{"collection":"folklore-oral-tradition","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_66925/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_66925","id":"gutenberg_66925","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66925","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Adventure","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Children -- Juvenile fiction","Fairy tales","Families -- Juvenile fiction","Storytelling -- Juvenile fiction"],"text":"LADY RUM-DI-DOODLE-DUM\u2019S\n  CHILDREN\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: John and Mary leaned forward and saw in the glass\nhundreds of lovely colors. (Page 126.)]\n\n\n\n\n  LADY\n  RUM-DI-DOODLE-DUM\u2019S\n  CHILDREN\n\n  BY\n  S. B. DINKELSPIEL\n\n  _Which is Dedicated to My Mother, Your Mother,\n  and Lady Rum-Di-Doodle-Dum, Who is the\n  Mother of all the Bald-Headed, Pug-Nosed Little\n  Baby Creatures in the World, and to the Child-Person\n  for whom Lady Rum-Di-Doodle-Dum\n  winked one evening when I asked her to do so._\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n  New York\n\n  Desmond FitzGerald, Inc.\n\n\n\n\n  Copyright, 1914, by\n  DESMOND FITZGERALD, INC.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n(TO BE READ)\n\n\nThe Dictionary says that a Preface is something spoken before. Usually\nit gives the author an opportunity to talk about himself. Some authors\ntalk very much, especially about themselves, in their Preface. Mr.\nGeorge Bernard Shaw writes more Preface than Book, and Th\u00e9ophile\nGautier simply uses the Book as an excuse for the Preface. But you do\nnot need to worry, as you will not read either of them for a very long\ntime.\n\nMy Preface is going to be different. It is about something that comes\nat the end and not the beginning; furthermore, I am not going to talk\nabout myself.\n\nOf course you do not know what in the world I am driving at; I will\ncome at once to the point. I had all but finished the stories of Lady\nRumdidoodledum\u2019s children when I received the following letter. I have\na pretty good idea that \u201cL. H. D.\u201d is no other than the Child-Person\nfor whom Lady Rumdidoodledum winked.\n\n  \u201cMR. S. B. DINKELSPIEL,\n\n      \u201cDEAR SIR,----\n\n  \u201cI have the honor to inform you that Mrs. Sherman is the mother of a\n  lovely new baby daughter, born this evening. She is to be christened\n  \u2018Margaret,\u2019 but will be known to her friends (of whom I trust you\n  will be among the number) as \u2018Midge.\u2019 Liza and Martha Mary are\n  delighted over the new arrival--the boys have not yet seen the little\n  lady.\n\n  \u201cHoping that she will prove as welcome to you as to the rest of her\n  very devoted family, I am, sir,\n\n      \u201cYour very obedient servant and humble collaborator,\n\n                                                               L. H. D.\u201d\n  The Planet Venus.\n\n\nA day or so later, a thick envelope came through the mail for me.\n\n\u201cIs it,\u201d said I to myself, \u201canother of my stories rejected by a\nheartless editor?\u201d\n\nIt was not! It was the story of \u201cMidge,\u201d written by \u201cL. H. D.,\u201d and it\ncame just in time, for I had been having a miserable hour seeking a\nlast chapter for the book, and here one fell--I might say--out of the\nsunny sky.\n\n                                                      S. B. DINKELSPIEL.\n\n  San Francisco, California.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n  CHAPTER                                                           PAGE\n\n     I. IN WHICH WE MEET FLIP, ALTHOUGH HE WAS SUPPOSED\n          TO BE A SECRET                                               1\n\n    II. IN WHICH PETER SPILLS THE DEW OUT OF HIS POCKET AND IT\n          CAUSES A GREAT DEAL OF BOTHER, BUT MR. SMITH, WHO IS\n          THE KING OF FAIRIES, PUTS AN END TO THE TROUBLE             10\n\n   III. IN WHICH WE BEGIN TO REALIZE HOW CONVENIENT IT IS TO\n          HAVE A PERSON LIKE FLIP ABOUT THE PLACE, ESPECIALLY\n          WHEN THERE IS NOTHING MUCH TO DO; ALSO WE HEAR OF\n          MR. MORIARITY AND THE FAIRY WHO DID NOT HAVE A RED\n          CHIN BEARD AND A BALD HEAD                                  19\n\n    IV. IN WHICH MARTHA MARY INVADES THE CASTLE, AND FATHER\n          PROVES THAT HE CAN DO OTHER THINGS BESIDES WRITING\n          BUSINESS IN BIG BOOKS. ALSO SOMEONE ARRIVES                 28\n\n     V. IN WHICH FLIP TELLS MY FAVORITE STORY, AND IF YOU DO\n          NOT LIKE IT VERY MUCH, FLIP KNOWS SOMEONE WHO WILL          40\n\n    VI. IN WHICH EDWARD LEE AND WALTER GO ON THE WARPATH\n          BECAUSE THEY DON\u2019T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO, AND ON\n          ACCOUNT OF THEM JOHN AND MARTHA MARY MISS HEARING\n          THE MELODRAMA                                               49\n\n   VII. IN WHICH LIZA GOES UNDER THE SIDEBOARD; WALTER AND\n          EDWARD LEE FIX THE CAT, AND FLIP PROVES THAT THE\n          CITY FOGS ARE NICE                                          67\n\n  VIII. IN WHICH MARTHA MARY HAS A WONDERFUL DAY AND LEARNS\n          THE LOVELIEST OF SECRETS AND FLIP\u2019S ASPIRATIONS\n          ARE EXPLAINED                                               76\n\n    IX. IN WHICH IS TOLD THE STORY OF ALFRED OF THE LOW COUNTRY,\n          AND JANICE, WHO LOVED THE QUEEN\u2019S PAGE                      85\n\n     X. IN WHICH JANE STAYS LONGER THAN SHE HAD EXPECTED TO AND\n          WE ENTERTAIN HER. AS USUAL, FLIP TELLS A STORY              99\n\n    XI. IN WHICH WALTER DOES NOT WANT NINE EIGHTS TO BE\n          SEVENTY-TWO; AND MARTHA MARY FEELS SO BADLY FOR HIM\n          THAT SHE GOES TO SEEK ADVENTURE. SHE FINDS IT              110\n\n   XII. IN WHICH ANOTHER JOHN AND ANOTHER MARY WANDER FURTHER\n          FROM HOME THAN THEY EVER HAVE BEEN BEFORE, AND FIND\n          A MARVELOUS BALL OF GLASS, IN WHICH ONE SEES THE\n          STRANGEST THINGS                                           120\n\n  XIII. IN WHICH FLIP USES NEEDLESSLY LONG WORDS, BUT, TO WIN\n          OUR GOOD-WILL AGAIN, HE TELLS A REAL OLD-FASHIONED\n          FAIRY TALE                                                 133\n\n   XIV. IN WHICH WINFRED IS GIVEN THE MOST WONDERFUL WISH IN\n          THE WORLD, AND I ADVISE YOU ALL TO READ IT AND LEARN\n          WHAT IT IS, SO THAT IF, SOME DAY WHEN YOU ARE LEAST\n          EXPECTING IT, A FAIRY COMES AND OFFERS YOU A WISH,\n          YOU WILL KNOW FOR WHAT TO ASK                              155\n\n    XV. IN WHICH, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME, I DO NOT\n          TALK AT ALL, BUT AM WELL CONTENT TO SIT QUIETLY BY\n          AND LISTEN TO THE LOVELY NEWS THAT L. H. D., WHO, YOU\n          WILL REMEMBER, I TOLD YOU ABOUT IN THE PREFACE,\n          HAS BROUGHT                                                167\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nIN WHICH WE MEET FLIP, ALTHOUGH HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SECRET\n\n\nDown on the edge of the Poppy Field there is a very large, wide lake;\nthe largest lake you have ever seen. Of course there are deeper lakes\nacross the mountains where you have never been, but Poppy Lake is quite\ndeep enough. When you turn your back and lean down and look between\nyour legs so that everything is upside-down, it looks still larger;\nalmost as big as the sky and just as blue. Right on the shore, tied to\na willow tree, is a wonderful green boat with two oars when you wish to\ngo exploring alone, and four if you intend to take a crew with you.\n\nJohn usually went alone, because crews never know their place and\nwant to be Captain if they are men, or always talk about fairies and\nhusbands and silly trifles if they are women. There is of course only\none woman and she is Martha Mary; you see, Liza is only three years\nold and can\u2019t really be called a woman. The fact is, John prefers\ntraveling with Liza to any of the others. She respects John very much\nand will not mind anyone else--not even Nurse Huggins. John is quite a\nfamous traveler; there have been times when he would sit at the helm\nof his good ship and Liza would sit on the deck on her legs and fold\nher arms and watch the Captain with very large, grey eyes. Then John\nwould cough and bow to her and say in a voice almost as loud as Butcher\nLevy\u2019s:\n\n\u201cWhere does your Ladyship desire to sail to-day?\u201d\n\nLiza would say, \u201cYes,\u201d which is not an answer at all.\n\nThen John would pick up the oars and row with all his might, just as\nthough the ship were not tied to the willow tree. Right into the ocean\nthey would go. Sometimes they could travel almost as far as England\nbefore Nurse Huggins called them to come to tea. Nurse Huggins always\ncalled just as they were about to get somewhere.\n\nMartha Mary thought it silly for John to play with Liza so much; you\nsee, John was at least twelve and Martha Mary was ten, so they were\nmuch more fitted for each other than John and Liza. So Martha Mary\nwould come down to the Lake and call to John and he would put his hands\nto his ears and shout:\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t hear you. I\u2019m miles and miles away.\u201d\n\nThen Martha Mary would stamp her foot, and go away to find Edward Lee\nSherman, who was seven years old and her youngest brother, and Walter,\nwho was eight and almost Edward\u2019s twin. You see, the Sherman family\nwas quite a large one; first, there was John and then Martha Mary;\nthen Walter and Edward Lee, and then Liza. But that wasn\u2019t all. Nurse\nHuggins was a very important member of the family, and there was Agnes,\nthe cook, and Dawson, the gardener, and Mother Dear, who looked almost\nlike a girl herself, sometimes, and Father, who was terribly old and\nhad brown whiskers and the softest grey eyes, just like Liza\u2019s. And I\nalmost forgot Hermit. He was the huge St. Bernard and next to Mother\nDear, the most important member of the household. No one knew just how\nold Hermit was. But Captain John was quite sure that the very first\nthing he heard when he opened his eyes in this world was Hermit\u2019s\nwelcoming bark. That was twelve years ago, and twelve is old for a dog.\n\nAnd--there was one other. He was supposed to be a secret, but I never\ncould keep a secret and, as long as I have told about Hermit and Hermit\nfound him, I might as well tell. He was Flip. That wasn\u2019t his real\nname, but Liza could not say Philip, so she called him Flip. And after\na while everyone else did, too. This is the way we found him. You see,\nHermit did not come home for dinner one night and everyone was very\nmuch frightened. They went all over the poppy field calling him, but he\ndidn\u2019t come. It grew so late that the stars came out, so Mother Dear\nput Liza and Edward Lee to bed. She was very quiet and not at all smily\nwhen she tucked them in, because she was worried about Hermit. For\nhours and hours John and Father and Gardener Dawson hunted with yellow\nlanterns; they called and whistled, but Hermit did not come. So they\nwent to bed, and Father said:\n\n\u201cLeave the old boy alone. He is sure to come back.\u201d\n\nFather always did know everything!\n\nThe first thing next morning, all the family hurried out to the garden,\nbut there was no Hermit. Father went East and John went West and all\nthe others scattered in different directions, leaving Liza all alone to\ntake care of Mother Dear. But Mother Dear was not at all good company;\nshe wouldn\u2019t crawl on the floor and she wouldn\u2019t smile, so Liza slipped\naway, very unhappy. She took her Nigger Doll, Samuel, and walked way,\nway off, down into the Lily Place where the frogs live. And right\nthere, perfectly happy and grinning, was Hermit--all muddy and with his\ntongue hanging out as though he had been running and was out of breath.\nNext to him, sprawled out on the grass, with one foot stuck up in the\nair and a cap on his toe, was a man and he was talking to Hermit. Liza\ndid not pay any attention to him; she just jumped on Hermit\u2019s back and\nrubbed her face in his neck. The man was very much surprised. He sat\nup, brushed the dirt off of his trousers, and said:\n\n\u201cGood morning.\u201d\n\nLiza laughed at him and pulled Hermit\u2019s tail.\n\n\u201cI said \u2018Good morning,\u2019\u201d said the man. \u201cCan\u2019t you talk?\u201d\n\nThat sort of frightened Liza, so she jumped up and ran off to find\nJohn, with Hermit bounding after her. Just then John came through the\ntrees, followed by Edward Lee and Walter and Martha Mary. They hugged\nHermit to show how glad they were to see him, and then Liza took them\nto the new man.\n\n\u201cHullo!\u201d he said. \u201cAre you the whole family?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are the Shermans,\u201d said John.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Edward Lee, \u201cand we wish you would go away so that we could\nplay.\u201d\n\n\u201cEdward Lee!\u201d Martha Mary whispered. \u201cYou mustn\u2019t be impolite.\u201d\n\nThe man laughed. \u201cPlease,\u201d said he, \u201cmay I play, too?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are too old,\u201d said Walter.\n\n\u201cNo, I\u2019m not.\u201d\n\nJohn did not mean to have any unfairness. \u201cHow old are you?\u201d he asked.\n\nThe man held his fingers to his lips. \u201cIt\u2019s a secret. Folks say I\u2019m\ntwenty-three,\u201d he said. \u201cBut they really don\u2019t know. The fact is I\u2019m\nonly twelve.\u201d\n\n\u201cSwear it and hope to die?\u201d demanded John.\n\n\u201cI swear.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd hope to die?\u201d\n\n\u201cDo I have to?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Martha Mary. \u201cIf you want to be twelve, we will let you.\nPlease, what can you play?\u201d\n\n\u201cEverything.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is lovely,\u201d said Martha Mary. \u201cWe\u2019ll play \u2018Robinhood.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019ll be Robinhood,\u201d said John.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019ll be Little John,\u201d said Walter.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m Little John,\u201d said Edward Lee.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re not. I am.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d said Edward Lee. \u201cThen I don\u2019t want to play.\u201d\n\nThe man frowned. \u201cSee here,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can\u2019t both be Little John.\nSuppose we play something else. Suppose I tell you a story.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you know any?\u201d Martha Mary asked.\n\n\u201cDozens of them.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow nice! I think I shall like you. What is your name?\u201d\n\n\u201cPhilip.\u201d\n\n\u201cFlip,\u201d said Liza, and that is how he got his name.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMeanwhile Mother Dear had joined Father. They hunted high and low\nfor Hermit and for the children, too, for by this time Mother was\ngrowing really and truly frightened. All of a sudden they heard Edward\nLee laughing. To the Lily Place they ran, and there--through the\ntrees--guess what they saw! There was Flip leaning against a fat old\noak tree, with one leg up in the air and his cap on his toe. Liza was\nsitting on the knee of the leg that wasn\u2019t up in the air, while Martha\nMary was lying on the ground on her stomach, weaving buttercups. John\nand Walter were sitting up in the tree; Edward Lee was on Hermit\u2019s\nback, and Flip was telling his story. So Mother Dear sat down very\nquietly and pulled Father after her. She leaned against his shoulder\nand closed her eyes, while Father smoothed her hair. And they listened\nto the story, too, and this was it:\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\n  IN WHICH PETER SPILLS THE DEW OUT OF HIS POCKET AND IT CAUSES A GREAT\n    DEAL OF BOTHER, BUT MR. SMITH, WHO IS THE KING OF FAIRIES, PUTS AN\n    END TO THE TROUBLE\n\n\n\u201cPeter sat on a blade of wheat and swung backwards and forwards and\nup and down in the wind, till his feet were higher than his head and\nall the dewdrops spilled out of his pocket. I don\u2019t suppose you have\never seen Peter. He is about this big--that is, as big as a red-headed\nmatch--and he has little thin wings made out of the fuzz that grows\non the cowslips. Peter has red hair, too, just like the match, and he\nis freckled, but one can never see the freckles because they are so\nsmall. In ways, Peter is a very wonderful boy. You see, he can carry\ndewdrops in his pocket (when he doesn\u2019t spill them) and he skips around\nthe garden just before the stars go to bed putting a dewdrop on every\nflower, just as a mother cat would bathe her kitten. Peter likes his\nwork; he knew that every boy has to do something worth while, so he\nchose the work that was the most fun. Of course it is fun to bathe\nflowers. They look so bright and sunshiny when they have their drop of\ndew, just as your face does when Nurse What-do-you-call-her----\u201d\n\n\u201cNurse Huggins, please,\u201d said Martha Mary.\n\n\u201cNurse Huggins rubs soap on it and in your eyes. So on this particular\nMay morning Peter sat on the piece of wavy wheat and waited for the\nbiggest and loveliest Mother star, Mrs. Rumdidoodledum, to go away, so\nthat he could go to work.\n\n\u201cFinally, when Mrs. Rumdidoodledum had gone to bed and the sky grew\npink like the eyes of Fluffytail, the white rabbit, Rosemary, who was\nthe queen of the flower fairies, came out and clapped her hands to set\nall the morning elves to work. First, Mr. James, the butler fairy,\nappeared and pulled all of the dark-cloud curtains out of the sky. Then\na hundred and three golden fairies tied daisy ropes to the sun and\npulled him up over the hill. Lastly Nurse Agnes, the fattest fairy you\never saw, went around and opened all the flowers\u2019 eyes. Then everyone\nstood still and waited for Peter to come down and wash them. Of course\nthe stupid Peter couldn\u2019t, because he had swung too high and spilled\nall the dewdrops. At this, Queen Rosemary was terribly angry--which\nwasn\u2019t very bad, because the fairies have all been well trained and\nnever lose their tempers. But she said Peter would have to be punished.\nWhat do you think Queen Rosemary did? She led Peter down to the red\nrosebush, tied him to it with a piece of green grass, and left him\nthere for ever and ever so long. Next morning, when Nurse Agnes had\nopened all the flower children\u2019s eyes, they waited for Peter to come\nand wash them, but he couldn\u2019t, because he was tied up. The flower\nchildren were glad, because they didn\u2019t very much like to be washed,\neither; it was such a nuisance to get the dewdrops in their eyes and\nhave them burn. You see, flower children are just as silly as other\nchildren when they are silly, and just as pretty and happy when they\nare bright. So they went without washing all that day, and when Mr.\nJames, the butler, pulled the cloud curtains into the sky that night\nthe children were all tired and in bad humor, just like you when you\nare dirty. They didn\u2019t sleep very well and they had queer dreams, and\nMidge, the violet baby, woke up and cried three times and kept everyone\nelse awake. Then, the next morning, when the hundred and three small\nwood sprites went to pull up the sun, he came up frowning. He looked at\nall the flower children and it spoiled his pleasure to see how dirty\nand cross they were. So he simply refused to shine at all, but went\nbehind a miserable black cloud that Butler James had forgotten. There\nhe sulked all day. When they had no sun to brighten them, the flower\nchildren all fell sick and faded; even sulphur and molasses would not\nhelp them, for in that way they were different from you. You see,\nthings were in a very bad way in the flower garden. The flower children\nwere so sickly that the bees would not come to them for honey, because\nit had become too thin. The sun hid away day after day and refused to\nshine and there were large black clouds that frightened everyone. The\nground got hard and stiff and squeezed the flowers terribly.\n\n\u201cThen Rosemary became very much worried, because she had to keep the\nflower children well and at the same time punish Peter. So she thought\nand thought and could not make up her mind what to do. Then along came\nMr. Smith. You know, of course, that Mr. Smith is the king of the\nfairies and he rides on the Southeast Wind. He said to his wife:\n\n\u201c\u2018The flower children look very sickly and the sky is dark. What is the\ntrouble, my dear?\u2019\n\n\u201cShe told him all the confusion she had had, but he laughed, because he\nwas a man, and such things never bother men. He jumped on the Southeast\nWind again and rushed up, up, right into the clouds and broke them to\nsmall pieces. Of course, when the clouds were all broken, the rain\nfell out of them and all over the flower children. And then--it was\njust like eating chocolate cake, it was so nice. The flower children\nwere washed and became bright; the sun came out because he was glad;\nthe bees came buzzing around again, and all the world was happy. Then\nQueen Rosemary, on her throne in the sweetpeas, was pleased, so she\nforgave Peter for spilling the dewdrops. She told him, though, that\nwhenever he was bad in the future she would tie him up, because she\ncould count on the Southeast Wind to bring rain and do Peter\u2019s work.\n\n\u201cAnd so you see, whenever the sky grows black and the flowers look\nsickly and the sun hides, you may know that Peter has been misbehaving\nand cannot wash the children. But you must not mind, because the rain\nis sure to come to do his work, and there is always sunshine after the\nrain.\u201d\n\nWhen Flip had finished his story Mother Dear hugged Father and\nwhispered, \u201cWho in the world is this wonderful boy?\u201d\n\nShe did not say it very loud, but Flip heard her and got up, with his\ncap in his hand, and almost spilled Liza. He bowed and said:\n\n\u201cIt isn\u2019t really wonderful. Stories like that always happen.\u201d\n\n\u201cRidiculous!\u201d said Father, in a very stern way. \u201cWho are you? Where did\nyou come from?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m Flip, Liza says,\u201d was the answer, \u201cand so I must be.\u201d\n\n\u201cPlease, Mother Dear,\u201d said Martha Mary. \u201cHe is nice, and Liza found\nhim. Do you think he might stay for tea?\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd tell more stories before bedtime,\u201d said Walter.\n\n\u201cAnd he found Hermit,\u201d said Liza.\n\nMother Dear whispered something to Father that no one else heard. Then\nFather said:\n\n\u201cChildren, go up to the house and wait for us. We will ask Flip if he\nwill stay this evening.\u201d\n\nThe children went rather slowly, for they were anxious to hear what\nwas going to happen. It must have been exciting, for ten minutes later\nMother Dear came to the veranda smiling, and Flip\u2019s eyes were all\nshiny, and Father was in the best of humor.\n\n\u201cBabes,\u201d said Mother Dear, \u201cwould you like Flip to stay here?\u201d\n\n\u201cAll evening?\u201d asked Edward Lee.\n\n\u201cNo. Much longer. As long as he wishes to. Perhaps always.\u201d\n\nYou should have heard the children shout. They hugged Mother Dear and\nhugged Father till his hair was all mussed and danced about Flip until\nhe was all red; but Flip was easily embarrassed. Finally Father said:\n\n\u201cSilence,\u201d in an awesome tone, and added: \u201cPhilip is going to stay to\nwork about the place and do chores and care for the flowers--AND tell\nyou stories when you are half-way good and he feels like it. So you had\nbetter be good.\u201d\n\nAway went the children to tell the wonderful news to Nurse Huggins, all\nexcepting Martha Mary, who was rather curious.\n\n\u201cMother Dear,\u201d she said. \u201cPlease, who is Flip and how did you get\nFather to let him stay?\u201d\n\n\u201cFlip is a very fine boy,\u201d said Mother, \u201cand he has aspirations.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are aspirations?\u201d asked Martha Mary.\n\n\u201cYou explain to her, Father,\u201d said Mother Dear.\n\n\u201cWell, it is this way,\u201d said Father. \u201cAspirations are like--like--now\nlet me see--you know---- Oh! You tell her, Mother.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, it is simple, Dear,\u201d said Mother. \u201cAspirations---- Flip! Explain\nto Martha Mary what aspirations are.\u201d\n\nBut Flip had followed the other children, to be introduced to Cook and\nNurse Huggins, so Martha Mary did not find out for ages and ages why\nFlip had aspirations or what they were.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\n  IN WHICH WE BEGIN TO REALIZE HOW CONVENIENT IT IS TO HAVE A PERSON\n    LIKE FLIP ABOUT THE PLACE, ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE IS NOTHING MUCH TO\n    DO; ALSO WE HEAR OF MR. MORIARITY AND THE FAIRY WHO DID NOT HAVE A\n    RED CHIN BEARD AND A BALD HEAD\n\n\nIt was really quite surprising to learn how easily Flip could be\ndepended upon. When it rained, Martha Mary would only need to say:\n\n\u201cPlease, do you think we might have a story?\u201d And Flip would lead the\nway to the fireplace and, before you half knew it, you were in the\nmiddle of a delightful story. Or Liza might tumble into the ash can and\nhurt her nose. She would cry dreadfully--and Flip would cure the damage\nwith a story. John might go sailing on the lake Ocean and leave no one\nto be Captain of the land army. Away the army--Martha Mary, Walter,\nEdward Lee, and Liza--would go to Flip for sympathy--and Flip\u2019s\nsympathy would be a story. Best of all were the stories he told in the\nRunaway Place where the poppies grew, lying on a small stack of hay,\nwith his cap on his toe. There were so many told there that I hardly\nknow which to tell to you first. Perhaps you would like the one about\nMr. Moriarity.\n\n\u201cOf course you know,\u201d said Flip, \u201cthat every child has a fairy just\nas there is a fairy for every flower. But what I am going to tell you\nis much more surprising than that. Every grown-up, no matter how big\nor important he may be, has just as nice a fairy in charge of his\naffairs. The fairies of the grown-ups do not show themselves nearly as\noften as flowers or children fairies. You see, grown-ups have not the\ntime to think of such things. Furthermore, they are usually ashamed\nto recognize them, and of course the fairies are proud and will not\ngo where they are not wanted. Would you believe that Father has a\nperfectly lovely fairy and there is another little, golden-winged one\nthat belongs to Mother Dear? Well, there is! I have never seen them,\nbut there must be. You see, Fairies are dreams, and everybody has\ndreams; even Mr. Moriarity, the green grocer.\n\n\u201cMr. Moriarity\u2019s fairy was the prettiest little fairy you have ever\nseen. Guess why? Because fairies do not take after their owners\u2019 looks.\nIf they did, Mr. Moriarity\u2019s fairy would have to be a little red-faced\ncreature with a red chin beard and watery blue eyes and a bald\nhead. But fairies take after their owners\u2019 dreams, and this was Mr.\nMoriarity\u2019s dream: He wanted to be a great musician and play music that\nwould make all the world glad. He had always loved music; in the olden\ndays in Kerry County, when he was no larger than John, he used to creep\nout of his bed at night, tiptoe into the barn, and hide in the straw\nto listen to Tim, his big brother, sing about a girl called Kathleen\nMavourneen, and Peggy Machree, and The Low Back Car to the cows and\npigs. The cows would moo and the pigs would squeal their applause, and\nthen Mr. Moriarity, who was called Andy in those days, would tiptoe\nback to his blankets and hide his head and sing Peggy Machree in a tiny\nvoice. It was not at all good music, but it made him feel good. So he\ndreamed about the day that he should be a great musician and all the\npeople would clap and the pigs squeal and the cows moo when he played.\nHe wanted to play the violin because it sounds like the wind singing in\nthe heather, but violins cost a great deal of money and lessons cost\nmore, and Andy\u2019s father was only a poor vegetable grower near the bogs.\nSo it looked as though Andy would never be rich enough to have his\ndream. His fairy became unhappy and pale, because music fairies are the\nfrailest, most delicate little things, and lovely melodies are sunshine\nfor them.\n\n\u201cOne day Andy was out in the heart of the moor listening to the wind in\nthe purple heather and singing a song that he had made all himself. His\nfairy was sitting on a wild rosebush listening to the music. I know I\nhave a perfectly awful voice, but this is the song he sang:\n\n  \u201c\u2018The wild rose is my fairy love, my lady love, my pretty love.\n  The wild rose is my fairy love and I don\u2019t care who knows it.\n  She dances for the moorland green, the Irish green, the hillside\n    green,\n  And smiles and smiles and smiles upon the breeze that blows it.\u2019\n\n\u201cNow, what do you think happened as he sang? Across the moor came a\nlarge, fat man with a violin case under his arm, and a smile upon his\nface. He hid in the heather until Andy had stopped singing, then came\nout and sat down in front of him, and the big man and the small boy\ntalked about music. Then the big man took out his brown old violin and\nput it to his chin and began to play. Andy leaned back and closed his\neyes and discovered the strangest thing! He could see just as well\nwith his eyes closed as with them open. And this is what he saw! First\nthe heather commenced to quiver as though the breeze were blowing from\nall four sides; then the twigs parted and out came his own fairy, all\ndressed in brown and gold. She danced a skipping dance on the twigs,\nthen stamped her tiny foot rather impatiently and clapped her hands.\nThe twigs parted again and out came another fairy, a boy fairy, dressed\nin grey and gold, and he took her hand and they danced together. Then\nthe boy fairy sang the very same song that Andy had sung, and down\nfrom the East Wind came a whole world of little fairies, all gold and\nsilver, with spiderweb wings and dresses of every color. They danced\nhere and there and everywhere, the wildest, loveliest dance there ever\nwas. Up and down and backwards and forwards, in circles and fairy rings\nthey swung and then the heather began to sway and the wild rosebush to\nbend and the green grass to wave and all the fields danced to the fairy\nmeasure. Andy jumped up, threw his brown cap into the air, and crowed\nlike a rooster. He folded his arms then and danced with them, a dance\nthat was a jig and a hornpipe and a reel and a minuet all in one. The\nbig man laughed as though he were ashamed and put away his violin and\nwould play no more. But Andy told him how much he loved music, and what\ndo you think? The wonderful man was so pleased that he told Andy to\ncome to him every night and he should learn to play on the violin that\nwas two hundred years old. Andy was so excited that he forgot to feed\nthe pigs that night and hardly ate any bread himself. Off he skipped\nafter dinner to the house across the moor for his first lesson. But\nwhen he played it did not sound at all nice. The big man said time\nwould change things, and it was time that spoiled things, after all.\nAndy learned the C scale and the F sharp scale pretty well. But scales\nwere not the kind of music he had dreamed of and he became tired of\npracticing. That ended things. He never practiced nor even learned the\noctave stretch. This was all his own fault, because his fingers were\nvery lively and long, but that would not do any good without training.\nFinally, one night the big man became discouraged and said there was no\nuse wasting time with a boy who would not help himself, so Andy\u2019s music\nlessons ended.\n\n\u201cMany years passed and Andy came to California and became a green\ngrocer. His music fairy hated money and business so much that she\nalmost died. One evening in the Spring Andy came home, cross and tired\nfrom selling lettuce, and would not talk to his wife or five children\nat all. He went out into the poppy field and lay down and went to\nsleep. And there he dreamed the very same dream that had come to him\nwhen the big man had played on the moor. Down on the sea breeze came\nthe gold and silver and many-colored fairies and they skipped and\ndanced and bowed and pirouetted in a perfect dance of Spring. Up jumped\nold Moriarity, forgetting all about his rheumatism, and he danced with\nthe fairies just as he had done when he was a boy. Right in the middle\nof it, when his face was all red and his eyes burning, out came Mrs.\nMoriarity and she held her hands on her hips and stared. But all of\na sudden she caught Andy\u2019s eye and he laughed, so up she pulled her\nskirts to her knees and commenced to dance with him, singing at the top\nof her voice all about Paddy Dear. She made such a noise that out came\nthe five Moriarity children and they could hardly believe their eyes,\nfor they had never seen their mother and father act that way before.\nBut there was no need of worrying; out into the poppy field they\nskipped and there, by the light of Lady Rumdidoodledum and a million\nother stars, danced Mr. Moriarity and Mrs. Moriarity and the five\nlittle Moriaritys, with oodles and oodles of fairies. All of a sudden\nMrs. Moriarity felt a stitch in her side and she stopped and took Mr.\nMoriarity by the ear and led him into the house. Moriarity\u2019s fairy was\nso happy that she laughed and wept all night.\n\n\u201cSo now, whenever things go a little bit wrong, Moriarity throws\naside his vegetable bag, calls his wife and children, and out to the\nfields they go to dance in the evening light. Moriarity sings Kathleen\nMavourneen and Peggy Machree and The Low Back Car, and out come all\nthe fairies and dance, too. Of course, Mr. Moriarity\u2019s voice is still\npretty bad, so the cows all moo and the pigs all squeal, but the\npoppies smile and the wild rose bows and the fairies are happy as happy\ncan be.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\n  IN WHICH MARTHA MARY INVADES THE CASTLE, AND FATHER PROVES THAT HE\n    CAN DO OTHER THINGS BESIDES WRITING BUSINESS IN BIG BOOKS. ALSO\n    SOMEONE ARRIVES\n\n\nFather was very busy in his den, with the blinds all drawn and the\nsmall log fire lit and a huge stack of papers on his desk. So Martha\nMary was rather afraid when she tapped at his door; you see, the Den\nwas Father\u2019s private property, just like a castle, and no outsiders,\nnot even the children, went in very often.\n\n\u201cWho is there?\u201d called Father.\n\n\u201cPlease, it is me,\u201d said Martha Mary.\n\n\u201cWho is \u2018me\u2019?\u201d demanded Father.\n\n\u201cMartha Mary, and may I come in?\u201d\n\nFather shoved the big pile of papers aside and opened the door.\n\n\u201cWell, Sister,\u201d he said, \u201cwhat is the trouble? Has Liza fallen in the\nlake?\u201d\n\n\u201cFather! No! Liza never does.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen what is the trouble?\u201d\n\nMartha Mary put her arm about Father\u2019s waist just as she always did\nwhen she wanted to ask him a favor. Father always would grant the favor\nthen.\n\n\u201cPlease,\u201d she said. \u201cDo you think you could do something for us?\u201d\n\n\u201cDepends what, Sister.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, Mother Dear has gone to town and Flip has driven her to the\ntrain and we have played everything and don\u2019t know what to do. So we\nthought, as long as Flip wasn\u2019t here, you might be able to tell us a\nstory. Do you think you could?\u201d\n\nFather laughed. \u201cThe fact is,\u201d he said, \u201cI\u2019m afraid my stories would\nnot interest you. You see, I don\u2019t know anything about fairies. But I\nmight try, I suppose----\u201d\n\nBefore he had finished what he supposed, Martha Mary had danced down\nthe hall and back she came with the whole Sherman family, including\nHermit. It only needed Mother Dear and Flip to make the invasion of the\nden complete. Hermit was the oldest, so he chose the rug before the\nfire and Liza lay down by his side. Walter and Edward Lee each sat on\nan arm of Father\u2019s Morris chair, Martha Mary sat on the floor with her\nhead on Father\u2019s knee, and John lay on his stomach before the fire and\npulled Hermit\u2019s tail.\n\nFather took some time to commence, so Martha Mary, who knew it would be\nhard work for him, tried to help him along.\n\n\u201cYou don\u2019t need to tell about Fairies,\u201d she said. \u201cKings and queens\nwill do, or even every-day people. And Flip never begins with \u2018once\nupon a time.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cIs that so?\u201d asked Father. \u201cWell, I am going to be different. My story\nis going to commence with \u2018once upon a time\u2019 and it isn\u2019t going to be\nabout Kings or Queens or Fairies, or not even every-day people.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know,\u201d said John. \u201cIt\u2019s about pirates.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is not.\u201d\n\n\u201cAbout ice cream,\u201d said Liza.\n\n\u201cSorry, Butterfly. Not even ice cream.\u201d\n\n\u201cI give up,\u201d said Edward Lee, although he hadn\u2019t been guessing at all.\n\n\u201cYou would never guess,\u201d said Father. \u201cSo be quiet and I\u2019ll tell you.\nIt happened ever and ever and ever so long ago--I mean once upon a\ntime.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen was that?\u201d asked Walter.\n\n\u201cA long time ago. Now, if you are going to interrupt, I will not go\non. It happened once upon a time, in the year eighteen hundred and\nsixty-four. There was a small boy--oh, about nine years old--and his\nname was Leonard. Of course people did not call him that; everybody has\nto have some short name. It would never do to call him Lenny, because\nthat sounded girlish, like Jennie, so they called him Mick; you see, he\nhad red hair and freckles just like a little Irishman.\u201d\n\n\u201cWas he?\u201d interrupted Martha Mary.\n\n\u201cCertainly not! He was an American. And he lived on a large farm and\ndidn\u2019t have much to do all day but build forts and shoot peas in a\nwillow gun and fight heaps and heaps of make-believe enemies. His\nFather was a soldier, gone away to fight the Southerners, and the only\nreason he wasn\u2019t perfectly happy was because he was not old enough\nto go to war himself. So he used to make-believe and he beat the\nSoutherners almost every day. One morning he was in the chicken yard,\nfighting the hens with a wooden sword, and all at once he heard----\nGuess what?\u201d\n\n\u201cHis Mother calling.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, he heard real music, with fifes and drums and horns playing the\nmost wonderful tune he had ever heard. He jumped up and rushed across\nthe field as quickly as his short legs would carry him, stumbling all\nthe time, because it was the kind of music a person tries to keep in\nstep with. Down to the fence at the edge of the farm he went and way\noff down the road he saw a cloud of dust, coming nearer all the time,\nwhile the music grew louder and louder. It was so exciting that he\nbecame all hot and red and he cut his legs all up climbing on to the\nstone fence. There he sat until the cloud of dust came right across\nthe field and he saw it was thousands and thousands of soldiers. But\nthey weren\u2019t like what he thought they would be; not at all like the\nway his Father looked when he marched away to war. They had no brass\nbuttons or gold braid and their swords didn\u2019t shine at all. They\nwere all dirty and tired and hungry, but they walked just as lively\nas though they were on a picnic, and they danced--some of them--and\ncheered and sang the song that goes \u2018while we were marching through\nGeorgia.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cI know it,\u201d said Martha Mary.\n\n\u201cI wish you would keep still,\u201d said John. \u201cThis is a wonderful story.\u201d\n\n\u201cMary should know it,\u201d said Father. \u201cIt\u2019s a fine song. And so they\ntramped along, singing as loud as they could, and if you had heard them\nyou wouldn\u2019t have been able to keep still, either. Well, Mick was very\nmuch excited. He jumped up and down on the stone wall, waving his hat\nand almost crying, he was so happy. Then, what do you think? He jumped\nso much that he tumbled off the wall and right into the road. It hurt\nawfully, too, but he couldn\u2019t cry, because all the soldiers would see\nhim and he was a soldier\u2019s son. He just lay still and bit his lower\nlip. Then the most wonderful thing happened. A big man rode along and\nsaw Mick, and he swung his sword above his head so it shone in the sun,\neven if it was all rusty.\n\n\u201c\u2018Halt!\u2019 he shouted, and all the soldiers stood still.\n\n\u201cThe big man jumped off his horse and picked up Mick and said:\n\n\u201c\u2018What\u2019s the matter, Son?\u2019\n\n\u201cMick just scowled and said, \u2018Nothing.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Does it hurt much?\u2019 asked the man.\n\n\u201c\u2018No,\u2019 said Mick. He was determined not to cry.\n\n\u201cThe big man winked to one of the soldiers and said:\n\n\u201c\u2018I know what will fix it. Swing him up.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe soldier saluted and said, \u2018On your horse, General?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Certainly,\u2019 said the General. So the soldier picked Mick up and put\nhim on the neck of the big brown horse and the General swung up behind\nhim.\n\n\u201c\u2018Now,\u2019 he said, \u2018give your orders!\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018What shall I say?\u2019 asked Mick.\n\n\u201c\u2018You are the commander,\u2019 said the General. \u2018What are your orders?\u2019\n\n\u201cAt first Mick couldn\u2019t believe his ears. Of course it sounded too good\nto be true, so you could hardly blame him. But he wasn\u2019t going to lose\nthe chance, so he swung around and faced the thousands of soldiers and\nshouted just as loud as he possibly could:\n\n\u201c\u2018Forward, march!\u2019\n\n\u201cThen he remembered something Tom, the farmhand, had once shouted, so\nhe shouted it:\n\n\u201c\u2018Down with the rebels! We\u2019ll eat them alive! Forward!\u2019\n\n\u201cYou should have heard the soldiers shout. They cheered and shouted and\ncalled, \u2018Eat \u2019em alive!\u2019 and down the road went the whole army, with\nMick leading them.\n\n\u201cHe did not mind the way he bounced on the horse; he didn\u2019t mind\nanything, excepting that he was a real soldier and commanding the most\nwonderful army. On and on the army marched, singing \u2018Bring the good old\nbugle, boys,\u2019 and Mick sang with them. He didn\u2019t know the words so he\njust shouted, but that didn\u2019t make any difference, because everyone\nwas making such a noise that no one could hear what he was singing.\nTramp, tramp, they marched and you could hear the bugles and almost\nhear the cannon if you closed your eyes and made-believe. And so they\ncame to the end of the stone wall and the General whispered to Mick:\n\n\u201c\u2018Command them to stop!\u2019\n\n\u201cMick shouted, \u2018Halt!\u2019\n\n\u201cThen the General jumped down from his horse and lifted Mick off and\ngave him a whole pocket of empty cartridges. He saluted him just as\nthough he were a grown-up soldier and said:\n\n\u201c\u2018Have you any further orders, Sir, before we leave you?\u2019\n\n\u201cMick thought a moment, then said: \u2018Yes. Go ahead and beat all the\nrebels and eat \u2019em alive.\u2019\n\n\u201cAgain the General saluted him, and he saluted the General, and the\nGeneral said:\n\n\u201c\u2018What is your name?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Mick Leonard Sherman. What is yours?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018That\u2019s queer,\u2019 said the General. \u2018Mine is Sherman, too. Now we are\ngoing to march ahead, all the way to the sea, and we\u2019ll beat all the\nrebels.\u2019\n\n\u201cThen he sprang to his horse and shouted, \u2018Forward!\u2019\n\n\u201cDown the road and around the turn went the whole army, while Mick sat\non the fence and watched till the very last soldier was out of sight.\n\n\u201cThat was the last Mick ever saw of them. But the soldiers, all cheered\nby their song and by the brightness of their flag of red and white and\nblue, marched on. Days and days they tramped, building bridges across\nthe rivers they came to, helping one another when they grew very tired,\ncapturing spies that they met, and winning all battles. Oh, but they\nwere wonderful fighters! For miles and miles away you could hear their\ncannons roaring and every shot of their guns brought them nearer to\nvictory and peace. For you know after all, Chicks, they had to fight,\nas every true American would fight, to help his country, but they\nlonged for peace. They didn\u2019t at all enjoy killing their enemies. But\nright was on their side and so they fought, on and on, and always\ntheir flag went on before them, and all enemies were swept away. Of\ncourse they had to win, because the last command Mick Leonard Sherman\nhad given them was to beat all the rebels and eat them alive.\n\n\u201cAnd that is all.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat _was_ a story,\u201d said John.\n\n\u201cAnd I knew all the time,\u201d said Martha Mary.\n\n\u201cKnew what, Sister?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was General Sherman marching from Atlanta to the sea.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re right.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I knew,\u201d said Edward Lee.\n\n\u201cWhat did you know, Son?\u201d\n\n\u201cMick was Uncle Leonard.\u201d\n\n\u201cAgain right. And that is not all. Guess where Mother Dear has gone!\u201d\n\n\u201cGive up!\u201d they all shouted together.\n\n\u201cShe has gone to the City to meet Uncle Leonard and bring him here.\u201d\n\nEven as he said it the do-si-do cart rolled into the garden and out\nrushed all the children to greet the wonderful uncle who had commanded\nGeneral Sherman\u2019s army years and years ago. He laughed and got red,\nbecause he didn\u2019t know why they were all so very glad to see him. They\nalmost forgot Mother Dear, all excepting Liza, and she was too young,\nanyway, to care very much about soldiers and Generals and fighting for\nthe Stars and Stripes.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\n  IN WHICH FLIP TELLS MY FAVORITE STORY, AND IF YOU DO NOT LIKE IT VERY\n    MUCH, FLIP KNOWS SOMEONE WHO WILL\n\n\n\u201cSmudge was asleep; very peacefully asleep for so huge a personage.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s a personage?\u201d asked Walter.\n\n\u201cA very important person. Now, don\u2019t interrupt! Smudge was asleep at\nthe sunset end of the valley. There was a bald spot on his head, all\ngrey and cold, and grey spots climbing up him, and dark grey-blue\ncorners that the firs shaded. You see, Smudge was the biggest mountain\nyou can possibly imagine. About the feet of him grew oaks that were\ngrey and they hid a very world of little folk. Smudge had sat at the\nsunset end of the valley for several years; ten thousand years, the\nowl says, and he knows. So, of course, there were many flower folks\nhiding about, for in all of the ten thousand years there had been many\nchildren born in the world beyond the valley and you, Butterfly, and\neveryone else knows that every time a child creature is born in the\nworld beyond the valley there is another flower creature, sometimes\na gloriously bold California poppy, more often a rather silly little\nviolet, born in the flower world. As I told you, Smudge, all grey and\ncold, was sleeping at the sunset end of the valley. As he slept, a\nbird, somewhere in the trees, piped a morning song. Smudge shivered\nand a cool, shivery breeze came through the groves. Again the tree\ncreature piped and then the stupid bald spot of grey on Smudge\u2019s nice\nold head took on a strange flush. As he flushed the sky in the other\nend of the valley grew the color of a baby rose; the grass in the\nvalley stirred, and a rabbit-person with an adorable bunch of white\ncotton for a tail sat up and cocked two pink ears. And Smudge, sleepy,\nten-thousand-year-old Smudge, yawned, and his stirring sent a family\nof meadow larks dancing into the grey sky. They sang a song, all\ngolden and gay, and the grey-pink sky grew golden, and the fir tops\nblushed and ripples of crimson laughter skipped on the silver-grey\nstream in the valley. The Poppy folk bestirred themselves and stretched\nwide their arms; the boldest of the violets peered above the frail\nmaidenhair and a Brown-Eyed-Susan sat up to greet Smudge. And lazy\nSmudge slept on. But the morning would not have it so; down from the\nbald spot and over the lazy creature\u2019s body crept the dawn-flush,\npainting bits of red below his eyes and golden tan in the many-year-old\nwrinkles; the beard of cypress trees shook out their branches and the\nstream that danced about Smudge\u2019s mouth became boisterously happy. And\nSTILL Smudge slept.\n\n\u201cOut of the pussy willows, with a flutter of wings, came a\nbutterfly-person, so very yellow that the glow that was the sun hid in\ndismay for a moment--only a moment--behind a copper cloud. Up to the\nheights darted the butterfly, a spot of gold against the huge mountain\nof grey-pink. It soared and danced an undignified minuet, then floated\ndown and tickled Smudge on the lips, and Smudge smiled in his sleep.\nThe golden butterfly snapped its eyes, for it was very much provoked;\nup into the sky of blue it went again and flitted its wings, then came\ndown and again tickled the old creature, this time, most wisely, on the\nnostril, and, just as you might expect, Smudge sneezed and woke up.\n\n\u201cThen it was very wonderful--it came like a wondrous burst of love\nmusic. The sun poured over the world and all the Flower folk and bird\ncreatures and every rabbit and field mouse and worm danced out into\nthe morning sunshine and sang a lovely morning prayer that I, stupid\ncreature, have forgotten every word of. Smudge grunted and wiped the\nsleep from his eyes and grinned and saw the golden yellowbird butterfly.\n\n\u201c\u2018Good morning, Loveliness,\u2019 said Smudge.\n\n\u201c\u2018Good morning, Old One,\u2019 said the disrespectful yellow bird. Then she\ndanced on Smudge\u2019s lip and tickled his ear. When he bent branches to\ncapture her she darted away and came back to laugh and impudently put\nher fingers to her nose. Sentimental old Smudge sighed and whispered:\n\n\u201c\u2018Oh, Loveliness! I wish you were more serious so that I could love you\nthe more.\u2019\n\n\u201cIndignantly, Loveliness flew away, down into the valley and flirted\nwith a baby daisy. Smudge laughed indulgently, in the manner of the\naged, and called to him his counselor. Can you guess who his counselor\nwas, Butterfly? It was a man-baby, a tiny pink one, with just a bit of\nsunny hair on his head and funny, fat little wrinkles on his baby body.\nHe was the counselor because he was Youth, and only Youth and Smudge\ncould live forever. Smudge became dignified and said:\n\n\u201c\u2018Oh, Wise One, what is the business of the day?\u2019\n\n\u201cThe baby-being laughed and caught a grasshopper and said:\n\n\u201c\u2018The Blackbird.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018The Blackbird?\u2019 stormed Smudge. \u2018What have I to do with her? Day\nand day again I have said that she is nothing to me; poor, somber bit\nof ebony. I want sunshine and the crystal\u2019s colors and dancing and\nhappiness; not blackness.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe man-baby laughed and stuck a blade of grass in the grasshopper\u2019s\near and whispered:\n\n\u201c\u2018Silly, silly! If the Blackbird loves you so much, then you must have\nto do with her, for her love makes her more precious than all your\nother subjects.\u2019\n\n\u201cSmudge sneered and made a nasty remark about the words of infants.\n\n\u201cThen, Children, what do you think happened? A whole thousand years and\na half passed and there came another sunrise. Smudge sat up and yawned\nand became frightened, for there was no golden flush in the sky and no\npoppy color in the fields. He shivered and called the man-baby, and the\nman-baby came riding on the back of a jack-rabbit, pulling its tail.\n\n\u201c\u2018Good morning, Lord Smudge,\u2019 said the man-baby. \u2018You look as though\nyou needed medicine.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Don\u2019t be impudent!\u2019 shouted Smudge. \u2018Where is the sun and the golden\nButterfly bird?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Please,\u2019 said the man-baby. \u2018The sun has rheumatism and the golden\nbird has gone away with an eagle.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018So!\u2019 screamed Smudge, just like a peevish giant. \u2018What am I to do all\nday alone?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Please,\u2019 said the man-baby. \u2018There is the Blackbird.\u2019\n\n\u201cSmudge yawned. \u2018All right,\u2019 he grumbled. \u2018Call the Blackbird!\u2019\n\n\u201cThe man-baby stood up on the jack-rabbit\u2019s back and galloped down into\nthe valley, into a cradle of violets and cream-cups. There he found\nthe Blackbird and said to her, \u2018Come!\u2019 The Blackbird hopped to the\njack-rabbit\u2019s tail, and the three galloped back to Smudge.\n\n\u201c\u2018Good morning,\u2019 grumbled Smudge, ungraciously. \u2018So you\u2019ve come at last\nto give me a day of blackness and creeps?\u2019\n\n\u201cThe man-baby giggled so that he tumbled right off the jack-rabbit\nand spilled into a wild rosebush. There he lay and you could hear him\nsnickering.\n\n\u201c\u2018Well,\u2019 shouted Smudge. \u2018Why don\u2019t you speak?\u2019\n\n\u201cThe Blackbird hid her head and whispered, \u2018I love you.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Silly child,\u2019 said Smudge. \u2018Come out and let me see you!\u2019\n\n\u201cHe sat up so he could see better and then, Children, he almost fell\nright out of his valley bed. For the Blackbird was sitting on a branch\nof a willow tree, and right on each of her black wings was a large ruby\nof lovely crimson, brighter--oh, very much brighter than the brightest\nflower you have ever seen.\n\n\u201c\u2018Loveliness,\u2019 shouted Smudge, using the same name he had used for the\ngolden butterfly bird (men always do), \u2018I thought you were black and\nsomber.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I was,\u2019 said the Blackbird, and her eyes became all teary.\n\n\u201c\u2018But the sunlight on your wings and the valley of green of your eyes\nand the rainbow of your neck! Where did they come from, Loveliness?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I love you,\u2019 said the Blackbird-with-the-crimson-wings. \u2018I have\nloved you for more than a thousand years, more years than there are\nbuttercups on the hill. And so, with thinking of you and longing to\nhave you love me, how could I help but grow the way you wished?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Loveliness, Loveliness,\u2019 Smudge whispered, in a very gruff, choky\nwhisper. The man-baby fell from a willow tree and bumped his nose on\nSmudge\u2019s toe and sat up and laughed. Then all the valley grew golden\nand the sky was glory bright; the meadow larks sang as they sat on the\ntwigs, and the violets and wild pansies and buttercups and golden cups\nand poppies and brown-eyed-susans and forget-me-nots and daisies danced\na lovely, happy dance that frightened away the very grey old owl, and\nanother day was born.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\n  IN WHICH EDWARD LEE AND WALTER GO ON THE WARPATH BECAUSE THEY DON\u2019T\n    KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO, AND ON ACCOUNT OF THEM JOHN AND MARTHA MARY\n    MISS HEARING THE MELODRAMA\n\n\nEdward Lee and Walter were on the warpath. The warpath leads through\nthe orchard to the power-house where the big engine pumps water that\nirrigates all the farmland, even to Levy\u2019s place. The cause of the\ntwo warriors\u2019 fighting mood was this; they were bored with Life;\nbored with lessons, and bored through and through with the stories of\nfairies and other silliness that Flip always told. So, they went on\nthe warpath, armed with all the clothes-line they could find in the\nlaundry, and two wooden swords. The first victim, luckily for them,\nwas John. He was seated on a wheelbarrow outside of the power-house,\ntrying to smoke dried magnolia leaves. This made him feel cold and\nwobbly and not at all in fighting trim. So it was a simple matter for\nEdward Lee and Walter to jump on him from the rear, tie him in approved\nwarrior fashion, gag him with a handkerchief, and lead him into the\npower-house. There they held a council of war; John was convicted of\ninnumerable offences, including kissing Uncle Mick, and condemned\nto spend the afternoon in confinement, tied to the power engine. He\nstruggled manfully when they tied him to his post, but it was no use;\nthe magnolia leaf smoke had made him too sick to fight, and in short\norder he was a helpless, speechless prisoner. Then the warriors planned\nthe strategic stroke that would trap Martha Mary. Up the warpath the\ntwo men marched boldly and to the door of Martha Mary\u2019s sun-room. She\nwas seated on a small trunk, painting red violets all over a cake-plate.\n\n\u201cMadame,\u201d said Walter, \u201cwe have been sent by the King to bring you\ninto his presence. You are to come at once, but you must be gagged and\nblindfolded because you mustn\u2019t see the way to the Royal Palace. Are\nyou ready?\u201d\n\nOf course Martha Mary knew that John was the king, and she was\nflattered that he had sent for her. So she allowed herself to be\nbound and gagged and blindfolded and led down the warpath. She knew\nall the time where she was going, because the power-house always was\nthe Palace. But she didn\u2019t know what was going to happen, so you can\nimagine her surprise when she found herself tied to the wall and then\ntried and convicted of crying at Flip\u2019s last story and condemned to\nspend the afternoon, just like John, in solitary confinement. She\ndidn\u2019t know John was there already, and he could not tell her because\nhe was gagged. So the warriors tied her to the wall next to John and\nthen locked the power-house door and went off to find Flip. He was busy\nmaking a new bridle for Peggy, the Shetland pony, and as he did not\nwork with his mouth the warriors knew that he would have no excuse for\nnot telling a story. They jumped on his back when he didn\u2019t expect it\nand refused to get off until he had agreed to tell them a tale that\nhad no women or fairies in it at all. Flip agreed but first he rolled\nWalter and Edward Lee off his back and on to the floor to prove to\nthem that he wasn\u2019t beaten.\n\nThis is the story he told them, and although there is one woman in it,\nif the girl listeners do not like it they don\u2019t have to listen because\nit is not intended for them anyhow.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\u201c\u2018Doughnuts and Crullers,\u2019 swore the pirate chief as he wiped a\nquantity of blood off his throat-ripper on to his red sleeve.\n\u2018Doughnuts and Crullers! I have an idea!\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Yoho, yoho,\u2019 shouted all the pirate band gathered about. \u2018The Chief\nhas an idea.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018A marvel-l-lous idea,\u2019 quoth the Chief.\n\n\u201c\u2018Marvelous,\u2019 shouted the band.\n\n\u201c\u2018Doughnuts and Crullers,\u2019 shrieked the Chief, although he knew lots of\nother cusses, too. \u2018You\u2019ve made such a noise that I have forgotten it.\u2019\n\n\u201cThen the Chief frowned and his temper became terrible because he\nseldom had ideas and he hated to lose them when they did come. He\nbecame so furious that he shouted:\n\n\u201c\u2018Bring out Red Blood Ike, the one-eyed Swede!\u2019\n\n\u201cImmediately a dozen valiant pirates sprang into the black tent and\ncame out with the one-eyed Swede. He was a terrible looking person. One\neye was gone, altogether, and the other one was pink. But that wasn\u2019t\nall. He had only one arm--the right one--and only one leg--the left\none. His mouth was black as coal. That came from his habit of eating\nfire; he really could, just like drinking water or anything else. And\nhe liked it. He said it tasted like fried spinach.\n\n\u201c\u2018Orange Marmalade,\u2019 he shouted, for that was HIS favorite cuss. \u2018What\ndo you want with me? I was dreaming of cutting off the fingers of all\nRepublicans and you have disturbed me.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Ike,\u2019 said the Chief, \u2018I had an idea and I lost it.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Yes, yes,\u2019 said Ike.\n\n\u201c\u2018That is all,\u2019 said the Chief. \u2018Only now I feel so badly that unless\nyou can give me a plan my whole day will be spoiled. And I wanted it\nto be a nice day. I have not killed anyone for a long time.\u2019\n\n\u201cRed Blood Ike bit his mustache, which was a habit he had when he was\nthinking. It kept him cool and steady-nerved which is the way all true\npirates must be.\n\n\u201c\u2018Perhaps,\u2019 he said, \u2018if someone sings to me a sad, sweet song, I will\nbe able to help you. You know, Chief, I can always think best when\nsomeone sings sad, sweet songs.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018It is a good suggestion,\u2019 said the Chief, \u2018nothing is as soothing to\nthe mind as sad, sweet songs, unless it be killing people or fighting\nIndians. Call out our singer, you lazy dogs!\u2019\n\n\u201cThey called out Hairslip Charles, the baritone of the gang. He sat on\na whisky barrel and sharpened his throat-ripper and sang Ike\u2019s favorite\nsong: the one about the Pigs and little Fishes:\n\n  \u201cThere was me and Captain Harry in the Port of Monterey.\n  Sing, you pigs and little fishes in the moonlight.\n  Oh, the stars they all was shining and a-dancin\u2019 on the bay.\n  Sing, you pigs and little fishes by the moon.\n\n  There was rum on Harry\u2019s whiskers and was rum in Harry\u2019s eye.\n  Sing, you pigs and little fishes in the moonlight.\n  So I sticks him with my sticker and was glad to see him die,\n  And they ups and makes me Captain by the moon.\n\n  Then I dumps ex-Captain Harry in the Port of Monterey.\n  Sing, you pigs and little fishes in the moonlight.\n  And we \u2019as a solemn funeral and for the body pray.\n  Sing, you pigs and little fishes by the moon.\n\n  Next we sails from Monterey in the sinking of the night.\n  Sing, you pigs and little fishes in the moonlight.\n  And we heads across the waters and an island heaves in sight\n  In the sickly, pale blue shining of the moon.\n\n  And on the shore was cannibals and all they wore was hair.\n  Sing, you pigs and little fishes in the moonlight.\n  And my mate he winks his winker and he ses he doesn\u2019t care\n  If they stays right where they are by the moon.\n\n  But we lands and has a battle and we takes the Zulu band.\n  Sing, you pigs and little fishes by the moonlight.\n  And the blood it flew like water and it stained the island sand\n  In the Pale blue, sickly shining of the moon.\n\n  Then we builds a roarin\u2019 fire and some water we did boil.\n  Sing, you pigs and little fishes in the moonlight.\n  And we ups and eats the cannibals we\u2019d boiled in old shark oil--\n  Oh, you hungry, hungry fishes by the moon.\n\n  And now we all are cannibals and live on human meat,\n  Sing, you pigs and little fishes in the moonlight.\n  And we\u2019ve grown so strong and mighty that we never can be beat.\n  Singing, singing, singing, singing by the moon.\n\n\u201cThe tears poured down Ike\u2019s cheeks as Hairslip Charles sang, and when\nthe song was through Ike raised his hand and said:\n\n\u201c\u2018I have it.\u2019\n\n\u201cAll the pirates sprang to their feet.\n\n\u201c\u2018He has it,\u2019 they shouted.\n\n\u201c\u2018Proceed,\u2019 commanded the Chief. I forgot to tell you that his name was\nMr. Smith, but they usually called him Blue Murder Smith.\n\n\u201c\u2018This is my plan,\u2019 said Ike. \u2018We will send our bold men out to capture\nthree prisoners. We will tie them to a stake and then, with threats of\nendless terrors, make each of them give us an idea. The one who has the\nbest idea will be granted anything he wishes and then set free; the\nother two must----\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Die,\u2019 roared the band.\n\n\u201c\u2018Die,\u2019 said Ike.\n\n\u201cMr. Blue Murder Smith was delighted with the idea. He sent his men\nout to find three prisoners and they rode miles across the mountains\nuntil they came to the stage road. Down the road came a coach drawn\nby six huge horses. Ike, who was leading the assaulting party, hid in\nthe bushes with his men until the coach came by; then they sprang out\nand Ike put his ten-inch gun to the driver\u2019s head while the gang held\nthe horses. Then Shivering Sam threw open the door of the coach and\ncommanded the people in it to come out. There were exactly three. The\nfirst was a traveling man who sold underwear when business was good. He\ngot out, moaning and praying for them not to take his samples. The next\nwas a handsome officer with gold braid on his uniform and a bold look\nin his eye. And the third was the loveliest, most golden-haired girl\nyou have ever seen. The pirates tied them together and drove them back\nto the camp, leaving the coach-driver bound to a tree. For all I know\nhe may still be there. They came into camp and Blue Murder Smith arose,\ntwisted his mustache and greeted his prisoners. His orders were that\nthey be fastened to stakes and then given a chance to tell the three\nideas. The traveling salesman was the only one who struggled; he had an\nappointment with a customer at seven o\u2019clock and he knew his firm would\nbe furious if he didn\u2019t keep it. So they gave him the first chance to\ntell an idea. After much thought, this is what he said:\n\n\u201c\u2018I am supposed to be in the next town to-night to sell a carload of\nunderwear--W. & W. quality, selling at fifty per cent. off, I recommend\nthat you gentlemen use it. If I don\u2019t get there my firm will be in\ndanger of losing a good customer and I of losing my position. So you\nlet me go ahead and I\u2019ll sell my bill and get the money for it; then\nI\u2019ll take the stage back to-morrow, you can hold us up again and take\nthe money away from me and then let me go. As long as I don\u2019t lose the\ncustomer the firm won\u2019t be so angry that the money was stolen.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Bah!\u2019 sneered Shivering Sam. \u2018That is a poor idea. We\u2019ll send to\nyour customer and take the money away from him and keep you, too, and\nprobably roast you. And we\u2019ll make new flags for our fleet out of the\nunderwear if it is red.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Right-O!\u2019 said Mr. Blue Murder Smith. \u2018Now let\u2019s hear the soldier\u2019s\nidea.\u2019\n\n\u201cThey tied the salesman up again and dragged the soldier out and got\nhis lovely uniform all mussed. As they pulled him he clutched the\nfingers of the golden-haired girl and kissed them, and she looked so\nsad that tears came into the single pink eye of Red Blood Ike. But he\nwas a pirate\u2019s son and had to be hard of heart.\n\n\u201cThe soldier looked very frightened. He bowed politely to the pirate\nband and told his idea and it was even worse than the salesman\u2019s plan.\n\n\u201cHe wanted the pirates to let him go if he would sing them a song.\nNow, you know they were musical pirates and liked music, so they\nwere inclined to accept his offer. But when he began to sing in a\nheart-breaking tone, \u2018Darling, I am growing old, Silver threads amongst\nthe gold,\u2019 they all began to hoot and shriek to drown his simply awful\nvoice. Then they led him away without further words.\n\n\u201cMr. Blue Murder Smith smacked his lips and shouted, \u2018Doughnuts and\nCrullers! Have out the woman!\u2019\n\n\u201cShe didn\u2019t seem to be at all frightened. She shook hands with Hairslip\nCharles and asked Mr. Smith how all the little Smiths were, although\nthere were none at all because Mr. Smith never had time to be married.\nThen she told her plan, and you can be sure it was exciting. This was\nit:\n\n\u201cShe said that way down in the Southern Seas there was an island\ninhabited by a tribe of one-legged negroes. They lived on cocoanuts and\nwhisky; they were very gentle and had no cannibalistic habits (which\nmeans that they were not cannibals). A long time ago, nearly ten years,\na ship had been wrecked off the island with a cargo of Spanish gold and\nfruit cake. Also a brand new crown that had been made in Paris for the\nIsland King. When the ship was on the rocks two sailors had swum ashore\nwith the chests of gold and the crown. Then the weight of the fruit\ncake sunk the leaking ship. The two sailors had dragged the treasure\nway up on the island and buried it. But it would be quite easy to find.\nYou landed and walked right to the very center of the island, then wet\nyour finger and held it up in the air. The side of the finger that was\ncoldest was the direction you had to dig and you were sure to find the\ntreasure.\n\n\u201c\u2018Orange Marmalade,\u2019 cussed Ike. \u2018This sounds good. But how do we know\nyou are speaking the truth?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Here,\u2019 said the golden-haired girl, \u2018is a piece of the gold. You see\nmy father was one of the sailors who was saved.\u2019\n\n\u201cShe held out her hand and sure enough there was a piece of the gold,\nall yellow and shiny. Smith bit it and said it was all right. Then\nthe pirate chief took a vote and found that the girl\u2019s idea had been\nthe only good one, and that, as they had agreed, she should be given\nanything she wished and allowed to go free.\n\n\u201c\u2018Please,\u2019 said the girl, \u2018may I have anything I really and truly\nwish?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Absolutely anything,\u2019 said Smith, and then he got frightened for the\ngolden-haired girl said:\n\n\u201c\u2018Oh, you lovely, lovely pirate,\u2019 and tried to kiss him.\n\n\u201c\u2018Well,\u2019 shouted Smith. \u2018What do you want?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018If I can have anything,\u2019 said the girl, and looked with soft eyes at\nthe soldier, \u2018I want you to hold these two prisoners for just two days\nso that I can have prayers said for them before they die.\u2019 Her eyes\ntwinkled; she looked at the salesman and said to Smith:\n\n\u201c\u2018And please, when you roast this man, put in plenty of salt.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018We will,\u2019 said Smith, and \u2018We will,\u2019 shouted his men.\n\n\u201cThen they brought a horse and lifted the girl on to the saddle. As she\nleaned over to kiss the soldier good-by, she whispered something in\nhis ear that no one else could hear, but Smith didn\u2019t bother because\nhe thought it was just a good-by. It wasn\u2019t, though, as you soon shall\nhear.\n\n\u201cDown the road the girl went at a gallop, as fast as her horse could\ncarry her. All afternoon she rode and just before sunset came into the\nsoldier\u2019s camp. Up to the General\u2019s tent she cantered and then stood\nbefore him, all breathless. She told him everything that had happened\nand begged him to take his men and save the soldier, and the salesman,\ntoo, if he wished, although she didn\u2019t mind so much about him. The\nGeneral scratched his white beard and said:\n\n\u201c\u2018Why should I do this?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Oh, Sir,\u2019 she said, \u2018the soldier is your son.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Murder and Death,\u2019 roared the General. \u2018I\u2019ll have their heads; the\nvillains!\u2019\n\n\u201cHe ordered out a whole company of cavalry, and jumped on his own horse\nand down the road they went, led by the golden-haired girl. They rode\nall night as fast as the wind, and came in sight of the land pirates\u2019\ncamp just before sunrise.\n\n\u201c\u2018We must go slowly,\u2019 said the General. In a loud whisper he ordered\nhis men off their horses and then, with guns in hand, they crept into\nthe camp on their hands and knees. The first thing they heard was\nthe soldier prisoner snoring. He was making such a noise that the\ngolden-haired girl thought he would wake the pirates, so she crept\nup and put her fingers over his lips. He dreamed someone was trying\nto poison him and bit, just as hard as he could. Of course the girl\nscreamed, and out came the whole company of pirates. Then, how they\nfought! You never heard such a racket in your life; there was screaming\nand shouting and firing of guns and blood all about, and over all you\ncould hear Blue Murder Smith cussing:\n\n\u201c\u2018Crullers and Doughnuts.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd Ike shrieking, \u2018Orange Marmalade.\u2019\n\n\u201cThey fought for hours and hours. That is, all but the salesman. As\nsoon as the General cut his ropes, he grabbed his samples and ran like\nthe wind.\n\n\u201cThe others fought on, and the first thing you knew, every last pirate\nwas stretched cold and dead on the hard, hard ground. And then the\nsoldier held out his arms and the golden-haired girl came into them and\nthe cavalry all cheered and the General blessed them (I mean the girl\nand her soldier) and--they, no doubt, lived happily ever after.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\u201cPhew!\u201d said Edward Lee.\n\n\u201cPhew!\u201d said Walter.\n\n\u201cOrange Marmalade,\u201d shouted Edward Lee. \u201cHere come the pirates.\u201d Down\nthe road he charged straight into the arms of Mother Dear, almost\nknocking her over.\n\nAll afternoon Edward Lee and Walter were soldiers and pirates and they\nattacked everybody on the place before dinner. Even then they did not\nwant to go in, but Father insisted.\n\n\u201cAnd by the way,\u201d said Father. \u201cWhere are Martha Mary and John?\u201d\n\nEdward Lee looked at Walter and Walter looked at Edward Lee and then\nthey remembered. Down to the power-house they rushed and there were\nthe prisoners, all pale and tired and wobbly in the legs. Edward Lee\nreally felt badly. He kissed Martha Mary and begged her not to care.\nHe offered to shake hands with John, but John wouldn\u2019t shake. As for\nWalter, he got a laughing fit and wouldn\u2019t stop until Father ordered\nhim off to bed without any dinner. Later Martha Mary sneaked up the\nback stairs with a tray for him and no one knew it. Then Mother Dear\nfelt worried and said it wasn\u2019t wise to let him go to sleep without\neating, so she took him another tray and found Martha Mary\u2019s. And still\nlater, when he thought no one would notice, Father tiptoed up the back\nstairs with still more, and Walter had a gorgeous time. And Father\nlaughed and spanked him and then hugged him.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\n  IN WHICH LIZA GOES UNDER THE SIDEBOARD; WALTER AND EDWARD LEE FIX THE\n    CAT, AND FLIP PROVES THAT THE CITY FOGS ARE NICE\n\n\nIt was Liza who discovered the secret. She was hiding from Hermit, and\nthe best place to hide is under the sideboard, because Hermit is too\nlarge to crawl there. She was very quiet; so quiet that no one knew she\nwas there at all. When Mother Dear and Father came in to put flowers on\nthe table, she lay still as still could be and heard everything they\nsaid. Then she went right off to tell John although it was supposed to\nbe a secret. John was busy taking an alarm clock apart, but he stopped\nwhen Liza came, and kissed her nose.\n\n\u201cHullo, Big Sister,\u201d he said. \u201cWhich way is the wind blowing?\u201d John\nalways asked Liza interesting things. He didn\u2019t act at all grown-upish\nwith her like he did with the others.\n\n\u201cJohn,\u201d said Liza, \u201cwhat do you think?\u201d\n\n\u201cLots of things,\u201d said John.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a secret,\u201d said Liza.\n\n\u201cWhat?\u201d said John.\n\nThen Liza told him. The whole family was going to the City on Saturday\nand Uncle Captain Mick was going to take Martha Mary and John to the\ntheater. The others were to go to the Cliff House and have lunch on the\nbeach with waffles and peanuts.\n\nJohn pretended not to be very much excited. Even with Liza he was\nannoying and superior when anyone was so happy that they could hardly\nkeep still. But the others acted differently when they heard. Edward\nLee and Walter had to do something big. So Walter put the white and\nblack cat in a bucket of whitewash and Edward Lee put ink on the\nwhitewash to make the black spots again. They always did queer things\nwhen they were glad. As for Martha Mary--she sought out Flip to tell\nhim the news and there the rest of the younger part of the family,\nwhich was of course the most important part, found her, an hour later.\n\n\u201cCities aren\u2019t so much,\u201d said John.\n\nFlip thought they were. He had lived in San Francisco years and years\nago.\n\n\u201cBut you can\u2019t do interesting things there, like rowing and such,\u201d said\nJohn.\n\n\u201cYou certainly can,\u201d argued Flip.\n\n\u201cAnd anyway,\u201d said John, \u201cit\u2019s always foggy and cold, and things aren\u2019t\nalive there like the trees and hills and things in your stories.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are mistaken,\u201d said Flip. \u201cI remember perfectly well----\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a story; isn\u2019t it, please?\u201d said Martha Mary.\n\n\u201cWell, not exactly a story.\u201d\n\n\u201cPlease,\u201d said Martha Mary, and rubbed her soft, pink cheek against\nFlip\u2019s forehead. So what could Flip do but tell the story?--the story\nof the Things that are alive in the City.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\u201cYou see, John really doesn\u2019t know anything about it. There are just as\nmany dreams and fairies and sprites in the City as there are right here\nin our own garden. Only everyone has to attend to business in the City\nand can\u2019t always remember these things. Why, the fairies that dance on\nTamalpais are the most gorgeously happy fairies, I think, in all the\nworld.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho\u2019s Tamperpies?\u201d Liza wanted to know.\n\n\u201cTamalpais is the biggest, oldest mountain you have ever dreamed of\nanywhere.\u201d\n\n\u201cJust like Smudge?\u201d\n\n\u201cExactly, only not quite so silly and spoiled as Smudge. It is a very\ndignified old mountain even if it is so lovely, and it sits right at\nthe North Star corner of the bay and rules all the country for miles\nand miles around. But old Tamalpais is not the same as it used to be.\nWhen it was younger--oh, about twenty years ago--it was all covered\nwith nice, tall trees; some of them so high that one would think the\nblue sky was resting on them. There were red berries, too, and vines\nand tremendously big ferns and the green things grew so thickly that\none could hardly walk through them. There were wild things there, too;\nbears and deer and wild cats and heaps of squirrels and more singing\nbirds than there are hairs on Hermit\u2019s tail.\n\n\u201cRight across the sunset water was the loveliest city; a city that\nrambled over a half-dozen queer old hills, up and down, twisting\nabout like a regular jig-saw puzzle. And oh, it was a proud City, just\nas haughty and conceited as it could be. Of course it had lots to\nbe conceited about, for there never was such a happy city of people\nbefore. They had wonderfully good times in such a perfectly nice way,\nand were so lively and busy that of course they couldn\u2019t help being\nproud.\n\n\u201cMore than any of these things, the City was proud of its lovely\nmountain across the bay, and what do you think? The trees and flowers\nwere so thick on the mountain sides that it could never see through\nthem and had no idea that the City was there at all. The City grieved\nat this because she loved the mountain so much and wanted it to love\nher. She used to send messengers over to it on Sundays and holidays;\nboys and girls by the dozen, in old tramping clothes, and they would\ntake their lunch along, and sit in the fields and pick the poppies and\nviolet-blue Lupin to bring back and put in vases and jugs in the City\nhomes. One Sunday,--the sunniest, brightest Sunday you ever saw,--one\nof the messengers lay down in the grass under a bay tree and lit his\npipe and thought. I don\u2019t know what he was thinking; it must have been\nsomething uninteresting, for little by little, his eyes closed, and\nthe first thing you knew, he was sound asleep. The pipe fell out of\nhis mouth and right into some dried leaves. Then it was awful; the\ngrass caught on fire and before the messenger awakened the flames had\neaten way out into the forest. The messenger awoke and tried to fight\nthe fire alone, but it was useless. He cried for help and people came\nrushing from all sides to do what they could, but it was no use; on and\non the fire spread till all the trees and bushes on the mountain were\nburned away. All night the flames raged and the sky was red, like a\nsunset, and smoke poured over the bay. And in the morning the mountain\nlay, all bare and black, and oh, the City mourned to see it. But you\nknow, when anything unpleasant happens, something nice happens, too.\nIn this case all the growth of green being gone from Tamalpais, he\ncould look about him for miles and the very first thing he saw was the\nwonderful City--and--it was a case of love at first sight!\n\n\u201cWell, the Mountain and the City loved each other for years and years\nand years. Every morning, the soldiers in the City would fire a cannon\nto welcome the sun and that would awaken Tamalpais. He would yawn and\nlook across the water; then he would smile and when he smiled it was\nlike oceans of sunshine. Then the City would smile an answer and the\nday would begin. The hours were so short until dark, one hardly noticed\nthem pass. In the evening, millions of lights would come out in the\nCity like the loveliest diamond necklace of a fairy queen. Only fairies\nwear dewdrops and not diamonds. Tamalpais would gaze and gaze at the\nlights and the City would see the huge, black form standing out against\nthe night sky, and so--just like a couple of children--they grew so\ninterested watching each other that they forgot to go to bed at all.\nThat would never do, you know. First the North Wind scolded the City;\nthen the Lady Moon gave the mountain an awful lecture, but it didn\u2019t do\nany good. Tamalpais began to have wrinkles because he did not sleep,\nand the City became rather ill-humored. So the North Wind went to the\nSun and asked him what he thought they had better do. Of course the\nSun had a good idea; he always does seem to manage things somehow. He\nwaited until late in the afternoon, then the very last thing, just\nbefore bedtime, he went west, out into the ocean, and drew the water\nup in the sky to make lovely white clouds of it. Then the North Wind\ncame over so gently. He took the white clouds through the Golden Gate\nand heaped them just like hills and hills of white, soft pillows, all\nover the City, and the mountain too. That night no one could sleep; the\nMountain grieved because it couldn\u2019t see the City, and the City was\nlonely because it couldn\u2019t see the black form of Tamalpais. But that\nwas only the first night. After a while they grew rather used to it\nand learned to watch for the ocean of white clouds. Then they would go\nto sleep, and it was always more exciting for them to wake up in the\nmorning and see each other. Of course sometimes they would wake up and\nthe clouds would still be there. Then the Mountain would grumble and\nthe City would shiver, and down would come the North Wind to carry the\nclouds away again--and there would be sunshine.\n\n\u201cNow, every night, when the bugles in the Presidio sound \u2018Taps,\u2019 which\nis the soldiers\u2019 song when they go to sleep, the North Wind hears the\nsoft, whispering music and brings in arms full of white clouds so that\nTamalpais and the City by the Golden Gate can go to sleep.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nEdward Lee laughed when Flip had finished the story.\n\n\u201cThat is very impolite of you,\u201d said Martha Mary. \u201cI liked Tamalpais\nand you shouldn\u2019t laugh.\u201d\n\n\u201cWasn\u2019t laughing at that,\u201d said Edward Lee.\n\n\u201cWhat was it, then?\u201d asked Martha Mary.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s Liza,\u201d said Edward Lee. \u201cLook at her. Someone has been putting\nwhite clouds over her.\u201d\n\nSure enough, Liza was sound asleep with her arms about Hermit\u2019s neck.\n\nHermit was asleep, too, with his mouth open and his tongue hanging out,\nalthough it is very bad to sleep with one\u2019s mouth open.\n\nBut, you see, Hermit is only a dog and dogs can\u2019t understand\neverything.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\n  IN WHICH MARTHA MARY HAS A WONDERFUL DAY AND LEARNS THE LOVELIEST OF\n    SECRETS AND FLIP\u2019S ASPIRATIONS ARE EXPLAINED\n\n\nIt was Martha Mary\u2019s birthday; the brightest, happiest birthday she\ncould remember. But, of course, the last birthday a person has always\nseems the nicest. Everyone had presents for her. From Father and Uncle\nCaptain Mick there were oodles of books and ribbons and things for a\nsewing-basket. John borrowed fifty cents from Levy, the butcher, and\nbought a perfectly good spy-glass. Martha Mary could use it, he said,\nto spy out the rest of the family when she wanted company, or Liza\nwhen she got lost. Personally, I think he expected some pretty good\ntimes with it himself. Walter and Edward Lee sold forty bottles to the\nrags-bottles-sacks-man for fifteen cents, and with the aid of a nail\nmanaged to get eleven cents more out of their penny-bank. They bought\nfive molasses sticks, one for each of the children, which left just a\npenny over. Mother\u2019s presents were the nicest of all. First there was a\nwhite linen cushion to be embroidered with golden poppies; then there\nwas a book of the Secret Garden and a perfectly beautiful edition of\nPeter Pan. Best of all! Guess what! There was a corset! It wasn\u2019t a\nreally and truly corset because Mother Dear did not approve of them,\nnot even for grown-up women, but it had whalebone all up and down it\nlike the strait-jacket they keep prisoners in.\n\nMartha Mary went under the trees with all her presents, and John was\nparticularly nice and not at all grown-upish. He built a throne on the\nstump of the old oak tree and Martha Mary sat there, surrounded by the\ntrees and flowers and birds, and John made her a wreath of buttercups\nand a daisy chain. Then he tooted a blast on the cook\u2019s dinner-horn and\ncalled all the court to do homage to Queen Mary.\n\nFlip was out in the field planting alfalfa. When he heard the horn he\nstopped work, although he was quite sure it was not lunch time. Still,\nhe wasn\u2019t going to take any chances because he certainly did like to\neat. Across the lawn he came and there he saw the queen, surrounded by\nall her subjects.\n\n\u201cWhat is this?\u201d asked Flip. \u201cWhy the celebration?\u201d\n\n\u201cPlease,\u201d said Martha Mary, a little bit choky, \u201cyou have forgotten,\nFlip, and I did not want you to forget.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat did I forget, Ladykin Dear?\u201d asked Flip.\n\nMartha Mary would not tell because she did not want him to feel badly.\nNeither would John.\n\n\u201cYou tell me, Butterfly,\u201d Flip coaxed Liza.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s her birfday,\u201d said Liza, \u201cand there is going to be cake with\ncandles for tea.\u201d\n\nWell, at first Flip felt so badly that he couldn\u2019t talk at all; then he\ngot an idea.\n\n\u201cQueen Mary,\u201d he said, \u201cI did forget and it was hateful of me. But\nthere was a reason for my forgetting. You see I have a secret, too, and\nI\u2019ve been thinking and thinking about it and almost forgot everything\nelse. Will you forgive me?\u201d\n\n\u201cPlease,\u201d said Martha Mary. \u201cYes, but I should like to know the secret.\u201d\n\nFlip bit his lip. He really wanted to tell but did not know if he had\nthe right. You see when people know nice things it is much more fun\nto tell them to everybody. So he agreed. He said the secret was only\nfor Martha Mary, so the boys and Liza would have to go away for ten\nminutes. Martha Mary raised her willow branch scepter and ordered them\naway. Then Flip lay on the grass and rested his head against Martha\nMary\u2019s knees and closed his eyes.\n\n\u201cPlease,\u201d said Martha Mary. \u201cI am waiting.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s hard to tell, Silly,\u201d said Flip.\n\n\u201cBut you promised.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Flip, and got all red. \u201cI\u2019m in love!\u201d\n\n\u201cFlip!\u201d said Martha Mary, so surprised that she almost tumbled off her\nthrone. \u201cOnly grown-ups fall in love.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I am grown-up. I\u2019m more than twenty-four years old.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs that old enough?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, if the person you love is more sensible than you are.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs she? And is she nice?\u201d\n\n\u201cNice! Martha Mary, let me tell you about her. In the first place,\nshe is very small for such a grown-up person. She looks no more than\nfifteen, but she is all of twenty years old. And she is so fine--and\nreally very pretty, Ladykin. She has oodles and oodles of brown hair\nand the kindest, softest brown eyes and the dearest funny little nose\nand a strong, mannish jaw. You couldn\u2019t help liking her. And she likes\nnice things; birds and flowers and books--and fairies, too. And she\nlikes me!\u201d\n\n\u201cNow I know,\u201d said Martha Mary.\n\n\u201cWhat?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou told Mother Dear when you came that you had aspirations. Mother\nwould not tell me what aspirations were, but now I know. She is it.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot exactly,\u201d said Flip. \u201cBut she has to do with them. Shall I tell\nyou all about them?\u201d\n\n\u201cPlease,\u201d said Martha Mary.\n\n\u201cWell, it began years and years ago. I lived in San Francisco with a\nsplendid father and a mother as lovely and fine as Mother Dear. My best\nfriend was a little, brown-haired girl. Her name was Janet, but that\nwas too grown-up and old-fashioned, so we called her Jane although that\nis rather old-fashioned, too. But, you see, Jane was an old-fashioned\ngirl. We played the nicest games, Martha Mary, and when we were tired\nI would tell Jane stories just like I tell you. One day a man came\nto Jane\u2019s house. He stood behind the door and listened to one of my\nstories. Later he made me tell him others. When I had finished he\nsaid that when I was older I would be an author and write books. That\nbecame my aspiration. I made up my mind to be an author; not a great\none who would try to change the world, but just a simple, quiet one who\ncould tell stories that would make people just a little more happy.\nThen, Ladykin, one night something awful happened. I will not tell you\nmuch about it. There came a terrible earthquake. I don\u2019t like to talk\nabout it. A brick chimney fell right on my mother and father\u2019s bed and\nkilled them. It was awfully lonely then. I had learned to love Jane\nmeanwhile but I was quite poor and so I had to go away. I couldn\u2019t make\nmoney writing stories because my work was not good enough and I was not\nknown. So I decided to work on a farm and write when I found the time.\nAnd here I am. Now, Martha Mary, guess what!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat?\u201d asked Martha Mary.\n\n\u201cI have been working very hard every night on my stories all the time\nI have been here. Did you see the envelope the postman brought for me\nthis morning?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was from the publishers who print books. They have really and truly\nbought my stories and sent a perfectly good check and--I am an author.\u201d\n\nMartha Mary\u2019s eyes were all watery. \u201cFlip,\u201d she said, \u201cI am so happy I\nhave to hug you.\u201d She hugged him and then remembered about her birthday.\n\n\u201cI forgive you and excuse you altogether for forgetting,\u201d she said.\n\u201cYour secret is the nicest thing that has happened to-day.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut that is not the secret.\u201d\n\n\u201cFlip. Is there more?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me, please.\u201d\n\n\u201cI was so excited when my letter came that Mother Dear said when she\nheard of it--guess what!\u201d\n\n\u201cI give up.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe said I could \u2019phone to Jane and tell her to come right down so\nthat she could tell me how happy she is.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd will she?\u201d\n\n\u201cWill she! I should just say so! She is on her way now and will be here\nin an hour.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said Martha Mary; \u201cI didn\u2019t know that so many wonderful things\ncould happen in one day. Now I want to call the children.\u201d\n\nFlip blew the horn and across the lawn came all of the queen\u2019s court.\n\n\u201cI want to know the secret,\u201d said John.\n\n\u201cCan\u2019t tell,\u201d said Martha Mary. \u201cBut it is nice. Someone is coming.\u201d\n\n\u201cCaptain Mick,\u201d shouted Walter.\n\n\u201cNot at all. It is a girl-person.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo we know her?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, but you will and you will like her,\u201d said Flip. \u201cHer name is Jane.\u201d\n\n\u201cI wish an hour was not so long,\u201d said Martha Mary.\n\n\u201cPerhaps,\u201d said John, \u201cif you told us a story, Philip, it wouldn\u2019t seem\nso long.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps,\u201d said Flip. Then because it was a birthday and Martha Mary\nwas queen, he told a queen story with Kings and Knights and Ladies.\nThis was it:\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\n  IN WHICH IS TOLD THE STORY OF ALFRED OF THE LOW COUNTRY, AND JANICE,\n    WHO LOVED THE QUEEN\u2019S PAGE\n\n\n\u201cIn the days of the good and splendid King Arthur there was an old\nletter-writer named Baudin. He lived in a small garden below the Castle\nwall, and the loveliest hollyhocks and jasmine grew about the door of\nthe cottage. He had everything he desired and that was not a great\ndeal. His business was to write letters; love letters and business\nletters for the Knights and Ladies who had never been to school and\ncould not write for themselves. His daughter was a very pretty little\nsunshiny girl who kept his house in order and cooked his meals. She\nsang as she worked and was always happy.\u201d\n\n\u201cPlease, what was her name?\u201d asked Martha Mary.\n\n\u201cHer name? Why, I have really forgotten.\u201d\n\n\u201cWas it Jane? I should like it to be Jane.\u201d\n\n\u201cJane? Now, perhaps, it was. Or Janice. I think it must have been\nJanice in those days. So we will call her that. Janice used to do her\nwork early in the morning so that she might spend the afternoon sewing\nor caring for the garden flowers. Next to her father she loved flowers\nmore than anything else in this wide, wide world. They were happiness,\njust as the song of the birds and the shining of Lady Rumdidoodledum\nand the other stars is happiness. Janice was so very happy that she\nnever wished to have things changed. She wanted to go on forever caring\nfor her father and living in the cottage by the Castle wall. True, at\ntimes, she thought of the lad who hoped to marry her some day, but he\ndoes not come into the story for a long time.\n\n\u201cOne day, as Janice was sitting under a cypress tree, a handsome Knight\ncame down the road, mounted on a splendid black horse. The stranger\nwore a blue satin jerkin, black knee-breeches, and stockings of blue.\nThere was gold braid on his suit and a golden tassel dangling on his\nhat. From the brim waved a lovely grey-blue plume. Very straight he\nrode, and dignified, looking neither to right nor left. As he passed\nthe cottage Janice looked up and saw that the black horse was very\ntired.\n\n\u201c\u2018Kind Sir,\u2019 she said, and blushed at her boldness, \u2018your horse is worn\nwith the heat. May I fetch him water?\u2019\n\n\u201cThe Knight looked down and when he saw lovely Janice he swept his\nplumed hat to his breast.\n\n\u201c\u2018Lady,\u2019 said he, \u2018your kindness well becomes your fairness. If you\nwill but show me to the well I shall thank you and carry the water\nmyself.\u2019\n\n\u201cJanice curtsied and led him through the ivy-covered gate, bringing a\nbucket to the trough for him. When he had filled it and would carry it\nout she took it up.\n\n\u201c\u2018Good Sir,\u2019 she said, \u2018you may spill it and harm your beautiful suit.\nI will bear it for you.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe Knight bowed. \u2018Our Good Lady would be annoyed,\u2019 said he, \u2018were\nI to appear before her in disarray. It were best that I do not soil\nmyself.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo Janice took the pail and smiled to herself at the conceit of the\ngood Knight. While the horse drank the girl rubbed its silky coat and\npatted its neck. Then the Knight bowed again and sprang to his saddle.\nJanice curtsied and went in to darn her father\u2019s sox.\n\n\u201cYou may think she would be excited at having aided a Knight of King\nArthur\u2019s Round Table, but she was not at all. She thought much of the\nsplendid black horse but not at all of its conceited master. With him,\nhowever, it was different. When he had ridden away he could not forget\nthe girl\u2019s beauty and he saw her face wherever he went. He became very\nunhappy, then, for he found himself very much in love, and a Knight of\nArthur\u2019s Court could never marry the daughter of a letter-writer. Every\nday he rode by the cottage and saw Janice under the trees, sewing or\ntrimming flowers. He would sweep his hat to his breast and she would\nbow without smiling, although often she came out with a pail of water\nfor the horse. Naturally the more the Knight saw her the more he loved\nher, and the more miserable he became.\n\n\u201cOn the birthday of Guinivere, Arthur\u2019s Queen, there was a royal\ntournament planned, with fencing and lance bouts and dancing on the oak\nlawns. Tents were raised and they flew the Queen\u2019s colors: a pavilion\nwas built with a canopied box where the Queen sat surrounded by her\nLadies and attendants. All morning there were gaming and May dances.\nIn the early afternoon the Queen\u2019s Herald blew a blast on his silver\ntrumpet and announced the Queen\u2019s bout in which all Knights might\ncompete. The prize was to be a crimson ribbon from Guinivere and the\ngranting of any request in her power that the winner might make. Again\nthe Herald blew a blast and out from the tents came the Knights astride\nthe finest of Arabian and Russian horses. Their lances were under\ntheir arms; their Ladies\u2019 colors on their sleeves. To the center of\nthe oak lawn they charged where the din of fighting and the crashing\nof lances against shields became so uproarious that one could scarcely\nhear the cheers of the spectators. For an hour they fought until Alfred\nof The Low Country--(that being the name of the Knight who loved\nJanice)--and Herbert of The Blue Feather, were left. Again and again\nthey charged--lance met shield and shield glanced off lance, till\nsuddenly, Alfred\u2019s horse reared and Knight Alfred slid to the ground.\nHe sprang up and struck the animal across the haunches with his lance,\nso that the horse dashed away across the field. Then Alfred threw down\nhis lance and drew a dagger, all shiny and sharp. Immediately Knight\nHerbert sprang to the ground with his dagger drawn and they fell to\nfighting again.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile Alfred\u2019s horse, freed of his rider, whinnied a moment, then\nstampeded toward the further edge of the oak lawn where the villagers\nand their wives and daughters were gathered to see the sports. Right\ninto the center of them he rushed, directly at Janice, who stood\nterrified at the side of the old letter-writer. The crowd cried out in\nfear when, just as the horse reached and would have trampled Janice to\nthe ground, a page boy, who had stolen away from his place by Queen\nGuinivere, dashed forward, grasped the horse by the mane, and stopped\nhis rush. Only a moment the animal hesitated, then turned his head and\nsprang forward into the field again with the boy clinging to his mane\nwith all his might. The steed plunged and reared and finally, just as\nhe was captured by guards who rushed forward, he shook the boy off.\nThe page lay where he had fallen, his head buried in his arm. Past the\nguard and out to him, Janice rushed and sank down and took his wounded\nhead on her knee.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, across the field, the combat had continued as though\nnothing else had happened. But King Arthur had seen all and determined\nto reward the boy.\n\n\u201cThrusting and sparring, Alfred of The Lowland and Herbert of the Blue\nFeather fought, till suddenly Alfred\u2019s dagger pierced his opponent\u2019s\nside and Herbert fell, bleeding. Alfred was winner of the tournament.\n\n\u201cTo Guinivere he came, flushed and happy, and kneeled before her. He\nkissed her hand, offering her, at the same time, his victorious dagger.\nShe smiled and took the weapon, then pinned to Alfred\u2019s sleeve the red\nribbon she wore at her heart.\n\n\u201c\u2018Arise, Sir Conqueror,\u2019 she said. \u2018Ask of me what you will and if it\nbe in my power I shall grant it.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018My Lady,\u2019 said Alfred, \u2018all things are in your power; the very birds\nsing when you smile upon them.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Flatterer,\u2019 said Guinivere. \u2018You frighten me, I fear you are going to\nask a very great favor of me.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018For me,\u2019 said Alfred, \u2018it will be greater than vast estates. For you,\nDear Queen, it will be little more than a spoken word. I ask that you\nraise Janice, daughter of Baudin, the letter-writer, to my rank, so\nthat I may marry her.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Your wish shall be granted,\u2019 said the Queen. \u2018You may go to your\nlove, and tell her my pleasure.\u2019\n\n\u201cAcross the field, on his black horse, went Alfred, to find Janice on\nher knees, bathing and bandaging the page\u2019s head. She rose as Alfred\napproached. He bowed proudly and sprang to the ground. Before all the\ngathered villagers, he spoke, saying to Baudin, the father:\n\n\u201c\u2018Good man, the Queen, knowing the love that is in my heart for your\ndaughter, has ordained that she be raised to my rank so that I may\nmake her my wife.\u2019\n\n\u201cOld Baudin became so embarrassed that he could hardly speak.\n\n\u201c\u2018The honor you do us is great, Good Knight,\u2019 he said. \u2018It is very\nwonderful tidings, you bring. Janice, my child, what say you?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Verily, we are deeply honored,\u2019 she said. \u2018And we thank you and beg\nyou to ask the forgiveness of my Lady, the Queen, but I do not love\nyou, Sir Knight; I would ask that you do not demand that I marry you.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Great Saints!\u2019 shouted Alfred. \u2018Am I to understand that you refuse a\nchance to marry with one of my station and bearing? Strike me, but you\nare a proud one and the more to be desired. Sir, what say you of the\ngirl\u2019s nonsense? Command her to rise up and go to the Queen that she\nmay be made of high rank and a fitting bride for me!\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Sir Knight,\u2019 said old Baudin, now very proud and calm, \u2018I am the\nfather of my child\u2019s happiness, not the keeper of her heart. Her wish\nis my wish ever. She will thank our good Queen for her graciousness\nand beg to decline the honor.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018We shall see,\u2019 said Alfred. \u2018Come, I shall lead you to the Queen.\nPerhaps her Gracious Self will be able to drive this stupidity out of\nyour head.\u2019\n\n\u201cJanice put her fingers in his and allowed him to lead her to the\nQueen\u2019s box. At Guinivere\u2019s feet sat the page, his head bandaged, his\nchin in his hands.\n\n\u201cJanice kneeled and bowed her head.\n\n\u201c\u2018Oh, kindest of queens,\u2019 she whispered. \u2018I thank you for your favor.\nI am honored more than my dreams had ever hoped for. But I beg, Dear\nLady, that you will not demand my acceptance.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I do not understand,\u2019 said Guinivere.\n\n\u201cThen Janice told her that she did not love the Knight; that she loved\nthe page who had saved her and who had loved her long and secretly. She\nwent on:\n\n\u201c\u2018Dear Queen, on this, your birthday, when you are trying to make all\nthe world happy, do not force me to accept the kind offer of this good\nKnight. Let me go back to my father\u2019s garden.\u2019\n\n\u201cAs she spoke, Knight Alfred had become red and furious. He spoke,\nfinally, saying:\n\n\u201c\u2018I take back my request, O Queen. I could never take to wife a hussy\nwho would bestow her love upon a page. I do not wish her; I ask no\nother prize than your red ribbon and your kind thoughts.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Sir,\u2019 said Guinivere, \u2018your request shall be granted. And,\u2019 she said,\nturning to the page, \u2018you, sir. Do you love this girl?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018As I love the music of the winds and the birds and your voice,\u2019 said\nthe page.\n\n\u201c\u2018Then,\u2019 said Guinivere, \u2018for your bravery you may have her and make\nher your wife.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe page kneeled, first at the feet of the Queen and then before\nJanice. She rested her trembling fingers on his shoulders and kissed\nhim upon the brow.\n\n\u201cThen arose King Arthur.\n\n\u201c\u2018Lad,\u2019 said he, \u2018you have pleased me twice to-day: firstly in saving,\nsecondly in loving this child. Therefore, I shall grant you whatever\nyou wish. Think well! What does your heart most desire?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Sire,\u2019 said the page, rising and bowing humbly, \u2018I am allowed to\nserve the fairest queen and the bravest king in the world. I am loved\nby the dearest maiden in the kingdom. I have nothing to ask; there is\nno more I desire of Life but to live and die for you.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Well spoken,\u2019 said Arthur, the King. Then he turned to Janice.\n\n\u201c\u2018I know not which of you is the more fortunate,\u2019 he said. \u2018Life should\nhold much for you. Go, then, with your husband, and remember that\nArthur ordains that you shall honor, respect, and ever love him, and be\nhappy, both of you, always.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd they were!\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\u201cOf course they were,\u201d said a strange voice when Flip had finished. \u201cIf\nthey loved each other they couldn\u2019t help but be happy always.\u201d\n\nThe children all jumped up and looked through the trees. There was a\ngirl standing there; a brown-haired girl with laughing eyes and a jaw\njust like a man\u2019s. Martha Mary knew who it was right away. It was Jane.\nEven if you weren\u2019t sure you could tell by the color of Flip\u2019s face.\nHe stood up, all red, and said:\n\n\u201cHullo, child,\u201d and shook hands with her, just like a couple of almost\nstrangers would do. Then he introduced her to the children.\n\n\u201cJane, this is John Sherman, by far the most important member of the\nfamily. John, this is Jane. And this, Jane, is Martha Mary, but we will\ncall her Sister. These are the almost twins: Edward Lee who dips cats\nin whitewash, and Walter, who puts new spots on them with blue ink.\nThis is Liza alias Elizabeth alias Butterfly. And this, if you please,\nis Hermit. You know he was really the one who discovered me.\u201d\n\nHermit, when he heard his name, got up and yawned, then wagged his tail\nand smiled as politely as could be.\n\n\u201cPlease,\u201d said Martha Mary, when they were all introduced. \u201cIt\u2019s my\nbirthday and we should like you to stay and help me celebrate.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut Jane has--er----\u201d Flip started to grumble.\n\n\u201cJane has nothing, Young Man,\u201d said Jane. \u201cI know you are all on edges\nto show me the proofs of your book and tell me how wonderful you are,\nbut you will have to wait. I\u2019m going to celebrate.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d said Flip. \u201cThen I\u2019ll go jump in the lake--or eat a snail\nor something.\u201d\n\nIt was John who saved the day. \u201cLast one to the stable is it and a\nnigger-baby,\u201d he shouted.\n\nAway rushed all the children, and Jane would have followed, but her\nskirts were too tight. So she sat on the haystack next to Flip and when\nMartha Mary turned around just once, she saw--but Martha Mary would not\ntell us what she saw.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\n  IN WHICH JANE STAYS LONGER THAN SHE HAD EXPECTED TO AND WE ENTERTAIN\n    HER. AS USUAL, FLIP TELLS A STORY\n\n\nEveryone was rather anxious to see how Mother Dear would receive Jane.\nMother did not take to strange women as a general thing, but, as Flip\nexplained later, Jane was hardly a woman, so it made matters easy.\nFlip was the only one who was embarrassed. He almost ruined his hat,\ntwisting it out of shape, as he said:\n\n\u201cMrs. Sherman, this is Jane Houghton. I hope you will like her.\u201d\n\nMrs. Sherman shook hands with Jane, and the grip of the two women was\nlike the grip of two men. Jane was not at all ill-at-ease. Then Mrs.\nSherman put her two hands on Jane\u2019s shoulders and suddenly kissed her\non the forehead.\n\nWalter giggled and turned a handspring.\n\nAnd so, instead of taking the afternoon train back, Jane was invited\nto stay as the Shermans\u2019 guest until Monday. Of course, Mother Dear\nexplained that it was because Martha Mary had asked it and it was her\nbirthday, but I think Mother was romantic and liked to see Jane and\nFlip together. You can never tell what these grown-ups are thinking!\n\nSaturday afternoon, Flip hitched up the do-si-do-cart and in piled\nall the children, with Jane and Flip, and they went on the loveliest\npicnic they had ever had. Parts of it were a surprise. For example,\nthey had had no idea that Mother Dear and Father were invited, but when\nthey reached the Cypress trees near the ocean beach, at sunset, the\nfirst thing they saw was Mother standing near a campfire that Father\nhad built. There was the most wonderful smell in the air; it was like\nfried bacon, and fried bacon it was. There was green corn, too, roasted\nin the fire, and chicken cooked on a forked stick, and watermelon and\npancakes and heaps of doughnuts. Everyone ate as much as they could,\nand then Father lit his pipe and Mother sat on the ground next to him\nand the Children all lay on their stomachs on the sand, with Jane and\nFlip, to watch the moon come up over the ocean. Once, when he thought\nno one was looking, Flip kissed Jane on the ear, but Edward Lee caught\nhim, and for punishment Flip had to tell a story. He grumbled and said\nit was too nice a night to spoil with his nonsense, but when Jane said:\n\n\u201cPlease, Dear,\u201d he couldn\u2019t help it.\n\n\u201cThis is to be a story of the trees,\u201d said Flip.\n\nJohn sniffed. \u201cYou always tell about things that are not alive,\u201d he\nsaid. \u201cFather doesn\u2019t. Neither does Captain Mick.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut, John,\u201d said Martha Mary, very much surprised, \u201cthe trees are\nalive.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey can\u2019t talk.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey could, once,\u201d said Flip. \u201cAnd they still do talk in their own\nlanguage, but of course you cannot understand them.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan Father?\u201d asked Edward Lee.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d answered Father.\n\n\u201cCan you, Flip?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, but I know what they mean to say. Listen, now, and I will try\nto finish the story before anyone interrupts again. Elizabeth, stop\nsticking things in Hermit\u2019s ear! Now--where was I?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou hadn\u2019t started,\u201d said Martha Mary.\n\n\u201cAll right; then I\u2019ll start with once, years and years ago. It was in a\nlarge forest, way up in the mountains, where there are only wild things\nand no men. The trees grow very tall and straight there; the branches\nare heavy and the trunks all covered with grey moss, and everything\nelse is green. The forest, many years ago, was ruled by a lovely\nprincess. Her name was Shade of the Mountain Lake and she was a large,\nlovely, blue crane. The trees just called her \u2018Princess,\u2019 because that\nwas easy to say when the wind hummed in the branches, and \u2018Shade of the\nMountain Lake\u2019 was much too long. Princess ruled her tree land for many\nyears and the wood-folk were glad that they had chosen her, because\nshe was so wise and graceful and lovely. You see, her soft breast\nfeathers were colored with the blue of the sky of a Spring morning,\nand the grey of her slender neck was taken from the shaded spots near\nan old mountain. The green of her eyes once belonged to two splendid\nemeralds, and when the emeralds lost their color they became priceless\ndiamonds. So how could Princess help but be beautiful?\n\n\u201cShe was very proud of her kingdom; of the tall green trees and the\nblue-green lake and the very blue sky. All day she would fly over the\nhills, smiling on her people, sailing here and there, down and up,\nsometimes almost to the sun. One day, when she was very high in the\nHeavens, she saw, way off across the valley, a spot of red. That was\na color that was not known in the mountains, so she flew with the\nwind, out across her valley and another valley until she came to a\nland where men lived. And there, what do you think she saw? Fields and\nfields and fields of the loveliest wild flowers, all golden and purple\nand pink, and gardens with red, red roses, and sweet-smelling lilacs\nclimbing over the stone walls, and soft-colored fruit blossoms--there\nwere more flowers than days in a hundred years. All afternoon she flew\nover the gardens, smelling the perfumes and always finding something\nnew to surprise her. When night came she flew back to her kingdom in\nthe mountains. But she was very sad, for she had thought her land\nthe loveliest in the world and now she knew that it had none of the\nwonderful flowers that grew in the man\u2019s world. All night she grieved\nand in the morning called her council to her--a branch of a pine and\na branch of a redwood and a branch of the single oak that grew at the\nfoot of the mountain. She told them how she had spent the day and how\nvery, very much she wished her land to have all the colors and not only\nthe green in Spring and the brown in Autumn. Then the branch of the\nsingle oak spoke and said:\n\n\u201c\u2018Let me help you. The Pine has always been the most plentiful tree in\nthe mountains and the Redwood has been the tallest. I have been out of\nplace and able to do but little save giving shade. Now I think I can\nhelp.\u2019\n\n\u201cShe whispered her idea to Princess, and when Princess heard she was so\npleased that she soared high into the sky and sang to the morning sun.\nThen down again she flew, and told the silver stream her secret. And\nthis is what she did:\n\n\u201cFirst she went to the single oak and took from it several fine, green\nbranches, all covered with fresh leaves. These she carried one at a\ntime up the side of the hill and laid them side by side on the grass.\nThen she called to the sun and he came over the treetops and warmed the\noak leaves with his golden light. When they were all glowing Princess\ncalled to the clouds and asked for just a little rain. Down it came, so\nvery quietly that not even the sun went away. And so the drops, falling\nthrough the sunshine to the oak leaves, formed a lovely rainbow. Then\nthe rain stopped, but the rainbow remained, coloring the oak leaves\nwith blue and red and gold and amber and violet. Princess was so happy,\nthen, that she could hardly wait to carry the beautiful colored sprays\ninto the forest to plant them at the foot of the tall trees. All the\nwood-folk--the rabbits and the snakes and the silly young bears--came\nout to watch her as she worked. When her task was through she called\nall her subjects to her and introduced them to the new color she had\nbrought into the mountains, and she called it Child of The Oak.\n\n\u201cChild of The Oak grew very much in a short time. She had the form of a\nclinging vine; up over the branches of the other trees she crept, just\nlike a really and truly baby. Her colors were the loveliest you have\never seen. Just think of leaves that were golden red as the loveliest\npoppies and green as the wildest hillside and violet like the softest\nfield flowers and blue like the morning sky. She was so beautiful that\nall the trees grew to love her in a very short time.\n\n\u201cThen, one day, the most awful thing happened.\n\n\u201cIt was early morning in the month of May. Across the further valley\nand right through the Valley of Shade of The Mountain Lake and up the\nhillside and into the mountain land, came a whole school of children,\nto the place where no man had ever been before. It was very nice at\nfirst. They sang songs about Angels and Fairies and the one that went\nlike this:\n\n  \u201cI\u2019ll sing you a song of the fields in the Spring\n  With a chatter of birds in the treetops,\n  And the poppies and daisies will dance as I sing\n  And the birdlings will warble and flutter a wing\n  And the sleepy, fat owl will wake up, the old thing!\n  As I sing to the birds, the gay happy birds,\n  The silly young birds in the tree tops.\n\n\u201cThen they tied ribbons to the tallest pine and took hold of the ends\nand danced a May dance, and their pink and white dresses, with their\nbaby cheeks all flushed, and their golden hair waving, they looked just\nlike the South Wind.\n\n\u201cBut of course such nice things could never last. Pretty soon one of\nthe children found a spray of Child of The Oak and plucked it and\ncarried it to the awfully awesome person who was in charge of the\nparty. She said it was:\n\n\u201c\u2018Remarkably beautiful and most ethereal,\u2019 and, although I haven\u2019t an\nidea what that means, I know by the way she said it that it must be\nsomething hateful. Back she sent the children to gather as much as\nthey could find. They rushed about tearing Child of The Oak up by the\nroots and it hurt just as much as though someone were to pull Liza\u2019s\nhair. The tall trees all hung their heads so they wouldn\u2019t see Child\nof The Oak suffer and the Mother Oak moaned and held out her arms, but\nof course no human being could understand her. It was so pitiful, so\nunfair, and no one knew the least thing to do. And then, what do you\nthink? Guess what, Edward Lee! What do you think, Walter? Oh, you never\ncan guess!\n\n\u201cDown from the top of the mountain came the North Wind. Princess went\nto him, weeping, and, \u2018Father Wind,\u2019 she cried, \u2018can\u2019t you help Child\nof The Oak?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Certainly,\u2019 said North Wind. Down to the May party he swept and blew\ndeep breaths of the pollen that grows on dryads\u2019 wings all over the\nChild of Oak branches. The pollen that grows on dryads\u2019 wings is deadly\npoison, you know. So, as soon as the children touched it, they became\nill; they found spots of red on their arms, and their faces became\nswollen as though they had mumps. They itched simply miserably, and all\nwent home sick, and had to be put to bed with salves all over them. And\nso, they never dared touch Child of The Oak again, because the North\nWind had put the poison on her to protect her. When the men came to the\nmountains they never touched the lovely colored leaves, for they called\nthem \u2018Poison Oak.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut Princess did not mind, because she knew that the real name was\nChild of The Oak and that Child of The Oak was the loveliest child in\nall the hill world.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\n  IN WHICH WALTER DOES NOT WANT NINE EIGHTS TO BE SEVENTY-TWO; AND\n    MARTHA MARY FEELS SO BADLY FOR HIM THAT SHE GOES TO SEEK ADVENTURE.\n    SHE FINDS IT\n\n\nIt all happened because Walter couldn\u2019t learn how many times eight was\nseventy-two. The eight tables are hard enough, but when it comes to\ndividing by eight even John made mistakes at times. Walter insisted\nthat eight sevens were seventy-two. Mother Dear said they were not, but\nWalter said he knew best. Mother Dear looked sorry and said if Walter\nwere quite positive he was right, then she supposed he must be, but she\nhad learned that nine eights were seventy-two.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019re not,\u201d said stubborn Walter.\n\n\u201cWhat are they then, Dear?\u201d asked Mother.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t know,\u201d said Walter. \u201cBut I won\u2019t have them seventy-two.\u201d\n\nThen Mother Dear almost lost her patience.\n\n\u201cVery well, Walter,\u201d she said. \u201cBut, if you cannot believe your mother,\nI hardly think it worth while helping you, so you may leave the room.\u201d\n\nWalter lost his temper altogether and went out, slamming the door and\nkicking his feet. Later, Martha Mary, who felt as badly for him as she\ndid for Mother Dear, although she knew Mother was right, found him in\nthe hayloft, with a miserable look in his eyes and a smudge of dirt\nwhere tears had been.\n\n\u201cPlease, Mr. Brother,\u201d she said, \u201cdon\u2019t feel badly.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo away,\u201d said Walter. \u201cI hate you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWalter,\u201d pleaded Martha Mary, \u201cyou shouldn\u2019t. It hurts when you are\nthat way. Please come play.\u201d\n\n\u201cWon\u2019t,\u201d said Walter. \u201cGet out of here; I hate you.\u201d\n\nReally miserable and almost crying herself, Martha Mary crept away to\nfind the rest of the family. Father was busy writing Things in a large\nbook. Mother Dear was bathing Liza; John was rowing Edward Lee on the\nlake Ocean.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t bother me,\u201d he called. \u201cI can\u2019t hear you. I am miles away.\u201d\n\nMore unhappy than before, Martha Mary walked down the gravel path to\nthe gate. Then she opened it, a thing she rarely did, and went out.\nIt was rather dusty on the county road, and the wind was blowing, and\nit fluffed her hair all about her face. It felt good--the wind always\ndoes. Almost immediately Martha Mary became more cheerful, and as\nsoon as she became cheerful she had an idea. They always come when\none is happy. She made up her mind to have an adventure; she didn\u2019t\nknow exactly what it would be, but an adventure she would have. She\nhad never had a really and truly one all to herself; John had them; so\ndid Walter and Edward Lee, like whitewashing and inking the cat, or\nfinding a bird\u2019s nest in the old straw hat in the hayloft. But nothing\nhad ever really happened to Martha Mary and she didn\u2019t know just how to\nbegin. She thought for a long time; then a brown squirrel popped up in\nthe middle of the road, cocked its ears, and scampered into the poppy\nfield.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll follow \u2018him,\u2019\u201d decided Martha Mary, \u201cand see what happens.\nPerhaps it will be like Alice in Wonderland.\u201d\n\nAway the two of them went, lickety-split, down a hillside and up\nanother to the crest and over it. Right there, just on the other\nside---- Guess what! There was a group of children, at least a dozen,\nall of the boys in blue jumpers and the girls in blue Kate Greenaway\ndresses, and they were gathered around one of the boys who was a little\nbigger than the others; even bigger than John. He was talking quite\nexcitedly, and Martha Mary stood, fascinated, watching him and quite\nforgot little Mr. Squirrel, who had by this time completely disappeared\nup a tree. Finally the big boy saw Martha Mary and took off his hat and\nsaid, \u201cHullo!\u201d\n\n\u201cHullo!\u201d said Martha Mary.\n\nAgain the boy said, \u201cHullo!\u201d and looked at the tips of his shoes; then\nsuddenly he smiled a perfectly good smile and said:\n\n\u201cPerhaps you could tell us?\u201d\n\n\u201cPlease, what?\u201d asked Martha Mary.\n\n\u201cWe are hunting for wild violets and there don\u2019t seem to be any. Do\nyou know where they grow?\u201d\n\nOf course Martha Mary knew. There were oodles and oodles of them on the\nSherman Place, just at the edge of the lake Ocean. She thought it would\nbe lovely to bring all of the children home to pick them and perhaps,\nif there was enough, to have tea.\n\n\u201cWouldn\u2019t your Mother care?\u201d asked the big boy. \u201cOr are you like us?\nHaven\u2019t you one?\u201d\n\nMartha Mary could hardly believe her ears. \u201cHaven\u2019t any of you\nmothers?\u201d she asked.\n\n\u201cNope,\u201d said the boy. \u201cNor fathers, either.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow awful!\u201d said Martha Mary. \u201cWhere do you live? Who takes care of\nyou?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe live at the Charity,\u201d said the boy. \u201cWe take care of ourselves,\nexcepting at meal-time or lessons.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow nice!\u201d said Martha Mary. \u201cCan anyone live there?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the boy, \u201cif you are an orphan. But it\u2019s not nice. No one\ntakes an interest or anything in you. The only excitement is when\nladies with eyeglasses on sticks come from the Affiliated Charities to\npat you on the head and say, \u2018Dear little shaver,\u2019 and make you want to\nrun away.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd they look to see if your ears are clean,\u201d said one little girl.\n\n\u201cAnd ask if you are good and say your prayers,\u201d said another.\n\n\u201cAnd of course we say \u2018Yes,\u2019\u201d said the big boy, \u201cand then they give us\npennies and tell us to save them and we will be rich when we grow up.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s not true,\u201d said Martha Mary. \u201cYou always spend them before you\ngrow up. Things are very expensive! I know!\u201d\n\nThen they remembered the violets, so down the hills and to the road\nthey scampered, Martha Mary at the head of the lot (to be exact, there\nwere six boys and eight girls). Through the gates and up to the house\nshe took them to introduce them to Mother Dear, who was still feeling\npretty badly at the way Walter had behaved. When she saw Martha Mary\nwith all her company she dropped her sewing and said:\n\n\u201cWhat in the world has the child done?\u201d\n\nMartha Mary told her as quickly as she could all about their being\norphans and about the violets and the affiliated ladies who gave them\npennies to save. Mother Dear\u2019s eyes grew soft in the way they have and\nshe kissed Martha Mary and shook hands with the children, no matter how\ndirty they were. She told Martha Mary to take them to the violets by\nthe lake and not let them fall in, for some of them were quite small\nand liable to. Martha Mary promised, then called Edward Lee and John\nand they brought along Walter, who was now in a sensible frame of mind.\nJohn was inclined to be standoffish until Martha Mary, who knew him\nlike a book, told him that the biggest little boy liked men better than\nwomen, and then John became quite nice.\n\nIn a little while Martha Mary had learned the names of all the orphans,\nand I\u2019ll tell them to you, although you\u2019ll no doubt forget.\n\nFirst there was the biggest little boy; he was called \u201cSlats,\u201d because\nhe was thin. The Home name for him was Thomas Dorne. Then there was\nthe biggest little girl, Helen Dolittle, and then Reddy Smith and\nSammy O\u2019Reilly and Sue Patience Grey and John Shaw and Margaret\nsomething--her parents had died before she was able to find out\nwhat the last name was--and Pansy and Amy Rebecca Isaacs and Skinny\nDawson and Patrick O\u2019Harahan, and finally the most adorable little\ngolden-haired girl I have ever seen and her name was awful. It was\nDolcerina Vennicci, but they called her \u201cPiffy.\u201d\n\nAway went the eighteen children to the edge of the lake, where there\nwere so many violets under the green leaves that everyone fell to\npicking and became too busy to talk. After a while, when hats and arms\nand aprons were full of flowers, Martha Mary said:\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s play.\u201d\n\n\u201cPlay skin the Fox,\u201d said Skinny Dawson.\n\n\u201cIch tee goo,\u201d said Piffy. \u201cIch tee goo\u201d means something like \u201cOof\u201d or\n\u201cHorrid\u201d or \u201cDirty\u201d or \u201cCreepy\u201d or \u201cSlimy.\u201d So you could tell what she\nmeant, although I confess it\u2019s hard to find the word that explains it.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ll play ring around a rosy,\u201d said Amy Rebecca.\n\n\u201cSissy game!\u201d said Slats.\n\n\u201cI have an idea,\u201d said Martha Mary. \u201cWe\u2019ll have a story.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan you tell them?\u201d asked Sue Patience.\n\n\u201cNo--not exactly, but Flip can. Perfectly wonderful ones!\u201d\n\n\u201cWho is Flip?\u201d they all wanted to know.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll show you,\u201d said Martha Mary. Away she rushed and in a moment she\nwas back, dragging Flip after her and he holding in his hand the pages\nof a letter from Jane that he had not had half time enough to read\ntwice.\n\n\u201cHullo, You!\u201d he said to them all, without waiting for an introduction.\nYou see, Mother Dear had told him that they were there and that he must\nbe nice.\n\n\u201cWhat do you want?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe want a story!\u201d they all shouted.\n\nFlip turned to Martha Mary and struck a pose like an old-time actor.\n\n\u201cAlas! Madam,\u201d he said, \u201cmy fame precedes me. I fain would accommodate\nyou, but it wearies me to ever seek new plots.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t be hateful,\u201d said Martha Mary.\n\n\u201c\u2019Tis well,\u201d said Flip. \u201cWhat nature of story-do you desire?\u201d\n\nThey all shouted at once:\n\u201cPirates--dolls--fairies--ghosts--love--shipwreck--creepy--bloody----\u201d\nuntil you couldn\u2019t tell who was talking.\n\n\u201cWait!\u201d roared Flip. \u201cYou can\u2019t expect me to think if you don\u2019t be\nquiet. I\u2019m going to tell just the kind of a story I wish and, if you\ndon\u2019t like it, you can go jump in the lake and drown. But I hope you\nwon\u2019t, because then I\u2019ll be insulted.\u201d\n\nThis is the story he told them:\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\n  IN WHICH ANOTHER JOHN AND ANOTHER MARY WANDER FURTHER FROM HOME THAN\n    THEY EVER HAVE BEEN BEFORE, AND FIND A MARVELOUS BALL OF GLASS, IN\n    WHICH ONE SEES THE STRANGEST THINGS\n\n\n\u201cWay off in the furthest corner of San Francisco, just where the sun\ncomes over to light up the bay, there is a hill. Of course there are\nmany other hills in San Francisco, but none of them quite so important\nas Russian Hill. You see, the families who live there are quieter and\nhappier and more old-fashioned than those in other parts of the city.\nI don\u2019t know why; they just are. Right at the steepest part of the\nhill, and you can believe me when I tell you the Hill is steep, there\nis a Spanish Castle; not a really and truly one, but just exactly as\nnice as though it were. No one lived in it, nor had for several years,\nexcepting an old, white-haired caretaker; a splendid man. He liked\nchildren. That is why John and Mary were allowed in the Castle so much.\nJohn was a rather spoiled, selfish boy who lived in the Mansion next\nto the Castle, with his married sister. Mary was his best friend. She\nhad freckles and you would have liked her. They played nice games up on\nthe Hill; dozens of fascinating make-believes that you never would have\nthought of. They fought pirates--oodles of them--and baked potatoes in\novens under the rock and did other things just as nice.\n\n\u201cBut, just like other children, they grew tired of these things at\ntimes and wanted something new. So one day, when there were no potatoes\nleft, Mary suggested going down the Hill. John did not like to; he\nhated to go where there were other people. Mary laughed at him and told\nhim he was a sissy, although he wasn\u2019t really. He became ashamed of her\ntaunts, so down the Hill they went. First you go down some lovely old\nsteps cut right in the stone, then you come to another hill so steep\nthat it is easier to lie down and roll than to walk. They must have\ngone at least six blocks when, all at once, Mary said to John:\n\n\u201c\u2018We are not in San Francisco any more.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Where are we, then?\u2019 asked John.\n\n\u201c\u2018We are in China.\u2019\n\n\u201cThey were not really; they were in Chinatown, but it looked like\nanother city, altogether. There were hundreds of Chinamen shuffling\nalong the street, with long pig-tails and funny, large pipes in their\nmouths. They talked in a queer sing-song, the funniest language you\nhave ever heard. There were Chinese women with gold jewelry and green\njade in their hair, and the most adorable little Chinese babies, who\nlooked like dolls, dressed in splendid colored silks. Up on a balcony,\nwhere there were a dozen brightly lighted lanterns, a Chinese musician\nwas playing upon an instrument that sounded like dying pigs and broken\ndrums and tin whistles. In the shop-windows there were white lilies and\nflaming oriental silks and queer toys. Also there were skinned pigs and\nskinned chickens and strings of bacon hanging from nails.\n\n\u201cJohn and Mary became so interested that they forgot all about going\nhome. Before they knew it, darkness had fallen, lanterns on the\nbalconies were lighted, and Chinatown looked like Fairyland.\n\n\u201cDown the street came a tall, fine-looking Chinaman, in loose, blue\nsilk trousers and a blue silk coat with black embroidery. He seemed\nvery much surprised to find two American children in Chinatown at that\ntime of night. He came to them and said, in even better English than I\nuse:\n\n\u201c\u2018I assume that your small selves are lost. Is it not so?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Not exactly,\u2019 said Mary, who was always the spokesman. \u2018You see, we\ncame for a walk and just sort of stumbled into Fairyland and now we\ndon\u2019t want to go home.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018But your August Parent? Will he not be worried?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Yes,\u2019 said Mary, \u2018although John\u2019s sister will not mind.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018So,\u2019 said the Chinaman. \u2018Well, perhaps, if we were to \u2019phone to the\nAugust Parent, he might feel relief. Then we could perhaps have tea and\nginger before returning.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018That would be lovely,\u2019 said Mary, and, \u2018Great,\u2019 said John.\n\n\u201cSo the Chinaman stepped into a store and \u2019phoned to Mr. Devine, Mary\u2019s\nfather.\n\n\u201c\u2018This is Fong Kee, Doctor of Law of the Hong Kong University,\u2019 he\nsaid. \u2018I have just found young John and Mary enjoying the sights of\nStockton Street. I beg that you will have no worriment, as I shall give\nthem tea and bring them home at an early hour.\u2019\n\n\u201cJohn and Mary could not hear what Mr. Devine said, but it must have\nbeen satisfactory, for Mr. Fong Kee came out of the booth, smiling, and\ntook a hand of each of the children.\n\n\u201c\u2018Now,\u2019 he said, \u2018we shall visit my worthy friend, Fong Charles.\u2019\n\n\u201cThey went down a flight of narrow steps into a dark basement. There\nwas an odor of punks, like one uses on the Fourth of July, and the\nstrong breath of China Lilies. In through a latticed door went Fong\nKee, with Mary and John clinging to each other\u2019s hands, just the least\nbit frightened.\n\n\u201cThe room they came to was decorated in beautiful golden scrolls of\ncarved wood. At the end of the room was a queer wooden man, and at his\nfeet was a bowl from which came a long ribbon of beautiful blue smoke.\nOn a wooden couch another Chinaman was resting, smoking a small bronze\npipe.\n\n\u201cFong Kee spoke to him in Chinese and he arose and shook hands with\nJohn and Mary. Then he struck a metal bell and a Chinese slave girl\nappeared. He ordered her to bring tea and ginger. Then he turned to\nJohn.\n\n\u201c\u2018I am the old Fong Charles,\u2019 he said. \u2018More years I have lived in San\nFrancisco than there are hairs on an old pig\u2019s tail. I welcome you.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018You look pretty old,\u2019 said John. \u2018What do you do? Are you a cook?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018No,\u2019 smiled Fong Charles. \u2018I am a philosopher. I dream--and smoke my\npipes.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I like nice dreams,\u2019 said Mary.\n\n\u201c\u2018So!\u2019 said Fong Charles. \u2018Then, perhaps, while we await Sanka, my\nservant, who is as slow as the race of the turtles, I might tell you a\ndream or two.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe lifted John and Mary to a black wood table, where they sat,\ncross-legged, like tailors. Then he put between them a small black\npedestal, on which rested a large, round ball of glass.\n\n\u201c\u2018So,\u2019 said Fong Charles. \u2018Into the dream glass you must look and the\ndreams you shall see.\u2019\n\n\u201cJohn and Mary leaned forward and saw in the glass hundreds of lovely\ncolors, as though the rainbow had broken in it. Then the colors divided\nand circled about like a fairy dance. Softly, oh, so very softly! Fong\nCharles began to speak, in his sing-song voice, stopping only to draw\nat his pipe and blow a bit of smoke into the curtains above his head.\nAnd as he spoke, little by little, figures became clear in the glass\nuntil John and Mary could see the dreams, just as Fong Charles told\nthem. There were three dreams he told, all quite short and strange:\n\n\n_The Dream of The Girl\u2019s Gift_\n\n\u201cOut of Ta Chung Sz, which is, August One, the Temple of the Bell, came\nTchi Niu, the Bellmaker.\n\n\u201c\u2018Those of you who are pure of heart,\u2019 he called, \u2018bring to me your\nmetal mirrors that I may make of them a new bell. Come, my children.\u2019\n\n\u201cThey came, many of them and gladly, the daughters and the mothers,\nbearing in their arms the mirrors that showed their beauty, for it was\nhonorable to give, and what more worthy gift could be made than a new\nbell for the temple?\n\n\u201cTcho-Kow came last and slowly. On the mound of mirrors she placed\nhers and stood aside. Then, as the torch was carried to the fire\nbuilded to melt the mirrors, her heart grew sad, for the mirror she had\nbrought was the mirror that had been in her mother\u2019s family and her\ngrandmother\u2019s family, and the family of many generations before that.\nAnd so she grew cold with grief and cried out.\n\n\u201cSlowly the flames crept up and slowly the mass of metal melted into a\nriver of shining gold. But the mirror of Tcho-Kow would not burn.\n\n\u201c\u2018How now,\u2019 said Tchi Niu. \u2018The gift burns not; you have brought\ndisgrace on your house, oh, daughter of a Thousand Lilies, by not\ngiving your heart with your gift. How, then, will you redeem yourself\nin the eyes of Dong, the Great Bell?\u2019\n\n\u201cThen was Tcho-Kow smitten with a great repentance and she longed for\nthe goodwill of Dong. So she thought and thus made her gift worthy. As\nthe flames crept up about the mass of metal, she cast aside her dress\nand saying:\n\n\u201c\u2018Gladly I give myself as gift,\u2019 she stepped into the flames and\ndisappeared. Then did the flames burn joyfully and the mirror of\nTcho-Kow melted with the others and Dong was appeased.\n\n\u201cNow hangs the bell in Ta Chung Sz, and when it is rung to call its\nsong to the world:\n\n\u201c\u2018Ko-gnai, Ko-gnai, Ko-gnai,\u2019 it calls, and thus renders thanks to\nTcho-Kow for her gift.\u201d\n\n\n_The Dream of Hoa-Tchao_\n\n\u201cKiang-Kow-Jin, who dwelled in the body of a stork in the Pearl River,\nwas the God of Children. He ruled for a million years and was beloved\nby all the race of River Men. He ruled well and happily and knew no\nworry. Came a year, then, when the Children of the River grew few and\nKiang-Kow-Jin grieved. So to him he called Chung Li, the girl child,\nand said to her:\n\n\u201c\u2018I grieve because your companions are few. What then, Daughter of\nWisdom, am I to do?\u2019\n\n\u201cChung Li knew all things.\n\n\u201c\u2018Go to Ta Chung Sz, The Temple of the Bell, and pray,\u2019 she said, \u2018that\nmany flowers shall grow.\u2019\n\n\u201cTo Ta Chung Sz went Kiang-Kow-Jin and prayed, and when he came out\nof the Temple all the fields were glad with myriad wondrous colored\nflowers.\n\n\u201c\u2018It is Hoa-Tchao, the Birthday of A Hundred Flowers,\u2019 he said. Then he\nsought his home and slept.\n\n\u201cWhen he had slept and awakened he came again to the fields. There\nplayed Chung Li with many new children. And so Kiang-Kow-Jin learned\nthat children are flowers.\u201d\n\n\n_The Dream of Bo_\n\n\u201cBo is the God of The River Fish. His home is of glass and seaweed.\nYearly came the River Men to make gifts to Bo, for Bo was of great\ngreed. One year, with the other Men of The River, came Fong Soy, the\nsilk merchant.\n\n\u201c\u2018Bountiful Bo,\u2019 said he, \u2018this year I have no gift. The rains have\nbeen few and I have sold no silks. I have no wealth or fruits to bring\nto you. So, that you will bear well with me, I have brought that which\nI treasure more than Life itself.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe opened the folds of his dress and out stepped Fong Sing, his oldest\nson. Fong Sing, garbed in red, stepped into the waters and disappeared.\nThen, though parted from his dearest possession, Fong Soy returned to\nhis home and learned that his wife had given him two sons and they were\nvisaged as Bo, the God of The River.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\u201cSlowly the forms in the crystal ball disappeared and Fong Charles\nstopped speaking. John and Mary shook themselves as though they had\nbeen sleeping. Down from the black table Fong Kee lifted them, and\nthere, on a small stand, was very black tea in lovely transparent\ncups. Mary tasted it, but it was bitter, so she did not drink. Then\nSanka, the slave girl, brought dishes with cakes and candied gingers\nand strange fruits and almonds. Fong Charles filled the children\u2019s\npockets, and then Fong Kee led them away. Slowly they climbed their\nHill and to the door of the Mansion. There stood John\u2019s sister and\nMary\u2019s Father to welcome them, and you may believe they were relieved\nwhen the children appeared. They shook hands with Fong Kee and made him\npromise that he would come again to the Hill to visit them and perhaps,\nsome time, take them again to Fong Charles to look in the round glass\nagain.\u201d\n\n\u201cGee, that was a queer story,\u201d said Slats, when Flip had finished.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Piffy. \u201cIt made me sleepy.\u201d\n\nMartha Mary was afraid that the children would hurt Flip\u2019s feelings if\nthey said more, so she raced them up the lawn to the house, and there\non the veranda Mother Dear had placed pitchers of lemonade and enough\ncake for six times eighteen children. And so they ate till they could\neat no more and then, with their wild violets in their arms, went back\nto the Charity, with Martha Mary\u2019s promise that she would come to play\nwith them whenever Mother Dear gave her permission.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII\n\n  IN WHICH FLIP USES NEEDLESSLY LONG WORDS, BUT, TO WIN OUR GOOD-WILL\n    AGAIN, HE TELLS A REAL OLD-FASHIONED FAIRY TALE\n\n\nFor a perfectly good story-teller Flip had some rather queer ideas.\nHe didn\u2019t believe in fairy tales: that is, the kind that told about\nwitches and Godmothers and Princes and such. He said he could not\nexplain just why--it had something to do with inefficient education.\nOf course we do not know what \u201cinefficient education\u201d is, but Father\nand Mother Dear know, so it must be all right. Nevertheless, everyone\nknows that real fairy tales are nice even if they are not efficient\neducation, so one night, about an hour before bedtime, when the\nchildren were all in the living-room before the fire, Martha Mary\nasked if, please, Flip would tell one. Flip was in a particularly\ngood humor; there had been a thickish letter from someone during the\nday, and of course the someone was Jane. So he agreed. Only he was\nrather annoying; he started by using needlessly long words that no one\nunderstood. He said they would have to \u201ccreate the right atmosphere.\u201d\nJohn said he would, although he didn\u2019t know what it meant. But Flip\ndidn\u2019t alone. He put out all the lights so that there was only the\nlog fire to keep people from bumping. The flames really looked like a\nwitch\u2019s fire, only there were no witches in the story. Then he heaped\ncushions on the floor for Martha Mary to sit on; Flip had been very\npolite to Martha Mary since Jane\u2019s visit. Walter and Edward Lee lay on\ntheir stomachs on a rug. Liza was the only one who was not there. Flip\npiled some lovely-smelling pine cones on the fire, which sputtered and\nflamed like a blacksmith\u2019s forge, only didn\u2019t smell at all the same.\n\n\u201cOnce, in the days before Mother Dear was born, or Mother Dear\u2019s\nGrandmother, or her Grandmother\u2019s Great Grandmother\u2019s Great\nGrandmother, which was many years ago,\u201d said Flip, although everyone\nknew that, \u201cthere lived a King whose lands were so great that it took\nthe birds a whole month to fly across them. He was the richest king\nwho lived in the days of the fairies. His chests were of the finest\ngold, lined with purple satin, and in them were so many beautiful\nemeralds and rubies that it would hurt your eyes to look at them. In\nhis garden grew the rarest of flowers; roses that had been brought\nfrom England and yellowish brown and purple orchids from Brazil; iris,\nlilac, cherry blossoms, and St. Joseph\u2019s lilies were there, too, from\nall the four corners of the earth. In his stables there were Arabian\nhorses and splendid dogs: deerhounds and greyhounds, and had there been\nSt. Bernards in those days, he no doubt would have had some of them,\ntoo. In the Palace there were wonderful ancestral paintings, beautiful\nfurniture, table service of pure gold, and glass of the rarest cut.\nBest of all, there was his very dear Queen Wife and the little prince\nwho would be King when he grew up. It was the sunniest of days when the\nprince came. The Queen Mother had longed for a son and heir for a very\nlong time. She dreamed one night that when the King had grown to love\nher very much she would be given a son; you know, there can only be\nchildren where there is love. The dream made her more pure and lovely\nthan ever; her thoughts and her ways so delighted the King that he\nlearned to love her more than he thought a mortal could love. And so,\njust as the rosebush grows until it is lovely and old and wise enough\nto be a mother, and then the seed develops in it under the petals and\nfinally wins strength and goes away on the breeze to take root for\nitself and become a rose child, so the seed was born within the Mother\nQueen. While it was gaining strength within her, she kept her thought\ncheerful and clean, so that when her child came he would be cheerful\nand clean always. Then came the sunniest of days; just the day for a\nPrince\u2019s birth, and early in the morning the King was allowed to come\nto his wife\u2019s room and there, beside her, on a soft little cushion, was\nhis son, the Prince.\n\n\u201cYou can well believe that the King was filled with gladness. He went\nto the balcony of the Palace with the tiny baby in his arm and held it\nup so that all the subjects could see it. They cheered and the bronze\nchurch bells rang and there was gladness throughout the kingdom.\n\n\u201cFrom the wisest of the courtiers, guardians were chosen for the\nPrince. There was the chief astrologer to teach him the knowledge that\nwas in books. The grey-haired old Lord of The Park taught him the\nbeauty of flowers and the song of the bird, and the Master of The Whip\nshowed him the correct way to trot a horse and the manner in which a\nKing\u2019s son should hold his sword. So, surrounded by wealth and the\ndearest of parents and the wisest of teachers, Prince Winfred grew\nstrong and wise. At the time of my story he was about ten years old,\nthe finest young prince you have ever seen, only of course you have\nnever seen a prince.\n\n\u201cYou would think that, with all his wealth and splendor, he would be\nperfectly happy, but he wasn\u2019t. You see, one day he was riding down\nthe Park road on his white horse and he saw through the Castle gates a\nfarmer\u2019s boy pass by on a burro. It was a perfectly good, young grey\nburro with a collar of wild flowers and tinkling bells hanging from\nit. As soon as Winfred saw it he knew that he did not have everything\nin the world. He made up his mind that he wanted a burro very much. He\ntold his wish to old Esau, the astrologer, but Esau raised his hands\nin horror and said it would be disgraceful and undignified for His\nGrace to ride a burro. He would speak to the Master of The Whip, he\nsaid, and order new horses. That was not what the Prince wished for;\nhe had plenty of horses already. He did not know just why he wanted\na burro; personally, I think I can guess. There was something simple\nand modest in the small creature that would have been a welcome change\nfrom the show and pomp of the Castle. So Winfred went to the Lord of\nThe Park and told him his desire; that proud official sneered rather\ndisrespectfully and said:\n\n\u201c\u2018Perhaps Your Highness desires a goat, too, to milk when you tire of\nthe burro.\u2019\n\n\u201cWinfred almost lost his temper, but he remembered that Princes had to\nbe dignified, so he went to his father, the King, and in a most proper\nfashion, said:\n\n\u201c\u2018Your Majesty, I have a request to make.\u2019\n\n\u201cIt pleased the King to be asked favors by his son, and so he smiled\nand demanded what it might be.\n\n\u201c\u2018If it please you, Sire,\u2019 said Winfred, \u2018I would like a burro.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018A burro?\u2019 said the King. \u2018What will you do with a burro?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Ride him,\u2019 said Winfred.\n\n\u201cAt first the King laughed at the idea of seeing his son and heir\nastride a donkey, but when he found that the boy was serious he went\ninto a rage and Winfred crept away, miserable and frightened. Out into\nthe Park he went and lay down under a large oak, where he wept in a\nmost unprincely manner. He wept until the tears were smeared all over\nhis silk collar and ran down his neck. You should have seen him; one\nwould never have guessed that it was a prince sprawled there, for all\nthe world like a badly trained baby. He really was unhappy, though, so\nyou could not blame him altogether.\n\n\u201cHe cried and cried until he heard a rustling above him in the tree.\nHe looked up, and perched on a branch just above his head was a\nsmall person, not a great deal larger than a pocket-knife. It was a\ngirl-person, dressed in bright green, with the tiniest of green hats on\nher bit of sunny hair. She looked down at Winfred and frowned.\n\n\u201c\u2018What do you want?\u2019 demanded Winfred.\n\n\u201c\u2018Stop crying,\u2019 said the girl-person.\n\n\u201c\u2018You are disrespectful,\u2019 said Winfred. \u2018I am the Prince.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I don\u2019t care who you are,\u2019 said the girl-person. \u2018I wish you would\nstop crying.\u2019\n\n\u201cWinfred was so surprised at her lack of respect that he forgot to cry\nfor a moment, but he soon began again.\n\n\u201c\u2018Stop it, I say,\u2019 said the little thing. \u2018Stop it! I hate you when you\ndo that.\u2019\n\n\u201cWinfred cried on.\n\n\u201cThen the girl-person commenced to coax. \u2018Please,\u2019 she said, \u2018stop and\nI will give you any wish you ask of me.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Why should I stop?\u2019 asked Winfred. \u2018And who are you that you can\ngrant wishes to a prince?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018You should stop,\u2019 said the girl-person, \u2018because I hate tears, and I\ncan grant wishes, because I am a fairy.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018That is very nice,\u2019 said Winfred. \u2018I\u2019ve always wished to meet a\nfairy. Are they all like you?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Silly,\u2019 said the fairy. \u2018Of course not. I am the laughter fairy; I go\nabout the world collecting children\u2019s smiles and giving them to solemn\ngrown-ups. I\u2019m much nicer than most of the fairies; I think I am the\nnicest fairy there ever was.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018You conceited creature,\u2019 said Winfred. \u2018You are not at all nice.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe fairy laughed and reached down a tiny foot and kicked Winfred in\nthe nose.\n\n\u201c\u2018Don\u2019t be stupid,\u2019 she said. \u2018I didn\u2019t really mean that. There are\nother fairies as nice--almost--as I am. And I\u2019m not a creature and I\nwish you wouldn\u2019t call me one. I\u2019m a fairy and my name is--guess what?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Christine,\u2019 guessed Winfred.\n\n\u201c\u2018How silly! Christine is not a fairy name at all. Christines are\nalways fat and good cooks. My name is Merrylip. Do you like it?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Pretty well,\u2019 said Winfred. \u2018What does it mean?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Nothing. It\u2019s just a name, and names never mean anything.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Oh!\u2019 said Winfred.\n\n\u201cAll at once Merrylip commenced to laugh; laughed so hard that her\nlittle foot got tangled in a spiderweb and she almost ruined the web\ngetting loose.\n\n\u201c\u2018Stop it,\u2019 said Winfred. \u2018I can\u2019t see anything funny.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018You are funny,\u2019 said Merrylip.\n\n\u201c\u2018Why?\u2019 demanded Winfred, and showed signs of remembering that he was\nthe King\u2019s son and entitled to respect.\n\n\u201c\u2018Because,\u2019 said Merrylip.\n\n\u201c\u2018Because what?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Because I asked you to stop crying and I talked to you a little and\nyou had to stop.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Didn\u2019t. I stopped because you said you would grant me a wish.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I forgot,\u2019 said Merrylip. \u2018What do you want?\u2019\n\n\u201cIn a flash Winfred remembered what he wanted more than anything else\nin the world.\n\n\u201c\u2018Please--a burro,\u2019 he said.\n\n\u201c\u2018A burro?\u2019 said Merrylip, much surprised. \u2018Why in the world do you\nwaste a good wish on a burro? There are much nicer things than that to\nask for. Wish, why don\u2019t you, for heaps of money, and then you can buy\nanything!\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I have plenty of money,\u2019 said Winfred. \u2018And all the treasures I want.\nBut a burro is different. You can\u2019t just buy them; you have to be born\nnot a prince to have one. I wish I was a train-engineer or a policeman\nor a farmhand. A prince has so many duties that it is tiresome. When I\nam King I shall have a whole stable full of burros.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Then you won\u2019t enjoy them at all,\u2019 said Merrylip. She was really wise\nfor such a small fairy. \u2018You\u2019ll get tired of them. People always do\nwhen they have finally got what they wanted very much.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I wouldn\u2019t,\u2019 said Winfred. \u2018I am different.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I bet you,\u2019 said Merrylip.\n\n\u201c\u2018Bet what?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Bet I will show you something nicer than a burro; even nicer than two\nburros. You\u2019ll be perfectly happy for two hours--then you\u2019ll want to\nbe a prince again and forget everything else.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018You just say that because you are a girl,\u2019 said Winfred. \u2018Girls never\nunderstand boys.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I\u2019ll prove it,\u2019 said Merrylip. \u2018Come under my cape.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I can\u2019t,\u2019 said Winfred. \u2018I\u2019m too big.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018That is easy,\u2019 said Merrylip. \u2018You must kiss me on my ear, then see\nwhat happens.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Kisses are horrid,\u2019 said Winfred. Still he was not going to take\nany chances of not having his wish, so he reached up and just put the\nsmallest kind of a kiss on Merrylip\u2019s ear. It tasted like marshmallows.\nAs soon as he touched her, Winfred began to grow small. You have never\nseen a boy as small as he became--about so big. Then he climbed up and\ndrew Merrylip\u2019s cape over him and away they went. Up over the very\ntops of the trees, out across the Castle wall, down into the valley,\npop over a stream, high again so as not to bump into a fat old oak,\nand--before you knew it--they were right above the city. Far below them\nwere the people, walking about, and they didn\u2019t, any of them, look\nlarger than Merrylip.\n\n\u201c\u2018Now,\u2019 said Merrylip. \u2018Be ready!\u2019\n\n\u201cDown they swooped right to the middle of the street, where a whole\ndozen children were playing London Bridges. They were rather dirty\nchildren; their clothes were not at all nice and their hair was mussed.\nAs soon as the Prince\u2019s feet touched the cobblestones, he became his\nnatural size. Merrylip disappeared altogether, but Winfred heard her\nbuzzing about his ear, telling him what to do.\n\n\u201cYou can imagine how surprised all the children were when they found\nthat a strange boy had popped up out of nowhere. They gathered around\nhim and shouted, \u2018Who are you?\u2019\n\n\u201cWinfred was going to say, \u2018The King\u2019s Son,\u2019 but Merrylip whispered in\nhis ear, so he just said, \u2018Winfred.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe children didn\u2019t care very much who he was, after all. You see,\nMerrylip had touched his clothes with her lavender stick and they had\nbecome old and dirty just like those of the others. They decided that\nthey would start another game: Rum-ba-loo-pum-ba-loo. The oldest of\nthem counted out loud:\n\n\u201c\u2018Eny, meny, miny, mo. Catch a fairy by the toe. If he hollers let\nhim go. Fairy, meny, miny, mo. O-U-T spells out, with the Old Mother\nWitch\u2019s hat turned in--side--out.\u2019 And Winfred was out.\n\n\u201c\u2018But I don\u2019t know how to play,\u2019 said Winfred.\n\n\u201c\u2018It\u2019s perfectly easy!\u2019 they shouted. \u2018You know, the one who is out is\nIt.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018How can you be It if you are Out?\u2019 asked Winfred.\n\n\u201cThey couldn\u2019t explain, but that was the way it was played. The one who\nwas Out was It, and he or she was called Mrs. Rumbaloopumbaloo. She had\nto be the old witch and live on a stump of a tree. That was all the\nhome she had. Then the children came up and said:\n\n\u201c\u2018Mother Rumbaloopumbaloo, what are you thinking of?\u2019\n\n\u201cRumbaloopumbaloo would say the first letter of the word. If it\nwas ice cream, she would say \u2018I\u2019; if it was music, she would say\n\u2018M,\u2019 and so on. Then, if one of the children guessed right, Mother\nRumbaloopumbaloo would chase them all and the one who was caught was It.\n\n\u201cUp to Winfred came the children and said:\n\n\u201c\u2018Mother Rumbaloopumbaloo, what are you thinking of?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018It begins with B,\u2019 said Winfred.\n\n\u201c\u2018Books,\u2019 said one.\n\n\u201c\u2018Nope.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Bells?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Nope.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Beans?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018No.\u2019\n\n\u201cThen a little girl, whom no one had noticed before, said:\n\n\u201c\u2018I know. It\u2019s a burro.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Uhu!\u2019 shouted Winfred, and chased them down the street. He caught the\nlittle girl who had guessed rightly and whispered to her:\n\n\u201c\u2018How did you know?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Silly, silly,\u2019 said the girl, for it was Merrylip, grown big.\n\n\u201cThey played for a very long time, and Winfred was never so happy\nbefore.\n\n\u201c\u2018Isn\u2019t this nicer than a burro?\u2019 asked Merrylip, and Winfred said:\n\n\u201c\u2018A thousand times nicer.\u2019\n\n\u201cAfter a while they all were tired and didn\u2019t think the game was fun\nany more, so they took up their hats and started for home.\n\n\u201c\u2018You can come home with me for lunch if you want,\u2019 said one of the\nboys to Winfred. Winfred whispered to Merrylip, and she said he might,\nso they went. Only Merrylip made herself small again and hid in the\nPrince\u2019s pocket. They came to a small hut, and the boy, whose name\nwas Michael, rushed in with Winfred after him. They threw their hats\non a chair and shouted, and in came a woman, all fat and grey, with a\ngingham apron. Michael jumped into her arms and shouted: \u2018Mother, I\u2019ve\nbrought a boy to lunch. His name is Winfred.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe fat Mother kissed Winfred; then they sat down in the kitchen and\nhad oodles of beans and black bread.\n\n\u201c\u2018Isn\u2019t this nicer than burros?\u2019 whispered Merrylip.\n\n\u201c\u2018A thousand times nicer,\u2019 whispered Winfred.\n\n\u201c\u2018And nicer than dinner at home with servants all about?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018A thousand times nicer.\u2019\n\n\u201cWhen they couldn\u2019t eat any more, the old Mother went to sleep in her\nchair, and Winfred said good-by to Michael and went out.\n\n\u201c\u2018Where now?\u2019 he asked Merrylip.\n\n\u201c\u2018Now the best of all,\u2019 she answered.\n\n\u201cDown the road they went to a large field, where a grey burro was\neating grass.\n\n\u201c\u2018Get on,\u2019 said Merrylip. Winfred patted the burro on the nose, then\nclimbed up. Away they went, much faster than burros usually travel,\nrushing across the fields till the wind hummed about Winfred\u2019s ears\nlike music. They galloped up across the hills and down into new grass\nvalleys that Winfred had never seen before.\n\n\u201c\u2018Isn\u2019t this nice?\u2019 shouted Merrylip.\n\n\u201c\u2018There is nothing nicer in the world!\u2019 Winfred shouted back.\n\n\u201c\u2018Silly,\u2019 said Merrylip.\n\n\u201cOn and on they rode until Winfred grew tired.\n\n\u201c\u2018Please,\u2019 he said, \u2018I would like to stop, now.\u2019\n\n\u201cImmediately the burro disappeared and Winfred was standing under a\ntree, with Merrylip next to him.\n\n\u201c\u2018Where do you want to go now?\u2019 she asked.\n\n\u201c\u2018I\u2019m hungry,\u2019 said Winfred.\n\n\u201c\u2018Shall we go to the old Mother\u2019s and have more beans?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I\u2019d rather have fried chicken and strawberries,\u2019 said Winfred.\n\n\u201c\u2018But the old Mother only eats beans.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I can eat at home,\u2019 said Winfred.\n\n\u201c\u2018I\u2019m tired of burros.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Don\u2019t you want to go back and play with the children?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018No, they were dirty and disrespectful.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018You are horrid,\u2019 said Merrylip. \u2018But I knew you would be this way.\u2019\n\n\u201cShe thought a moment, frowning the tiniest, most adorable frown.\n\n\u201cThen, \u2018I hate boys,\u2019 she said, \u2018especially selfish ones. I am going to\npunish you for growing tired so quickly of the things you wanted more\nthan anything else in the world.\u2019\n\n\u201cAll at once there came a rush of wind, and Winfred was alone, and, to\nhis horror, as tiny as a string bean.\n\n\u201c\u2018Merrylip!\u2019 he called. \u2018Don\u2019t leave me alone! I am frightened.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut there was no answer.\n\n\u201cAgain he called: \u2018I can\u2019t go home if you don\u2019t come! My feet are so\nsmall and my legs so tiny that I never would get there!\u2019\n\n\u201cStill there was no answer.\n\n\u201cSo how do you think he got home?\u201d\n\nNone of the children could guess.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Flip, \u201cit is nine o\u2019clock and you all ought to be in bed.\nSo I\u2019m not going to tell you another word, and there will be a second\nchapter to-morrow night.\u201d\n\n\u201cPlease, please!\u201d the children all shouted. \u201cWe want to know now.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot a word,\u201d said Flip.\n\nThen suddenly Walter sprang on to Flip\u2019s stomach and Edward Lee sat on\nhis face and Walter shouted for help. John got a rope, and with the\naid of Martha Mary they tied Flip to the leg of the library table. The\nnoise was something terrific. In rushed Mother Dear and Father.\n\n\u201cHere, here!\u201d said Father. \u201cWhat is the noise about?\u201d\n\n\u201cPlease,\u201d said Martha Mary, \u201cWalter is a hero and Flip is a villain.\u201d\n\nThen Mother Dear laughed, and when Mother laughs Father always laughs,\ntoo. It really is quite funny to see Mother laugh. She is becoming just\nthe least bit stout. Well, when Father laughed, the children jumped on\nhim, too, and tied him to another leg of the table. Father tried to\nlook scandalized, but you could see a laugh lurking out of the corner\nof his mouth.\n\nSaid he, \u201cI consider this very undignified.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Walter, \u201cit is jail. You have to give bail before you can\nget out.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd may I ask how much the bail is?\u201d asked Father, digging his hand\ninto his money pocket.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s not that kind of a bail,\u201d said Edward Lee. \u201cMother Dear, what\nshall the bail be?\u201d\n\nMother Dear had a splendid idea. \u201cWe\u2019ll punish Father,\u201d she said, \u201cby\nmaking Flip sing, and punish Flip by making Father sing.\u201d\n\nFather did not want to, but the children would not let him go, so he\nsang in an awful, awful voice:\n\n  \u201cThere once was a silly old whale\n  Who drowned himself in a pail.\n  Amongst folks it is said\n  There was room for his head,\n  But not the least bit for his tail.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, oh!\u201d moaned Flip. \u201cSpare me, spare me!\u201d\n\nSo they spared him, but made him sing to torture Father. Then it was\nthe most surprising thing. He sang in the softest, nicest voice,\na voice that just seemed to fit in with the firelight and the\n\u201catmosphere\u201d:\n\n  \u201cWay up above the blackest trees that tease the sky at night\n  A million young star children dance a merry, fairy dance.\n  The fat old moon comes through the clouds and giggles with delight\n  To see the myriad youngsters as they skip and hop and prance.\n  Then, when the night is growing old and skies are fading grey\n  A mother star comes softly out a lullaby to hum.\n  She warns the dancing children of the coming of the day,\n  For a very careful Mother is Mrs. Rumdidoodledum.\u201d\n\nThen the children looked out of the window and, sure enough, Lady\nRumdidoodledum was just appearing, big and bright, above the pine trees.\n\n\u201cFlip,\u201d coaxed Martha Mary, \u201cdon\u2019t you think you could tell us just a\nbit of how Winfred got home?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo-morrow night,\u201d said Flip, and so everyone said good night and went\nto bed.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV\n\n  IN WHICH WINFRED IS GIVEN THE MOST WONDERFUL WISH IN THE WORLD, AND I\n    ADVISE YOU ALL TO READ IT AND LEARN WHAT IT IS, SO THAT IF, SOME DAY\n    WHEN YOU ARE LEAST EXPECTING IT, A FAIRY COMES AND OFFERS YOU A\n    WISH, YOU WILL KNOW FOR WHAT TO ASK\n\n\nThe following day came a surprise for the children. While they were at\ntheir lessons Mother Dear constantly looked at her watch and then gazed\nout of the window. Martha Mary was sure something was going to happen,\nbut she could not for a moment imagine what it was to be. Finally\nMother Dear could keep the secret no longer.\n\n\u201cBabes,\u201d she said, \u201cyou may all put away your books, and then I have\nsomething to tell you.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it nice?\u201d asked Edward Lee.\n\n\u201cYes--and no,\u201d said Mother. \u201cI want you to be happy about it and be\nnice to Flip. You see----\u201d\n\nMartha Mary\u2019s lips began to tremble. She came to Mother and hid her\nface in her lap so that the boys could not see her eyes. Mother Dear\nsmoothed the long curls that fell over Martha Mary\u2019s shoulders and\npatted her cheeks, just as you would a baby\u2019s. The boys did not know\nwhat to think.\n\nFinally Martha Mary looked up and smiled the most unhappy little smile\nimaginable, because it was hard to make-believe.\n\n\u201cI know,\u201d she said. \u201cI just knew it had to happen.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat, Dear?\u201d asked Mother.\n\n\u201cHe is going away; I am sure he is.\u201d\n\nMother Dear\u2019s eyes were all watery. \u201cYes,\u201d she said, \u201cbut you must not\nbe selfish. Flip is going to be very, very happy.\u201d\n\n\u201cI suppose it is the Jane-person,\u201d grunted John.\n\nMother Dear frowned a little and then smiled a perfectly good smile.\n\n\u201cIt is the Jane-person,\u201d she said, \u201cand I am happy as happy can be. You\nsee, Flip has received a great deal of money for his book and so the\npublisher wants him to come to New York to discuss the work he is to do\nfrom now on. And so Flip is going--going in a few weeks, but first he\nis going to the City and he and Jane are to be married, and John and\nMartha Mary are going with Father and myself to the wedding. So, you\nsee, it is to be nice, after all.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd,\u201d said Liza, \u201cisn\u2019t my Flip ever, ever going to come back no more?\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly, Butterfly! In much less than a year he will return.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd live here?\u201d\n\nMother smiled. \u201cI\u2019m afraid not. But he is to have a lovely cottage just\na short distance down the road and---- Ssh! Flip is coming. I want you\nto be very nice to him and not say anything about what I have told you.\u201d\n\nFlip came in with a perfectly happy smile. Immediately he saw that\nsomething was wrong. The children were always more noisy when he came.\nBut he looked at Mother Dear and she nodded, so he pretended to notice\nnothing.\n\n\u201cWell, I\u2019m here,\u201d he said. \u201cSupposing we find out now what happened to\nWinfred.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes!\u201d the children shouted, forgetting for the moment that it might be\nthe last story he would tell them in a long time. (Personally, I know\nthat it wasn\u2019t.)\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Flip (he always said \u201cWell\u201d when he started to speak),\n\u201cI\u2019ll tell you, and please, Martha Mary, will you sit on my knee just\nthis once while I tell it?\u201d\n\nMartha Mary came and climbed to his knee just like a baby and hid her\nface in his big coat, because she was afraid of crying. Then Flip\ncoughed to clear his throat and told the second chapter of Winfred\u2019s\nstory:\n\n\u201cNow, let me see! Winfred was standing in the middle of the field,\nalone, and he was no larger than a string bean. Every time a small\nbreeze came along it picked him up, just like a leaf, and carried him\nto another part of the field. That was rather good fun at first, but\nafter a while it was unpleasant to have to fly whether you would or\nnot. So Winfred crept under a wild rosebush and hid in the leaves,\nwhere he could think without being disturbed. But thinking did not do\nany good, for that would not make him large again. He sat with his\ntiny face in his hands and frowned. Then the sky grew dark and it was\nnight. Lady Rumdidoodledum and thousands of star children came into the\nsky and the moon appeared like the largest gold plate you have ever\nseen. Soon voices were heard in the field--voices of people calling\nand shouting, \u2018Prince Winfred!\u2019 They were the guards seeking the lost\nboy. They tramped here and there and everywhere and could not hear when\nWinfred answered them, for his voice was as small as his body. Once a\nguard came along, swinging a blue lantern, and he almost stepped on\nWinfred. Finally they said he could not be in that field, so they went\nahead, the men shouting and blowing trumpets, and the women calling and\nmoaning. Last of all came the Queen Mother. She did not speak or cry,\nbut walked with her head bowed and tears in her eyes. Winfred held out\nhis arms and called, \u2018Mother Dearest!\u2019 but she could not see or hear\nhim. And so she passed out of sight with the others. Then Winfred crept\nout from the wild rosebush and commenced to climb the hill. It was a\nhard climb for his short legs and he was very much out of breath when\nhe reached the top. He rested a moment and then looked down. Far below\nhim he saw the ocean, grey and cold, and very great, reaching all the\nway to the shores of Japan. Along the beach the huge waves splashed\nlike white horses. The winds came skipping across the waters, mussing\nthem in all directions. Winfred gasped, for he had never seen the ocean\nbefore. Then, suddenly, he remembered--(and this is true, I assure you)\nthe first time you see or do anything, such as eating the first grape\nof the season, or seeing the first firefly, or anything like that, if\nyou make a wish it is sure to come true. So Winfred reached out his\narms to the sea and whispered:\n\n  \u201c\u2018Oh, ocean blue, oh, ocean grey,\n  I\u2019ve never seen you before to-day.\n  Grant to me, oh, grant, I pray,\n  The wish I wish to you to-day.\u2019\n\n\u201cOut of the wildest of the waves skipped a tiny veil of blue, waving\nand swaying across the sky like a bit of smoke. Straight to Winfred\nit came and fluttered to his feet. Then he saw that it was a sprite,\na tiny blue one, no larger than himself. The water sprite was dressed\nlike a Queen\u2019s page, all golden and blue, and he carried the smallest\nimaginable trumpet in his hand. He took off his hat and bowed.\n\n\u201c\u2018Prince Winfred,\u2019 he said, \u2018I have come from the salty sea with a\nmessage for you.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I saw you coming,\u2019 said Winfred. \u2018I should think you would lose your\nbreath when you travel through the water.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018One does,\u2019 said the sprite, \u2018if one keeps one\u2019s mouth open. But I\nbreathe through my ears. Why don\u2019t you try it?\u2019\n\n\u201cWinfred tried, but he couldn\u2019t.\n\n\u201c\u2018Please,\u2019 he said, \u2018what is your message?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I am Lovelight, the messenger of King Neptune who rules the ocean,\u2019\nsaid the sprite. \u2018King Neptune\u2019 (he said \u2018King\u2019 like \u2018kink\u2019) \u2018heard\nyour wish and he says that he will grant it, because he likes to have\npeople believe in him. What will you wish?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I wish----\u2019 said Winfred.\n\n\u201c\u2018Wait!\u2019 said Lovelight. \u2018Don\u2019t be silly and wish for something that\nis not worth while. And, for Goodness\u2019 Sake, don\u2019t wish for a burro!\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018How did you know about that?\u2019 asked Winfred.\n\n\u201c\u2018Why, as soon as Merrylip left you she came straight to the sea to\ntell all the waves and collect laughs from them. When they heard that a\nKing\u2019s Son had asked for a burro, they laughed so hard that the sailors\nall thought a storm was coming up.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I could choke Merrylip,\u2019 said Winfred, although he laughed himself.\n\u2018But,\u2019 said he, \u2018I do not know how to make a worth-while wish.\u2019\n\n\u201cLovelight came close and put his lips to Winfred\u2019s ear.\n\n\u201c\u2018There is one wish,\u2019 he said, \u2018that is more wonderful than anything\nelse in the world. Shall I tell it to you?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Please do!\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Well, wish that any wish you make at any time, as long as it is\nsensible, will come true. You see, that is really only one wish.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018And will it come true?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Certainly.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo again Winfred looked out to the sea and said:\n\n  \u201c\u2018Oh, ocean blue, oh, ocean grey,\n  I\u2019ve never seen you before to-day.\n  Grant to me, oh, grant, I pray,\n  The wish I wish to you to-day!\u2019\n\n\u201cThen he added: \u2018I wish that any wish I make at any time will come true\nas long as it is sensible.\u2019\n\n\u201cWhen he stopped, a golden light ran across the waters.\n\n\u201c\u2018You see,\u2019 said Lovelight, \u2018Neptune is smiling. He says he will grant\nyour wish. Try once!\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018All right,\u2019 said Winfred. \u2018I wish that Merrylip would come back.\u2019\n\n\u201cAlmost immediately Merrylip came skipping through the grass, with her\ngolden hair waving in the moonlight. Winfred put his arms about her and\nkissed her on the nose. \u2018Please,\u2019 he said, \u2018I wish, Merrylip, that you\nwould not think me hateful any more.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Smile, Silly!\u2019 said Merrylip. \u2018And I won\u2019t.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo Winfred smiled and that part of his trouble was ended.\n\n\u201c\u2018Now,\u2019 said Lovelight, \u2018I must return to King Neptune.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I wish you a pleasant journey back,\u2019 said Winfred.\n\n\u201c\u2018Thanks,\u2019 said Lovelight, and skipped into the sky.\n\n\u201c\u2018I wish you would give the King my regards,\u2019 Winfred called after\nhim, and Lovelight had a pleasant journey and gave the King Winfred\u2019s\nregards as soon as he arrived.\n\n\u201c\u2018Now,\u2019 said Merrylip, \u2018I don\u2019t suppose you will have any more to do\nwith me.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018But I will,\u2019 said Winfred. \u2018I don\u2019t suppose you will have any more to\ndo with me.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe didn\u2019t really mean it to be a wish, although he wanted it very\nmuch, but he forgot that every time he said \u2018I wish\u2019 it would come\ntrue. So Merrylip stayed and that is why, even when he grew up and was\nKing, Winfred always smiled.\n\n\u201c\u2018Next on the programme is Home,\u2019 said Winfred. \u2018I wish I was my\nregular size and was sitting on Mother\u2019s lap and she was singing to\nme, and Merrylip was hiding in my pocket, and things were just as\nthough I had never gone away at all.\u2019\n\n\u201cAlmost before he had finished the very long sentence, it came true.\nWinfred found himself on his Mother\u2019s knee (although he was a pretty\nbig boy to be held that way) and she was pressing her lips on his hair\nand humming him a Queen Song. In his pocket slept Merrylip and no one\nknew it excepting Winfred, because she was so tiny that, even when she\nsneezed, people could not hear her. And so everything came out well,\nafter all, you see.\n\n\u201cLater, Winfred grew to be King, and with his wonderful wish made his\npeople the happiest on earth, for when anything sensible had to be\narranged he needed but to wish and it would come true. As a matter of\nfact, it was fortunate that Merrylip was always there, for often he\nthought of silly wishes and then Merrylip would pinch his ear and he\nwould not make them. And this is all.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, it is a relief to know that he got home all right,\u201d said John.\nJohn was forming the habit of using long words. It would have been just\nas easy for him to say \u201cglad\u201d as \u201crelief.\u201d\n\nThen Martha Mary climbed off Flip\u2019s knee, and he held her hands and she\nleaned forward and whispered in his ear:\n\n\u201cI\u2019m sorry as sorry can be, Flip Dear, that you are going away, but I\nam happy because you and Jane will be happy.\u201d\n\nFlip smiled and gazed out of the window, and then took Martha Mary into\nhis arms and kissed her, and the boys all shouted, and Martha Mary\nrushed from the room, all red and happy.\n\nAnd so Flip told the last but one of his stories before he went to New\nYork, and, as you shall see, the last one I had nothing to do with.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV\n\n  IN WHICH, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME, I DO NOT TALK AT ALL,\n    BUT AM WELL CONTENT TO SIT QUIETLY BY AND LISTEN TO THE LOVELY NEWS\n    THAT L. H. D., WHO, YOU WILL REMEMBER, I TOLD YOU ABOUT IN THE\n    PREFACE, HAS BROUGHT\n\n\nOne gloriously sunny morning Liza opened her grey eyes wide, yawned,\nand decided that she would really stay awake and consider the business\nof the day. She sat up in her little crib, looking adorably pink and\nwhite and very huggable, with her tousled golden curls playing hide\nand seek with each other on her neck. Across the room, in her own bed,\nstill sound asleep, lay Martha Mary.\n\n\u201cSister Lazy Bones,\u201d thought Butterfly, and wondered how anyone could\nwant to sleep when Mr. Cock Robin was singing such a splendid song in\nthe vines at the windows. Liza looked around the room expectantly,\nthen the corners of her mouth drooped pitifully, and a big tear rolled\ndown her cheek. For where was Mother Dear this beautiful morning? Never\nbefore, as long as Liza could remember, had she failed to find Mother\nbending over her when she awakened, with a big kiss waiting in the\ncorner of her mouth for her baby daughter.\n\nJust at that minute, luckily, Nurse Huggins came in, smiling, oh, so\nhappily! Liza, of course, just couldn\u2019t help smiling, too, though she\nhad not any idea at all why she was so glad.\n\n\u201cPlease,\u201d said she, \u201cwhere\u2019s my Muvver Dear?\u201d\n\n(She never took time to say Mother quite distinctly, though she really\ncould if she wanted to.)\n\nNurse just laughed mysteriously, in the annoying way that grown-ups\nsometimes have, kissed the little Butterfly, and bade her get quickly\ninto her wrapper and slippers. By this time Martha Mary was awake,\ntoo, and following Liza\u2019s example. In another moment the two children\nwere standing before Mother Dear\u2019s door, which was very quietly\nopened from the inside by a brown-eyed lady, dressed all in white,\nwhom they had never seen before. Mother lay in the big, four-poster\nbed, looking a little pale and a little tired, but oh, so \u201csmily.\u201d\nRight next to her was a little cradle, all blue lace and ribbons, and\ninside-- Guess what! There was a baby, a teeny, tiny bit of a one, all\nred and wrinkled, and not half so big as Liza\u2019s doll. At first Martha\nMary could only look from the big bed to the cradle and then back\nagain. Then, when they realized what a wonderful present Mother Dear\nhad given them, they nearly smothered her with kisses. No one said a\nword, because, you see, when a person is really and truly happy they\ncan\u2019t talk much because of the choky feeling in their throat. But after\nMartha Mary and Liza had each touched the crumpled rose-leaf hands of\nthe new baby, and looked into its tiny face.\n\n\u201cPlease,\u201d said Mary, \u201cis it a sister or a brother?\u201d\n\nMother laughed, then,--she just couldn\u2019t help it. How silly she had\nbeen not to have told them!\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a sister, Ladykin Dear,\u201d said Father, who came into the room just\nin time to hear the question. \u201cAnd she is just as glad to see you as\nyou are to see her, only she sleeps so much that she hasn\u2019t time to\ntell you so, herself.\u201d\n\nWhile Father was speaking Liza\u2019s eyes had grown very wide indeed, for\nthe tiny sister had yawned, then opened her eyes, and was looking\nstraight at Liza.\n\n\u201cMuvver Dear! Father!\u201d said she excitedly, \u201cshe is going to talk to\nme.\u201d Then Butterfly\u2019s golden curls, which just reached to the top of\nthe cradle, bent over anxiously toward the little bald head of the new\nbaby. No one spoke for at least a minute, which was evidently long\nenough for Miss Little Sister to deliver her message, for at the end\nof that time, away flew Liza across the room like a little sunbeam,\ndancing and singing,\n\n  \u201cI know a secret I won\u2019t tell you,\n  Sister told me and it is true.\u201d\n\nNo amount of begging on the part of Martha Mary could persuade Liza to\ntell what the little stranger had said. I am sorry to say that Mary\nfelt just the least bit jealous, for she didn\u2019t see why Liza should be\nthe only person in the family to know such wonderful things. Just as\nthe two children were leaving the room, Liza went over to the big bed,\ntook Mother Dear\u2019s hand and kissed it.\n\n\u201cBaby says her name\u2019s \u2018Midge,\u2019\u201d said Butterfly. \u201cThat is part of the\nsecret.\u201d\n\nEveryone smiled and was glad.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Father, \u201cMidge it shall be, although her really, truly\nname is to be \u2018Margaret,\u2019 just like Mother\u2019s.\u201d\n\nLiza\u2019s eyes fairly danced with delight at the news, and Martha Mary had\nto keep a very tight hold on her lips, so as not to shout how happy she\nwas, and so awaken Miss Midge.\n\nNo one could seem to eat any breakfast that morning, though there\nwere delicious berries from the garden, with mush, and new-laid\neggs, and the thickest cream that Cow Bess could give. The boys had\nbeen introduced to Miss Margaret Sherman, the second, while Liza and\nMartha Mary were dressing, so it was small wonder that with the new\naddition to the family to discuss the importance of such an every-day\noccurrence as breakfast faded to almost nothing.\n\n\u201cShe\u2019s not so much,\u201d said Walter, with a rather disgusted look, while\nhe balanced a raspberry on the end of his fork. \u201cLittle bit of a red\nthing without any hair at all! and, do you know, it hasn\u2019t even a\nsingle tooth.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, supposing it hasn\u2019t,\u201d said John, his pride very much hurt at the\nidea of a sister of his not being perfect, \u201cit\u2019s much happier without\nthem, I\u2019m sure. Doesn\u2019t have to bother with any old dentist.\u201d\n\n\u201cJohn! Walter! How can you?\u201d said Martha Mary, almost in tears. \u201cYou\nare simply hateful to talk like that about the loveliest baby there\never was. You ask Miss Mason if she isn\u2019t. I heard her tell Father that\nMidge was a \u2018perfectly normal child,\u2019 and although it sounds awful, he\nlooked so happy that I know it must be something nice.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut where did she come from, my Sister Midge Margaret?\u201d said Liza, who\nhad been perfectly still ever since she had left Mother Dear\u2019s room. No\none knew, but Edward Lee suggested that they find Flip, and perhaps\nhe could tell them. So away they all scampered, but not a trace of him\ncould they find. Just as they were about to give up, Liza spied him way\ndown in the sunken garden, his arms full of baby roses which he had\ngathered for the baby in the house who looked so like a rose herself.\nThe children had never before seen him look so happy, except the day\nthat Jane came and his book was accepted. So, of course, they knew it\nwould be easy to get him to tell a story. Martha Mary took his hand and\npatted it and said:\n\n\u201cPlease, Flip, we would like a really and truly story about Margaret.\u201d\nFlip was delighted and said he had intended to tell one, anyway, and\nwas coming to look for them.\n\n\u201cFor,\u201d said he, \u201cI am very, very happy to-day, Ladykin Dear, so you\nshall have the nicest story I know how to tell.\u201d\n\nAnd this is what he told them--the story of Little Sister Margaret:\n\n\u201cDid you ever wonder, Children,\u201d he began, \u201cwhen you look at the sky at\nnight, and see the millions of fairy stars twinkling and dancing up\nthere, just why they are so bright and happy? Well, I\u2019ll tell you the\nreason. It is the most wonderfullest secret there ever was, and the\nonly people who are allowed to know it are the ones who love the star\nchildren very much.\u201d\n\n\u201cI do,\u201d said Liza. \u201cPlease tell me!\u201d\n\n\u201cMe, too--and Me--and Me--and Me,\u201d came in chorus from the others.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d Flip continued, \u201cyou all know that everybody and everything in\nthe world must have some use, no matter how little it may be. It is\njust the same in Star-land, though most silly people never think what\nthe little twinkling lights are for. Do you know that every single\none of them, down to the teeniest, tiniest baby, that you can hardly\nsee, is a world of loveliness all by itself? There is the Rose Star,\nwhere gloriously deep red roses, and little shy yellow buds and pink\nlady-roses grow, and the air is sweeter than the sweetest perfume you\ncan imagine. Then there is the Forget-me-not Star, all covered with\nthe little blue flowers that look like Sister Margaret\u2019s eyes; and\nthe Violet Star, and Pansy Land, and Sun Flower Place (very large and\nimportant) and heaps and heaps of other flower stars whose names I\nhave forgotten. Of course there is Fairy Story Star, too, where Puss in\nBoots, and Little Red Riding Hood, and Cinderella, and Jack the Giant\nKiller, and all the rest of them live. Right near IT is the Grown-Up\nBook Star, where there are so very many people that they never get time\nto know each other. But the most important star, outside, of course,\nof the Music Land Star and the Bird Star where the loveliest of songs\ncome from, and really, even more important than them, is--guess who!\nButterfly Dear!\u201d\n\n\u201cLady Rumdidoodledum,\u201d said Liza, without even stopping to think.\n\n\u201cRight,\u201d said Flip, \u201cand that is just whom I am going to tell you\nabout.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I thought it was to be about baby sister,\u201d said Martha Mary,\nrather disappointedly, for she really could think of nothing else this\nmorning.\n\n\u201cIt is about them both, Impatient,\u201d answered Flip.\n\n\u201cYou see, since Lady Rumdidoodledum is the biggest and brightest and\nhappiest star of them all, she must of course have something very nice\nto make her so glad. Now, what do you suppose it would be that is even\nlovelier than all the loveliest flowers or books, or birds, or anything\nelse that you can think of?\u201d\n\n\u201cGive up,\u201d said Walter, although everyone was much too busy listening\nto Flip to pay any attention.\n\n\u201cI know,\u201d said Martha Mary, her eyes shining. \u201cIt\u2019s Babies.\u201d\n\n\u201cExactly, Ladykin Dear,\u201d answered Flip. \u201cLady Rumdidoodledum is the\nBaby Star, and she shines specially for little children all over the\nworld. I must tell you about her. There are oodles and oodles of babies\nliving there, creeping and laughing and cooing all day. They are happy\nas happy can be, for they have the most adorable little playmates that\nyou ever saw. They are little fairy creatures, scarcely as large as\nMartha Mary\u2019s finger-nails, and they live in the soft, silky green\ncenters of eucalyptus blossoms. When a Mother down here on the earth\nwants a little boy child or girl child very badly, she goes out\ninto the woods and picks a eucalyptus blossom. Then, if she is very\nwise she opens it, whispers her wish, and lets out the tiny creature\ninside, who flies away up beyond the clouds in the gentle arms of the\nSoutheast wind, straight to Lady Rumdidoodledum. There, the first\nthing the little fairy-person sees is a big silver cloud. She goes\nright through it, for she is both a fairy and a dream and can do many\nwonderful things. Right there, who do you think is waiting? A smiling\nMother-person who looks like your Mother Dear, as well as every other\nMother in the world.\n\n\u201c\u2018Happy Day, Little Dream,\u2019 she says, which is Rumdidoodledum for \u2018How\ndo you do?\u2019 The little creature whispers the message of the Mother who\nsent her from earth, then flies back to tell her that all is well, and\nher wish will be granted.\n\n\u201cWell, one lovely evening, several months ago, just after the sun\nhad set and the sky was all rosy and gold in the west, your Mother\nDear went out for a little walk in the garden with Father. Lady\nRumdidoodledum had just come out and was shining very brightly over\nthe top of the big eucalyptus tree. Mother Dear saw her first; she\nalways does, you know. So, she wished very, very hard for another\nlittle daughter, at the same time opening the eucalyptus blossom\nthat she held in her hand. There was a little breeze at that moment,\nand away flew the tiny creature. When she reached the Baby Star, she\nstayed a very, very long time indeed. For she was most particular for\nso small a personage and wished to find just the very sweetest of all\nthe Rumdidoodledum babies to be Margaret Sherman. So she searched and\nsearched but none of them suited exactly, until way off in a corner she\nfound what she was looking for: an adorable little golden-haired mite\nwith eyes that danced and were the color of forget-me-nots. Then the\nfairy-person knew that she had found the right little sister for John,\nMartha Mary, Walter and Edward Lee and Liza, so she flew off, happy as\nhappy could be.\n\n\u201cEver since, Mother Dear has been waiting, waiting for her dream to\ncome true. This morning, just as Lady Rumdidoodledum was fading from\nthe sky, the Baby-person arrived, for all the world as lovely and pink\nas the dawn that brought her.\n\n\u201cThat, Butterfly Dear, is the story of Little Sister Margaret, the\ndearest of all Lady Rumdidoodledum\u2019s children. And that, you see, is\nthe reason that Mr. Cock Robin sang so happily outside your window this\nmorning and the flowers were all so gay and the sky so blue and bright.\nYou see, all the world is happy at the sound of a baby\u2019s voice.\n\n\u201cListen, there she is, calling now, for someone to come and love her.\u201d\n\n\u201cI do,\u201d said Butterfly Liza. \u201cAnd I--and I--and I--and I,\u201d sang all the\nothers.\n\n\nFINIS\n\n\n\n\n_THE \u201cMOTHER DEAR\u201d BOOKS_\n\n\nTHE GOLDEN SPEARS AND OTHER FAIRY TALES\n\nBy EDMUND LEAMY\n\nWith a preface\n\nBy JOHN E. REDMOND, M.P.\n\n_Illustrated. Small 4to, cloth. Net $1.00_\n\n\n\u201c\u2018=The Golden Spears and Other Fairy Tales=\u2019 is a book of absorbing\ninterest for children, and will be read with pleasure by grown-up\npeople. It is by the Irish writer, Edmund Leamy, who understood the\nchild nature and loved to minister to it. The delight which children\nhave in the world of fields and flowers, birds and blue skies, finds\nabundant expression in the stories. In each tale the dramatic feature\nis well developed and holds the reader\u2019s interest to the end. The book\nhas real literary merit, the author\u2019s style being graceful and well\nadapted to the child mind. There are not enough such books in the\nworld. Books that are free from objectionable features and meet the\nchild\u2019s craving for the wonderful, at the same time portraying the\nbeautiful and noble in the world and in human life, are very rare.\nBrightness, beauty, nobility of sentiment, brave deeds, generous\nconduct, kindness, gratitude, fidelity, appreciation of the good and\ntrue in humanity, kindness to the lower orders of life, purity of\nthought, all find abundant expression in the stories. There are seven\nof them in the volume. Each has an attractive illustration drawn by\nCorinne Turner. They are printed on paper of an excellent quality and\nhandsomely bound in cloth, with an appropriate cover design in colors.\nEducators would do well to consider this volume as well adapted to meet\nthe need for suitable reading matter in certain school grades.\u201d--_The\nSpringfield Republican._\n\n\nTHE FAIRY MINSTREL OF GLENMALURE\n\nBy EDMUND LEAMY\n\nIllustrated in color\n\nBy VERA CASSEAU\n\nA book of beautiful imaginative tales for children of all ages, a\ncompanion to \u201cThe Golden Spears and Other Fairy Tales\u201d by the same\nauthor, which Mr. John E. Redmond, M.P., pronounced the most winsome\nand educative of its kind.\n\n_Small 4to. Cloth. 75c. net_\n\n\nTHE HEART OF AN ORPHAN\n\nBy AMANDA MATHEWS\n\nIllustrated by W. T. Benda\n\n\u201c\u2018The Heart of an Orphan\u2019 introduces another lovable child to the\nwealth of American child-lore.\n\n\u201cGiovanna, the little Italian orphan, is so ingenuous and natural as\nto suggest the boys and girls of Myra Kelly\u2019s tales. It is a book that\nshould be known and loved.\u201d--_The Boston Herald._\n\n_12mo. Cloth. $1.00 net_\n\n\n  PUBLISHED BY\n  DESMOND FITZGERALD, Inc.\n  156 FIFTH AVENUE      NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\nTRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTES:\n\n\n  Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.\n\n  Emboldened text is surrounded by equals signs: =bold=.\n\n  Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.\n\n  Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.","title":"Lady Rum-Di-Doodle-Dum's Children","tradition":"folklore-oral-tradition","translated_text":null,"word_count":32486}