair and mild?\n Our helper is a stranger child.\"\n\nNow when Minnie saw the dwarfs, she came to meet them. \"If you\nplease,\" she said, \"I'm little Minnie Grey; and I'm looking for work\nbecause my dear mother is sick. I came in here when the night drew\nnear, and----\"\n\nHere all the dwarfs laughed, and called out merrily:\n\n \"You found our room a sorry sight,\n But you have made it clean and bright.\"\n\nThey were such dear funny little dwarfs! After they had thanked Minnie\nfor her trouble, they took white bread and honey from the closet and\nasked her to sup with them.\n\nWhile they sat at supper, they told her that their fairy housekeeper\nhad taken a holiday, and their house was not well kept, because she\nwas away.\n\nThey sighed when they said this; and after supper, when Minnie washed\nthe dishes and set them carefully away, they looked at her often and\ntalked among themselves. When the last plate was in its place they\ncalled Minnie to them and said:\n\n \"Dear mortal maiden, will you stay\n All through our fairy's holiday?\n And if you faithful prove, and good,\n We will reward you as we should.\"\n\nNow Minnie was much pleased, for she liked the kind dwarfs, and wanted\nto help them, so she thanked them, and went to bed to dream happy\ndreams.\n\nNext morning she was awake with the chickens, and cooked a nice\nbreakfast; and after the dwarfs left, she cleaned up the rooms and\nmended the dwarfs' clothes. In the evening when the dwarfs came home,\nthey found a bright fire and a warm supper waiting for them; and every\nday Minnie worked faithfully until the last day of the fairy\nhouse-keeper's holiday.\n\nThat morning, as Minnie looked out of the window to watch the dwarfs\ngo to their work, she saw on one of the window-panes the most\nbeautiful picture she had ever seen.\n\nA picture of fairy palaces with towers of silver and frosted\npinnacles, so wonderful and beautiful that as she looked at it she\nforgot that there was work to be done, until the cuckoo clock on the\nmantel struck twelve.\n\nThen she ran in haste to make up the beds, and wash the dishes; but\nbecause she was in a hurry she could not work quickly, and when she\ntook the broom to sweep the floor it was almost time for the dwarfs to\ncome home.\n\n\"I believe,\" said Minnie aloud, \"that I will not sweep under the rug\nto-day. After all, it is nothing for dust to be where it can't be\nseen.\" So she hurried to her supper and left the rug unturned.\n\nBefore long the dwarfs came home. As the rooms looked just as usual,\nnothing was said; and Minnie thought no more of the dust until she\nwent to bed and the stars peeped through the window.\n\nThen she thought of it, for it seemed to her that she could hear the\nstars saying:\n\n\"There is the little girl who is so faithful and good\"; and Minnie\nturned her face to the wall, for a little voice, right in her own\nheart, said:\n\n\"Dust under the rug! dust under the rug!\"\n\n\"There is the little girl,\" cried the stars, \"who keeps home as bright\nas star-shine.\"\n\n\"Dust under the rug! dust under the rug!\" said the little voice in\nMinnie's heart.\n\n\"We see her! we see her!\" called all the stars joyfully.\n\n\"Dust under the rug! dust under the rug!\" said the little voice in\nMinnie's heart, and she could bear it no longer. So she sprang out of\nbed, and, taking her broom in her hand, she swept the dust away; and\nlo! under the rug lay twelve shining gold-pieces, as round and as\nbright as the moon.\n\n\"Oh! oh! oh!\" cried Minnie, in great surprise; and all the little\ndwarfs came running to see what was the matter.\n\nMinnie told them all about it; and when she had ended her story, the\ndwarfs gathered lovingly round her and said:\n\n \"Dear child, the gold is all for you,\n For faithful you have proved and true;\n But had you left the rug unturned,\n A groat was all you would have earned.\n Our love goes with the gold we give,\n And oh! forget not while you live,\n That in the smallest duty done\n Lies wealth of joy for everyone.\"\n\nMinnie thanked the dwarfs for their kindness to her; and early next\nmorning she hastened home with her golden treasure, which bought many\nthings for the dear mother and little sister.\n\nShe never saw the dwarfs again; but she never forgot their lesson, to\ndo her work faithfully; and she always swept under the rug.\n\n\n\n\n_A Night with Santa Claus_\n\nANNIE R. ANNAN\n\n\nNot very long ago, and not far from here, lived a little boy named\nRobby Morgan. Now I must tell at once how Robby looked, else how will\nyou know him if you meet him in the street? Blue-eyed was Rob, and\nfair-haired, and pug-nosed,--just the sweetest trifle, his mother\nsaid.\n\nWell, the day before Christmas, Rob thought it would be a fine thing\nto run down the High Street and see what was going on. After dinner\nhis mother put on his fur cap and bright scarf, and filled his pockets\nwith biscuits. She told him to be very polite to Santa Claus if he\nshould happen to meet him.\n\nOff he trotted, merry as a cricket, with now a skip, and now a slide.\nAt every corner he held his breath, half expecting to run into Santa\nhimself. Nothing of the sort happened, however, and he soon found\nhimself before the gay windows of a toyshop.\n\nThere he saw a spring hobbyhorse, as large as a Shetland pony, all\nsaddled and bridled, too--lacking nothing but a rider. Rob pressed his\nnose against the glass, and tried to imagine the feelings of a boy in\nthat saddle. He might have stood there all day, had not a ragged\nlittle fellow pulled his coat. \"Wouldn't you like that popgun?\" he\npiped.\n\n\"Catch me looking at popguns!\" said Rob shortly. But when he saw how\ntattered the boy's jacket was, he said more softly, \"P'r'aps you'd\nlike a biscuit?\"\n\n\"Only try me!\" said the shrill little voice.\n\nThere was a queer lump in Rob's throat as he emptied one pocket of its\nbiscuits and thrust them into the dirty, eager hands. Then he marched\ndown the street without so much as glancing at that glorious steed\nagain.\n\nBrighter and brighter grew the windows, more and more full of toys. At\nlast our boy stood, with open eyes and mouth, before a great shop\nlighted from top to bottom, for it was growing dark. Rob came near\ntaking off his cap and saying, \"How do you do, sir?\"\n\nTo whom? you ask. Why, to an image of Santa Claus, the size of life,\nholding a Christmas tree hung with wonderful fruit.\n\nSoon a happy thought struck Rob. \"Surely this must be Santa Claus's\nown store, where he comes to fill his basket with toys! What if I were\nto hide there and wait for him?\"\n\nAs I said, he was a brave little chap, and he walked straight into the\nshop with the stream of big people. Everybody was busy. No one had\ntime to look at our mite of a Rob. He tried in vain to find a quiet\ncorner, till he caught sight of some winding stairs that led up to the\nnext storey. He crept up, scarcely daring to breathe.\n\nWhat a fairyland! Toys everywhere! Oceans of toys! Nothing but toys!\nExcepting one happy little boy! Think of fifty great rocking-horses in\na pile; of whole flocks of woolly sheep and curly dogs, with the real\nbark in them; stacks of drums; regiments of soldiers armed to the\nteeth; companies of firemen drawing their hose-carts; no end of\nwheel-barrows and bicycles!\n\nRob screwed his knuckles into his eyes, as a gentle hint, that they\nhad better not play him any tricks, and then stared with might and\nmain.\n\nSuddenly Rob thought he heard a footstep on the stairs. Fearing to be\ncaught, he hid behind a go-cart. No one came, however, and as he felt\nrather hungry, he took out the remaining biscuits and had a fine\nsupper.\n\nWhy didn't Santa Claus come?\n\nRob was really getting sleepy. He stretched out his tired legs, and,\nturning one of the woolly sheep on its side, pillowed his curly head\nupon it. It was so nice to lie there, looking up at the ceiling hung\nwith toys, and with the faint hum of voices in his ears. The blue\neyes grew more and more heavy. Rob was fast asleep.\n\nMidnight! The bells rang loud and clear, as if they had great news to\ntell the world. What noise is that besides the bells? And look, oh,\nlook! who is that striding up the room with a great basket on his\nback? He has stolen his coat from a polar bear, and his cap, too, I\ndeclare! His boots are of red leather and reach to his knees. His coat\nand cap are trimmed with wreaths of holly, bright with scarlet\nberries.\n\nGood sir, let us see your face--why! that is the best part of him--so\nround and so ruddy, such twinkling eyes, and such a merry look about\nthose dimples! But see his long white beard--can he be old?\n\nOh, very, very old! Over nineteen hundred years! Is that not a long\nlife, little ones? But he has a young heart--this dear old man,--and a\nkind one. Can you guess his name? \"Hurrah for Santa Claus!\"\nRight!--the very one.\n\nHe put his basket down near Robby, and with his back turned to him\nshook the snow from his fur coat. Some of the flakes fell on Rob's\nface and roused him from his sleep. Opening his eyes, he saw the white\nfigure, but did not stir nor cry out, lest the vision should vanish.\n\nBut bless his big heart! _he_ had no idea of vanishing till his\nnight's work was done. He took a large book from his pocket, opened at\nthe first page, and looked at it very closely.\n\n\"Tommy Turner\" was written at the top, and just below was a little\nmap,--yes, there was Tommy's heart mapped out like a country. Part of\nthe land was marked _good_, part of it _bad_. Here and there were\nlittle flags to point out places where battles had been fought during\nthe year. Some of them were black and some white; wherever a good\nfeeling had won the fight, there was a white one.\n\n\"Tommy Turner,\" said Santa Claus aloud,--\"six white flags, three black\nones. That leaves only three presents for Tommy: but we must see what\ncan be done for him.\"\n\nSo he bustled among the toys, and soon had a ball, a horse, and a\nNoah's ark tied up in a parcel, which he tossed into the basket.\n\nName after name was read off, some of them belonging to Rob's\nplaymates, and you may be sure that the little boy listened with his\nheart in his mouth.\n\n\"Robby Morgan!\" said Santa Claus.\n\nIn his excitement that small lad nearly upset the cart, but Santa did\nnot notice it.\n\n\"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven\"--Rob's breath came very\nshort--\"whites!\"\n\nHe almost clapped his hands.\n\n\"One, two, three, _blacks_! Now I wonder what that little chap would\nlike--here's a drum, a box of tools, a knife, a menagerie. If he\nhadn't played truant from school that day, and then told a fib about\nit, I'd give him a rocking-horse.\"\n\nRob groaned in anguish of spirit.\n\n\"But, bless him! he's a fine little fellow, and perhaps he will do\nbetter next year if I give him the horse.\"\n\nThat was too much for our boy. With a \"hurrah\" he jumped up and turned\na somersault right at Santa Claus's feet.\n\n\"Good gracious!\" cried Santa, \"what's this?\"\n\n\"Come along, I'll show you the one,\" cried Rob.\n\nSanta Claus allowed himself to be led off to the pile of horses. You\nmay believe that Rob's sharp eyes soon picked out the one with the\nlongest tail and thickest mane.\n\n\"Well, he beats all the boys that I ever saw! What shall I do with the\nlittle spy?\"\n\n\"O dear Santa Claus!\" cried Robby, hugging the red boots, \"do just\ntake me along with you; I'll stick tight when you slide down the\nchimney.\"\n\n\"Yes, no doubt you will stick tight--in the chimney, my little man.\"\n\n\"I mean to your back,\" said Rob, with a quiver in his voice.\n\nSanta Claus can't bear to see little folks in trouble, so he took the\nboy into his arms, and asked him where he wanted to go.\n\n\"To Tommy Turner's, and oh, you know that boy in the awful old jacket\nthat likes popguns,\" was the breathless reply.\n\nOf course he knew him, for he knows every boy and girl in Christendom;\nso a popgun was added to the medley of toys. Santa Claus then strapped\nRob and the basket on his back. He next crept through an open window\nto a ladder he had placed there, down which he ran as nimbly as a\nsquirrel. The reindeer before the sledge were in a hurry to be off,\nand tinkled their silver bells right merrily. An instant more, and\nthey were snugly tucked up in the white robes--an instant more, and\nthey were flying like the wind over the snow.\n\nAh! Tommy's home. Santa Claus sprang out, placed the light ladder\nagainst the house, and before Rob could wink--a good fair wink--they\nwere on the roof making for the chimney. Whether it swallowed him, or\nhe swallowed it, is still a puzzle to Robby.\n\nTommy lay sleeping in his little bed and dreaming of a merry\nChristmas. His rosy mouth was puckered into something between a\nwhistle and a smile. Rob longed to give him a friendly punch, but\nSanta Claus shook his head. They filled his stocking and hurried\naway, for empty little stockings the world over were waiting for that\ngenerous hand.\n\nOn they sped again, never stopping until they came to a wretched\nlittle hovel. A black pipe instead of a chimney was sticking through\nthe roof.\n\nRob thought, \"Now I guess he'll _have_ to give it up.\" But no, he\nsoftly pushed the door open and stepped in.\n\nOn a ragged cot lay the urchin to whom Robby had given the biscuits.\nOne of them, half-eaten, was still clutched in his hand. Santa Claus\ngently opened the other little fist and put the popgun into it.\n\n\"Give him my drum,\" whispered Rob, and Santa Claus, without a word,\nplaced it near the rumpled head.\n\nHow swiftly they flew under the bright stars! How sweetly rang the\nbells!\n\nWhen Santa Claus reined up at Robby's door, he found his little\ncomrade fast asleep. He laid him tenderly in his crib, and drew off a\nstocking, which he filled with the smaller toys. The rocking-horse he\nplaced close to the crib, that Rob might mount him on Christmas\nmorning.\n\nA kiss, and he was gone.\n\n_P.S._ Rob's mother says it was all a dream, but he declares that\n\"it's true as true can be!\" I prefer to take his word for it.\n\n\n\n\n_The Story of Li'l' Hannibal_\n\nCAROLYN SHERWIN BAILEY\n\n\nOnce on a time, 'way down South, there lived a little boy named\nHannibal, Li'l' Hannibal. He lived along with his gran'mammy and his\ngran'daddy in a li'l' one-storey log cabin that was set right down in\na cotton field. Well, from morning until night, Li'l' Hannibal's\ngran'mammy kept him doin' things. As soon as she woke up in the\nmorning it was:\n\n\"Oh, Li'l' Hannibal, fetch a pine knot and light the kitchen fire.\"\n\n\"Oh, Li'l' Hannibal, fetch the tea-kettle to the well and get some\nwater for the tea.\"\n\n\"Oh, Li'l' Hannibal, mix a li'l' hoecake for your gran'daddy's\nbrea'fus'.\"\n\n\"Oh, Li'l' Hannibal, take the bunch of turkeys' feathers and dust the\nhearth.\"\n\nAnd from morning until night Li'l' Hannibal's gran'daddy kept him\ndoin' things too.\n\n\"Oh, Li'l' Hannibal,\" his gran'daddy would say, \"fetch the corn and\nfeed the turkeys.\"\n\n\"Oh, Li'l' Hannibal, take your li'l' axe and chop some wood for your\ngran'mammy's fire.\"\n\n\"Oh, Li'l' Hannibal, run 'round to the store and buy a bag of flour.\"\n\n\"Oh, Li'l' Hannibal, fetch your basket and pick a li'l' cotton off the\nedge of the field.\"\n\nSo they kept poor Li'l' Hannibal at work 'most all day long, and he\nhad only four or five hours to play.\n\nWell, one morning Li'l' Hannibal woke up and he made up his mind to\nsomething. Before they could ask him to light the kitchen fire, or\nfill the tea-kettle, or mix the hoecake, or dust the hearth, or feed\nthe turkeys, or chop any wood, or go to the store, or pick any cotton,\nhe had made up his mind that he was not going to work for his\ngran'mammy and his gran'daddy any longer. He was going to run away!\n\nSo Li'l' Hannibal got out of bed very quietly. He put on his li'l'\ntrousers, and his li'l' shirt and his li'l' suspenders and his li'l'\nshoes--he never wore stockings. He pulled his li'l' straw hat down\ntight over his ears and then Li'l' Hannibal ran away!\n\nHe went down the road past all the cabins. He went under the fence and\nacross the cotton fields. He went through the pine grove past the\nschoolhouse, stooping down low so the schoolmistress wouldn't see him,\nand then he went 'way, 'way off into the country.\n\nWhen he was a long way from town, Li'l' Hannibal met a Possum loping\nalong by the edge of the road, and the Possum stopped and looked at\nLi'l' Hannibal.\n\n\"How do? Where you goin', Li'l' Hannibal?\" asked the Possum.\n\nLi'l' Hannibal sat down by the side of the road and he took off his\nstraw hat to fan himself, for he felt quite warm, and he said:\n\n\"I done run away, Br'er Possum. My gran'mammy and my gran'daddy kep'\nme totin', totin' for them all the time. I doesn't like to work, Br'er\nPossum.\"\n\n\"Po' Li'l' Hannibal!\" said the Possum, sitting up and scratching\nhimself. \"Any special place you boun' for?\"\n\n\"I don't reckon so,\" said Li'l' Hannibal, for he was getting tired and\nhe had come away without any breakfast.\n\n\"You come along of me, Li'l' Hannibal,\" said the Possum; \"I reckon I\nkin take you somewhere.\"\n\nSo the Possum and Li'l' Hannibal went along together, the Possum\nloping along by the side of the road and Li'l' Hannibal going very\nslowly in the middle of the road, for his shoes were full of sand and\nit hurt his toes. They went on and on until they came, all at once, to\na sort of open space in the woods and then they stopped. There was a\nbig company there--Br'er Rabbit, and Br'er Partridge, and Br'er\nRobin, and Ol' Miss Guinea Hen.\n\n\"Here's Po' Li'l' Hannibal come to see you,\" said the Possum. \"Li'l'\nHannibal done run away from his gran'mammy and gran'daddy.\"\n\nLi'l' Hannibal hung his head as if he was ashamed, but nobody noticed\nhim. They were all as busy as they could be, so he just sat down on a\npine stump and watched them.\n\nEach one had his own special work and he was keeping at it. Br'er\nRobin was gathering all the holly berries from the south side of the\nholly-tree and singing as he worked:\n\n \"Cheer up, cheer-u-up!\"\n\nBr'er Partridge was building a new house down low in the bushes. As he\nhurried to and fro with twigs, he would stop and drum a little, he\nfelt so happy to be busy.\n\nOl' Miss Guinea Hen was almost the busiest of the whole company, for\nshe was laying eggs. As soon as ever she had had one she would get up\non a low branch and screech, \"Catch it! Catch it! Catch it!\" like to\ndeafen everybody.\n\nBut Li'l' Hannibal was most interested to see what Br'er Rabbit was\ndoing. Br'er Rabbit had on a li'l' apron, and he kept bringing things\nin his market-basket. Then he cooked the things over a fire in the\nbushes, and when it got to be late in the afternoon, he spread a\ntablecloth on a big stump and then he pounded on his stew-pan with his\nsoup-ladle. \"Supper's ready,\" said Br'er Rabbit.\n\nThen Br'er Robin and Br'er Partridge and Br'er Possum and Ol' Miss\nGuinea Hen all scrambled to their places at the table and Li'l'\nHannibal tried to find a place to sit at, but there wasn't any for\nhim.\n\n\"Po' Li'l' Hannibal!\" said Br'er Rabbit as he poured the soup.\n\"Doesn't like work! Cyant have no supper!\"\n\n\"Catch him! Catch him!\" said Ol' Miss Guinea Hen, but no one did it.\nThey were all too busy eating.\n\nThey had a grand supper. There was roast turkey and fried chicken, and\nmutton and rice and potatoes and peas and beans and baked apples and\ncabbage and hot biscuits and muffins and butter-cakes and golden\nsyrup.\n\nWhen they had finished eating, it was quite dark, and they all went\nhome, even Br'er Possum, and they left Li'l' Hannibal sitting there\nall by himself.\n\nWell, after a while it began to get darker. Br'er Mocking Bird came\nout, and he looked at Li'l' Hannibal and then he began to scream,\njust like Ol' Miss Guinea Hen:\n\n \"Catch him! Catch him! Catch him!\"\n\nBr'er Screech Owl looked down from a tree and he said very hoarsely:\n\n \"Who! Who! Who-oo!\"\n\nThen all the frogs began to say, loud and shrill:\n\n \"Li'l' Hannibal! Li'l' Hannibal!\"\n\nSo Li'l' Hannibal got up from his pine stump and he said, \"I reckon I\nbetter go home to my gran'mammy.\"\n\nWell, Li'l' Hannibal started for home slowly, because his feet hurt\nand he was hungry. When he came to the pine grove by the schoolhouse\nthe shadows came out from behind the trees and followed him, and that\nwas much worse than seeing the schoolmistress. But Li'l' Hannibal got\naway from them all right. He crawled under the fence and ran across\nthe cotton field and there in the door of the cabin was his gran'daddy\nwith a lantern. His gran'daddy had been out looking for Li'l'\nHannibal.\n\n\"Why, Li'l' Hannibal, where you been all day?\" asked his gran'daddy.\n\n\"Oh, Li'l' Han,\" said his gran'mammy, \"here's your porridge, I kep'\nit warm on the hearth, but afore you eat your supper, Li'l' Han, jus'\ntake your li'l' basket and run 'round to the chicken house for a\ncouple of eggs.\"\n\nSo Li'l' Hannibal took his li'l' basket and he started for those eggs,\nsinging all the way. You see, he reckoned he was mighty glad to be at\nhome, and working again.\n\n\n\n\n_How Wry-Face played a Trick on One-Eye the Potato-Wife_[15]\n\nAGNES GROZIER HERBERTSON\n\n\n_The Overturned Cart_\n\nOne day, as Oh-I-Am the Wizard went over Three-Tree Common, his shoe\nbecame unstringed, and he bent down to refasten it. Then he saw\nWry-Face, the gnome, hiding among the bracken and looking as\nmischievous as anything. In one hand he held a white fluff-feather.\nNow these feathers are as light as anything, and will blow in the\nwind; and whatever they are placed under, whether light or heavy, they\nare bound to topple over as soon as the wind blows.\n\n[Footnote 15: From _Cap o' Yellow_.]\n\nAs Oh-I-Am tied his shoe he saw Wry-Face place his fluff-feather\ncarefully in the roadway; and at the same moment there came along\nOne-Eye, the potato-wife, with her cart full of potatoes. The cart\nwent rumble, crumble, crack, crack, crack, over the leaves and twigs,\nand One-Eye sang to her donkey:\n\n \"Steady, steady,\n We're always ready,\"\n\nin a most cheerful voice.\n\nThen the cart came to the fluff-feather, and over it went--crash,\nbang, splutter; and the potatoes flew everywhere, like rain.\n\nWry-Face, the gnome, laughed to himself so that he ached, and he\nrolled over the ground with mirth. Then he flew away, laughing as he\nwent.\n\nBut One-Eye, the potato-wife, was not laughing. Her tears went\ndrip-drip as she started to gather her potatoes together. And as to\ngetting her cart straight again, she did not know how she was to do\nit.\n\nBut when she turned round from gathering together the potatoes, she\nfound that the cart was all right again, since Oh-I-Am the Wizard had\nstraightened it for her, and the donkey was standing on his legs, none\nthe worse for his fall.\n\nOh-I-Am looked stern and straight in his brown robe which trailed\nbehind him. He said:\n\n\"One-Eye, have you got all your potatoes together?\"\n\nOne-Eye still wept. She said, \"No, I have not found all of them, for\nsome have wandered far. And I must not seek farther, for this is\nmarket-day, and I must away to the town.\"\n\nAnd she began to gather up the potatoes, and drop them into the cart,\nthud, thud, thud.\n\nOh-I-Am stooped then, and he, too, gathered up the potatoes; and he\nthrew them into the cart splish-splash-splutter!\n\n\"Alas!\" said One-Eye, \"if you throw them into the cart,\nsplish-splash-splutter, you will bruise and break them. You must throw\nthem in gently, thud, thud, thud.\"\n\nSo Oh-I-Am held back his anger, and he threw the potatoes in gently,\nthud, thud, thud. But when the potato-wife had gone on her way, he\nflew off to his Brown House by the Brown Bramble; and he began to\nweave a spell.\n\nHe put into it a potato, and a grain of earth, and a down from a\npillow, and a pearl, and an apple-pip from a pie. And when the spell\nwas ready, he lay down, and fell asleep.\n\nWry-Face had gone round to all the neighbours to tell them the grand\njoke about One-Eye, the potato-wife. Sometimes he told it through the\nwindow, and sometimes he stood at the door. Sometimes he told it to a\ngnome who was fine and feathery, and sometimes to one who was making\nbread. But all the time he laughed, laughed, laughed, till he was\nscarcely fit to stand.\n\nNow he did not call at Oh-I-Am's fine house to tell _him_, not he! And\nit was quite unnecessary, since Oh-I-Am knew the joke already, every\nbit.\n\nOh-I-Am had hidden the spell in his cupboard. When it was\nevening-time, he stole out and laid it by Wry-Face's door. Then he\nwent home, and went to bed.\n\n\n_The Magic Potato Plant_\n\nWry-Face was making a pie for his supper. Suddenly the room became\ndark as dark. The darkness was not night coming on, for this was\nsummer-time and night never came on as quickly as all that.\n\n\"Dear me, what can be the matter?\" thought Wry-Face; for he could\nhardly see to finish making his pie.\n\nThen he heard a little voice from his window, crying, \"Here I am,\nWry-Face, here I am!\" But he could not go out to see what it was yet\nawhile.\n\nThen the apple-pie was finished, and in the oven; and Wry-Face ran\noutside as fast as he could. But he did not see the spell which\nOh-I-Am had placed by his door.\n\nWhat he did see was a great potato-plant which had sprung up suddenly\nclose to his window, and was springing up farther still, high, high,\nand higher.\n\n\"Good gracious me!\" cried Wry-Face in a rage, \"I never planted a\npotato-plant there, not in my whole life! Now I should just like to\nknow what you are doing by my window?\"\n\nThe potato-plant took no notice, but went on climbing high, high, and\nhigher; and ever so far above he heard a tiny faint voice crying:\n\n\"Here I am, Wry-Face, here I am!\"\n\n\"Well, I never did!\" cried Wry-Face, and he began to weep; for he saw\nthat the potato-plant would climb up to his roof and round his chimney\nand he would never be able to get rid of it.\n\nAnd he wept and wept.\n\nAt last he went in, and took his pie out of the oven, and set it in\nthe pantry, for it was quite done. And he found a spade, and went out,\nand began to dig and dig at the root of the potato-plant. But his\ndigging did not seem to make any difference; and the evening began to\ngrow darker.\n\nWry-Face fetched his little lamp, which is named Bright-Beauty, and\nwhich always burns without flickering. Then he went on digging, and he\ndug, and dug, and dug.\n\nAnd when he had dug for hours and hours, so that he was tired to\ndeath, the potato-plant began suddenly to dwindle and dwindle. It\ndwindled as fast as anything, the leaves disappeared, and the stem\ndisappeared and all the horrid stretching arms. They sank down, down,\nand down, till at last there was nothing left at all but--a big brown\npotato!\n\n\"Well, I do declare!\" cried Wry-Face. \"I should like to know what you\nhave to do with my fine garden!\"\n\nThe potato replied, \"I jumped here from the cart of One-Eye, the\npotato-wife, and it is quite certain that, unless I am taken back to\nher immediately, I shall start again, growing, and growing, and\ngrowing!\"\n\n\"Dear potato, you must not start growing again!\" cried Wry-Face, in a\ngreat way. \"To-night I am so tired I cannot do anything, but if you\nwill but wait till to-morrow I will take you back to One-Eye, the\npotato-wife--I will, indeed!\"\n\nAt first the potato would not listen to this at all; but after a while\nit said, \"Well, well, I will wait till to-morrow. But remember, if\nto-morrow you do not carry me home to One-Eye, the potato-wife, I\nshall grow into a potato-_tree_, without a doubt!\"\n\nSo Wry-Face carried the potato into his house, and stored it in his\nbin. But he never noticed the spell which Oh-I-Am had placed by his\ndoor.\n\n\n_The Strange Apple Pie_\n\n\"I am so tired, I can hardly yawn,\" said Wry-Face. \"It is quite time I\nhad my supper, and went to bed.\"\n\nSo he fetched the apple-pie from the pantry, and set it upon the\ntable; and presently he sat down to his meal.\n\nAnd he forgot for a moment how tired he was, thinking how delightful\nit was to sit down to a supper of apple-pie.\n\nThen he lifted his knife and fork to cut off a large piece; but alas,\nthe fork stuck fast. As for the knife, it would not move either, not\nan inch. Wry-Face began to weep.\n\n\"Alack, what has happened to my apple-pie?\" cried he; and his tears\nfell round as round.\n\nThen he got upon his feet, and he caught hold of the knife and fork\nand pulled, and pulled, and pulled. And with the last pull the top of\nthe apple-pie came off, sticking to the knife and fork, and Wry-Face\nsaw that within the pie there was not one piece of apple, but--a big\nbrown potato!\n\nWry-Face wept again with horror at the sight.\n\n\"I should like to know,\" cried he, \"what are you doing in my fine\napple-pie.\"\n\nBut the brown potato replied, as cool as cool, \"I am one of the\npotatoes belonging to One-Eye, the potato-wife, and I turned the\napples out, that I might hide here a while. But this I must tell you,\nmy Wry-Face, unless you take me home immediately to the potato-wife,\nhere, in this pie-dish, I intend to remain.\"\n\n\"Alas,\" cried Wry-Face, \"to-night I am so tired I could never find\nOne-Eye; but if you will but wait till to-morrow, I will carry you\nhome to the potato-wife--I will indeed!\"\n\nAt first the potato would not agree to this at all, but after a while\nit said, \"Very well, I will wait till to-morrow. But remember, my\nWry-Face, if to-morrow you do not carry me home to One-Eye, I will\ncreep into every pie you make; and you will die at last of starvation\nwithout a doubt!\"\n\nSo Wry-Face stored the potato in the potato-bin, and he went\nsupperless to bed. And he knew nothing of the spell which Oh-I-Am had\nplaced by his door.\n\n\n_The Lumpy Mattress_\n\nNow he got into bed, and thought he would go to sleep; but, oh, how\nhard the mattress was! Wry-Face lay this way, then that, but no\nmatter what way he lay, he found a great lump just beneath him which\nwas as hard as hard, and as nobbly as could be.\n\nWry-Face tossed and tossed till it was nearly morning; and his bones\nwere so sore that he could lie no longer.\n\nThen he pulled the mattress from the bed and cut a great hole in it,\nand when he had searched and searched he found in the middle of the\nmattress--a big brown potato!\n\n\"This,\" cried Wry-Face, \"is why I have not slept the whole night\nthrough!\" and he wept like anything.\n\nBut the potato was as cool as cool.\n\n\"I belong,\" it said, \"to One-Eye, the potato-wife; and let me tell\nyou, my little gnome, unless you take me to her immediately, I shall\nclimb into your mattress again; and there I shall remain!\"\n\n\"Alas,\" cried Wry-Face, \"I have tossed about for hours and hours, and\nam too tired to do anything. But if you will wait till to-morrow, dear\npotato, I will carry you to One-Eye, the potato-wife--I will, indeed!\"\n\nAt first the potato was unwilling to listen to this, but after a while\nit said: \"Very well, then, I will wait till the morning. But this much\nI know, my Wry-Face, if you do not carry me then to One-Eye, the\npotato-wife, I shall get into your mattress and roll again _every\nnight_!\"\n\nSo Wry-Face put the potato in the bin. When he had done that he went\nback to bed, and slept, and slept.\n\nWhen the sun was shining he awakened, and he remembered that he had to\ncarry the potatoes back to One-Eye, the potato-wife; and he was as\ncross as anything.\n\n\n_The Fairy Sack of Pearls_\n\n\"Well, I suppose I must!\" he said. And when he had had his breakfast,\nhe went to his cupboard to get a sack.\n\nThen he found that his sack was full of pearls which he had gathered\ntogether for Heigh-Heavy the Giant, whose daughter So-Small he wished\nto marry.\n\nSo he thought, \"First of all I will carry the pearls to Heigh-Heavy,\nfor that is more important.\" And away he went with the sack upon his\nback. And he never saw the spell which Oh-I-Am had placed beside his\ndoor.\n\nWhen he reached the Most-Enormous-House of Heigh-Heavy the Giant,\nthere the giant was, sitting in his parlour lacing his shoes.\n\nSo Wry-Face cried out in a gay little voice, \"Here I am, Heigh-Heavy,\nhere I am! And here is a bag of pearls which I have brought you in\nexchange for your beautiful daughter So-Small!\"\n\nWhen Heigh-Heavy heard this, he stopped lacing his shoes, and he said,\n\"You must bring me in exchange for my daughter So-Small as many pearls\nas will cover my palm.\"\n\nThen Wry-Face skipped forward, and he tipped up the sack; and he shook\nout all that it held into the hand of Heigh-Heavy the Giant, standing\nhigh upon his toes.\n\nNow all that it held was--one brown potato!\n\nWry-Face the gnome stared, and stared, and stared, his eyes growing\nrounder and rounder; but he had no time to weep on account of\nHeigh-Heavy the Giant who had fallen into a rage terrible to see.\n\n\"Now there is one thing quite certain,\" said Heigh-Heavy, \"and that is\nthat you shall never marry my daughter So-Small; for, my Wry-Face, I\nwill turn you into a brown potato, and a brown potato you shall remain\nyour whole life through!\"\n\nWhen Wry-Face heard this terrible threat, he took to his heels, and\nran from the Most-Enormous-House of Heigh-Heavy the Giant. And he ran,\nand ran, till his coat was torn and his ears were red. And he never\nrested till he reached his cottage door, and got inside.\n\nHeigh-Heavy laughed till he cried to see the little gnome run. \"He\nwill play no tricks on _me_!\" said he. And he went in and shut the\ndoor.\n\nBut Wry-Face said to himself as, weeping, he carried the potatoes to\nthe potato-wife:\n\n\"I will never play a trick on _anyone_ again, not as long as I live!\"\n\n\n\n\n_The Pot of Gold_\n\nHORACE E. SCUDDER\n\n\n_Chrif begins the Search_\n\nOnce upon a time there stood by the roadside an old red house. In this\nhouse lived three people. They were an old grandmother; her\ngrandchild, Rhoda; and a boy named Christopher. Christopher was no\nrelation to Rhoda and her grandmother. He was called Chrif for short.\n\nThe grandmother earned her living by picking berries. Every day in\nfair weather she went to the pastures. But she did not take the\nchildren with her. They played at home.\n\nRhoda had a flower garden in an old boat. The boat was filled with\nearth. There grew larkspur and sweet-william. Rhoda loved her flowers\nand tended them faithfully.\n\nChrif did not care much for flowers. He preferred to sail boats. He\nwould cut them out of wood with his jack-knife, and load them with\nstones and grass. Then he would send the boats down the little stream\nthat flowed past the old red house.\n\n\"This ship is going to India,\" he would say to Rhoda. \"She carries\ngold and will bring back pearls and rice.\"\n\n\"How much you know, Chrif,\" said Rhoda.\n\n\"I mean to go to India some day,\" said Chrif. \"People ride on\nelephants there.\"\n\nRhoda would sail little twigs in the stream. Her boats were small, but\nthey sometimes went farther than Chrif's. His were loaded so heavily\nthat they often overturned.\n\nOne day the children were sailing boats when a thunder-storm arose.\nHow fast the rain fell! And how fast they ran to the house!\n\n\"Poor grandmother will be all wet!\" said Rhoda. She and Chrif were\nwatching the falling rain from the window.\n\nSuddenly the sun came out. A little rain was still falling, but the\nchildren ran into the yard.\n\n\"Look, there's a rainbow!\" cried Chrif. \"What pretty colours! and how\nugly our old red house looks! I wish I were where the rainbow is.\"\n\n\"I see just the colour of my larkspur in the rainbow,\" said Rhoda.\n\n\"O pooh!\" said Chrif, \"only a flower! That's not much. Now if I were\nonly rich, I wouldn't stay here. I'd go off into the world. How grand\nit must be over there beyond the rainbow.\"\n\n\"One end is quite near us,\" said Rhoda.\n\n\"Are ye looking for a pot of gold, children?\" said a voice behind\nthem. It was the old broom-woman. She had a little house in the woods\nand sold brooms for a living.\n\n\"A pot of gold!\" cried Chrif. \"Where is it?\"\n\n\"It's at the foot of the rainbow,\" said the broom-woman. \"If ye get to\nthe foot of the rainbow and then dig and dig, ye'll come to a pot of\ngold.\"\n\n\"Rhoda! let's go quick!\" said Chrif.\n\n\"No,\" said Rhoda, \"I ought to weed my flowers.\"\n\n\"Ye must hurry,\" laughed the old broom-woman. \"The rainbow won't stay\nfor lazy folks.\"\n\n\"I'm off!\" cried Chrif; and away he went in search of the pot of gold.\nRhoda watched him out of sight. Then she turned to weed the\nboat-garden.\n\nWhen her grandmother came from the berry pasture, Rhoda told her where\nChrif had gone. \"We shall all be rich when he comes back with his pot\nof gold,\" said the little girl.\n\n\"He will not find it,\" said the grandmother. Rhoda, however, was not\nso sure.\n\n\n_Chrif in the New Land_\n\nChrif ran straight across the fields toward the glowing rainbow. One\nend of the lovely arch seemed to touch the top of a distant hill.\nChrif climbed the hill, but the rainbow was no longer there. It rested\non the far side of a valley. He hurried down the hill and into the\nvalley. When he reached the spot where the end of the rainbow had\nrested, the rainbow was gone. Chrif could see it nowhere.\n\nThe lad stopped and looked around him. Not far away a flock of sheep\nwere feeding. A shepherd-boy lay on the ground near them. He was\nreading a book.\n\nChrif crept to the shepherd-boy's side and read over his shoulder.\nThis is what he read: \"Beyond the setting of the sun lies the New\nLand. Here are mountains, forests, and mighty rivers. The sands of the\nstreams are golden; the trees grow wonderful fruit; the mountains hide\nstrange monsters. Upon a high pillar near the coast is the famous pot\nof gold.\"\n\n\"Oh, where is this country?\" cried Chrif.\n\n\"Will you go?\" asked Gavin, the shepherd-boy.\n\n\"Go! That I will,\" said Chrif. \"The pot of gold is there, and that is\nwhat I have set out to find.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said Gavin, \"the pot of gold is there and many other things. I\nlong to see them all. Let us hurry on our way.\"\n\nThe two boys first went through a forest. Then they came out upon the\nocean side. The sun was setting in the sea. A path of gold lay across\nthe water.\n\nA gay ship was about to set sail. Her white canvas was spread; her\noars were in place. Her deck was crowded with lads. They were all\nstarting for the wonderful New Land across the sea.\n\nChrif and Gavin climbed on board and the ship bounded from the land.\n\nOn and on they went, straight into the sunset. The rowers sang as they\nworked. Gavin tried to read his book, but Chrif looked eagerly ahead.\nHow he longed to see the new country to which they were going!\n\nAnd very soon the New Land came in sight. Then a party landed; Chrif,\nGavin, and a boy named Andy were among them.\n\nThey walked some distance and then night darkened down around them.\nThe mountains looked cruel; the fields barren. \"Let us return to the\nship,\" said many.\n\nBut Chrif would not turn back. \"I must find the pot of gold,\" he said,\n\"it cannot now be far away.\" And Gavin and Andy went with him.\n\n\"I should like to dip my fingers into your pot of gold,\" said Andy.\n\n\"You shall have your share,\" said Chrif. \"It is on the top of a pillar\nnot far from the coast. If you'll stand below, I'll get on your\nshoulders, and then perhaps I can reach it.\"\n\n\"Only don't let it drop on my head,\" said Andy, with a laugh.\n\nThey walked along the shore in silence. After a time Chrif cried out\nwith joy, \"Here is a path leading into the woods. And I do believe I\nsee the pillar!\"\n\n\"Hurrah!\" cried Andy, \"let's push on!\"\n\nAnd now the three stood at the foot of the pillar and looked up to the\ntop. By the faint light of the moon they saw the pot of gold.\n\n\"Climb on Andy's shoulders, Gavin, and then I will stand on yours,\"\nsaid Chrif.\n\n\"I don't want the pot of gold,\" said Gavin. \"I have seen it; that is\nenough. I will go to see the Magic Fountain,\" and Gavin turned into\nthe forest.\n\nThe other two friends stood by the pillar. \"I must have that pot of\ngold. I want it for Rhoda and the old grandmother.\"\n\nAs Chrif spoke, he looked at the pillar. Lo! a picture was on its\nside. He saw the old red house, the grandmother at the window, and\nRhoda in the garden. Rhoda was watering the flowers in the dear old\nboat. Now and then she would turn her head and look up the road. She\nseemed hoping that Chrif would come.\n\nThe pillar and the pot of gold faded away; then the picture of home\nwent too. Chrif was left in darkness.\n\nThen Andy spoke. \"Hark!\" he whispered, \"I hear something.\"\n\n\n_Chrif at the Palace_\n\nChrif listened and he too heard distant music. Its notes were very\nsweet.\n\n\"Come, let us go where the music is!\" said Andy.\n\nChrif and Andy made their way through the woods and entered a shining\ncity. Every street was blazing with lights; the fronts of the houses\nwere hung with lanterns; fireworks were being set off in the public\nsquares. All the people wore their finest clothes.\n\n\"How gay they all are! I wonder why?\" said Andy.\n\n\"Hush!\" cried Chrif.\n\nA man on a prancing horse had just come in sight. He reined in his\nhorse and blew a horn. Then he cried with a loud voice these words:\n\"This night there is a ball in the palace. All are welcome. The Pot\nof Gold will be given to the one with whom the Princess shall dance.\"\n\n\"Hurrah!\" cried the people. \"Hurrah! hurrah!\" cried Chrif, louder than\nthem all.\n\nWhen Chrif and Andy entered the palace, they saw the Princess upon her\nthrone. Dancing was going on, but the Princess did not dance. She was\nwaiting for the handsomest dancer. All who thought themselves\ngood-looking stood in a row not far from the Princess. Each lad was\ntrying to look handsomer than the others in the line.\n\nOver the throne was a pearl clock. It was that kind of clock called a\ncuckoo clock. When the hours struck, a golden cuckoo would come out of\na little door. He would cuckoo as many times as there were hours and\nthen go back, shutting the door after him.\n\nWhen Chrif and Andy entered the hall, the Princess saw them at once.\n\"Those two are the handsomest of all,\" she thought, \"and one of them\nis handsomer than the other.\"\n\nShe looked at Chrif again. Then she stepped down from the throne.\n\n\"Dance with me,\" she said, \"and you shall have the pot of gold,\" and\nshe held out her hand to Chrif.\n\n\"What was I to do with it?\" asked Chrif. \"Oh, I know. I was to take it\nhome to Rhoda.\"\n\nThat moment the little bird burst open the pearl door. \"Cuckoo!\ncuckoo! cuckoo!\" he cried.\n\nBut to Chrif he seemed to say: \"Rhoda sits by the window watching for\nChrif. The flowers are dead in the boat-garden. 'Chrif will never come\nback,' says grandmother, 'he cares nothing for us.'\"\n\nAgain Chrif saw the beautiful hall and the Princess standing before\nhim. Then, suddenly, the music grew harsh; the palace walls fell; the\ndancers were gone. Chrif was all alone.\n\n\n_Chrif and his Books_\n\nWhen day dawned, Chrif was walking over a wide plain. On the far side\nof the plain stood a ruined house. Between a row of poplar-trees a\npath led to the door.\n\nChrif knocked, but no one came. Then he pushed open the door and\nentered. An old man sat at a table. The table was covered with great\nbooks and many papers. Overhead a lamp burned dimly.\n\nThe old man was bent over the books. He seemed to study busily, but\nwhen Chrif went near, he saw that the old man was dead.\n\nThere were two doors to this room. One was the door by which Chrif had\nentered. The other was opposite. This door was of stone. On it was\nwritten: \"Behind this door is the Pot of Gold. To open you must first\nread the words written below.\"\n\nThe words written below were strange; the letters too were strange.\n\n\"These books may help me read the writing,\" thought Chrif. \"This old\nman has spent his life in the search. Shall I be more successful I\nwonder?\"\n\nThen he buried the old man, lighted the lamp, and read the books.\nWeeks passed and even months. Chrif ate little and slept less.\n\nAt last, one day, he lifted a shining face. \"I have found the secret!\"\nhe cried, \"the letters are plain.\"\n\nThen stepping to the door, he read: \"Knock and this door will open.\"\n\nChrif knocked once, and the door flew open. One shining spot he saw in\nthe darkness. It was the pot of gold.\n\nChrif put out his hand to take it, when lo! burning words shone on its\nside. And Chrif read:\n\n\"I am the Pot of Gold; I can give thee all things save one. If thou\nhast me, thou canst not have that. Close thine eyes. Then, if thou\nchoosest me, open them again.\"\n\nChrif closed his eyes. He saw the old red house dark and cold. No one\nlived there now. The boat-garden was hidden under the snow. Someone in\nwhite passed him by. She was weeping bitterly. \"Rhoda!\" he cried and\nfollowed in her steps.\n\nSuddenly a warm hand fell upon his shoulder.\n\n\"Chrif, dear Chrif!\"\n\nHe opened his eyes, and O joy! Rhoda stood beside him.\n\n\n_Chrif's Return_\n\n\"I have come to look for you,\" said Rhoda. \"Why, Chrif, you have been\ngone three years!\"\n\n\"Three years!\" gasped Chrif.\n\n\"When grandmother died, last winter, I was so lonely, I said, 'When\nspring comes I will find Chrif.'\"\n\n\"Grandmother dead! Why, it was but yesterday that I left home!\"\n\n\"Ah, no,\" answered Rhoda. And she looked at Chrif and smiled.\n\nAnd so they came again to the old red house. There was the dear old\nboat-garden. Sweet-peas were in bloom and morning-glories climbed up\nthe side of the house. It was very pleasant.\n\nAs they stood by the boat-garden, a voice called to them. The old\nbroom-woman stood in the road.\n\n\"Have ye found the pot of gold?\" she asked.\n\n\"No; but I have found something else far better!\" said Chrif, \"I have\nfound home.\"\n\n\n\n\n_The Frog-Tsarevna_[16]\n\nR. NESBIT BAIN\n\n\nIn a certain kingdom, in a certain Empire, there lived a Tsar with his\nTsaritsa, and he had three sons, all of them young, valiant, and\nunwedded, the like of whom is not to be told in tales nor written by\npens, and the youngest of them was called the Tsarevich Ivan.\n\n[Footnote 16: From _Russian Fairy Tales_ [Adapted]. (London: George G.\nHarrap and Company.)]\n\nAnd the Tsar spoke these words to them: \"My dear children, take unto\nyou your darts, gird on your well-spanned bows, and go hence in\ndifferent directions, and in whatsoever courts your arrows fall, there\nchoose ye your brides!\"\n\nThe elder brother discharged his arrow and it fell into a boyar's[17]\ncourt, right in front of the terem[18] of the maidens. The second\nbrother discharged his arrow and it flew into the court of a merchant\nand remained sticking in a beautiful balcony, and on this balcony was\nstanding a lovely young maiden soul, the merchant's daughter. The\nyoungest brother discharged his arrow, and the arrow fell into a\nmuddy swamp, and a quacking-frog seized hold of it.\n\n[Footnote 17: Nobleman.]\n\n[Footnote 18: The women's apartments.]\n\nThe Tsarevich Ivan said to his father: \"How can I ever take this\nquacker to wife? A quacker is not my equal!\"\n\n\"Take her!\" replied his father, \"'tis thy fate to have her!\"\n\nSo the Tsareviches all got married--the eldest to the boyar's\ndaughter, the second to the merchant's daughter, and the youngest to\nthe quacking-frog. And the Tsar called them to him and said: \"Let your\nwives, to-morrow morning, bake me soft white bread.\"\n\nIvan returned home, and he was not happy, and his impetuous head hung\ndown lower than his shoulders. \"_Qua! qua!_ Ivan Tsarevich! wherefore\nart thou so sad?\" asked the Frog. \"Or hast thou heard unpleasant words\nfrom thy father the Tsar?\"\n\n\"Why should I not be sad? My father and sovereign lord hath commanded\nthee to bake soft white bread to-morrow.\"\n\n\"Do not afflict thyself, O Tsarevich! lie down and rest. The morning\nis wiser than the evening.\"\n\nShe made the Tsarevich lie down and rest, then, casting her frog-skin,\nshe turned into a maiden soul, went out upon her beautiful balcony,\nand cried with a piercing voice: \"Nurseys--nurseys! assemble, set to\nwork and make me soft white bread such as I myself used to eat at my\ndear father's!\"\n\nIn the morning Ivan awoke. The frog had got the bread ready long ago,\nand it was so splendid that the like of it is neither to be imagined\nnor guessed at, but is only to be told of in tales. The loaves were\nadorned with various cunning devices, royal cities were modelled on\nthe sides thereof, with moats and ditches.\n\nThe Tsar praised Ivan greatly because of his bread, and gave this\ncommand to his three sons: \"Let your wives weave me a carpet in a\nsingle night.\"\n\nIvan returned home, and he was sad, and his impetuous head hung lower\nthan his shoulders. \"_Qua! qua!_ Tsarevich Ivan! wherefore art thou so\nsad? Or hast thou heard cruel, unfriendly words from thy father the\nTsar?\"\n\n\"Have I not cause to grieve? My father and sovereign lord commands\nthee to weave him a silk carpet in a single night!\"\n\n\"Fret not, Tsarevich! come, lay thee down and sleep. The morning is\nwiser than the evening!\" Then she made him lie down to sleep, and\nturning into the lovely maiden went forth upon her beautiful balcony,\nand cried with a piercing voice: \"Nurseys--nurseys! assemble, set to\nwork and weave me a silk carpet such as I was wont to sit upon at my\ndear father's!\"\n\nNo sooner said than done. In the morning Ivan woke, and the frog had\nhad the carpet ready long ago, and it was such a wondrous carpet that\nthe like of it can only be told in tales, but may neither be imagined\nnor guessed at. The carpet was adorned with gold and silver and with\ndivers bright embroiderings.\n\nThe Tsar greatly praised Ivan for his carpet, and there and then gave\nthe new command that all three Tsareviches were to appear before him\non the morrow to be inspected together with their wives.\n\nAgain Ivan returned home and he was not happy, and his impetuous head\nhung lower than his shoulders.\n\n\"_Qua! qua!_ Tsarevich Ivan! wherefore art thou grieved? Or hast thou\nheard words unkind from thy father the Tsar?\"\n\n\"Have I not cause to be sad? My father and sovereign lord has\ncommanded me to appear before him with thee to-morrow! How can I show\nthee to people?\"\n\n\"Fret not, Tsarevich! Go alone to the Tsar and pay thy visit, and I\nwill come after thee. The moment you hear a rumbling, and a knocking,\nsay: 'Hither comes my dear little Froggy in her little basket!'\"\n\nAnd behold! the elder brothers appeared, to be inspected with their\nrichly attired and splendidly adorned consorts. There they stood and\nlaughed at the Tsarevich Ivan and said: \"Why, brother! Why hast thou\ncome hither without thy wife? Why, thou mightest have brought her with\nthee in a kitchen clout. And where didst thou pick up such a beauty? I\nsuppose thou didst search through all the swamps fairly?\"\n\nSuddenly there was a great rumbling and knocking, the whole palace\nshook. The guests were all terribly frightened and rushed from their\nplaces, and knew not what to do; but Ivan said: \"Fear not, 'tis only\nmy little Froggy coming in her little basket!\"\n\nAnd then a golden coach drawn by six horses flew up the steps of the\nTsar's balcony, and out of it stepped such a beauty as is only to be\ntold of in tales, but can neither be imagined nor guessed at. Ivan\ntook her by the hand and led her behind the oaken table, behind the\nembroidered tablecloth. The guests began to eat and drink and make\nmerry.\n\nThe lovely Tsarevna drank wine, but the dregs of her cup she poured\nbehind her left sleeve; she ate also of the roast swan, but the bones\nthereof she concealed behind her right sleeve.\n\nThe wives of the elder brothers watched these devices, and took care\nto do the same.\n\nAfterward, when Tsarevna began dancing with Ivan, she waved her left\nhand and a lake appeared; she waved her right hand and white swans\nwere swimming in the water.\n\nThe Tsar and his guests were astonished.\n\nAnd now the elder brides began dancing. They waved their left hands\nand all the guests were squirted with water; they waved their right\nhands and the bones flew right into the Tsar's eyes. The Tsar was\nwroth, and drove them from court with dishonour.\n\nNow one day the Tsarevich waited his opportunity, ran off home, found\nthe frog-skin and threw it into a great fire. Soon the Tsarevna missed\nher frog-skin, was sore troubled, fell a-weeping, and said to the\nTsarevich: \"Alas! Tsarevich Ivan! what hast thou done? If thou hadst\nbut waited for a little, I should have been thine for ever more, but\nnow farewell! Seek for me beyond lands thrice-nine, in the Empire of\nThrice-ten, at the house of Koshchei.\"[19] Then she turned into a\nwhite swan and flew out of the window.\n\n[Footnote 19: Koshchei Bezsmertny, the deathless skeleton.]\n\nIvan wept bitterly, turned to all four points of the compass and\nprayed to God, and went straight before his eyes. He went on and\non,--whether it was near or far, or long or short, matters not; when\nthere met him an old, old man. \"Hail, good youth!\" said he, \"what dost\nthou seek, and whither art thou going?\"\n\nThe Tsarevich told him all his misfortune. \"Alas! Tsarevich Ivan, why\ndidst thou burn that frog-skin? Thou didst not make, nor shouldst thou\ntherefore have done away with it. Vasilisa, thy wife, was born wiser\nand more cunning than her father; he was therefore angry with her, and\nbade her be a frog for three years. Here is a little ball for thee,\nfollow it whithersoever it rolls.\"\n\nIvan thanked the old man, and followed after the ball. He went along\nthe open plain, and there met him a bear. \"Come now!\" thought Ivan, \"I\nwill slay this beast.\" But the bear implored him: \"Slay me not,\nTsarevich Ivan, I may perchance be of service to thee somehow.\"\n\nHe went on farther, and lo! behind them came waddling a duck. The\nTsarevich bent his bow; he would have shot the bird, when suddenly she\ngreeted him with a human voice: \"Slay me not, Ivan Tsarevich! I also\nwill befriend thee!\"\n\nIvan had pity upon her, and went on farther to the blue sea, and\nbehold! on the beach lay gasping a pike. \"Alas! Tsarevich Ivan!\"\nsighed the pike, \"have pity on me and cast me into the sea.\" And he\ncast it into the sea, and went on along the shore.\n\nThe ball rolled a short way, and it rolled a long way, and at last it\ncame to a miserable hut; the hut was standing on hen's legs and\nturning round and round. Ivan said to it: \"Little hut, little hut!\nstand the old way as thy mother placed thee, with thy front to me, and\nthy back to the sea!\" And the little hut turned round with its front\nto him, and its back to the sea. The Tsarevich entered in, and saw the\nbony-legged Baba-Yaga lying on the stove, on nine bricks and grinding\nher teeth.\n\n\"Hillo! good youth, why dost thou visit me?\" asked the Baba-Yaga.\n\n\"Fie, thou old hag! thou call'st me a good youth, but thou shouldst\nfirst feed and give me drink, and prepare me a bath, then only\nshouldst thou ask me questions.\"\n\nThe Baba-Yaga fed him and gave him to drink, and made ready a bath for\nhim, and the Tsarevich told her he was seeking his wife, Vasilisa.\n\n\"I know,\" said the Baba-Yaga; \"she is now with Koshchei. 'Tis hard to\nget thither, and it is not easy to settle accounts with Koshchei. His\ndeath depends upon the point of a needle. That needle is in a hare,\nthat hare is in a coffer, that coffer is on the top of a high oak,\nand Koshchei guards that tree as the apple of his eye.\"\n\nThe Baba-Yaga then showed him in what place that oak grew: Ivan went\nthither, but did not know what to do to get at the coffer. Suddenly,\nhow who can tell, the bear rushed at the tree and tore it up by the\nroots, the coffer fell and was smashed to pieces, the hare leaped out,\nand with one bound had taken cover.\n\nBut look! the other hare bounded off in pursuit, hunted him down and\ntore him to bits; out of the hare flew a duck and rose high, high in\nthe air, but the other duck dashed after her, and struck her down,\nwhereupon the duck laid an egg, and the egg fell into the sea.\n\nIvan, seeing the irreparable loss of the egg, burst into tears, when\nsuddenly the pike came swimming ashore, holding the egg between its\nteeth. He took the egg, broke it, drew out the needle and broke off\nits little point. Then he attacked Koshchei, who struggled hard, but\nwriggle about as he might he had to die at last.\n\nThen Ivan went into the house of Koshchei, took Vasilisa, and returned\nhome. After that they lived together for a long, long time, and were\nvery, very happy.\n\n\n\n\n_Oeyvind and Marit_[20]\n\nBJOeRNE BJOeRNESON\n\n\nOeyvind was his name. A low, barren cliff overhung the house in which\nhe was born; fir and birch looked down on the roof, and wild cherry\nstrewed flowers over it. Upon this roof there walked about a little\ngoat, which belonged to Oeyvind. He was kept there that he might not\ngo astray; and Oeyvind carried leaves and grass up to him. One fine\nday the goat leaped down, and away to the cliff; he went straight up,\nand came where he never had been before.\n\n[Footnote 20: From _A Happy Boy_ in J. G. Whittier's _Child Life in\nProse_.]\n\nOeyvind did not see him when he came out after dinner, and thought\nimmediately of the fox. He grew hot all over, looked round about, and\ncalled, \"Killy-killy-killy-goat!\"\n\n\"_Bay-ay-ay_,\" said the goat, from the brow of the hill, as he cocked\nhis head on one side and looked down.\n\nBut beside the goat there kneeled a little girl. \"Is it yours--this\ngoat?\" she asked.\n\nOeyvind stood with eyes and mouth wide open, thrust both hands into\nthe breeches he had on, and asked, \"Who are you?\"\n\n\"I am Marit, mother's little one, father's fiddle, the elf in the\nhouse, granddaughter of Ole Nordistuen of the Heide farms, four years\nold in the autumn, two days after the frost nights, I!\"\n\n\"Are you really?\" he said, and drew a long breath, which he had not\ndared to do so long as she was speaking.\n\n\"Is it yours, this goat?\" asked the girl again.\n\n\"Ye-es,\" he said, and looked up.\n\n\"I have taken such a fancy to the goat. You will not give it to me?\"\n\n\"No, that I won't.\"\n\nShe lay kicking her legs, and looking down at him, and then she said,\n\"But if I give you a butter-cake for the goat, can I have him then?\"\n\nOeyvind came of poor people, and had eaten butter-cake only once in\nhis life; that was when grandpa came there, and anything like it he\nhad never eaten before or since. He looked up at the girl. \"Let me see\nthe butter-cake first,\" said he.\n\nShe was not long about it, and took out a large cake, which she held\nin her hand. \"Here it is,\" she said, and threw it down.\n\n\"Ow, it went to pieces,\" said the boy. He gathered up every bit with\nthe utmost care; he could not help tasting the very smallest, and\nthat was so good he had to taste another, and, before he knew it\nhimself, he had eaten up the whole cake.\n\n\"Now the goat is mine,\" said the girl.\n\nThe boy stopped with the last bit in his mouth, the girl lay and\nlaughed, and the goat stood by her side, with white breast and dark\nbrown hair, looking sideways down.\n\n\"Could you not wait a little while?\" begged the boy; his heart began\nto beat. Then the girl laughed still more, and got up quickly on her\nknees.\n\n\"No, the goat is mine,\" she said, and threw her arms round its neck,\nloosened one of her garters, and fastened it round. Oeyvind looked up.\nShe got up, and began pulling at the goat. It would not follow, but\ntwisted its neck downward to where Oeyvind stood.\n\n\"_Bay-ay-ay_,\" it said.\n\nBut she took hold of its hair with one hand, pulled the string with\nthe other, and said gently, \"Come, goat, and you shall go into the\nroom and eat out of mother's dish and my apron.\" And then she sang:\n\n \"Come, boy's goat,\n Come, mother's calf,\n Come, mewing cat\n In snow-white shoes.\n Come, yellow ducks,\n Come out of your hiding-place;\n Come, little chickens,\n Who can hardly go;\n Come, my doves\n With soft feathers;\n See, the grass is wet,\n But the sun does you good;\n And early, early is it in summer,\n But call for the autumn, and it will come.\"\n\nThere stood the boy.\n\nHe had taken care of the goat since the winter before, when it was\nborn, and he had never imagined he could lose it; but now it was done\nin a moment, and he would never see it again.\n\n * * * * *\n\nHis mother came up humming from the beach, with wooden pans which she\nhad scoured; she saw the boy sitting with his legs crossed under him\non the grass, crying, and she went up to him.\n\n\"What are you crying about?\"\n\n\"Oh, the goat, the goat!\"\n\n\"Yes; where is the goat?\" asked his mother, looking up at the roof.\n\n\"It will never come back again,\" said the boy.\n\n\"Dear me! How could that happen?\"\n\nHe would not confess immediately.\n\n\"Has the fox taken it?\"\n\n\"Ah, if it only were the fox!\"\n\n\"Are you mad?\" said his mother. \"What has become of the goat?\"\n\n\"Oh-h-h, I happened to--to--to sell it for a cake!\"\n\nAs soon as he had uttered the word, he understood what it was to sell\nthe goat for a cake; he had not thought of it before. His mother said:\n\n\"What do you suppose the little goat thinks of you, when you could\nsell him for a cake?\"\n\nAnd the boy thought about it, and felt sure that he could never again\nbe happy in this world, and not even in heaven, he thought,\nafterwards. He felt so sorry, that he promised himself never again to\ndo anything wrong, never to cut the thread on the spinning wheel, nor\nlet the goats out, nor go down to the sea alone. He fell asleep where\nhe lay, and dreamed about the goat, that he had gone to heaven; our\nLord sat there with a great beard, as in the catechism, and the goat\nstood eating the leaves off a shining tree; but Oeyvind sat alone on\nthe roof, and could not come up.\n\nSuddenly there came something wet close up to his ear, and he started\nup. \"_Bay-ay-ay!_\" it said; and it was the goat, who had come back\nagain.\n\n\"What! have you got back?\"\n\nHe got up, took it by the two forelegs, and danced with it as if it\nwere a brother; he pulled its beard, and he was just going in to his\nmother with it, when he heard someone behind him, and, looking, saw\nthe girl sitting on the greensward by his side. Now he understood it\nall, and let go the goat.\n\n\"Is it you who have come with it?\"\n\nShe sat tearing the grass up with her hands, and said:\n\n\"They would not let me keep it; grandfather is sitting up there,\nwaiting.\"\n\nWhile the boy stood looking at her, he heard a sharp voice from the\nroad above call out, \"Now!\"\n\nThen she remembered what she was to do; she rose, went over to\nOeyvind, put one of her muddy hands into his, and, turning her face\naway, said:\n\n\"I beg your pardon!\"\n\nBut then her courage was all gone; she threw herself over the goat,\nand wept.\n\n\"I think you had better keep the goat,\" said Oeyvind, looking the\nother way.\n\n\"Come, make haste!\" said grandpapa, up on the hill; and Marit rose,\nand walked with reluctant feet upwards.\n\n\"You are not forgetting your garter?\" Oeyvind cried after her. She\nturned around, and looked first at the garter and then at him. At last\nshe came to a great resolution, and said, in a choked voice:\n\n\"You may keep that.\"\n\nHe went over to her, and, taking her hand, said:\n\n\"Thank you!\"\n\n\"Oh, nothing to thank for!\" she answered, but drew a long sigh, and\nwalked on.\n\nHe sat down on the grass again. The goat walked about near him, but he\nwas no longer so pleased with it as before.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe goat was fastened to the wall; but Oeyvind walked about, looking\nup at the cliff. His mother came out and sat down by his side; he\nwanted to hear stories about what was far away, for now the goat no\nlonger satisfied him. So she told him how once everything could talk:\nthe mountain talked to the stream, and the stream to the river, the\nriver to the sea, and the sea to the sky; but then he asked if the sky\ndid not talk to any one; and the sky talked to the clouds, the clouds\nto the trees, the trees to the grass, the grass to the flies, the\nflies to the animals, the animals to the children, the children to the\ngrown-up people; and so it went on, until it had gone round, and no\none could tell where it had begun.\n\nOeyvind looked at the mountain, the trees, the sky, and had never\nreally seen them before. The cat came out at that moment, and lay down\non the stone before the door in the sunshine.\n\n\"What does the cat say?\" asked Oeyvind, pointing. His mother sang:\n\n \"'At evening softly shines the sun,\n The cat lies lazy on the stone.\n Two small mice,\n Cream, thick, and nice,\n Four bits of fish,\n I stole behind a dish,\n And am so lazy and tired,\n Because so well I have fared,'\n\nsays the cat.\"\n\nBut then came the cock, with all the hens. \"What does the cock say?\"\nasked Oeyvind, clapping his hands together. His mother sang:\n\n \"'The mother hen her wings doth sink,\n The cock stands on one leg to think:\n That grey goose\n Steers high her course;\n But sure am I that never she\n As clever as a cock can be.\n Run in, you hens, keep under the roof to-day,\n For the sun has got leave to stay away,'\n\nsays the cock.\"\n\nBut the little birds were sitting on the ridgepole, singing. \"What do\nthe birds say?\" asked Oeyvind, laughing.\n\n \"'Dear Lord, how pleasant is life,\n For those who have neither toil nor strife,'\n\nsay the birds.\"\n\nAnd she told him what they all said, down to the ant who crawled in\nthe moss, and the worm who worked in the bark.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThat same summer, one day, his mother came in and said to him,\n\"To-morrow school begins and then you are going there with me.\"\n\nOeyvind had heard that school was a place where many children played\ntogether, and he had no objection. Indeed, he was much pleased, and he\nwas so anxious to get there that he walked faster than his mother up\nover the hills.\n\nWhen he came in there sat as many children around a table as he had\never seen at church. Others were sitting around the walls. They all\nlooked up as Oeyvind and his mother entered, and as he was going to\nfind a seat they all wanted to make room for him. He looked around a\nlong time with his cap in his hand, and just as he was going to sit\ndown he saw close beside him, sitting by the hearth-stone, Marit of\nthe many names. She had covered her face with both hands, and sat\npeeping at him through her fingers.\n\n\"I shall sit here,\" said Oeyvind quickly, seating himself at her side,\nand then she laughed and he laughed too.\n\n\"Is it always like this here?\" he whispered to Marit.\n\n\"Yes, just like this; I have a goat now,\" she said.\n\n\"Have you?\"\n\n\"Yes; but it is not so pretty as yours.\"\n\n\"Why don't you come oftener up on the cliff?\" said he.\n\n\"Grandpapa is afraid I shall fall over.\"\n\n\"But it is not so very high.\"\n\n\"Grandpapa won't let me, for all that.\"\n\n\"Mother knows so many songs,\" said he.\n\n\"Grandpapa does too, you can believe.\"\n\n\"Yes, but he does not know what mother does.\"\n\n\"Grandpapa knows one about a dance. Would you like to hear it?\"\n\n\"Yes, very much.\"\n\n\"Well, then, you must come farther over here, and I will tell it to\nyou.\"\n\nHe changed his place, and then she recited a little piece of a song\nthree or four times over so that the little boy learned it, and that\nwas the first he learned at school.\n\nThen the children sang, and Oeyvind stood with Marit by the door. All\nthe children stood with folded hands and sang. Oeyvind and Marit also\nfolded their hands, but they could not sing. And that was the first\nday at school.\n\n\n\n\n_The Emperor's New Clothes_\n\n\nThere once lived an Emperor who was so fond of fine clothes that he\nspent great sums of money in order to be beautifully dressed. He cared\nlittle about his army or other affairs of State; he did not care for\namusements; nothing pleased him so much as walking abroad to show off\nhis new clothes. He had a coat for every hour of the day; and as they\noften say of a king, \"He is in the council chamber,\" here it would\nusually be, \"The Emperor is at his toilet.\"\n\nThe great city in which he lived had always something fresh to show;\nevery day many strangers came there. One day two men arrived who said\nthat they were weavers, and knew how to manufacture the most beautiful\ncloth imaginable. Not only were the material and texture uncommonly\nbeautiful, but clothes made of the stuff possessed this wonderful\nproperty that they were invisible to anyone who was not fit for his\noffice, or who was very stupid.\n\n\"Those must indeed be splendid clothes,\" thought the Emperor.\n\"Besides, if I had an outfit, I could find out which of my servants\nare unfit for the offices they hold; I should know the wise from the\nstupid! Yes, this cloth must be woven for me.\" And he gave the men\nmuch money that they might begin at once to weave their cloth.\n\nOf course they were impostors, but they put together two looms, and\nbegan to move about as if they were working, though they had nothing\nwhatever on the looms. They were also given quantities of the finest\nsilk and the best gold, which they hid.\n\n\"I wonder how far they have got on with the cloth,\" thought the\nEmperor one day. He remembered that whoever was stupid or not fit for\nhis office would be unable to see the material. He certainly believed\nthat he had nothing to fear for himself, but he decided first to send\na high official in order to see how he stood the test. Everybody in\nthe whole town knew by this time what a wonderful power the cloth had,\nand all were curious to see what was to happen.\n\n\"I will send my prime minister to the weavers,\" thought the Emperor.\n\"He can judge best what the cloth is like, for he is the wisest man in\nmy kingdom.\"\n\nAccordingly the old minister went to the hall where the impostors sat\nworking at the empty looms. \"Dear me!\" thought the old man, opening\nhis eyes wide, \"I cannot see any cloth!\" But he did not say so. \"Dear,\ndear!\" thought he, \"can I be stupid? Can I be not fit for my office?\nNo, I must certainly not admit that I cannot see the cloth!\"\n\n\"Have you nothing to say?\" asked one of the men.\n\n\"Oh, it is lovely, most lovely!\" answered the old minister, looking\nthrough his spectacles. \"What smooth texture! What glowing colours!\nYes, I will tell the Emperor that it is certainly very fine.\"\n\n\"We are delighted to hear you say that,\" said both the weavers, and\nthey proceeded to name the colours and describe the appearance of the\ntexture.\n\nThe old minister listened with great attention, so that he could tell\nthe Emperor all about it on his return.\n\nThe impostors now demanded more money, and more silk and gold to use\nin their weaving. They pocketed all, and went on as they had done\nbefore, working at the empty loom. The Emperor soon sent another\nofficial to report as to when the cloth would be finished. The\nminister looked and looked, but there was nothing on the empty loom\nand of course he could see nothing.\n\n\"Is it not a beautiful piece of cloth?\" asked the impostors, and they\nappeared to display material which was not there.\n\n\"Stupid I am not!\" thought the minister, \"so it must be that I am not\nfitted for my office. It is strange certainly, but no one must be\nallowed to notice it.\" And he, too, praised the cloth and pretended\ndelight at the beautiful colours and the splendid texture. \"Yes, it is\nindeed beautiful,\" he reported to the Emperor.\n\nEverybody in the town was talking of the magnificent cloth, and the\nEmperor decided to see it himself while it was still on the loom. With\na great crowd of courtiers, among whom were both the ministers who had\nbeen there before, he went to the impostors, who were making believe\nto weave with all their might.\n\n\"Is it not splendid!\" said both the old statesmen. \"See, your Majesty,\nhow fine is the texture! What remarkable colours!\" And then they\npointed to the empty loom, believing that all but themselves could see\nthe cloth quite well.\n\n\"What is wrong?\" thought the Emperor. \"I can certainly see nothing!\nThis is indeed horrible! I must be stupid, or unfit to be Emperor! It\nwill never do to let it be known! Yes, it is indeed very beautiful,\"\nhe said. \"It has my entire approval.\"\n\nAnd then he nodded pleasantly, and examined the empty loom with an\nappearance of interest, for he would not admit that he could see\nnothing.\n\nHis courtiers, too, looked and looked, and saw no more than the\nothers; but they said like the Emperor, \"Oh! it is beautiful!\"\nEveryone seemed so delighted that the Emperor gave to the impostors\nthe title of Weavers to the Emperor.\n\nNow there was to be a State procession the following week and\nthroughout the night before and the morning of the day on which this\nwas to take place the impostors were working by the light of many\ncandles. The people could see that they appeared to be busy putting\nthe finishing touches to the Emperor's new clothes. They pretended\nthat they were taking the cloth from the loom; they cut nothing with\nhuge scissors, sewed with needles without thread, and at last said,\n\"The clothes are finished!\"\n\nThe Emperor came himself with his favourites and each impostor held up\nhis arms as if he were showing something and said, \"See! here are the\nbreeches! Here is the coat! Here the cloak!\" and so on.\n\n\"Our clothes are so comfortable that one might imagine one had nothing\non; that is the beauty of them!\"\n\n\"Yes,\" nodded the courtiers, although they could see nothing, there\nbeing nothing there.\n\n\"Will it please your Majesty graciously to disrobe,\" said the\nimpostors.\n\nThe Emperor took off all his clothes, and the men busied themselves as\nif they were putting on various garments, while meantime the Emperor\nsurveyed himself in the mirror.\n\n\"How beautifully they fit! How well they suit his Majesty!\" said\neverybody.\n\n\"If it please your Majesty, the procession is ready,\" announced the\nMaster of the Ceremonies.\n\n\"I am ready,\" said the Emperor. And he turned again to the mirror as\nif to take a last admiring view of his finery.\n\nThe courtiers whose duty it was to bear the Emperor's train put their\nhands near the floor as if to lift the train; then they acted as if\nthey were holding it up. They would not have it known that they could\nsee nothing.\n\nSo the Emperor strutted forward in the procession under a splendid\ncanopy, and the people in the streets and at the windows said, \"How\ngrand are the Emperor's new clothes! What beautiful silk, how it\nshines!\"\n\nNo one would admit that he could see nothing, for that would have\nproved him unfit for his office, or stupid. None of the Emperor's\nclothes had ever been so praised.\n\n\"But the Emperor has nothing on!\" said a child at last.\n\n\"Listen to the innocent child!\" said the father, and each one\nwhispered to his neighbour what the child had said.\n\n\"The Emperor has nothing on!\" the people began to call out at last.\n\nThis seemed to the Emperor to be true; but he thought to himself, \"I\nmust not stop now.\" And the courtiers walked behind him with pompous\nair, gravely holding up the train which was not there.\n\n\n\n\n_Rhoecus_[21]\n\nFANNY E. COE\n\n\nLong ago there lived a Grecian youth named Rhoecus. Just outside the\ncity where Rhoecus dwelt was a wood. This wood was very old. Some\nsaid there were oaks in the forest that had been growing for a\nthousand years.\n\n[Footnote 21: Based upon the story of James Russell Lowell's poem of\nthe same name.]\n\nOne day Rhoecus was passing through the wood. Before him he saw a\nnoble oak about to fall. He ran and propped its mossy trunk with great\nbranches that he took from the ground.\n\nAs he was turning away, he heard a soft voice say, \"Rhoecus.\" There\nbeside the tree stood a beautiful dryad.\n\n\"I am the spirit of this tree,\" she said. \"As long as it lives, I\nlive. When it falls, I die. You, Rhoecus, have just saved my life.\nAsk what you will and it is yours.\"\n\nRhoecus gazed at the dryad with wonder and awe. \"You are the fairest\nbeing I have ever seen. Give me your love,\" he cried.\n\n\"You shall have it, Rhoecus,\" replied the dryad sadly. \"Meet me\nhere an hour before the sunset.\"\n\nWith a happy heart and a gay step Rhoecus went on his way to the\ntown. He had won a most beautiful bride. To celebrate his joy, he\nthought he would play a game of dice with his friends.\n\nThe game took all his thought, for he was most unlucky. He lost once,\ntwice, and even a third time. He forgot all about the dryad. The sun\nsank lower and lower and still he played on.\n\nAt last a bee entered the window and brushed against his forehead.\nRhoecus shook it off. Again and again the bee returned. At last\nRhoecus, in anger, struck the little creature and wounded it. Away\nflew the bee and Rhoecus, looking after it, saw the red sun setting\nover the trees of the thousand-year-old forest. He was too late!\n\nThrough the city and out of its gates he rushed. He sped across the\nplain and entered the wood. At the tree no fair dryad awaited him. But\nhe heard a voice saying sadly, \"Ah, Rhoecus, you forgot your promise\nto me. You drove away with a cruel blow my little messenger who sought\nto remind you of me. Because you have been harsh to the little bee,\nyour punishment is this: You shall never see me again.\"\n\n\"Ah, no! sweet spirit,\" cried Rhoecus. \"Forgive me this once. I will\nnever sin again.\"\n\n\"Alas! it cannot be. Farewell,\" sighed the dryad. And Rhoecus saw\nher no more.\n\nIn that hour he changed from a happy youth to a sad and lonely man.\nAll his life he longed to see the dryad whom he had lost for ever.\n\n\n\n\n_King Solomon and the Ants_\n\nFLORA J. COOKE\n\n\nOne morning the Queen of Sheba started back to her home in the South.\nKing Solomon and all his court went with her to the gates of the city.\n\nIt was a glorious sight. The King and Queen rode upon white horses.\nThe purple and scarlet coverings of their followers glittered with\nsilver and gold.\n\nThe King looked down and saw an ant hill in the path before them.\n\n\"See yonder little people,\" he said; \"do you hear what they are saying\nas they run about so wildly?\n\n\"They say, 'Here comes the King men call wise, and good, and great. He\nwill trample us under his cruel feet.'\"\n\n\"They should be proud to die under the feet of such a King,\" said the\nQueen. \"How dare they complain!\"\n\n\"Not so, great Queen,\" replied the King.\n\nHe turned his horse aside and all his followers did the same.\n\nWhen the great company had passed, there was the ant hill unharmed in\nthe path.\n\nThe Queen said, \"Happy, indeed, must be your people, wise King. I\nshall remember the lesson. He only is noble and great who cares for\nthe helpless and weak.\"\n\n\n\n\n_The Story of Pegasus_\n\nFANNY E. COE\n\n\nLong ago in Greece there lived a young man named Bellerophon.\nBellerophon was brave; he was handsome; he was kind-hearted.\n\nNearly everyone loved Bellerophon; but there was one man who did not\nlike him. This was the King of the country in which Bellerophon lived.\nThe King was jealous. He saw how everyone, rich and poor, high and\nlow, loved Bellerophon. He feared that they might want to have\nBellerophon for their King. So he thought, \"I must send this young man\naway.\"\n\nHe wrote letters to his wife's father, the King of Lycia. These\nletters he sent by Bellerophon.\n\nThe King of Lycia welcomed Bellerophon to his court. For nine days\nthere was feasting, and Bellerophon won everyone's heart by his wit\nand grace.\n\nOn the tenth day he gave his letters to the King. The King opened them\nand read. Then his face changed. He went into the next room and bowed\nhis head upon his hands. He was greatly troubled. His son-in-law had\nasked that Bellerophon should be killed.\n\n\"But he has just eaten my bread,\" said the King of Lycia. \"He is my\nguest. I cannot kill him.\" He thought for some time and then spoke\nagain: \"I will not kill him myself. I will send him to fight the\nChimaera.\"\n\nNow the Chimaera was a terrible monster that roamed the fields of\nLycia. It had the body of a lion and it had three heads. These heads\nwere those of a lion, a goat, and a dragon. With its fiery breath the\nChimaera burned up everything that came near it.\n\nBellerophon was troubled when he heard the orders of the King of\nLycia. He went to ask the advice of the wisest man of that country.\nThe wise man said: \"Bellerophon, if you can ride Pegasus, you will\nkill the Chimaera easily.\"\n\n\"What is Pegasus?\" said Bellerophon.\n\n\"Pegasus is a winged horse. His home is on Mount Olympus. But no one\nhas tamed him except Athene, the goddess of wisdom. I should ask her\nhelp.\"\n\nBellerophon prayed in the temple of Athene and then fell asleep. He\ndreamed that Athene herself stood by him. He saw her grey eyes, her\ngolden hair, and her glistening armour. He thought she put a golden\nbridle into his hand.\n\nWhen he awoke, he found it was no dream, for he held a golden bridle.\n\nHe hastened at once to a certain spring where Pegasus often came to\ndrink. There stood the spirited steed. Bellerophon drew near. Pegasus\nspread his strong wings and was just about to fly when Bellerophon\nheld out the bridle. Then the noble horse bent his head and walked up\nto the young man. He knew that the golden bridle came from his\nmistress.\n\nBellerophon slipped the bridle upon Pegasus and they soared high into\nthe air. Pegasus was as swift as an eagle.\n\nThe next day Bellerophon fought with the ugly Chimaera. With the help\nof Pegasus he easily slew the monster.\n\nThen the King of Lycia gave him other hard tasks. But he did them all\neasily, with the help of his winged horse. At last the King gave\nBellerophon his daughter as a wife.\n\nAnd now, just when he was happiest, trouble came to Bellerophon. He\ngrew proud and vain. He thought that with his winged horse, he could\ndo anything.\n\nOne day he said, \"I should like to visit the gods on Mount Olympus. I\ncan reach their home easily. I should like to see Jupiter and Mars\nface to face.\"\n\nHe mounted Pegasus and turned his head toward the highest heaven.\n\n\"This is too great daring,\" said Jupiter; \"Bellerophon must be\npunished.\"\n\nJupiter sent a gadfly to sting Pegasus. The noble horse reared. He\nthought his master had struck him and was furious with pain and anger.\nBellerophon lost his seat and fell to the earth.\n\nAll the rest of his days he went about a blind and lame old man.\n\nThus the gods punished his too great daring.\n\n\n\n\n_The Wolf-Mother of Saint Ailbe_\n\nABBIE FARWELL BROWN\n\n\n_Ailbe's Babyhood_\n\nThis is the story of a poor little Irish baby whose cruel father and\nmother did not care anything about him. But because they could not\nsell him nor give him away they tried to lose him. They wrapped him in\na piece of cloth and took him up on the mountain-side, and there they\nleft him lying all alone on a bush of heather.\n\nNow an old mother-wolf was out taking her evening walk on the mountain\nafter tending her cubs in the den all day. And as she was passing the\nheather bush she heard a faint, funny little cry. She pricked up her\npointed ears and said, \"What's that!\" And lo and behold, when she came\nto sniff out the mystery with her keen nose, it led her straight to\nthe spot where the little pink baby lay, crying with cold and hunger.\n\nThe heart of the mother-wolf was touched, for she thought of her own\nlittle ones at home, and how sad it would be to see them so helpless\nand lonely and forgotten. So she picked the baby up in her mouth\ncarefully and ran with him to her den in the rocks at the foot of the\nmountain. Here the little one, whose name was Ailbe, lived with the\nbaby wolves sharing their breakfast and dinner and supper, playing and\nquarrelling and growing up with them. The wolf-mother took good care\nof him and saw that he had the best of everything, for she loved him\ndearly, indeed. And Ailbe grew stronger and stronger, taller and\ntaller, handsomer and handsomer every day, living his happy life in\nthe wild woods of green Ireland.\n\n\n_Ailbe leaves his Forest Home_\n\nNow one day, a year or two after this, a hunter came riding over the\nmountain on his way home from the chase, and he happened to pass near\nthe cave where Ailbe and the wolves lived. As he was riding under the\ntrees he saw a little white creature run across the path in front of\nhim. At first he thought it was a rabbit; but it was too big for a\nrabbit, and besides, it did not hop. The hunter jumped down from his\nhorse and ran after the funny animal to find out what it was. His long\nlegs soon overtook it in a clump of bushes where it was hiding, and\nimagine the hunter's surprise when he found that it had neither fur\nnor horns nor four feet nor a tail, but that it was a beautiful child\nwho could not stand upright, and whose little, bare body ran on\nall-fours like a baby wolf! It was little Ailbe, the wolf-mother's\npet, who had grown so fast that he was almost able to take care of\nhimself. But he was not quite able, the hunter thought; and he said to\nhimself that he would carry the poor little thing home to his kind\nwife, that she might take care of him. So he caught Ailbe up in his\narms, kicking and squealing and biting like the wild little animal he\nwas, and wrapped him in a corner of his great cloak. Then he jumped on\nhis horse with a chirrup and galloped away out of the woods toward his\nvillage.\n\nBut Ailbe did not want to leave his forest home, the wolf-den, and his\nlittle wolf-brothers. Especially he did not want to leave his dear\nfoster mother. So he screamed and struggled to get away from the big\nhunter, and he called to the wolves in their own language to come and\nhelp him. Then out of the forest came bounding the great mother-wolf\nwith her four children, now grown to be nearly as big as herself. She\nchased the fleeting horse and snapped at the loose end of the\nhuntsman's cloak, howling with grief and anger. But she could not get\nthe thief, nor get back her adopted son, the little smooth-skinned\nfoundling. So after following them for miles, the five wolves\ngradually dropped farther and farther behind. And at last, as he\nstretched out his little arms to them over the hunter's velvet\nshoulder, Ailbe saw them stop in the road panting, with one last howl\nof farewell. They had given up the hopeless chase. And with their\ntails between their legs and their heads drooping low, they slunk back\nto their lonely den where they would never see their little boy\nplaymate any more. It was a sad day for the wolf-mother.\n\nBut the hunter carried little Ailbe home with him on the horse's back.\nAnd he found a new mother there to receive him. Ailbe never knew who\nhis first mother was, but she must have been a bad, cruel woman. His\nsecond mother was the kind wolf. And this one, the third, was a\nbeautiful Princess. For the hunter who had found the child was a\nPrince, and he lived in a grand castle by a lake near Tipperary, with\nhundreds of servants and horses and dogs and little pages for Ailbe to\nplay with. And here he lived and was very happy; and here he learned\nall the things which in those days made a little boy grow up into a\nwise and great man. He grew so wise and great that he was made a\nBishop and had a palace of his own in the town of Emly. People came\nto see him from far and near, who made him presents, and asked him\nquestions, and ate his dinners.\n\nBut though he had grown so great and famous, Ailbe had never forgotten\nhis second mother, the good wolf, nor his four-footed brothers in\ntheir coats of grey fur. And sometimes when his visitors were stupid\nand stayed a long time, or when they asked too many questions, or when\nthey made him presents which he did not like, Ailbe longed to be back\nin the forest with the good beasts.\n\n\n_Ailbe finds the Wolf-Mother again_\n\nA great many years afterward there was one day a huge hunt in Emly.\nAll the lords for miles around were out chasing the wild beasts, and\namong them was the Prince, Ailbe's foster father. But the Bishop\nhimself was not with them. He did not see any sport in killing poor\ncreatures. It was almost night, and the people of Emly were out\nwatching for the hunters to return. The Bishop was coming down the\nvillage street on his way from church, when the sounds of horns came\nover the hills close by, and he knew the chase was nearing home.\n\nLouder and louder came the _tantaratara_! of the horns, and then he\ncould hear the thud of the horses' hoofs and the yelp of the hounds.\nBut suddenly the Bishop's heart stood still. Among all the other noises\nof the chase he heard a sound which made him think--think--think. It was\nthe long-drawn howl of a wolf, a sad howl of fear and weariness and\npain. It spoke a language which he had almost forgotten. But hardly had\nhe time to think again and remember before down the village street came\na gaunt figure, flying in long leaps from the foremost dogs who were\nsnapping at her heels. It was Ailbe's wolf-mother.\n\nHe recognized her as soon as he saw her green eyes and the patch of\nwhite on her right foreleg. And she recognized him too--how I cannot\nsay, for he had changed greatly since she last saw him, a naked little\nsun-browned boy. But, at any rate, in his fine robes of purple and\nlinen and rich lace, with the mitre on his head and the crozier in his\nhand, the wolf-mother knew her dear son. With a cry of joy she bounded\nup to him and laid her head upon his breast, as if she knew he would\nprotect her from the growling dogs and the fierce-eyed hunters. And\nthe good Bishop was true to her. For he drew his beautiful velvet\ncloak about her tired, panting body, and laid his hand lovingly on her\nhead. Then in the other, he held up his crook warningly to keep back\nthe ferocious dogs.\n\n\"I will protect thee, old mother,\" he said tenderly. \"When I was\nlittle and young and feeble, thou didst nourish and cherish and\nprotect me; and now that thou art old and grey and weak, shall I not\nrender the same love and care to thee? None shall injure thee.\"\n\nThen the hunters came tearing up on their foaming horses. Some were\nangry, and wanted even now to kill the poor wolf, just as the dogs did\nwhich were prowling about snarling with disappointment. But Ailbe\nwould have none of it. He forbade them to touch the wolf. And he was\nso powerful and wise and holy that they dared not disobey him, but had\nto be content with seeing their prey taken out of their clutches.\n\nBut before the hunters and their dogs rode away, Saint Ailbe had\nsomething more to say to them. And he bade all the curious towns-folk\nwho had gathered about him and the wolf listen. He repeated the\npromise which he had made to the wolf, and warned everyone henceforth\nnot to hurt her or her children, either in the village or in the woods\nor on the mountain. And, turning to her once more, he said:\n\n\"See, mother, you need not fear. They dare not hurt you now you have\nfound your son to protect you. Come every day with my brothers to my\ntable, and you and yours shall share my food, as once I so often\nshared yours.\"\n\nAnd so it was. Every day after that, so long as she lived, the old\nwolf-mother brought her four children to the Bishop's palace and\nhowled at the gate for the porter to let them in. And every day he\nopened to them, and the steward showed the five into the great\ndining-hall where Ailbe sat at the head of the table, with five places\nset for the rest of the family. And there, with her five children\nabout her in a happy circle, the kind wolf-mother sat and ate the good\nthings which the Bishop's friends had sent him. But the child she\nloved best was none of those in furry coats and fine whiskers that\nlooked like her; it was the blue-eyed Saint at the top of the table in\nhis robes of purple and white.\n\nBut Saint Ailbe would look about him at his foster mother and his\nbrothers and would laugh contentedly.\n\n\"What a handsome family we are!\" he would say. And it was true.\n\n\n\n\n_Who was the Mightier?_[22]\n\nFANNY E. COE\n\n\nGlooskap, the Indian chief, had returned from the warpath. His foes\nwere slain or scattered. No other tribe of red men dared to stand\nbefore him.\n\n[Footnote 22: A Tale of the Penobscot Indians.]\n\nGlooskap was very proud of what he had done. \"My work is over,\" he\noften said to himself. \"Whom else is there for me to conquer? No one.\"\n\nOne day he walked through the village. He was a tall fierce figure\nwith brightly painted body and brilliant headdress of feathers.\n\nHe stopped to speak to an old squaw. He said aloud what he had often\nthought, \"My work is over, my enemies are dead. Whom is there for me\nto conquer?\"\n\nThe old squaw raised her hand and pointed toward the wigwam. \"There\nsits one whom no man will ever conquer!\" she said.\n\nGlooskap took one stride to the wigwam and raised the canvas door.\nWithin, seated on the floor, was a fat, happy baby. He was happy\nbecause he was sucking a bit of maple sugar. He opened his bright\nblack eyes, and stared hard at the gay feathers of the chief.\n\n\"Who is he?\" asked Glooskap.\n\n\"It is the mighty Wasis. But leave him in peace. Otherwise you will be\nin sore trouble.\"\n\nNow the Indian chief had never married. He knew nothing of children\nand their ways. But he thought, as is the manner of such, that he knew\neverything.\n\nSo he knelt on one knee, held out a hand, and smiling sweetly, said,\n\"Baby, come to me!\"\n\nWasis smiled, but did not stir.\n\nAgain the chief smiled kindly and said in a coaxing tone, \"Baby, come\nto me.\"\n\nWasis looked again at the chief. Then he took a bite of the maple\nsugar.\n\nGlooskap then arose, frowning; he stamped his foot angrily, and he\nspoke savagely. \"Baby, come to me.\"\n\nWasis dropped his maple sugar. \"Goo, goo!\" he said; \"Goo, goo! Goo,\ngoo, goo!\"\n\n\"These must be his war-cries!\" thought the chief. \"I'll teach him who\nis master and must be obeyed.\"\n\nSo he sang his terrible war-songs; he drew his knife and leaped into\nthe air; he roared his orders to Wasis again and again. \"Come to me:\ncome to me!\"\n\nThis was too much for the baby. His little face puckered and grew red.\nThen he opened his mouth and uttered shrieks so ear-piercing that\ntheir like had never been heard before. At least so the chief thought.\nHe rushed from the wigwam and fled a mile before he stopped to breathe\ndeeply.\n\nMeanwhile Wasis had found his maple sugar and was calm again. \"Goo,\ngoo!\" he said; \"Goo, goo! Goo, goo, goo!\"\n\nAnd to this day when you see a baby crowing and saying \"Goo, goo!\"\nremember he is thinking of the time when he overcame the Indian chief\nwho had conquered all the world. For of all created things the Baby\nalone is master.\n\n\n\n\n_Hans the Shepherd Boy_\n\nELLA LYMAN CABOT\n\n\nHans was a little shepherd boy who lived in Germany. One day he was\nkeeping his sheep near a great wood when a hunter rode up to him.\n\n\"How far is it to the nearest village, my boy?\" asked the hunter.\n\n\"It is six miles, sir,\" said Hans. \"But the road is only a\nsheep-track. You might easily miss your way.\"\n\n\"My boy,\" said the hunter, \"if you will show me the way, I will pay\nyou well.\"\n\nHans shook his head. \"I cannot leave the sheep, sir,\" he said. \"They\nwould stray into the wood, and the wolves might kill them.\"\n\n\"But if one or two sheep are eaten by the wolves, I will pay you for\nthem. I will give you more than you can earn in a year.\"\n\n\"Sir, I cannot go,\" said Hans. \"These sheep are my master's. If they\nare lost, I should be to blame.\"\n\n\"If you cannot show me the way, will you get me a guide? I will take\ncare of your sheep while you are gone.\"\n\n\"No,\" said Hans, \"I cannot do that. The sheep do not know your\nvoice--and----\" Then he stopped.\n\n\"Can't you trust me?\" asked the hunter.\n\n\"No,\" said Hans. \"You have tried to make me break my word to my\nmaster. How do I know that you would keep your word?\"\n\nThe hunter laughed. \"You are right,\" he said. \"I wish I could trust my\nservants as your master can trust you. Show me the path. I will try to\nget to the village alone.\"\n\nJust then several men rode out of the wood. They shouted for joy.\n\n\"Oh, sir!\" cried one, \"we thought you were lost.\"\n\nThen Hans learned to his great surprise that the hunter was a Prince.\nHe was afraid that the great man would be angry with him. But the\nPrince smiled and spoke in praise of him.\n\nA few days later a servant came from the Prince and took Hans to the\npalace.\n\n\"Hans,\" said the Prince, \"I want you to leave your sheep to come to\nserve me. I know you are a boy whom I can trust.\"\n\nHans was very happy over his good fortune. \"If my master can find\nanother boy to take my place, then I will come to serve you.\"\n\nSo Hans went back and tended the sheep until his master found another\nboy. After that he served the Prince many years.\n\n\n\n\n_Nathan and the Bear_\n\nM. A. L. LANE\n\n\nLittle Nathan King was driving home his father's cows.\n\nIt was a cold night in October. In the clear sky the stars shone\nbright.\n\nThe dry leaves fluttered down upon the road where they lay in drifts.\n\nThe air was sharp. Once a chestnut burr dropped at the boy's feet.\n\n\"Winter will soon be here,\" Nathan said to himself. He was thinking of\nthe snug kitchen and the good warm supper that his mother would have\nready for him.\n\nIt was dark. Nathan could just see the black shapes of the cows.\n\nThere were five of them. They were good, kind cows. Nathan liked to\ntake care of them.\n\nHe liked to pat their sleek, smooth sides.\n\nThe cows were fond of Nathan. Sometimes the black cow would put out\nher rough tongue and touch his hand.\n\nNow they were all in a hurry to reach the warm barn. They walked along\nthe road as fast as they could.\n\n\"I think I will go by the wood path,\" said Nathan to himself. \"It is\nonly half as far, and I know every step of the way.\"\n\nSo he ran on before the cows, and let down the bars into the wood\npath.\n\nThe cows went on after him. They, too, knew every step of the path.\nNathan often took them home that way. The end of the wood path was\nnear the door of the barn.\n\nIt was very still in the woods. The dry leaves rustled as the cows\nwalked through them. There was no other sound. The trees looked big\nand black.\n\nNathan whistled as he walked. He had never been in the woods after\ndark before. He was glad that he was not far from home.\n\nOnce the black cow stepped on a long, dry branch. The other end of the\nbranch flew up in Nathan's face and made him jump.\n\n\"What a baby I am!\" said he. \"There is nothing to be afraid of. I can\nsee the lamp in our kitchen now.\"\n\nNathan was now on the top of the hill. The trees were cut down on one\nside of the path. He could look across a cornfield to his home.\n\nHe whistled more loudly than ever and walked bravely on.\n\n\"I wonder if there are any bears in these woods,\" he was thinking.\n\"Tom Shaw's father saw a bear on the mountain last week. Tom says he\nwould like to meet one. I should run if I heard a bear coming.\"\n\nNathan stopped a moment to listen. His heart beat fast. He could feel\nit thump, thump, thump against his jacket. But there was no sound\nexcept the breaking of twigs and the rustling of leaves under the\nheavy step of the cows.\n\n\"Home at last!\" said Nathan.\n\nHis father heard him open the great gate, and came out with a light.\n\nNathan stood aside to let the cows go through the gateway. He always\ncounted them as they went through.\n\nOne, two, three, four, five--one, two, three, four, five--Nathan\nrubbed his eyes. Then he counted again. One, two, three, four, five,\nsix! Where did the sixth cow come from? Was it a cow? It looked more\nlike a dog.\n\n\"Father!\" cried Nathan. \"Here's a bear with the cows!\"\n\nMr King laughed. He had opened the barn door. The cows were going in,\none by one.\n\n\"What a boy you are!\" he said. \"You and Tom Shaw--why, it is a bear!\"\n\nYes, it really was a bear. Mr King swung the lantern close, to make\nsure.\n\nWhen the bear saw the bright light, he turned slowly; then he went\nback through the gateway across the road, into the wood path.\n\n\"Let me get my gun!\" cried Mr King. \"Take the lantern, Nathan!\"\n\n\"Oh, don't shoot him, father!\" begged Nathan. \"Please don't shoot him.\nHe came all the way through the woods with me, and he did not hurt me\nat all.\"\n\nThe boy was almost crying. He was holding his father's arm with both\nhands.\n\n\"Please don't shoot him!\" he said again.\n\n\"Well,\" said Mr King, \"I don't like to let a bear go like that. He\nseems gentle enough, but he might do some harm. Where did you find\nhim, Nathan?\"\n\n\"I did not find him,\" said the boy, still holding fast his father's\narm. \"He must have been in the woods. I was counting the cows just\nnow, and there he was! I wish you would let him go. He was good to me\nwhen he might have hurt me. I think it would be mean to shoot him\nnow.\"\n\n\"It is strange that the cows were not frightened,\" said Mr King. \"I\nsuppose the old fellow was cold. He thought you looked as if you were\na kind boy, Nathan.\"\n\nNathan knew that his father would not go after the bear now. He\nlaughed gaily as he went into the barn.\n\n\"I wish Tom Shaw had been here,\" said he. \"I think I shall come home\nby the road to-morrow night. I am not very fond of bears, after all.\"\n\n\n\n\n_The Man on the Chimney_\n\nFANNY E. COE\n\n\nOnce upon a time some workmen were repairing the tall chimney of a\nfactory. It was so tall that no ladder could reach its top, so the men\nwent up and down on a rope. The rope passed through a pulley which was\nfirmly fixed to the top of the chimney.\n\nAt last the work was ended. The workmen came down quickly, glad to be\nsafe on the ground once more.\n\nWhen the next to the last man reached the ground, by mistake he pulled\nthe rope from the pulley. Then he looked back and saw another man\nstanding alone on the chimney.\n\n\"Oh! what have I done!\" he cried. \"Poor fellow, what will become of\nhim? He cannot get down! He will die!\"\n\nThe workmen were so alarmed that they could think of no way to help\ntheir comrade. They stood helpless, looking first at the coil of rope\nat their feet and then at their friend high in the air.\n\n\"He will starve if he stays there, and he will be killed if he tries\nto climb down,\" they said sadly.\n\nJust then the wife of the man appeared. She did not cry, scold, or\nfret. Instead, she said to herself, \"What can I do to save him? There\nmust be some way.\"\n\nSoon a bright idea came to her, and she shouted to her husband:\n\n\"John! John! Unravel your stocking! Begin at the toe!\"\n\nJohn understood at once. He took off the coarse yarn stocking that she\nhad knitted for him, cut off the toe, and began to unravel the yarn.\n\nWhen he had pulled out a long piece, he tied the end around a small\npiece of brick. This he very carefully let down to the ground.\n\nHow eagerly the men below seized upon it. They fastened the yarn to a\nball of twine which John's wife had fetched. Then they shouted:\n\n\"Pull up the yarn till you get the twine.\"\n\nSoon John called to them:\n\n\"I have it.\"\n\nThey next fastened the twine to the heavy rope and shouted:\n\n\"Pull up the twine till you get the rope.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said John, and in a very few minutes he held the stout\nrope in his hand. With its aid, he let himself safely down to the\nground. How they all cheered as his foot touched the earth!\n\nDo you think he left the remnant of his stocking on the chimney-top?\nNo, indeed. He brought it down, buttoned under his coat. It was a\nprecious keepsake. He often showed it to his children, as he told them\nthe wonderful story of how his life had been saved by their mother.\n\n\n\n\n_Pocahontas_\n\nE. A. AND M. F. BLAISDELL\n\n\nPocahontas was a beautiful Indian maiden, the daughter of the great\nchief, Powhatan, and she was so good and kind that she was loved by\nall the tribe over which her father ruled.\n\nShe lived in the forests of Virginia, with the birds and squirrels for\nher companions.\n\nShe was an Indian princess, but she learned to cook and to sew and to\nweave mats, just like the other Indian girls. She liked to embroider,\ntoo, and spent many happy hours decorating her dresses with the\npretty-coloured shells and beads that were given to her father.\n\nOne day, when she was twelve years old, an Indian came to Powhatan and\ntold him a white man had been captured and brought to the village.\n\n\"He is a wonderful man,\" said the scout. \"He can talk to his friends\nby making marks on paper, and he can make a fire without a flint.\"\n\n\"Bring him here,\" said the chief, and Captain John Smith was brought\nbefore Powhatan.\n\nThe chief received the prisoner in his wigwam, and talked with him,\nasking him many questions.\n\nCaptain Smith told the Indians that the earth was round, and that the\nsun chased the night around it. He said that the sun that set in the\nwest at night was the same sun that rose in the east in the morning.\nHe showed them his compass and told them how it guided him through the\nforest.\n\nAt last the Indians began to fear him, thinking that so wise and\npowerful a man might do them some harm. So, after holding him as a\nprisoner for many days, they decided to put him to death.\n\nIn the meantime Captain Smith and Pocahontas had become the best of\nfriends. He told her many stories of his childhood in a land across\nthe sea--of the blue-eyed, fair-haired boys and girls, of their toys\nand games, their homes and schools, and how they learned to read and\nwrite.\n\nSo when Pocahontas learned that her dear friend must die, she felt\nvery sad, and tried to think of some way of saving his life.\n\nAnd she did save his life, for just as Captain Smith was to be killed,\nthe child threw her arms about his neck, and begged her father to\nspare the white man's life, for her sake.\n\nPowhatan loved his little daughter, and wished to please her in\neverything, so he promised to set the prisoner free, and to send him\nat once to his friends.\n\nPocahontas often visited Captain Smith, and learned to know and love\nhis friends. In later years she went to England to see the fair-haired\nboys and girls and the homes and schools he had told her about during\nhis captivity.\n\n\n\n\n_The Day Kit and Kat went Fishing_\n\nLUCY FITCH PERKINS\n\n\nThis is a story of Kit and Kat, twins who lived in Holland. Their real\nnames were Christopher and Katrina, but their mother, Vrouw Vedder,\nsays that they are not to be called Christopher and Katrina until they\nare four and a half feet high. So they are Kit and Kat while they are\non the way to four and a half feet. Kit is the boy and Kat is the\ngirl. Here is the story of the day they went fishing.\n\n\n_At Home_\n\nOne summer morning, very early, Vrouw Vedder opened the door of her\nlittle Dutch kitchen and stepped out.\n\nShe looked across the road which ran by the house, across the canal on\nthe other side, across the level green fields that lay beyond, clear\nto the blue rim of the world, where the sky touches the earth. The sky\nwas very blue; and the great, round, shining face of the sun was just\npeering over the tops of the trees, as she looked out.\n\nVrouw Vedder listened. The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the\nducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the\nfields were singing for joy. Vrouw Vedder hummed a slow little tune of\nher own, as she went back into her kitchen.\n\nKit and Kat were still asleep in their little cupboard bed. She gave\nthem each a kiss. The twins opened their eyes and sat up.\n\n\"Oh, Kit and Kat,\" said Vrouw Vedder, \"the sun is up, the birds are\nall awake and singing, and grandfather is going fishing to-day. If you\nwill hurry you may go with him! He is coming at six o'clock; so pop\nout of bed and get dressed. I will put up some lunch for you in the\nyellow basket, and you may dig worms for bait in the garden. Only be\nsure not to step on the young cabbages that father planted.\"\n\nKit and Kat bounced out of bed in a minute. Their mother helped them\nto put on their clothes and new wooden shoes. Then she gave them each\na bowl of bread and milk for their breakfast. They ate it sitting on\nthe kitchen doorstep.\n\nSoon Kit and Kat were digging for worms. They did just as their mother\nsaid, and did not step on the young cabbages. They sat on them,\ninstead. But that was an accident.\n\nKit dug the worms, and Kat put them into a basket, with some earth in\nit to make them feel at home.\n\nWhen grandfather came, he brought a large fishing-rod for himself and\ntwo little ones for the twins. There was a little hook on the end of\neach line.\n\nVrouw Vedder kissed Kit and Kat good-bye.\n\n\"Mind grandfather, and don't fall into the water,\" she said.\n\nGrandfather and the twins started off together down the long road\nbeside the canal.\n\nThe house where the twins lived was right beside the canal. Their\nfather was a gardener, and his beautiful rows of cabbages and beets\nand onions stretched in long lines across the level fields by the\nroadside.\n\nGrandfather lived in a large town, a little way beyond the farm where\nthe twins lived. He did not often have a holiday, because he carried\nmilk to the doors of the people in the town, every morning early. Some\ntime I will tell you how he did it; but I must not tell you now,\nbecause if I do, I can't tell you about their going fishing.\n\nThis morning, grandfather carried his rod and the lunch-basket. Kit\nand Kat carried the basket of worms between them, and their rods over\ntheir shoulders, and they were all three very happy.\n\n\n_On the Dyke_\n\nThey walked along ever so far, beside the canal. Then they turned to\nthe left and walked along a path that ran from the canal across the\ngreen fields to what looked like a hill.\n\nBut it wasn't a hill at all, really, because there aren't any hills in\nHolland. It was a long, long wall of earth, very high--oh, as high as\na house, or even higher! And it had sloping sides.\n\nThere is such a wall of earth all round the country of Holland, where\nthe twins live. There has to be a wall, because the sea is higher than\nthe land. If there were no walls to shut out the sea, the whole\ncountry would be covered with water; and if that were so, then there\nwouldn't be any Holland, or any Holland twins, or any story. So you\nsee that it was very lucky that the wall was there. They called it a\ndyke.\n\nGrandfather and Kit and Kat climbed the dyke. When they reached the\ntop, they sat down a few minutes to rest and look at the great blue\nsea. Grandfather sat in the middle, with Kit on one side, and Kat on\nthe other; and the basket of worms and the basket of lunch were there,\ntoo.\n\nThey saw a great ship sail slowly by, making a cloud of smoke.\n\n\"Where do the ships go, grandfather?\" asked Kit.\n\n\"To England, and America, and China, and all over the world,\" said\ngrandfather.\n\n\"Why?\" asked Kat. Kat almost always said \"Why?\" and when she didn't,\nKit did.\n\n\"To take flax and linen from the mills of Holland to make dresses for\nlittle girls in other countries,\" said grandfather.\n\n\"Is that all?\" asked Kit.\n\n\"They take cheese and herring, bulbs and butter, and lots of other\nthings besides, and bring back to us wheat and meal and all sorts of\ngood things from the lands across the sea.\"\n\n\"I think I'll be a sea captain when I'm big,\" said Kit.\n\n\"So will I,\" said Kat.\n\n\"Girls can't,\" said Kit.\n\nBut grandfather shook his head and said:\n\n\"You can't tell what a girl may be by the time she's four feet and a\nhalf high and is called Katrina. There's no telling what girls will\ndo, anyway. But, children, if we stay here we shall not catch any\nfish.\"\n\n\n_On the Pier_\n\nThey went down the other side of the dyke and out upon a little pier\nthat ran from the sandy beach into the water.\n\nGrandfather showed them how to bait their hooks. Kit baited Kat's for\nher, because Kat said it made her all wriggly inside to do it. She did\nnot like it. Neither did the worm!\n\nThey all sat down on the end of the pier. Grandfather sat on the very\nend and let his wooden shoes hang down over the water; but he made Kit\nand Kat sit with their feet stuck straight out in front of them, so\nthat they just reached to the edge--\"So that you can't fall in,\" said\ngrandfather.\n\nThey dropped their hooks into the water and sat very still, waiting\nfor a bite. The sun climbed higher and higher in the sky, and it grew\nhotter and hotter on the pier. The flies tickled Kat's nose and made\nher sneeze.\n\n\"Keep still, can't you?\" said Kit crossly. \"You'll scare the fish.\nGirls don't know how to fish.\"\n\nPretty soon Kat felt a queer little jerk on her line. She was\nperfectly sure she did.\n\nKat squealed and jerked her rod. She jerked it so hard that one foot\nflew right up in the air, and one of her new wooden shoes\nwent--splash!--right into the water!\n\nBut that wasn't the worst of it! Before you could say Jack Robinson,\nKat's hook flew around and caught in Kit's clothes and pricked him.\n\nKit jumped and said, \"Ow!\" And then--no one could tell how it\nhappened--there was Kit in the water, too, splashing like a young\nwhale, with Kat's hook still holding fast to his clothes in the back!\n\nGrandfather jumped then, too, you may be sure. He caught hold of Kat's\nrod and pulled hard and called out, \"Steady, there, steady!\"\n\nAnd in one minute there was Kit in the shallow water beside the pier,\npuffing and blowing like a grampus!\n\nGrandfather reached down and pulled him up.\n\nWhen Kit was safely on the pier, Kat threw her arms around his neck,\nthough the water was running down in streams from his hair and eyes\nand ears.\n\n\"Oh, Kit,\" she said, \"I truly thought it was a fish on my line when I\njumped!\"\n\n\"Just like a g-g-girl,\" said Kit. \"They don't know how to f-f-fish!\"\nYou see his teeth were chattering, because the water was cold.\n\n\"Well, anyway,\" said Kat, \"I caught more than you did. I caught you!\"\n\nThen Kat thought of something else. She shook her finger at Kit.\n\n\"Oh, Kit,\" she said, \"mother told you not to fall into the water!\"\n\n\"'T-t-t-was all your fault,\" roared Kit. \"Y-y-you began it! Anyway,\nwhere is your new wooden shoe?\"\n\n\"Where are both of yours?\" screamed Kat.\n\nSure enough, where were they? No one had thought about shoes, because\nthey were thinking so hard about Kit.\n\nThey ran to the end of the pier and looked. There was Kat's shoe\nsailing away toward England like a little boat! Kit's were still\nbobbing about in the water near the pier.\n\n\"Oh! Oh! Oh!\" shrieked Kat; but the tide was going out and carrying\nher shoe farther away every minute. They could not get it; but\ngrandfather reached down with his rod and fished out both of Kit's\nshoes. Then Kat took off her other one and her stockings, and they all\nthree went back to the beach.\n\n\n_On the Beach_\n\nGrandfather and Kat covered Kit up with sand to keep him warm while\nhis clothes were drying. Then grandfather stuck the twins' fish-poles\nup in the sand and tied the two lines together for a clothes-line,\nand hung Kit's clothes up on it, and Kat put their three wooden shoes\nin a row beside Kit.\n\nThen they ate their luncheon of bread and butter, cheese and milk,\nwith some radishes from father's garden. It tasted good even if it was\nsandy. After lunch grandfather said:\n\n\"It will never do to go home without any fish at all.\"\n\nSo by-and-by he went back to the pier and caught one while the twins\nplayed in the sand. He put it in the lunch-basket to carry home.\n\nKat brought shells and pebbles to Kit, because he had to stay covered\nup in the sand, and Kit built a play dyke all around himself with\nthem, and Kat dug a canal outside the dyke. Then she made sand-pies in\nclam-shells and set them in a row in the sun to bake.\n\nThey played until the shadows of the dyke grew very long across the\nsandy beach, and then grandfather said it was time to go home.\n\nHe helped Kit to dress, but Kit's clothes were still a little wet in\nthe thick parts. And Kat had to go barefooted and carry her one wooden\nshoe.\n\nThey climbed the dyke and crossed the fields, and walked along the\nroad by the canal. The road shone, like a strip of yellow ribbon\nacross the green field. They walked quite slowly, for they were tired\nand sleepy.\n\nBy-and-by Kit said, \"I see our house\"; and Kat said, \"I see mother at\nthe gate.\"\n\nGrandfather gave the fish he caught to Kit and Kat, and Vrouw Vedder\ncooked it for their supper; and though it was not a very big fish,\nthey all had some.\n\nGrandfather must have told Vrouw Vedder something about what had\nhappened; for that night, when she put Kit to bed, she felt his\nclothes very carefully--but she didn't say a word about their being\ndamp. And she said to Kat: \"To-morrow we will see the shoemaker and\nget him to make you another shoe.\"\n\nThen Kit and Kat hugged her and said good-night, and popped off to\nsleep before you could wink your eyes.\n\n\n\n\n_The Honest Farmer_\n\nELLA LYMAN CABOT\n\n\nThere was a war in Germany long ago and thousands of soldiers were\nscattered over the country. A captain of cavalry, who had a great many\nmen and horses to feed, was told by his colonel that he must get food\nfrom the farmers near by. The captain walked for some time through the\nlonely valley, and at last knocked at the door of a small cottage. The\nman who opened it looked old and lame. He leaned on a stick.\n\n\"Good-day, sir,\" said the captain. \"Will you kindly show me a field\nwhere my soldiers can cut the grain and carry it off for our army?\"\n\nThe old man led the soldiers through the valley for about a mile, and\nin the distance they saw a field of barley waving in the breeze.\n\n\"This is just what we want. We'll stop here,\" exclaimed the captain.\n\n\"No, not yet,\" said the old man. \"You must follow me a little\nfarther.\"\n\nAfter another mile or two they came to a second field of barley. The\nsoldiers alighted, cut down the grain, tied it in sheaves, and rode\naway with it.\n\nThen the captain said to the old farmer: \"Why did you make us walk so\nfar? The first field of barley was better than this one.\"\n\n\"That is true, sir,\" answered the honest old man; \"but it was not\nmine.\"\n\n\n\n\n_Damon and Pythias_\n\nELLA LYMAN CABOT\n\n\nMore than two thousand years ago two young men who were intimate\nfriends lived in Sicily. Their names were Damon and Pythias.\n\nThe ruler of the country, named Dionysius, was a cruel man. He put\nPythias in prison and fixed a day for his death. Pythias had done\nnothing wrong, but he had angered Dionysius.\n\nThe father and mother of Pythias lived far away. \"May I go home to bid\nmy father and mother good-bye, and to arrange my affairs before I\ndie?\" asked Pythias.\n\nThe ruler laughed. \"That is a strange request,\" said he. \"Of course\nyou would escape and you would never come back.\"\n\nAt that moment Damon stepped forward. \"I am his friend,\" he said. \"I\nwill stay in prison till Pythias returns.\"\n\nThen the ruler asked: \"What will happen if Pythias does not return?\"\n\n\"I will die for him,\" said Damon.\n\nThis surprised Dionysius very much. He put Damon in prison and Pythias\nwent home. Weeks went by and Pythias did not return. At last the day\nof execution came, and Damon was led out to be put to death. He said:\n\"Pythias will come if he is alive. I can trust him absolutely.\"\n\nJust then soldiers ran up shouting: \"Here he comes! Here he comes!\"\n\nYes, there was Pythias, breathless with haste. He had been shipwrecked\non his journey and had been cast ashore many miles away.\n\nDionysius was greatly moved. \"You are both free,\" said he. \"I would\ngive all I have for one such friend. Will you let me become a friend\nto you both?\"\n\n\n\n\n_Lincoln's Unvarying Kindness_\n\nFANNY E. COE\n\n\nAbraham Lincoln, the great President of the United States, loved not\nonly men, women and children, but animals as well. If he saw an animal\nin trouble of any sort he always stopped to aid it. Even in the most\ncrowded day he found time to be merciful.\n\nWhen Abraham was twenty-one he helped his father to move to the West.\nOther friends went, too. They packed their goods in large waggons\ndrawn by oxen. It was quite a little company.\n\nThey started on their journey in February. The roads were heavy with\nfrost and mud. There were no bridges, and so the streams must be\nforded. Again and again they had to break the ice to let the wheels\npass.\n\nAt one of these fords a little dog was left behind on the farther\nshore. He ran up and down the bank and howled pitifully, but no one\nseemed to notice him. At last tall, bony Abe Lincoln turned.\n\nThe dog looked pleadingly at him. \"Am I to be left behind to die in\nthis wilderness?\" his soft dark eyes seemed to say.\n\nLincoln hesitated. The water of the river was icy cold. However, he\ntook off his shoes, turned up his trousers, and waded across. He\ncaught up the shivering little animal, which licked his hands and face\nin a very passion of gratitude.\n\nWhen Lincoln set him down on the right side of the river, the little\ndog showed his gladness by leaping upon everyone and barking wildly.\n\n\"His frantic leaps of joy repaid me for what I had done,\" said\nLincoln.\n\nYears afterward, when Lincoln was a busy lawyer, he was one day riding\nto court on horseback. With him were some friends of his who were also\nlawyers.\n\nThe small party had some distance to go. The day was warm and the\nroadsides were soft with spring mud.\n\nSuddenly their gay talk was interrupted. \"Cheep! cheep! cheep!\" they\nheard. On the ground, not far from the roadside, two little birds lay\nin the grass. They had fallen from the nest in the tree above them.\nTheir mother fluttered about, uttering pitiful cries.\n\n\"See those young robins that have fallen from their nest,\" said one\nman.\n\n\"That's too bad,\" said another. \"They are sure to die down there.\"\n\n\"Some cat will get them,\" said a third.\n\nOn they went, but soon they missed Abraham Lincoln. They looked\nbehind, but a turn of the road hid him from sight. \"We can guess what\nkept him,\" laughed the leader. \"He has stopped to put those robins\nback into their nest.\"\n\nThey were right. Abraham Lincoln was even then climbing the tree to\nthe nest with the tiny birds cuddled tenderly in one big kind hand.\n\nSoon he rejoined his friends. One of them raised his riding-whip and\npointed at Lincoln's muddy boots. \"Confess now, old Abe,\" he said,\n\"wasn't it those young robins that kept you?\"\n\n\"We know you, old fellow!\" said another.\n\n\"Yes, boys, you are right,\" Lincoln replied. \"But if I hadn't put\nthose birds back into the nest I shouldn't have slept a wink all\nnight.\"\n\nHere is another story of the great-hearted Lincoln. He passed a beetle\none day that was sprawling upon its back. It was kicking hard in its\nefforts to turn over. Lincoln stooped and set it right. \"Do you know,\"\nhe said to the friend beside him, \"I shouldn't have felt just right if\nI'd left that insect struggling there. I wanted to put him on his\nfeet and give him a chance with all the other beetles.\"\n\nAnother time Lincoln and a party of lawyers were riding from one town\nto another to attend court. Each lawyer wore his best clothes. Lincoln\nwas most careful of his well-worn suit.\n\nOn the road the party passed a small pig that had fallen into a ditch.\nThe poor little creature cried in a most pitiful fashion. At a bend of\nthe road Lincoln drew rein. His friends rode on, but he returned. He\njumped into the muddy ditch, lifted up the helpless pig, and placed\nhim again on solid ground. Then he galloped after the others.\n\nThe splashes of mud told their own story. His friends laughed at the\nbig man with the tender heart. \"I could not do otherwise,\" said\nLincoln.\n\n\n\n\n_How Molly spent her Sixpence_\n\nELIZA ORNE WHITE (_Adapted_)\n\n\nMolly and Priscilla were two little cousins. They had been spending a\nweek together at their grandmother's.\n\nWhen Molly was going home, the two little girls exchanged silver\nsixpences. Each wished to have a remembrance of the other.\n\n\n_Molly's Start_\n\nMolly meant to keep Priscilla's sixpence always, but she had not been\nat home many days before she received a letter from her cousin that\naltered her intentions. Molly's mamma read it aloud.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\"DEAR MOLLY,--I miss you very much. I cried the day you went, for it\nwas so lonely. I have spent your sixpence. I meant to get pink and\nblue and yellow tissue paper, but Guy Fawkes Day came and I got\nfireworks instead. They are all gone now, but it was fun while they\nlasted. They made a splendid noise. I like crackers.\n\n\"Please get something to remember me by on my birthday. As I have\nspent your sixpence, I want you to spend mine, and then we shall be\neven. My birthday is the eighth of December. I wish you were my\nsister. Your loving cousin,\n\n\"PRISCILLA DRAYTON.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\n\"It is the eighth of December to-day, Molly dear,\" said Mrs Benson.\n\n\"Then I think I had better go and look round the shops.\"\n\n\"You will find a great variety of things at Fletcher's,\" said her\nmamma; \"and if you like, you may go there all by yourself like a\ngrown-up person.\"\n\nThis pleased Molly, and she put on her brown hat and started out with\na little shopping bag that her Aunt Ruth had given her last Christmas.\nHer small purse was in the bottom holding her silver sixpence. Just as\nshe reached the gate, she saw Julia Harding coming out of the big\nhouse opposite.\n\n\"Where are you going, Molly?\" Julia asked. \"I was coming over to play\nwith you.\"\n\n\"I am going to do some shopping,\" said Molly.\n\n\"What are you going to buy?\"\n\n\"I don't know.\"\n\n\"You don't know what you are going to buy?\"\n\n\"It may be tissue paper, or it may be paper dolls' furniture, or it\nmay be a new dress for Sylvia or Jane, but whatever it is, it must\ncost just sixpence.\"\n\nThen Molly told Julia the story of the exchange of the silver\nsixpences.\n\n\"I should get sweets if it were mine,\" said Julia, \"and then we could\neat some.\"\n\n\"But I don't want to eat up my lovely present,\" said Molly.\n\n\n_Molly's Perplexities_\n\nFletcher's was a delightful shop. It had almost everything in it that\nanyone could want. In fact it was so full of charming things that it\nwas hard to make a choice.\n\nMolly's eyes were fascinated by a card full of paper-doll patterns,\nand their pretty blue, red, and white dresses. There was a back and a\nfront view of each little girl, to be cut out and pasted together so\nas to make a complete person. There were also on the same card a\ntennis racket and a hoop and a dear little doll's carriage for the\nrag-doll children to play with, and a shopping-bag and a green\nwatering-pot. Molly was afraid that these children and their outfit\nwould cost a great deal of money, and that she could not afford to buy\nthem.\n\n\"How much are they?\" she shyly asked the girl behind the counter.\n\n\"Sixpence-halfpenny a card. They are very cheap, for they came from\nGermany. Would you like one?\"\n\nMolly shook her head. \"I only have sixpence,\" she answered with a\nsigh.\n\n\"I will let you have it for sixpence seeing that it is you,\" the girl\nsaid.\n\nShe was very pleasant, with kind, grey eyes. \"Sixpence is very cheap\nfor two children and their entire wardrobe, not to mention\nplay-things,\" she added.\n\n\"Yes, it is cheap,\" said Molly.\n\nJulia, meanwhile, had discovered some paper doll furniture. One card\nwas full of kitchen things, and another was devoted to parlour\nfurniture, while a third displayed a bedroom set.\n\n\"How perfectly beautiful!\" Molly said, as she looked at the little\nbrown dressing-table with white-and-red cover and the red pin-cushion\nfull of pins.\n\n\"What a dear little rug!\" said Julia, pointing to a charming brown\nskin rug.\n\n\"And look at the towels and the little towel-rack,\" said Molly.\n\n\"And the bed and washstand and the pretty blue screen,\" added Julia.\n\n\"See the brown chairs and the dear little brown clock. What fun it\nwould be to cut them out, Julia!\"\n\n\"Look at the parlour set,\" said Julia. \"See the piano, and the red\nsofa and chairs, and the tall piano-lamp with its red shade.\"\n\n\"The kitchen is a dear place,\" said Molly. \"See the table with a\nlobster on it in a dish, and the sweet little cooking-stove, and the\npretty blue dishes in the cupboard; they all seem so real.\"\n\n\"See the spice-box,\" said Julia. \"Pepper, nutmeg, c-i-n-n-a-m-o-n,\ncinnamon.\"\n\n\"Oh, look at that dear little pussy cat in the kitchen!\" said Molly.\n\"How much are these cards?\" she asked.\n\n\"Sixpence each.\"\n\n\"Only sixpence! I don't know which I want the most.\"\n\n\"I should choose the parlour set,\" said Julia.\n\n\"I like the kitchen and the bedroom set the best, because we could\nhave more fun with them.\"\n\n\"We have the same things at threepence a card in a smaller size,\" the\nassistant said.\n\n\"At threepence a card! Then I can have two of them, Julia! and I can\nsend one of them to Priscilla, for poor Priscilla has spent all her\nmoney on fireworks, and hasn't anything to remember me by.\"\n\n\"I should keep them both,\" said Julia. \"If she chose to spend her\nmoney on fireworks, that is her lookout. We could have more fun if you\nhad the kitchen and parlour furniture, too.\"\n\n\"Yes, we could,\" said Molly. \"I must look round a little more before\nI decide,\" she added prudently. \"Oh, Julia, see that pretty pink stuff\nwith white spots on it! How becoming that would be to Sylvia! It takes\nonly half-a-yard for her dress. How much is it for half-a-yard?\"\n\n\"It is one shilling and a halfpenny a yard,\" the assistant replied.\n\n\"How much would that be for half-a-yard, Julia?\"\n\n\"I don't know.\"\n\n\"We don't know how much it would be for half-a-yard,\" said Molly\nappealingly.\n\n\"Well, we would charge you sixpence.\"\n\n\"Sixpence!\" said Molly. She was almost sorry, for if it had cost more\nshe could not have bought it, and it would have been a little easier\nto choose.\n\n\"Look at this sweet doll, Molly,\" said Julia, from the other end of\nthe shop. \"A tiny doll and yet so prettily dressed. How much is it?\"\n\n\"Sixpence.\"\n\n\"Everything is sixpence in this shop,\" said Molly, in despair. \"I\ncan't ever decide; but I have so many dolls that I don't really need\nany more.\"\n\n\"Oh, Molly, see this!\" and Julia paused before a tall round basket. A\nwhite card hung above it, and on this card was printed in large black\nletters:\n\n THE LUCKY DIP\n\n 3d. a Dip\n\n EACH ARTICLE FULLY WORTH DOUBLE\n\nJulia pushed up the cover of the basket, and she and Molly peeped in\nover the top. There were flat parcels to be seen and three-cornered\nparcels, and long ones and square ones, and they were all done up in\ntissue paper. There was something very interesting and mysterious\nabout the dip. Those paper packages might have something in them even\nrarer and more beautiful than the paper dolls, or the furniture, or\nthe pink stuff.\n\n\"You could have two dips for sixpence,\" Julia suggested. \"You could\ndip and I could dip, and I could give you what I get.\"\n\nShe was longing to know the contents of a certain interesting\nirregular parcel.\n\n\"The furniture is so sweet,\" said Molly, \"and I am sure I want it.\"\n\n\"The paper dolls are sweet, too,\" said Julia.\n\n\"Yes, and so is the pink stuff. I shall _have_ to take a dip to decide\nit.\"\n\nMeanwhile a more important customer had come in with whom the\nassistant was busy, so Molly went over to her and handed her the\nsixpence.\n\n\"We will have two dips,\" she said.\n\n\"Thank you. Did you say you would have three yards, madam?\" she asked,\nturning to the lady customer.\n\n\n_Molly's Purchases_\n\n\"You dip first,\" said Julia.\n\nMolly looked from the flat parcels to the three-cornered ones and\ncould not decide which to choose.\n\n\"I think I will shut my eyes,\" she said, and she put in her hand at\nrandom and pulled out a small, flat parcel. She opened it eagerly, and\ntook out a block of black paper, to be used as a slate, and a pencil\nwith which to write on it. She was sadly disappointed, and felt very\nmuch like crying.\n\n\"It is a horrid thing,\" said Julia. \"We don't want a paper slate when\nyou have that nice blackboard. You were very silly to shut your eyes.\nI shall choose with my eyes open. I am going to take that package that\nlooks as if it might be a doll.\"\n\nShe took out the enticing-looking package and began to untie the\nstring, and presently drew forth a pink-and-white-and-green china vase\nof a hideous shape. It was too large for dolls, and too small for\npeople, and too ugly to please either.\n\n\"That dip is perfectly horrid,\" said Julia.\n\nMolly was sure that she had never been so unhappy. She knew, now that\nit was too late, that she wanted the paper doll furniture more than\nanything in the whole world. The little girls were very sober all the\nway home. When they reached Molly's gate, Julia handed over the vase.\n\n\"Take the old thing,\" she said. \"You have got something to remember\nPriscilla by always now, and you can send the paper slate to her.\"\n\n\"Well, what did you buy, dear?\" her mamma asked cheerfully, as Molly\ncame into the parlour.\n\nThe little girl found it hard to keep back her tears. Her Aunt Mary\nand her brother Fred were sitting there, too. She felt it would have\nbeen easier to confess her folly to her mother alone.\n\nShe held up the vase and the paper block silently.\n\n\"The block was a sensible choice,\" said her mamma, \"but I don't see\nwhy you chose the vase.\"\n\n\"I didn't choose either of them,\" Molly burst out. \"We dipped and we\ngot them.\"\n\n\"In short, they chose you,\" said Fred.\n\nThen the little girl told the whole story. \"I _did_ want the paper\ndoll furniture so much,\" she ended.\n\n\"Why didn't you buy it, then?\" asked her aunt.\n\n\"Because we thought it would be more fun to dip.\"\n\n\"This will be a very good lesson for you, Molly,\" said her aunt. \"It\nis never well to spend money unless you are sure what you are spending\nit for. I am sorry for you, but you will never be so foolish again.\"\n\n\"There will be time to go to Fletcher's again before tea,\" said Fred.\n\"I will go with you, and we will pretend the sixpence I have was\nPriscilla's and you shall choose what you want all over again.\"\n\nMolly danced up and down with pleasure, and she and Fred went to\nFletcher's together. This time she made her choice very quickly, for\nshe knew just what she wanted. She bought the bedroom set and the\nkitchen furniture. She remembered Julia's words: \"I should keep them\nboth. If Priscilla chose to spend her money on fireworks, that is her\nlookout.\"\n\nBut now she herself had spent her money foolishly. If Fred had thought\nas Julia did, that nobody who had made an unwise investment ought to\nhave anything given her, she would never have had the dear paper doll\nfurniture. So she kept the kitchen set and sent the bedroom set to\nPriscilla.\n\n\n\n\n_Hans and his Dog_\n\nMAUD LINDSAY\n\n\n_The Golden Coin_\n\nFar away across the sea, in a country called Switzerland, there once\nlived a little boy whose name was Hans.\n\nSwitzerland is a wonderful country, full of beautiful snowy mountains,\nwhere gleaming ice-fields shine, and dark pine forests grow.\n\nHans lived with his aunt and his uncle in a village up among these\nmountains. He could not remember any other home, for his father and\nhis mother had died when he was a little baby, and his aunt and his\nuncle, who had not a child of their own, had taken care of him ever\nsince.\n\nHan's uncle was a guide. He showed the safest ways and best paths to\ntravellers, who came from all over the world to see the mountains.\n\nEvery summer the little town where Hans lived was full of strangers.\nSome of them came in carriages, some on foot; some were rich, some\nwere poor; but all of them wanted to climb to the mountain-tops, where\nthe snows are always white and dazzling against the blue sky.\n\nThe paths over the mountains are slippery and dangerous, leading\nacross the ice-fields by cracks and chasms most fearful to see. The\ntravellers dared not climb them without someone to show the way, and\nnobody in the village knew the way so well as Hans's uncle.\n\nThe uncle was so brave and trusty that he was known throughout the\nwhole country, and everybody who came to the mountains wanted him as\nguide.\n\nOne day a Prince came, and no sooner had he rested from his journey\nthan he sent for Hans's uncle.\n\nThat very day Hans was five years old, and so his uncle told him that\nbecause it was his birthday, he, too, might go to see the Prince.\n\nThis was a great treat for Hans, and his aunt made haste to dress him\nin his best clothes.\n\n\"You must be good,\" she told him a dozen times before he set out with\nhis uncle to the hotel where the Prince was staying.\n\nWhen they got there they found everything in a bustle, for the place\nwas full of fine ladies and gentlemen who had come with the Prince,\nand the servants were hurrying here and there to wait on them.\n\nNobody even saw the little boy, in holiday clothes, who tiptoed so\nquietly over the beautiful carpets. Nobody, I should say, but the\nPrince; for after the Prince had finished his business with Hans's\nuncle, he smiled at Hans and asked his name and how old he was. Hans\nwas very proud to say that he was five years old that very day; and\nwhen the Prince heard this he took a gold-piece from his purse and\ngave it to Hans.\n\n\"This is for a birthday present,\" he said, \"and you must buy what you\nwant most.\"\n\n\n_The Silver Chain_\n\nHans could scarcely believe his own eyes. He ran every step of the way\nhome, to show the gold-piece to his aunt; and, when she saw it, she\nwas almost as pleased as he was.\n\n\"You must buy something that you can keep always,\" she said. \"What\nshall it be?--a silver chain!\" she cried, clasping her hands at the\nthought of it. \"A silver chain to wear upon your coat when you are a\nman, and have, perhaps, a watch to hang upon it! 'Twill be a fine\nthing to show--a silver chain that a Prince gave you!\"\n\nHans was not certain that he wanted a chain more than anything else,\nbut his aunt was very sure about it; so she gave the gold-piece to a\nsoldier cousin, who bought the chain in a city where he went to drill\nbefore the very Prince who had given Hans the money.\n\nWhen the chain came, the aunt called all the neighbours to see it.\n\"The Prince himself gave the child the money that bought it,\" she said\nagain and again.\n\nHans thought the chain very fine; but after he had looked at it a\nwhile he was quite willing that his aunt should put it away in the\ngreat chest where she kept the holiday clothes and the best\ntablecloths.\n\nThe chain lay there so long that Hans felt sorry for it, and wondered\nif it did not get lonely. He got lonely often himself, for there was\nnobody to play with him at his own home, and his aunt did not\nencourage him to play with other children. She liked a quiet house,\nshe said, and she supposed that everybody else did.\n\nHans made no more noise than a mouse. He stayed a great deal in the\nstable with the cows. The cows and he were good friends. One of them,\nthe oldest of all, had given milk for him when he was a baby, and he\nnever forgot to carry her a handful of salt at milking-time.\n\nHe often thought that he would rather have bought a cow with the\ngold-piece than a silver chain; but he did not tell anybody, for fear\nof being laughed at.\n\nOnce he asked his aunt to let him play with the silver chain; but she\nheld up her hands in amazement at the thought of such a thing. So the\nchain lay in the dark chest, as I have said, for a long time--nearly a\nyear.\n\nThen there was a great festival in the town, and the aunt took the\nchain from its wrappings and fastened it about Hans's neck with a\nribbon.\n\nShe and Hans had on their best clothes, and all the village was\nprepared for a holiday.\n\nFlags were flying, fiddlers were playing gay tunes on their fiddles,\nand the drummer boy kept time on his drum and made a great noise.\n\nIn the middle of the village square was a merry-go-round, which Hans\nand the other children liked best of all.\n\n\"If you are good, you shall ride,\" said Hans's aunt, as she hurried\nhim on to the place where the strong men of the village were lifting\ngreat stones to show their strength. Then the swift runners ran races,\nand the skilful marksmen shot at targets.\n\n\n_The Saint Bernard Dog_\n\nOh! Hans was tired before he saw half the sights; and he wished that\nhis aunt would remember about the merry-go-round. He did not like to\nworry her, though, so he sat down on a doorstep to rest, while she\ntalked to her friends in the crowd.\n\nBy-and-by a man with a covered basket came and sat down beside him. He\nput the basket down on the step, and Hans heard a queer little\ngrumbling sound inside. \"Oh yes,\" said the man, \"you want to get out.\"\n\n\"Row, row!\" said the thing in the basket.\n\nWhen the man saw how surprised Hans looked, he lifted the lid of the\nbasket and let him peep in. What do you think was in the basket? The\ndearest baby puppy that Hans had ever seen.\n\n\"There,\" said the man, shutting down the lid, \"there is the finest\nSaint Bernard dog in Switzerland. Do you know anybody who might want\nto buy him?\"\n\n\"Are you going to sell him?\" asked Hans.\n\n\"Yes, indeed,\" said the man. \"How would you like to buy him yourself?\"\n\n\"I!\" said Hans. \"Oh! I would rather have him than anything else in the\nworld; but I haven't any money. I haven't anything of my own but this\nsilver chain.\"\n\n\"Is that yours?\" asked the man. \"It is a very fine chain.\"\n\n\"Oh yes,\" cried Hans. \"But I would a thousand times rather have a\ndog.\"\n\n\"Well, then,\" said the man, \"if you are sure that the chain is yours,\nand if you want the dog so much, I'll let you have him for it,\nalthough he's worth a fortune.\"\n\nAnd so, in less time than I take to tell it, the chain was off Hans's\nneck and the dog was in his arms.\n\nThen he ran to find his aunt. \"Oh, aunt!\" he called, even before he\nreached her, \"look at this beautiful dog. He is my very own. The man\nlet me have him for my silver chain.\"\n\n\"Your silver chain!\" cried his aunt angrily, coming to meet him in\nhaste. \"Your silver chain! What do you mean, you stupid child? Not the\nsilver chain that was bought for your birthday? Not the silver chain\nthat the Prince gave you? A nice bargain, indeed! Where is the man?\"\nAnd, catching the child by the hand, she hurried back through the\ncrowd so fast that he almost had to run to keep up with her. The great\ntears ran down Hans's cheeks and on to the dog's back, but his aunt\ndid not notice them. She scolded and scolded as she made her way back\nto the doorstep.\n\nWhen they got there the man was nowhere to be seen, and nobody could\ntell them which way he had gone. So, although they looked for him\nuntil almost dark, they had to go home without finding him.\n\nHans still carried the dog in his arms, and all the neighbours they\nmet stopped to ask if silly Hans had really given his silver chain\nfor a dog, as they had heard.\n\nHis aunt had a great deal to say to them, but Hans said nothing at\nall. He only hugged the dog the closer, and wondered how long it would\nbe before he would have to give him up.\n\nBut Hans's aunt let him keep the dog in spite of her scolding. \"A dog\nis better than nothing,\" she said.\n\nHans named him Prince, for, after all, the dog was the Prince's\nbirthday present.\n\nAt first Prince did nothing but sleep and eat. Then he began to grow,\noh! so fast.\n\nBy the time he had lived two years in the house he was a great, fine\ndog, with long, thick hair and soft, loving eyes. He was very\nbeautiful. All the travellers who came in the summer to see the\nmountains said so, and even Hans's aunt thought so, although she did\nnot love the dog.\n\nHans was never lonely after Prince came. Even at night they stayed\ntogether; and in the winter Hans would put his arms about his friend's\nshaggy neck and sleep close beside him to keep warm.\n\nThe winters are very cold in the country where Hans lived. The winds\nwhistle through the pine-trees, and the snow comes down for days,\ntill the valleys are as white as the mountain-tops.\n\nFew travellers go to the mountains then. They are afraid of the bad\nroads, and of the snow, which sometimes slides in great masses,\nburying everything in its way.\n\nHans's uncle knew many stories of travellers who had been lost in the\nsnow, and he told, too, of some good men, living in the mountains, who\nsent their dogs out to find and help people who were lost--\"dogs like\nour Prince here,\" he would say; and Hans would hug Prince and say: \"Do\nyou hear? Your uncles and cousins and brothers save people out of the\ncold snow.\"\n\nPrince would bark sharply whenever Hans told him this, just as if he\nwere proud. He knew all about travellers, and snow, for, often, Hans's\nuncle took him on short trips over the mountains.\n\nHans always let him go, willingly, with his good uncle; but one day\nwhen his soldier cousin (the one who had bought the silver chain in\nthe city) asked if he might take the dog with him for a day, Hans was\nvery sorry to let Prince go.\n\n\"Fie!\" said his aunt, when she saw his sorrowful face. \"What harm\ncould come to a great dog like that?\"\n\nBut Hans was not satisfied. All day long his heart was heavy, and\nwhen, in the afternoon, the little white snowflakes came flying down\nhe watched for the return of his soldier cousin and the dog with\nanxious eyes.\n\nAfter a long while he heard great laughing and talking on the road,\nand he ran out to see who was coming.\n\nIt was the soldier cousin with a party of friends, and they laughed\nstill more when they saw Hans.\n\n\"Little Hans! Little Hans!\" cried one of them, \"this fine cousin of\nyours has forgotten your dog.\"\n\n\"Forgotten my dog!\" said Hans. \"What do you mean?\"\n\n\"He was asleep behind the stove at the inn,\" said the soldier cousin,\nwho looked very much ashamed of himself.\n\n\"And he never missed him until now,\" cried the friends. \"Think of\nthat--a great dog like Prince!\"\n\nHans looked from one to another with tears in his eyes; but they were\nall too busy with their joking to notice him. Only the soldier cousin,\nwho was really sorry for his carelessness, tried to comfort him.\n\n\"He'll be here,\" he said, patting Hans on the head, \"by milking-time,\nI warrant; for he is wise enough to take care of himself anywhere.\"\n\n\"Wiser than you,\" laughed the rest; and they all went off merrily,\nleaving the little boy standing in the road.\n\nHe scarcely saw them go, for he was thinking of the night so near at\nhand, and the winds and the snow-slides. How could the dear dog find\nhis way through the darkness alone?\n\n\"I will go for him in the morning, if he does not come home to-night,\"\ncalled the soldier cousin.\n\nBut morning seemed very far away to the dog's anxious little master,\nand the big tears began to roll down his cheeks.\n\nJust then a thought sprang into his mind, as thoughts will. \"Why not\ngo yourself for him now?\" was the thought.\n\n\n_The Rescue_\n\nHans clapped his hands joyfully. Of course he could go. He knew the\nway, for he had been to the inn only the summer before with his uncle.\n\nThe loud winds whistled, and the snowflakes kissed his cheeks and his\nnose; but he thought of his playmate and started out bravely.\n\n\"Moo! moo!\" called the old cow from the stable. Hans knew her voice.\n\"Bring me my salt,\" she seemed to say.\n\n\"When I come back,\" he answered, as he struggled up the frozen road.\n\nHe was very cold, for he had even forgotten his cap in his haste; but\nthe snowflakes powdered his hair till he looked as if he wore a white\none.\n\nHe could scarcely pucker up his mouth to whistle. His feet were numb\nand his fingers tingled, and the wind sang in his ears till he was as\nsleepy as sleepy could be.\n\n\"I'll sit down and rest,\" said Hans to himself, \"and then I can go\nfaster.\" But when he sat down he could not keep his eyes open, and\nbefore many minutes he was fast asleep and lay in a little dark heap\non the white snow.\n\n\"Let's cover him up,\" said the snowflakes, hurrying down; but before\nthey had time to whiten his clothes a great big beautiful Saint\nBernard dog came bounding down the road.\n\nIt was Prince. He had waked up from his nap behind the stove, and\nhastened after the soldier cousin as fast as his four feet could carry\nhim. He was not afraid of the night or the snow, and he was as warm as\ntoast in his shaggy coat.\n\nHe was thinking of Hans as he hurried along--when, suddenly, he spied\nhim lying there so still by the roadside.\n\nIn an instant the good dog sprang to the child's side, barking\nfuriously, for every dog in Switzerland knows that those who sleep on\nsnow pillows seldom wake up.\n\n\"Bow-wow! Bow-wow!\" he barked, loud and long, \"Bow-wow! Bow-wow!\"\nwhich meant in his language, \"Little master, wake up!\"\n\nBut Hans was dreaming of the mountains where the travellers went, and\ndid not hear.\n\n\"Bow-wow! Bow-wow! Wake up! Wake up!\" called the dog; and he licked\nHans's face and tugged at his coat, pulling him along with his strong\nteeth.\n\n\"You can't wake him up,\" said the wind.\n\n\"Bow-wow! I can,\" barked Prince; and he ran down the road and called\nfor help: \"Bow-wow! Bow-wow! Come here! Come here!\"\n\nThe sound of his voice reached the village, where everything was as\nquiet as the snow itself. The cows heard it first and mooed in their\nstalls. The soldier cousin heard it, on his way to Hans's house, where\nhe was going to find out whether Prince had come back. Hans's uncle\nand aunt heard it as they searched through the house for their little\nboy. The neighbours heard it, and opened their doors to listen.\n\n\"Bow-wow! Bow-wow! Come here! Come here!\"\n\n\"Something is wrong,\" said the people; and they all hurried out of\ntheir houses, away from their fires and their suppers, up the\nmountain-side, till they came to the spot where the faithful dog kept\nguard over his little master.\n\nHans's uncle never tired of telling how Prince saved Hans. He tells it\non the long winter evenings when the winds whistle through the pines\nand he tells it in the summer to the travellers as they climb the\nmountains.\n\nHans thinks it is more beautiful than a fairy story, and so does his\naunt; for ever since that snowy night she has been ready to agree that\nthe dear dog is better than all the silver chains in the world.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n\n\nThe Story-Teller's Series\n\nTHE BOOK OF STORIES\n\n\nBooks for Story-Tellers\n\n\nHow to Tell Stories to Children\n\nAnd Some Stories to Tell. By SARA CONE BRYANT. Thirteenth Impression.\n\n\nStories to Tell to Children\n\nBy S. C. BRYANT. Twelfth Impression.\n\n\nThe Book of Stories for the Story-Teller\n\nBy FANNY E. COE. Seventh Impression.\n\n\nSongs and Stories for the Little Ones\n\nBy E. GORDON BROWNE. Fourth Impression, Enlarged.\n\n\nStories for Character Training\n\nBy E. L. CABOT and E. EYLES. Sixth Impression.\n\n\nStories for the Story Hour\n\nFrom January to December. By ADA M. MARZIALS. Fourth Impression.\n\n\nStories for the History Hour\n\nFrom Augustus to Rolf. By NANNIE NIEMEYER. Third Impression.\n\n\nStories for the Bible Hour\n\nBy R. BRIMLEY JOHNSON. Third Impression.\n\n\nNature Stories to Tell to Children\n\nBy H. W. SEERS. Fourth Impression.\n\n\nEveryday Stories to Tell to Children\n\nBy Mrs H. C. CRADOCK. Second Impression.\n\n\nStories for the Nature Hour\n\nBy A. and E. SKINNER. Second Impression.\n\n\nStories to Tell the Littlest Ones\n\nBy S. C. BRYANT. Fifth Impression.\n\n\nMother Stories\n\nBy MAUD LINDSAY. Fifth Impression.\n\n\nMore Mother Stories\n\nBy MAUD LINDSAY. Third Impression.\n\n\nMore Nature Stories\n\nBy H. W. SEERS.\n\n\nLittle Stories to Tell\n\nThree Hundred Stories. By F. H. LEE.\n\n\nFifty Stories from Uncle Remus\n\nRetold by F. H. PRITCHARD.\n\n\nStories to Read and to Tell\n\nBy FANNY E. COE.\n\n\nListen, Children!\n\nStories for Spare Moments. By STEPHEN SOUTHWOLD.\n\n * * * * *","title":"The Book of Stories for the Story-teller","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":55840}