{"collection":"folklore-oral-tradition","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_35126/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_35126","id":"gutenberg_35126","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35126","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Adventure","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy","Children's stories","Fairy tales"],"text":"</pre>\n\n\n\nProduced by David Edwards, monkeyclogs and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This\nfile was produced from images generously made available\nby The Internet Archive)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  PROF. V. TILLE\n\n  LITTLE TOM\n\n  ILLUSTRATED BY\n\n  O. [vS]TAFL\n\n  PUBLISHER--B. KO[vC]I--PRAGUE.CZECHOSLOVAKIA]\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE TOM\n\n\n\n\n  LITTLE TOM\n\n  TOLD\n  BY V. TILLE\n  AND ILLUSTRATED\n  BY O. [vS]TAFL.\n\n\n\n\n  PUBLISHED BY B. KO[vC]I,\n  14, MASARYK QUAY, PRAGUE,\n  CZECHOSLOVAKIA.\n  1922.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n                                                         PAGE\n  Chapter one: THE CHRISTENING OF LITTLE TOM                5\n  Chapter two: HOW LITTLE TOM WAS FOUND BY HIS GODMOTHER   17\n  Chapter three: LITTLE TOM'S TRIP AROUND THE WORLD        29\n  Chapter four: LITTLE TOM IN THE ENCHANTED CASTLE         41\n  Chapter five: LITTLE TOM'S ADVENTURES IN THE GARDEN      49\n  Chapter six: LITTLE TOM'S EXCURSIONS                     63\n  Chapter seven: LITTLE TOM AND CHRYSOMELA                 75\n  Chapter eight: THE ANTS' TOWN                            87\n  Chapter nine: THE WAR OF THE ANTS                        99\n  Chapter ten: LITTLE TOM IN CAPTIVITY AND FREEDOM        109\n  Chapter eleven: CHRYSOMELA'S DEATH                      123\n\n\nPrinted by Jos. B. Zapoto[vc]ny, Rokycany, Czechoslovakia.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nCHAPTER ONE.\n\nTHE CHRISTENING OF LITTLE TOM.\n\n  THE WIDOW THAT GATHERED HERBS. CHRISTMAS EVE.\n  THE MESSENGER OF THE KING OF THE GOBLINS.\n  THE CHRISTENING OF LITTLE TOM.\n  WHAT LITTLE TOM'S GODMOTHER FOUND IN THE WELL\n  NEAR THE CHAPEL.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIn a little wooden hut within the shadow of the forest and close to a\nnoisy brook, a poor widow dwelt alone. She passed her days gathering and\ndrying plants and herbs, from which she was forever making strange\nsimples which proved very helpful to the village people and their cattle\nwhen illness came upon them. But the villagers only came to visit her\nwhen they had need of her medicines, and these had such wonderful power\nto cure that it was whispered about the lonely old woman to be a witch.\n\nThe villagers also told strange stories about her, for no one knew\nwhence she came or when she had taken up her solitary abode apart from\nthe village.\n\nMany said that she sprang from the race of knights, who, in an age long\npast, lived in their great castle deep in the woods and on the hill\nwhich rose above the little hut. But no knights lived there now, nor had\nthey for many, many years, and the castle had been in ruins for a longer\ntime than the oldest people could remember. In fact, all that now\nremained of the great place which the old folks liked to tell their\ngrandchildren about, was a little chapel near the edge of the dark woods\nand, beside it, an old, old well, now entirely filled up and overgrown\nwith weeds.\n\nBut the widow was not lonely, nor did she wish anyone to help her care\nfor her little house and the garden she loved so dearly, or even the\nfield beyond where grazed her cow, \"Speckle\". Whenever anyone came to\nher in trouble or in illness, she was glad to put aside on the instant\nwhatever task she was about and to give her advice or administer the\nmedicine which always brought relief and cure, for she understood all\ntroubles and illnesses and knew the simples for each.\n\nInside the little hut, everything was as clean and orderly as one would\nfind in the castles of the nobility, where many servants toiled and\nswept. Over the thatched roof an old lime tree spread its friendly\nbranches, and all day long there sounded about the fragrant buds and\nblossoms sounded the cheerful humming of swarms of grateful bees.\n\nThe great beams along the walls of the hut were rubbed clean with red\nearth and on the whitewashed spaces, between the little windows and the\ndoor, were painted red and yellow flowers with leaves of green, while in\nits bed of earth a blue strip of real flowers ran all around the house.\n\nOn the gable ledge blossomed red and pink carnations and from the little\nbalcony under the peak of the roof, with its carved wooden posts and\nrailing, peered dried poppy heads, ears of yellow corn, sage and all\nmanner of herbs and spices with strange odors. All these had been\ngathered in the clear, white light of the full moon before the dew had\nbegun to fall.\n\nBesides all these pleasant things, the garden was full of roses,\nmignonette and tall mallow. Close to the fence which ran all about it,\ngrew gooseberries, currants and raspberries; and in the very middle of\nthe garden was a bed of luscious red strawberries, flanked by rows of\ncabbages, lettuce and peas. Against the walls of the hut, between the\nwindows, old, gnarled vines ran clear to the eaves, bearing bunches of\ndelicious grapes.\n\nThe hut had one large room, a small chamber and the black kitchen, with\nits great fireplace and broad chimney. From the outside, it looked not\nunlike the houses of the villagers; but, inside, stood furniture of an\nolder day. In a corner stood a bed of polished wood, piled high with\nwhite, downy quilts and covers. In the middle of the room was a round\ntable with smooth, polished chairs set against it. Next to the wall was\na beautifully carved old chest for clothes; on the wall, a clock with\nbrass weights and a cuckoo that called the hours; and between the\nwindows through which blossomed fuchsias and other plants, stood a rare\nold linen press, ornamented with flowers, birds, and hammered silver\nwork.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBut, most precious of all her possessions, was a little altar carved in\nivory. In size, it was no larger than an apple; but it had two little\ndoors, which, opening, showed a little stall, in which sat the Holy\nVirgin with the Child on her lap and, behind, a yellow ox and a grey\ndonkey looking out across the manger and breathing upon the two. On the\nleft, knelt the shepherds surrounded by their fleecy sheep; and, from\nthe right, came the three kings with golden crowns on their heads and\ndressed in cloaks of violet, red and green. The black one was smiling\nand showing his white teeth, as they offered their gifts. All of the\nfigures were just like life! The Virgin had a beautiful face with blue\neyes and dark eyebrows, and the Babe was all pink and held in His hands\na little golden apple.\n\nIt was a rare and precious piece of work, which the herb woman had been\ntold was a relic of olden times, having come from the castle in the wood\nabove the hut, to which it had been brought by one of the knights from\nthe Holy Land.\n\nAll day long, the herb woman had much to do in caring for her house,\nfetching and drying her herbs and brewing her medicines. From one week's\nend to the other, she was never idle. But, on Sunday afternoons, when\nher work was done, she would take the little altar and place it on the\npress between the windows. Sitting down before it in a comfortable\nleather armchair, she would read to herself from a very old book,\nornamented with hammered brass and with colored stones set in the\ncovers. Her book told all about the patient Griselda, the siege of Troy,\nabout Siegfried, Brunswick, Blanik, and many other brave heroes. Around\nthe first letter of each story, were painted knights, princesses,\nmen-at-arms, magic castles, and scenes from strange, oversea countries.\n\nLooking at the pictures in her book and at the little figures of the\naltar, the old woman would think of bygone days when she was a bright\nlittle child, playing with her friends in make-believe weddings and\nchristenings before this same little altar; and when her grandmother,\nsitting in the same old chair, would read to them stories from the old\nbook and tell them of the former fame of their knightly home; of how the\nknights fared forth to the Holy Land, while their wives sat at home in\nthe great castle, embroidering silks and cambrics, and the little\nchildren played in the castle garden.\n\nHer thoughts travelled back to herself, growing into beautiful girlhood;\nthen, as a bride and the happy wife of a good husband; later, as the\nmother of two beautiful babies; then, sad memories crowded her weary\nhead. Her husband and the two little children had died and she was left\nalone, without any relatives and without money, and with only this\nlittle hut in the shadow of the wood where she might live and earn her\nfood.\n\nOften she sat like this, until the shadows of night had gathered around\nher; and the older she grew, the more heavily these sad thoughts weighed\nupon her. Each year, she felt herself growing weaker and began to be\nfearful that she could not manage to work at home and to gather the\nherbs in the woods and fields. In the winter, when the garden was\ncovered with snow and the great drifts kept her from the village, she\nbecame even more sad to think how alone she was, the last of her race,\nwith no one to whom she could tell her troubles and who would be a\ncompanion to her.\n\nNow, one year, it was the day before Christmas. The snow had drifted\nagainst the little house clear to the eaves. As was her custom, she had\nbrought from the forest a little Christmas tree and, having set it in a\nbox, in earth carried from the wood, began to trim it. She hung from the\nbranches gilded nuts and draped the tree with festoons of colored paper.\nThen, she fastened tiny, wax candles to the branches and then she peeled\nsome apples and, finally, lighted the little candles, thinking of the\nused to dance and play olden days at home when they danced and played\naround the Christmas tree. The fire burned cheerily in the broad hearth\nwith its green glass tiles. The room was warm and filled with the odor\nof mint and of lavender. As she sat thus, alone before the tree,\npresently, her head fell forward upon her hands which rested upon the\nlinen press, and she slept.\n\nThe old lady dreamed she was a girl again, in her Sunday dress and with\nher braided hair held by a red ribbon, kneeling before the little altar.\nSuddenly, she saw the Holy Virgin smiling at her and the little Baby\nstretching out its tiny hands and handing the golden apple to her; the\nsheep began to bleat, the shepherds were bowing, and the three kings\nswung their burning censers and walked toward her over the shining\nsurface of the linen press. She even heard them call her by name and\nspeak to her.\n\nThe old lady woke with a start, but the voices seemed to call to her\nfaintly, as if from a great distance. She looked about her, but saw no\none. The same faint sound of voices was still to be heard, and, now,\nright under the tree, she perceived a tiny little man in a red coat,\njust as if one of the three kings had really come from the altar and\nwakened her. Not one whit surprised, she bent toward him. It seemed to\nher that she had always known him.\n\nThe little man scrambled up to the edge of the old book which still lay\nupon the press, bowed, stroked his black beard, and spoke: \"Honored\nlady, my people send me to ask of you, in the name of our king, a favor.\nA prince has been born to us and we should like to celebrate his\nchristening here before this little altar, which is most precious to us.\nOur kingdom lies in the corridors under the old castle and extends to\nthe well by the little chapel, and even to your hut. Our forefathers\nwere true servants of your ancestors, the knights of the castle, and\nguarded for them their treasure. In this little altar are pictured the\nfaces of our former kings.\"\n\nThe old lady was pleased that the gnomes wished thus to honor her\nlittle altar and readily gave her consent, that they might come to it in\norder to celebrate the christening of their prince. The messenger bowed\nand, running quickly down her dress to the floor, disappeared through a\nlittle hole by the hearth. Immediately, from behind the great hearth,\ncame the most wonderful procession she had ever seen.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nFirst, came the pipers and the band of musicians, playing on strange,\ncurved trumpets and beating drums that sounded like the hum of many\nflying insects. Behind them walked the old king and the young queen in\nlong robes of spotted butterfly wings and wearing golden crowns that\nglistened with precious stones; then the nurse, bearing a little baby\nupon a cushion of silver cobweb, tied with a hair of gold. Following\nthem were many dignitaries in gorgeous cloaks and, last of all, came men\nand women of the people, hurrying across the floor like little insects,\nfor they were hardly any larger.\n\nWhen the procession of tiny folk reached the old lady's shoe, they\nfearlessly climbed up her skirt to her lap and on across her arms which\nrested on the press. She laughed to see the great crowd walk over her\nand was careful not to move--indeed, she hardly breathed--lest she might\nhurt one of them.\n\nWhen all had gathered around the tree, one old man took the little\nprince in his arms and, as the others knelt before him, he made them a\nlong speech. The old lady could not understand it at all, for it sounded\nto her like a fly buzzing on the window pane; but, when the old man had\nfinished, all shouted together: \"Long live our prince, Tom! May he reign\nhappily!\"\n\nThe girls began to dance around the tree and all the little people\njumped and laughed and shouted with merriment. The king and the queen,\nfollowed by the nurse with the little prince, stepped upon the old book,\nwhich made a good platform, and thanked the herb woman for her kindness.\nThe king then begged her to be a kind godmother to the prince and to\ncontinue to be a good friend to his people, just as her ancestors had\nbeen. The old lady promised this with pleasure, for she felt a great\nlove for the little folk who brought back so vividly the days when her\npeople were rich and famous.\n\nThe queen started to take the wrappings from the tiny baby, which were\nbound round and round about him, and the herb woman and the old king\ntalked of the golden days gone by. The king told her the tales he had\nfrom his forefathers, of the brilliant life in the great castle; how the\ngnomes nestled in the soft tapestries by the great marble hearths; how\nthey cleaned and polished the gold and precious stones in the\nunderground chambers; how, on clear moonlight nights, they danced\ngraceful figures with the fairies; and how, with grasshoppers as horses,\nthey held noisy tournaments.\n\nWhenever there was a newborn baby in the castle, the gnomes, in the\nnight, wove beautiful dreams which they spread out in the rays of the\nmoon under the canopy of the mother's bed and guarded the baby in its\nsilver cradle.\n\nThe old lady listened happily, gazing at the gathering of the gnomes,\nlighted by the trembling rays of the candles, now almost burned out.\nMany of the young men had clambered into the branches of the tree and\nwere swinging in the paper chains and sitting astride the golden nuts\nand red apples. Little girls were sliding back and forth on the slippery\nsurface of the press, while serious old men and grayhaired women walked\nsedately in groups around the base of the tree. There were so many of\nthe little people that they could not be counted.\n\nThe herb woman looked at the swiftly moving, variegated crowd until her\neyelids drooped. She was already half asleep when the old king came to\nbid her good-by and, as in a dream, she heard him say: \"Honored lady,\nfor centuries your race protected us and, today, we would like to reward\nyou. The great treasures of your family long ago disappeared, but, in\nthe old, choked-up well, there still remains much gold. This we have\ncarefully guarded from generation to generation and kept in clean and\ngood order. In the well casing, in the fifth circle of stones from the\ntop, you will find one engraved with a horseshoe. Behind this stone, you\nwill find the money which your forefathers hid there; but be careful to\nreplace the stone and not to disturb our underground realm.\"\n\nWhen the old woman awoke, all was quiet and dark in the room. The\ncandles on the tree had quite burned out, the cuckoo in the clock called\ntwelve, and from the village, came the sound of bells, ringing the glad\ntidings of Christmas Day. Across the brook, she could see the lanterns\nflickering in the village square and the people gathering for church.\nBut she did not feel strong enough to go to the midnight service. Then\nshe thought, with a smile, of what she had seen on Christmas Eve, but\nshe said to herself with a sigh, \"It was only a dream\", and took herself\noff to bed.\n\nIn the morning she milked Speckle and, as she drank the good, warm milk,\nshe laughed to herself over her dream. But it would not leave her mind\nand, presently, she went to the hearth to see whence the procession of\ngnomes had come. She found nothing but a hole in the floor, large enough\nfor a cat to pass through; but she thought to herself, \"Why should I not\ngo to the well by the chapel?\"\n\nOver her shoulders she threw a warm sheepskin coat, with the wool inside\nand flowers embroidered on the outside, such as the country people wear,\nand, taking a hoe and a lantern, went to the chapel.\n\nThere had been a keen frost and the fields were covered with snow, which\nsparkled in the sun. The snow was also away up to the eaves of the\nchapel, while from the blackberry stalks over the well, hung transparent\nicicles. The herb woman pushed aside the bushes and, crawling into the\nwell, dug away the rubbish until she had uncovered the fifth circle of\nstones with which the well was lined.\n\nShe laughed at herself to think that she should believe in dreams; but\nher heart was beating rapidly as she lighted her lantern and, digging\naway the gravel, looked at one stone after the other. \"When I do not\nfind the stone with the horseshoe,\" she thought, \"I will be convinced\nthat it was only a dream.\" But as she touched the damp moss on one\nstone, she felt a little depression and, when she had cleaned it, there\nwas the horseshoe.\n\nThe stone was large and heavy and her hands trembled as she set her hoe\ninto the fissure; but lo! the stone was not cemented like the rest and\nwas easily loosened. When she had pulled it out, from behind the stone,\ncame shining gold pieces, as bright and clean as if they had been minted\nonly the day before. Off came her apron, in which she tied up the money;\nbut the bundle was so heavy that she could hardly lift it.\n\nShe would have liked to look still further into the realm of the gnomes,\nfor behind the stone was a hole running deep into the ground; but she\nthought of the old king's request and, setting the stone in its place,\nhurried back home with her treasure.\n\nNow, she was rid of all worry as to how she should keep herself when\nshe should grow very old. In her heart, she thanked the little gnomes\nfor their care of her and decided to remain in her little hut as long as\nshe lived.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nCHAPTER TWO.\n\nHOW LITTLE TOM WAS FOUND BY HIS GODMOTHER.\n\n  THE SPRING. THE FLOOD.\n  HOW THE GODMOTHER FOUND LITTLE TOM\n  IN A NUTSHELL.\n  HOW LITTLE TOM TOOK UP HIS ABODE ON CASTLE\n  EASTER EGG.\n  HOW THE GODMOTHER BROUGHT LITTLE TOM\n  HIS OUTFIT.\n  WHAT LITTLE TOM TOLD HIS GODMOTHER\n  ABOUT THE REALM OF GOBLINS.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe winter was cruelly cold. Snow covered the paths and drifted high\nagainst the little hut. With difficulty the herb woman made paths to the\nstable and to the brook.\n\nIn the night, when she could not sleep, she listened to every slight\nsound, in the hope that her little friends would appear again. But\nnothing ever happened; it was only the hoot of an owl outside, or the\nsqueak of a mouse. The gnomes never came forth again from their\nunderground realm.\n\nSo, in the day time she read and sewed, pondering how she could go to\nthe nearest town to change her money and buy many little things for her\ncomfort and for the improvement of the little hut. Her gold pieces she\nhad hidden well behind a green tile on the hearth.\n\nFinally, the snow began to melt, the sun became warmer, the fields lost\ntheir coat of white, the meadows became green, and spring had come. When\nEaster arrived, she had already planted her garden and stripped the\nroses of their winter coverings. The snow drops and gillyflowers were\nblossoming by the brook; the cowslips were poking their yellow caps out\nof their beds, and over the fields the larks sang joyously.\n\nThe herb woman placed her treasure in a covered basket, shut the hens in\ntheir coops, put fresh grass in Speckle's manger, let the dog, Rover,\ninto the yard, locked the door of the little hut and went on her way to\ntown. She walked lightly, as if she had grown younger during the winter\nand did not at all mind the long journey.\n\nIn town she was surprised at what she received for her gold; if she\nshould live a hundred years, she could not use all her money. So it was\nplaced in a bank for safe keeping and the people treated her with great\nrespect. They knew that she had come from a good family, but as she had\nlived so modestly, no one knew how wealthy she was.\n\nWhen she had made her purchases and finished her business, she wished to\nrest awhile in town, but word had come that the heavy rain in the\nmountains had caused the snow to melt and the water to rush down in\ntorrents. She knew very well how bad the brook became when it was\nswollen and she worried lest the hut might be carried away and something\nhappen to Speckle. So she hurried home and, on the way, she saw the\nswollen brook stretched out over the meadows like a lake.\n\nWhen she reached the village, it was dark, and already the people were\nbeginning to light up their houses. Many of the little foot bridges had\nbeen swept away, the water reached nearly to the village square and she\nfound it impossible to cross the stream. The torrent raged and stormed,\nbearing along branches, small trees and cakes of ice.\n\nIn vain the old lady peered across the bank to the farther shore in the\nattempt to see if her little hut was still standing; but the darkness\nwas so thick that you could cut it with a knife. There was nothing left\nfor her to do but to ask the good villagers for shelter over night.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe next day, when the sun shone out, the torrent had subsided and the\nbrook was running between its banks in a steady stream. The hut was\nstill standing, but the bank was undermined and the little bridge\ncarried away. So the widow had herself taken across in a boat and, in\ngreat anxiety, hurried to the hut to see what changes had been wrought.\nThe garden was covered with mud and on the meadow were little pools of\nglistening water. Out of the yard bounded Rover barking heartily and,\nfrom her stall, Speckle mooed a welcome. The hens came hurrying out of\ntheir coop, flapping their wings and cackling, and straightway began to\nscratch in the ground in search of little worms. Inside the hut, the\nhall was wet through and in the best room stood little pools of water.\n\nThe herb woman took her broom and swept out some of the water and with\na cloth mopped up the little pools. Near the hearth the water was quite\ndeep and swirling around and running away through the hole behind. On\nthe water swam a tiny barge formed from a hazel nut, and in this boat\nwas a very small lad indeed, rowing with his oars of straw and working\nwith all his might, so that the whirlpool should not carry him back into\nthe hole.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe widow lifted up the shell very carefully and placed it on the palm\nof her hand. The tiny lad, letting go his oars, clasped his hands and\nsaid, \"Dear Godmother, I thank you very much for saving me. I am Little\nTom, but am so very tired that I can hardly sit up.\" But his weariness\ncame only from his efforts to keep himself from being swept back into\nthe hole.\n\nHis Godmother placed the little fellow gingerly on the table and next to\nhim she put a drop of milk and beside it a crumb of bread. Little Tom\ngulped the milk eagerly and ate nearly the whole crumb. When she placed\nnear him a tiny bit of cloth for a pillow, Tom lay down and fell asleep.\n\nShe watched the little fellow tenderly as he lay there so quietly and\nall worn out with his hard work. He was now a fullgrown lad, finely\nbuilt and with black hair. His little hands he had clasped across his\nbreast. She felt very badly to think of his sufferings through the night\nin that terrible flood and she wondered what might have happened to the\nunderground realm of the gnomes.\n\nWhile he was sleeping, she started to work. She scrubbed the floor very\nclean, then sifted dry sand all over it; cleaned up the garden, and then\nput some soup to cook over the fire in the kitchen. When she returned to\nthe big room, Little Tom was sitting up, rubbing his blue eyes with his\nlittle fists and calling for his mother. As he looked around, he\nrecognized his Godmother and began to cry bitterly. The old lady tried\nto soothe him, begging him not to cry and to tell her all that had\nhappened. But, for a long time, he could not be quieted. When he had\ncried himself out, he told her what misfortunes had come upon the\nunderground realm.\n\nAll the gnomes were quietly sleeping, utterly unconscious of any danger,\nwhen, all of a sudden, great waters came from under the well, flooded\nthe entire town, tore down the walls and rose to the upper floors. His\nmother woke Little Tom and ran with him to the upper corridor, through\nwhich was already running the stream which was their main river.\n\nOn this stream stood the great navy of the gnomes, made from walnut\nshells. The entire court entered the ships and started rowing to the\neast from the underground country; but the stream continued to rise and\nthe over-crowded ships began to rock, until they sank one after the\nother and all the gnomes were lost. Little Tom knew how to swim very\nwell but he would surely have been drowned, if he had not caught hold of\na hazel-nut boat. This was taken up by a little current and swept\nthrough the hole by the hearth into the Godmother's large room.\n\nInstantly, Little Tom knew where he was, for his parents had often told\nhim of his christening and how kind the Godmother was to them all; so he\ncontinued to row with all his might, hoping that his Godmother would\nreturn in time to save him.\n\nShe was surprised to find him grown up, for at Christmas time, he was\nonly a tiny baby, wrapped up in his cushions. Little Tom explained, that\nwith the gnomes each week is counted as a year, so that he was now\nfifteen years old. Before that age, no prince may ever leave the\nunderground realm, but must be studying and learning and, after that, he\nmay only go into the outside world for experience. They were just\npreparing to celebrate his coming of age at his Godmother's and to send\nhim on his journey into the world, when the great flood came and\ndestroyed the whole kingdom. Little Tom was the only one of them to be\nsaved, and that seemed to be through a miracle.\n\nThe Godmother did not wish to remind him of his misfortunes, so she told\nhim that she would take good care of him and that he would find it very\npleasant in her hut; but she was worried how she should find a suitable\nplace for him to sleep, and how she should clothe him and provide the\nthings necessary for his comfort.\n\nShe placed him on the top of the linen press and opened the altar for\nhim; and when he saw the faces of the little figures, Tom became very\ncheerful, saying that the lady with the Child on her lap was very much\nlike his mother. While Little Tom was looking at the kings, the\nshepherds and the manger, his Godmother found a nice, large Easter egg\nthat was all hollow and gaily painted in red and yellow. With a pin she\npricked out a door on one side, and on the other, two windows; then she\nset the egg firmly in the earth, under the tree and told him this would\nbe his home and that he should carry some earth inside, and stamp it\ninto a hard, level floor. She wanted to give him something to keep him\nbusy, so that he would not think of the misfortunes that had befallen\nhim.\n\nLittle Tom crawled inside and admired the great hall, beautifully arched\nfrom the finest alabaster, standing under the wonderful tree with its\ngolden fruit. He asked his Godmother to set him in the branches, so that\nhe might look at the golden nuts and taste of the figs and dates. He was\nhappy to think that this magic tree from the outside world would shelter\nhim for many, many years.\n\nThen he climbed down the trunk, lowering himself by the little spines as\nif they were the rounds of a ladder. He decided to build a wall all\naround Castle Easter Egg and to lay out a garden under the tree.\n\nThe herb woman left him busily working and, taking her hoe, went to the\nwell by the chapel to learn how the kingdom of the gnomes had fared. She\ntook out the stone engraved with the horseshoe and dug behind in until\nshe saw a little corridor, in which was a confusion of stones, mud and\nwater. Everything was torn down and ruined and of the gnomes, she heard\nnot a sound. She felt very sad to think they all had perished and she\nstarted to cover the hole and replace the stone. But when she took it\nup, she was surprised to find how light it seemed. Examining it more\ncarefully, she noticed at the back a tiny, polished metal door. Upon\npressing this with her finger, it opened and she saw that the inside of\nthe stone was entirely hollowed out and filled with many little\nparticles.\n\nIt occurred to her that, perhaps after all, some possessions of the\ngnomes remained that might prove useful to Tom; so she put the stone on\nher shoulder and taking care that nothing should fall out, carried it\nhome.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWhen she came into the big room, she found that Tom had already made the\nfloor inside his castle and was now engaged in building a wall around it\nout of shining, little pebbles. The Godmother laid a cloth on the top of\nthe press and placed the stone on the cloth.\n\n\"Little Tom,\" she said, \"I have brought you something for remembrance.\nYour kingdom is all gone; but do not be sorry, for you will stay with me\nand we will live happily together. Now, perhaps you will find something\nin this stone that will be useful to you.\"\n\nTom crawled sadly into the stone, but, at once, shouted with pleasure.\n\"Dear Godmother,\" he called, \"this is our royal treasury and it contains\nfurniture, clothes, linen, arms and dishes; all sorts of things. Now, I\nhave everything I need and you will see how nicely I will arrange my new\nhome.\"\n\nAt once, he began to carry out of the stone the rich stores he found\nthere. His Godmother placed a tiny piece of cloth by the stone and when\nTom had piled it high with cupboards, tables and chairs, she raised it\nvery carefully and placed it under the tree. In spite of all her care,\nit happened that she broke the leg of a chair and knocked off a corner\nof cupboard. She was very sorry, but Tom soothed her by saying that he\nwould repair everything. When he began to bring out the dishes, painted\nporcelain left by his grandmother, cups, saucers and pitchers, old\nsilver pieces and other treasures, he was very fearful that she might\nbreak these, too. To her, they seemed like tiny bits of glistening sand;\nbut she made him a little wooden staircase that she set against the tree\nbox, and up and down this he climbed, carrying his treasures to his\ncastle. He worked so hard all day that by night he was completely tired\nout.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIn the meantime, the Godmother had gone about her own work; but when, in\nthe evening, she came back into the room she found that the stone had\nbeen cleaned out. In the door of Castle Easter Egg hung a flowered\ncarpet for a curtain and at the windows were little shades. Inside, the\nfurniture had all been set in order, but, outside, there still remained\npiles of the precious stores. She was sorry she could not see inside\nvery well to look at Tom's housekeeping, and was afraid to touch the egg\nlest his castle should go to pieces.\n\nIn the morning, he was early awake and went carefully over his garden,\nmeasuring out the paths and deciding where he would have lawns, and\nwhere he would start a forest of moss. Then he made a store room for his\nsurplus supplies, dug a well and completed the wall around the castle.\n\nHis Godmother helped him as best she could, cutting tiny pieces of wood\nand cloth for his use. The well they made from an old thimble. She left\nhim busy at work, noting how diligent and orderly he was and how well he\nhad been educated; for he seemed to understand everything that needed to\nbe done. She was pleased that he had so much to keep him busy, that he\nwould have no time for bitter reflections.\n\nDuring the day, each went about his or her own work; but in the evening\nthey sat together, the Godmother at the table eating her thick soup and\npotatoes. Upon the table Tom had his own little table and chair opposite\nher. For his supper, he had a baked grain of wheat, a hash of sunflower\nseed, or two or three grains of millet fried in butter. He always ate\nwith delicacy. His food tasted good to him and after it was eaten, he\ndrank some milk.\n\nWhen they had cleared away the things they talked together. The\nGodmother wished to know how the gnomes lived in their underground\nkingdom and Tom told her all that he could. What they did outside in the\nfields, he did not know, for he had been obliged to remain at home and\nstudy in the schools; but he described very well all that happened in\nthe underground town which had bustled with people. He had seen long\nlines of them bringing home food, riding on grasshoppers, making traps\nfor flies and butterflies, bringing in the captured tree insects and the\nspotted bugs which were kept in roomy stalls.\n\nFor himself, he had a fine grasshopper, which carried him along the\ncorridors lighted by torches from dried wood which gave out soft blue\nflames. He told how his father and mother used to play with him and\nabout his little friend Chrysomela, a sweet little girl who had been\neducated with him. Together, they used to run and play and watch the\ngnomes digging in the mountains or go for a row on the underground\nriver. Then he spoke of the frequent visits of foreign guests, gold\nbeetles, and spotted wood bugs who came in stately processions and\nbrought fine messages of greeting and beautiful presents. He told\nespecially of a visit, just before the flood, made by many black ants\nwhom the gnomes feasted and welcomed with great honor. His father, the\nking, presented them to him, telling him how diligent and orderly they\nwere and what good friends they were to him. He promised Tom that when\nhe should grow up he would send him to them for their teaching, so that\nhe might learn how to rule over the kingdom.\n\nTom would often speak of these things he remembered, but, at the end, he\nwould always become sad, when he thought how all his kingdom had been\ndestroyed and everything had disappeared, and that he would never again\nsee his loved ones.\n\nThe Godmother listened to his stories with great pleasure, but she\nrealized that Tom must have some occupation that would keep him busy and\nnot only prevent him from thinking too much of the past, but also\nprepare him for the life he was to lead in the future.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nCHAPTER THREE.\n\nLITTLE TOM'S TRIP\nAROUND THE WORLD.\n\n  LITTLE TOM'S HOUSEHOLD.\n  LITTLE TOM WRITES A DIARY.\n  HE LEARNS TO READ THE BOOKS OF MEN.\n  HOW LITTLE TOM READ WITH HIS FEET AND HOW HE\n  TURNED THE LEAVES.\n  LITTLE TOM LEARNS GEOGRAPHY AND WANTS TO\n  MAKE A TRIP ROUND THE WORLD.\n  WHAT HE WROTE IN HIS DIARY ABOUT THIS TRIP.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nLittle Tom had his day well planned. He rose early and, as his Godmother\nplaced every night on his castle grounds an earthern-ware plate full of\nfresh water he would jump into it the first thing and swim all around in\nit. When he had finished his bath he would take his breakfast in the\ngarden.\n\nUnder the tree was his store of provisions: A hazel nut with an end cut\noff so that he could take out little bits from time to time, lasting him\na whole month; a beechnut; sunflower seeds; a piece of sugar; and a\nwonderful apple, into which he cut a narrow passage so that it would not\ndry up from the outside.\n\nWhen he had breakfasted he would sweep the carpet in his room, clean his\nclothes and shoes, exercise with his weapons so that he would not forget\nthe arts of defence he had learned at his home, and then go into the\ngarden to plant and weed. Sometimes, he hunted for the ugly worms that\ndug great ditches in the vegetable beds.\n\nWhen the Godmother rose she would come to say good morning to Tom, look\nat his work, praise and advise him. When she saw it was necessary to\nwater the tree, she would tell Tom to take away his tools and would then\npour water over the tree from a fine sprinkler. Tom loved to run about\nin this rain and was happy to think that he could so bravely bear the\nheavy shower.\n\nAfter she had gone away, he would write in his diary, describing\neverything he had been doing, as well as all those things he could\nremember from his former kingdom, so that nothing should be forgotten.\nFor this purpose, he had a beautiful, smooth parchment, tanned from the\nskins of white tree bugs, sharp pens, made from the bills of gnats, and\nfine writing sand from the powder of butterflies' wings. He only lacked\nink, but he found a way to get that. On the tree, he discovered the\nsmoky wicks from the candles; mixing the soot with water he made himself\nsome excellent ink; but in doing this, he became so black that when his\nGodmother saw him she feared that he had turned into a negro.\n\nHe took his dinner alone, but always looked forward to the evening meal\nwhen he could sit down and talk with his Godmother.\n\nThus the days passed happily. He worked about his castle and in the\ngarden and was kept busy with his housekeeping. Every day he was\nbecoming more manly and strong and, as he grew up, he thought more and\nmore of his past, of his birth and what he would have accomplished had\nhe become a king and ruled over his underground realm.\n\nOne evening, when they were sitting together and Little Tom was speaking\nof all the things in the world he would like to do, his Godmother said,\n\"Dear Little Tom, before you can do great things in the world, it is\nnecessary that you should learn how to read and write as large people\ndo, so that you can know what they are doing\".\n\nBut Tom answered, \"I know how to read and write very well, Godmother. I\nwill show you what I have written.\" And when, at his request, she placed\nhim on the press, he ran into the castle and brought out a whole armful\nof parchments; but it seemed to her that they were only a lot of tiny\npetals from cherry blossoms.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWhen he had thrown the parchments into her lap she put on her spectacles\nand took one of the little sheets in her palm; but she could make\nnothing out of it at all.\n\nTom offered to read some of it to her and taking up the sheet, read it\nwith much expression. In spite of this, the Godmother shook her head.\n\"You read very nicely what you yourself have written,\" she said, \"but\nyou must learn human letters as well, so that you can read and study our\nbooks.\"\n\nTherefore, she brought her book to the table, and reached for Little Tom\nto place him upon it, but he was nowhere to be seen. She looked all\nabout and finally spied him clinging desperately to the table cloth. The\nwind caused by turning the leaves had blown him over to the very edge of\nthe table and he had barely saved himself. He was calling for help when\nhis Godmother rescued him from his perilous position. So it nearly\nhappened that, at the very outset, a misfortune might have prevented the\nreading altogether; but, as soon as he had recovered from his fright,\nTom offered at once to begin.\n\nHe crawled quickly up the golden edge of the book and surveyed the\nbroad white plain covered in every direction, with curving black lines.\nHe ran at once to the upper left hand corner, stepping gingerly on the\nfirst large letter. After he had walked all over it, he stopped and\ndeclared confidently that it was a capital \"O\". In like manner he went\non to \"N\" and \"C\" and \"E\" and a little further, until he had no longer\nto run completely over a letter but could place himself in the middle\nand looking all about him could tell at once what it was. One after the\nother he spelled and his Godmother was surprised to see how quickly the\nreading progressed.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIt was only when he came to the end of the page that he found\ndifficulty, for then he had to crawl down while she turned the page\nover; but he thought of a way to get around this. When he had reached\nthe end of the next page he procured one of his long spears and crawling\na little way down the sloping edge of the opened book, thrust his spear\nbetween the leaves and raised the sheet high enough to crawl under it.\nThen, on his hands and knees, he worked his way to the middle of the\nbook and exerting all his strength, he was able to turn the page over.\n\nIn a short time, he learned to read so rapidly that he could run swiftly\nalong the lines and in this way could cover five or six pages in a day.\nHe liked especially to linger by the pictures, looking at the little\nknights gazing from the battlements of the castle, or the beautiful\nladies spinning or embroidering in great rooms; for it seemed to him\nthat these were pictures of his former life and reminded him of his lost\nrealm. But, after a moment, he would diligently continue his reading.\n\nHe was very curious to discover what real people know, so that he also\nmight learn; but it seemed to him that he would never be able to read\nfast enough, and so he began to ask his Godmother to teach him from her\nown knowledge. She soon perceived that in some things, like mathematics\nand physics, he was much better educated than herself; but of other\nsubjects, such as history and geography, he knew nothing at all.\n\nSo she told him how the earth was shaped and about the sun, moon and\nstars. She explained how the sun rose in the East and then there was\nday; and after it had crossed the sky and set in the West, then night\ncame. She told him that in the Far North there is perpetual snow on\ngreat, white plains, so broad that you can not see across them; and in\nthe South great deserts of sand, without water, where lions and tigers\nroam and it is so hot that the people become black like the king in the\naltar. Between all the countries stretch seas of salt water, which are\nfilled with strange monsters and across which travel large ships.\n\nLittle Tom listened breathlessly, and then was eager to learn how people\ncame to know all these things. His Godmother told him that there were\nfamous travelers who went all over the earth, experiencing many dangers,\nand then came home to describe what they had seen.\n\nThat night, Little Tom in his excitement could not sleep for a long,\nlong while and, finally, when he began to doze, he dreamed that he was\nwalking through the snow, climbing the mountains that reached to the sky\nand crossing the primeval forests. Then he wandered in deserts and swam\nthe sea in the midst of fierce sharks.\n\nNext day, he was all the time thinking of the great wonders of the\nworld, and his work was not so pleasing to him. He could hardly wait for\nthe evening to come so that he might learn more from his Godmother. When\nshe had told him other things that she knew, he asked her where was the\nend of the earth. She explained that the world was round and that, if\nany one walked on and on, he would come to the place whence he had\nstarted.\n\nLittle Tom became quite confused, for with his growing mind he could not\nunderstand how the world could be so great, or how it could be round!\nNeither did he know what it meant to travel. There was only one thing\nthat he remembered and that was, if he started in one direction and kept\non going, in the end he would come back home. His heart was very brave\nand he was not afraid of danger. He wanted very much to gain experience\nand do heroic deeds, even if he did not know where he was going.\n\nSo he decided that he would become a great traveler and go round the\nworld. He made careful preparations for the trip. In secret, he filled a\nbundle with nourishing food, which he put on his back and hung a bottle\nof water from his neck. On his feet he put heavy shoes, made from strong\ncaterpillar leather, belted his sword around his waist and, as soon as\nhis Godmother had left in the morning, started on his journey round the\nworld.\n\nHe looked forward to his Godmother's surprise on his return, when he\nwould tell her all that had happened to him and thereby gain great fame.\n\nHe walked down from the box that held his castle and crossed the press\nstraight to his Godmother's bed. He judged that the window through which\nthe light was streaming, was in the East and that, therefore, he was\ngoing directly to the North.\n\nWhen the Godmother returned to her room in the evening she was greatly\nsurprised that Little Tom was not there to welcome her. She called and\nlooked for him everywhere, but could not find him. She feared that he\nhad crawled to some place where he had fallen down and died miserably.\nShe swept the floor most carefully, but in vain. Sadly, she went to the\nhearth to get some wood to replenish the fire, for it was a cold Spring\nday. As she took out some pieces, there she found Tom asleep with a tiny\nbundle upon his back. He was sleeping so soundly, that he did not stir\nwhen she called to him, so she took him up carefully and placed him\nunder the tree on her handkerchief. She feared that something had\nhappened to him. Many times during the night she got up to look at him,\nbut Little Tom slept quietly until the morning.\n\nWhen he finally awoke, he did not at first know where he was. When he\nremembered, he avoided telling his Godmother where he had been the day\nbefore; but he begged her forgiveness and promised that he would never\nagain crawl down from the linen press. She did not insist on an\nexplanation, for she thought that he had been curious and had run around\nthe room and thus become lost. When she went away, he started diligently\nto write in his diary. This was what he wrote:\n\n\n                                                  _Castle Easter Egg,\n                                           The 114th day of my life._\n\n\nWhen I was one hundred and twelve days old, believing it to be the duty\nof a man to accomplish great deeds, I decided that I would be a traveler\nand go round the earth--Godmother having told me that it is round--so\nthat I could see for myself the wonders she has described. I made my\npreparations in secret. In the morning, when Godmother had gone away, I\nstarted for the hills on the northern horizon, stretching across the\nplain on which my castle stands.\n\nI expected that beyond those northern hills would lie the snowy plains\nabout which she told me; and that, if I kept straight on, I should reach\nthe deserts of the hot, tropical country and, beyond them, by crossing\nthe forests, I should come to the great ocean. I had planned, if I could\nfind a boat by the ocean, to cross to the other side and, by traveling\nover the countries there, finally return home.\n\nGodmother had said that the sun, during the day and the night, goes from\nthe East to the West and clear around the earth until it comes back\nagain to the East. I judged that if I should hurry my journey, it would\nnot take any longer than the sun, so I made up my mind to go from the\nNorth to the South.\n\nThe hills stretch clear across the plain which is sloping and smooth. At\nfirst, I could not find a suitable place to climb; but, finally, coming\nto the end of the plain before a steep precipice, I saw a little fissure\nby which I might ascend to the very top. With great difficulty I managed\nto make my way by this fissure until I came to the summit, where I could\nlook over and, as I had expected, I saw before me a vast, white plain\nstretching out to infinity.\n\nWith great care I crawled upon it at the place where it touches the\nhills and, stepping on it, I found that it was elastic and yielding,\nlike the snow Godmother described. One can really walk on it with ease\nand I was surprised to find, moreover, that one can so easily overcome\nthe difficulties of those desolate countries. Also I did not feel any\ncold.\n\nAfter a time, I came to a place where the white plain began to slope\ndownwards, until it formed, in front of another hill that appeared in\nthe distance, a dark and very deep chasm. I made my way at good speed\ninto this chasm and was already looking forward to the time when I\nshould come out of this inhospitable place, when, all of a sudden, the\nground began to slip from under my feet. In vain I tried to hold myself\nwith my hands. Faster and faster I fell, until, head first, I plunged\nagainst the wall of the precipice, where I lay unconscious.\n\nWhen I came to myself, I found that I was on another broad plain; but,\ninstead of snow, this one was very rough and covered with coarse sand.\nMy arms and legs pained me from my fall, so I rested while I refreshed\nmyself with some food from my bundle and drank a little water from my\nbottle. Then I started farther on my way. After this, I proceeded with\ngreat caution. As I did not in the least doubt that I was now on the\ndangerous desert of Sahara, which is filled with tigers and lions, I\ntook care that I should not be pounced upon unawares.\n\nBut nothing living appeared; only before me stretched the rocky,\nlimitless desert. I hoped that I should come to some oasis where I might\nfind palms and a stream of fresh water, but was disappointed. Finally, I\nsaw before me a mountain that rose so far into the sky that I could not\neven discern its top. As I came nearer, I perceived that it was warm, so\nI concluded that I had now come to the tropical country and that behind\nthis great mountain, lay the deep forests and the ocean of which\nGodmother had told me.\n\nI began to climb the steep side of the mountain, which grew warmer all\nthe time, so that my hands were nearly blistered. From the mountain\nitself, there seemed to come forth a great heat, so that I was fearful\nthat I had come upon a volcano and that I might fall into the crater. I\nwanted to go back, but my head became dizzy when I looked over the\nnarrow ledge on which I stood, into the deep chasm I had left behind me.\nI rested awhile; then, after a drink from my water bottle, I crawled\ndown at the risk of my life.\n\nReaching the level, I decided to walk around the mountain to see if I\ncould discover some valley. At this point, I would have preferred\nreturning to my home, but did not know how I should climb up the steep\nslope of the snow plain down which I had fallen.\n\nI followed along the foot of the mountain until I came to a vast forest\nwhich, from under its cliffs, stretched a long distance away. I hoped\nwhen I should reach the other side that I should come to the ocean. In\nthe forest were only bare trunks of trees fallen in every direction and\nmany turned up by the roots. Perhaps a great earthquake had destroyed it\nand the heat from the mountain had dried up the trees.\n\nWith difficulty, I made my way into the tangle. It soon became darker\nand with the trunks piled high one on top of another, it seemed to me\nthat there would be no end to it. On and on I went, hoping each moment\nto see a glimmer of light, when suddenly I ran into a steep, rough wall,\nbut it was unlike anything my Godmother had told me about. On both\nsides, to the left and right I went, trying to find a way out; but there\nwas not even a hole. Only, on each side was another wall like the one I\nhad run into, and so I found myself in a great cave which, perhaps, in\nolden times had been caused by an earthquake and now by way of the\nforest led into the heart of the mountain.\n\nI became frightened and lonely, lost in this desolate place, and feared\nthat I might never again come out into God's world. However, I did not\nwant to give up without making another effort, so I turned around and\nstarted back through the forest by the way that I had come, dragging\nmyself wearily over the tangled trunks. Many times I stumbled and fell,\nuntil, finally, weariness overcame me and I sank down in the wood too\nworn out to go further. Before I fell asleep, in my thoughts I said good\nbye to my dear Godmother, fearing that I might never wake up again.\n\nIn my dreams, it seemed as if the whole forest was shaken violently and\nthat I was lifted bodily and carried to great heights; but I could not\ncall out or even open my eyes.\n\nWhen I finally awoke, I found myself lying on the carpet in front of my\ncastle in broad daylight. I was uncertain whether I had simply dreamed\nall about my journey; but, when Godmother came, she asked me with much\nconcern where I had been and how I had come to be among the great\nfaggots by the hearth.\n\nI did not understand at all what she meant, but at least my journey was\nnot a dream and I knew that I had escaped a great danger. I did not want\nto tell whither I had been wandering and, moreover, I was sorry that my\ncourageous efforts had been without success. It seems to me that, for\nthe present, the journey around the world is too great for my strength\nand that I should wait until I am better prepared and know fully about\nthe direction and the dangers I shall be apt to meet.\n\nLast evening, I read my diary to Godmother, so that she might tell me\nthe mistakes I had made and how I can better prepare for my next\njourney. While I read, she laughed until the tears ran down her cheeks.\nI was sorry that she made so light of my efforts and that the dangers I\nhad encountered seemed so laughable to her, but she endeavored to soothe\nme by saying that she was the one who had made the mistakes and had\ninstructed me badly.\n\nShe told me that the journey was over her great feather bed, across the\nfloor to the hearth, and into the niche where the faggots for the fire\nlay. I had no idea that the lodging of human beings is so vast and\nimagine that the earth itself must be a great deal larger and that I\nshall have to give up my idea. Godmother also advises me to give it up\nuntil I shall be more experienced. In the meantime, she will tell me\nstories of the great heroes, their adventures and the wonderful deeds\nthey accomplished.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nCHAPTER FOUR.\n\nLITTLE TOM IN THE ENCHANTED CASTLE.\n\n  THE GODMOTHER TELLS LITTLE TOM STORIES.\n  LITTLE TOM FINDS HIMSELF IN A CLOCK WITH\n  A CUCKOO AND THINKS HE IS IN AN ENCHANTED\n  CASTLE.\n  WHAT ADVENTURES HE HAD IN THE CLOCK.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe Godmother was very sorry that she had told Little Tom so many things\nhe had not understood. She realized that it would be impossible to tell\nhim all about the world until he had seen it for himself; so, taking him\nin her hand, she carried him from the bed to the hearth, from there to\nthe cupboard, then to the door and the window. Everything she showed him\nshe called by name and explained the uses of the different things so\nthat he might understand and, another time, not lose his way.\n\nThen she placed him on the floor and Tom, looking around, measured the\ndistances with his eye, so that he would know how far he would have to\ntravel to each object. He crawled around the corners, examined the feet\nof the furniture and remembered all the things she told him could be\nmoved, like the chairs, the poker and the foot-stool, so that he could\nmake no mistakes as to his whereabouts in case he could not find one of\nthe household articles in its place. Very soon he learned to know the\nwhole room as well as his own dwelling, and the Godmother, when she left\nhim in the morning, found she could put him on the floor without fear\nand permit him to run where he pleased and to examine everything; but\nshe was afraid to take him outside the hut lest something should injure\nhim or he should get lost.\n\nLittle Tom was quite satisfied, for his explorations kept him busy.\nEvery evening, he told his Godmother all the things he had found under\nthe cupboard and the linen press and around the hearth, and she was\nsurprised to learn how her room appeared when looked at from the floor.\n\nThen she told him more stories and became as interested herself in the\nfairy tales as when she first heard them as a child. Often they sat thus\ntogether even into the night. Little Tom could not hear enough of the\nsweet princesses taken away by the wizards into deep caverns; the brave\nheroes fighting the dragons and the witches; the glass castles which\nrevolved on the nightmare's foot; the valiant tailor who fought with the\ngiants; the clever shoemaker who had a magic sack; and of how the strong\nblacksmith cheated the devil and death.\n\nBut, best of all, he liked the story of the enchanted castle, suspended\nhigh above the earth. This castle seemed deserted, but whoever could\nsleep there three nights, and, without saying a word, let himself be\ntormented and tortured by the wicked spirits, would set free a beautiful\nprincess who had been enchanted by a witch. And so, one day, a brave lad\nhid himself in the bucket which was lowered each morning to the earth\nand let himself be pulled up to the castle, where he stayed three\nnights. Every night he heard terrible noises; the spirits came and\npounded him, pinched him and squeezed him; but he valiantly stood the\ntorture and never spoke, screamed or cried out with pain. After the\nthird night, an enormous griffin flew in the window, bearing on his back\nthe beautiful princess who had been freed. The brave lad also climbed on\nhis back and the griffin flew with them down to the earth. There he\nmarried the princess and they lived happily together ever afterwards in\ntheir kingdom.\n\nLittle Tom liked the manly courage of this hero. He seemed braver than\nall the other knights, for he knew how to suffer and bear torture and to\nsacrifice himself for the poor princess. Tom thought that such sacrifice\nwas more beautiful than all the heroic deeds. He wished that he could\nhave such an adventure and give himself to torture, so that he might\nfree a princess.\n\nOne morning, before going to the field, the Godmother placed Tom on the\nfloor as usual, and then went out to get Speckle. As Tom ran about the\nroom, he came suddenly upon a great brass cylinder.\n\nNever before had he seen it there and he wondered what it could be. He\nwanted to climb up but it was so round and so smooth that he could find\nno foothold. He ran to the hearth and taking a strong twig which he\nrested against the cylinder clambered to the top; but when he got there\nhis twig slipped and fell down on the floor.\n\nTom then noticed that on the top of the cylinder was a little depression\nand, in its centre, a hook from which a strong chain ran up in the air.\nHe seated himself by this hook and was almost breathless when he thought\nthat it might be a bucket lowered to the earth by its great chain from\nan enchanted castle in the sky. He sat waiting for the chain to pull him\nup, trembling with pleasure at the thought that he would get into the\ncastle and rescue the enchanted princess.\n\nHe was not at all afraid of the pain or the torture, for he knew that if\nhe did not cry out, the great bird would fly into the castle bearing the\nprincess he had set free.\n\nAt that moment, the Godmother returned, took up her cloak and was about\nto leave the room again when she suddenly remembered that she had\nforgotten to wind the clock. So she went to the wall, and taking hold of\nthe little hook, lifted the run-down weight from the floor to the clock.\nShe did not notice Little Tom sitting on the weight; but he heard a\nterrible noise and felt himself hoisted by the chain into the sky. He\ndid not speak or cry out, for he knew if he should make a noise, the\nevil spirits would tear him to pieces.\n\nThe Godmother went out to her work in the field and there sat Little Tom\non the weight at a dizzy height, up in the air under the enchanted\ncastle. The rattling of the chain had ceased, but above him in the\ncastle, Tom heard a strong voice repeating, \"Tick, tack, tick, tack\".\n\nAt first Tom was frightened by this moving spectre, but he soon\ndiscovered that it never went away from the wall. This calmed his fears\nand he decided that he would go farther into the dark rooms of the\ncastle, in spite of the poisonous odors that came from them.\n\nReturning to his chain he clambered higher and higher, until he came to\nthe powerful cylinder around which the chain was wound. Everywhere, it\nwas dusty and musty with much dark, greasy slime which soiled his hands\nand clothes. Such a desolate, lonely castle he had never dreamed could\nexist. Nowhere, a living soul.\n\nLittle Tom sat down on the big cylinder, waiting to see what would\nhappen and wondering what tortures lay before him. Resolutely, he said\nto himself that he would not scream, no matter if the spectres should\ntear him into little pieces.\n\nSuddenly, the cylinder under him moved and shook so that he nearly fell\noff; but he caught hold of the chain and lay quite still, stretched out\nto his full length. Then he saw something bright, and directly above him\nmove, and the giant tooth of a great wheel bent over and caught him by\nthe coat. Tom thought that his torture was about to begin, but he\nresolved that he, would not give up easily; so, bravely grasping the\ntooth itself, he pulled himself up with all his strength until he sat\nastride the great wheel.\n\nNow, he felt easier, but the wheel started to move carrying him still\nhigher. In a moment, he was lifted high above the great cylinder and saw\nanother wheel, with other great teeth approaching, which fitted closely\ninto the notches of the wheel on which he sat and, with powerful force,\nturned it up and up. He was afraid that he would be caught between the\ntwo, so climbing over his wheel, he worked his way back to the cylinder;\nbut this was also moving, so that he could not stand upright on it. As\nhis eyes had by this time become accustomed to the darkness, he saw\nabout him in every direction, wheels, levers, teeth and cylinders.\nEverything was moving and turning around. Poor little Tom was suddenly\nsnatched by a great metal talon which almost tore out his shoulder and\nhe was terribly pinched, squeezed and pressed.\n\nSetting his teeth so that he would not cry out, he drew his dagger and\ncut away a piece of his coat, which was already caught between the two\ncylinders, and sprang blindly to one side, not knowing where he would\nland. His hand touched an upright steel post which he grasped firmly\nand, climbing upward, he reached a great globe that seemed to stand\nquite still. Here he felt safe for the moment, but he knew that this was\nnot the end of his tortures.\n\nClose to the globe was a large, metal vessel, to which he clambered and,\nworking his way to the top, where it was fastened, sat down to rest. He\nhoped that this would not move. From his safe perch he looked below him\ninto the tangle of wheels and teeth and levers, where everything was\nrustling, growling, and whirring. From all this he had barely escaped\nwith his life.\n\nHe wondered how long he had been bearing this torture and when it would\nend. While he sat there thinking, all of a sudden the globe which he had\njust left, raised itself, something below rustled and the globe struck\nitself against the vessel with a deafening clang. The great vessel\ntrembled and resounded with a terrible noise, so that Tom almost fell\nfrom his seat. He perceived that this was a new kind of torture, worse\neven than the first. His arms and legs shook with the vibration, his\nspine prickled and his head began to whirl. Again the globe beat against\nthe vessel, and again. The clock was sounding three quarters of the\nhour.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAfter this, everything became quiet and Little Tom heaved a sigh of\nrelief. On the great bell he sat very sadly. He would have returned into\nthe machinery below him, for the whole world, as he thought a crowd of\nwitches and spirits were storming there and waiting to tear him to\npieces if he should utter a single sound. But he could see no other way\nout, for around him was nothing but darkness and gloom. He hoped that\nwhen the torture should stop, the castle would open and the great\ngriffin would appear to carry him safely back to earth. He wondered what\nsort of a princess she would be whom he would save and whether she would\nbe as beautiful as his own mother had been.\n\nIn this way, another quarter of an hour passed; but to Tom, sitting\nthere in the darkness, it seemed like an eternity. Again, the machinery\nbegan to whir and the castle shook. The globe beat into the bell as if\nit were crazy. Little Tom was stiff with fright as he shook and trembled\nunder the powerful blows.\n\nSuddenly, the little doors in front of him flew open, letting the light\nof day into the castle; and he saw the great cuckoo, which he at once\ntook for the griffin. The bird ran out a little way from the roof and\ncalled \"Cuckoo, cuckoo\".\n\nTom sprang from the bell to the bird and cried out victoriously. He\nthought that his torture was at an end and that he had broken the spell\nof the enchanted castle. Now, he wanted to find the princess he had set\nfree. But, suddenly, the doors closed with a bang, catching Tom between\nthem and squeezing him so hard that he nearly lost his breath. He was\nterribly afraid, fearing lest he had cried out too soon and spoiled the\nrescue and now would be torn to pieces by the spectres.\n\nHe struggled in vain to tear himself loose. Below him, the clock was\nmoaning and groaning; and, far down, he looked into the depths of the\nchasm. Already, he bade farewell to the world and started shouting at\nthe top of his lungs.\n\nAt this moment, his Godmother came in from the field and, hearing the\nclock rattling, she wondered what could be the matter with it, that it\nshould make such a noise. Looking at the partly closed doors, she\nperceived that something was caught between them. Stepping up on a\nchair, she saw Little Tom struggling and crying for help. She released\nhim at once and carried him safely down. He told her what had happened\nsaying that he wanted to rescue the princess in the enchanted castle,\nbut had spoiled the rescue by crying out too soon.\n\nThis time, the Godmother did not laugh at him. She was afraid that he\nhad been hurt and was very sorry that her stories had brought him into\nsuch danger. For a long time, Tom could not believe that he had been\nmistaken and that in the clock there were no spectres. She raised him up\nto the dial plate, showed him the painted roses and the numbers,\nexplaining all about them and showing how the little hands worked all by\nthemselves, day and night, to tell how the time was passing. He became\nvery much encouraged, as he began to understand. Then he sat astride the\nlong hand as if he were on a horse and liked it so much, that the\nGodmother had to warn him not to slide down and kill himself.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nCHAPTER FIVE.\n\nLITTLE TOM'S ADVENTURES IN THE GARDEN.\n\n  THE GODMOTHER TELLS LITTLE TOM ALL ABOUT HELL\n  AND PARADISE.\n  LITTLE TOM IN MIRMEX'S GARDEN, ON THE ROSE-BUSH,\n  ON THE POPPY-BED AND AMONG THE\n  STRAWBERRIES.\n  THE STRIKE. LITTLE TOM IN THE BLACK KITCHEN.\n  THE COCKROACH.\n  WHERE THE GODMOTHER FOUND LITTLE TOM.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe Godmother realized that it would not do to tell Tom too many fairy\ntales, so, instead, she said that she would tell him other stories more\nbeautiful than the made-up ones.\n\nDuring the day, Little Tom recovered from the adventures of the morning\nand looked forward to the evening, when he was to hear something new.\nAfter their supper, the Godmother spoke about the wickedness in the\nworld and told him that, in the next world, would come justice and\nrewards; that those who had lived rightly and stood the trials of this\nworld patiently, would live in Paradise, where there is eternal life and\npleasure, where beautiful flowers grow, sweet fruits ripen and angels\nfly about the blue heaven and sing; that those who had lived wickedly\nand committed crimes would be taken away by wicked spirits and punished.\n\nTom was greatly affected by this explanation and longed to see\nParadise; but he was fearful lest he had done something wrong and that\nthe little devils would carry him away. He asked his Godmother what he\nshould do to live right and so earn Paradise. She promised that she\nwould instruct him in order that he might know how to avoid sin. As it\nwas now late in the evening, they went to bed, Little Tom dreaming all\nnight long of Paradise, of walking through the delightful groves and\nlistening to the angels' songs.\n\nIn the morning, when the Godmother arose, she found that it was a warm,\nbright day and opened the window through which came the scents of the\nold lime tree, the carnations and the roses. Then she went into the\nblack kitchen, started the fire and hung a pot of potatoes to cook for\nlunch, on the hook over the hearth. She told Tom that she was going to\nthe village and that he should not run around and again get into danger.\nHaving promised not to run around the room, Tom sat down by Castle\nEaster Egg, under the fir tree, and wrote of the experiences through\nwhich he had passed.\n\nBut, after she had gone, he became curious to know whence came the\nlovely fragrance. He ran down from his garden, crossed the linen press\nto the window and stood upon the ledge. Above him he saw the blue sky\nand the golden sun; he heard the blackbirds and thrushes singing in the\nlilac bushes; and such a beautiful perfume came to him that his heart\nwas filled with joy. Without realizing what he was doing, he felt he\nmust go out and look at this magic world. Grasping the old vine by the\nwindow, he slid down very carefully through the transparent green\nleaves, jumped into the middle of a red carnation among its opening\npetals, and felt as though he were in a cloud of perfume. He waded\nthrough the soft, little petals, pressing them with his hands, and was\nsure that he was in Paradise itself! Yes, it must be the Paradise his\nGodmother had so beautifully described. What lights, colors and odors\nwere here! What pleasure to gaze at the broad forest of red, white and\npink bouquets and on the infinite green plain beyond, on which other\nblossoms like these were growing!\n\nAs Tom walked to the edge of this flower, it bent over and he fell into\nthe grass. But he did not mind this at all. He waded through the grass\nuntil he came upon a path, full of hard, shining little stones.\n\nHe felt easy in his heart and shouted with delight, drinking the dew\ndrops on the blades of grass and saying over and over to himself. \"I am\nin Paradise, the place of eternal life and eternal pleasure.\" He wanted\nto cross the path to the other side, where he saw great trees growing\nwith broad crowns--his Godmother's rose bushes--and he was curious to\nlearn what other charming things he might discover.\n\nBut it was not easy for him to cross the path. He fell into little\nholes and stumbled over the sand grains which seemed to him like high\nstones. When he stood in the middle of the path, he saw a great black\ncreature, with six legs and two horns, about to run by him. He stopped,\ninstinctively placing his hand on the hilt of his dagger, but at the\nsame time the creature stopped also and gazed at him with bulging eyes,\nraising its horns in the air.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nLittle Tom went on bravely and at once recognized an ant. At first, it\nretreated, then ran towards him and said, \"Prince, it pleases me very\nmuch that I have found you again. I was once at your father's court,\nwith a message from our people to thank him for his hospitality and for\nthe shelter he gave us when our town was attacked. I am Mirmex and I\nknew your father very well. All of us were deeply grieved when we\nlearned that your town was flooded and destroyed.\"\n\nTom was heartily glad to meet some one with whom he could speak on a\nbasis of equality and began at once to tell the ant about his\nadventures; but Mirmex excused himself, saying that he was too busy to\nstop long; so he asked Tom to accompany him. Tom was surprised to learn\nthat Mirmex had work in his Godmother's Paradise, but Mirmex was already\nrunning ahead and Tom could hardly catch up with him.\n\nThey crossed the path and waded through the grass to the trunk of the\nrose-bush, up which Mirmex climbed quickly. Tom saw on the trunk a crowd\nof little ants, each carrying a small bit of earth in its antennae.\nPresently, Mirmex came back to Tom. \"There is a great obstacle up\nthere,\" he said, pointing to the bush. \"The trunk is covered all the way\naround with some sticky grease and our workmen can not crawl over it to\nget to the leaves. We are now trying to build a bridge across this\nplace, but are not succeeding very well.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nLittle Tom promised to help them. Four strong workmen raised him over\ntheir heads and pushed him up the trunk to the dangerous strip, where he\nsat on a crooked thorn and saw how the ants were putting bits of earth\non the grease to build a bridge across it; but it was too thick and the\nfeet of those who were in front were caught in it. Tom drew his dagger\nand, stepping out on the thorn, dug the ants free and then scratched a\nbroad path in the grease. Over this the ants sifted sand and soon began\nto run across it in such crowds, that the leaves appeared all black.\n\nWith difficulty, Tom crawled up after them and, finding a seat on a\nrosebud, watched them working. Those on the leaves were biting out\nlittle round pieces which they threw to the ground, where others were\nwaiting. These at once put the green circles over their heads like\nparasols and, in a long stream, hurried to the fence. Tom wanted to know\nwhat they were going to do with the leaves and called to Mirmex as he\nwas passing near him. Mirmex answered that just then, he had no time;\nbut, later, he would explain everything.\n\nTom then asked Mirmex to have him carried down to the ground, as he\nwished to look at the other wonders of Paradise. \"With pleasure,\"\nanswered Mirmex, \"but perhaps you would like a horse to ride upon around\nthe garden.\" Before Tom could reply, a beautiful, green steed jumped\nupon the rose bud. Tom climbed upon him, the grasshopper spread his\nwings, flew to the ground, and then, with great leaps, carried him to\nthe poppy beds.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIn the green shade among the high stalks, it was agreeably cool. Little\nTom rode through this giant forest, above which flamed red and white\nblossoms like huge lamps. The beauty of it all was enchanting. When\nMirmex came to him, Tom spoke of the place with enthusiasm; but Mirmex\nmerely waved his hand. \"This is only a useless desert,\" he said. \"There\nare many like it in the garden; but ride after me and I will show you a\nmore beautiful place.\"\n\nMirmex ran rapidly ahead over the bed of carrots, through the strawberry\nplants and under the gooseberry and currant bushes, where he stopped.\n\n\"Here,\" he said, \"is the most beautiful spot in the whole land which you\ncall Paradise. Here are the stalks of the sweetest things in the world\nand there are so many that whole towns could live on them. The only\nproblem is how to carry them away. You can stop here and, if at any time\nyou should wish to visit our Black Town, you will always find here some\nof our workmen who will tell me of your wishes. In the meantime, be\nhappy and enjoy yourself.\" Mirmex ran quickly away and Little Tom,\nclimbing down from his horse, began to look at the wonderful fruit.\n\nHe crawled up a gooseberry bush and saw many yellow barrels hanging\namong the leaves. He stuck his dagger into one and found that it was\nfilled with excellent wine; so he cut the stems of several others which\nfell to the ground. He then went to the second bush, full of red globes\nthat shone like glass. He cut into one and found that it held a\ndelicious, tart wine. When he crawled down again, he had in the grass a\nstock of fine drinks that would last him many days.\n\nHe was still looking for food when he came upon the strawberries, which\nseemed like giant lumps in the leaves over his head. Selecting the\nlargest, he began to cut away its stem with his cutlass; the green stalk\nbent and the strawberry fell heavily to the grass, leaving Tom barely\ntime to jump to one side, as the great mass fell. As it was, it struck\nhim on the shoulder and threw him head foremost into the grass; but he\ndid not regret the misfortune. With his cutlass he dug out the yellow\nseeds and cut great, juicy slices, enjoying huge mouthfuls of the\ndelicious fruit.\n\nNever had he eaten anything so good. When he could eat no more, he made\nup his mind that he would remain in this Paradise, and establish his\nhome here. For the moment, he had forgotten his Godmother and how sad\nshe would be when she could not find him.\n\nFirst, he thought he would sleep awhile and then bring together the\ntimbers for his house; but, at this moment, along came his horse, pawing\nrestively and rubbing his head against him, as if asking Tom to hurry.\nIt seemed strange to Tom that he should obey so readily; but he climbed\nupon his steed's back at once and the grasshopper started from the bush\nwith a great jump and passed under the fence as if some one was chasing\nhim.\n\nThe grass struck Tom in the face, so that he could hardly keep his seat;\nbut the grasshopper took no notice; he only hurried the faster to the\nbrook to hide himself in the sorrel close to the water. Suddenly, a huge\nshadow swept over the earth. Tom saw great wings and an open bill. He\nfell on the ground and the grasshopper disappeared, carried away by a\nhuge shrike. Rolling in the dust in front of the Godmother's hut, Tom\nsaw the great bird sitting on a shrub close to the fence. Holding the\npoor grasshopper in his bill, he jumped upon the branches, impaled the\ngrasshopper on a sharp thorn and flew away. Pierced by the thorn, the\ngrasshopper struggled to get away buzzing with his wings and kicking his\nfeet desperately in the air, but to no avail. He was held fast by the\nthorn which was thrust firmly through his breast.\n\nLittle Tom watched his struggles, breathless with fright. What did it\nall mean? He thought of the wicked spirits his Godmother had told him\nabout, who carried away those who had done wrong, to torture them. He\nbecame more frightened when he thought how he had taken advantage of his\nGodmother's goodness.\n\nHe did not doubt in the least that the great winged creature had come\nfor him to transfix him on the thorn, so that he might suffer his\npunishment and that, only by chance, it had caught the grasshopper\ninstead of himself. He did not know where he was. All about him was\nbare, hard ground. Crawling up the little step before the door of the\nhut, he squeezed through a little crack and found himself in a great,\ndark hall.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWith a sigh of relief, he thought that, now, he might escape the\nterrible punishment and that here the flying, wicked spirit could not\nfind him. He did not know that he was in the hall of his Godmother's\nhut; but it did seem to him to be that of a human dwelling. He went\nfurther along the wall, until he found a crack under a door, through\nwhich he crawled into the black kitchen.\n\nHere it was dark, but far away was shining a great, hot fire on the\nhearth. Little Tom did not know what this meant. He went through the\ndarkness towards the red light, wading through the dust until he came to\nthe hearth, where, in the mortar, he discovered a little hole. Not\nminding how the rough mortar cut his hands, he crawled up the broad\nfireplace under the chimney and stood astonished.\n\nBefore him was a black plain covered with soot and in the middle was a\ntripod holding a huge pot, from under which flames darted forth. The\nfire itself crackled and hissed; sparks were flying through the darkness\nas big as Tom's head, while clouds of steam rose to the chimney. From\nunder the cover of the pot, came a great noise of sputtering and\nbubbling, like the quarreling of many angry voices.\n\nTom felt attracted by the fierce light. He could not turn his eyes away\nfrom it and great fear pressed upon his heart. After all, he could not\nescape the wicked spirits and he would be punished for having deceived\nhis Godmother. Perhaps a devil would come to catch him. Soon, he thought\nthe devil actually did appear. A terrible being, twice as big as\nhimself, all in shining armor and with great whiskers, came quickly from\nout of the darkness and stood directly in front of him, looking at him,\ntill his heart grew faint. Tom thought he was lost, but determined to\ndefend himself with all his might.\n\nDrawing his cutlass, he waited. The cockroach raised his feelers and ran\ntowards him. Little Tom stood firm and when the cockroach drew near, he\nthrust his sharp cutlass under his chin up to the very hilt. The\ncockroach fell dead on Little Tom, throwing him down by his weight.\n\nWhen the Godmother returned for lunch, she looked for Tom in the room in\nvain. Calling him, she hunted in all of the corners, through the wood by\nthe hearth, and even in the clock, but all to no purpose. Tom was\nnowhere to be seen.\n\nVery sadly, she went back into the black kitchen for the potatoes and\nspied a cockroach by the oven. She was about to sweep it across the\nfloor, when something sparkled under it. It was Little Tom's golden cap.\nShe placed the poor little fellow in her palm and carried him tenderly\ninto the great room, calling him by his name until he wakened; but even\nthen he did not recognize her. He had a fever and would only say, \"Go\naway from me, you ugly devil\". He kept waving his hands and reaching for\nhis sword screaming as if defending himself.\n\nIt was some time before he came to himself and recognized his\nGodmother, so that he could tell her what he had experienced. She\nthought that he was still in fever and did not know what he was saying.\nShe forgot what she had been telling him about Paradise and the place of\nthe wicked spirits. Only when he had quite recovered and could walk\nabout in his garden by Castle Easter Egg did she learn what had happened\nto him.\n\nShe then realized that she could not keep Little Tom at home all the\ntime and that the room could not satisfy his brave, curious little soul.\nSo she decided that she would take him out and show the world to him, in\norder that he might have pleasure under the great sky and gain some\nexperience of life.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nCHAPTER SIX.\n\nLITTLE TOM'S EXCURSIONS.\n\n  LITTLE TOM'S EXPEDITION BEFORE THE COTTAGE.\n  HIS WALK THROUGH THE CORN-FIELD.\n  THE COBWEB AND THE FIGHT WITH THE SPIDER.\n  LITTLE TOM FINDS HIMSELF IN THE COURT-YARD\n  AMONG CHICKENS.\n  HE RUNS AWAY AND IS PURSUED BY ROVER.\n  HE TUMBLES INTO A BROOK AND IS GOBBLED UP BY\n  A TROUT, WHICH SPITS HIM OUT AGAIN INTO THE\n  GRASS.\n  HE TAKES A WALK ON THE MEADOW WITH\n  HIS GODMOTHER.\n  THE BUMBLE-BEE TALKS LITTLE TOM INTO GETTING\n  DRUNK.\n  LITTLE TOM IS BEING TIED TO A THISTLE AND FINDS\n  HIMSELF IN THE MOUTH OF A COW.\n  HE IS PUT INTO A WOODEN SHOE BY HIS GODMOTHER,\n  BUT IS ENDANGERED BY A HAILSTORM.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOne bright summer morning, as his Godmother was getting herself ready to\ngo to the village, she said to him, \"Dear Little Tom, if you want to see\nwhat God's world is like, I will let you come out in front of the hut;\nalthough I am afraid that you will lose your way, or that some animal\nwill harm you.\"\n\nTom encouraged her by saying that he would put on his weapons and that\nhe knew how to defend himself. She did not give much thought to his\nvalour but she felt that, because of his small size, no animal would\nnotice him; so she took him in her hand and carried him outside in front\nof the hut, through the garden and barn to the brook, pointing out\neverything of interest and telling him the name of objects and places so\nthat he could recognize them again. Then she put him on the ground\nbefore the door and told him, in a severe voice, that he should not run\nfar away; she hoped to return soon and, in the meantime, he would not\nmeet with any misfortune.\n\nWhen she had crossed the bridge, she turned around, but no longer saw\nhim. He had absolutely disappeared among the stones of the path. He was\nvery pleased that he could make an exploration on his own account and\nfelt that he was now much more clever. He understood what a human\ndwelling was, a garden, a path, a brook and a lime tree; and he was not\nafraid of anything. He decided to go over the same way his Godmother had\ntaken him around the hut, so that he might see for himself all its\nsurroundings.\n\nFirst, he went around the fence to the field, crossed the path and\npassed into the thick, rustling grain. He felt he was in a vast, old\nforest. Above him buzzed wasps, flies, gnats and gadflies. All around\nhim were worms, insects and caterpillars, which took no notice of him\nwhatsoever, but kept diligently about their own work. He seemed to be in\na new world and found so many strange objects and animals, that he had\nnot time to look at all of them carefully.\n\nHe strode forward into the grain, but was careful not to go too far and\nlose his way. As he walked along the edge of the path, he looked at the\ngrain, thinking that he would like to cut down one of the stalks and\nmake a good, light lance out of it. While he was trying to select one\nthat would suit him, he came upon a cobweb stretched between two\nthistles. It was beautifully woven of thin, well-tied threads, and\nseemed to Tom to be a powerful net which some hunter had placed there as\na trap for wild game.\n\nHe wished to see the hunter and learn how game is caught, so he sat down\nin some wild thyme not far away and waited; but nothing happened. Then\nhe got up and went nearer, feeling the lines with his hand to see how\ntightly they were drawn. But no sooner had he touched the net than he\nfelt it shake and saw, running across it, a great, eight-footed\ncreature, with a cross on its back and horrible jaws, rushing straight\nat him.\n\nHe drew his sword at once, but a strong, elastic rope was thrown around\nhis body, binding his hips and legs. He struggled to free himself, but\nmore and more ropes enveloped him. In a very short time, he was tangled\nup in them and tightly bound to the net. Then the great monster darted\nat him with his cruel jaws open.\n\nBrave Little Tom waved his sword; this frightened the spider, which drew\nback. At once he cut the ropes around him, tore himself out of the net\nand ran, beside himself with fear, until he fell rolling on the gravel\nin the path. He expected the monster to rush out after him and eat him;\nbut when the spider saw that his prey had escaped him, he started to\nrepair his net and paid no further heed to Tom.\n\nTom was glad to have escaped so easily and no longer wished to go in the\nfield and cut down a stalk. He went back very rapidly along the path,\ndeciding that he would remain near the hut. He wanted to see his\nGodmother's farm, so he passed through the gate to the little grassy\nplace beyond among the daisies and dandelions. As soon as he reached the\nspot, a lot of little yellow chickens came running to him and, gathering\naround him, looked at him with surprised eyes; for that kind of a worm\nthese little chicks had never seen before.\n\nLittle Tom was frightened, for these birds appeared to him as large as\nthe ostriches his Godmother had shown him in the natural history book,\nonly they were yellow. The chickens looked at him sideways, peeping and\ncalling the mother hen. She was scratching in some sweepings not far\naway and when she heard the peeping, she hurried up, all a flutter, to\nsee what was the matter and who the enemy was. When she saw only Little\nTom, she pecked at him angrily with her bill, then picked him up, but\nlet him drop as he did not seem good for eating. Scolding her chicks,\nshe drove them away in search of real worms.\n\nTom was so badly hurt that he fell down as if dead. His coat was torn\nand his hand was bleeding. After a moment, he struggled to his feet and\nfled out of the yard, away from such terrible enemies. In front of the\nyard, the Godmother's woolly-haired dog, Rover, was running about.\nWithout seeing Tom he stepped on him with his great, hard foot. When Tom\ncried out in pain, Rover stopped, turned around and smelled at Tom with\nhis moist nose.\n\nLittle Tom was overcome with another great fear. He was dusty, bruised\nand bleeding and so unhappy that he did not know what to do. He ran on,\nstumbling and limping, while Rover, thinking he was some strange insect,\nran after him, barking and jumping around him, until he drove him to the\nbrook. Little Tom wanted to hide himself among the leaves near the\nwater; but, as he stepped on them, he slipped and fell head first into\nthe brook.\n\nThe water refreshed him and, knowing how to swim very well, he was at\nfirst pleased to think he had escaped this enemy; but the brook, which\nseemed to him a river, was carrying him away. He had no idea that he\ncould reach the shore. He already felt himself lost, believing that the\nwaves would dash him against a stone, when, suddenly, a trout came out\nof the water and gobbled him up in his great mouth. But the trout did\nnot like this morsel and spat him out again into the grass under the\nbridge.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nCatching hold of a grass stem, Tom pulled himself into the bushes and\nsat there, shaking as with a chill. Wet through and cold, with hands\nbruised and bleeding, he could hardly hold himself on the grass which\nthe wind waved back and forth.\n\nAs he became weaker and weaker and was about to give up hope that he\nwould ever come of his adventure alive, he suddenly heard his Godmother\ncalling to him. She was coming across the little foot-bridge and calling\nloudly, so that she might not by mistake step on him. Tom immediately\nanswered as loud as he could shout, \"Here I am Godmother. Here I am\".\nBut she had to look a long while before she discovered whence came the\nthin, little voice. Then she promptly rescued him from his perilous\nposition. Poor Little Tom was so worn out from his bruises and his\ntremendous exertion, that he could hardly feel anything and it was only\nafter he had eaten well and drunk some milk, that he could tell his\nGodmother about all the terrible adventures that had befallen him. How\nin the deep forest of the grain he had been ensnared by the terrible\nrobber in his frightful net; how the great, yellow ostriches had pursued\nhim and, when he was escaping from them, how a rough, hairy dragon had\ncome upon him and chased him into the river, where he was first\nswallowed by an enormous whale and then cast out upon the shore.\n\nThe kind Godmother was very, very sorry for poor Little Tom and began\nto realize the danger of leaving him alone, outside the hut, so she\npromised him that she herself would take him to the field. Tom no longer\nwanted to travel alone amid such terrible dangers and was pleased that\nhe could accompany his Godmother; but they did not know in just what way\nthey could accomplish this. She thought of taking him in her pocket, but\nTom was afraid of such a dark place, among crumbs of bread and huge\nkeys.\n\nOn her breast, the Godmother, had a brooch which pinned together the\nends of the kerchief she wore around her throat; so Tom sat down on the\npleat of the cloth behind the brooch, grasping the bar to keep his hands\nsteady. As she walked along, he thrust out his little head to look at\nthe field, the meadow and the forest on top of the hill, where he hoped\nto run around with his Godmother, and wondered what new things he should\nsee.\n\nWhen they reached the meadow under the slope of the hill, the Godmother\nstood Little Tom upon a stone among the heather and said, \"I am going to\ngather the hay and I must hurry, as the weather looks as if it were\ngoing to change. While I am gone, you can walk around on this stone and\nlook at the flowers, but do not crawl down, or you will surely get lost\nand I would look in vain for you.\"\n\nObediently, Tom walked around on the top of his rock. He crawled over\nthe pebbles, peered into the various holes and examined the small, red\ncarnations, the tall, blue monks-hoods and the pink thistles growing\nthere. As he walked along, he heard a great buzzing in the air as if\nsome one were angry and, on coming closer, he perceived a hairy\nbumble-bee staggering among the blossoms.\n\nTom became confused as he had never seen such a creature before. He\nthought it might be a wild beast that would attack him. But the\nbumble-bee was quite harmless and, moreover, he had been sucking the\nsweet honey from the flowers so steadily since the early morning, that\nhis head had become quite dizzy. As soon as he saw Little Tom, he sidled\ntowards him and welcomed him as if he had known him all his life.\n\n\"Brother,\" he said, \"what are you doing here and how are you? I am\npleased that I have now found a comrade. Come, let us drink together.\"\n\nIt seemed strange to Tom, that this stout, old gentleman should appear\nto know him so well and should address him so familiarly. The old fellow\nwent on to urge him, to fly with him up on the monks-hood, saying that\nthere they would find a delicious drink. Tom tried to excuse himself,\nsaying that he had given his promise not to leave the rock; but the\nbumble-bee said, \"Oh just come along with me. I will bring you back. Let\nus be merry now.\"\n\nCatching Tom in his arms, the bumble-bee carried him up the stem and\nseated him on a flower with an arched, blue bell over it, and then gave\nhim a push right into the blossom. From the heart of this blue bell\nextended two horns with thick heads, which powdered him with a yellow\ndust that made him sneeze. At this, the bumble-bee laughed heartily and\nbegan to take long drinks from the cup under the blossoms.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nCarefully, Tom crawled a little lower, stretched himself on his stomach\nand also drank. The juice was as clear as water and as sweet as honey.\nHe drank gluttonously and, in a little while, became so merry and so\nlight at heart that he could have embraced the whole world. When they\nhad finished this cup, Tom crawled into another blossom and drank again.\n\nThe bumble-bee had chosen another blossom for himself and between sips\ncontentedly murmured to Tom, \"This is my only pleasure. See how good it\ntastes to you also. Now you can see what it is to be merry\".\n\nTom no longer knew what he was about. He sat in the blossom, singing and\ndrinking, and forgetting everything around him. Presently, the\nbumble-bee, paying no further attention to Tom, flew away; but Tom did\nnot notice this and was soon so befuddled, that he hardly knew anything\nat all.\n\nAfter a while, the Godmother came to the rock to see what he was about.\nNot finding him on top of the stone, she looked carefully around and\nsoon discovered him peeping out of the monks-hood blossom. His little\nface was very red. He laughed and shouted and paid no attention to her\nwhen she spoke to him. At this she became angry, for she saw that he had\nbeen up to mischief; so she plucked the flower and took Tom out of it.\n\n\"Will you not obey,\" she said, \"there is nothing else to do but to tie\nyou up, or you will lose your life somewhere.\"\n\nTaking him to the meadow, she pulled a hair from her head and tied him\nto a great thistle. Tom was so overcome by the sweet juice of the\nmonkshood, that he lay down and immediately fell asleep.\n\nWhen he awoke after a while, he had a severe headache. He thought over\nwhat he had done and was very much ashamed that he had allowed himself\nto be misled by the drunken bumble-bee. He saw that he had been tied up\nand felt very sorry, wondering how he should excuse himself to his\nGodmother when she should return to him.\n\nIn the meantime, Speckle, the cow, who had been grazing not far away,\nwas all the while coming nearer and nearer to the spot where Tom had\nbeen fastened. He was lying flat on his back, gazing up into the sky,\nwhen suddenly a great mouth opened above him, extending from the earth\nto the sky, and--presto--as if a strong wind had blown, everything\naround him disappeared.\n\nWith a great rattle, the jaws with their powerful teeth closed over him\nand Tom found himself in complete darkness. All doubled up behind one\nback tooth, he screamed lustily; but Speckle was moving her tongue and\ngrinding the grass and did not feel Tom at all. Holding his breath, he\nwaited until Speckle opened her mouth, when he ran quickly out on her\nlip and up on her nose to her forehead, where he held himself by\ngrasping the hair between her horns. He gave a great sigh of relief as\nhe saw that he was saved.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWhen Speckle turned her head, Tom sat quietly, then got up and started\nfor a walk along her neck and head.\n\nIt happened that the Godmother turned and saw Speckle just as she bit\nthe thistle. \"Oh Tom, Tom, you poor little child,\" she cried, running\ntowards Speckle as fast as she could. She thought surely that the cow\nhad swallowed him and that would be the last that she should see of him;\nbut, as she came close, she heard a little voice calling from Speckle's\nback, \"Here I am, Godmother, here I am.\"\n\nShe took him carefully in her hand and carried him off to the meadow\nwhere she was at work. There she seated him in one of her wooden shoes\nand saying, \"Now you must not move from here until I come,\" off she went\nto her work again; for she had to hurry with the hay, as dark clouds\nwere coming up in the sky.\n\nLittle Tom sat quietly in the shoe for a while. It was like a big hut to\nhim. Then he thought he would have a look around, so he clambered down\nthe side of the shoe and started to walk a little way on the meadow,\nwhen a big rain drop splashed on him and made him all wet. He was\ngreatly surprised, as he did not know what it was that came down in such\na flood and splashed on the ground all around him. With the rain came\nhail stones, like rocks of ice, larger than Tom's head. They bounded\naway and then came down so thickly, that Tom did not know which way to\nrun.\n\nHe turned back toward the shoe and ran for it with all his might, but\non the way a great hailstone hit him and nearly killed him. He managed\nto clamber over the side of the shoe and fall inside, fainting. With\nsuch strength as he had left, he crawled away up in the toe of the shoe\nwhere he could hide. The hail rattled down like cannon balls and very\nsoon the whole shoe was filled with the little balls of ice. When the\nGodmother came hurrying up, she could hardly find Tom who was curled up\namong the hailstones in the far end of the shoe, half frozen and\ncompletely exhausted. Taking him carefully in her warm hand, she hurried\nhome with him.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThus, his expedition with his Godmother turned out very sadly and she\nsaw that, even when he was with her, he could not be sure of his life.\n\nWhen they had thoroughly dried themselves and eaten their supper, the\nGodmother said, \"There is nothing to do, Tom, except for you to stay at\nhome and study and not try for yourself to see the wonders of the world.\nIt is a miracle that you did not die today.\"\n\nLittle Tom himself realized that, outside in the great world, there was\nno happiness for him and he readily promised that he would stay at home.\nBut it made him sad to think how terrible and cruel the world is, and\nthat in it there seemed to be no safe place for him.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nCHAPTER SEVEN.\n\nLITTLE TOM AND CHRYSOMELA.\n\n  SEVEN SPOT'S VISIT.\n  LITTLE TOM IS INVITED TO PAY A VISIT TO THE\n  KINGDOM OF THE SEVEN SPOTS.\n  HE SETS OUT ON A DRAGONFLY AND COMES TO THE\n  POOL IN THE FOREST.\n  THE BANQUET ON THE LEAF OF THE WATER-ROSE.\n  LITTLE TOM IS PROCLAIMED KING OF THE KINGDOM\n  OF THE SEVEN SPOTS.\n  HE MEETS CHRYSOMELA AGAIN. THE FESTIVAL.\n  THE VISIT TO THE WOOD-BUGS.\n  THE DWELLING IN THE HOLLOW BEECH-TREE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[Illustration]\n\nLittle Tom spent many days at home alone on top of the linen press.\nOutside, the sun shone and through the windows the flowers breathed a\nwonderful fragrance; but he no longer wished to go out, for he knew\nthere only awaited him terrible traps and dangers. He worked sometimes\nin his garden, or wrote in his diary, or went over to the window to look\nout sadly between the flower pots to the wide world beyond.\n\nOne day, as he was standing on the window ledge and looking into the\ngarden, he perceived on a fuchsia near the window a beautiful, red\nladybird with shining wings, crawling on the blossoms and looking\nsideways at him. His Godmother had been away since early morning and he\nknew that she would not return until evening, so he was very lonely\nthere all by himself.\n\nThe lady-bird opened its wings and flew over to the window. Alighting on\nthe edge it started to crawl along, all the time looking towards Tom who\nthought to himself: \"What is that gentleman looking for and does he know\nme?\" But the lady-bird coming to him said, \"Good morning Little Tom. How\nare you? I am very pleased to find you. I am Seven Spot from the\nlady-bird kingdom on the forest pool. We all thought that you had\nperished with the others in the terrible flood.\"\n\nLittle Tom was surprised to learn that this gentleman knew him so well,\nbut he did not wish to inquire how it happened; so he replied that he\nwas very pleased to meet Mr. Seven Spot, as he had no companions at all.\nThey talked together for some time. Seven Spot told him all about the\nforest pool and how beautiful it was; and Little Tom, on his part,\nconfided to his new friend his various adventures. Seven Spot listened\nattentively; but also seemed to have something on his mind. Presently he\ninvited Tom to visit the lady-bird kingdom; but Tom declined, as he\nwished never again to act contrary to his Godmother's instructions and\nmake an independent excursion into the great world.\n\nSeven Spot persisted, but when he saw that Tom would not be persuaded,\nhe said: \"My dear Tom, it is true that you suffered very much when you\ncame out; but that is because you live with human beings and do not know\nyour true place in life, nor your own friends. What kind of a life have\nyou among humans? Although your Godmother loves you, you are neither her\nchild nor her friend. Your real life is among the gnomes, but, since\nthere are none left, you should dwell with their good friends who are\nlike you in many respects. They will welcome and honor you. With them\nyou can live in peace and happiness, and who knows if you might not find\namong them some one dear to your heart? But if you do not wish to go, I\nwill fly back to my people and tell them that my mission was in vain.\"\n\nAfter this long speech, Mr. Seven Spot raised his shells indifferently\nand aired his wings; but he did not fly away. Instead, he lighted on the\npistil of the fuchsia and started to crawl slowly into the blossom.\nLittle Tom was greatly surprised at what he had heard. Who had sent this\nmessenger and who was thinking of him? He begged Seven Spot not to go\naway, but to tell him everything he knew. Seven Spot smiled.\n\n\"Do you think, Little Tom,\" he said, \"that I would dare to enter the\ndwelling of a human being without reason, unless I felt sure of finding\nyou here? Friend Mirmex told me about you on the meadow, where with his\nworkmen he is collecting stores of grain. Then, someone else whom you\nknow very well told us about your past life in the realm of the gnomes.\nWe asked Mirmex to find out how you are living and what you are doing.\nSo, while you were sleeping in the night, his workmen found a way to\nyou, looked over everything very carefully and made a report to us. We\nrealized that you would not find your happiness with human beings and we\nhave, therefore, decided to ask you to come to us and rule over the\nlady-bird realm on the forest pool, since your own kingdom has perished.\nIf you do not wish to accept, we shall all be very sorry and, later, you\nwill recognize that your decision to remain with humans was not to your\nadvantage and somebody will cry for you.\"\n\nLittle Tom was very curious to know who would cry for him and his heart\nwas torn with the hope that he might see again one of his own people.\nPerhaps, after all, he was not alone in the world, but he feared that he\nmight be terribly disappointed. He begged Seven Spot not to torture him,\nbut to tell him who was expecting him. That gentleman only replied that\nhe could say nothing further, as he had given his word of honor, but\nthat Tom should go with him and see for himself.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTom felt as if on thorns. He said that he could go and see, but to\nremain was impossible, as he could not bind himself to do that.\nMoreover, he did not know how to get to the wood. Seven Spot was pleased\nto see that Tom was yielding and said, \"Only prepare your things and\ndress in your finest clothes. In a few minutes, I will return, and you\nneed not bother about your transportation.\" And off he flew.\n\nTom at once set himself to pack his tiny hand-bag. Then he put on a\nbeautiful suit of green and belted his sword about him. When he was\nready, he was impatient to leave. He had barely completed his\npreparations however, when Seven Spot appeared at the window.\n\nLittle Tom, snatching his bag, ran to him at once. There, on the ledge,\nhe saw a gorgeous dragonfly with golden eyes, slim, blue body and\ntransparent rainbow wings. Tom was a little embarrassed before such a\nmagnificent creature; but Seven Spot, without any hesitation, placed\nTom's bag upon the dragonfly and told him to get on its back. In a\ntrice, they were flying like a shot through the warm, summer air.\n\nSuch a wonderful journey it was, under the blue sky, over the broad\nstretches of land, high above the earth. The dragonfly, as if not\nfeeling the burden, sparkled and glistened in the rays of the sun, while\nabove them Seven Spot was flying in great circles.\n\nTom was intoxicated by the swift flight through the beautiful sunshine\nand the fresh breeze, which, far below them, rippled the sea of grain\ninto little waves. Over the slope they flew, across the fields and into\nthe cool twilight of the forest, among the pine trees and the beeches.\nUnder the thick, quiet arches of the leaves, Tom looked around in\nsurprise; but the dragonfly winged his way unerringly, deeper and deeper\ninto the wood, until they came, at last, to the valley where, beyond the\nferns and the colts-foot, shone a dark pool covered with yellow and\nwhite pond lilies.\n\nThere the dragonfly settled into the cool moss. Tom stepped down, but\nbefore he could turn and thank this kind friend, the dragonfly had sped\nup in the air like a colored spark and disappeared among the yellow\ncandles of the cat tails.\n\nIt seemed to Tom as if he had landed in some magic kingdom. All about\nhim were growing gigantic willow-herbs with thick bunches of little red\nblossoms, broad crowns of yellow lettuce and water crow-feet on thin,\nspreading stalks, with their tender little heads sparkling like white\nflames. Everything was radiant, glittering with bright colors, and\nperfumed with the sweet odors of the forest.\n\nWhen Tom turned around, he found Seven Spot standing beside him. He\ninvited Tom to come with him, saying that all the lady-birds were\nwaiting. They went under an arch of green leaves and through a lofty\ngreen palace to the sprays of sweet-smelling mint by the water. On the\nleaves of the mint, were sitting, side by side, hundreds and hundreds of\nlady-birds, in colors of gold, brown, violet, red and yellow. All\ncrowded forward to see the guest, whom they greeted with cheers.\n\nLittle Tom was led by the crowd to the shore of the pool, where a great\nwater-bug waited. Tom sat on this smooth, shiny back, and off he went\nlike a shot over the water to a broad water-lily leaf, where a grand\nbanquet was prepared. The lady-birds flew ahead and, lighting on a leaf,\nwaited for him, their brilliant colors looking like a border of\nsparkling gems. When Tom arrived, Seven Spot stepped out from the crowd\nand welcomed him with a touching speech.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Prince Tom, be welcomed to our Lady-bird Kingdom. Long have we waited\nfor you and now respectfully beg you to be our king, rule over our land\nand take for your wife the true comrade of your youth, who, at the time\nof the flood, was visiting us and so was saved.\"\n\nAs soon as Seven Spot stopped speaking, the water lily opened and out\nstepped a golden haired girl in a violet dress. \"Chrysomela\" cried Tom\nand ran to her with open arms.\n\n\"Long live our King, Little Tom!\" was shouted on all sides in a loud\nchorus, while a great crowd of golden flies flew around and around the\npool and a merry choir sang to celebrate the fete.\n\nTom was quite beside himself with happiness. The sad past faded away\nand he saw only before him the goldenhaired girl, who smiled at him from\nher blue eyes. They held each other's hands and talked and talked, until\nSeven Spot interrupted them to ask them to sit down to the banquet and\naccept the homage of their subjects.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe banquet was magnificent. Stuffed tiny snails, salad of flower\ntendrils, a giant whitebait born by four cooks on a dog-rose leaf, mint\ncandies, and, for drinking, blackberry wine drawn directly from a great\nberry standing on the edge of the leaf.\n\nWhen they began to feast, beautiful music sounded. It was the famous\nGnat Quartette, two gnats playing violins, a small cicada, the cello and\na wood-bee, the bass viol. Joyous strains rang through the warm summer\nair. Presently, a swarm of gnats hovered over the water close by,\ndancing a graceful ballet; and, when they had finished, there came a\ndragonfly who gave an acrobatic performance with giddy jumps and dizzy\nwhirling.\n\nThe rest of the kingdom of the lady-birds were sitting all around the\nshore of the pool on mint and ferns, cheering and shouting with joy. On\na fallen trunk by the water, sat a sedate group of water-bugs chewing\nyoung tendrils and nodding approval with their beards.\n\nBy the time the celebration was finished, evening had come and a serious\nbrown water-bug came up to invite them to visit the wood-bugs mines. In\na long procession, they followed him to a powerful, old beech, where he\nconducted them through deep, long corridors to a hollow in the tree\narranged as a beautiful hall, in which Little Tom and Chrysomela might\nhave their home. Tom was wondering how they could live there without\nfurniture or utensils; but when he stepped inside, he was struck with\nsurprise.\n\nThe great hall was lighted from above by dry wood, which glowed with a\nsubdued, blue light showing all his own furnishings from Castle Easter\nEgg, neatly arranged around the walls; all the drawers were in the\ncupboards, all the utensils were there, not even a cup was missing.\n\nBy the entrance stood Mirmex, with a whole regiment of his ants. He\nsaid, \"I welcome you to your new kingdom and ask you to be our good\nneighbor, as we used to be with your father.\"\n\nWhen Tom had flown away to the lily pond, the ants had moved all his\nbelongings and arranged everything in the new palace. They knew very\nwell, when Tom had seen Chrysomela, that he would not return to his\nGodmother.\n\nTom thanked them all very heartily and Mirmex asked him to visit their\nBlack Town on the morrow, which he gladly promised to do, remembering\nhow his father had planned to send him there to learn how to rule a\nkingdom.\n\nAfter all had said good night, Little Tom and Chrysomela remained in\ntheir new home while the crickets under the beech sang them a serenade.\n\nIn the morning, when they came out of the old beech, they were greeted\nby a choir of crickets whose music rang clear to the tops of the trees.\nAlready, Mirmex and some of the ants, were standing before the entrance,\namong them a brilliant, green rose-bug for carrying Tom to Black Town.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMany onlookers stood about. The Lady-birds greeted their new king, while\nsnails on the mushrooms stretched up their heads, so that they, too,\ncould see what was going on. Golden flies crowded around in swarms,\nwhile on the path stood a line of wood-bugs as a guard of honor.\n\nAfter saying good-bye to Chrysomela, Tom went down to the moss and\ngreeted his friends the ants. Chrysomela was very sad that he was\nleaving her so soon and almost wept. She was afraid that she might lose\nhim again, as they were so alone in the great world; but Tom soothed her\nby saying that he would surely return the next day, and that he was\nobliged to make this visit to their neighbors to honor them and fulfil\nhis father's wish.\n\nThen they arranged with Seven Spot where they should meet him and Seven\nSpot proposed that, immediately on his return, Tom and Chrysomela should\naccompany him to inspect their own kingdom.\n\nWhen all preparations had been completed, Tom, in full armor, jumped\nupon the rose-bug, the noisy trumpets of the gadflies sounded and the\ngreat procession started for Black Town.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nCHAPTER EIGHT.\n\nTHE ANTS' TOWN.\n\n  LITTLE TOM GOES INTO THE CITY OF THE ANTS.\n  MIRMEX TELLS HIM ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF THE ANTS.\n  THE WELCOMING. THE WALK THROUGH THE CITY.\n  THE WORMS AND THE CHRYSALISES.\n  MIRMEX TELLS ABOUT THE REDHEADS AND THEIR\n  SLAVES.\n  THE DESERTED CITY.\n  THE STORE-HOUSES, THE STABLES, THE HOT-BEDS.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe procession went on through the silent wood and the morning mists.\nThousands of dew drops sparkled like diamonds in the moss. Overhead hung\nbranches of billberry heavily laden with dark fruit, while, on either\nside, bright red berries peered from the leaves. After they had passed\nthe moss plain, they came upon gigantic rocks strewn along the pathway\nof the ants in the dry spines. They crossed by these stones over little\nvalleys and passing across tree roots, came to a clearing on the border\nof the Ants kingdom.\n\nThere was a great crowd of ants waiting to welcome them. An old ant\ngreeted Tom in the name of the whole community and, thanking him for the\nhonor of his visit, placed himself in front of the procession, which at\nonce began to move along the broad path.\n\nTom noticed how the surroundings immediately changed. On all sides, were\ngangs of diligent workers, crossing or walking along the path, pulling\nbeams, stones and dead flies, hurrying in their work and paying no heed\nto the procession. The nearer they came to the town, the greater became\nthe crowds, while the path broadened and was hard, level and free from\nall obstructions. Presently, it opened into a broader clearing, from\nwhich moss, grass and sticks had been cleared away. In the background,\nappeared a great mound known as Black Town.\n\nOn the way, Mirmex sat with Little Tom on the rose-bug and explained to\nhim how the town was founded. First, a sheltered location was chosen\nunder a tall pine tree, in the clear sun, but with the branches serving\nas a protection in case of rain. Then, paths were laid out in various\ndirections where there was plenty of building materials, while\nmessengers were sent out to explore the broader country beyond where one\ncould find precious grains of grass or hunt green bugs. To such places\nthey at once laid out the shortest paths, stamped hard and made\nperfectly smooth, tore out all the roots and built bridges over the\nmarsh and other inaccessible places.\n\nWhile Mirmex talked, he became very affable. Tom listened to him most\nattentively and while he did not understand everything that was told\nhim, nevertheless, he recognized that there was a great difference\nbetween the realm of the ants and that of the ladybirds. The latter were\nliving a carefree life, dancing and making merry the whole day long,\nwhile the ants had a very strict discipline, divided their work\ncarefully among themselves and made provision for the welfare of their\ndescendants and for the protection of the town.\n\nTom decided that, on this visit, he would merely look over their\narrangements, and, later, would return to them with Chrysomela, in order\nto study their methods of administration, so that he could apply them in\nhis ladybird kingdom.\n\nFinally, they arrived at the level plain before the town, where the\nnoise of the working ants did not cease. The entire surface of the town\nwas covered by workers, running and building, while there was a constant\ncrowd carrying burdens through the gates of the town. Tom noticed a\nstrong perfume that seemed to come from the town itself. After he had\ndismounted from the rose-bug, he was led through a broad corridor within\nthe ants mound, where in a low, but solidly constructed hall,\nrefreshments had been prepared, consisting of grass grains, delicious,\npalatable bulbs that seemed to melt on the tongue, and sweet juices of\nwhich Tom had never seen the like, but which tasted very good to him.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAccording to their habit the ants ate so rapidly, that Little Tom could\nhardly keep up with them. After they had finished, Mirmex asked what he\nwould like to see first: The building, the division and character of the\ndaily work, or the storehouses. Tom replied politely that everything was\nof interest to him and that he would leave the selection to Mirmex's\njudgment.\n\nThey took leave of the others, who were becoming anxious to return to\ntheir work and then Mirmex said, \"First, I will show you what is most\nprecious and dear to us and our future generation\".\n\nThey walked through a long corridor, deep in the town. In the darkness,\nMirmex ran along confidently, only here and there touching the walls,\nwhile Little Tom was obliged to grope his way. He was hot and the strong\nfragrance was almost overpowering, while every now and then he bumped\ninto workmen hurrying and quickly passing around them. Finally, they\ncame into a series of dry, warm halls, and when Tom became accustomed to\nthe darkness, he perceived thousands of little, light worms that were\nstretching their necks and turning their little black heads.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWorkmen were running among them, pushing into their little mouths a\nsweet porridge and thus feeding them. Mirmex silently watched the\ncareful attention of the workers for a moment and then said, \"These are\nour youth, our pride and hope. They were born from eggs and when they\ngrow up, will enclose themselves in chrysalises from which they will\ncome out as ants, our descendants. Our chief concern is that they have a\ngood living place, neither wet nor cool and that they have enough\nporridge, so that they will develop properly.\"\n\nTom was greatly touched by the ants' care of their little ones, and was\nsurprised that they had such experienced and skilful nurses who seemed\nto love their wards so tenderly.\n\nThey went up one story higher and found, lying on the floor, thousands\nof white chrysalises all wrapped up in silken coverings. A number of the\nants were taking these chrysalises in their strong jaws and carrying\nthem out through a broad corridor at the end of which daylight was\nshining. Following them, Tom and Mirmex came out under a thick arch of\npine needles, through which circles had been bitten, to allow the rays\nof the sun to strike the ant hill. On these dry places where the sun was\nshining, the ants placed the chrysalises side by side, so that they\nshould be warmed in its rays.\n\nThe entire top of the town was covered by stones over which were placed\npine needles to shed the water when it rained. Mirmex and Tom stepped up\non one of these stones and looked about them. They saw roads like white\nthreads, that lost themselves in the high grass and moss. All over the\ntown were the thickly crowded workmen, while other groups were hurrying\nalong the paths.\n\nMirmex explained to Tom the troubles they had with the chrysalises. In\nthe mound were corridors of different temperatures so that, according to\nthe weather, the chrysalises could be taken where the conditions were\nfavorable, while, on clear, dry days, they were brought out in the sun.\n\nReturning inside into a different hall, Little Tom was given a surprise.\nOn the floor were lying many chrysalises and on them were ants biting\nand tearing their silk coverings. Tom thought that the ants wanted to\neat their young, but soon saw that from the white coverings, little\nblack heads with shining black bodies were trying to get out and with\nwhat pleasure the nurses were welcoming them, cleaning them, stretching\ntheir cramped legs and their bent-up feelers, bringing them food and\nteaching them how to eat.\n\nIt was touching to see the little fellows, looking around in surprise,\nfalling clumsily about and throwing themselves eagerly on the sweet\nporridge. From the hall led two other corridors, sloping downward, and,\nas Tom was looking into them, Mirmex came to him and said: \"These are\nsafety exits. When danger threatens, through one of these the workers\ncarry the chrysalises outside, where they crawl on the flowers and the\ngrass, as our enemies cannot reach these heights. Through the second,\nthey can go into the depths of the town and there hide the chrysalises\nin the secret chambers.\"\n\nAs Mirmex led him through the first exit which opened at the opposite\nend of the town, directly into the highgrowing grass, which the ants had\nspared, Tom wondered what sort of enemies threatened the ants. As they\nwalked along Mirmex enlightened him.\n\n\"Since unremembered time, the ants have had a great enemy, the Redheads.\nThey are larger than we, ugly, red fellows and cruel, rough fighters.\nFrom early childhood they do nothing but perfect themselves in fighting\nand robbing. They do not understand work and do not even know how to eat\nby themselves. The have long jaws sharp as a lance, with which, at one\nstroke, they can pierce an enemy's head. Their slaves do all their work,\nbuild their town, care for their children, gather their stock and also\nfeed them. The slaves are in greater numbers than their masters and\ncould let them die from hunger, yet they never revolt, having no idea of\nthe freedom and liberty of the ants in their independent realm. That is\nbecause they have never lived in freedom. The Redheads are not\ninterested in their grown-up enemies, whom they slay, but they steal the\nchrysalises, which they give into the care of the slaves. These the\nslaves care for, bringing up the little ants and teaching them how to\nwork for their masters. The youths know nothing of the life of the\nnation from which they came, only knowing how to work for their masters\nand their descendants.\"\n\n\"You see how efficiently one works here with us. Everyone knows exactly\nhis task and does it unceasingly until his last breath, and all work for\nthe good of the community. The workman gladly performs his task. He is\nmodest and knows neither pleasure nor idleness. His only consolation is\nthe proper result of his labors, but he feels himself free, knowing that\nhe is creating strong and healthy descendants and is insuring the\nfreedom and liberty of the whole nation.\"\n\n\"Our descendants would prefer to die rather than serve foreign masters.\nThis the Redheads well know and, therefore, they take the ungrown\nchildren, who know nothing of the world, and train them as their slaves.\nMany, many thousands of our people are serving them truly and devotedly,\nbut are forever lost to us.\"\n\n\"But why do you not instruct them,\" asked Tom excitedly? \"Why do you not\nexplain how degrading it is to deny one's own people and serve\nstrangers, altogether abandoning one's own nation?\"\n\n\"That is all in vain,\" replied Mirmex. \"Who grows up a slave will remain\na slave. They are quite satisfied with their fate and do not understand\nwhy they would be better off with us. If they should leave their\nmasters, they would not feel happy with us.\"\n\n\"Then why do you not prepare yourselves and not let them capture the\nchrysalises? Why do you not perfect yourselves in fighting and kill them\nwhen they come against you?\" Little Tom was almost beside himself with\nanger and longed to lead an expedition against the Redheads and destroy\nthem, but Mirmex remained cool and undisturbed.\n\n\"They are stronger in body and more skilled in fighting,\" he answered.\n\"If we wanted to ruin them, we should have to give up our manner of\nliving; we should have to devote ourselves to fighting, warring and\ngaining skill in arms. Who among us would then attend to the\nagricultural work? Then we should be like them, murderers and robbers,\nliving only on the work of others, and that we do not wish to be. We try\nto defend ourselves and at the same time not change our mode of life. We\nbuild our towns far from the Redheads and, if necessary, would rather\nmove away from them. We station guards over our entire territory and, if\nwe are attacked, meet the enemy bravely. We also know how to fight. Our\nworkmen are skilful and when the worst comes, they become very good\nfighters. We have often defeated the Redheads and driven them away from\nour town; but we do not attack their towns or rob them. The Redheads\navoid our large towns and attack those that are young and newly\nestablished. Only when they lack slaves, do they attack our principal\ncommunities. As for us, we are satisfied to stand up for our rights,\ndefend our liberty and our young ones, and live according to our\ndestiny.\"\n\nLittle Tom looked admiringly at Mirmex, who was talking quietly and\nearnestly, but Tom felt his genuine loyalty to his native town and his\npassionate love for freedom.\n\nIn the meantime, they came to a lonely part at the back of the town,\nwhere the corridors were ruined and the surface covered with dust. Tom\nasked in surprise, why such a large part of the town was left in ruins.\nMirmex explained that this was the oldest portion which had been well\nfounded, but, overhead in the pine tree, something had happened. A\nbranch had been torn off by the wind, so that the town was not properly\nprotected from the rain and the chrysalises were threatened by the\ndampness. Therefore, they started to build new halls a little farther\nalong, where it was drier and better sheltered, until the town was\nhigher and larger, into which they would then move their stores and the\nchrysalises.\n\nThen Mirmex asked Tom to go with him and look at the storehouses; so\nthey went back to the town and passed through winding corridors to great\nrooms, where they met many ants carrying heavy burdens. Tom saw the\nrooms piled clear to the top with little grains dried and cleaned. In\none room many ants were sitting, some cleaning the grains, others\nblowing away the chaff and still others stacking up the finished\nproduct. Others gathered up the refuse and carried it outside the ant\nhill.\n\n\"These,\" said Mirmex, \"are our granaries and our stores for bad seasons.\nThere are enough supplies here to support the town for a long while.\"\n\nThen they went to a hall higher up, where the porridge for the\nchrysalises was being prepared, and there Tom saw workers hurrying out\nof the nests with empty coverings of the chrysalises. He thought how\nthis soft silk used to be brought by the gnome merchants to his father\nand how, at home, they were woven into precious silken garments.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nFrom the granaries and kitchens, they came to the stalls, where Tom saw\ngreen bugs, fat and lazy, crawling under a low arch. From the back of\neach bug extended two little tubes, through which the ants were sucking\nas they tickled the bugs with their feelers. Tom was surprised again,\nwhen Mirmex explained that, through these tubes, the bugs let out a\nsweet juice, of which the ants are very fond. \"We keep many of them\nhere,\" continued Mirmex, \"for the workers engaged in the town. Those who\nare working outside, have their large stalls on the flowers.\"\n\nTom asked why the bugs on the flowers did not run away and Mirmex told\nhim, that where there were enough bugs on a flower, the ants surrounded\nit with trenches and ramparts, so that the bugs were in captivity and\ncould not escape. \"There they stay in their captivity and do not have to\nbe fed and the workmen do not have to return to the town to drink,\" he\nadded.\n\nLittle Tom sincerely admired the whole arrangement of the ants town.\nThis pleased Mirmex. \"Let us go a little further,\" he continued. \"I will\nnext show you our hot-beds.\" They went along a narrow corridor, and Tom,\ntouching the walls, found them damp. They passed through rooms that were\nvery hot, until they reached a low chamber which was filled with damp,\nround leaves, while the walls were covered with mildew. Tom did not care\nto go into this damp hot bed, but Mirmex laughed.\n\n\"Do you remember,\" he inquired, \"how you helped us build a crossing over\nthe strip of glue on the rose-bush in the garden? At that time you were\ncurious to know why we were biting out little circles from the rose\nleaves and were carrying them away. Here you see the leaves piled up in\nheaps. In this part of the mound grows a mushroom. Here it is damp. The\nwater comes from a near-by mossfield and the dampness is good for the\nmushroom mildew. It puts out little thin stalks that grow up from the\nrose leaves.\"\n\nTom noticed that the heaps were covered with long stalks which\nsurrounded them like grass. While he was looking at them, many ants came\ninto the room. One examined the stalks to see if they were sufficiently\ngrown and then they started to work. One after the other, they bit the\nshoots on the end. Mirmex conducted Tom into the second room, so as not\nto be in the way of the workers. There were no longer stalks on the\nleaves but, in their place, stunted, round bulbs as if the heap were\ncovered with pin heads.\n\n\"If we should allow the shoots to grow\", remarked Mirmex, \"they would\nfill the whole room and be of no use; therefore, we must bite them on\nthe end, and so the shoots are stunted and grow into the broad, juicy\nbulbs which are our best food.\"\n\nTom tasted one or two of the bulbs and found them very good. They were\nslightly sweet and full of juice. He envied the ants their clever mode\nof living. He doubted if he would be able to bring the Ladybirds to such\na degree of perfection; but when they were leaving the halls, he thought\nthat, after all, the life of the Ladybirds was better, more beautiful,\nfresher, and more joyous, being spent in pleasure under the great,\nbright sky, without troubles, without heavy labor, and full of happiness\nand merriment.\n\nHe thought that he would speak to Mirmex about it and ask him why the\nants have no pleasure and merriment, if life is so serious that all the\ntime it is necessary to worry and work and be on guard and not to have\none moment of relief or time for one's own pleasure.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nCHAPTER NINE.\n\nTHE WAR OF THE ANTS.\n\n  THE PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.\n  LITTLE TOM BECOMES THE COMMANDER OF THE\n  BLACK TOWN.\n  THE AMBUSCADE OF THE REDHEADS.\n  LITTLE TOM'S VICTORY. THE PURSUIT OF THE ENEMY.\n  LITTLE TOM TAKEN CAPTIVE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWhen they came to the square before the town, Tom told Mirmex of his\ndoubts, but before the latter could answer they perceived an ant\nhurrying at great speed out of the moss and barely succeeding in\nstaggering around them to the gate. Mirmex looked after him in\nastonishment, but, at this moment, a crowd of the workmen ran out,\nquickly divided themselves into groups, and took their stations on the\nroads in every direction.\n\nThe whole town was swarming with workmen, hurrying out, and with the\nnurses who were quickly carrying the chrysalises from the place where\nthey had been sunning themselves, inside the mound. Some exciting\nmessage had set the town in an uproar.\n\nMirmex immediately disappeared through the gate and Tom was left to look\non the excited turmoil. It seemed to him the wildest disorder, that\nevery one was hustling and running around, as if bereft of reason; but\nhe soon saw that all this bustling was part of a carefully directed plan\nand that something was being carried out that he did not understand.\n\nFrom the gates were coming ants who stretched themselves in long,\nwell-ordered lines and then disappeared in the moss. Work in the town\nceased, and at once the whole surface was deserted; but from all the\nroads, crowds of ants came quickly into the square, where they formed\nthemselves in battle array.\n\nTom finally recognized that the preparations were for battle. At that\nmoment, Mirmex came up to him and started leading him into the town,\ntelling him that news had come of a marauding expedition of the\nRedheads.\n\nThe guards on the borders had seen some Redheads spying about and had\ncaught some black slaves, from whom they learned that, since early\nmorning, the Redheads had been planning a most formidable expedition. At\nfirst, they thought the Redheads were planning to attack a small town by\nthe brook, in the forest, but they sent out some spies of their own who\ncame upon a great crowd of Redheads gathering by the stumps on the\nclearing leading to Black Town, and they at once sent in the messenger\nto give the alarm.\n\n\"This will be a battle such as we have never seen,\" said Mirmex. \"The\nRedheads have all gone into this attack in which they have formed great\narmies. In all probability, they wish to rob us, not only of our\nchildren but of our large harvests. They themselves live deep in the\nvalley, where there is little grass and the country is not rich, while\nthey know that we are close to the fields and gardens from which we\nhave, this year, gathered great stores of food. This time it will be a\nfight for life or death. Fortunately, we have time to send out\nmessengers and collect all our strength and to form our army.\"\n\nTom was trembling with excitement and asked to be allowed to fight in\nthe first rank and to help in the victory over the robbers. Mirmex\nthanked him. \"You will be most welcome,\" he said, \"but you cannot go\ninto the field, for you do not know our way of fighting. It is not a\nquestion of personal bravery but of a sound plan based on our knowledge\nof the ground. We are not afraid of the result, for we are well prepared\nand all that we need is the full strength of our numbers to equalize the\ngreater weight and the better fighting equipment of our enemies. The\nonly thing we fear is the treacherous attack of some reserve force, for\nthe Redheads are very crafty and know how to conceal their plans and we\nare quite likely to be attacked in the town while our forces are all in\nthe field.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"We ought to leave a garrison to defend the town. Therefore, we will ask\nyou to remain for its defense, in which case a small group with you will\nbe sufficient. Then we will not fear that anything will happen behind\nour backs, while we are out in the field.\"\n\nTom thanked Mirmex for this confidence and promised him that he would\ndefend the town to his last breath.\n\nIn the meantime, the last divisions were disappearing in the moss and in\nthe grass. The town became quiet; only some guards were running on the\nstones at the top and crawling up the flowers in the square. A small\ngarrison remained at the crossroads and watched the last of the soldiers\nmarching toward the depths of the wood. Mirmex quickly said good-bye and\nalso disappeared. Tom returned to the town, as he wanted to mount to the\ntop and take a look around the country.\n\nThus a terrible war started which completely changed Tom's fate.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe broad country around the ants' town was almost deserted. Tom saw\nonly his garrison in the square, the guards hiding in the blossoms of\nhawkweed and grass stems, groups of workmen putting various things in\norder, and the nurses in perturbation, running all over the town and\ntaking care of the entrances where they had placed the chrysalises.\n\nTom ran down from the top of the mound, saw that there were guards at\nthe magazines and went out to take a look at the surroundings. At the\ngate, he met two guards who were leading his rose-bug steed out of the\nstall, having been ordered by Mirmex to get him ready, in case Tom\nshould need him in the fight. Tom at once mounted and rode to the\nheather, to see if there was any danger threatening the town in that\ndirection.\n\nOn the way, he thought of his friends and wondered how they were getting\non in the fight; then he thought of Chrysomela and decided that after\nthe battle he would send her a message, lest she should worry about him.\n\nAs he rode through the moss, he saw behind a stone at one side, two\nlittle red spots moving. They seemed, at first, only two dry twigs, but\ntheir movement was suspicious. He rode along slowly as if he did not see\nthem, but when he had come up to them, he jumped down suddenly and with\ndrawn sword threw himself behind the stone; there he found a Redhead\nwhom he cut in two. The moss moved and there were two other Redheads\nrunning away. Tom left them, mounted hurriedly and rode back to the town\nas fast as he could go. It was high time.\n\nThe reserves of the Redhead army were stealing through the heather to\nthe town, hoping to find it weakly guarded and to plunder it. When a\nmessenger reached them reporting how a giant had killed one of their\nspies, they were greatly surprised; but they did not suspect that Tom\nwas an ally of the Black Ants, so they became quieted, thinking that the\ngiant had met their spies only by accident, and started forward toward\nthe town.\n\nTom ordered all the guards to be brought back to the town, so that they\nshould not be surprised by the attack of the Redheads, and placed part\nof the garrison on top of the town and the rest in the grass close by.\nHe already knew whence the attack would come and was prepared to meet\nit.\n\nThe Redheads crawled carefully through the moss and when they did not\nencounter any guards, they thought that the Black Ants did not suspect\nthat they had reserves. They soon came out on the square and ran in a\ngreat crowd to the town which seemed to be deserted. As soon as they\ncame close, Tom sent the garrison hidden by the gates to attack them.\nAlthough taken by surprise, the Redheads defended themselves bravely.\n\nThey struck the defenders with their long, sharp jaws and in a compact\nbody, pushed forward toward the main gate. At this moment, out of the\ngate came Tom with his band of selected workers, and wherever he struck\nwith his sword, off flew a red head or a foot. Then, two or three of his\ncompanions would throw themselves on the red fighters, biting their feet\nand backs. The Redheads became afraid and leaving many dead and wounded\non the square, ran headlong for the moss.\n\nAt this moment, a great company of Black Ants that had hidden in the\ngrass, came out and met them. A terrible fight followed and only a few\nof the Redheads were able to beat their way through the black ranks and\nreturn as best they could to the rest of their army.\n\nTom was not satisfied with this victory. He sat on his rose-bug and, in\nhis rage, wished to exterminate the Redheads altogether. All his friends\nbegged him not to leave the town, but he was burning for revenge.\nLeaving the older men on guard, he chose a group of young, enthusiastic\nworkers and hurried with them after the retreating enemy.\n\nMoss, red and blue berries, sped by them as they hastened on and,\nwhenever they came to one of their foes lagging behind, they immediately\ncut him to pieces. The rose-bug, who also became enthusiastic over the\nfight, was soon running at the head of the scattered crowd and wherever\nhe saw a Redhead easily overtook him, when Little Tom would cut him down\nwith his sword. So they ran blindly ahead, paying little heed to\nanything, intoxicated with their victory.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nNow brave Little Tom did not know the sly cunning of his foes. The\nfleeing ones scattered broadly as they made for their home. The\nstrongest among them, however, stopped a moment and, hiding themselves,\nnoticed that Tom was riding almost alone, having outridden his own\ntroop. Then they ran as fast as they could to their home, where they\nfound a swarm of slaves awaiting the results of the main battle. With\nthem were many of their masters in great excitement. They had received\nmany discouraging reports. Many fighters had been lost and the army was\nbeing pressed back, step by step.\n\nTom was really dreaming how he would attack the deserted Red Town, start\na revolt of the black slaves and fall upon their army in the rear, thus\ncompleting the victory. He did not even wait for his scattered party to\ncatch up with him and, as soon as he saw the black slaves, immediately\nurged his steed after them. The slaves became frightened at the sight of\nthis victorious giant on a golden horse and turned around, running in\ndesperate fright with Tom galloping after them.\n\nAt this moment, some of those who were retreating came up and reported\nthat just behind them was a great giant at the head of a band of Black\nfighters, heading straight for their town. Immediately, they gathered\nthemselves together and, hiding all along the path, sent some black\nslaves toward Tom. They knew these slaves could not fight, but would\nstart to run away from Tom and thus draw him on.\n\nAlready, before him, appeared the town and he was almost on the square\nin front of it, when the Red fighters came out of their ambush and threw\nthemselves on the rose-bug. He stopped. Tom struck around him into the\nred bodies which squirmed under his blows; but the clever fighters,\nprotected by the bodies of their fallen comrades, attacked him by biting\nhis feet with their powerful jaws, until he slipped and fell to the\nground.\n\nBefore he could get up, they rendered him unconscious and ordered the\nslaves to drag him victoriously into the town. There they took away\neverything that he had, bit his clothes to pieces and left him\nunconscious in a dark dungeon.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nCHAPTER TEN.\n\nLITTLE TOM IN CAPTIVITY AND FREEDOM.\n\n  THE DEFEAT OF THE REDHEADS.\n  MIRMEX TRIES TO FIND LITTLE TOM.\n  LITTLE TOM IN PRISON.\n  THE BANQUET OF THE REDHEADS.\n  LITTLE TOM BECOMES AN ARCHITECT.\n  HIS WALKS TO THE BROOK.\n  SEVEN SPOT DISCOVERS THE WHEREABOUTS OF\n  LITTLE TOM.\n  LITTLE TOM SAVED BY THE WOOD-BUG.\n  LITTLE TOM AND CHRYSOMELA.\n  THE PREPARATIONS FOR THE WINTER-SLEEP.\n  LITTLE TOM AND CHRYSOMELA SET OUT ON THEIR\n  WAY TO THE ABODES OF MEN.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Red fighters returned to their nest in disorder and were very angry.\nThey had lost the battle. The Blacks, after chasing them away, stopped\nthe pursuit and returned to their homes. Mirmex hurried along among the\nfirst to learn how things were going in the town. When he approached,\nthe guards hurried out to meet him with great joy and told him how Tom\nhad defeated the treacherous attack of the Reds and how the town was\nuntouched.\n\nMirmex at once looked for Tom to thank him and was surprised that he did\nnot come to greet him. When he learned that Tom had gone in pursuit of\nthe fleeing enemy, he was greatly troubled. He knew Tom's brave heart\nand also the cool, treacherous Redheads and he feared for the worst.\n\nThe town quickly resumed its normal life. Workers cleared the square and\nremoved the dead bodies, while the nurses carried the chrysalises back\nto the upper stories; everything moved along in the regular channels,\nonly Mirmex ran impatiently out to the paths looking and waiting for\nTom's return.\n\nBut he did not return. Towards evening, the tired warriors who had\naccompanied him, returned and told of his brave fight and his capture.\nThey related how he was overpowered and pulled away before they could\nrun to his rescue.\n\nThe entire town was very sad over the fate of its brave defender. Mirmex\nwent himself to announce the sad news to Chrysomela and the Ladybird\nkingdom. There was no thought of rescue. In their defenses the Red\nfighters were invincible. This the Black Ants knew very well. Therefore\nthey gave up the idea of trying to free Tom. They again took up the work\nthat had been interrupted by the fight and could no longer be delayed,\nas they were preparing for the winter.\n\nIn the meantime, Tom was lying wounded and unconscious in the nest of\nthe Redheads, who crawled over him and looked at him with the greatest\ncuriosity. When he finally revived, he could not move and lay for a long\nwhile trying to think where he was. He felt the touch of feelers and\nfeet, which he began to push away, but was at once bitten. Then he\nremembered his defeat and that he was in captivity.\n\nWhen the Redheads saw that Tom was becoming conscious, they gathered\naround him. He raised himself to a sitting position with difficulty and\nlooked about. He saw that they had brought him a kind of porridge with\nlittle seeds in it, but he was not hungry. His wounds burned and he had\na fever. When he fully recalled all that had happened, he almost cried\nwith sorrow. All his dreams of capturing the town had melted away, and\nhis friends had vanished. What was to happen to Chrysomela? In vain, she\nwould be waiting and watching for her hero to return. And what would\nhappen to him?\n\nWhen the Redheads had looked at Tom long enough to satisfy their\ncuriosity, they left him alone; but he noted that the little hall was\nwell guarded and that they were watching to see what he would do when he\ncould again control the strength of his limbs. After his pain and\nsadness had passed, he did not by any means give up all hope. He thought\nthat Mirmex would surely learn of his fate and tell what had happened to\nthe ladybirds, and his friends would plan how to set him free.\n\nOf course they were powerless against the Redheads and would not dare to\nattack their town. He himself, without armor and with torn clothes would\nnot dare to pit his strength alone against his captors. He had observed\nthat they were quarrelsome, doughty and well armed.\n\nIf he should stand up against them, even if he could kill some of them,\nhe would be wounded and very likely be killed himself. He realized that,\nfirst of all, he must regain his strength, act very quietly so as not to\narouse suspicion, and wait for an opportunity to escape. Therefore, he\nsat quietly all day long, ate the unpalatable seed porridge, until he\nfelt that he had quite recovered his strength.\n\nThe Redheads noticed that he was beginning to walk about and appearing\nbetter; so, one morning, they sent a few slaves to him to request him to\ngo out with them. He accompanied them quietly through the corridors and\nout on the square where many fighters had gathered. They sat around him\nin a dense circle, proud in manner and not seeming to notice anything\nwhile they were being served by their slaves.\n\nTom saw how the slaves swarmed about them, bringing to them quantities\nof food. Each fighter simply opened his terrible jaws and the obliging\nslaves quickly and skilfully thrust in morsels of tasty food. None of\nthem wanted to be kept waiting a minute, and if he did not immediately\nget his morsel he would pitilessly grasp the slave by the foot and\nremind him of his duty.\n\nTom paled with anger when he saw all this, and waited to see what would\nhappen next. When the masters had eaten enough, they formed into dense\nbattle array for an expedition and started off, while in the town only\nthe slaves and a few guards remained, walking about without noticing Tom\nin the least.\n\nSome of the slaves ran to Tom and led him through corridors to a great\nhall, whose ceiling had fallen. With their feelers, they pointed to a\nheap of stones and spines. He understood that they were asking him to\nhelp. He thought the best thing to do would be to work and thus gain\ntheir confidence, so that he would not remain all of the time locked up\nin his dark cell.\n\nHe started bravely at the work and the ants saw with surprise how well\nhe knew how to handle the stones and beams, and what a gigantic strength\nhe had. The slaves began to obey him, when he showed them how to clear\naway the fallen pieces, and the fighters themselves admired him, when\nthey saw that he knew how to build, how to support the ceiling with\nbeams, fasten the walls and smoothly level the corners.\n\nTom was very glad to have the work, for the time forgetting his wounds\nand humiliation, and hoped that through it he would regain his freedom.\nWhen the evening came, the work had advanced more than the slaves could\nhave accomplished in weeks; when they had finished, they led Tom back to\nprison.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOn the way, he saw a group of fighters joyously returning. They brought\nwith them many white chrysalises, which the slaves at once took to the\nnest as if they were their own. The last comers brought grains and\nimmediately all began to feast, the slaves as usual bringing them food,\nuntil they could eat no more.\n\nTom knew that, somewhere, they had robbed a Black nest and compensated\nthemselves for their recent defeat. He was sorry that he, too, was their\nslave and obliged to serve them like his black comrades, but he did not\nsee any other way, if he hoped to escape from their clutches.\n\nNext day, he continued his building and the Redheads were greatly\nsurprised, for they had never seen such construction. Then they began to\nshow him a little consideration, feeding him well, but not allowing him\nto go out of the nest. Five or six fighting men never left his side. But\nTom thought out a clever plan. He began to look for large, heavy\nbranches, showing them that it was necessary to have strong, heavy\npillars, in place of the thin spines. The Redheads at once sent out the\nslaves, but they could not drag such heavy beams into the nest. Then\nthey sent Tom with a guard into the wood to select his own beams and\nbring them back. He purposely went very far and kept looking about, as\nif he could not find anything quite suitable.\n\nThe guards followed him patiently and did not leave him a moment. There\nwas no idea of flight on Tom's part. He noticed that the appearance of\nnature had changed. Blossoms had disappeared, the grass was dry and\nyellow, the heather was rustling and through the wood a mist was\nblowing. It was cold, and Little Tom was very uncomfortable in his torn\ndress.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nPresently, they came to a little brook where there was a lot of cut\ntwigs in a pile. There Tom stopped and began to look for hard, straight\nsmall pieces. The ants were biting the dried leaves and the blossoms,\nuntil he had his bundle of beams ready. Then he took one on his shoulder\nand carried it back to the nest. Thus, he worked for a few days, sure of\nbeing allowed to go outside. Every day they would go out, Tom preparing\nthe beams, and hauling them back, while the slaves smoothed the roadway.\n\nOne day, Tom saw on a blackberry a red spot that moved. He looked more\nclosely and recognized his friend, Seven Spot. His throat tightened with\ndelight, but he did not know how to give him a sign without arousing the\nsuspicion of the ants. Then he began to sing at his work as loud as he\ncould. Seven Spot spread his wings and flew away as if he had not seen\nhim. Then Tom knew that everything was well--and that his friends had\nnot forgotten him.\n\nHe was so happy that he worked hard all day long, and the Redheads were\namazed and delighted with his diligence. Then they began to consider how\nfine it would be if Tom would ally himself with them, and go against the\nBlacks and help them to victory. But they did not know Tom.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTom, at first, had planned to jump in the brook and swim to the other\nside, when he should be given an opportunity, but he did not know how he\nshould get to the Ladybirds' kingdom and was afraid that he would lose\nhis way and perish. But now he did not mind, for he hoped that Seven\nSpot would show him the way. All night long he did not sleep from\nexcitement, and in the morning hurried early to the brook.\n\nBut when they reached it, Seven Spot was not to be seen. Tom looked all\naround, but, all day, his friend did not appear. He was quite desperate\nwhen he returned in the evening. The outside work was almost finished.\nThey had beams enough and were now preparing for the winter.\n\nWhat if Tom had made a mistake and Seven Spot had appeared only by\nchance and had not noticed his King? Tom made up his mind that if Seven\nSpot should not come again, he would jump into the brook and swim\nacross. He preferred to die in the wood rather than to spend the rest of\nhis life in captivity with the Black Ants.\n\nWhen, next day, Tom came with his guards to the brook, there was no sign\nof Seven Spot. The last beams were prepared and only waiting to be\ncarried to the nest. Tom stooped to take up one, wondering how he should\nreach the brook, when out of the pile he saw two great, bulging eyes\nlooking straight at him. The pile moved a little, then appeared a pair\nof fierce whiskers and two pincer-like feelers and out came a giant\nWood-bug with broad shoulders and a powerful breast.\n\nTom became frightened and dropped the beam. The Redheads ran towards\nhim, but the Wood-bug with a few steps met them. One he bit in two, the\nsecond he crushed under his foot and, jumping upon the pile, he caught\nTom carefully in his jaws and ran with him into the forest. The slaves\nwere horrified and ran away on all sides; the guards stood stupified,\nbut where was the Wood-bug?\n\nHe ran quickly through the blueberries and, when they were far away, he\nstopped. Placing Little Tom on the ground, he said, \"Now sit on me and\nit will be easier for us both\". Not another word did he say why he had\ncome, or who had sent him.\n\nWith delight, Tom threw his arms around his neck and could not ask him\nenough questions, but the Wood-bug did not say very much and only waved\nhis foot. \"Crawl up, crawl up. You will soon know all. Do not keep them\nwaiting.\"\n\nTom did crawl quickly upon his back and could hardly believe that he was\nfree. The Wood-bug ran without stopping until they came to the old\nbeech. Into the corridor he slipped and carried Tom right into his\nchamber. As soon as his whiskers appeared in the corridor, Chrysomela\nhad come running out, caught Tom in her arms and cried from very joy.\n\nWhen Tom jumped down, the Wood-bug turned and disappeared without\nwaiting to be thanked. As he looked at Chrysomela, Tom became alarmed to\nsee how she had changed. She was pale and thin and only her true, violet\neyes were as bright as formerly.\n\nAt this moment came Seven Spot, dragging himself sleepily along and\nhardly able to keep his feet. He welcomed Little Tom and was pleased\nthat everything had turned out so well. Tom wanted to thank him, but\nSeven Spot disregarded his speech, saying that everything had been done\nthrough Chrysomela and that, without her, nothing would have been\naccomplished.\n\nAfter they had eaten and drunk, they all sat down together and Seven\nSpot related how frightened they all were when Mirmex brought the news\nthat the Redheads had captured Tom and taken him to their town. The\nLadybirds flew everywhere to find their King and made inquiries of the\nsnails, the ground beetles and the grubs, but none of them had seen him.\nThis was probably during the time that he was kept a close prisoner in\nthe Redheads' nest.\n\nThey had begun to fear that the Redheads might have killed Tom for\nrevenge and buried him in some place. Mirmex, also, for a long time, had\nbeen sending out spies and had headed a searching expedition on which he\nhad captured some of the slaves, from whom he learned that Tom was alive\nand well and working inside the town.\n\nMirmex would have liked to have gone to Tom's rescue, but the Black Town\nwas very busy in getting ready for the long winter, while the Ladybirds\nthemselves were beginning to succumb to the coming sleep and were\ndisappearing one after the other. Even Seven Spot was becoming drowsy as\nthe winter languor began to steal over him. With difficulty he kept\nhimself from yielding to the desire for sleep, yawning much in secret,\nbut Chrysomela encouraged him with praise of his real willingness to\nhelp. Every day he flew to the neighborhood of the Red Town, crawling\nall around it, until, one day, he was rewarded by seeing Little Tom come\nout of the town with his guards.\n\nSeven Spot did not want to show himself, so he flew high above the\nprocession, lighting here and there on the bushes, until he discovered\nthe exact spot where Tom was working. Then he sat hidden near by, on a\nwild briar bush, until he discovered the store of beams Tom was\ncollecting. The next day, he came very early and lighting low down, on a\nblackberry, crawled about conspicuously so that Tom would be sure to see\nhim. When he learned that Tom had seen him, he flew back immediately to\nChrysomela to tell her the good news.\n\nThen they planned how they should help Tom to escape, but no good plan\noccurred to them. All that night they could not sleep, and in the\nmorning they again took counsel with one another, but without result,\nuntil, towards evening, when Seven Spot was again describing how Tom was\nworking close to the brook, the Wood-bug suddenly thrust his head into\nthe room and asked just where the spot was. He had been working in the\ncorridor preparing his winter quarters and had overheard what Chrysomela\nand Seven Spot were discussing. When Seven Spot had described the place\nto him and just how one could reach it, Chrysomela begged him to help\nthem with his advice. The Wood-bug listened very carefully, nodding his\nhead now and then. When Seven Spot had finished, he only said \"To-morrow\nI will bring him\", and at once left the room.\n\nAll that night and the next day they waited in the greatest anxiety,\nuntil, finally, the Wood-bug, true to his word, arrived with Little Tom.\nWhen Chrysomela had finished her story, they heard Seven Spot snoring\nloudly and they could hardly waken him. Seven Spot looked up, rubbing\nhis eyes, heavy with sleep.\n\n\"Oh, King,\" he said, speaking with some difficulty, \"I am happy that I\nagain see you, but be good enough to excuse me, for already the winter\nsleep is upon me and I hardly know where I stand.\"\n\nThey took leave of each other and Seven Spot disappeared languidly into\nthe corridor, while Tom was left alone with Chrysomela in their\ndwelling. They sat together until late in the evening, as they had much\nto talk about. When, finally, they were ready to retire, they told each\nother that in the morning they would look over their kingdom.\n\nIn the morning, when they had come out of the beech, they could see\nnothing around them but a white fog which lay on every object. Through\nthe mist, they groped their way to the pool; but there was now no sign\nof the green arches, the yellow cattails, or the red willow herbs.\nEverywhere, were only the ends of bare, brown trunks and dry, rustling\nbushes, while the ground was muddy and the moss soaked with water and\neven from the pool the beautiful water-lilies had disappeared. All\naround them, there was not a single living creature. Empty and sad was\ntheir kingdom, without color, light or perfume.\n\nNowhere was there a sign of the former life, or its delightful charm.\nThey sadly returned to their home, wet and cold, where the Wood-bug\nawaited them. When he finally espied them, he shuffled about on his six\nfeet, nodded with his whiskers and aired his wing shells, until he found\ncourage to speak.\n\n\"When are we going to clear up?\" he inquired.\n\nNeither understood him and asked what he meant. Wood-bug was puzzled\nthat his meaning was not plain. \"Why, clear up for the winter,\" he said.\n\"Where do you wish to sleep?\"\n\nThey tried to explain to him that they did not sleep during the winter.\nNow it was the Wood-bug's turn to be puzzled. Tom did not know what\nwinter was, but when he saw that the whole Ladybird kingdom had\ndisappeared and that all the creatures were preparing for a long sleep,\nhe felt that they must surely perish in the lonely wood. Nothing was\nleft to do, but to seek his Godmother and take Chrysomela to her, asking\nher to forgive them and allow them to stay with her during the winter.\n\nTom begged the Wood-bug to take them to the Godmother in the little hut\nby the field behind the wood, near the brook. The Wood-bug listened\nwithout understanding until he heard the words, \"field behind the wood\".\nThen he said, \"I know where that is. It is where there are no trees and\nno bark. There we will go. In the meantime, I will clear up here and\nclose in everything for the spring.\"\n\nTom put on a warm suit, belted on his sword and prepared a bundle of\nfood, while Chrysomela put on a warm cloak of mole's fur lined with the\nsilk of ants. When they were ready, they stepped out and looked around\nover their kingdom for the last time.\n\nThe sun shone through the clouds, brightening the dry stumps, while the\ncold wind whirled showers of leaves and yellow beech nut shells over the\ndark water. The Wood-bug was waiting for them, so at once they sat down\non his back and started to ride through the forest.\n\nFor a long time they rode quietly. The Wood-bug walked heavily but\nquickly, as the winter sleep was not yet on him. Finally they came to\nthe edge of the forest where there was a road with deep ruts, in which\nstood pools of water. The Wood-bug crossed the road to the stubble\nfield, where he put them down and said, \"This is the field and the path\nof human beings. It is not for us for, if we walk along it, before we\nare aware, we are crushed. Go along the stubble field. There it is safe\nand somewhere down there, you will find the hut.\"\n\nThey wanted to thank him, but the good Wood-bug was already running\nback across the path, hurrying to reach his own little den; so the two\ntravelers started out by themselves to find the human dwelling.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nCHAPTER ELEVEN.\n\nCHRYSOMELA'S DEATH.\n\n  LITTLE TOM AND CHRYSOMELA BETAKE THEMSELVES\n  TO TOM'S GODMOTHER.\n  THEY REST UNDER THE DOG-ROSE.\n  THE WIND SWEEPS THEM INTO A FURROW.\n  THEY WANDER IN THE DARK AND MEET A HAMSTER.\n  IN THE HAMSTER'S BURROW.\n  CHRYSOMELA FALLS ILL AND DIES. THE FUNERAL.\n  THE HAMSTER TAKES LITTLE TOM THROUGH THE SNOW\n  TO THE CHAPEL.\n  LITTLE TOM LEARNS, FROM A MOUSE, ABOUT THE\n  DEATH OF HIS GODMOTHER AND VISITS HER TOMB.\n  HE RETURNS WITH THE HAMSTER.\n  THE SLEDGE OF QUEEN FAIRY.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTom walked with Chrysomela along the edge of the stubble field, down the\nroad; that was all they knew of their direction--that they must always\nbe going down. They expected that the way would not be long, for they\nremembered that, in one day, the ants had brought all their possessions\nfrom the Godmother's house to the wood. They forgot that the ants knew\nthe direction and therefore walked straight over everything, while they,\nnot knowing where to go, had to travel the path of the humans and\ntherefore traveled in a wide circle.\n\nChrysomela was well wrapped up in her cloak and over her head she had\npulled a cobweb veil, so that her golden hair should not fly around, but\non her feet she had only little, light shoes of birch bark. After she\nhad gone a little way, she felt how heavily she was walking over the\nclods by the stubble field and stumbled so that she had to lean on Tom's\nstrong arm.\n\nTom tried to encourage her by telling her that they would soon see the\nhuman dwellings. He decided that if they should see any human being he\nwould speak and ask that they be carried to the Godmother, so that\nChrysomela should not suffer. She was very weak by the time the sun had\ngone down and fogs were coming over the woods. Day after day she had\nbeen sinking. Sorrowing over Tom's captivity had only made her worse,\nbut she was of a brave heart and therefore went on uncomplaining, not\nwishing to trouble Tom. She wondered what she would find at the\nGodmother's house.\n\nOn the way, they did not meet a single living creature. All the little\nanimals were already hidden and only tiny spiders were wafted above them\non silvery threads. The cold breeze blowing through the stubble field\nwas becoming stronger and turning against them. Chrysomela began to\ncough. She controlled herself as best she could, but finally she was\nobliged to ask Tom if they could rest a bit, as the walking was tiring\nher.\n\nBy this time, they had reached the end of the stubble field and had come\nto a wild briar bush, behind which was a freshly ploughed field full of\nglistening furrows. Tom placed Chrysomela on a few dried leaves under\nthe briar and offered her seeds of beech nut and a nice red berry, but\nshe was not hungry and only drank thirstily the blackberry juice from\nhis bottle. Her hands were hot, her little forehead burning; she\ntrembled all over with cold, while her eyes were shining with fever's\nbrightness.\n\nTom stroked her hair and soothed her by telling her how comfortable they\nwould be at Castle Easter Egg with the Godmother. He told her of the\ntree with the golden nuts and sweet dates, and the precious little altar\nwith the kings, shepherds, the Mother and the Baby; but Chrysomela no\nlonger heard him. She leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her\neyes.\n\nTom realized that they would not be able to go any farther that day and\ndreaded the night under the open sky. He covered Chrysomela with a briar\nleaf and seated himself beside her. In a little while, as he was very\ntired, he fell asleep.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSuddenly, he awoke. Already, the darkness was stealing over the county,\nthe evening wind was whistling through the wild briar and playing with\nthe leaves. Tom wanted to protect Chrysomela. He put his arm around her\nwaist and wrapped a rolled up beech leaf around her, but the strong wind\ncaught it up and, whirling it with many others, carried them through the\nair until they fell into a deep furrow.\n\nHere they were sheltered, at least, from the wind and, crawling out from\nthe leaf, they looked around them, but everywhere they could only see\nblack earth slippery and soft like high hills with nowhere any sign of\nhuman traces. They did not know where they were, or whither the wind had\ncarried them.\n\nAll about them was only the dark night, while the cold of the evening\npierced them to the bone. Chrysomela pressed close to Little Tom, but\nshe was so weary, she could hardly stand on her feet. Tom feared to\nleave her, lest he might lose her, so, supporting her as best he could,\nstumbled on with her along the furrow until they came to a broad hole.\nHe wanted at once to step in with Chrysomela, not caring who was there,\nand to ask for shelter, when, suddenly, out of the darkness, came a\ngigantic animal in a fur coat, with bristling whiskers and puffed out\ncheeks. It was the Hamster.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHe was about to slide into the hole, when he smelled something strange.\nHe sniffed about him and peered into the darkness with his close-set\neyes. When he saw the poor little travelers and how they were pressing\ntogether close to the hole, trembling with the cold, he said kindly,\n\"Hullo there. Where are you going so late, you little travelers?\"\n\nTom advanced and, bowing politely before the Hamster, asked him for\nshelter for a weak, ill traveler. When the Hamster saw that there was a\nlady with Tom, he acted very courteously, and immediately invited them\nto come in. He ran ahead and returned at once with a torch of rotten\nwood, with which he lighted them along the corridor, until they came to\nhis dining-room.\n\nThere it was warm and cosy. The torch shone brightly and, when\nChrysomela had removed her cloak and sat on the Hamster's bed, he\nwondered at her beauty. Then he ran to the pantry, shook out the grains\nwhich he had hidden in his baggy cheeks and, choosing from his store the\nbest morsels, placed them before his guests. They were so dainty and\ndelicate that they just melted in their mouths.\n\nChrysomela rested. She gathered her golden, wind-blown hair into braids\nand thanked the good Hamster for his kindly courtesy with a sweet smile.\nFor a little while, the fever left her and she seemed to be gaining\nstrength.\n\nThe Hamster outdid himself with attentions and brought out everything\ngood that he had; but Chrysomela said that she only wanted to rest, so\nthey prepared a soft bed for her, covered her with a warm coat and said\ngood night. They then went into the pantry where there was room for both\nTom and the Hamster.\n\nThe Hamster had a wonderful store for the winter and showed Tom all his\nrooms filled with grain. One held oats, a second, wheat, and the third,\nrye. Everything was thoroughly peeled, cleaned and carefully put away in\ndry places. Tom praised his fine housekeeping and when the Hamster asked\nwhence they had come and whither they were going, he told him their\nadventures.\n\nThey talked late into the night, and when the Hamster learned that Tom\nwas a prince and king of the Ladybirds' realm, he said that he had never\nseen gnomes but had heard very much about them from a mouse family that\nlived under the chapel by the forest.\n\nWhen Tom heard him speak of the chapel, he remembered that his\nGodmother had found the treasure in the wall near it and he asked the\nHamster whether he could take them to her. The Hamster laughed. \"Why\nshould I not know her? On her field I am as if at home. She is a good\nwoman. She does not know how to chase me or throw stones at me. There I\nhave gathered my very best stores. This year, she did not come at all.\nAll the grain had grown together and I could take what I wanted. Only,\nlater, strange people came and gathered the grain; but, by that time I\nhad all mine at home.\" He promised that he would take Tom to the chapel\nwith Chrysomela and from there, the mice would show them the way to the\nGodmother's hut.\n\nWhen they had talked enough, they went to bed. Tom fell asleep,\nconfident that their troubles were at an end and that tomorrow he would\nsee his Godmother and that she would be greatly pleased with Chrysomela.\nHe slept soundly. In the morning the Hamster woke him, excitedly; he\nsaid that he should at once look at Chrysomela, for all was not well\nwith her.\n\nTom ran to her at once and took her by the hand, but she did not\nrecognize him. Her blue eyes were veiled and she was calling Seven Spot\nand the Wood-bug to save Tom; and then she would sing summer songs. She\nwas in delirium. Tom did not know what to do. He sat by her bed, while\nthe Hamster ran around bringing food and, finally, sat down in a corner\nby himself, desperate and sad.\n\nThus they sat through the whole day. From time to time, Chrysomela\nbecame conscious, drank something and stroked Tom's hand. Then she would\nhear the music of gnats and the swarm of golden flies above the water,\nor would scream with fright.\n\nAll night long, Tom and the Hamster did not sleep. They tried to care\nfor Chrysomela and only towards morning did they themselves fall asleep.\nWhen they awoke, they found her sitting up in bed apparently well, but\nvery weak.\n\nTom was very happy that the illness had left her and that she was\nherself again. He knelt beside her, while the Hamster came running with\npleasure and asked what she would have to eat; but the sad girl stroked\nthe Hamster's fur and said to Tom in a thin voice, \"My dear Tom, it is\nthe end. It is not permitted to me to live with you and to be merry at\nthe Godmother's house. I am growing weaker and weaker and, by evening, I\nwill not be with you any more. Do not forget me in the world and\nremember that I was always your true comrade. You, Hamster, I thank for\nyour good heart. You are not of us, but you are a good friend and\nperhaps I will meet you there, where our little nation has gone\nforever.\"\n\nShe lay down and closed her eyes with weariness. Tom fell down on the\nbed and wept. The Hamster ran away and hid himself and did not come out\nany more. Chrysomela wakened again, soothed Tom and told him that he\nshould not despair, that they would surely meet in the other world, when\ntheir days would begin again.\n\nTom did not want to be soothed and only controlled his grief, so that he\ncould make her last hour easier. He was sitting by her looking into her\ndying eyes, when, suddenly he saw that she brightened, looking over him\ninto the darkness and he heard what she was whispering, \"The Queen, our\nQueen is coming. I hear her horses neighing. She is nodding to me,\nnodding, Little Tom. We will meet.\" Then she became quiet and her face,\ndeathly pale. Tom knelt silently by her bed, hearing nothing, knowing\nnothing.\n\nHe did not know how long he was there, until the Hamster came and said,\nas if with an indifferent voice, \"Come, now it is time. We will lay her\naway so that she can sleep easily\".\n\nTom obeyed blindly, covering her with her cloak, then raised her in his\narms and walked behind the Hamster through a long corridor until they\ncame to a small niche which the Hamster had dug and lined with daisies\nfor Chrysomela. When they had laid her there, Tom said good bye to her,\nthe Hamster closed in the niche, and they went back to the lonely\ndining-room.\n\nThey sat there for a long time without speaking, until the Hamster\nsuddenly said, \"My dear Tom, I am as fond of you as a brother. Stay here\nwith me. I have food enough. It will be better for us both. We will\nthink of your poor Chrysomela until the Spring comes, and then I can\ndrive you to the Ladybird kingdom.\"\n\nTom thought of the Ladybirds, looked at the empty bed and cried\nbitterly. He never wanted to go back to the Ladybirds without\nChrysomela, and only wished to get to the Godmother so that he could\nhide himself with her for the rest of his life. He asked the Hamster to\ntake him there at once, for, here, his heart was breaking with grief.\nThe Hamster said that, outside, there was a terrible snowstorm and they\nwould have to wait until the next day. Perhaps, over night, Tom would\nreconsider.\n\nSo they talked together without thinking of sleep. They thought of\nChrysomela's death and Tom remembered how, in her delirium, she seemed\nto see a Queen. The Hamster then became thoughtful and said, \"I do not\nknow, but I think that such a Queen exists. She rules over all living\ncreatures on the earth. All do not know her, only the chosen ones. There\nare rumors about her among those who live on the earth, in the air and\nin the water. All honor and acknowledge her. Whoever knows anything of\nher, does not talk about it.\"\n\nTom begged him to tell him everything that he knew. He was trembling\nwith excitement, believing, that, perhaps, after all, Chrysomela was not\ndreaming, but was arranging for their meeting.\n\n\"I do not know a thing,\" replied the Hamster. \"I am only an underground\ncreature and it is not given to us to know the secret; but I believe\nthat she exists, for the larks are singing of her, when I am running\nthrough the fields, the bees are buzzing about her in the grass and the\nflowers are dreaming of her, when in the evening they are breathing out\ntheir fragrance.\"\n\nThe Hamster rose and went out, coming back to say that it was now\npossible to ride out and he would not try any longer to delay Tom.\n\nTom went to say farewell to Chrysomela's last resting place; then he\ntook his seat in the Hamster's fur coat and started out of the hole. Tom\nwas greatly amazed when he looked around. Far and wide, wherever the eye\ncould see, there was a great, white plain, and, everywhere, the snow was\nsparkling in the sun. The Hamster hurried through the snow, with the\nsnow-dust rising behind them. Tom held on to his fur and could hardly\nbreathe in the fresh morning air. They ran down by the field, crossed\nthe meadow and saw the chapel under the wood, shining in the plain by\nthe brook, but nowhere was the hut.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTom looked around in vain; even from the stone steps of the chapel, he\ncould not see it. All at once, a bright, little mouse stuck her sharp\nnose from under the rail and welcomed the Hamster. \"How do you do,\nGodfather,\" she cried. \"You have brought us a guest. How is it that you\nstill take walks in the snow?\"\n\nThe Hamster introduced Little Tom and told her that they were seeking\nthe widow's hut, but could not find it. The Mouse was surprised. \"You\nare my neighbor and do not know it?\" she asked incredulously. \"Long\nsince the widow has been sleeping under the ground of the chapel. In the\nSpring, she was ill and did not even chase us when we visited her. In\nthe Summer, she lay down and died. They tore down her hut seeking some\ntreasure. Now, they want to build here, I do not know what.\"\n\nThe Mouse knew all the news for miles around and was very greatly\npleased that she could talk with someone. The Hamster thanked her for\nall the information and asked where the lady was lying, for he suspected\nthat Little Tom would like to say farewell to her. The Mouse took them\nthrough the hole under the floor, until they came into the crypt, where\nwere standing the old, decaying coffins of the former knights and, in\nthe middle, a black new one, the Godmother's.\n\nTom stood before it and was so unhappy, that he did not even feel his\ngreat suffering. Then they came out into the daylight and said good-by\nto the talkative Mouse. Tom sat in the Hamster's fur and they started to\nreturn.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe sky, in the meantime, was covered with clouds, a gentle wind came\nup, and small flakes began to fall from the darkened sky. On the plain\nfar away, Tom saw a reddish leaf and noticed how it was running, as if\nblown by the wind straight towards them. It seemed strange to him. The\nHamster became confused, as he looked around; he looked once more, then\ndoubled with fright into the snow, whispering, \"The Queen!\"\n\nThe leaf came nearer; but it proved to be not a leaf at all, but a\nbeautiful sledge drawn by four black crickets. On the box, sat a\nspeckled coachman and, beside him, the footmen--centipedes, while,\nbehind, nestled a most beautiful lady, all wrapped up in the green and\nblack fur of a butterfly caterpillar. The little bells were ringing on\nthe horses and the coachman snapped his whip as they approached the\nHamster.\n\nThe lady, leaning out of the sledge and shaking her finger at Little\nTom, said, \"You wanderer. Where are you going now? For a long time I\nhave been looking for you. Everyone is expecting you and here you are,\nrunning around with such an underground monster. Come at once and sit\ndown. You will go with me.\"\n\nThe Hamster buried himself still deeper in the snow, but Tom bowed and\nsaid, \"Dear Queen, the Hamster is my good friend. He helped me to take\ncare of my beloved Chrysomela. I can not go where he may not, for I will\nnot be untrue to him\".\n\nThe Queen smiled at the Hamster. \"Look at this. Sometimes, even the\nHamsters have good hearts. But now don't trouble about him. Hamster, go\nto your den, and when the time comes, speak and we will open to you.\"\n\nTom said good-by to the Hamster, took his seat in the sledge, the Queen\nwrapped him up in her fur cloak, and soon they were flying and\ndisappearing through the whirling flakes into the realm of Queen Fairy.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\n  TRANSCRIBER NOTES\n\n  Page  15 \" removed after \"when she had cleaned it, there was the\n           horseshoe.\"\n  Page  27 extra r removed from measurring: \"measuring out the paths\"\n  Page  31 typo corrected: Godmocher to Godmother in \"when his Godmother\n           saw him\"\n  Page  53 changed , to . in \"ride upon around the garden.\" Before\"\n  Page  59 replaced desieved with deceived in \"punished for having\n           deceived his Grandmother.\"\n  Page  67 corrected typo: of to if in \"if you want to see what God's\n           world is like,\"\n  Page  67 inserted space between valour and but in \"She did not give\n           much thought to his valour but\"\n  Page  68 inserted space between monster and darted in \"Then the great\n           monster darted\"\n  Page  69 mill corrected to milk in \"drunk some milk,\"\n  Page  70 blosoom corrected to blossom in \"push right into the\n           blossom.\"\n  Page  74 space removed from the middle of today. \"It is a miracle that\n           you did not die today.\"\n  Page  81 smellimg corrected to smelling in \"sweet-smelling mint by the\n           water.\"\n  Page  90 typo corrected from Axterl to After in \"After he had\n           dismounted\"\n  Page  93 hin corrected to him in \"Mirmex came to him and said:\"\n  Page  94 healty corrected to healthy in \"knowing that he is creating\n           strong and healthy descendants\"\n  Page  94 Readheads corrected to Redheads in \"This the Redheads well\n           know\"\n  Page  95 duplicate \"and\" deleted in \"defeated the Redheads and driven\n           them away\"\n  Page  96 comma inserted: \"Let us go a little further,\" he continued\n  Page 103 hat corrected to that in \"from whom they learned that,\"\n  Page 111 changed wery to were very in \"and were very angry.\"\n  Page 112 comma inserted in \"Tom was very glad to have the work, for\n           the time\"\n  Page 119 hin corrected to him in \"ran with him into the forest\"\n  Page 120 The corrected to Then in \"Then he sat hidden near by,\"\n  Page 121 duplicate \"of\" deleted in \"Nowhere was there a sign of the\n           former life,\"\n  Page 122 missing \" added after \"you will find the hut.\"\"\n  Page 131 hyphen put in dining-room for consistency \"until they came to\n           his dining-room.\"\n  Page 132 exitedly corrected to excitedly in \"the hamster woke him\n           excitedly;\"\n  Page 134 neighfor corrected to neighbor in \"\"You are my neighbor\"\n  Page 134 missing hyphen put in good-by in \"and said good-by to the\n           talkative Mouse.\"\n  Page 134 full stop added after \"and said good-by to the talkative\n           Mouse.\"\n  Page 134 increduously corrected to incredulously in \"she asked\n           incredulously.\"\n  Page 136 hin corrected to him in \"It seemed strange to him.\"\n\n  The use of \" and \" for open and close quotation marks respectively\n  has been retained.\n\n  [^S] and [^C] represent S and C with caron.\n\n\n\n\n\n<pre id=\"pg-footer\">","title":"Little Tom","tradition":"folklore-oral-tradition","translated_text":null,"word_count":33208}