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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Little Mr. Thimblefinger and His Queer
+Country, by Joel Chandler Harris
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Little Mr. Thimblefinger and His Queer Country
+
+Author: Joel Chandler Harris
+
+Illustrator: Oliver Herford
+
+Release Date: December 15, 2007 [EBook #23869]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MR. THIMBLEFINGER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Sam W. and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from scans of public domain material produced by
+Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+       LITTLE MR. THIMBLEFINGER
+         AND HIS QUEER COUNTRY
+
+  What the Children Saw and Heard there
+
+
+                  BY
+
+          JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS
+      AUTHOR OF "UNCLE REMUS," ETC.
+
+
+     _ILLUSTRATED BY OLIVER HERFORD_
+
+
+            [Illustration]
+
+
+          BOSTON AND NEW YORK
+     HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
+     The Riverside Press, Cambridge
+                 1895
+
+
+
+
+Copyright, 1894,
+BY JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS AND
+HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.
+
+
+_All rights reserved._
+
+
+_The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A._
+Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton and Company
+
+
+
+
+    Books by Joel Chandler Harris.
+
+
+    NIGHTS WITH UNCLE REMUS. Illustrated.
+    12mo, $1.50; paper, 50 cents.
+
+    MINGO, AND OTHER SKETCHES IN BLACK
+    AND WHITE. 16mo, $1.25; paper, 50 cents.
+
+    BALAAM AND HIS MASTER, AND OTHER
+    SKETCHES. 16mo, $1.25.
+
+    UNCLE REMUS AND HIS FRIENDS. Illustrated.
+    12mo, $1.50.
+
+    LITTLE MR. THIMBLEFINGER AND HIS
+    QUEER COUNTRY. Illustrated. Crown 8vo,
+    $2.00
+
+    HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.
+    BOSTON AND NEW YORK.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: MR. RABBIT FELL KERTHUMP. Page 41.]
+
+
+
+
+A LITTLE NOTE TO A LITTLE BOOK.
+
+
+The stories that follow belong to three categories. Some of them were
+gathered from the negroes, but were not embodied in the tales of Uncle
+Remus, because I was not sure they were negro stories; some are Middle
+Georgia folklore stories, and no doubt belong to England; and some are
+merely inventions.
+
+They were all written in the midst of daily work on a morning
+newspaper,--a fact that will account in some measure for their crude
+setting.
+
+                                                    J. C. H.
+    WEST END, ATLANTA, GA.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                             PAGE
+        I. THE GRANDMOTHER OF THE DOLLS                         5
+
+       II. MR. THIMBLEFINGER'S QUEER COUNTRY                   17
+
+      III. MR. THIMBLEFINGER'S FRIENDS                         33
+
+       IV. TWO QUEER STORIES                                   47
+
+        V. THE TALKING-SADDLE                                  61
+
+       VI. THE TALKING-SADDLE AND THE THIEF                    73
+
+      VII. THE LADDER OF LIONS                                 86
+
+     VIII. BROTHER TERRAPIN'S FIDDLE-STRING                   101
+
+       IX. THE LOOKING-GLASS CHILDREN                         110
+
+        X. MR. RABBIT AS A RAIN-MAKER                         121
+
+       XI. HOW BROTHER BEAR'S HAIR WAS COMBED                 131
+
+      XII. A SINGING-MATCH                                    139
+
+     XIII. THE STRAWBERRY-GIRL                                147
+
+      XIV. THE WITCH OF THE WELL                              155
+
+       XV. THE BEWITCHED HUNTSMAN                             165
+
+      XVI. THE THREE IVORY BOBBINS                            175
+
+     XVII. "KEEN-POINT," "COB-HANDLE," AND "BUTCH"            185
+
+    XVIII. MRS. MEADOWS RESUMES HER STORY                     195
+
+      XIX. A STORY OF THE RIVER                               215
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+                                                             PAGE
+    MR. RABBIT FELL KERTHUMP (Page 41)             _Frontispiece_
+
+    RAG-TAG ROLLING OUT OF THE CORNER                          10
+
+    THE GRANDMOTHER OF THE DOLLS AND THE BIG BLACK CAT         14
+
+    SWEETEST SUSAN WAKING UP                                   18
+
+    FOLLOWING LITTLE MR. THIMBLEFINGER                         24
+
+    MR. RABBIT AND MRS. MEADOWS                                36
+
+    MR. BILLY-GOAT AND MR. WOLF                                52
+
+    MY MOTHER WASHING THE OLD MAN'S COAT AND WAISTCOAT         56
+
+    DRUSILLA WAITING ON MR. RABBIT                             62
+
+    TIP-TOP AND THE MAYOR                                      68
+
+    THE MAYOR PARDONING THE THIEF                              82
+
+    CHICKAMY CRANY CROW AND TICKLE-MY-TOES                     84
+
+    MR. RABBIT BANDAGING BROTHER LION'S PAW                    92
+
+    THE LADDER OF LIONS                                        98
+
+    MR. RABBIT FIDDLING FOR BROTHER TERRAPIN                  104
+
+    BROTHER TERRAPIN TUMBLING INTO THE CREEK                  108
+
+    SWEETEST SUSAN, MEETING HER REFLECTION                    110
+
+    THEY ALL PLUNGED INTO THE LOOKING-GLASS                   118
+
+    MR. RABBIT SAYING NOTHING                                 124
+
+    BROTHER BEAR ARGUING THE RAIN QUESTION                    128
+
+    MRS. BEAR HANGING OUT CLOTHES                             134
+
+    LITTLE MR. THIMBLEFINGER                                  140
+
+    THE SINGING-MATCH                                         144
+
+    GRANNY GRIM-EYE FINDS A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL ASLEEP      148
+
+    THE LITTLE OLD MAN DISCOVERS THE STRAWBERRY-GIRL          150
+
+    THE GOLDEN-HAIRED, BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL                  164
+
+    THE LITTLE OLD MAN, THREE WITS, AND THE STAG              174
+
+    THE STAG AND THE WITCH                                    180
+
+    THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE OLD MAN                           192
+
+    VALENTINE SLAYING THE SPIDER                              210
+
+    VALENTINE TALKING TO THE RIVER                            220
+
+    BUSTER JOHN SHAKING HANDS WITH MR. RABBIT                 228
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE MR. THIMBLEFINGER AND HIS QUEER COUNTRY.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+THE GRANDMOTHER OF THE DOLLS.
+
+
+Once upon a time there lived on a plantation, in the very middle of
+Middle Georgia, a little girl and a little boy and their negro nurse.
+The little girl's name was Sweetest Susan. That was the name her
+mother gave her when she was a baby, and she was so good-tempered that
+everybody continued to call her Sweetest Susan when she grew older.
+She was seven years old. The little boy's name was Buster John. That
+was the name his father had given him. Buster John was eight. The
+nurse's name was Drusilla, and she was twelve. Drusilla was called a
+nurse, but that was just a habit people had. She was more of a child
+than either Sweetest Susan or Buster John, but she was very much
+larger. She was their playmate--their companion, and a capital one
+she made.
+
+Sweetest Susan had black hair and dark eyes like her father, while
+Buster John had golden hair and brown eyes like his mother. As for
+Drusilla, she was as black as the old black cat, and always in a good
+humor, except when she pretended to be angry. Sweetest Susan had
+wonderful dark eyes that made her face very serious except when she
+laughed, but she was as full of fun as Buster John, who was always in
+some sort of mischief that did nobody any harm.
+
+These children were not afraid of anything. They scorned to run from
+horses, or cows, or dogs. They were born on the big plantation, and
+they spent the greater part of the day out of doors, save when the
+weather was very cold or very wet. They had no desire to stay in the
+house, except when they were compelled to go to bed, and a great many
+times they fretted a little because they thought bedtime came too
+soon.
+
+Sweetest Susan had a great many dolls, and she was very fond of them.
+She had a China Doll, a Jip-jap Doll, a Rag Doll, a Rubber Doll, a
+White Doll, a Brown Doll, and a Black Doll. Sometimes she and
+Drusilla would play with the Dolls out in the yard, and sometimes
+Buster John would join them when he had nothing better to do. But
+every evening Sweetest Susan and Drusilla would carry the Dolls into
+the bedroom and place them side by side against the wall. Sweetest
+Susan wanted them placed there, she said, so she could see her
+children the last thing at night and the first thing in the morning.
+
+But one night Sweetest Susan went to bed crying, and this was so
+unusual that Drusilla forgot to put the Dolls in their places.
+Sweetest Susan's feelings were hurt. She had not been very good, and
+her mother had called her Naughty Susan instead of Sweetest Susan.
+Buster John, in the next room, wanted to know what the matter was, but
+Sweetest Susan wouldn't tell him, and neither would she tell Drusilla.
+After a while Sweetest Susan's mother came in and kissed her. That
+helped her some, but she lay awake ever so long sobbing a little and
+thinking how she must do so as not to be called Naughty Susan.
+
+Drusilla lay on a pallet near Sweetest Susan's bed, but, for a wonder,
+Drusilla lay awake too. She said nothing, but she was not snoring,
+and Sweetest Susan could see the whites of her eyes shining. The fire
+that had been kindled on the hearth so as to give a light (for the
+weather was not cold) flickered and flared, and little blue flames
+crept about over the sputtering pine-knot, jumping off into the air
+and then jumping back. The blue flames flickered and danced and crept
+about so, and caused such a commotion among the shadows that were
+running about the room and trying to hide themselves behind the chairs
+and in the corners, that the big brass andirons seemed to be alive.
+
+While Sweetest Susan was lying there watching the shadows and
+wondering when Drusilla would go to sleep, she heard a voice call
+out,--
+
+"Oh, dear! I believe I've got smut all over my frock again!"
+
+It was the queerest little voice that ever was heard. It had a tinkling
+sound, such as Susan had often made when she tied her mother's gold
+thimble to a string and struck it with a knitting-needle. Just as she
+was wondering where it came from, a little old woman stepped from
+behind one of the andirons and shook the ashes from her dress.
+
+"I think I'd better stay at home," said the little old woman, "if I
+can't come down the chimney without getting smut all over my frock. I
+wonder where Mr. Thimblefinger is?"
+
+"Oh, I'm here," exclaimed another tinkling voice from the fireplace,
+"but I'm not coming in. They are not asleep, and, even if they were, I
+see the big Black Cat in that chair there."
+
+"Much I care!" cried the little old woman snappishly. "I'll call you
+when I want you."
+
+Then she went around the room where Sweetest Susan's Dolls were
+scattered, and looked at each one as it lay asleep. Then she shook her
+head and sighed.
+
+"They look as if they were tired, poor things!" she said. "And no
+wonder! I expect they have been pulled and hauled about and dragged
+around from pillar to post since I was here last."
+
+Then the little old woman touched the Dolls with her cane, one by one.
+Each Doll called out as it was touched,--
+
+"Is that you, Granny?"
+
+And to each one she replied:--
+
+    "Reser, roser, rise!
+    And rib and rub your eyes!"
+
+Sweetest Susan was not at all alarmed. She felt as if she had been
+expecting something of the kind. The Dolls arose and ranged themselves
+in front of the fireplace--all except the Rag Doll.
+
+"Where's Rag-Tag?" inquired the little old woman anxiously.
+
+"Here I am, Granny!" replied the Rag Doll. "I'm lame in one leg and I
+can't walk with the other, and my arm's out of joint."
+
+"Tut! tut!" said the little old woman. "How can you be lame in your
+legs when there's no bone in them? How can your arm be out of joint
+when there's no joint? Get up!"
+
+Rag-Tag rolled out of the corner and tumbled across the floor, heels
+over head.
+
+"Now, then," said the little old woman, opening her satchel, "what can
+I do for you?"
+
+"She's pulled all my hair out!" whispered the China Doll.
+
+"She's mashed my nose flat!" cried the Jip-jap Doll.
+
+"She's put one of my eyes out!" whined the Brown Doll.
+
+"She's put chalk all over me!" blubbered the Black Doll.
+
+[Illustration: RAG-TAG ROLLING OUT OF THE CORNER]
+
+"She hasn't hurt me!" exclaimed the Rubber Doll.
+
+"She's made a hole in my back, and the sawdust is all running out!"
+whined Rag-Tag.
+
+"I'll attend to you first, before you bleed to death," said the little
+old woman, frowning. Then she rapped on the floor with her cane and
+cried out:--
+
+    "Long-Legged Spinner,
+    Come earn your dinner!"
+
+While Sweetest Susan was wondering what this meant, she saw a big
+Black Spider swing down from the ceiling and hang, dangling close to
+the little old woman's face. Its little eyes sparkled like coals of
+fire, and its hairy mouth worked as if it were chewing something.
+Sweetest Susan shivered as she looked at it, but she didn't scream.
+
+"A thimbleful of fresh cobwebs, Long-Legged Spinner!" said the little
+old woman, in a businesslike way.
+
+Then the big Black Spider moved his legs faster than a cat can wink
+her eyes, and in a few seconds the fresh cobwebs were spun.
+
+"That is very nice," said the little old woman. "Here's a fat
+Bluebottle for you."
+
+The big Black Spider seized the Fly and ran nimbly to the ceiling
+again. The Fly buzzed and buzzed in a pitiful way, and Sweetest Susan
+thought to herself, "Oh, what should I do if that was poor me!"
+
+Then the little old woman hunted in her satchel until she found a
+piece of mutton suet, and with this and the fresh cobwebs she quickly
+stopped the hole in Rag-Tag's back. This done, she went around and
+doctored each one. She glued more hair on the China Doll. She fixed
+the nose of the Jip-jap Doll. She gave a new blue eye to the Brown
+Doll.
+
+"There!" she exclaimed when she had finished, "I think you look a
+little more like yourself now. But you would look a great deal better
+if you had any clothes fit to wear. Now pay attention! What is the
+name of this horrible giantess that drags you about and beats you so?"
+
+"It's no giantess, Granny," replied Rag-Tag. "It's a little girl, and
+sometimes she's very, very good."
+
+"Hush!" cried the little old woman. "Speak when you are spoken to."
+
+"She _is_ a giantess, Granny," said the Brown Doll. "She's taller than
+that chair yonder."
+
+"Where is she now?" the little old woman asked fiercely.
+
+"She's asleep in the bed, Granny," said the Brown Doll.
+
+"Pinch her good, Granny!" cried the Wax Doll. "Put out her eyes!"
+
+"Scratch her, Granny! Pull out her hair!" pleaded the Brown Doll.
+
+"Bump her head against the wall, Granny! Mash her nose!" exclaimed the
+Jip-jap Doll.
+
+The Rag-Tag Doll said not a word.
+
+All this time the little old woman was searching in her satchel for
+something, and Sweetest Susan began to get frightened.
+
+"I've come off without my specs," said the little old woman, "and I
+can't see a stiver with such a light as this."
+
+Just then the big Black Cat that had been sleeping quietly in a chair
+rose and stretched himself and gaped, showing his long white teeth. He
+jumped to the floor and walked back and forth purring and rubbing
+against the little old woman in a friendly way.
+
+"Get out! You'll push me over," she cried. "Oh, will you go away? I'll
+stick you with my needle! I certainly will! Keep your long tail out of
+my face! Oh, how can I see to do anything? Will you go away? I'll hit
+you as sure as I am standing here!"
+
+"Don't," said the big Black Cat, stopping and looking straight at the
+little old woman. "Don't you know it brings bad luck to hit a black
+cat?"
+
+"If I hit you, you'll feel it," cried the little old woman.
+
+"Stop," exclaimed the big Black Cat. "I know what you are here for. Do
+you see my eyes? They are as green as grass. Do you see my teeth? They
+are as strong as iron. Do you see my claws? They are as sharp as
+needles. If I look at you hard you'll shiver; if I bite you you'll
+squall; if I scratch you you'll bleed."
+
+The Grandmother of the Dolls looked at the big Black Cat long and
+hard.
+
+"Do I know you?" she asked.
+
+"I know you," replied the Black Cat.
+
+"What is your name?" she asked.
+
+[Illustration: THE GRANDMOTHER OF THE DOLLS AND THE BIG BLACK CAT]
+
+"Billy-Billy Blackfoot."
+
+"It is time for you to go hunting," she said. She wanted to get him
+out of the room.
+
+"I have found what I was hunting for," said Billy-Billy Blackfoot.
+
+"There's a rat gnawing in the pantry."
+
+"He'll be fatter when I catch him."
+
+"There's a piece of cheese in the dining-room."
+
+"It won't spoil until I eat it."
+
+"There's a pan of milk in the kitchen."
+
+"It won't turn sour till I drink it."
+
+"There's catnip in the garden."
+
+"It will grow till I want it."
+
+The Grandmother of the Dolls then made a cross-mark on the carpet and
+waved her cane in the air. This was done to put a spell on Billy-Billy
+Blackfoot, but before the spell could work Billy-Billy made a circle
+by chasing his tail around. Then he glared at the little old woman and
+slowly closed one eye. This was too much. The Grandmother of the Dolls
+seized her cane and made a furious attack on Billy-Billy Blackfoot,
+but he leaped nimbly out of the way and the cane fell with a whack on
+the bald head of the Brown Doll.
+
+At this there was a tremendous uproar. The Brown Doll screamed:
+"Murder!" Billy-Billy Blackfoot's tail swelled to twice its natural
+size; the hair-brush fell on the floor; the dustpan rattled; the
+shovel and tongs staggered out from the chimney-corner and rolled over
+on the hearth; the Dolls scrambled and scurried under the bed, and the
+little old woman whisked up the chimney like a spark from a burning
+log.
+
+When Sweetest Susan raised up in bed to look around she saw Drusilla
+sitting on her pallet rubbing her eyes, but Billy-Billy Blackfoot was
+sitting by the fireplace washing his face as quietly as if nothing had
+happened. At first it seemed to Sweetest Susan that it had all been a
+dream, but presently she heard a small voice that came down the
+chimney:
+
+"Mr. Thimblefinger! Mr. Thimblefinger! It is nine minutes after
+twelve." There was a pause, and then the small voice sounded farther
+away, like an echo, "Nine minutes and two seconds after twelve!"
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+MR. THIMBLEFINGER'S QUEER COUNTRY.
+
+
+The next morning Sweetest Susan was awake early. She wanted very much
+to turn over and go to sleep again, for her eyes were heavy and her
+body was tired. But the moment she remembered the wonderful events of
+the night before, she sat up in bed and looked around. Drusilla was
+still asleep and snoring very loudly, but Sweetest Susan jumped out of
+bed and shook her by the shoulder.
+
+"Drusilla! Drusilla! wake up!" cried Sweetest Susan. Drusilla stopped
+short in her snoring and turned over with a groan. She kept her eyes
+closed, and in a moment she would have been snoring again, but
+Sweetest Susan continued to shake her and called her until she
+squalled out:--
+
+"Who dat? What you want? Oh, Lordy!"
+
+"Wake up, Drusilla," said Sweetest Susan, "I want to ask you
+something."
+
+"Ain't I 'wake? How kin I be any 'waker when I'm 'wake? Oh, is dat
+you, honey? I wuz skeer'd 't was dat lil' bit er ol' 'oman. Whar she
+gone? Las' time I seed her she wuz des walkin' 'roun' here like she
+wuz gwine ter tromple on me. I laid low, I did."
+
+Sweetest Susan clasped her hands together and cried: "Oh, wasn't it a
+dream, Drusilla? Did it all happen sure enough?"
+
+Drusilla shook her head wildly. "How kin we bofe have de same kind er
+dream? I seed de 'oman gwine on, en you seed 'er gwine on. Uh-uh!
+Don't talk ter me 'bout no dreams."
+
+The whole matter was settled when Buster John cried out from the next
+room: "What fuss was that you were making in there last night,
+squealing and squeaking?"
+
+The matter was soon explained to Buster John, and after breakfast the
+children went out and sat on the big wood-pile and talked it all over.
+The boy asked a hundred questions, but still his curiosity was not
+satisfied.
+
+All this time the birds were singing in the trees and the wood-sawyers
+sawing in the pine logs. Jo-reeter, jo-reeter, jo-ree! sang the
+birds. Craik, craik, craik, went the wood-sawyers.
+
+[Illustration: SWEETEST SUSAN WAKING UP]
+
+"There are fifty dozen of them," said Buster John.
+
+"Fifty-five thousand you'd better say," replied Sweetest Susan. "Just
+listen!"
+
+"No needs ter listen," cried Drusilla. "You'd hear 'em ef you plugged
+up yo' years."
+
+Buster John put his knife-blade under a thick piece of pine bark and
+pried it up to find one of the busy sawyers. The bark was strong, but
+presently it seemed to come up of its own accord, and out jumped the
+queerest little man they had ever seen or even heard of except in
+make-believe story-books. Buster John dropped his knife, and down it
+went into the wood-pile. He could hear it go rattling from log to log
+nearly to the bottom. Sweetest Susan gave a little screech. Drusilla
+sat bolt upright and exclaimed:--
+
+"You all better come en go see yo' ma. I want ter see 'er myse'f."
+
+But there was nothing to be frightened at. The tiny man had brushed
+the dust and trash from his clothes, and then turned to the children
+with a good-humored smile. He was not above four inches high. He had
+on a dress-coat. Drusilla afterward described it as a claw-hammer
+coat, velveteen knickerbockers, and silver buckles on his shoes. His
+hat was shaped like a thimble, and he had a tiny feather stuck in the
+side of it.
+
+"I'm much obliged to you for getting me out of that scrape," he said
+with a bow to all the children. "It was a pretty tight place. I stayed
+out last night just one second and a half too late, and when I went to
+go home I found the door shut. So I just crawled under the bark there
+for a nap. The log must have turned in some way, for when I woke up
+and tried to crawl out I found I couldn't manage it. I wouldn't have
+minded that so much, but just then I saw one of those terrible
+flat-headed creatures making his way toward me. Why, his head was a
+sawmill! He was gnawing the wood out of his way and clearing a road to
+me. I tried to draw my sword, but I couldn't get it from under me.
+Then I felt the bark rising. I pushed as hard as I could, and here I
+am."
+
+"Ax 'im his name," said Drusilla in an awe-stricken tone.
+
+"Ah, I forgot," responded the little man. "I know you, but you don't
+know me. My name is Mr. Thimblefinger, and I shall be happy to serve
+you. Whenever you want me just tap three times on the head of your
+bed."
+
+"Thank goodness! I don't sleep in no bed," exclaimed Drusilla.
+
+"That makes no difference," said Mr. Thimblefinger. "If you sleep on a
+pallet just tap on the floor."
+
+"Please, Mister, don't talk dat a-way," pleaded Drusilla, "kase I'll
+be constant a-projeckin' wid dat tappin', an' de fus' time you come
+I'll holler fire."
+
+"Don't notice her," said Buster John, "she talks to hear herself
+talk."
+
+"I see," replied Mr. Thimblefinger, tapping his forehead significantly
+and nodding his head.
+
+"You kin nod," said Drusilla defiantly, "but my head got mo' in it dan
+you kin comb out."
+
+"I believe you!" exclaimed Mr. Thimblefinger, "I believe you!" He
+spoke so earnestly that Sweetest Susan and Buster John laughed, and
+Drusilla laughed with them.
+
+"You dropped your knife," said Mr. Thimblefinger. "I'm sorry of it. I
+can't bring it up to you, but I'll see if I can't crawl under and get
+it out."
+
+With that he leaped nimbly from log to log and disappeared under the
+wood-pile. The children went down to see what he would do. They were
+so astonished at his droll appearance that they forgot their
+curiosity.
+
+"Is that a fairy, brother?" asked Sweetest Susan in a low voice.
+
+"No!" exclaimed Buster John with a lofty air, but not loudly. "Don't
+you see he's not a bit like the fairies we read about in books? Why,
+he was afraid of a wood-sawyer."
+
+"That's so," Sweetest Susan rejoined.
+
+"He's a witch, dat what he is," said Drusilla.
+
+"Shucks!" whispered Buster John. He heard the voice of Mr.
+Thimblefinger under the wood-pile.
+
+"I've found it, I've found it!" he cried. And presently he made his
+appearance, dragging the knife after him. He tugged at it until he got
+it out, and then he sat down on a chip, wiped the perspiration from
+his eyes, and fanned himself with a thin flake of pine bark no bigger
+than a bee's wing.
+
+"Pick me up and let's go on top of the wood-pile," said Mr.
+Thimblefinger after a while. "It's suffocating down here. Ouch! don't
+tickle me, if you do I shall have a fit." Buster John had lifted him
+by placing a thumb and forefinger under his arms. "And don't squeeze
+me, neither," the little man went on. "I was cramped under that bark
+until I'm as sore as a boil all over. Goodness! I wish I was at home!"
+
+"Where do you live?" asked Sweetest Susan when they were once more
+seated on the wood-pile.
+
+"Not far from here, not very far," replied Mr. Thimblefinger, shaking
+his head sagely, "but it is a different country--oh, entirely
+different."
+
+Sweetest Susan edged away from the little man at this, and Drusilla
+stretched her eyes.
+
+"What is it like?" asked Buster John boldly.
+
+Mr. Thimblefinger reflected a while, and then shook his head. "I can
+show it to you," he said, "but I can't describe it."
+
+"Pick 'im up an' show 'im to your ma!" exclaimed Drusilla suddenly.
+
+"No, no, no!" cried Mr. Thimblefinger, leaping to his feet. "That
+would spoil everything. No grown person living in this country has
+ever seen me. No, no! don't try that. It would spoil your luck. I
+wouldn't be here now if the Dolls' Grandmother hadn't begged me to
+come with her last night. But I'll come to see you,"--he pointed at
+Drusilla. "I'll come often."
+
+"I des said dat fer ter see what you'd say," protested Drusilla. "You
+wan' gwine ter take 'im, wuz you, honey?" This question was addressed
+to Buster John, who scorned to answer it.
+
+"Grown people wouldn't understand me," Mr. Thimblefinger explained.
+"They know a great deal too much to suit me."
+
+"How do you get to your country?" inquired Buster John, who was keen
+for an adventure.
+
+"The nearest way is by the spring," replied Mr. Thimblefinger. "That
+is the only way you could go."
+
+"Can I go too?" asked Sweetest Susan. "And Drusilla?"
+
+"Oh, of course," said Mr. Thimblefinger, shrugging his shoulders. "One
+can go or all can go."
+
+"Do you go down the spring branch?" asked Buster John.
+
+[Illustration: FOLLOWING LITTLE MR. THIMBLEFINGER]
+
+"No, no," replied Mr. Thimblefinger. "Below the spring and below the
+branch."
+
+"Do you mean under the spring?" Sweetest Susan inquired, with some
+hesitation.
+
+"That's it," cried Mr. Thimblefinger. "Right down through the spring
+and under it."
+
+"Why, we'd drown," said Sweetest Susan. "The spring is deep."
+
+"Well, you'll ha' ter 'skuze me," exclaimed Drusilla. "Dat water's too
+wet fer me."
+
+Buster John waited for an explanation, but none was forthcoming.
+
+"We couldn't go through the spring, you know," he said presently.
+
+"How do you know?" asked Mr. Thimblefinger slyly. "Did you ever try
+it?"
+
+He asked each of the children this, and the reply was that none of
+them had ever tried it.
+
+"I put my foot in it once," said Buster John, "and the water was just
+like other spring water. I know we can't go through it."
+
+"Come now!" Mr. Thimblefinger suggested, "don't say you know.
+Sometimes people live to be very old and don't know the very things
+they ought to know."
+
+"But I know that," replied Buster John confidently.
+
+"Very well, then," said Mr. Thimblefinger, pulling out a tiny watch,
+"did you ever feel of the water in the spring at precisely nine
+minutes and nine seconds after twelve o'clock?"
+
+"N-o-o-o," replied Buster John, taken by surprise, "I don't think I
+ever did."
+
+"Of course not!" cried Mr. Thimblefinger gayly. "You had no reason.
+Well, at nine minutes and nine seconds after twelve o'clock the water
+in the spring is not wet. It is as dry as the air we breathe. It is
+now two minutes after twelve o'clock. We'll go to the spring, wait
+until the time comes, and then you will see for yourselves."
+
+As they went toward the spring--Mr. Thimblefinger running on before
+with wonderful agility--Drusilla touched Sweetest Susan on the arm.
+"Honey," said she, "don't let dat creetur pull you in de spring.
+Goodness knows, ef he puts his han' on me I'm gwine ter squall."
+
+"Will you hush?" exclaimed Buster John impatiently.
+
+"Watch out, now," said Drusilla defiantly. "Ef you gits drownded in
+dar I'll sho' tell yo' ma."
+
+Fortunately, there was no one near the spring, so Mr. Thimblefinger
+advanced boldly, followed closely by the children, though Drusilla
+seemed to hang back somewhat doubtfully. When they arrived there Mr.
+Thimblefinger took out his tiny timepiece and held it in his hand. The
+children watched him with breathless interest, especially Buster John,
+who was thrilled with the idea of having an adventure entirely
+different from any that he had read of in the story-books.
+
+As the little man stood there holding his watch and looking at it
+intently, the dinner-bell rang, first in the hallway and then in the
+back porch. The children remembered it afterward.
+
+"You all better go git yo' dinner 'fo' it git col', stidder projeckin'
+'roun' here wid you dunner what," remarked Drusilla.
+
+"Now!" exclaimed Mr. Thimblefinger, "put your hand in the spring."
+
+Buster John did as he was bid, and, to his amazement, he could feel no
+water. He could see it, but he couldn't feel it. He turned pale with
+excitement and withdrew his hand. Then he put his other hand in, but
+the result was the same. He plunged his arm in up to the elbow, but
+his sleeve remained perfectly dry.
+
+"Try it, sis," he cried.
+
+Sweetest Susan did so, and boldly declared there was no water in the
+spring. She wanted Drusilla to try to wet her hand, but Drusilla
+sullenly declined.
+
+Mr. Thimblefinger settled the matter by walking into the spring.
+
+"Now, then, if you are going, come along," he cried. "You have just
+seventeen and a half seconds." He waved his hand from the bottom of
+the spring and stood waiting. A spring lizard ran near him, and he
+drew his sword and chased it into a hole. A crawfish showed its head,
+and he drove it away. Then he waved his hand again. "Come on, the
+coast is clear."
+
+Buster John put his hand in the water again, and this seemed to
+satisfy him. He stepped boldly into the spring, and in a moment he
+stood by Mr. Thimblefinger, laughing, but still excited by the novelty
+of his experience. He called to his sister:--
+
+"Come on, sis. It's splendid down here."
+
+"Is it wet?" she asked plaintively. "Is it cold?"
+
+"No!" replied Buster John impatiently. "Don't be a baby."
+
+"Come on, Drusilla! You've got to come. Mamma said you must go
+wherever we went," cried Sweetest Susan.
+
+"No, ma'am!" exclaimed Drusilla, with emphasis. "She ain't tol' me ter
+foller you in de fier an' needer in de water!"
+
+But Sweetest Susan didn't wait to hear. She jumped into the spring
+with a splash and then stood by her brother very red in the face.
+
+"Five more seconds!" cried Mr. Thimblefinger in a businesslike way.
+
+Drusilla looked in the spring and hesitated. She could see the water
+plain enough, but then she could also see Sweetest Susan and Buster
+John, and they seemed to be very comfortable.
+
+"I'm comin'," she yelled, "but ef you all make me git drownded in dry
+water I'll ha'nt you ef it's de las' thing I do!"
+
+Then she shut her eyes tight, put her fingers in her ears, and leaped
+into the spring. She floundered around with her eyes still shut, and
+gasped and caught her breath just like a drowning person, until she
+heard the others laughing at her, and then she opened her eyes with
+astonishment.
+
+Suddenly there was a loud, splashing sound heard above and around them
+and under their feet.
+
+"Watch out!" cried Mr. Thimblefinger. "Run this way! The water is
+getting wet again!"
+
+The way seemed to widen before them as they ran, and in a moment they
+found themselves below the "gum," or "curb," of the spring and beyond
+it. But as they went forward the bottom of the spring seemed to grow
+and expand, and the sun shining through gave a soft light that was
+very pleasant to the eye. The grass was green and the leaves of the
+trees and the flowers were pale pink and yellow.
+
+Mr. Thimblefinger seemed to be very happy. He ran along before the
+children as nimbly as a killdee, talking and laughing all the time.
+Presently Drusilla, who brought up the rear, suddenly stopped in her
+tracks and looked around. Then she uttered an exclamation of fright.
+Sweetest Susan and Buster John paused to see what was the matter.
+
+"Wharbouts did we come in at?" she asked.
+
+Then, for the first time, the children saw that the bottom of the
+spring had seemed to expand, until it spread over their heads and
+around on all sides as the sky does in our country.
+
+"Don't bother about that," said Mr. Thimblefinger. "No matter how big
+it looks, it's nothing but the bottom of the spring after all."
+
+"But how are we to get out, please?" asked Sweetest Susan.
+
+"The same way you came in," said Mr. Thimblefinger.
+
+"I tol' you! I tol' you!" exclaimed Drusilla, swinging her right arm
+up and down vigorously. "Ef you kin fly you kin git out, an' you look
+much like flyin'. Dat what you git by not mindin' me an' yo' ma!"
+
+"Tut! tut!" exclaimed Mr. Thimblefinger. "I'll 'sicc' the Katydids on
+you if you don't stop scaring the little girl. Come! we are not far
+from my house. We'll go there and see what the neighbors have sent in
+for dinner."
+
+Buster John followed him as readily as before, but Sweetest Susan and
+Drusilla were not so eager. They had no device, however, and Drusilla
+made the best of it.
+
+"I ain't skeered ez I wuz. He talk mo' and mo' like folks."
+
+So they went on toward Mr. Thimblefinger's house.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+MR. THIMBLEFINGER'S FRIENDS.
+
+
+"I hope you are not tired," said Mr. Thimblefinger to Sweetest Susan
+when they had been on their way for some little time. "Because if you
+are you can rest yourself by taking longer steps."
+
+Buster John was ready to laugh at this, but he soon discovered that
+Mr. Thimblefinger was right. He found that he could hop and jump ever
+so far in this queer country, and the first use he made of the
+discovery was to jump over Drusilla's head. This he did with hardly
+any effort. After that the journey of the children, which had grown
+somewhat tiresome (though they wouldn't say so), became a frolic. They
+skimmed along over the gray fields with no trouble at all, but
+Drusilla found it hard to retain her balance when she jumped high. Mr.
+Thimblefinger, who had a reason for everything, was puzzled at this.
+He paused a while and stood thinking and rubbing his chin. Then he
+said that either Drusilla's head was too light or her heels too
+heavy--he couldn't for the life of him tell which.
+
+There was one thing that bothered the children. If Mr. Thimblefinger's
+house was just big enough to fit him (as Buster John expressed it),
+how could they go inside? Sweetest Susan was so troubled that she
+asked Drusilla about it. But Drusilla shook her head vigorously.
+
+"Don't come axin' me," she cried. "I done tol' you all right
+pine-blank not ter come. Ef de house lil' like dat creetur is, what
+you gwine do when night come? En den spozen 'pon top er dat dat a big
+rain come up? Oh, I tol' you 'fo' you started! Who in de name er sense
+ever heah talk er folks gwine down in a spring? You mought er know'd
+sump'in gwine ter happen. Oh, I tol' you!"
+
+There was no denying this, and Sweetest Susan and her brother were
+beginning to feel anxious, when an exclamation from Mr. Thimblefinger
+attracted their attention.
+
+"We are nearly there," he shouted. "Yonder is the house. My! won't the
+family be surprised when they see you!"
+
+Sure enough there was the house, and it was not a small one, either.
+Drusilla said it looked more like a barn than a house, but Buster John
+said it didn't make any difference what it looked like so long as they
+could rest there and get something to eat, for they had had no dinner.
+
+"I hope dey got sho' 'nuff vittles--pot-licker an' dumplin's, an'
+sump'in you kin fill up wid," said Drusilla heartily.
+
+Mr. Thimblefinger, who had been running a little way ahead, suddenly
+paused and waited for the children to come up.
+
+"Come to think of it," he remarked, "you may have heard of some of my
+family. I call them my family, but they are no kin to me. We just live
+together in the same house for company's sake."
+
+"They are not fairies?" suggested Sweetest Susan.
+
+Mr. Thimblefinger shook his head. "Oh, no! Just common every-day
+people like myself. We put on no airs. Did you ever hear of Mrs.
+Meadows? And Mr. Rabbit? And Mrs. Rabbit?"
+
+"Dem what wuz in de tale?" asked Drusilla.
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Thimblefinger, "the very same persons."
+
+"Sho' 'nuff!" exclaimed Drusilla. "Why, we been hear talk er dem sence
+'fo' we wuz knee-high."
+
+Sweetest Susan and Buster John said they had often heard of Mr. Rabbit
+and Mrs. Meadows. This seemed to please Mr. Thimblefinger very much.
+He smiled and nodded approval.
+
+"Did they ever have you in a story?" asked Buster John.
+
+"No, no!" replied Mr. Thimblefinger. "I was so little they forgot me."
+He laughed at his own joke, but it was very plain that he didn't
+relish the idea of not having his name in a book.
+
+Presently the children came to the house, but they hesitated at the
+gate and stood there in fear and trembling. What they saw was enough
+to frighten them. An old woman was sitting in a chair knitting. She
+was not different from many old women the children had seen, but near
+her sat a Rabbit as big as a man. He was a tremendous creature,
+grizzly and gray, and watery-eyed from age. He sat in a rocking-chair
+smoking a pipe.
+
+[Illustration: MR. RABBIT AND MRS. MEADOWS]
+
+"Le' 's go back," whispered Drusilla. "Dat ar creetur bigger dan a
+hoss. Ef he git a glimp' us we er gone--gone!"
+
+Sweetest Susan shivered and looked at Buster John, and Buster John
+looked at Mr. Thimblefinger. But Mr. Thimblefinger ran forward, crying
+out:--
+
+"Howdy, folks, howdy! I've brought some friends home to dinner." He
+beckoned to the children. "Come on and see Mrs. Meadows and Mr.
+Rabbit."
+
+Mrs. Meadows immediately dropped her knitting in her lap, and threw
+her hands up to her head, as if to arrange her hair.
+
+"Come in," said Mr. Thimblefinger to the children.
+
+"Yes, come on," exclaimed Mr. Rabbit in a voice that sounded as if he
+had a bad cold.
+
+"I'm in no fix to be seen," said Mrs. Meadows, "but I'm glad to see
+you, anyhow. Come right in. Take off your things and make yourself at
+home. How did you get here? I reckon that little trick there has been
+telling tales out of school." She pointed at Mr. Thimblefinger and
+laughed.
+
+"He brought us," said Sweetest Susan. "I'm sorry we came."
+
+"Now, don't say that," remarked Mrs. Meadows kindly. "What are you
+afraid of?"
+
+"Of him," replied Sweetest Susan, nodding her head toward Mr. Rabbit.
+
+"Is that all?" exclaimed Mrs. Meadows. "Why, he's as harmless as a
+kitten."
+
+"Yes, yes!" said Mr. Rabbit complacently. "No harm in me--no harm in
+old people. Just give us a little room in the corner--a little place
+where we can sit and nod--and there's no harm in us. I'm just as glad
+you've come as I can be. I see you've brought the Tar Baby. She's
+grown some since I saw her last." Mr. Rabbit looked at Drusilla with
+considerable curiosity. "I hope she's not as sticky as she used to
+be."
+
+"Hey!" cried Buster John, laughing. "Mr. Rabbit thinks Drusilla is the
+Tar Baby!"
+
+Drusilla tossed her head scornfully. "Huh! I ain't no Tar Baby. I may
+be a nigger, an' I speck I is, but I ain't no Tar Baby. My mammy done
+tol' me 'bout de Tar Baby in de tale, an' she got it fum her
+gran'daddy. Ef I'm de Tar Baby, I'm older dan my mammy's gran'daddy."
+
+Mr. Rabbit took off his spectacles and wiped them on his coat-tail.
+"My eyes are getting very bad," he said, by way of apology. "But you
+certainly look very much like the Tar Baby. If you were both together
+in the dark, nobody could tell you apart. Well, well! I'm getting
+old."
+
+"You ain't no older dan you look," said Drusilla spitefully under her
+breath.
+
+"Hush!" whispered Sweetest Susan. "He'll eat us up."
+
+Mrs. Meadows laughed. "Don't worry, child. Mr. Rabbit loves his pipe
+and a joke, but he'll never hurt you. Never in the world."
+
+"But this isn't in the world," suggested Buster John.
+
+"Well, it's next door, as you may say," Mrs. Meadows replied.
+
+Just then Mr. Rabbit slowly raised himself from his chair and examined
+the seat closely. "I missed Mr. Thimblefinger," he said, "and I was
+afraid I had sat on him."
+
+"Oh, no!" cried Mr. Thimblefinger, coming out from under the steps;
+"I was just resting myself."
+
+"Mr. Thimblefinger will take care of himself, I'll be bound,"
+exclaimed Mrs. Meadows. "He's little; but is a mountain strong because
+it is big?"
+
+"Why, that puts me in mind of the story--But never mind! I'm always
+thinking about old times." Mr. Rabbit sighed as he said this.
+
+"Oh, please tell us the story," pleaded Sweetest Susan, anxious to
+make friends with Mr. Rabbit.
+
+He shook his head. "Mrs. Meadows can tell it better than I can."
+
+"Dinner!" cried Mr. Thimblefinger. "What about dinner?"
+
+"Dinner'll be ready directly," replied Mrs. Meadows.
+
+"But the story?" Sweetest Susan said.
+
+
+THE STRONGEST--WHO? OR WHICH?
+
+"Well," replied Mrs. Meadows, "it was like this: One time in the
+country where we came from--the country where you live now--there
+chanced to be a big frost, and the mill-pond froze over. Mr. Rabbit
+ran along that way and found that the pond had this bridge across it."
+
+"Was it this Mr. Rabbit here?" asked Buster John.
+
+Mrs. Meadows folded her hands in her lap and looked at them. "Well,"
+she said, "I never talk about folks behind their backs. You must do
+your own guessing. Anyway, Mr. Rabbit found the ice bridge over the
+pond, and as he was in something of a hurry he skipped across it. I
+mean he skipped a part of the way. The Ice was so slippery that when
+he got about halfway, his feet slipped from under him and he fell
+kerthump! He got up and rubbed himself as well as he could, and then
+he thought that the Ice must be very strong to hit him so hard a lick.
+He said to the Ice, 'You are very strong.'
+
+"'I am so,' replied the Ice.
+
+"'Well, if you are so strong, how can the Sun melt you?'
+
+"The Ice said nothing, and so Mr. Rabbit asked the Sun, 'Are you very
+strong?'
+
+"'So they tell me,' replied the Sun.
+
+"'Then how can the Clouds hide you?'
+
+"The Sun was somewhat ashamed and had nothing to say. So Mr. Rabbit
+looked at the Clouds.
+
+"'Are you very strong?'
+
+"'We have heard so,' replied the Clouds.
+
+"'How can the Wind blow you?'
+
+"The Clouds sailed away, and Mr. Rabbit asked the Wind, 'Are you very
+strong?'
+
+"'I believe you,' said the Wind.
+
+"'Then how can the Mountain stand against you?'
+
+"The Wind blew itself away, and then Mr. Rabbit asked the Mountain,
+'Are you very strong?'
+
+"'So it seems,' replied the Mountain.
+
+"'How can the Mouse make a nest in you?'
+
+"The Mountain was mum. So Mr. Rabbit asked the Mouse, 'Are you very
+strong?'
+
+"'I believe so,' replied the Mouse.
+
+"'How can the Cat catch you?'
+
+"The Mouse hid in the grass. Mr. Rabbit asked the Cat, 'Are you very
+strong?'
+
+"'Yes, indeed,' replied the Cat.
+
+"'How can the Dog chase you?'
+
+"The Cat began to wash her face. Then Mr. Rabbit said to the Dog, 'Are
+you very strong?'
+
+"'I certainly am,' replied the Dog.
+
+"'Then why does the Stick scare you?'
+
+"The Dog began to scratch the fleas off his neck, and Mr. Rabbit said
+to the Stick, 'Are you very strong?'
+
+"'Everybody says so.'
+
+"'Then how can the Fire burn you?'
+
+"The Stick was dumb, and Mr. Rabbit asked the Fire, 'Are you very
+strong?'
+
+"'Anybody will tell you so,' the Fire answered.
+
+"'How can the Water quench you?'
+
+"The Fire hid behind the smoke. Then Mr. Rabbit asked the Water, 'Are
+you very strong?'
+
+"'Strong is no name for it,' said the Water.
+
+"'How can the Ice cover you?'
+
+"The Water went running down the river, and after it had gone the Ice
+said to Mr. Rabbit, 'You see you had to come back to me at last.'
+
+"'Yes,' replied Mr. Rabbit, 'and now I am going away. You are too much
+for me.' Then Mr. Rabbit loped off, rubbing his bruises."
+
+"Was it really you, Mr. Rabbit?" asked Sweetest Susan.
+
+Mr. Rabbit rubbed his mustache with the end of his pipe-stem. "Well,
+I'll tell you the truth. I was mighty foolish in my young days. But
+now all I want to do is to eat breakfast, and then wait until dinner
+is ready, and then sit and wait until supper is put on the table."
+
+Mrs. Meadows winked at the children and then turned to Mr. Rabbit.
+
+"Now," said she, "I've told the story you ought to have told, for you
+know more about it than anybody else. It's as little as you can do to
+sing the old song that you sung when you used to go frolicking."
+
+"Why, it's about myself!" exclaimed Mr. Rabbit. "At my time of life it
+would never do."
+
+"Please make him sing it," said Sweetest Susan, who was much given to
+getting her own way by the pretty little art of coaxing.
+
+"Oh, he'll sing it," replied Mrs. Meadows confidently. "He can't
+refuse."
+
+Mr. Rabbit shook his head, and then seemed to fall into a brown study,
+but suddenly, seeing that they were all waiting for the song, he
+cleared up his throat, and after several false starts sang this
+song:--
+
+
+OH, THIS IS MR. RABBIT!
+
+    Oh, this is Mr. Rabbit, that runs on the grass,
+    So rise up, ladies, and let him pass;
+    He courted Miss Meadows, when her ma was away,
+    He crossed his legs, and said his say.
+    He crossed his legs, and he winked his eye,
+    And then he told Miss Meadows good-by.
+            So it's good-by, ducky,
+              And it's good-by, dear!
+            I'll never come to see you
+              Until next year!
+    For this is Mr. Rabbit, that runs on the grass,
+    So rise up, ladies, and let him pass.
+
+    And he cried from the gate, so bold and free:
+    "I know you are glad to get rid of me."
+    And then Miss Meadows shook her head--
+    "If you stay too long you'll find me dead.
+            And it's good-by, ducky,
+              And it's good-by, dear!
+            You'll find me dead
+              When you come next year!"
+    For this is Mr. Rabbit, that runs on the grass,
+    So rise up, ladies, and let him pass.
+
+    Mr. Owl called out from the top of the tree,
+    "Oh, who? Oh, who?" and "He-he-he!"
+    Mr. Fox slipped off in the woods and cried;
+    Mr. Coon's broken heart caused a pain in his side.
+            For it's good-by, ducky,
+              And it's good-by, dear!
+            If you ever come to see me,
+              Come before next year!
+    For this is Mr. Rabbit, that runs on the grass,
+    So rise up, ladies, and let him pass.
+
+    Mr. Rabbit looked around, and saw all the trouble,
+    And he laughed and he laughed till he bent over double.
+    He shook his head, and said his say--
+    "I'll come a-calling when to-morrow is to-day.
+            For when you have a ducky,
+              Don't stay--don't stay--
+            Go off and come again
+              When to-morrow is to-day."
+    For this is Mr. Rabbit, that runs on the grass,
+    So rise up, ladies, and let him pass.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+TWO QUEER STORIES.
+
+
+There is no doubt the children were very much surprised to see Mr.
+Rabbit. They were astonished to find that he was so large and
+solemn-looking. When the negroes on the plantation told them about Mr.
+Rabbit--or Brother Rabbit, as he was sometimes called--they had
+imagined that he was no larger than the rabbits they saw in the
+sedge-field or in the barley-patch, but this Mr. Rabbit was larger
+than a dozen of them put together.
+
+In one way or another Sweetest Susan and Buster John and Drusilla
+showed their amazement very plainly--especially Drusilla, who took no
+pains to conceal hers. Every time Mr. Rabbit moved she would nudge
+Sweetest Susan or Buster John and exclaim: "Look at dat!" or, "We
+better be gwine!" or, "Spozen Brer Fox er Brer Wolf come up an' dey er
+dat big!"
+
+Mrs. Meadows noticed this; indeed, she could not help noticing it. And
+so she said:--
+
+"I reckon maybe you expected to find Mr. Rabbit no bigger than the
+rest of his family that live in your country."
+
+Before the children could make any answer, Mr. Rabbit began to
+chuckle, and he chuckled so heartily that Sweetest Susan was afraid he
+would choke.
+
+"I don't wonder you laugh," said Mrs. Meadows, elevating her voice a
+little, as if Mr. Rabbit were a little deaf.
+
+"It may not be polite to laugh in company," replied Mr. Rabbit, "but I
+am obliged to do it." His voice was wheezy, and he nodded his head
+vigorously. "Yes, I am obliged to do it. Why, I could put one of those
+poor creatures in my coat-pocket. They are not Rabbits. They are
+Runts. Yes, Runts. That's what they are. And to think, too, that their
+great-grandparents might have come here when I did. But, no! They
+wouldn't hear to it. No new country for them, they said. And so they
+stayed where they were, and the breed has dwindled down to--to
+nothing. I'll be bound they have forgotten how to talk." He turned to
+the children with a look of inquiry.
+
+"Why, of course, rabbits can't talk," said Buster John.
+
+Mr. Rabbit shook his head sadly and put his hand to his eyes. "Well,
+well, well!" he exclaimed after a while. "Can't talk! But I might have
+known it. The family's gone to seed. I'm glad I'm not there to see it
+all. A neighbor here and there does no harm, but when people began to
+crowd in I concluded to move, and I'm glad I did. I'm old and getting
+feeble, but, thank gracious, I'm not a Runt."
+
+"I don't see but you're as nimble as ever you were," remarked Mrs.
+Meadows soothingly.
+
+"I know--I know!" Mr. Rabbit insisted; "I may be as nimble, but I'm
+not as keen for a frolic as I used to be. The chimney-corner suits me
+better than a barbecue." Mr. Rabbit closed his big eyes and sighed.
+"Well, well--everybody to his time, everybody to his taste!"
+
+Mrs. Meadows nodded her head approvingly. "Yes; between first one
+thing and then another, there's lots of time and a heap of tastes."
+
+"They tell me," remarked Mr. Rabbit suddenly, "that things have got to
+that pass in the country we came from that even Mr. Billy-Goat, who
+used to eat meat, has dwindled away in mind and body till he hangs
+around the stable doors and eats straw for a living. That's what Mr.
+Thimblefinger says, and he ought to know. I suppose Billy is still
+bob-tailed? I remember the very day he had his tail broken off."
+
+"Tell us about it," remarked Buster John.
+
+
+WHY MR. BILLY-GOAT'S TAIL IS SHORT.
+
+"Oh, it doesn't amount to much," said he. "It's hardly worth talking
+about. I think it was one Saturday. In those days, you know, we used
+to have a half-holiday every Saturday. We worked hard all the week,
+and we tried to crowd as much fun into a half-holiday as possible.
+Well, one Saturday afternoon Mr. Billy-Goat and Mr. Dog were walking
+arm in arm along the road, talking and laughing in a sociable way,
+when all of a sudden a big rain came up. Mr. Billy-Goat said he was
+mighty sorry he left his parasol at home, because the rain was apt to
+make his horns rust. Mr. Dog shook himself and said he didn't mind
+water, because when he got wet the fleas quit biting.
+
+"But Mr. Billy-Goat hurried on and Mr. Dog kept up with him until
+they came to Mr. Wolf's house, and they ran into the front porch for
+shelter. The door was shut tight, but Mr. Billy-Goat had on his
+high-heel shoes that day, and he made so much noise as he tramped
+about that Mr. Wolf opened his window and looked out. When he saw who
+it was, he cried out:--
+
+"'Hallo! this is not a nice day to pay visits, but since you are here,
+you may as well come in out of the wet.'
+
+"But Mr. Dog shook his head and flirted up dirt by scratching on the
+ground with his feet. He had smelled blood. Mr. Billy-Goat saw how Mr.
+Dog acted, and he was afraid to go in. So he shook his horns.
+
+"'You'd just as well come in and sit by the fire,' said Mr. Wolf,
+unlatching the door.
+
+"But Mr. Dog and Mr. Billy-Goat thanked him kindly, and said they
+didn't want to carry mud into the house. They said they would just
+stand in the porch till the shower passed over. Then Mr. Wolf took
+down his fiddle, tuned it up, and began to play. In his day and time
+few could beat him playing the fiddle. And this time he played his
+level best, for he knew that if he could start Mr. Billy-Goat to
+dancing he'd have him for dinner."
+
+"I don't see how," said Buster John.
+
+"Well," exclaimed Mr. Rabbit, "if Mr. Billy-Goat began to dance he
+would be likely to dance until he got tired, and then it would be an
+easy matter for Mr. Wolf to outrun him."
+
+"Of course," said Sweetest Susan.
+
+"Well," Mr. Rabbit continued, "Mr. Wolf kept on playing the fiddle,
+but Mr. Billy-Goat didn't dance. Not only that, he kept so near the
+edge of the porch that the rain drifted in on his horns and ran down
+his long beard. But he kept his eye on Mr. Wolf. After playing the
+fiddle till he was tired, Mr. Wolf asked:--
+
+"'How do you get your meat, my young friends?'
+
+"Mr. Dog said he depended on his teeth, and Mr. Billy-Goat, thinking
+to be on the safe side, said he also depended upon his teeth.
+
+"'As for me,' cried Mr. Wolf, 'I depend on my feet!' and with that he
+dropped his fiddle and jumped at Mr. Billy-Goat. But he knocked the
+broom down and the handle tripped him. It was all very sudden, but
+by the time Mr. Wolf had recovered himself Mr. Billy-Goat and Mr. Dog
+had gone a considerable distance.
+
+[Illustration: MR. BILLY-GOAT AND MR. WOLF]
+
+"They ran and ran until they came to a big creek. Mr. Billy-Goat asked
+Mr. Dog how he was going to get across.
+
+"'Swim,' said Mr. Dog.
+
+"'Then I'll have to bid you good-by,' replied Mr. Billy-Goat, 'for I
+can't swim a stroke.'
+
+"By this time they had arrived at the bank of the creek, and they
+could hear Mr. Wolf coming through the woods. They had no time to
+lose. Mr. Dog looked around on the ground, gathered some jan-weed,
+yan-weed, and tan-weed, rubbed them together, and squeezed a drop of
+the juice on Mr. Billy-Goat's horns. He had no sooner done this than
+Mr. Billy-Goat was changed into a white rock.
+
+"Then Mr. Dog leaped into the creek and swam across. Mr. Wolf ran to
+the bank, but there he stopped. The water was so wide it made tears
+come in his eyes; so deep that it made his legs ache; and so cold that
+it made his body shiver.
+
+"When Mr. Dog arrived safely on the other side he cried out, 'Aha!
+you are afraid! You've drowned poor Mr. Billy-Goat, but you are afraid
+of me. I dare you to fling a rock at me!'
+
+"This made Mr. Wolf so mad that he seized the white rock and threw it
+at Mr. Dog with all his might. It fell near Mr. Dog, and instantly
+became Mr. Billy-Goat again. But in falling a piece was broken off,
+and it happened to be Mr. Billy-Goat's tail. Ever since then he has
+had a very short tail."
+
+"Were you there, Mr. Rabbit?" asked Sweetest Susan bluntly.
+
+"I was fishing at the time," replied Mr. Rabbit. "I heard the noise
+they made, and I turned around and saw it just as I've told you."
+
+Drusilla touched Buster John on the arm. "We ain't dreamin', is we,
+honey?"
+
+Buster John looked at her scornfully. "What put that in your head?" he
+asked.
+
+"Suppose the rock had hit Mr. Dog?" suggested Sweetest Susan.
+
+
+THE PUMPKIN-EATER.
+
+"Now, that's so!" exclaimed Mr. Thimblefinger. "And it reminds me of a
+little accident that happened in my mother's family. But it's hardly
+worth telling."
+
+"Well, tell it, anyhow," said Mrs. Meadows.
+
+"Yes," remarked Mr. Rabbit, "the proof of the pudding is in chewing
+the bag."
+
+"Well," said Mr. Thimblefinger, "as far back as I can remember, and
+before that, too, my mother was a widow, and she had a great many
+children to take care of. The reason she had so many children was
+because she was poor. I have noticed all my life that when people are
+very poor they happen to have more children than they know what to do
+with. This was the way with my mother. She had a houseful of children,
+and she found it a hard matter to get along.
+
+"One day she went down to the creek to wash the clothes, such as she
+and the children had, and when she got there she found an old man
+sitting on the bank. He said, 'Howdy,' and she said, 'Good-morning,'
+and then he asked her if she would be so good as to wash his coat and
+his waistcoat. She said she would be glad to do so, and the old man
+said he would be very much obliged. So my mother washed the coat and
+waistcoat. Then he asked her if she would comb his hair for him, and
+she did so.
+
+"The old man thanked her kindly, and took from his pocket a string of
+red beads and made her a present of them. Then he told her to go out
+behind the house when she got home, and there she'd find a
+pumpkin-tree growing. He said that she must bury the string of beads
+at the foot of the tree.
+
+"'That's a pity,' exclaimed my mother; 'they are so beautiful.'
+
+"But the old man declared that she must do as he said, and after that
+she was to go to the pumpkin-tree every day and ask for as many
+pumpkins as she wanted.
+
+"My mother went home and found the pumpkin-tree where never a tree had
+been growing before, and at its roots she buried the string of beads.
+Next morning, bright and early, she went to the pumpkin-tree and
+called for one pumpkin. Down it dropped from the tree. For a long time
+my mother and her children were happy and growing fat. Every day a big
+pumpkin would be cooked, and as my mother had to leave us so as to
+attend to her work, enough pumpkin would be left in the pot to last
+us all day.
+
+[Illustration: MY MOTHER WASHING THE OLD MAN'S COAT AND WAISTCOAT]
+
+"I remember that time very well," Mr. Thimblefinger continued, with a
+sigh, "for I was getting fat and growing to be almost as large as the
+rest of the children. But one day, as my mother was going out to work
+she found a hamper basket on the gate-post, and in that basket was a
+baby. So she carried the baby in the house, gave it something to eat,
+and then put it on the floor to play with the rest. But as soon as she
+got out of the yard the baby crawled to the pot where the cooked
+pumpkin was, and ate and ate until there was no pumpkin left. Of
+course, the rest of the children had to go hungry. And when my mother
+came home she had to go hungry, too.
+
+"She was very much surprised. She found all the pumpkin gone and the
+children crying for something to eat, and the stray baby was crying
+louder than any. She said we were the greediest children she had ever
+seen.
+
+"The next day she cooked two pumpkins, but the same thing happened.
+The baby went to the pot and ate both. The children told her how it
+happened, but she wouldn't believe them. She said she couldn't be made
+to believe that one puny little baby could eat two whole pumpkins--and
+it _is_ very queer, when you come to think about it.
+
+"The next day she cooked three pumpkins, but the same thing happened.
+Then four, then five, then six. But it was always the same. No matter
+how many pumpkins were cooked, the stray baby would eat them all, and
+the rest of the children would have to go hungry. You see how small I
+am," said Mr. Thimblefinger, suddenly pausing in the thread of his
+story. "Well, the reason of it is that I was starved out by that
+pumpkin-eating baby. My brothers and sisters and myself were just as
+large and as healthy as any other children until that baby was found
+on the gate-post, and from that day we began to dwindle and shrink
+away.
+
+"Well, we starved and starved until at last my mother could very
+plainly see that something was the matter. So she set a trap for the
+baby and baited it with pumpkins. She hadn't got out of hearing before
+the baby put his head in the pot and got caught in the trap. It stayed
+there all day, and when mother came home at night she found it there.
+She was very much surprised, but she saw she must get rid of the baby.
+She said that any creature that could manage to eat like that was able
+to take care of itself, and so she carried it off down the road and
+left it there.
+
+"Now this Pumpkin-Eater was a witch baby, and as soon as it thought my
+mother was out of sight and hearing it changed itself into a tall,
+heavy man."
+
+"'T wuz feedin' de big man all de time," exclaimed Drusilla.
+
+"Certainly," replied Mr. Thimblefinger. "My mother was watching it,
+and she followed to see where it would go. It went down to the bank of
+the river. There it found the old man who had given my mother the
+string of beads, and asked him for something to eat.
+
+"'Comb my hair for me,' said the old man.
+
+"But it refused, and then the old man told it to go to the
+pumpkin-tree and ask for twenty pumpkins. The greedy thing was glad to
+do this. It went to the tree and called for twenty pumpkins, and down
+they fell on its head."
+
+"What then?" asked Buster John, as Mr. Thimblefinger paused. "Was it
+hurt?"
+
+"Smashed!" exclaimed Mr. Thimblefinger. "Knocked flatter than a
+pancake! Broke into jiblets!"
+
+"It was a great waste of pumpkins," remarked Mrs. Meadows.
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+THE TALKING-SADDLE.
+
+
+Just then Mrs. Meadows smoothed out her apron and rose from her chair.
+
+"I smell dinner," she said, "and it smells like it is on the table.
+Let's go in and get rid of it."
+
+She led the way, and the children followed. The dinner was nothing
+extra,--just a plain, every-day, country dinner, with plenty of
+pot-liquor and dumplings; but the children were hungry, and they made
+short work of all that was placed before them. Drusilla waited on the
+table, as she did at home, but she didn't go close to Mr. Rabbit. She
+held out the dishes at arm's length when she offered him anything, and
+once she came very near dropping a plate when he suddenly flapped his
+big ear on his nose to drive off a fly.
+
+Mrs. Meadows was very kind to the children, but when once the edge was
+taken off their appetite they began to get uneasy again. There were a
+thousand questions they might have asked, but they had been told
+never to ask questions in company. Mr. Thimblefinger, who had a keen
+eye for such things, noticed that they were beginning to get glum and
+dissatisfied, and so he said with a laugh:--
+
+"I've often heard in my travels of children who talked too much, but
+these don't talk at all."
+
+"Oh, they'll soon get over that," Mrs. Meadows remarked. "Everything
+is so strange here, they don't know what to make of it. When I was a
+little bit of a thing my ma used to take me to quiltings, and I know
+it took me the longest kind of a time to get used to the strangers and
+all."
+
+"This isn't a quilting," said Sweetest Susan, with a sigh; "I wish it
+was."
+
+"I don't!" exclaimed Buster John plumply.
+
+"Once when I was listening through a keyhole," said Mr. Thimblefinger,
+placing his tiny knife and fork crosswise on his plate, "I heard a
+story about a Talking-Saddle."
+
+"Tell it! tell it!" cried Buster John and Sweetest Susan.
+
+"I suppose you have no pie to-day?" said Mr. Rabbit.
+
+[Illustration: DRUSILLA WAITING ON MR. RABBIT]
+
+"Oh, yes," said Mrs. Meadows, "we'll have the pie and the story,
+too."
+
+Mr. Thimblefinger smacked his lips and winked his eye in such comical
+fashion that the children laughed heartily, but they didn't forget the
+story.
+
+"I don't know that I can remember the best of it," said Mr.
+Thimblefinger. "The wind was blowing and the keyhole was trying to
+learn how to whistle, and I may have missed some of the story. But it
+was such a queer one, and I was listening so closely, that I came very
+near falling off the door-knob when some one started to come out. I
+think we'd better eat our pie first. I might get one of those
+huckleberries in my throat while talking, and there's no doctor close
+at hand to keep me from choking to death."
+
+So they ate their huckleberry-pie, and then Mr. Thimblefinger told the
+story.
+
+"Once upon a time a farmer had five sons. He was not rich and he was
+not poor. He had some land, and he had a little money. He divided his
+land equally among his four oldest sons, giving each just as much as
+he could till. To each, he also gave a piece of money. Then he called
+his youngest son, and said:--
+
+"'You have sharp eyes and a keen wit. You want no land. All you need
+is a saddle. That I will give you.'
+
+"'A saddle! What will I do with a saddle?' asked the youngest son,
+whose name was Tip-Top.
+
+"'Make your fortune with it.'
+
+"'If I had a horse--'
+
+"'A head is better than a horse,' the father replied.
+
+"Not long after, the old man died. The land was divided up among the
+four older sons, and Tip-Top was left with the saddle. He slung it on
+his back and set out to make his fortune. It was not long before he
+came to a large town. He rested for a while and then he went into the
+town. He remembered that his father had said a head was better than a
+horse, so, instead of carrying the saddle on his back, he put it on
+his head. At first the people thought he was carrying the saddle
+because he had sold his horse for a good price, or because the animal
+had died. But he went through street after street still carrying the
+saddle on his head, never pausing to look around or to speak to
+anybody, and at last the people began to wonder. Some said he was a
+simpleton, some said he was a saddle-maker advertising his wares, and
+some said he was a tramp who ought to be arrested and put in the
+workhouse.
+
+"This talk finally reached the ears of the Mayor of the town, and he
+sent for Tip-Top to appear before him."
+
+"What is a Mayor?" asked Sweetest Susan suddenly.
+
+"He de head patter-roller," said Drusilla, before anybody else could
+reply.
+
+"That's about right," Mr. Thimblefinger declared. "Well, the Mayor
+sent for Tip-Top. But instead of going to the place where the Mayor
+held his court, Tip-Top inquired where his house was and went there.
+Now, when Tip-Top knocked at the Mayor's door the servant, seeing the
+man with a saddle on his head, began to scold him.
+
+"'Do you think the Mayor keeps his harness in the parlor? Go in the
+side gate and carry the saddle in the cellar where it belongs. Hang it
+on the first peg you see.'
+
+"Tip-Top tried to say something, but the servant shut the door with a
+bang. Then Tip-Top did as he was bid. He went through the side gate,
+and found the cellar without any trouble, but instead of hanging the
+saddle on a peg, he placed it on the floor and sat on it.
+
+"After waiting patiently a while, wondering when the Mayor would call
+him, Tip-Top heard voices on the other side of the wall. He listened
+closely, and soon found that the housemaid who had driven him away
+from the Mayor's door was talking to her brother, who had just
+returned from a long journey.
+
+"'The Mayor has gold,' said the brother. 'You must tell me where he
+keeps it. I have a companion in my travels, and to-night we shall come
+and take the treasure.'
+
+"For a long time the housemaid refused to tell where the Mayor kept
+his gold, but the brother threatened and coaxed, and finally she told
+him where the treasure lay.
+
+"'It is in a closet by the chimney in the first room to the right at
+the head of the stairs. The gold is in an iron box and it is very
+heavy.'
+
+"'My companion has long hair and a strong arm,' said the brother. 'He
+is cross-eyed and knock-kneed. It wouldn't do for you to meet him in
+the hallway. Go to bed early and lock your door, and if you hear any
+outcry during the night cover your head with a pillow and go to sleep
+again.'
+
+"Then the housemaid and her brother went away.
+
+"'Well,' said Tip-Top, 'this is no place for me.'
+
+"He waited a while, and then went out of the cellar into the yard with
+his saddle on his head. The cook, seeing him there, told him to carry
+the saddle to the stable where the horses were kept. Tip-Top went to
+the stable, placed his saddle in an empty stall, and sat on it.
+
+"After a while he heard two persons come in from the street. They went
+into a stall near by and began to talk. One was the coachman and the
+other was his nephew, who had just returned from a long journey.
+
+"'The Mayor has fine horses,' said the nephew. 'I must have two of
+them to-night, otherwise I am ruined forever.'
+
+"The coachman refused to listen at first, but after a while he
+consented. He told his nephew that the stable-boy slept in the manger.
+
+"'I have a companion in my travels,' said his nephew, 'and to-night
+we shall come and take the horses away. My companion has short hair
+and a heavy hand. Close your eyes and cover your head with straw if
+you hear any outcry.'
+
+"After a while the coachman and his nephew went out into the street
+again, and then Tip-Top came forth from the stable with the saddle on
+his head. The Mayor had just come in, and was standing at his window.
+He saw the man in the yard with the saddle on his head, and sent a
+servant to call him.
+
+"'What is your name?' asked the Mayor.
+
+"'Tip-Top, your honor.'
+
+"'I didn't ask after your health; I asked for your name,' said the
+Mayor.
+
+"'It is Tip-Top, your honor.'
+
+"'Your name or your health?'
+
+"'Both, your honor.'
+
+"'What are you doing here?'
+
+"'His honor, the Mayor, sent for me, your honor.'
+
+"'What were you doing just now?'
+
+"'Waiting to be sent for, your honor.'
+
+"'Where is your horse?' asked the Mayor.
+
+[Illustration: TIP-TOP AND THE MAYOR]
+
+"'I have no horse, your honor.'
+
+"'Why do you carry your saddle?'
+
+"'Because no one will carry it for me, your honor.'
+
+"'Why do you not sell it and be rid of it, ninny?'
+
+"'Few are rich enough to buy it, your honor.'
+
+"'How much money is it worth?'
+
+"'Two thousand pieces of gold, your honor.'
+
+"'Are you crazy?' cried the Mayor. 'Why is it so valuable?'
+
+"'It is a Talking-Saddle, your honor.'
+
+"'What does it say?'
+
+"'Everything, your honor. It warns, it predicts, and it gives advice.'
+
+"'Let it talk for me,' said the Mayor, full of curiosity.
+
+"'Your honor would fail to understand its language,' replied Tip-Top.
+
+"'Let it talk and do you tell me what it says.'
+
+"Tip-Top placed his saddle on the carpet and pressed his foot against
+it until the leather made a creaking noise.
+
+"'I am waiting,' said the Mayor. 'What does the saddle say?'
+
+"'It says, your honor, that you must call the housemaid.'
+
+"The Mayor, to humor the joke, did so. The housemaid came, grumbling.
+She looked at the saddle, at Tip-Top, and then at the Mayor.
+
+"'Now what does the saddle say?' asked the Mayor.
+
+"'It says, your honor, that this woman has a brother, who has just
+returned from a journey in strange lands. The saddle says, your honor,
+that this woman's brother has a companion who has long hair and a
+strong arm.'
+
+"'Is that all?' asked the Mayor.
+
+"'No, your honor, it is not half.'
+
+"'It is very strange,' said the housemaid.
+
+"'The saddle says, your honor, that if you will sit in the closet by
+the chimney, in the first room to the right, where there is an iron
+box that is very heavy, you will receive a visit to-night from this
+woman's brother and his companion.'
+
+"The Mayor was very much astonished, but before he could open his lips
+the woman fell on her knees and confessed all. The Mayor called an
+officer and sent her away. Then he turned to Tip-Top, and asked:--
+
+"'Is that all?'
+
+"'By no means, your honor. The saddle says send for the coachman.'
+
+"The Mayor did so, and the coachman came, bowing and smiling.
+
+"'How much is the saddle worth?' the Mayor asked him.
+
+"'Master, it is worthless,' replied the coachman, with a sneer.
+
+"'Let us see,' said the Mayor. Then, turning to Tip-Top: 'What does
+the saddle say?'
+
+"'It says, your honor, that this coachman here has a nephew, who has
+just returned from a long journey. It says that the nephew has a
+companion who has short hair and a heavy hand.'
+
+"'What more?'
+
+"'The saddle says, your honor, that if you will sleep in the manger
+where your two finest horses feed, you will receive a visit from the
+coachman's nephew and his traveling companion.'
+
+"The coachman implored his master's mercy, and told all. Of course,
+the Mayor was very much astonished. He turned his unfaithful servants
+over to an officer, and that night had a watch set around his house
+and stable, and caught the thieves and their companions."
+
+"But the saddle didn't talk," said Sweetest Susan. "So the man didn't
+tell what was true." She made this remark with so much dignity that
+Mrs. Meadows laughed.
+
+But Buster John was quite impatient.
+
+"This isn't a girl's story," he exclaimed.
+
+"Oh, yes," replied Mrs. Meadows. "It is for girls as well as boys.
+Sometimes people tell stories just to pass the time away, and if the
+stories have little fibs in 'em, that don't do anybody any harm, they
+just keep them in there. If they didn't, the story wouldn't be true."
+
+"Is that the end of the story of the Talking-Saddle?" asked Buster
+John.
+
+"No! Oh, no!" Mr. Thimblefinger answered. "I was just going to tell
+you the rest."
+
+But before he could go on with it, the noise of laughter was heard at
+the door, and then there came running in a queer-looking girl and a
+very queer-looking boy.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+THE TALKING-SADDLE AND THE THIEF.
+
+
+The queer-looking girl was running from the very queer-looking boy,
+and both were laughing loudly. When they saw the children sitting at
+the table they both stopped suddenly. The queer-looking girl turned
+and made a wry face at the very queer-looking boy. At this both burst
+out laughing, and suddenly stopped again.
+
+"Be ashamed of yourselves!" exclaimed old Mr. Rabbit, rapping on the
+floor with his cane. "Be ashamed! Where are your manners? Go and speak
+to our friends and make your best bow, too,--don't forget that!" Mr.
+Rabbit appeared to be very indignant.
+
+Mrs. Meadows was in a better humor. "This," she said, as the
+queer-looking girl came forward, "is Chickamy Crany Crow, and this,"
+as the very queer-looking boy came timidly up, "is Tickle-My-Toes."
+
+They bowed, and then went off a little way, looking very solemn and
+comical. They didn't dare glance at each other for fear they would
+begin laughing again. The reason they looked so queer was because,
+although they acted like children, they were old in appearance,--as
+old as a person past middle age.
+
+"They are country-raised, poor things! You'll have to excuse them.
+They don't know any better." Mr. Thimblefinger sighed as he said this,
+and looked thoughtful.
+
+"What about the Talking-Saddle?" Buster John inquired. "You said the
+story wasn't finished."
+
+"To be sure! To be sure!" Mr. Thimblefinger cried. "My mind is like a
+wagon without a tongue. It goes every way but the right way. Where was
+I? Oh, yes, I remember now."
+
+"Well, the Mayor was very thankful to Tip-Top for saving his treasure
+and his horses, but he wasn't satisfied about the saddle. He was
+worried. Now, you know when a child is worried it cries, but when a
+grown man is worried he sits down and looks away off, and puts his
+elbow in his hand and his finger to his nose--so."
+
+"Oh, I've seen papa do that," laughed Sweetest Susan.
+
+"Yes, that's the way the Mayor did," Mr. Thimblefinger continued.
+"There was a great thief in that country who had never been caught. He
+didn't care for judges and juries and courthouses. He always sent the
+Mayor word when he was coming to the city and when he was going away.
+
+"Now, the Mayor had received a letter from this man just the day
+before Tip-Top came. The thief said he was coming after a fine
+race-horse that was owned by the Mayor's brother. So the Mayor sat and
+thought, and finally he asked Tip-Top if his Talking-Saddle could
+catch a famous thief.
+
+"'It has just caught four common rogues, your honor,' replied Tip-Top,
+'and I think it can catch one uncommon thief.'
+
+"Then the Mayor told Tip-Top that the most famous thief in all that
+country intended to steal his brother's race-horse. Tip-Top said he
+must see the horse, and together they went to the stable where it was
+kept. The horse was already guarded. Two servants sat in the stall,
+two sat outside, and two remained near the door. The Mayor's brother
+was also there.
+
+"'What is this?' the brother asked.
+
+"'This fellow wants to sell his saddle,' replied the Mayor.
+
+"'Then arrest him,' cried the brother, 'for he is the thief.'
+
+"'Nonsense,' replied the Mayor. 'He is a very honest man and I will
+vouch for him.'
+
+"Then the Mayor called his brother aside and told him why the man with
+the saddle had come to see the horse.
+
+"Tip-Top talked with the men who had been set to guard the horse, and
+he soon found that one of them was an accomplice of the thief. This
+man made a swift sign to Tip-Top, and placed his finger on his mouth.
+Tip-Top replied by closing his eyes with his fingers, as if to show
+that he saw nothing. When he had an opportunity he said to this man:--
+
+"'Tell your master I will be willing to sell the saddle to-night. I
+will sleep with it under my head on the next corner. It is worth one
+thousand pieces of gold.'
+
+"Then he returned to the Mayor, and they went away. Tip-Top laughed as
+they walked along. 'This thief,' he remarked, 'is a fool. It is so
+easy to steal a horse that he will not buy a saddle. He will try to
+steal mine. Then we shall catch him. He will get the horse--'
+
+"'What!' cried the Mayor; 'get the horse?'
+
+"'Certainly; nothing is easier,' replied Tip-Top. 'He will get the
+horse, and then he will want a saddle. He will be passing the wall
+here. He will see me sleeping with my head on my friend and then he
+will attempt to steal it, but the surcingle will be buckled around my
+body, and I will awake and cry blue murder. Then you and your brother
+can come forward from the vacant house yonder and seize him.'
+
+"'Where did you learn all this?' asked the Mayor. He began to suspect
+that his brother was right when he said that Tip-Top was the thief.
+
+"'My saddle told me,' Tip-Top answered.
+
+"'Well,' said the Mayor, 'your plan is as good as any, but how will
+the thief get the horse that is so well guarded?'
+
+"'Ah!' Tip-Top exclaimed, 'if I were to tell you, we should never
+catch the thief.'
+
+"So it was all arranged. Tip-Top was to sleep on his Talking-Saddle,
+near the wall and the Mayor and his brother were to watch from the
+windows of the vacant house opposite.
+
+"When night came, the watchers who had been set to guard the horse
+were very anxious. They were ready to arrest any one who might chance
+to enter. Whenever they heard footsteps approaching they seized their
+clubs and stood on the defensive. Sometimes a passer-by would pause,
+look in, and ask what the trouble was. Then the watchers would reply
+that they were waiting for the great thief who was coming to steal the
+fine horse. Thus the hours passed, but no thief came. Then the
+watchers began to get tired.
+
+"'We are crazy,' said one. 'How can a thief steal this horse, even if
+he were to come in here? We are four to one. Two of us should sleep a
+while, and thus we can take turns in watching.' This was agreed to,
+and two of the guards stretched themselves on the straw and prepared
+to sleep. But just then they heard some one singing far down the
+street. It was a jolly song, and the sound of it came louder and
+louder. As the singer was going by, the light in the stable caught his
+eye, and he paused and looked in, but still kept up his singing.
+
+"'Friends,' he said when his song was done, 'what is the trouble?'
+
+"'We are watching a horse.'
+
+"'Is he sick? Perhaps I can aid you. I have doctored many a horse in
+my day.'
+
+"'He is not sick,' replied the watchers. 'He is well and taking his
+ease. We are watching to prevent a thief from stealing him.'
+
+"Then they told him the threat the thief had made.
+
+"'Come, that is too good,' cried the newcomer. 'This thief will be
+worth looking at when four such stout lads as you get through with
+him. When does he show himself?'
+
+"'That is what we are to find out,' replied the watchers.
+
+"'Very well,' the newcomer said; 'I'll stay, by your permission, and
+see you double him up.'
+
+"The watchers gave their consent gladly, for the newcomer had a lively
+manner and a rattling tongue. He sang songs and told stories for an
+hour or more, and then pulled a bottle from under his coat.
+
+"'A little wine,' he said, 'will clear the fog from our throats.' He
+passed the bottle around, and all drank except the guard who was
+watching in the stall.
+
+"Now the man who had come singing up the street was the thief himself,
+and the guard in the stall was his companion. The wine was drugged,
+and in a very few minutes three of the watchers were fast asleep. Then
+the thief and his companion took the horse from the stall.
+
+"'I shall have to remain here and pretend to be asleep,' said the
+companion. 'You will find a saddle around the corner.' He then told
+the thief about the man with the saddle.
+
+"'You are a fool, my friend,' said the thief. 'It is a trick--a trap.'
+
+"But when he had carried off the horse and hid it at the house of an
+acquaintance, the thought of the man with the saddle worried him so
+that he went back to satisfy himself. Tip-Top and his saddle were
+there, and Tip-Top had slept so soundly that his head had rolled from
+his pillow. The thief thought it would be a good stroke of business to
+take the saddle along, but when he tried to lift it, Tip-Top awoke and
+seized him, and cried 'Murder!' at the top of his voice.
+
+"The Mayor and his brother rushed from their place of concealment,
+and soon the thief was bound.
+
+"'Where is the horse?' cried the Mayor.
+
+"'What horse?' exclaimed the thief. 'Do you think I carry horses in my
+pocket?'
+
+"'What were you doing here, then?'
+
+"'This fellow's head had slipped from its pillow, and when I tried to
+put it back he seized me and yelled that I was murdering him! I saw no
+horse under the saddle.'
+
+"'Wait here a little,' said Tip-Top. 'Hold this thief till I return.'
+
+"He went to the stable, woke the thief's accomplice, who by this time
+was really asleep, and told him his companion had been captured. 'If I
+can find the horse and hide it our friend will be safe, for nothing
+can be proved on him.'
+
+"The man was so frightened that he told Tip-Top where he had arranged
+to meet the thief the next day. Then Tip-Top returned to the Mayor and
+his brother, who still held the thief, and took them to the house
+where the horse had been stabled.
+
+"When the horse had been found and restored to its owner the Mayor
+said to Tip-Top that he would not only reward him handsomely but
+grant any request he might make.
+
+"'Then, your honor,' replied Tip-Top, 'give this man his liberty.'
+
+"'Why?' asked the Mayor, much astonished.
+
+"'Because, your honor, he is my brother.'
+
+"The thief was as much astonished as the Mayor at this turn in his
+affairs, but he had no difficulty in recognizing Tip-Top as his
+younger brother.
+
+"'He certainly is a man of talent,' said the Mayor, 'and it is a pity
+that he should be executed.'
+
+"Then the thief fell on his knees and begged the Mayor to pardon him,
+promising him to live and die an honest man. And he kept his promise.
+He engaged in business, and, aided by Tip-Top's advice and influence,
+made a large fortune."
+
+"What became of the Talking-Saddle?" asked Buster John.
+
+"Well," replied Mr. Thimblefinger, "Tip-Top hung the saddle in his
+front porch, as you have seen farmers do. He thought a great deal of
+it."
+
+[Illustration: THE MAYOR PARDONING THE THIEF]
+
+"I've read something about the great thief," remarked Buster John.
+"But the story didn't end that way. The thief escaped every time."
+
+"Oh, well, you know how some people are," exclaimed Mrs. Meadows.
+"They want everything to happen just so; even a thief must be a big
+man if he's in a story; but I don't believe anybody ever stole
+anything yet without getting into trouble about it."
+
+"Who is that crying?" Mr. Rabbit suddenly exclaimed.
+
+"I hear no crying," said Mrs. Meadows.
+
+"I certainly thought I heard crying," persisted Mr. Rabbit.
+
+"It is Chickamy Crany Crow and Tickle-My-Toes singing. Listen!"
+
+Sure enough the queer-looking boy and the queer-looking girl were
+singing a song. One sang one line and the other the next line, and
+this made the song somewhat comical. The words were something like
+these:--
+
+
+CHICKAMY CRANY CROW.
+
+            Oh sing it slow,
+            This song of woe,
+    Of the girl who went to wash her toe!
+            Her name was Chick--
+            (Oh run here quick--
+            The word's so thick)--
+    Chickamy--Chickamy Crany Crow!
+
+            Chickamy what? and Chickamy which?
+            She went to the well and fell in the ditch;
+            What o'clock, old Witch?
+
+            The clock struck one
+            And bowed to the sun;
+    But the sun was fast asleep you know;
+            And the moon was quick,
+            With her oldtime trick--
+            To hide from Chick--
+    Chickamy--Chickamy Crany Crow!
+
+            Chickamy what? and Chickamy which?
+            She went to the well and fell in the ditch;
+            What o'clock, old Witch?
+
+            Oh, sad to tell!
+            She went to the well--
+    The time was as close to eve as to dawn--
+            To Chickamy Chick,
+            So supple and slick,
+            The clock said "Tick!"
+    But when she came back her chicken was gone!
+
+            Oh, whatamy, whichamy, chickamy, oh!
+            Moonery, oonery, tickamy Toe!
+            Wellery, tellery, gittery go!
+            Witchery, itchery, knitchery know.
+
+[Illustration: CHICKAMY CRANY CROW AND TICKLE-MY-TOES]
+
+"What kinder gwines on is dat?" exclaimed Drusilla, whose mind had
+never been quite easy since she walked through the dry water in the
+spring without getting drowned. "We all better be makin' our way
+to'rds home. Time we git dar--ef we ever is ter git dar--it'll be dark
+good. Den what yo' ma gwine to say? She gwine ter talk wid de flat er
+her han'--dat what she gwine ter talk wid. Come on!"
+
+"Can't you be quiet?" cried Buster John. "It's nothing but a song."
+
+"Oh, you kin stay, an' I'll stay wid you," said Drusilla; "but when
+Mistiss git you in de wash-room, don't you come sayin' dat I wouldn't
+fetch you home."
+
+"I want to see everything," said Buster John.
+
+"I done seed much ez I want ter see," replied Drusilla, "an' now I
+want ter live ter tell it."
+
+Before Buster John could say anything more, everything suddenly grew a
+little darker, and in the middle of the sky--or what ought to have
+been the sky, but which was the enlarged bottom of the spring--there
+was a huge shadow. The children looked at it in silence.
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+THE LADDER OF LIONS.
+
+
+The shadow that seemed to fall over everything caused Buster John and
+Sweetest Susan and Drusilla to run to the door. It was not a very dark
+shadow, but it was dark enough to attract their attention and excite
+their alarm. They were not yet used to their surroundings, for,
+although a great many things they saw and heard were familiar to them,
+they could not forget that they had come through the water in the
+spring. They could not forget that Mr. Thimblefinger was the smallest
+grown person they had ever seen,--even if he were a grown person,--nor
+could they forget that they had never seen a rabbit so wonderfully
+large as Mr. Rabbit. Drusilla expressed the feelings of all when she
+remarked that she felt "skittish." They were ready to take alarm at
+anything that might happen. Therefore they ran to the door to see what
+the shadow meant. Finally they looked up at the sky, or what seemed to
+be the sky, and there they saw, covering a large part of it, the
+vague outline of a huge jug. The shadow wobbled about and wavered, and
+ripples of light and shadow played about it and ran down to the
+horizon on all sides.
+
+An astronomer, seeing these fantastic wobblings and waverings of light
+and shadow in our firmament, would straightway send a letter or a
+cable dispatch to the newspapers, declaring that an unheard-of
+convulsion was shaking the depths of celestial space. And, indeed, it
+was all very puzzling, even to the children, but Drusilla, who had
+less imagination than any of the rest, accounted for it all by one
+bold stroke of common sense.
+
+"Shuh! 'T ain't nothin' 't all!" she exclaimed. "Dey done got froo wid
+dinner at home, an' ol' Aunt 'Cindy done put de buttermilk-jug back in
+de spring."
+
+Sweetest Susan caught her breath with a gasp, and laughed
+hysterically. She had been very much alarmed.
+
+"I expect that's what it is," said Buster John, but there was some
+doubt in his tone. He turned to Mr. Thimblefinger, who had followed
+them. "What time is it, please?"
+
+Mr. Thimblefinger drew his watch from his pocket with as much dignity
+as he could assume, and held his head gravely on one side. "It is
+now--let me see--_ahem!_--it is now precisely thirteen minutes and
+eleven seconds after one o'clock."
+
+"Is that the jug in the spring?" asked Sweetest Susan, pointing to the
+huge black shadow that was now wobbling and wavering more slowly.
+
+Mr. Thimblefinger shaded his eyes with his hand and examined the
+shadow critically. "Yes, that is the jug--the light hurts my
+eyes--yes, certainly, that is the jug."
+
+Presently a volume of white vapor shot out from the shadow. It was
+larger than the largest comet, and almost as brilliant.
+
+"What is that?" asked Sweetest Susan.
+
+Mr. Thimblefinger felt almost as thoughtful as a sure-enough man of
+science.
+
+"That," said he, "is an emanation--an exhalation, you might say--that
+we frequently witness in our atmosphere."
+
+"A which?" asked Buster John.
+
+"Well," replied Mr. Thimblefinger, clearing his throat, "it's--er--an
+emanation."
+
+"Huh!" cried Drusilla, "'t ain't no kind er nation. It's des de milk
+leakin' out'n dat jug. I done tol' Aunt 'Cindy 'bout dat leakin' jug."
+
+Mr. Rabbit and Mrs. Meadows had come out of the house in time to hear
+this, and they laughed heartily. In fact, they all laughed except Mr.
+Thimblefinger and Drusilla.
+
+"It happens every day," said Mrs. Meadows. "We never notice it. I
+suppose if it happened up there where you children live, everybody
+would make a great to-do? I'm glad I don't live there where there's so
+much fussing and guessing going on. I know how it is. Something
+happens that doesn't happen every day, and then somebody'll guess one
+way and somebody another way, and the first thing you know there's a
+great rumpus over nothing. I'm truly glad I came away from there in
+time to get out of the worst of it. You children had better take a
+notion and stay here with us."
+
+"Oh, no," cried Sweetest Susan. "Mamma and papa would want to see us."
+
+"That's so," said Mrs. Meadows. "Well, I just came out here to tell
+you not to get too near the Green Moss Swamp beyond the hill yonder.
+There's an old Spring Lizard over there that might want to shake hands
+with you with his tail. Besides it's not healthy around there; it is
+too damp."
+
+"Oh, we are not going anywhere until we start home," Sweetest Susan
+remarked.
+
+"How large is the Spring Lizard?" inquired Buster John.
+
+"He's a heap too big for you to manage," replied Mrs. Meadows. "I
+don't know that he'd hurt you, but he's slept in the mud over there
+until he's so fat he can't wallow scarcely. He might roll over on you
+and hurt you some."
+
+"Are there any lions over there?" inquired Sweetest Susan.
+
+"No, honey, not a living one," said Mrs. Meadows.
+
+By this time Mr. Rabbit had come out on the piazza, bringing his
+walking-cane and his pipe. He presently seated himself on the steps,
+and leaned his head comfortably against one of the posts.
+
+"Well, well, well," he exclaimed. "It has been years and years since
+I've heard the name of Brother Lion. Is he still living and doing
+well?" Mr. Rabbit turned an inquiring eye on Sweetest Susan.
+
+"She doesn't know anything about lions," said Buster John.
+
+"Why, I do!" cried Sweetest Susan. "I saw one once in a cage."
+
+"In a cage? Brother Lion in a cage?" Mr. Rabbit raised his hands and
+rolled his eyes in astonishment. "What is the world coming to? Well,
+I've said many and many a time that Brother Lion was not right up
+here." Mr. Rabbit tapped his forehead significantly. "In a cage! Now,
+that pesters me. Why, he used to go roaring and romping about the
+country, scaring them that didn't know him mighty nigh to death. And
+so Brother Lion is in a cage? But I might have known it. I wonder how
+the rest of the family are getting on? Not that they are any kin to
+me, for they are not. I called him Brother Lion just to be neighborly.
+Oh, no! He and his family are no kin to me. They are too heavy in both
+head and feet for that."
+
+Mr. Rabbit closed his eyes as if reflecting, and patted the ground
+softly with his foot.
+
+"Well, well! I remember just as well as if it were yesterday the day
+I told Brother Lion that if he wasn't careful, Mr. Man would catch him
+and put him in a cage for his children to look at. But he just hooted
+at it--and now, sure enough, there he is! I mind the first time he
+began his pursuit of Mr. Man. That was the time he got his hand caught
+in the split of the log."
+
+"I done hear my daddy tell dat tale," remarked Drusilla.
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Rabbit, "it soon became common talk in the
+neighborhood. Brother Lion had come a long way to hunt Mr. Man, and as
+soon as he got his hand out of the split in the log he started to go
+home again. I went part of the way with him, and then it was that I
+told him he'd find himself in a cage if he wasn't careful. I made a
+burdock poultice for his hand the best I could--"
+
+"And it's mighty good for bruises, I tell you now!" exclaimed Mrs.
+Meadows.
+
+"And then Brother Lion went on home, feeling better, but still very
+mad. Crippled as he was, he was a quick traveler, and it was not long
+before he came to his journey's end.
+
+[Illustration: MR. RABBIT BANDAGING BROTHER LION'S PAW]
+
+"Well, when his mother saw him she was very sorry. But when he told
+her what the matter was she was vexed. 'Aha!' said she, 'how often
+have I told you about meddling with somebody else's business! How
+often have I told you about sticking your nose into things that don't
+concern you! I'm not sorry for you one bit, because if you had obeyed
+me you wouldn't be coming home now with your hand mashed all to
+flinders. But, no! daddy-like, you've got to go and get yourself into
+trouble with Mr. Man, and now you see what has come of it. I'm not
+feeling at all well myself, but now I've got to go to work and make a
+whole parcel of poultices and tie your hand up and nurse you--and I
+declare somebody ought to be nursing me this very minute.'
+
+"That was what Brother Lion's mother said," continued Mr. Rabbit, "but
+Brother Lion didn't say anything. He just lay on the sheepskin pallet
+she made him and studied how he would be revenged on Mr. Man. After a
+while his hand got well, but still he said very little about the
+matter. The more he thought about the way he had been treated, the
+madder he got. He gnashed his teeth together and waved his long tail
+about until it looked like a snake. Finally he sent word to all his
+kin--his uncles and his cousins--to meet him somewhere in the woods
+and hold a convention to consider how they should catch the great
+monster, Mr. Man, who had caused a log of wood to mash Brother Lion's
+hand.
+
+"Well, it wasn't long before the uncles and cousins began to arrive.
+They came from far and near, and they seemed to be very ferocious.
+They shook their manes and showed their tushes. They went off in the
+woods and held their convention, and Brother Lion laid his complaint
+before them. He told them what kind of treatment he had received from
+Mr. Man, and asked them if they would help to get his revenge. He made
+quite a speech, and when he sat down, his uncles and cousins were very
+much excited. They roared and howled. They said they were ready to
+tear Mr. Man limb from limb. They declared they were ready to go where
+he was, and gnaw him and claw him on account of the scandalous way he
+had treated their blood-kin.
+
+"But when Brother Lion's mother heard what they proposed to do she
+shut her eyes and shook her head from side to side, and told the
+uncles and the cousins that they had better go back home, all of them.
+She said that before they got through with Mr. Man they'd wish they
+had never been born. But go they would and go they did.
+
+"So they started out soon one morning, and traveled night and day for
+nearly a week. They were getting very tired and hungry, and some of
+the younger blood-cousins wanted to stop and rest, and some wanted to
+turn around and go back home. But one morning while they were going
+through the woods, feeling a little shaky in head and limb, they
+suddenly came in sight of Mr. Man. He was cutting down trees and
+splitting them into timber. He had his coat off, and seemed to be very
+busy.
+
+"But he was not so busy that he didn't hear Mr. Lion and his uncles
+and blood-cousins sneaking through the woods over the dry leaves, and
+he wasn't so busy that he couldn't see them moving about among the
+trees. He was very much astonished. He wondered where so many of the
+Lion family came from, and what they were doing there, but he didn't
+stop to ask any questions. He dropped his axe and climbed a tree.
+
+"Brother Lion and his uncles and his blood-cousins were very much
+pleased when they saw Mr. Man climb the tree. 'We have him now,' said
+Brother Lion, and the rest licked their jaws and smiled. Then they
+gathered around the tree and sat on their haunches and watched Mr.
+Man. This didn't do any good, for Mr. Man sat on a limb and swung his
+legs, just as contentedly as if he was sitting in his rocking-chair at
+home.
+
+"Then Brother Lion and his uncles and his blood-cousins showed their
+teeth and growled. But this didn't do any good. Mr. Man swung his feet
+and whistled a dance-tune. Then Brother Lion and his blood-cousins
+opened their mouths wide and roared as loud as they could. But this
+didn't do any good. Mr. Man leaned his head against the trunk of the
+tree and pretended to be nodding.
+
+"This made Brother Lion and his blood-kin very mad. They ran around
+the tree and tore the bark with their claws, and waved their tails
+back and forth. But this didn't do any good. Mr. Man just sat up
+there and swung his feet and laughed at them.
+
+"Brother Lion and his blood-kin soon found that if they intended to
+capture Mr. Man they'd have to do something else besides caper around
+the foot of the tree. So they talked it over, and Brother Lion fixed
+up a plan. He said that he would stand at the foot of the tree and
+rear up against the trunk, and one of his blood-cousins could climb on
+his back and rear up, and then another cousin or uncle could climb up,
+and so on until there was a ladder of bloodthirsty Lions high enough
+to reach Mr. Man.
+
+"Brother Lion, mind you, was to be at the bottom of the Lion ladder,"
+remarked Mr. Rabbit, with a chuckle, "and he had a very good reason
+for it. He had had dealings with Mr. Man, and he wanted to keep as far
+away from him as possible. But before they made the Lion ladder,
+Brother Lion looked up at Mr. Man and called out:--
+
+"'What are you doing up there?'
+
+"'You'll find out a great deal too soon for your comfort,' replied Mr.
+Man.
+
+"Brother Lion said, 'Come down from there.'
+
+"Mr. Man answered, 'I'll come down much sooner than you want me to.'
+
+"Then Brother Lion, his uncles, and his blood-cousins began to build
+their ladder. Brother Lion was the bottom round of this ladder, as you
+may say," continued Mr. Rabbit. "He reared up and placed his hands
+against the tree, and one of his uncles jumped on his shoulders, and
+put his hands against the tree. Then a cousin, and then another uncle,
+and so on until the ladder reached a considerable distance up the
+tree. It was such a high ladder that it began to wobble, and the last
+uncle had hard work to make his way to the top. He climbed up very
+carefully and slowly, for he was not used to this sort of business. He
+was the oldest and the fiercest of the old company, but his knees
+shook under him as he climbed up and felt the ladder shaking and
+wobbling.
+
+"Mr. Man saw that by the time this big Lion got to the top of the
+ladder his teeth and his claws would be too close for comfort, and so
+he called out in an angry tone:--
+
+[Illustration: THE LADDER OF LIONS]
+
+"'Just hold on! Just stand right still! Wait! I'm not after any of you
+except that fellow at the bottom there. I'm not trying to catch any
+of you but him. He has bothered me before. I let him go once, but I'll
+not let him get away this time. Just stand right still and hold him
+there till I climb down the other side of the tree.'
+
+"With that Mr. Man shook the limbs and leaves and dropped some pieces
+of bark. This was more than Brother Lion could stand. He was so
+frightened that he jumped from under the ladder, and his uncles and
+his blood-cousins came tumbling to the ground, howling, growling, and
+fighting.
+
+"They were as sorry-looking a sight as ever you saw when they came to
+their senses. Those that didn't have their bones broken by the fall
+were torn and mangled. They had acted so foolishly that out of the
+whole number, Mr. Man didn't get but three lion-skins that could be
+called perfect.
+
+"Brother Lion went home to his mother as fast as he could go and
+remained quiet a long time. And now you tell me he's in a cage."
+
+Mr. Rabbit paused and shook his head until his ears flopped.
+
+The children seemed to enjoy the story very much; so much so, indeed,
+that Mrs. Meadows wanted Mr. Rabbit to tell some of his own queer
+experiences, but Mr. Rabbit laughed and said that it didn't seem
+exactly right to be telling his own stories. He said if he told the
+stories just as they happened, he'd have to talk about himself a good
+deal, and people would think he was boastful. He declared he didn't
+feel like making his young friends think he was bragging.
+
+"Oh, we shan't mind that," said Sweetest Susan, "shall we, brother?"
+
+"Why, of course not," replied Buster John.
+
+"La! we all done hear folks brag, till we got hardened ter braggin'!"
+exclaimed Drusilla.
+
+So the children, aided by Mrs. Meadows, coaxed Mr. Rabbit until he
+finally consented to tell some of his queer adventures.
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+BROTHER TERRAPIN'S FIDDLE-STRING.
+
+
+Mr. Rabbit moved his body uneasily about, and scratched his head, and
+crossed and uncrossed his legs several times before he began.
+
+"I declare it isn't right!" he exclaimed after a while. "I don't mind
+telling about other folks, but when it comes to talking about myself,
+it is a different thing."
+
+"Don't you remember the time you tried to get Brother Terrapin to give
+you a fiddle-string?" asked Mrs. Meadows, laughing a little.
+
+"Oh, that was just a joke," replied Mr. Rabbit.
+
+"Call it a joke, then," said Mrs. Meadows. "You know what the little
+boy said when the man asked him his name. He said, says he, 'You may
+call it anything, so you call me to dinner.'"
+
+"He wasn't very polite," remarked Sweetest Susan.
+
+"No, indeed," Mrs. Meadows answered; "but you know that little boys
+can't always remember to be polite."
+
+"I think we were at your house," suggested Mr. Rabbit, rubbing his
+chin.
+
+"Yes," replied Mrs. Meadows. "In the little house by the creek. The
+yard sloped from the front door right to the bank."
+
+"To be sure," exclaimed Mr. Rabbit, brightening up. "I remember the
+house just as well as if I had seen it yesterday. There was a little
+shelf on the left-hand side of the door as you came out, and there the
+water-bucket sat."
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Meadows; "and there was just room enough up there by
+the bucket for Brother Terrapin."
+
+"That's so," Mr. Rabbit replied, laughing, "and when he used to go to
+your house to see the girls they'd set the bucket on the table in the
+house and lift Brother Terrapin to the shelf so he could see and be
+seen. I remember it used to make him very mad when I'd tell him he
+would be a mighty man if he wasn't so flat-footed."
+
+"Oh, you used to talk worse than that," cried Mrs. Meadows, laughing
+heartily at the remembrance of it. "You used to tell him he was the
+only man you ever saw that sat down when he stood up. I declare!
+Brother Terrapin's eyes used to get right red."
+
+"Well," said Mr. Rabbit, after a pause; "I remember I went to your
+house one day and I carried my fiddle. When I got there, who should I
+see but old Brother Terrapin sitting up on the shelf. I expected to
+find the girls by themselves, but there was Brother Terrapin. So I
+began to joke him.
+
+"'Howdy, Brother Terrapin?' says I. 'If you had a ladder handy you
+could come downstairs and shake hands, couldn't you?'
+
+"He began to get sullen and sulky at once. He wouldn't hardly make any
+reply. But I didn't care for that. Says I: 'Cross your legs and look
+comfortable, Brother Terrapin; don't be glum in company. I've got my
+fiddle with me, and I'm going to make your bones ache if you don't
+dance.'
+
+"Then I whirled in," said Mr. Rabbit, "and played the liveliest
+tunes I could think of,--'Billy in the Low Grounds,' ''Possum up
+the Gum-Stump,' 'Chicken in the Bread-Tray,' and all those
+hoppery-skippery, jiggery-dancery tunes that make your feet go
+whether or no. But there Brother Terrapin sat, looking as
+unconcerned as if the fiddle had been ten miles away. He didn't even
+keep time to the music with his foot. More than that, he didn't even
+wag his head from side to side."
+
+"I always knew Brother Terrapin had no ear for music," remarked Mrs.
+Meadows. "If that was a fault, he certainly had more than his share of
+it."
+
+"I ought not to talk about people behind their backs," Mr. Rabbit
+continued, trying to shake a fly out of his ear, "but I must say that
+Brother Terrapin was very dull about some things. Well, I played and
+played, and the girls danced and seemed to enjoy it. I believe you
+danced a round or two yourself?" Mr. Rabbit turned to Mrs. Meadows
+inquiringly.
+
+"I expect I shook my foot a little," said Mrs. Meadows with a sigh. "I
+was none too good."
+
+"They danced and danced until they were tired of dancing," Mr. Rabbit
+resumed; "but there sat Brother Terrapin as quiet as if he were
+asleep. Well, I was vexed--I don't mind saying so now--I was
+certainly vexed. But I didn't let on. And between tunes I did my best
+to worry Brother Terrapin.
+
+[Illustration: MR. RABBIT FIDDLING FOR BROTHER TERRAPIN]
+
+"'Ladies,' says I, 'don't make so much fuss. Let Brother Terrapin get
+his nap out. You'll turn a chair over directly, and Brother Terrapin
+will give a jump and fall off the shelf and break some of the
+furniture in his house.' This made the girls laugh very much, for they
+remembered the old saying that Brother Terrapin carries his house on
+his back. 'Don't laugh so loud,' says I, 'Brother Terrapin has earned
+his rest. He's been courting on the other side of the creek, and he
+has no carriage to ride in when he goes back and forth. Sh-h!' says I,
+'don't disturb him. When a person sits down when he stands up, and
+lies down when he walks, some allowance must be made.'
+
+"Brother Terrapin's eyes grew redder and redder, and the skin on the
+back of his head began to work backward and forward. What might have
+happened I don't know, but just as the girls were in the middle of a
+dance one of my fiddle-strings broke, and it was the treble, too. I
+wouldn't have minded it if it had been any of the other strings, but
+when the treble broke I had to stop playing.
+
+"Well, the girls were very much disappointed and so was I, for I had
+come for a frolic. I searched in my pockets, but I had no other
+string. I tried to play with three strings, but the tune wouldn't
+come. The girls were so sorry they didn't know what to do.
+
+"Just then an idea struck me. 'Ladies,' says I, 'it's a thousand
+pities I didn't bring an extra treble, and I'm perfectly willing to go
+home and fetch one, but if Brother Terrapin was a little more
+accommodating the music could go right on. You could be dancing again
+in a little or no time.'
+
+"'Oh, is that so?' says the girls. 'Well, we know Brother Terrapin
+will oblige us.'
+
+"'I'm not so sure of that,' says I.
+
+"'What do you want me to do?' says he. His voice sounded as if he had
+the croup.
+
+"'Ladies,' says I, 'you may believe it or not, but if Brother Terrapin
+has a mind to he can lend me a treble string that will just fit my
+fiddle.'
+
+"'Brother Rabbit,' says he, 'you know I have no fiddle-string. What
+would I be doing with one?'
+
+"'Don't mind him, ladies. He knows just as well as I do that he has a
+fiddle-string in his neck. I can take my pocket-knife and get it out
+in half a minute,' says I.
+
+"This made Brother Terrapin roll his eyes.
+
+"'Be ashamed of yourself, Brother Terrapin,' says the girls. 'And we
+were having so much fun, too.'
+
+"'If my neck was as long and as tough as Brother Terrapin's, I'd take
+one of the leaders out and make a fiddle-string of it, just to oblige
+the ladies,' says I.
+
+"The girls turned up their noses and tossed their heads. 'Don't pester
+Brother Terrapin,' says they. 'We'll not ask him any more.'
+
+"'Ladies,' says I, 'there is a way to get the fiddle-string without
+asking for it. Will you please hand me a case-knife out of the
+cupboard there?'
+
+"I rose from my chair with a sort of a frown," continued Mr. Rabbit,
+laughing heartily, "but before I could lift my hand Brother Terrapin
+rolled from the shelf and went tumbling down the slope to the creek,
+heels over head."
+
+"Did it hurt him much?" asked Sweetest Susan, with a touch of
+sympathy.
+
+"It didn't stop his tongue," replied Mr. Rabbit. "He crawled out on
+the other side of the creek and said very bad words. He even went so
+far as to call me out of my name. But it is all over with now," said
+Mr. Rabbit, with a sigh. "I bear no grudges. Let bygones be bygones."
+
+"I never heard before that Brother Terrapin had a fiddle-string in his
+neck," said Buster John, after he had thought the matter over a
+little.
+
+"In dem times," said Drusilla, as if to satisfy her own mind, "you
+couldn't tell what nobody had skacely."
+
+"Why, as to that," replied Mr. Rabbit, "the fiddle-string in his neck
+was news to Brother Terrapin."
+
+There was a pause here and the children seemed to be somewhat
+listless.
+
+"I'll tell you what I think," remarked Mrs. Meadows to Mr. Rabbit;
+"these children here are lonesome, and they'll be getting homesick
+long before the time comes for them to go. Oh, don't tell me!" she
+cried, when the children would have protested. "I know how I'd feel if
+I was away from home in a strange country and had nobody but queer
+people to talk to. We are too old. Even Chickamy Crany Crow and
+Tickle-My-Toes are too old, and Mr. Thimblefinger is too little."
+
+[Illustration: BROTHER TERRAPIN TUMBLING INTO THE CREEK]
+
+"Well, what are we going to do about it?" asked Mr. Rabbit, running
+his thumb in the bowl of his pipe.
+
+"I was just thinking," responded Mrs. Meadows. "Hadn't we better bring
+out the Looking-Glass family?"
+
+"Well," said Mr. Rabbit, "I leave that to you." To hide the smile that
+gathered around his mouth Mr. Rabbit leaned his head over and
+scratched his left ear lazily with his left foot.
+
+"That's what I'll do," Mrs. Meadows declared decisively. "These
+children want company they can appreciate, poor things!"
+
+She went into the house, and presently came out again, bringing a
+mirror about three feet wide and five feet high.
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+THE LOOKING-GLASS CHILDREN.
+
+
+The frame of the mirror was of dark wood, curiously carved, and it was
+set on pivots between two small but stout upright posts, made of the
+same kind of wood. As Mrs. Meadows brought the looking-glass out, it
+swung back and forth between these posts, and its polished surface
+shone with great brilliancy. The children wondered how they were to
+amuse themselves with this queer toy. Mrs. Meadows placed the
+looking-glass a little way from them, but not facing them. The frame
+was in profile, so that they could see neither the face nor the back
+of the mirror.
+
+"You come first," she said to Buster John.
+
+He went forward, and Mrs. Meadows placed him in front of the
+looking-glass. As he turned to face it, his reflection (as it seemed)
+stepped from the mirror and stared at him. Buster John looked at Mrs.
+Meadows for an explanation, but at that moment she beckoned to
+Sweetest Susan. When Buster John moved, his image moved. Mrs.
+Meadows pushed him gently aside to make room for Sweetest Susan, and
+it seemed that some invisible hand pushed his reflection gently aside.
+
+[Illustration: SWEETEST SUSAN MEETING HER REFLECTION]
+
+Sweetest Susan stepped before the looking-glass, and her reflection
+walked out to meet her. Drusilla now came forward, and her image
+stepped forth, looking somewhat scared and showing the whites of its
+eyes. Mrs. Meadows went to the looking-glass, gave it a sudden turn on
+its pivots, and carried it into the house.
+
+All this happened so rapidly that the children hardly had time to be
+surprised, but now that the looking-glass had been carried away and
+they were left with their reflections, their shadows, their images (or
+whatever it was), they didn't know what to do, or say, or think. They
+could only look at each other in dumb astonishment. Drusilla was the
+first to break the silence. In her surprise she had moved quickly back
+a few steps, and her image, which had come out of the looking-glass,
+had as quickly moved forward and toward her a few steps.
+
+"Don't come follerin' atter me!" she cried excitedly. "Kaze ef you
+do, you'll sho' git hurted. I ain't done nothin' 't all ter you. I
+ain't gwine ter pester you, an' I ain't gwine ter let you pester me. I
+tell you dat now, so you'll know what ter 'pen' on."
+
+"Don't move! Please don't move!" cried Sweetest Susan to Buster John.
+"If you do I can't tell you apart. I won't know which is which. That
+wouldn't be treating me right nor Mamma, either."
+
+Naturally, the children were in a great predicament when Mrs. Meadows
+came back. She saw the trouble at once, and began to laugh. It was
+funny to see Buster John and Sweetest Susan and Drusilla standing
+there staring first at the Looking-Glass children and then at
+themselves, not daring to move for fear they would get mixed up with
+their doubles. The Looking-Glass children stared likewise, first at
+themselves and then at the others.
+
+"What is the matter?" Mrs. Meadows asked. "Why don't you go and play
+with one another and make friends? It isn't many folks that have the
+chance you children have got."
+
+"I don't feel like playing," said Sweetest Susan. "I'm afraid we'll
+get mixed up so that nobody will know one from the other."
+
+"Why, there's all the difference in the world," exclaimed Mrs.
+Meadows, trying hard not to laugh. "The Looking-Glass children are all
+left-handed. You have a flower on the left side of your hat, the other
+Susan has a flower on the right side of hers. Your brother there has
+buttons on the right side of his coat; the other John has buttons on
+the left side. There is a flaw in the looking-glass, and Drusilla,
+being a little taller than you two, was just tall enough for the end
+of her nose to be even with the flaw. That's the reason the other
+Drusilla's nose looks like it had been mashed with a hammer."
+
+"Yes 'm, it do!" exclaimed Drusilla. She involuntarily took a step
+forward to take a nearer view of the flawed nose, and of course the
+other Drusilla took a step forward as if to show the flawed nose.
+"Don't you dast ter come 'bout me!" exclaimed Drusilla. "Goodness
+knows, I don't look dat away. Go on, now! Go 'ten' ter yo' own
+business ef you got any."
+
+"I don't want to play with you," said the other Drusilla. "You've got
+smut on your face. I don't like to play with dirty-faced girls."
+
+"My face cleaner'n yone dis blessed minnit," retorted Drusilla.
+
+"And your hair is not combed," said the other Drusilla. "It is wrapped
+with strings, and you couldn't comb it if you wanted to. I think it is
+a shame."
+
+"Look at yo' own head!" retorted Drusilla angrily. "It's mo' woolly
+dan what mine is. 'T ain't never been kyarded much less combed. An'
+who got any mo' strings roun' der hair dan you got on yone?"
+
+"How could I help it?" the other Drusilla asked. "You came and looked
+at me in the glass and I had to be just like you, smutty face and all.
+I don't think it is right. I know I never looked like this before, and
+I hope I never shall again."
+
+"Tut, tut!" said Mrs. Meadows; "don't get to mooning around here. You
+might look better, but you don't look so bad. It will all come right
+on wash-day, as the woman said when she put her dress on wrong side
+outwards. Here comes Chickamy Crany Crow and Tickle-My-Toes. They'll
+be glad to see you, no matter how you look."
+
+And they were. They ran to the Looking-Glass children and greeted
+them warmly. Tickle-My-Toes stared at the other Drusilla in surprise,
+but he didn't laugh at her. "You look as if you had fallen down the
+chimney," he said, "but that doesn't make any difference. So long as
+you are here, we are satisfied."
+
+"Oh, I don't mind it," said the other Drusilla.
+
+"Now, then," remarked Mrs. Meadows, "you couldn't please us better
+than to sing us a song. You haven't practiced together for a long
+time."
+
+The other children looked at one another in a shamefaced way, and
+then, without a word of objection or explanation, they began to sing
+as with one voice, the most plaintive song that ever was heard. It may
+be called:--
+
+
+THE LOOKING-GLASS SONG.
+
+    It's oh! and it's ah! It's alack! and alas!
+    Just imagine you lived in a big looking-glass!
+
+    Oh, what could you say and what could you do
+    If you lived all alone in the toe of a shoe?
+    You could hop, you could skip, you could jump, you could dance,
+    And you'd hear very little of "shouldn'ts" and "shan'ts."
+    You could stump your big toe, and it would never get hurt;
+    You could kick up the sand, you could play in the dirt.
+
+    But it's oh! and it's ah! It's alack! and alas!
+    Just imagine you lived in a big looking-glass!
+
+    Oh, what could you do, and what would you say
+    If you lived in the pantry all night and all day?
+    You could say it was jolly, and splendid, and nice;
+    You could eat all the jelly, and frighten the mice.
+    You could taste the preserves, you could nibble the cheese--
+    You could smell the red pepper, and sit down and sneeze.
+
+    But it's oh! and it's ah! It's alack! and alas!
+    Just imagine you lived in a big looking-glass!
+
+    Oh, what could you do if you lived under ground?
+    You could ride Mr. Mole and go galloping round;
+    You could hear the black cricket a-playing his fife,
+    For to quiet the baby and please his dear wife.
+    You could hear the green grasshopper frying his meat,
+    Near the nest of the June-Bug under the wheat.
+    You could get all the goobers and artichokes, too--
+    You could peep from the window the grub-worm went through.
+
+    But it's oh! and it's ah! It's alack! and alas!
+    Just imagine you lived in a big looking-glass!
+
+"Oh, I think that is splendid," cried Sweetest Susan.
+
+"Mr. Rabbit doesn't like it much," replied Mrs. Meadows, "but I tell
+him it is pretty good for children that were raised in a
+Looking-Glass."
+
+"It will do very well," remarked Mr. Rabbit, "but you'll hear nicer
+songs by the time you are as old as I am."
+
+"Dem ar white chillun done mighty well," said Drusilla, "but I don't
+like de way dat ar nigger gal hilt her head."
+
+"Do they have to stay in the looking-glass?" asked Buster John. "If
+they do I'm sorry for them."
+
+"I ain't sorry fer dat black gal," said Drusilla spitefully. "She too
+ugly ter suit me."
+
+"Whose fault is it but yours?" cried Chickamy Crany Crow.
+
+"Yes, whose fault is it?" cried Tickle-My-Toes.
+
+"Come, come!" cries Mrs. Meadows. "We want no trouble here."
+
+"We'll not trouble her," answered Tickle-My-Toes. "Old
+Rawhead-and-Bloody-Bones will do the troubling."
+
+"Now you all heah dat!" exclaimed Drusilla, in some alarm. "I ain't
+pesterin' nobody, an' I ain't doin' nothin' 't all. Ef I can't talk I
+des ez well quit livin'. I'm gwine home, I am, an' ef I can't fin' de
+way, den I'll know who'll have ter answer fer it."
+
+"Well, if you go," said Mrs. Meadows, "you'll have company. The other
+black girl will have to go too."
+
+"How come dat?" exclaimed Drusilla.
+
+"It would take me too long to tell you," replied Mrs. Meadows. "Why
+does your shadow in a looking-glass make every motion that you make?
+Because it's obliged to--that's all. That's just the reason the other
+black girl would follow you."
+
+"Don't mind Drusilla," said Buster John. "She just talks to hear
+herself talk. Her mouth flies open before she knows it."
+
+"Well, the poor things won't trouble you long," said Mrs. Meadows.
+"They'll want to go back home presently."
+
+"Do they have to stay in the looking-glass?" inquired Buster John,
+repeating a question he had already asked.
+
+"Well, they were born and raised there," replied Mrs. Meadows. "It is
+their home, and, although they are glad to get out for a little while,
+they wouldn't be very happy if they had to stay out."
+
+[Illustration: THEY ALL PLUNGED INTO THE LOOKING-GLASS]
+
+The children and the Looking-Glass children played together a little
+while, or made believe to play, but they didn't seem to enjoy
+themselves. Mrs. Meadows noticed this and asked Mr. Rabbit the reason.
+
+"Simple enough, simple enough," Mr. Rabbit answered. "They are so much
+alike in their looks and ways and so different in their raising that
+they can't get on together. How would I feel if my double were to walk
+out of the side of the house and sit here facing me and mimicking my
+every motion? I wouldn't feel very comfortable, I can tell you."
+
+"I reckon not," said Mrs. Meadows. Presently she called the children,
+brought out the looking-glass and told them it was time to bid the
+others good-by. At this the other children seemed to be very well
+pleased. The other Buster John and the other Sweetest Susan shook
+hands all round, and the other Drusilla made a curtsey to the company.
+Then, with a run and a jump, they plunged into the big looking-glass
+as you have seen youngsters plunge into a pond of water.
+
+"Ho!" cried Mr. Thimblefinger, "they jumped in with a splash, but they
+never made a ripple."
+
+"They haven't room enough in there to turn around," said Sweetest
+Susan.
+
+"Why not?" inquired Mr. Thimblefinger. "To them the world is a
+looking-glass, and a mighty little one at that. If you were to peep in
+their glass now they'd peep back at you; but, as they look at it, you
+are in a looking-glass and they are out of it. And I wouldn't be
+surprised if they are a great deal sorrier for you than you are for
+them."
+
+"When are we to go home?" asked Sweetest Susan plaintively.
+
+"Oho! you want to get back into your looking-glass!" cried Mr.
+Thimblefinger merrily. "Well, you won't have long to wait. By rights,
+you ought to stay here twelve hours, but the old Spring Lizard and I
+have put our heads together, and we've fixed it so that you can get
+back before sundown."
+
+"Isn't it night at home now?" inquired Buster John.
+
+"Why, they are hardly through washing the dinner dishes," replied Mrs.
+Meadows.
+
+"It is just half past two," said Mr. Thimblefinger, looking at his
+watch.
+
+"Well, it look so dark all dis time dat I done got hungry fer supper,"
+remarked Drusilla.
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+MR. RABBIT AS A RAIN-MAKER.
+
+
+"I hope it won't rain," said Sweetest Susan, "for then the spring
+would fill up so we couldn't get out, and we should get wet down
+here."
+
+"Oh, no," replied Mr. Thimblefinger, "the water is never wet down
+here. It is a little damp, that's all."
+
+"Well, that's enough, I'm sure," remarked Mr. Rabbit. "It's enough to
+give me the wheezes when I first get up in the morning, and it's not
+at all comfortable, I can tell you."
+
+"There is one funny thing about springs," said Mrs. Meadows, "no
+matter how much it rains, they never get any fuller. They may run a
+little freer, but they never get any fuller. Speaking of rains," she
+continued, turning to Mr. Rabbit and laughing, "don't you remember the
+time you set yourself up as a rain-maker?"
+
+Mr. Rabbit chuckled so that he bent nearly double.
+
+"I don't remember that," sighed Mr. Thimblefinger. "You two have more
+jokes between you than you can shake a stick at. That comes of me
+being small and puny. Tell us about it, please."
+
+Mr. Rabbit fingered his pipe--a way he had when he put on his
+thinking-cap, as Mrs. Meadows expressed it--and presently said:--
+
+"It's not such a joke after all, but I'll let you judge for yourself.
+Once upon a time, when all of us lived next door, on the other side of
+the spring, there was a tremendous drouth. I had been living a long
+time, but never before had seen such a long dry spell. Everybody was
+farming except myself, and even I had planted a small garden.
+
+"Well, there was a big rain about planting-time, but after that came
+the drouth, and the hot weather with it. One month, six weeks, two
+months, ten weeks--and still no sign of rain. The cotton was all
+shriveled up, and the corn looked as if it would catch a-fire, it was
+so dry; even the cow-peas turned yellow. Everything was parched. The
+creeks ran dry, and the rivers got so low the mills had to stop. I
+remember that when Brother Bear tried to carry me across the ferry
+his flatboat ran aground in the middle of the river, and the water was
+so low we found we could wade out.
+
+"The drouth got so bad that everybody was complaining--everybody
+except me. Brother Wolf and Brother Bear would come and sit on my
+front porch and do nothing but complain; but I said nothing. I simply
+smoked my pipe and shook my head, and said nothing. They noticed this,
+after so long a time, and one day, while they were sitting there
+complaining and declaring that they were ruined, I went in to get a
+drink of water. I came back gently and heard them asking each other
+how it was that I didn't join in their complaints. When I came out,
+Brother Wolf says, says he: 'Brother Rabbit, how are your craps?' I
+remember he said 'craps.'
+
+"'Well,' says I, 'my craps are middling good. They might be better,
+and they might be worse, but I have no cause to grumble.'
+
+"They looked at each other, and then Brother Bear asked if I had had
+any rain at my house. 'None,' says I, 'to brag about--a drizzle here
+and a drizzle there, but nothing to boast of.'
+
+"They looked at each other in great surprise, and then Brother Wolf
+spoke up. 'Brother Rabbit,' says he, 'how can you get a drizzle and
+the rest of us not a drop?'
+
+"'Well,' says I, 'some folks that know me call me the rain-maker. They
+may be right. They may be wrong. I'm not going to squabble about it.
+You can call me what you please. I shall not dispute with you.'
+
+"Presently they went away, but it wasn't long before they came back,
+bringing with them all the neighbors for miles around. They gathered
+in the porch and in the yard and outside the gate, and begged me, if I
+was a rain-maker, to make it rain there and then to save their crops.
+They begged me and begged me, but I sat cross-legged and smoked my
+pipe--this same pipe you see here. Brother Fox, who had done me many a
+mean trick (though he was always well paid for it), got on his knees
+and begged me to make it rain for them.
+
+"Finally I told them that I'd make it rain for the whole settlement on
+two conditions. The first condition was that every one was to pay
+toll."
+
+[Illustration: MR. RABBIT SAYING NOTHING]
+
+"Toll is the pay the miller takes out at the mill," remarked Buster
+John.
+
+"Yes," replied Mr. Rabbit, "you take your turn of meal to the mill and
+the miller takes his payment out of the meal. Well, I told them they'd
+have to pay toll. They agreed to that, and then asked what else they'd
+have to do, but I said we'd attend to one thing at a time. First let
+the toll be paid.
+
+"They went off, and in due time they came back. Some brought corn and
+some brought meal; some brought wheat and some brought flour; some
+brought milk and some brought butter; some brought honey in the clean,
+and some brought honey in the comb; some brought one thing and some
+brought another, but they all brought something.
+
+"Then they gathered around and asked what else they had to do. 'Well,'
+says I, 'you certainly act as if you wanted rain--all of you--there's
+no disputing that. You have paid the toll according to agreement. You
+have surely earned the rain, and now there's nothing for me to do but
+to find out how much rain you want.'
+
+"With that they all began to talk at once, especially Brother Bear,
+who lived in the upland district, where the drouth had been the worst,
+but I put an end to that at once.
+
+"'Hold on there!' says I, 'just wait! Don't get into any dispute
+around here. You are on my grounds and at my house. Let's have no
+squabbling. I'm not feeling so mighty well, anyhow, and the least fuss
+will be enough to upset me. But the world is wide. Just go on yonder
+hill and fix up the whole matter to suit yourselves. Just come to some
+agreement as to how much rain you want, and as soon as you agree send
+me word, and then go home and hoist your parasols, for there'll surely
+be a sprinkle.'
+
+"Well," Mr. Rabbit continued, "this was such a sensible plan that they
+couldn't help but agree to it, and presently they all went to the hill
+and began to talk the matter over, while I went into the house.
+
+"This was in the morning. Well, dinner-time came, but still no word
+had come from the convention on the hill. I went out into the porch,
+flung my red handkerchief over my face to keep the flies off, and took
+my afternoon nap, but still no word came from the hill. Then I fell
+to laughing, and laughed until I nearly choked myself."
+
+"But what were you laughing at?" Buster John inquired, with a serious
+air.
+
+Mr. Rabbit paused, looked at the youngster solemnly, and said, "Well,
+I'll tell you. I didn't laugh because anybody had hurt my feelings. I
+just laughed at circumstances. I sat and waited until the afternoon
+was half gone, and then slipped up the hill to see what was to be seen
+and hear what was to be heard. Everything was very quiet up there.
+Those who had gone up there to decide what sort of rain they wanted
+were sitting; around under the pine-trees, looking very sour and
+saying nothing. The ground was torn up a little in spots, and I
+thought I could see scattered around little patches of hair and little
+pieces of hide. I judged from that that the arguments they had used
+were very serious. I watched them from behind the bushes a little
+while, and then Brother Bear walked out into the open and declared
+that any one who didn't want the rain to be a trash-mover was anything
+but a nice fellow. At this Brother Coon, who lived in the low
+grounds, remarked that anybody who wanted anything more than a drizzle
+was not well raised at all.
+
+"Then I soon found out what the trouble was. Brother Bear, living on
+the uplands, wanted a big rain; Brother Coon, who lived in the low
+grounds, wanted a little rain; Brother Fox wanted a tolerably heavy
+shower; and Brother Mink just wanted a cloudy night to coax the frogs
+out. Some wanted a freshet, some wanted a drizzle, and some wanted a
+fog.
+
+"They wouldn't agree because they couldn't agree," continued Brother
+Rabbit, "and finally they slunk off to their homes one at a time. So I
+didn't have to make any rain at all."
+
+"But you couldn't have made it rain," said Sweetest Susan placidly.
+
+"I didn't say I could," replied Mr. Rabbit. "I told them I would make
+the rain if they would agree among themselves."
+
+"But you took what they brought you?" suggested Sweetest Susan in a
+tone that was intended for a rebuke.
+
+[Illustration: BROTHER BEAR ARGUING THE RAIN QUESTION]
+
+"Well," Mr. Rabbit answered, "you know what the old saying is--'Fools
+have to pay for their folly.' They might as well have paid me as to
+pay somebody else. That's the way I looked at it in those days. I
+don't know how I'd look at it now, because I'm not so nimble footed as
+I used to be, nor so full of mischief."
+
+"If there had been many more such fools in your neighborhood,"
+remarked Mr. Thimblefinger, "you could have set up a grocery-store."
+
+There was a little pause, and then Mrs. Meadows, looking around,
+exclaimed:--
+
+"Just look yonder, will you?"
+
+Chickamy Crany Crow had two sticks, and with these she was playing on
+an imaginary fiddle. Tickle-My-Toes had the broom, and this, he
+pretended, was a banjo.
+
+The two queer-looking creatures wagged their heads from side to side
+and patted the ground with their feet, just as though they were making
+sure-enough music, and presently Tickle-My-Toes sang this song to a
+very lively tune:--
+
+
+OH, LULLYMALOO!
+
+    I'll up and I'll grin if you tickle my chin,
+      And I'll sneeze if you tickle my nose;
+    I'll up and I'll cry if you tickle my eye--
+      But I'll squeal if you tickle my toes!
+
+    Oh, grin with your chinnery in,
+      And sneeze with your nosery oze,
+    And cry with your wipery eye,
+      But please don't tickle my toes!
+
+    I'll grin and I'll sneeze, I'll cry and I'll squeal,
+      And scare you with _ouches!_ and _ohs!_
+    You may tickle my head, you may tickle my heel,
+      But please don't tickle my toes!
+
+    Oh, grin with your innery chin,
+      And sneeze with your ozery nose,
+    And cry with your wipery eye,
+      But please don't tickle my toes!
+
+    I'll grin, _tee-hee!_ and I'll cry, _boo-hoo!_
+      And I'll sneeze, _icky chow! icky-chose!_
+    And I'll squeal just as loud, _Oh, Lullymaloo!_
+      Whenever you tickle my toes!
+
+Buster John, Sweetest Susan, and Drusilla laughed so heartily at this
+that Chickamy Crany Crow and Tickle-My-Toes didn't wait to repeat the
+chorus of the song, but ran away, pretending to be very much
+frightened. This made the children laugh still more, and for the first
+time they felt thoroughly at home in Mr. Thimblefinger's queer
+country.
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+HOW BROTHER BEAR'S HAIR WAS COMBED.
+
+
+While Buster John, Sweetest Susan, and Drusilla were watching Chickamy
+Crany Crow and Tickle-My-Toes run away, and laughing at them, suddenly
+the sky in Mr. Thimblefinger's queer country grew brighter. The dark
+shadow of the buttermilk-jug had disappeared, and there were wavering
+lines of white light flashing across, as though the sun were trying to
+shine through. Along with these flashing lines there were wavering
+lines of shadow that rippled and danced about curiously. There seemed
+to be some tremendous commotion going on. If some person with the
+learning and wisdom of an astronomer had seen this wonderful display,
+he would have been overcome with awe and fear. He would have concluded
+that the sky was about to go to pieces, and ten to one he would have
+left his unreflecting telescope swinging in the air, and crawled under
+the bed.
+
+But there was no astronomer in Mr. Thimblefinger's queer country, and
+the children had seen too many strange sights to be very much alarmed.
+Besides, Drusilla solved the mystery before they had time to gather
+their fears together.
+
+"Shuh!" she exclaimed; "'t ain't nothin' 't all. When dey tuck de jug
+outin' de spring de water 'bleedge to be shuck up."
+
+And it was true. The rippling and wavering in the sky of Mr.
+Thimblefinger's queer country were caused by lifting the
+buttermilk-jug from the spring. As soon as the commotion ceased, it
+was seen that across the sky, from horizon to horizon, dark lines and
+shadows extended. They were irregular, and branched out here and there
+in every direction. Drusilla gazed at them for some moments without
+venturing to explain them. Suddenly a shadow that seemed to have life
+and motion made its appearance, and darted about among the dark lines.
+Drusilla laughed.
+
+"La! Hit's dat dead lim' ober de spring, an' dere's a jay-bird hoppin'
+about in it right now. Ain't I done heah yo' pa say dat lim' 'll
+hafter be cut off 'fo' it fall an' break somebody's head?"
+
+"Well, well! She ain't so bad off up here as I thought she was," said
+Mr. Thimblefinger, tapping his forehead significantly.
+
+"Ain't I done tell you dat dey's mo' in my head dan what you kin comb
+out?" exclaimed Drusilla indignantly.
+
+"Speaking of combing and things of that sort," remarked Mr. Rabbit,
+turning to Mrs. Meadows, "did I ever tell you how Brother Bear learned
+to comb his hair?"
+
+Mrs. Meadows reflected a moment, or pretended to reflect. "Now, I'm
+not right certain about that. Maybe you have and maybe you haven't; I
+don't remember. How did you teach Brother Bear to keep his hair
+roached and parted? Mostly when I used to know him, he went about
+looking mighty ragged and shabby."
+
+Mr. Rabbit chuckled for several moments and then said: "Well, in my
+courting-days, you know, I used to go around fixed up in style. Many
+and many a time I've heard the girls whisper to one another and say,
+'Oh, my! Ain't Mr. Rabbit looking spruce to-day?' There was one season
+in particular that I was careful to primp up and look sassy. I put
+bergamot oil on my hair, and kept it brushed so slick that a fly
+would slip up and cripple himself if he lit on it.
+
+"It so happened that my road took me by Brother Bear's house every
+day--right by the front gate. Sometimes Mrs. Bear would be hanging out
+clothes on the fence, sometimes she would be sweeping off the front
+porch, and sometimes she would be working in the garden; but no matter
+what she was doing I'd cough and catch her eye, and then I'd bow just
+as polite as you please."
+
+"What were you doing all that for?" asked Buster John.
+
+"Well, I'll tell you," Mr. Rabbit replied. "I had a grudge against
+Brother Bear, and I wanted to work a little scheme. Along at first I
+just went on by the back of Brother Bear's house, and around through
+the woods home, but in a few days I'd pass by the house and then get
+over the fence and creep back to hear what Mrs. Bear had to say. One
+morning I heard her talking. She was out in the yard fixing to do her
+week's washing while Brother Bear was in the house dozing. I could
+hear what Mrs. Bear said, but I was too far off to hear what answer
+Brother Bear made.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. BEAR HANGING OUT CLOTHES]
+
+"Mrs. Bear says, says she: 'Honey, you ain't asleep, are you?
+Brother Rabbit has just gone along by the gate dressed to kill.' A
+grumbling sound came from the house. Mrs. Bear says, says she, 'I
+wonder where he goes every day, with his hair combed so slick?'
+Grumble in the house. 'You'd better wish you looked half as nice,'
+says Mrs. Bear. Grumble in the house. 'Well, I don't care if he is a
+grand rascal, he looks nice and clean, and that's more than anybody
+can say about you,' says Mrs. Bear. Growl in the house. Mrs. Bear
+says, says she, 'Oh, you can rip and rear, but Brother Rabbit goes
+about with his head combed, and he looks lots better that way than
+them that go about with rat nests in their hair--lots better.'"
+
+Here Brother Rabbit chuckled again. "I thought to myself, thinks I,
+that I'd better be getting on toward home, and so I crept back up the
+fence and went on my way.
+
+"The next day as I was going along the road, who should I meet but old
+Brother Bear himself. Well, here's a row, thinks I, but it didn't turn
+out so. Brother Bear was just as polite to me as I had been to his old
+woman.
+
+"We passed the time of day and talked about the crops a little while,
+but I could see that Brother Bear had something serious on his mind.
+Finally, he shuffled around and sat down on a stump beside the
+roadside.
+
+"'Brother Rabbit,' he says, says he, 'how in the world do you manage
+to keep your hair so slick and smooth all the time? My old woman sees
+you passing by every day, and she's been worrying the life out of me
+because I don't keep my hair combed that way. So I said to myself I'd
+ask you the very next time I met you.'
+
+"Brother Bear was looking pretty rough and tough, and so I says, says
+I, 'You look as if she had been tousling you about it.'
+
+"He hung his head at this, and shuffled around and changed his seat.
+Says he: 'No, it's not so bad as all that, but I want to ask you plump
+and plain, if it's a fair question, how you comb your hair so it will
+stay nice?'
+
+"I looked at him and shook my head. Says I, 'Brother Bear, I don't
+comb my hair.'
+
+"He was so much surprised that he opened his mouth, and his tongue
+hung out on one side--a big, red tongue that had known the taste of
+innocent blood."
+
+"That's the truth!" exclaimed Mrs. Meadows.
+
+Sweetest Susan shuddered.
+
+"Says he, 'Brother Rabbit, if you don't comb your hair, how in the
+wide world do you keep it so smooth?'"
+
+"Says I, 'Easy enough. Every morning my old woman takes the axe and
+chops my head off--'"
+
+"Oh!" cried Sweetest Susan.
+
+"'Takes the axe and chops off my head,'" Mr. Rabbit continued, as
+solemn as a judge, "'and carries it out in the yard, where she can
+have light to see and room to work, and then she combs it and combs it
+until every kink comes straight and every hair is in its place. Then
+she brings my head back, puts it where it belongs, and there it
+is--all combed.'
+
+"Brother Bear seemed to be very much astonished. Says he, 'Doesn't it
+hurt, Brother Rabbit?'
+
+"Says I, 'Hurt who? I'm no chicken.'
+
+"Says he, 'Doesn't it bleed?'
+
+"Says I, 'No more than enough to make my appetite good.'"
+
+Mr. Rabbit paused and looked up at the ripples of light and shade that
+were chasing each other across the sky in Mr. Thimblefinger's queer
+country. Then he looked at the children.
+
+"The upshot of it was," he continued, "that Brother Bear went home and
+told Mrs. Bear how I had my head combed every day. Woman-like, she
+wanted to try it at once; so Brother Bear laid his head on a log of
+wood, and Mrs. Bear got the axe and raised it high in the air. Brother
+Bear had just time to squall out, 'Cut it off easy, old woman!' when
+the axe fell on his neck, and there he was!"
+
+"Oh, did it kill him?" cried Sweetest Susan.
+
+"That's what the neighbors said," replied Mr. Rabbit placidly.
+
+Sweetest Susan didn't seem to be at all pleased. Seeing this, Mrs.
+Meadows exclaimed:--
+
+"To think of the poor little pigs Brother Bear killed and ate!"
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Rabbit, "and the lambs!"
+
+"Worse than that!" cried Mr. Thimblefinger. "Think of the little
+children he devoured! Think of it!"
+
+"I'm glad he had his head cut off," said Buster John heartily.
+
+"Me too, honey," assented Drusilla.
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+A SINGING-MATCH.
+
+
+After telling how Brother Bear learned to comb his hair, Mr. Rabbit
+closed his eyes and seemed to be about to fall into a doze, as old
+people have been known to do. During the pause that followed, Sweetest
+Susan saw what appeared to be a bird of peculiar shape sailing around
+in the sky of Mr. Thimblefinger's queer country.
+
+It was long of body and seemed to have no wings, and yet it sailed
+about overhead as majestically and easily as an eagle could have done.
+
+"What sort of a bird is it?" inquired Sweetest Susan, pointing out the
+object to Mrs. Meadows.
+
+"Now, really, I don't know," was the reply. "They are so high in the
+sky and I've seen them so often that I've never bothered my head about
+them."
+
+Mr. Thimblefinger climbed on the back of a chair, so as to get a
+better view of the curious bird, but he shook his head and climbed
+nimbly down again. The queer bird was too much for Mr. Thimblefinger.
+Mr. Rabbit opened his eyes lazily and looked at it.
+
+"If I'm not much mistaken--" he started to say, but Drusilla broke in
+without any ceremony:--
+
+"'T ain't nothin' 't all, but one er dem ar meller bugs what swims
+roun' in de spring."
+
+"Why, I expect it _is_ a mellow bug," said Mrs. Meadows, laughing. "I
+used to catch them when I was a girl and put them in my handkerchief.
+They smell just like a ripe apple."
+
+"I thought it was a buzzard," said Buster John.
+
+"No," remarked Mr. Rabbit, "I used to be well acquainted with Brother
+Buzzard, and when he's in the air he's longer from side to side than
+he is from end to end. I don't know when I've thought of Brother
+Buzzard before. I never liked him much, but I used to see him sailing
+around on sunshiny days, or sitting in the top of a dead pine drying
+his wings after a heavy rain. He cut a very funny figure sitting up
+there, with his wings spread out and drooping like a sick chicken.
+
+[Illustration: LITTLE MR. THIMBLEFINGER]
+
+"I remember the time, too, when he had a singing-match with Brother
+Crow, and I nearly laughed myself to death over it."
+
+"Oh, tell us about it," cried Buster John.
+
+"There's nothing in it when it is told," replied Mr. Rabbit. "There
+are some things that are funny when you see them, but not funny at all
+when you come to tell about them."
+
+"We don't mind that," said Sweetest Susan.
+
+"I don't know exactly how it came about," resumed Mr. Rabbit, after a
+pause, "but as near as I can remember, Brother Buzzard and Brother
+Crow met with each other early one morning in a big pine-tree. They
+howdied, but there was a sort of coolness between them on account of
+the fact that Brother Buzzard had been going about the neighborhood
+making his brags and his boasts that he could outfly Brother Crow.
+They hadn't been up in the tree very long before they began to
+dispute. Brother Buzzard was not a very loud talker in those days,
+whatever he may be now, but Brother Crow could squall louder than a
+woman who has been married twenty-two years. And so there they had it,
+quarreling and disputing and disturbing the peace."
+
+"What were they quarreling about?" Buster John inquired.
+
+"Well," replied Mr. Rabbit, "you know the road that leads to Brag is
+the shortest route to Bluster. Brother Buzzard and Brother Crow were
+quarreling because they had been bragging, and a little more and
+they'd have had a regular pitched battle then and there.
+
+"'Maybe you can outfly me, Brother Buzzard,' says Mr. Crow, 'but I'll
+be bound you can't outsing me.'
+
+"'I have never tried,' says Brother Buzzard, says he.
+
+"'Well, suppose you try it now,' says Brother Crow. 'I'll go you a
+fine suit of clothes, and a cocked hat to boot, that I can sit here
+and sing longer than you can,' says he.
+
+"'Oh, ho!' says Brother Buzzard, 'you may sing louder, but you can't
+sing longer than I can,' says he.
+
+"'Is it a go?' says Brother Crow.
+
+"'It's a go,' says Brother Buzzard, says he.
+
+"'It's no fair bet,' says Brother Crow, 'because you are a bigger man
+than I am, and it stands to reason that you have got more wind in
+your craw than I have, but I shall give you one trial if I split my
+gizzard,' says he.
+
+"Yes," remarked Mr. Rabbit, scratching his head thoughtfully, "those
+were the very words he used--'if I split my gizzard,' says he. Well,
+they shook hands to ratify the bet, and then Brother Crow, without
+making any flourishes, raised the tune,--
+
+    "'Oh, Susy, my Susy, gangloo!
+    Oh, Milly, my Molly, langloo!'
+
+"Then Brother Buzzard flung his head back and chimed in,--
+
+    "'Oh, Susy, my Susy, gangloo!
+    Oh, Milly, my Molly, langloo!'
+
+and such another racket as they made I never heard before, and have
+never heard since."
+
+"Why, what kind of a song was it?" inquired Sweetest Susan. "I'm sure
+I never heard such a song."
+
+"Well," replied Mr. Rabbit, "you are young and I am old, but you know
+just as much about that song as I do, and maybe more than I do, for
+you haven't been pestered with it as long as I have. It is a worse
+riddle to me than it was the day I heard it."
+
+"What did they do then?" asked Buster John.
+
+"Well," Mr. Rabbit replied, "they sat there and sang just as I told
+you. Brother Buzzard would stop to catch his breath and then break
+out,--
+
+    "'Oh, Susy, my Susy, gangloo!
+    Oh, Milly, my Molly, langloo!'
+
+and then Brother Crow would squall out,--
+
+    "'Oh, Susy, my Susy, gangloo!
+    Oh, Milly, my Molly, langloo!'
+
+"They sang on until they began to get hungry, and as Brother Buzzard
+seemed to be the biggest and fattest of the two, everybody thought he
+would hold out the longest. But Brother Crow was plucky, and he sang
+right along in spite of the emptiness in his craw. He didn't squall as
+loud as he did at first, but every time Brother Buzzard sang, Brother
+Crow would sing, too. By and by, they both began to get very weak.
+
+"At last, as luck would have it, Brother Crow saw his wife flying
+over, and he sang out as loud as he could:--
+
+[Illustration: THE SINGING MATCH]
+
+"'Oh, Susy!--Go tell my children--my Susy,--to bring my
+dinner--gangloo!--and tell them--oh, Milly, my Molly,--to bring it
+quickly--langloo!'
+
+"It wasn't very long after that before all Brother Crow's family
+connections came flying to help him, and as soon as they found out how
+matters stood they brought him more victuals than he knew what to do
+with. Brother Buzzard held out as long as he could, but he was obliged
+to give up, and since that time there has been mighty little singing
+in the Buzzard family.
+
+"But that isn't all," remarked Mr. Rabbit, as solemnly as if he were
+pointing a moral. "Since that time Brother Crow, who was dressed in
+white, has been wearing the black suit that he won from Brother
+Buzzard."
+
+"Speaking of singing birds," said Mr. Thimblefinger, turning to Mrs.
+Meadows, "what is that song I used to hear you humming about a little
+bird?"
+
+"Oh, it's just a nonsense song," replied Mrs. Meadows. "It has no
+beginning and no ending."
+
+But the children said they wanted to hear it, anyhow, and so Mrs.
+Meadows sang about--
+
+
+THE LITTLE BIRD.
+
+    There was once a little Bird so full of Song
+    That he sang in the Rose-Bush the whole Night long.
+
+    And "Oh," said the Redbird to the Jay,
+    "Don't you wish you could sit and sing that way?"
+    "Mercy, no!" said the Jay; "for he sings too late;
+    I sing well enough for to please my Mate."
+
+    There was once a little Bird so full of Song
+    That he sang in the Rose-Bush the whole Night long.
+
+    Then "Oh," said the Redbird to the Crow,
+    "Don't you wish you could sit and sing just so?"
+    "Do hush," said the Crow, "or I'll start for to weep,
+    Be--caw--caw--cause he's a-losing of his sleep."
+
+    There was once a little Bird so full of Song
+    That he sang in the Rose-Bush the whole Night long.
+
+    And "Oh," said the Redbird to the Wren,
+    "Don't you wish you could sing so now and then?"
+    "Not me," said the Wren as she shook her Head;
+    "I think his Mamma ought to put him to Bed."
+
+    But the Singing Bird was so full of Glee
+    That he sang all night in the Rose-Bush Tree.
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+THE STRAWBERRY-GIRL.
+
+
+"Isn't it almost time for us to start home?" said Sweetest Susan,
+turning to Mr. Thimblefinger.
+
+"Why, you've got all the afternoon before you," replied Mr.
+Thimblefinger. "Besides it will be downhill all the way. I was just
+going to tell you a story, but if you really want to go I'll put off
+the telling of it until some of your grandchildren tumble in the
+spring when the wet water has run out and the dry water has taken its
+place."
+
+"Tell the story, please," said Buster John.
+
+"It's about a girl," remarked Mr. Thimblefinger. "She was called the
+Strawberry-Girl. My mother knew the girl well, and I've heard her tell
+the story many a time. But if you want to go home--"
+
+"Oh, please tell the story," cried Sweetest Susan.
+
+"Well," said Mr. Thimblefinger; "once there was an old woman who
+lived in the woods. She lived all alone, and people said she was a
+witch. She was so old that the skin on her forehead had deep wrinkles
+in it, and these wrinkles caused everybody to think that the old woman
+was frowning all the time. People called her Granny Grim-Eye.
+
+"Whenever Granny Grim-Eye got hungry she went to a strawberry-patch in
+the field near where she lived, and gathered a basket of strawberries.
+One day when she went after strawberries she found a beautiful little
+girl asleep in the patch.
+
+"'Hity-tity!' said Granny Grim-Eye, 'what are you doing here? Where
+did you come from, and where are you going?'
+
+"The little girl awoke and stared at Granny Grim-Eye. She was tied to
+a blackberry-bush by a silver chain so fine that the links of it could
+hardly be seen with the naked eye. 'Who are you?' asked Granny
+Grim-Eye.
+
+"'Nothing nor nobody,' replied the little girl, and that was all the
+answer Granny Grim-Eye could get from the child.
+
+[Illustration: GRANNY GRIM-EYE FINDS A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL ASLEEP]
+
+"'Well,' said Granny Grim-Eye, 'this is my strawberry-patch, and
+everything I find in it belongs to me. I'll take you home and see what
+I can make out of you.'
+
+"So she took the girl home and cared for her, giving her the name of
+the Strawberry-Girl. In the course of time the Strawberry-Girl grew to
+be the most beautiful young woman in the country, but her mind was not
+bright. In fact, I have heard my mother say that the Strawberry-Girl
+was as stupid and as silly as she could be, but she was so beautiful
+that people were inclined to forgive her for being stupid.
+
+"Granny Grim-Eye used to send her with strawberries to sell to the
+rich man who owned nearly all the land in that part of the country.
+Now, this rich man fell in love with the Strawberry-Girl, but when he
+found that she was both stupid and silly he gave up all thought of
+marrying her. He was very fond of her, nevertheless, and bought all
+the berries she had for sale. But when she began to talk he would turn
+away with a sigh, for everything she said was stupid.
+
+"It so happened one day that Granny Grim-Eye was too sick to pick the
+strawberries herself, as she always had done, and she was afraid to
+trust the Strawberry-Girl to pick them. But the rich man sent word
+that he was to have a company of friends to dinner and he must have
+some strawberries. There was nothing for Granny Grim-Eye to do but to
+send the Strawberry-Girl to the patch. Granny Grim-Eye called her up
+and cautioned her not to pick anything but good, ripe strawberries,
+and then sent her off to the patch.
+
+"But on the way the Strawberry-Girl saw some red berries growing on
+bushes, and these she picked and put in the basket until it was full.
+'These are just as red as ripe strawberries,' she said, 'and they will
+do just as well. Besides, they are a great deal easier to pick.'
+
+"The way to the rich man's house led through a very thick wood, and
+while the Strawberry-Girl was going through this wood a little old man
+stepped from a hollow tree and stood in the path before her.
+
+"'Aha!' says he, 'I find you alone at last. Where are you going, and
+what have you got?'
+
+[Illustration: THE LITTLE OLD MAN DISCOVERS THE STRAWBERRY-GIRL]
+
+"'I am carrying some strawberries to your master,' says the
+Strawberry-Girl, who imagined that the rich man was everybody's
+master.
+
+"'My master!' cries the little old man; 'my master! But if he were my
+master, and I wanted to get rid of him, I'd not get in your path, for
+every berry in your basket is rank poison.'
+
+"'Well, anyhow, they are red,' says the stupid Strawberry-Girl.
+
+"'So they are,' says the little old man. 'But if you want to kill your
+master carry them to him.'
+
+"'Oh, I don't want to kill him,' says the Strawberry-Girl. 'He pays
+too well.'
+
+"'Once you belonged to me,' says the little old man. 'I tied you to a
+blackberry-bush with a fine silver chain, and left you there until I
+could attend to some business in the city. When I came back you were
+gone. I hunted for you high and low only to hear that you had been
+found by Granny Grim-Eye. What is the result? You have grown up
+beautiful and stupid. After all these years you don't know a
+strawberry from a dragon's-apple. If you had remained with me you
+would have grown to be the most beautiful as well as the wittiest
+woman in the world. You would have known everything that is hidden in
+nature--everything that has been stored between the lids of all the
+books. It is a great pity!'
+
+"'Yes,' says the stupid Strawberry-Girl, 'I expect it is; but what
+must I do with these berries? I haven't time to pick more.'
+
+"'Well,' says the little old man, 'I'll make a bargain with you. I'll
+fill your basket with the finest berries that were ever seen, and I'll
+make you the wittiest woman in the world if at the end of one year you
+will marry me.'
+
+"The stupid Strawberry-Girl gave her promise, and then the little old
+man touched her on the forehead with his left thumb, pointed at a
+bright star with his right forefinger, and then went back to his
+hollow tree, warning the girl not to forget her promise.
+
+"When she looked in the basket the red dragon's-apples had
+disappeared, and in their place she saw the finest strawberries that
+had ever been grown. These she carried to the rich man, who was as
+much surprised at the size and lusciousness of the berries as his
+guests were at the extraordinary beauty of the young girl. They
+praised her beauty to their host, who shook his head and said that
+beauty ceased to be beautiful when it was tied to stupidity. The
+guests, however, would not believe that so beautiful a creature could
+be stupid, and to satisfy them the rich man sent for the girl and
+engaged her in conversation. Her replies were so wise, so apt, and so
+witty, as to astound all the company, while the rich man was
+dumfounded with astonishment.
+
+"After that, when the Strawberry-Girl came with berries for sale, the
+rich man always sent for her, and her wit and intelligence were so
+pleasing to him that he finally asked her to be his wife. But she
+remembered the bargain she had made with the little old man who had
+met her in the wood, and she told the rich man that she would have to
+take time to consider his proposal.
+
+"She was very much worried. She fretted until she began to lose some
+of her beauty, and when Granny Grim-Eye saw this she began to ask
+questions, and it was not long before she found out all about the
+bargain the Strawberry-Girl had made with the little Old Man of the
+Wood.
+
+"'Oho!' she cried. 'He is up to his old tricks, is he? Well, we shall
+see!'
+
+"So she went to her chest and got the silver chain with which the
+Strawberry-Girl had been fastened to the blackberry-bush, and wrapped
+and twined it in the shape of a star. This star she fixed on the
+Strawberry-Girl's forehead by means of a velvet band, and told her to
+wear it constantly.
+
+"It happened that on the very day the year expired the Strawberry-Girl
+was walking through the wood. The little old man jumped from his
+hollow tree and ran forward to claim his bride. But when he saw the
+star shining on her forehead he gave a loud cry, threw his hands
+before his eyes, and turned and fled through the wood faster than any
+deer could have done. Nobody ever saw him again, and the
+Strawberry-Girl married the rich man and lived happily for many long
+years."
+
+"I think that is a nice story," said Sweetest Susan.
+
+"I'm glad you do," remarked Mr. Thimblefinger. "My mother knew all the
+facts in the case, and I've heard her tell it many a time. I may have
+left out some of the happenings, but these and many others you can
+supply for yourself."
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+THE WITCH OF THE WELL.
+
+
+While Mr. Thimblefinger was telling the story of the Strawberry-Girl,
+Chickamy Crany Crow and Tickle-My-Toes had drawn near to listen.
+Chickamy Crany Crow stood near Mrs. Meadows, and seemed to be very
+much interested. When Mr. Thimblefinger had concluded, she would have
+gone away, but Mrs. Meadows detained her.
+
+"No," said Mrs. Meadows, as Chickamy Crany Crow tried to pull her hand
+away; "you must stay right here and tell the children the story of the
+Witch of the Well."
+
+"They know it already," said Chickamy Crany Crow, trying to hide
+behind Mrs. Meadows's chair.
+
+"No, we don't," exclaimed Buster John. "We know the old rhyme about
+
+    "'Chickamy, Chickamy Crany Crow,
+    Went to the well to wash her toe,
+    And when she came back her chicken was gone.'
+
+That's the rhyme we say in the game, but we never heard the story."
+
+"I can't tell it to so many," said Chickamy Crany Crow.
+
+"Well, tell it to me, then," replied Mrs. Meadows coaxingly. "The rest
+won't listen any more than they can help."
+
+"Well," said Chickamy Crany Crow, "one time there was an old woman
+that lived near a well. For a long time nobody thought she was a
+witch, but after a while people began to have their suspicions. There
+was a quagmire in the road right in front of the old woman's house,
+and every traveler passing that way was sure to get mud on his feet.
+No matter whether he was riding horseback or in a buggy, it was all
+the same. He was sure to get his feet muddy. And the mud was so black,
+and thick, and heavy, that he was anxious to get it off as soon as
+possible.
+
+"It happened, too, that every time a traveler crossed the quagmire,
+after getting the black, heavy mud on his feet, the old woman would be
+sitting in her door smoking a cob pipe.
+
+"'Howdy, dearie!' she would say. 'Why, you're full of nasty mud! Go
+to the well yonder, dearie, and wash it off.'
+
+"The traveler would leave his buggy and horse, or his horse and
+saddle, or his bundle at the old witch's door, and go to the well to
+wash his feet. When he came back everything would be gone,--witch,
+horse, buggy, saddle, or bundle. The quagmire would be dried up, and
+the road itself would seem to be a different road. Sometimes it would
+be days and days before the traveler could find his way to the place
+where he started.
+
+"One day a traveler came along the road in a fine carriage. With him
+he had a beautiful little girl with long golden hair. She had eyes as
+blue and as clear as the water in the spring when the sunshine slants
+through, and her skin was as white as milk. When the carriage had
+crossed the quagmire, the traveler found that his feet were covered
+with the black, heavy mud. He couldn't imagine how it had happened.
+There was no hole in the bottom of the carriage, the door was shut
+tight, and there was no way for the mud to get in. He said to the
+little girl:--
+
+"'Daughter, are your feet muddy?'
+
+"'Not a bit, father.'
+
+"When the carriage crossed the quagmire, there sat the old woman in
+the door.
+
+"'Howdy, dearie!' says she. 'And how did you get the nasty mud on your
+feet? Yonder is a well; leave your carriage here and go wash it off.'
+
+"So the traveler kissed his daughter, for he was very fond of her, and
+went to the well to wash his feet. When he came back, daughter,
+carriage, and old woman had all disappeared. He wandered around like a
+crazy man for many days, and at last came to where my mother lived and
+told his story. This wasn't the first time she had heard such a tale,
+and she concluded to see what the matter was. So she called me and
+gave me a black chicken and told me to go by the old woman's house and
+see what happened.
+
+"I took the chicken, which was tied by the legs, and went along the
+road until I came to the quagmire. I tried to pick my way around it,
+but the black mud bubbled up and flew at my feet, and finally it
+became so thick and heavy I could scarcely walk. When I got across,
+there sat the old woman smoking her cob pipe and grinning.
+
+"'Howdy, dearie!' says she.
+
+"'Howdy, granny!' says I.
+
+"'Leave your fat chicken here,' says she, 'and go to yonder well and
+wash your toe.'
+
+"'Thanky, granny; that I will,' says I.
+
+"So I went to the well, but when I came back my chicken was gone. And
+so was the old woman, and the quagmire. But I didn't get frightened. I
+went back to the well and began to sing,--
+
+    "'Chickamy, Chickamy Crany Crow,
+    I went to the well to wash my toe,
+    But when I came back my chicken was gone--
+          What o'clock, old witch?'
+
+"I hadn't been there long before the mud began to bubble up again, and
+out of it came the old witch. And then what seemed to be a thick mist
+cleared away, and there was the old witch's house, and inside I could
+see the beautiful little girl crying for her father. I intended to run
+home and tell what I had seen, but before I could move out of my
+tracks I heard the old woman coming to the well. In coming up out of
+the quagmire she had got mud on her feet. She had pulled off her shoes
+for comfort, and had been going about in her stocking-feet, and of
+course when she disappeared in the quagmire, and came up through it
+again, her stockings were full of mud; and so she came to the well to
+wash them.
+
+"I didn't know whether to run or stay, but I stayed, and as soon as
+the old woman got in sight, I sat on the ground and began to rock my
+body backwards and forwards, crying,--
+
+    "'Oh, mercy me! Oh, what shall I do?
+    I can't get the black mud off of my shoe!'
+
+"The old woman seemed to be very angry when she first saw me, but I
+pretended to pay no attention to her. I just rocked backwards and
+forwards, and cried that I couldn't get the black mud off of my shoe.
+The old woman sat down and pulled off her stockings, and began to wash
+them. When she had finished one, she threw it behind her on the grass
+to dry. Being wet and heavy it fell farther from her hand than she
+intended. It fell close to me, and I picked it up and stuffed it in my
+pocket."
+
+"What for?" asked Buster John bluntly.
+
+"Well, I hardly know," replied Chickamy Crany Crow, somewhat
+embarrassed at the suddenness of the question. "I wanted to get even
+with her for stealing my fat chicken. I hardly knew what I was doing,
+and I certainly didn't know how it would turn out. Well, I stuffed the
+old woman's wet stocking in my pocket, and kept on crying out that I
+didn't know how to get the black mud off of my shoe.
+
+"'Do as I do,' said the old woman. Then I went and sat on the grass in
+front of her, and washed the mud from my shoe.
+
+"For the first time I saw what a horrible-looking creature the old
+woman was. Her eyes were sunk in her head, her nose was hooked over
+her mouth, and she had two long upper teeth that hung lower than her
+under lip. I says to myself, 'Well, old lady, if you are not a witch,
+there never was one.' She washed her stocking, mumbling and chewing,
+and when she had finished she threw it behind her, and sat hugging her
+knees, and glaring at me in a way that made my flesh crawl.
+
+"'What is your name?' says she.
+
+"'Chickamy Crany Crow,' says I.
+
+"'What are you doing here?' says she.
+
+"Says I, 'I went to the well to wash my toe, but when I came back my
+chicken was gone.'
+
+"Then the old woman began to laugh like a cackling hen, and she
+laughed so loud and laughed so long that it scared me. I got up and
+pretended to be going home, but when I had gone a little way I hid
+behind a big tree, and watched the old woman's antics. She kept on
+laughing for some time, and then she reached out for her stockings.
+She found the only one she had left, and put it on. Then she reached
+around for the other, but failed to find it, because I had it in my
+pocket. This seemed to puzzle her. She stood up and looked all around
+for her missing stocking, but it wasn't there. Then she sat down
+again, pulled off the stocking she had on, and put it on the other
+foot.
+
+"But she still lacked a stocking. This seemed to puzzle the old witch
+worse than ever. Once more she pulled off the stocking and put it on
+the other foot, and appeared to be very much astonished because one
+foot was still bare."
+
+"She couldn't 'a' had much sense!" exclaimed Drusilla.
+
+"Not about stockings and things like that," said Chickamy Crany Crow.
+"Well, she sat there, pulling the stocking from one foot and putting
+it on the other, until she seemed to forget about everything else. I
+watched her until I got tired, and then I thought I would take her
+missing stocking and throw it in the quagmire.
+
+"The moment I did this, the quagmire began to bubble, and hiss, and
+roll, and toss and tumble about, and soon it disappeared altogether. A
+little fog arose when the quagmire sank out of sight, and when this
+cleared away, there stood the carriage that had brought the beautiful
+little girl with the golden hair, and the little girl herself was
+sitting in it, ready to go to her father. But this wasn't all. All
+around, there were numbers of horses and buggies, and all sorts of
+bundles and money-purses, and everything that travelers carry along
+with them.
+
+"Well, I got in the carriage with the beautiful little girl, clucked
+to the horses, and drove to my mother's house. All the horses with
+saddles, and all the horses hitched to buggies, followed along after
+us, and there was great rejoicing among the people as we went by."
+
+"What became of the old witch?" asked Buster John.
+
+"She stayed there, trying to make one stocking do for two feet, until
+the well dried up, and after that I don't know what became of her."
+
+"You ought to have been a young man," said Sweetest Susan, who had
+been reading fairy stories, "so that you could have married the
+beautiful girl with golden hair, after rescuing her. Besides, your
+name would have been in the books."
+
+"Oh," answered Chickamy Crany Crow, smiling for the first time, "there
+are plenty of names in the books that you never hear of; but now,
+wherever little children get together to play games, you will hear
+them saying the rhyme that tells a part of my story,--
+
+    "'Chickamy, Chickamy Crany Crow,
+    Went to the well to wash her toe,
+    But when she got back her chicken was gone.'"
+
+[Illustration: THE GOLDEN-HAIRED, BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL]
+
+
+
+
+XV.
+
+THE BEWITCHED HUNTSMAN.
+
+
+"There used to be a great many more witches than there are now,"
+remarked Mr. Thimblefinger. "I reckon it's because folks have more
+business of their own to attend to; or, it may be a change in the
+climate. I hear old people say that the winters are colder now than
+they used to be, and the summers hotter. Maybe that has something to
+do with it. Anyhow, something has happened to thin the witches out."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Rabbit; "I've noticed that they are scarcer than they
+used to be, but I never inquired into the whys and wherefores. They
+never bothered me, and I never bothered them."
+
+"Well, when I first came here," said Mr. Thimblefinger, "I noticed
+Jimmy Jay-Bird bringing sand and mortar every Friday, and it occurred
+to me that he was preparing to lay the foundations of a witch's house
+in this country. So I says to myself, says I, 'I'll keep an eye on
+Jimmy, and see where he gets in and out; for, surely, he doesn't come
+by way of the spring.' But Jimmy Jay-Bird was pretty slick, and it was
+some time before I found out where he came down and went out. By some
+means or other, he had discovered the big hollow poplar on the spring
+branch, and he was coming and going that way."
+
+"I know where it is," said Buster John.
+
+"Yes," replied Mr. Thimblefinger. "It is the oldest and the biggest
+tree in the whole country next door. But as soon as I found that Jimmy
+Jay-Bird was using it as a passageway, I drove a peg in the hole and
+put an end to his schemes, whatever they may have been. I don't know
+where he carries his sand and mortar now, and I don't care.
+
+"But I didn't start out to tell anything about Jimmy Jay-Bird,"
+continued Mr. Thimblefinger, after pausing a moment. "I was thinking
+about the way a witch was caught by a boy no bigger and not much older
+than our young friend here."
+
+"Tell us about it, please!" cried Buster John enthusiastically.
+
+"Well," said Mr. Thimblefinger, "it's not much of a story. You can't
+take a handful of facts and make a story of them unless you know how
+to fling them together. The best I can do is to tell it just as it
+happened as near as I can remember.
+
+"When I was a little bit of a fellow--now don't laugh!" cried Mr.
+Thimblefinger, seeing Mr. Rabbit wink at Mrs. Meadows,--"I mean when I
+was in my teens. Well, when I was younger than I am now, an old witch
+lived not far from our house. Her eyes were red around the rims, and
+her eyeballs looked as if they had been boiled. Everybody called her
+Peggy Pig-Eye, and she answered to that name about as well as she did
+to any other. Near her house there lived a man who had a wife and a
+son. He was a tolerably well-to-do man, and all the neighbors thought
+very well of him. But he used to go to town every sale-day, and at
+night he would come home feeling very gay. I don't know what there was
+in town to make him feel so gay, but I know that he used to come by
+our house singing at the top of his voice and cutting up all sorts of
+shines.
+
+"Well, one night when he was going back home whooping and yelling, he
+saw something dark in the road before him, and he rode his horse at
+it full tilt. The horse seemed to have little taste for such sport,
+for he snorted and wanted to shy around the dark object. But the man
+clapped spurs to the horse and drove him right at it. The black thing
+ran, and the man spurred his horse after it. It ran down the road,
+then across an old field and back into the road again, the man
+pursuing it as hard as he could make his horse go. Finally it ran into
+Peggy Pig-Eye's yard and under her house, and the man went clattering
+after it. Just as he pulled his horse up (to keep the animal from
+running broadside into the house) the door opened, and Peggy Pig-Eye
+put her head out.
+
+"'Oh, it's you, is it?' she cried. 'And you are after me, are you?
+Very well!' With that she clapped the door to, and the man rode on
+home, not feeling as lively as he had felt.
+
+"Now, it happened that this man was a great hunter. He had a pack of
+fine dogs, and he was very fond of them. He hunted deer with them by
+day, and raccoons and 'possums by night. The first time he went
+hunting after riding into Peggy Pig-Eye's yard was at night. He didn't
+go very far from his house before his dogs struck a warm trail and
+went scurrying towards the big swamp at a great rate. A negro, who
+went along to carry the light and cut the tree down, shook his head
+and declared the dogs were not barking to suit him. He said there was
+more whine than growl to the noise they were making.
+
+"Anyhow, the dogs went scurrying to the big swamp, and the man and the
+negro followed as fast as they could. The dogs treed right at the edge
+of the swamp, and when the man and the negro got there, they were
+barking up a big poplar. The negro held his torch behind him so as to
+'shine' in the raccoon's eyes,--if it was a raccoon,--but he could see
+nothing.
+
+"'Cut the tree down,' said the man.
+
+"The negro shook his head, but he whacked away at the poplar with his
+axe, and cut it so that it would fall away from the swamp. The tree
+fell with a tremendous crash, and the dogs rushed into the top limbs,
+followed by the man and the negro. But before they could wink their
+eyes, something tall and white walked out, and cried:--
+
+"'_You are always after me!_'
+
+"The negro threw down the torch and the axe, and ran home as fast as
+he could. The dogs tried hard to catch the white thing, whatever it
+was, but as soon as they got near enough to bite it, they tucked their
+tails between their legs and ran howling back to their master.
+
+"This happened every time the man went out to hunt raccoons and
+'possums. The dogs would strike a warm trail not far from the house,
+run to the edge of the swamp, and bay up a tree, and then when the
+tree was cut down, something tall and white would walk from the top
+limbs, and cry out:
+
+"'_You are always after me!_'
+
+"The man thought it was very queer, but he wasn't frightened. He said
+to himself that if he couldn't catch raccoons and 'possums, maybe he
+could catch a fox. So he called up his dogs one morning just about
+day, mounted his horse, and started out to catch a fox. Before they
+had gone a hundred yards from the house, the dogs found a warm trail
+and began to follow it in lively style. The man spurred his horse
+after them and harked them on. They ran around in a wide circle, and
+presently something white flitted by the man, with the dogs after it
+in full cry. As it went by it screamed out:--
+
+"'_You are always after me!_'
+
+"Then it disappeared, and after a while the dogs came back, panting as
+hard as if they had run forty miles. The man went back home and sat by
+the fire and studied about it, and the more he studied the worse he
+was troubled. He sat so long without saying anything that his little
+boy asked him what the matter was, but the man shook his head, and
+said there were some things that children ought not to know. The boy
+was fourteen years old, and very small for his age, but he had plenty
+of sense, and was very brave. He told his mother that his father was
+in some deep trouble, and begged her to find out what it was, and tell
+him about it.
+
+"So the little boy's mother set herself to work to find out what was
+troubling her husband. She pressed him so hard with questions that he
+finally told her about his strange adventures while out hunting. The
+wife was so frightened that she begged her husband not to go hunting
+any more, but to give up his dogs and attend to business that was not
+so dangerous.
+
+"The man promised that he would hunt no more raccoons or 'possums or
+foxes, but he said he needed his dogs to hunt deer. The woman told
+her son all that her husband had said to her, and after that the
+little boy made it a habit to go off in the woods and sit at the foot
+of a big chestnut-tree, and wonder what it was that ran before his
+father's dogs.
+
+"Matters went on this way until finally one day the man said he would
+go out and catch a deer. He called his dogs, especially Old Top, the
+oldest one of all. Top was a big hound, and hunted nothing else but
+deer, and he was never known to fail to run down and catch the deer he
+got after. Old Top went along when he was called, but it was very
+plain to the little boy, who was watching, that he didn't go
+willingly. Anyhow, Old Top went, though he looked back at the little
+boy and wagged his tail knowingly more than once.
+
+"Before the hunter got out of hearing, the dogs struck a trail and
+pursued it in the direction of the big woods beyond the creek. For a
+long time the little boy listened to the dogs running. Sometimes they
+seemed to come nearer, and then they would go farther, and finally the
+sound of their trailing died away altogether.
+
+"After waiting and listening for some time, the little boy went into
+the woods and sat at the foot of the chestnut-tree. While he was
+sitting there thinking, and watching the big black ants chase each
+other up and down the tree, he heard the bushes shake, and suddenly a
+little old man appeared before him.
+
+"'Heyday!' said the little old man. 'You are too young to be thinking.
+Leave thoughts for old people; you should be at play.'
+
+"'But sometimes,' replied the little boy, 'children have to think,
+too. It doesn't make my head ache to think.'
+
+"'I see, I see!' exclaimed the little old man; 'your name is Three
+Wits. Three Wits, how are you? I hope you are well. You ought to have
+come here a little sooner. There is a famous hunt going on in these
+woods. It passed here awhile ago--a fool on a frightened horse and
+seven crazy dogs galloping after Satan's sister. Oh, it is jolly! Stay
+where you are, Three Wits. This famous hunt will pass this way again
+directly, and you will have a plain view of it.'
+
+"After a while the little boy heard the dogs coming, and presently he
+saw the strangest sight his eyes had ever beheld. Going through the
+woods as swift as the wind, he saw a great white Stag. On the back of
+the Stag, and holding to its antlers, was an old woman. She was
+grinning horribly, and her gray hair was streaming out behind her like
+a ragged banner. The Stag, bearing the old woman, rushed through the
+woods and disappeared. Then came the dogs in full cry, and after the
+dogs came the little boy's father, spurring his horse and yelling in
+the excitement of the chase.
+
+"'What do you think of it, Three Wits?' asked the little old man,
+laughing.
+
+"'I don't like it,' replied the boy. 'That man is my father.'
+
+"'Your father!' cried the little old man. 'Oho! That alters the case.
+Well, well! Let's see--let's see!'
+
+"The little old man took from the wallet he had on his back a thick
+book with a red cover. Then he sat at the foot of the chestnut-tree
+and turned the well-thumbed leaves until he found the place he was
+hunting for. He closed the book, but kept his forefinger between the
+leaves, and took the little boy's hand in his."
+
+[Illustration: THE LITTLE OLD MAN, THREE WITS, AND THE STAG]
+
+
+
+
+XVI.
+
+THE THREE IVORY BOBBINS.
+
+
+"The little old man took the boy's hand in his, but before he could
+say anything, a rustling was heard in the bushes. Presently, Old Top,
+the deerhound, made his appearance. He went up to the boy, smelt of
+him, wagged his tail as a sign of satisfaction, and then curled up in
+the leaves as if to take a nap. But he didn't go to sleep. Every once
+in awhile, Old Top raised his head and listened wistfully to the
+running dogs that could be heard in the distance.
+
+"'A very sensible dog!' exclaimed the little old man. 'He knows
+something is wrong.'
+
+"'What is it?' asked the boy.
+
+"'Well, Three Wits,' said the little old man, 'I'll tell you. The man,
+the horse, and the dogs, are under a spell. They are bewitched, and
+they will continue to be bewitched until doomsday, unless the spell is
+broken. They will go round and round on the trail until they exhaust
+themselves, and then they will gradually grow thinner and thinner
+until they disappear; and then nothing will be heard but the barking
+of the dogs, and the sound of that will grow fainter and fainter,
+until no human ear can hear it. Now, the question is, Three Wits, do
+you wish the spell broken?'
+
+"'I do,' replied the boy, 'for my mother's sake.'
+
+"'Now that is well spoken,' said the old man, rising and laying his
+hand gently on the boy's head. 'For, behold, Three Wits, what is
+written in the book.'
+
+"The old man opened the red volume and read as follows, pointing to
+each word with his finger:--
+
+"'Whoever shall, for the sake of his mother, earnestly desire to break
+the spells worked by Paggia Paggiola, the Hunting-Witch, is in a way
+to have his desire fulfilled. For this is the indispensable condition.
+Moreover, he who hopes to succeed must have the innocence of youth and
+the courage of manhood. On his left arm there should grow a mole, and
+in this mole are three white hairs.'
+
+"'I have the mole,' said the boy, opening his vest.
+
+"Sure enough, there was the mole, and on the mole were growing three
+long white hairs as fine as silk. With a pair of silver tweezers that
+he found in his wallet, the little old man pulled the long white hairs
+from the mole. One by one he pulled them. One by one he ran them
+through his fingers, and one by one they seemed to grow longer and
+stronger, each time they were pulled through the little old man's
+swift-moving fingers.
+
+"Then, searching in his wallet, he found three ivory bobbins; and on
+these he wound the long, strong, and silken hairs. He wound and wound,
+and as he wound he sang:--
+
+    "'Now on this bobbin I wind a hair,
+      White, and silken, and long;
+    I wind it slow, I wind it fair,
+      Glossy, and white, and strong.
+
+    "'I wind it here in shade and sun,
+      For one, one, one are three--
+    Three and no more where the stag shall run,
+      Close by the chestnut-tree.
+
+    "'And one shall catch, and two shall hold,
+      And three shall clamp and kill;
+    Just say to your hand, Be steady and bold;
+      And say to your heart, I will.'
+
+"The boy was surprised to see, as the old man sang and wound, that the
+white hairs spun out into silver wires hundreds of feet long, and
+stronger than steel.
+
+"'Take these, Three Wits,' said the old man, after he had finished
+winding the bobbins. 'Take these, and when the hunt runs this way
+again, fling one at the Stag, and one at the dogs, and one at the
+horse the huntsman rides. You must fling them quickly, one after the
+other. It is easy enough to miss the Stag, but you must not fail to
+catch the dogs. You may fail on the Stag and horse, but you must not
+fail on the dogs. Be strong. Brace yourself for three quick and hard
+throws.'
+
+"Then they stood there listening; and presently Old Top, the
+deerhound, raised his head and whistled through his nose, the whistle
+ending in a whine.
+
+"'They are coming now, Three Wits!' exclaimed the little old man. 'Get
+ready! Throw quick and hard! Don't be afraid!'
+
+"In the distance, the baying of the dogs could be heard, and Old Top
+rose and shook himself and growled. In another moment the Stag, ridden
+by the grinning old woman, flitted past; but, quick as a flash, Three
+Wits threw the first bobbin, and he threw it so hard that it made a
+zooning sound in the air. The Stag made one tremendous bound and
+disappeared. The dogs came next, and Three Wits threw the second
+bobbin. It zooned through the air, and the silver wire unwound with a
+twanging sound, and fell full upon the panting and baying pack. It
+fell upon them, and wound itself about them, and smothered their
+cries, and held them fast in its glistening meshes.
+
+"Then came the rushing horse and its furious rider. Three Wits threw
+the third bobbin, but the horse shied at the motion of the boy's hand,
+and flew through the woods in the direction taken by the Stag. When
+Three Wits saw both the Stag and the horse escape, he fell upon the
+ground and began to weep.
+
+"'Hity-tity!' exclaimed the little old man, coming from behind the
+tree where he had concealed himself. 'What's this? Why, I was about to
+cry "Bravo!" and here I find you pretending to be a baby. Get up. If
+I am not mistaken you have accomplished even more than I expected you
+would. Let's see.'
+
+"He lifted Three Wits to his feet, and then the two went to where the
+hunt had passed. At one point the dogs were entangled in the silver
+wire, and were unable to free themselves. A little farther in, they
+found a thick wisp of gray hair which the wire had cut from the head
+of the grinning old woman who rode the Stag. The little old man
+clapped his hands with delight and cut some joyful capers, for he was
+very nimble.
+
+"'Good!' he exclaimed. 'Another half inch and you would have cut off
+her head instead of her hair! But where is the bobbin? I don't see the
+bobbin! We must have the bobbin!'
+
+"Three Wits hunted, but he could find no bobbin. Then he caught hold
+of the wire, and found that it led into the woods the way the Stag had
+gone. He caught hold of it and followed it along, calling to the
+little old man. They followed the silver wire far into the woods, and
+finally they came to the end of it, and there was the Stag, strangled
+and dead. The weight of the bobbin had carried the wire around his
+body and around his neck, and the bobbin itself had caught in the
+fork of one of his antlers.
+
+[Illustration: THE STAG AND THE WITCH]
+
+"The little old man seemed to be very happy. He patted Three Wits on
+the shoulder, and declared that he was a good boy, a fine boy. 'But
+there is more to be done,' said the little old man,--'a great deal
+more. And you will have to go alone. I can help you, but I can't be
+with you.'
+
+"Then he found the ivory bobbins, rewound the silver wire, which
+seemed to spin out still longer, and gave them to Three Wits. 'Take
+these,' he said, 'and go to the witch's house.'
+
+"'Do you mean Peggy Pig-Eye's house?' asked Three Wits.
+
+"'Why, of course.' replied the little old man. 'Her right name, as you
+saw by the book, is Paggia Paggiola, but people call her Peggy Pig-Eye
+for short. Go to her house, throw one of the bobbins over the roof,
+and then throw one around each end. Throw quick and hard, and, as you
+throw, cry out,--
+
+    "'Bibbity bobbity bobbin,
+    Go hibbity hob hobnobbin.'
+
+"'But wait!' cried the little old man. 'You may need these dogs.' He
+took a wisp of the witch's hair, and whipped them back to life. And
+maybe you'll need a horse to ride. So he went into the woods where the
+Stag lay dead, and whipped him to his feet with the witch's hair.
+
+"'This is your horse,' he said to Three Wits. But the boy was afraid
+to mount the Stag. 'Be bold!' cried the little old man; 'all depends
+on that! Give me your foot. There you are! Loop the silver wire over
+his horns, and touch him with the bobbin the way you want him to go.
+He'll carry you safely. Good-by! Be bold!'
+
+"Following the little old man's directions, Three Wits was soon
+cantering down the road on the Stag's back. The dogs seemed to take
+everything for granted, and followed along after the Stag as readily
+as if he had been their master's horse. But travelers who chanced to
+be going along the road went into the wood when they saw a boy riding
+a big Stag. They were not used to such a queer sight.
+
+"The spirits of Three Wits rose as he went along. Everything had
+turned out so happily, and the Stag moved along so gracefully and
+easily that Three Wits felt quite like a hero.
+
+"He went ambling along the road, the people staring at him, until he
+came to the witch's house. Everything was quiet there. The windows and
+doors were closed, and the only sign of life about the place was a big
+black cat that sat on the water-shelf. Three Wits rode the Stag around
+the house three times. Then over the roof he threw a bobbin. To the
+right he threw another, and to the left another. The silver wire
+seemed to whirl until it became a tangle of wire all over the house.
+The big black cat made an attempt to escape, but it was caught in the
+wire as a fly is caught in a spider's web, and it hung helpless by the
+water-shelf.
+
+"And then a very wonderful thing happened. The silver wire seemed to
+become so heavy that the roof of the house couldn't bear its weight.
+The cabin swayed, and finally the roof fell in with a crash. Out of
+the dust and wreck walked the father of Three Wits, leading his horse,
+and, following him, came a dozen or more elegantly dressed gentlemen
+whom Three Wits had never seen before. They shook hands with the boy
+and thanked him for coming to their rescue, and each gave him a large
+sum of gold, so that when they started on their way home, Three Wits
+found that he was very rich. As for the father, he seized Three Wits
+in his arms and embraced him again and again, and declared that even a
+king might be proud to have such a brave son.
+
+"While they were talking, the little old man came out of the wood. He
+went straight to Three Wits, placed his hand on the boy's head, and
+seemed to be blessing him. Then he lifted Three Wits from the Stag's
+back, mounted in his place, waved his hand twice, and, in a twinkling,
+had disappeared in the wood. That was the end of the witch, and this
+is the end of the story."
+
+"Well, I think it is a very good story," said Buster John.
+
+"I think so, too," remarked Sweetest Susan; "but I'm sorry there was
+no little girl in it."
+
+
+
+
+XVII.
+
+"KEEN-POINT," "COB-HANDLE," AND "BUTCH."
+
+
+"The three bobbins," said Mrs. Meadows, "remind me of a
+circumstance--"
+
+"Is a circumstance a story?" interrupted Sweetest Susan.
+
+"Oh, you mustn't mind my country talk," replied Mrs. Meadows,
+laughing. "It was a trick of my tongue. I didn't want to say 'story'
+because you might be disappointed. But I reckon I may as well call it
+a story. Well, as I was saying, the three bobbins remind me of a story
+that was partly about a little girl."
+
+"I know it must be a nice story," cried Sweetest Susan
+enthusiastically.
+
+But Mrs. Meadows shook her head. "From all I can hear," she said,
+"matters and things in general are a great deal nicer in books than
+they are outside of books. Folks are folks, anyway you can fix them, I
+don't care what the books say. But I'll not deny that in my day and
+time I have seen folks mighty near as nice and as pretty as those you
+read about in the books, and one of these was the little girl I am
+going to tell you about.
+
+"Once upon a time, in the country where I then lived,--and I've lived
+in a good many countries, for wherever you find mountains, hills, and
+rivers, there you'll find the Meadows family,--there was a little girl
+who was both beautiful and good. She was not as good nor as beautiful
+as those you read about in the books, but she was good enough for the
+people who knew her. For a wonder she didn't have long golden hair.
+Her hair was black, and curled about her head in the loveliest way;
+and her eyes were large and brown, and her skin creamy white, with
+just the shadow of rose color in her face. Her parents were rich and
+proud, but they were prouder of their little girl than they were of
+their money, as well they might be, seeing that she was the smartest
+and most beautiful child to be found in all the country round."
+
+"Were there no princes and castles in that country?" inquired Sweetest
+Susan.
+
+"Oh, dear, no!" replied Mrs. Meadows. "The folks were just plain,
+common, every-day people. Those that were fortunate enough to be
+honest and contented were much better off than any princes you ever
+heard of; and a hut where happiness lives is a much finer place than
+the finest castle.
+
+"Well, as I was telling you, the parents of this little girl with
+black curly hair were very proud of her. They watched over her very
+carefully, and neglected nothing that would make her happy and
+contented. Some little girls that I have known would have been spoiled
+by so much kindness and attention, but this little girl with the black
+curly hair wasn't spoiled at all. She was as good as she was
+beautiful.
+
+"One day, when this little girl was walking in the flower garden, she
+heard the gardener talking to his wife through the iron fence. The
+woman's voice was so pleasant and her laugh so cheerful that the
+little girl ran to the fence and peeped through to see who it was. The
+gardener's wife saw her, and at once began to pet her and make much of
+her. The little girl wanted the woman to come into the garden, and
+seemed to be so much in earnest about it that the woman promised she
+would come and be the child's nurse some day.
+
+"No sooner had the gardener's wife gone about her business than the
+little girl ran and told her mother that she must have a nurse. At
+first her mother paid little attention to her, thinking that it was
+the passing whim of a child, but the little girl insisted, until
+finally her mother said:--
+
+"'Who shall be your nurse? You know, my dear, that you can't have
+everybody and anybody?'
+
+"'Ask the gardener,' the little girl replied. 'He knows.'
+
+"'And how does he know?' the mother asked.
+
+"'I saw him talking with her,' the little girl replied.
+
+"So, after a time, the gardener was called, and then it was found that
+his wife was the person the little girl had selected to be her nurse.
+The father and mother hesitated for some time before they would
+consent to send for the woman, but finally she came, and they were so
+much struck by her pleasant manners and cheerful disposition that they
+were quite willing to employ her.
+
+"For a long time after that the little girl and her nurse were never
+separated except when the nurse would go home to see her husband and
+her son, who was a handsome boy about fourteen years old. The little
+girl used to grieve so when her nurse left her that on one occasion,
+when the woman was going home for only an hour or so, she carried the
+child with her. There the little girl saw the handsome son of her
+nurse, and they were both very much pleased with each other. In the
+little time she stayed, the boy showed her a hundred new games, and
+told her a great many stories she had never heard before."
+
+"How old was the little girl?" Mr. Thimblefinger inquired.
+
+"Between seven and eight," replied Mrs. Meadows "Just old enough to be
+cute. Well, in the little time they were together the boy and girl
+grew to be very fond of each other. The boy thought she was the
+daintiest and prettiest creature he had ever seen, and the little girl
+thought the boy was all that a boy should be.
+
+"Of course, when the little girl went back home again she talked of
+nothing else but the boy who had proved to be such a wonderful
+playmate. This set the child's mother to thinking, and she made up her
+mind that it wouldn't do for these children to see so much of each
+other. So she sent for the nurse and told her very kindly that she
+didn't think it would be prudent to carry the little girl to her house
+any more.
+
+"The nurse agreed with the little girl's mother, but somehow she
+didn't relish the idea that her brave and handsome son wasn't good
+enough to play with anybody's daughter. She thought the matter over
+for several days, and finally decided that it would be better to give
+up her place as nurse. She was very fond of the little girl, but she
+was still fonder of her boy. So she ceased to be the child's nurse,
+and went to her own home.
+
+"The little girl grieved day and night for her kind nurse. Nothing
+would console her. Her mother bought her a little pony, but she
+wouldn't ride it; wonderful dolls, but she wouldn't look at them; the
+finest cakes and candies, but she wouldn't eat them; the most
+beautiful dresses, but she wouldn't wear them. Matters went on in this
+way for I don't know how long, until, finally, one day the little
+girl's mother concluded to send for the nurse.
+
+"Now it happened that on that particular day the little girl had made
+up her mind to go after her nurse. One day in each week, the gardener
+would open the big gates of the park in order to trundle away the
+trash and weeds that he had raked up. The little girl watched him open
+the gate, and then, when the gardener went for his wheelbarrow, she
+slipped out at the gate and went running across the fields.
+
+"For a time the little girl was perfectly happy. She gave herself up
+to the pleasure of being alone, of being able to do as she chose, with
+no one to tell her not to do this or do that, or to say 'come here,'
+or 'go yonder.' So she went running across the fields, looking at the
+birds, and trying to catch butterflies, and singing to herself some of
+the beautiful songs that her nurse's son had taught her.
+
+"Now it happened that when she ran out of the garden gate, in her
+haste to keep out of sight of the gardener, she went away from her
+nurse's house instead of going towards it. She had been kept so
+closely at home that she had no idea of the great world beyond the
+garden gate. She thought that all she had to do to get to her dear
+nurse's house was to go out at the gate and keep on going until she
+came to the place where there were two big trees, with a swing
+between them, and a little white house on the other side.
+
+"So she went on her way, singing and skipping. When she grew tired she
+sat down to rest. When she grew thirsty she drank of the clear, cold
+water that ran through the fields. When she became hungry, she ate the
+berries that grew along the way. She was perfectly satisfied that she
+would soon come to her nurse's house. But the sun doesn't stop for
+grown people, much less for children, and the little girl soon found
+that night was coming on. The only thought she had was that her
+nurse's house had been moved farther away, and that by going straight
+ahead she would find it after a while.
+
+"So she trudged along. When the sun was nearly down she saw an old man
+sitting in the shade of a tree. The little girl went straight towards
+him, made him a curtsey, as she had been taught to do, and said:--
+
+"'Please, sir, where is my nurse's house?'
+
+"The old man raised his head and glanced all around. 'I see no nurse's
+house,' he replied.
+
+"Then, after a little while the old man said: 'My dear, give me a
+drink of water.'
+
+[Illustration: THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE OLD MAN]
+
+"The little girl looked all around. 'I see no water,' she replied.
+
+"'Well said, well said!' exclaimed the old man. 'You are very bright
+and very beautiful, therefore I'll give you some advice. There is a
+spring by yonder tree, but you must not drink the water. There is a
+pomegranate-tree growing by the spring, but you must eat none of the
+fruit.'
+
+"Having said this, the old man slung his wallet over his back and went
+on his way. The little girl went to the spring and looked at the
+water. Then she looked at the beautiful red fruit growing on the
+pomegranate-tree. She was very thirsty, very hungry, and very tired.
+She thought to herself that the old man was very mean and stingy.
+'He's afraid I'll muddy the water,' she said, 'and he wants all the
+pomegranates for himself.'
+
+"Then she drank from the spring, and the water was very sweet and
+cool. She ate the fruit of the pomegranate-tree, and it was delicious.
+Then being tired, she stretched herself out on the grass and was soon
+sound asleep.
+
+"Now it so happened," continued Mrs. Meadows, pretending to examine
+the stitches in Sweetest Susan's frock "that the spring and the
+pomegranate-tree were under a spell. They belonged to an old Conjurer
+who lived in a cave close by. In this cave he had a large bowl of
+water on a shelf, and near it, growing in a box, was a little
+pomegranate-bush. Whenever anybody drank from the spring, the water in
+the bowl would shake and tremble and become muddy; and whenever a
+pomegranate was pulled from the big bush by the spring, the little
+bush in the Conjurer's cave would bend and wave its limbs as if a gale
+were blowing.
+
+"All this occurred when the little girl drank from the spring and
+pulled and ate one of the pomegranates; and by the time she was sound
+asleep, the Conjurer had come out of his cave and discovered her. He
+waited a little while, and then took the child and carried her to his
+cave, and it was many a long day before anybody, except the Conjurer
+himself, saw her again."
+
+At this point Mrs. Meadows paused.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII.
+
+MRS. MEADOWS RESUMES HER STORY.
+
+
+The pause was occasioned by Mr. Rabbit. He had fallen into a doze
+while Mrs. Meadows was telling her story, and just as she came to the
+point where the Conjurer had lifted the little girl in his arms and
+carried her into his cave, Mr. Rabbit had dreamed that he was falling.
+His chair was tilted back a little, and he made such a mighty effort
+to keep himself from falling in his dream that he lost his balance and
+went over sure enough.
+
+"I declare!" he exclaimed. "I ought to be ashamed of myself to be
+falling heels over head this way without any reason in the world, and
+right before company too. Wasn't there something in your story about
+falling?"
+
+"Not a word!" replied Mrs. Meadows firmly.
+
+"Well, well, well!" exclaimed Mr. Rabbit. "I'll try and keep my eyes
+open hereafter."
+
+The children tried their best to keep from laughing at Mr. Rabbit's
+predicament, but Drusilla was finally compelled to give way to her
+desire, and then they all joined in, even Mr. Rabbit smiling somewhat
+grimly.
+
+"Let me see," said Mrs. Meadows, after a while; "the last we heard of
+the little girl I was telling you about, the Conjurer had carried her
+into his cave?"
+
+"Yes," answered Sweetest Susan; "and now I want to know what became of
+her."
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Meadows, "the shortest way to tell you that is the
+best way. It happened that on the very day the little girl ran away to
+visit her nurse, the nurse had concluded to visit the little girl. So
+she put on her best things and went to the little girl's home. When
+the woman came to the garden she saw the gate open, and presently her
+husband, the gardener, came out trundling a load of weeds and trash in
+his wheelbarrow. She asked about the little girl.
+
+"'She was playing under the trees yonder awhile ago,' said the man. 'I
+haven't seen her since.'
+
+"The woman went into the garden and searched among the trees and
+arbors, but no little girl could she find.
+
+"'Having come so far,' she said to herself, 'I'll not go back without
+seeing the precious little creature.' So she went towards the house,
+searching for the child. She inquired of every servant she met where
+the little girl was, and finally went into the house searching for
+her. At last she came to the room where sat her former mistress. But
+the child was not there.
+
+"In a very short while there was a tremendous uproar in the place. The
+maid servants and the men servants went running about through the
+house, through the yard, and through the garden, calling the little
+girl. They hunted in every hole and corner, and in every nook and
+cranny, but the child was not to be found.
+
+"The kind-hearted nurse wept almost as bitterly as the mother. 'Oh, if
+I had been here,' she cried, 'this would never have happened.'
+
+"The little girl's father came in just in time to hear this, and he
+immediately suspected that the nurse had stolen his daughter and would
+pretend to find her again in the hope of securing a reward. He said
+nothing of his suspicions, but he determined to have the nurse
+closely watched.
+
+"He was so firmly convinced that his suspicion was correct that he
+treated his daughter's disappearance somewhat lightly, and this helped
+to console the mother. When it became certain that the little girl was
+not to be found in the house or on the place, her father called one of
+his trusty clerks (for he was a rich and powerful merchant), and told
+him to disguise himself as a peddler, go to the nurse's house, and
+there discover, if possible, where the nurse had bestowed the child.
+
+"The clerk did as he was directed, but when he arrived at the nurse's
+house, disguised as a peddler, he was surprised to find as much grief
+under that humble roof as there was at his master's house. He knocked
+at the door and inquired the cause of the trouble, hoping to discover
+that the display of grief was a mere sham. But he soon saw it was
+genuine. Both the woman and her handsome son were weeping bitterly
+over the disappearance of the little girl.
+
+"'May I get a bite to eat?' asked the peddler.
+
+"'That you may!' exclaimed the woman, 'for we shall need nothing
+ourselves, until we hear some news of that precious child.' Then she
+told the peddler about the strange disappearance of the little girl
+she used to nurse, and the peddler, in order to carry out his purpose,
+asked a great many questions. When he was told that the parents of the
+little girl were very rich he laughed, and said that if they had
+plenty of money they could get along very well without a little girl,
+but this made the woman and her son so angry that they were on the
+point of showing the peddler the door. They were ready to dismiss him
+with many hard words, when they heard some one calling.
+
+"The son went into the yard, and found that an old man had fallen not
+far from their gate and was unable to rise. The woman went to help her
+son bring the old man in, and while they were gone the peddler took
+his leave without so much as saying good-by.
+
+"With a good deal of trouble the old man was brought into the house,
+and made comfortable, but no sooner had he been placed upon the
+woman's bed than he leaped to his feet and stood on the floor,
+laughing.
+
+"'I have fallen at a dozen doors to-day,' he cried, 'and this is the
+first that has been opened to me.'
+
+"'Well,' replied the woman, 'if we had known you were playing pranks
+on us I don't think this door would have opened to you. We are having
+too much trouble ourselves to pester with other people's troubles.'
+
+"Then she went on to tell of the disappearance of the little girl she
+used to nurse. The old man tried to get in a word of consolation, now
+and then, but the woman talked too fast for that. But presently she
+had told about all she had to tell.
+
+"'See how it turns out!' cried the old man. 'How can it be accident
+that brings to your door the only person in the world that can give
+you any tidings of the little girl? I saw a child to-day some miles
+from here who asked me to show her her nurse's house.'
+
+"'Bless her dear little heart!' exclaimed the woman.
+
+"'But she was in great danger,' said the old man. 'She was just about
+to enter the domain of Rimrak.'
+
+"'Ah, why didn't you bring her away with you?' cried the woman.
+
+"'It is not permitted,' replied the old man. 'I did what I could. I
+warned her not to drink of the waters of the spring nor to eat of the
+pomegranate-seed. I could do no more.'
+
+"'Oh, what will become of the dear child?' exclaimed the woman,
+wringing her hands.
+
+"'If she drinks of the waters of the spring,' responded the old man,
+'or eats of the pomegranate-seed, she will fall into a deep sleep.
+Then will come Rimrak, the Conjurer, and convey her to his cave, and
+there she will be held captive until she forgets she is a captive, or
+until she has been rescued by some bold youth who loves her well
+enough to remember the color of her eyes.'
+
+"'I remember! I remember!' cried the woman's handsome son.
+
+"'Be not too sure,' replied the old man. 'Sit down and think it over.'
+
+"'No need for that,' said the boy. 'Her eyes once seen can never be
+forgotten.'
+
+"'Oho!' exclaimed the old man. 'Then perhaps you can tell me the color
+of the little girl's eyes?'
+
+"'Certainly,' said the boy. 'They are brown when she lifts them to
+your face and dark when she looks away from you.'
+
+"The old man nodded his head with a greater display of good humor than
+he had yet shown.
+
+"'Ah, you think so,' said the old man, warningly; 'you think you know,
+but be not too sure.'
+
+"'Why, I can see her now!' exclaimed the boy.
+
+"'Where?' cried his mother; 'oh, where?'
+
+"The boy fell back in his seat and covered his face with his hands.
+
+"'He was speaking of his memory,' said the old man. 'If he can trust
+it, well and good.'
+
+"'You should have brought the child home with you,' said the
+matter-of-fact woman.
+
+"'It was not in my power,' replied the old man. 'She had gone too far.
+She had already entered the domain of Rimrak, the Conjurer. All that I
+could do I did. I warned her not to drink of the waters of the spring.
+I warned her not to eat of the seed of the pomegranate. But now that I
+am here, let us see what can be done.'
+
+"He went to his wallet, which he had placed on the table, opened it
+and took from it three knives. One was a clasp-knife with a long, slim
+blade, the next was a common case-knife, and the third was a big
+butcher's-knife. The case-knife had once had a horn or wooden handle,
+but this had dropped off, and the iron that held the knife in place
+had been run into a corncob. The old man took these knives from his
+wallet, one by one, and placed them on the table.
+
+"'Now listen to me,' he said to the boy. 'All will go well with you if
+you are bold, and if you really remember the color of the little
+girl's eyes. Here are your arms. This,' taking up the clasp-knife, 'is
+Keen-Point. This,' taking up the case-knife, 'is Cob-Handle. And this
+is Butch. Remember their names,--Keen-Point, Cob-Handle, and Butch.
+Keen-Point is to show you the way, Cob-Handle is to warn you of
+danger, and Butch is to protect you. But they will all fail you--they
+will all go wrong--if you do not remember the color of the little
+girl's eyes.'
+
+"The boy took Keen-Point, Cob-Handle, and Butch, and stowed them away
+in a wallet, in which his mother placed a supply of food. Then he set
+out on his journey, with a light heart. He was not afraid, for he knew
+that he loved the little girl well enough to remember the color of her
+eyes. He went on his way till he came to the open fields where no one
+lived. He had been there many a time before, but now it seemed to him
+that he had never seen so many paths and by-ways. They led in all
+directions and crossed each other almost at every turn.
+
+"He stopped and looked all around, and then he took Keen-Point from
+his wallet, and said:--
+
+    "'Keen-Point can, Keen-Point may,
+    Point keen and true, and show me the way.'
+
+"As soon as he said this, the knife tumbled from his hand and fell to
+the ground, the end of the keen blade pointing towards one of the many
+footpaths. The boy picked it up, and it tumbled from his hand again,
+pointing in the same direction. He picked it up the second time, and
+again the knife fell from his hand and pointed to the footpath. For
+the third time he lifted the knife from the ground, and as it fell no
+more, he placed it in his wallet, and went on his way.
+
+"Thus he continued for many hours. When he was in doubt about the
+way, Keen-Point would show him. When he grew hungry, he ate the food
+his mother had placed in his wallet. It was late in the day when he
+started, and before he came to the spring and the pomegranate-tree,
+the sun went down and night came on. The boy stopped under a
+wide-spreading tree, said his prayers, placed his wallet under his
+head for a pillow, and went to sleep.
+
+"Bright and early the next morning he was up and going. Whenever he
+had any doubt about the way, Keen-Point would show him, and before the
+sun was up very high, he came in sight of the pomegranate-tree, with
+its red and golden fruit, and he knew the spring was close by.
+
+"As he went on he grew thirstier, and thirstier, and when he came to
+where the cool, clear waters of the spring were bubbling from the
+ground with a sort of gurgling sound, his throat and mouth seemed to
+be as dry as paper. More than that, when he came to the spring, a
+traveler was sitting on one of the stones that lay around, drinking
+the water from a silver cup and peeling the rind from a pomegranate
+with a silver knife. The traveler had a very pleasant face and
+manner, and he spoke to the boy in the kindest way.
+
+"'If you want some water,' he said, 'you may drink from my silver cup.
+If you are hungry, you may peel a pomegranate with my silver knife.'
+
+"The boy thanked the traveler and said that he would eat and drink
+later in the day. He thought to himself that a man who could drink
+from a silver cup and eat with a silver knife ought to be able to
+travel in a carriage or on horseback, but there was no horse nor
+carriage in sight.
+
+"'Well,' said the traveler, 'if you will neither eat nor drink, you
+can at least rest yourself.'
+
+"So the boy seated himself on one of the big rocks close by the
+spring, and the traveler began to ask him all sorts of questions. What
+was his name, and where did he come from, and where was he going."
+
+"What _was_ his name?" asked Sweetest Susan suddenly.
+
+"Well, I declare!" exclaimed Mrs. Meadows, "haven't I told you his
+name?"
+
+"If you did, we didn't hear you," said Buster John.
+
+Mrs. Meadows raised her hands above her head and let them fall
+helplessly in her lap. "I told you I didn't know how to tell stories!"
+she cried. "You had fair warning. Well, well, well! And I never even
+told you his name!" She paused and stared at the children as if she
+wanted them to pity her weakness. "To think that I should forget to
+call his name! Everybody knew it in my day and time, and they knew
+about his wonderful adventures.
+
+"His name was Valentine, because he was born on St. Valentine's Day,
+and the little girl's name was Geraldine.
+
+"Well, the traveler asked Valentine all sorts of questions, and tried
+hard to persuade him to drink some of the water and eat the
+pomegranate-seed.
+
+"'I have heard,' said the traveler, 'that all this country around here
+is ruled by a cruel Conjurer, and that he has power over all except
+those who may chance to find this spring and this pomegranate-tree in
+passing, and drink of the water and eat of the fruit.'
+
+"But Valentine shook his head. He said he would rather have milk than
+water any day, and as for pomegranates, he had no taste for them.
+
+"'Then I would advise you to go no farther,' said the traveler. 'If
+you fall into the hands of the Conjurer, you will never escape.'
+
+"'I have heard of this great Conjurer,' replied Valentine, 'and I
+should like nothing better than to see him.'
+
+"He took Keen-Point from his wallet and pretended to be playing with
+it, letting it fall and picking it up. The knife pointed beyond the
+spring and the pomegranate-tree, and in a little while Valentine went
+on his journey. On the hill beyond the spring, he turned and looked
+back, but the traveler had disappeared. As there was no place where he
+could hide, Valentine concluded that the man he had seen was no
+traveler at all, but Rimrak, the Conjurer.
+
+"But he was not afraid. He went on his way, and, after a little, came
+to a grove of the tallest and biggest trees he had ever seen. As he
+was passing through this grove, he suddenly saw two tremendous spiders
+running about among the trees before and behind him. Their bodies were
+as big as a feather bed when it is rolled up, and they were pretty
+much the same color. Valentine watched their antics a few minutes, and
+soon saw they were spinning a web among the trees and that he was in
+the middle of it.
+
+"The big spiders ran about on the ground spinning their webs around
+him, and then they began to jump from tree to tree. Valentine began to
+have a creepy feeling up and down his back, for he didn't relish the
+idea of being caught in a spider's web like a bluebottle fly. He
+wondered why Cob-Handle hadn't warned him of the danger, and then he
+remembered that the case-knife was wrapped so tightly in his wallet
+that it couldn't give a warning if it was to try. So he took all the
+knives from the wallet,--Keen-Point, Cob-Handle, and Butch,--and
+placed them in his girdle.
+
+"Valentine hardly had time to fasten the straps about the wallet,
+before he felt Cob-Handle jumping about and thumping against his side.
+Then he saw one of the big spiders coming towards him. Big as it was
+it moved nimbly, and before Valentine had time to get out of the way,
+it ran around him and wrapped a strand of its web about his legs. The
+strand was as big as a stout twine and as strong and as hard as wire.
+Then the big spider turned and came back, but by this time Valentine
+had drawn Butch from his belt, and as the ugly creature came near he
+struck at it with the knife, and cut off one of its hairy legs. The
+creature was so full of life and venom that its leg jumped around and
+clawed the ground for some little time.
+
+"Holding Butch point down and edge outwards, Valentine cut the strand
+of web that held his legs. It was so large, and drawn so tightly about
+him, that it sounded like somebody had broken a fiddle-string. In this
+way he cut his way through the web. The crippled spider ran to his
+mate, and the two stood watching Valentine, their eyes shining green
+and venomous, and their jaws working as if they were chewing
+something."
+
+"They were sharpening their teeth," Buster John suggested.
+
+"I reckon so," replied Mrs. Meadows. "Anyhow they were ugly enough to
+scare anybody. Valentine cut his way through the web and marched out
+on the other side. He rested a little and then went on his way; but he
+had not gone far before Cob-Handle began to jump and thump against
+his side. He stopped and looked around, but he could see nothing. He
+listened, but he could hear nothing.
+
+[Illustration: VALENTINE SLAYING THE SPIDER]
+
+"Presently he felt the ground moving beneath his feet, and he ran
+forward as fast as he could. And he didn't run too fast, either, for
+no sooner had he jumped away than a great hole appeared right where he
+had been standing. He could see that it was both wide and deep, but he
+didn't go back to look at it.
+
+"No; he kept on his way, and it wasn't long before Cob-Handle began to
+jump and thump. Keen-Point also began to jump and thump, and showed
+him which way to go, and he ran as fast as he could. He heard a
+roaring sound as he started, and he had hardly got fifty steps away,
+though he was running with all his might, before a tremendous
+whirlwind came along, tearing up the bushes by roots and ploughing the
+ground. It came so close to Valentine that if he had had on a
+long-tail coat, I believe it would have been tangled in the whirlwind.
+
+"I tell you," Mrs. Meadows went on, seeing the children smiling, "it
+was no laughing matter to Valentine. He shivered and trembled when he
+thought what a narrow escape he had had.
+
+"He went on his way, and in a little while Cob-Handle began to jump
+and thump again. Valentine, thus warned, stood still and looked around
+more carefully than he had yet done. Some distance off, he saw a
+horrible creature coming towards him. It was in the shape of a man,
+but it had four arms and hands, and in each hand it was flourishing a
+club. Its hair stood out from its head like the shucks in a
+scouring-mop, and as it came nearer, Valentine saw that it had three
+eyes,--one on each side of its nose, and one in its forehead.
+
+"Keen-Point said, 'Go straight forward,' and then Butch began to jump
+and thump, so Valentine placed Cob-Handle and Keen-Point in his
+girdle, and took Butch in his hand. Holding the point straight before
+him, he went towards the misshapen creature. Its red and watery eyes
+were blinking and winking, and its arms were threshing the air with
+the clubs at such a tremendous rate that Valentine thought his hour
+had surely come. But he shut his eyes and went straight at the
+creature. The sharp point of Butch had no sooner touched the monster
+on its hairy breast than its hands dropped the clubs, and it ran
+howling back the way it came.
+
+"Valentine followed fast enough to see the creature enter a cave, and
+to this, Keen-Point told him he must go. As he went forward, a
+fierce-looking man came from the cave and stood guarding the entrance.
+He was covered from head to foot with silver armor, and he brandished
+a long keen sword with a silver handle. But Valentine went straight
+forward, holding Butch in his hand. The long sword never touched him,
+nor did the silver armor stand in his way. With one blow against Butch
+the long sword was shattered, and the silver armor fell away from
+Rimrak like the hulls from a ripe hickory-nut. Rimrak himself fell
+before Butch and disappeared with a hissing sound; and then the cave
+was no longer dark. Its roof seemed to roll away; and where the cave
+had been, there stood a great company of people who had been held
+captive by the Conjurer. They stood wondering what had happened and
+what would happen next. Among them was Geraldine. She knew Valentine,
+and ran to him, and then he was very happy. The people whom he had
+rescued, gathered around him and thanked him and thanked him; and some
+would have rewarded him, but he said he deserved none. He had come
+after the little girl, and he was not responsible for any accidents
+that happened to other people. This is what he said, and this is how
+he felt; but the people wondered that a young boy should be so bold
+and yet so modest.
+
+"So they talked together, and decided to go with him to his home.
+Their horses and their carriages they found in good order, and in a
+little while they formed a procession. In this way they carried
+Valentine to his home, crying out to the people they passed,--
+
+"'This is our deliverer! This is the brave boy that conquered Rimrak,
+the great Conjurer!'
+
+"They carried Valentine to his home, and then they went with him to
+Geraldine's home. There was great rejoicing in the town. The little
+girl's father was rich, and he called all the people together; and
+they had a big dinner, and everybody was happy. The little girl had
+her old nurse back, and she grew up to be a beautiful young woman, and
+Valentine grew up to be a handsome young man."
+
+
+
+
+XIX.
+
+A STORY OF THE RIVER.
+
+
+"I think that was a beautiful story," said Sweetest Susan, when Mrs.
+Meadows paused; "but was that the end?"
+
+"Why, wasn't that enough?" inquired Mr. Rabbit sleepily. "What more
+could you ask? Didn't the boy and girl get back home where they could
+get something to eat?"
+
+"What became of them?" asked Buster John. "The stories about boys and
+girls in books say they married and lived happily ever after."
+
+"Oh, yes!" cried Mr. Thimblefinger. "I've heard about it. I remember
+the poetry,--
+
+    "'They married, then, and lived in clover,
+    And when they died, they died all over.'"
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Meadows, "I thought surely you'd get tired of
+Valentine and Geraldine by the time they got back home, and so I
+thought we'd do well to leave them there. Still, if you are not
+tired--" Mrs. Meadows paused and looked at the children.
+
+"Oh, we are not tired," protested Buster John.
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Meadows, "if that's the case, I'll tell you what
+happened after Valentine and Geraldine went back home. Of course,
+Geraldine's father and mother were very proud and happy when their
+little girl was brought back to them. They were very grateful to
+Valentine, and they offered him money. But somehow Valentine didn't
+want their money. He said that the pleasure of getting Geraldine out
+of the hands of the wicked Conjurer was reward enough for him, and so
+he shook his head and refused the money that was offered him.
+
+"Now, the little girl's father was rich and prosperous, while
+Valentine was very poor, and it was natural that the rich man should
+wonder why the boy, who was poor, should refuse money. Somehow, he
+took a dislike to Valentine. He said to himself that a boy who would
+refuse money as a free gift would never be prosperous.
+
+"As time went on, Valentine grew to be a handsome young man, but he
+was still poor. He went to see Geraldine sometimes, but as she grew
+older, she grew shyer. Valentine couldn't understand this, but he
+thought it was because she was old enough to know that she was rich
+and he was poor.
+
+"He said to her one day. 'You are not as friendly as you used to be.'
+
+"'Oh, yes I am,' she replied. 'I shall always be friendly with you.'
+
+"'No,' said he, 'you have changed.'
+
+"'No more than you,' was her answer.
+
+"'I changed?' he cried. 'I love you more than I ever did.'
+
+"With that Geraldine hung her head to hide her blushes, but Valentine
+thought she was angry. He turned on his heel and would have gone away,
+but she called him back, and told him not to go away angry--and then
+they made it up somehow. Valentine said he would speak to Geraldine's
+father. This he did, but the father shook his head.
+
+"'You want to take her to a hut?' he cried. 'Why she might as well
+have stayed in the Conjurer's cave. Go and get you a fortune, and then
+come back, and maybe we'll talk the matter over.'
+
+"Valentine went away very sad. He never turned his head, although
+Geraldine was watching him from a window, ready to wave her hand and
+throw him a kiss. He wandered off into the woods until he came to the
+bank of the River, and there he sat watching the water go by. He
+watched it until he almost forgot his own trouble. It went along
+slowly and majestically, and sometimes it seemed to come eddying back
+to kiss the bank at his feet. For a little while it smoothed the
+wrinkles in his mind. He wondered where the River came from and where
+it was going to. It was always coming and always going, and there was
+never an end to it. All day long it went by, sometimes laughing and
+playing in the shallows and sometimes sighing a little under the
+willows.
+
+"Valentine watched it and listened to the pleasant sounds it made
+until he began to feel as if the River was something like a friend and
+companion. It soothed his grief and drove away his loneliness. Being
+alone, he began to speak his thoughts aloud.
+
+"'Oh! I wish I had a friend as strong and as powerful as the River!'
+he cried.
+
+"'And why not?' he heard a voice say. The water at his feet splashed a
+little louder. He looked around, but saw no one; he listened, but
+heard nothing.
+
+"'I wonder who could have spoken?' he said aloud.
+
+"'Who but your friend, the River?' a Voice replied.
+
+"'Please don't mock me, whoever you are. There is no fun in
+misfortune,' said Valentine.
+
+"'None at all' responded the Voice. 'I am your friend the River. I
+will give you all the aid in my power.'
+
+"'How am I to know the River is talking?' Valentine asked.
+
+"'By this,' replied the River. At the word, a wave larger than all the
+rest sprang up the bank, and threw its spray in Valentine's hair and
+face. 'That is my salute,' said the River. 'It is a rough way, but I
+know no other. Now, how can I aid you?'
+
+"'That is what troubles me,' responded Valentine. 'You are always
+going; you never stay.'
+
+"'True,' said the River; 'but I am always coming. Therefore I must be
+always returning.'
+
+"'But how?' Valentine asked.
+
+"'Not this way,' said the River, 'but over your head. When in the
+early morning, or in the warmer noon, or in the pleasant evenings, you
+see the white clouds flying westward, you may be sure that I am
+returning.' Then the River broke into a thousand ripples, as if
+smiling.
+
+"But Valentine sat with a very serious face. 'I do not know how you
+can aid me,' he sighed.
+
+"'I know what you wish,' the River replied. 'You wish riches.'
+
+"'Yes,' said Valentine, 'but not for the sake of the riches
+themselves.'
+
+"'Of course not!' the River exclaimed. 'Riches would be worthless if
+they could not command something better; and they are worse than
+worthless when the power they give is used for evil. I can give you
+riches, but not without your help. I can give you the power to obtain
+wealth, but I cannot give you the power to use it as it should be
+used.'
+
+"Valentine listened to the mysterious Voice of the River like one in a
+dream. He could hardly believe his ears.
+
+"'You say nothing,' said the River; 'you seem half asleep. But if I am
+to help you, you must help yourself. Walk by my side a little way.
+Further down you will come to a boat that has drifted against the
+bank.'
+
+[Illustration: VALENTINE TALKING TO THE RIVER]
+
+"Valentine rose and stretched himself, and walked by the side of the
+River. He had not gone far before he came upon a boat that had drifted
+into an eddy. It lay there rocking, and a long oar rested against the
+seat.
+
+"'Jump in,' said the River; 'shove the boat away from the bank and
+trust to me. Take the oar and pull, and I will push you along.'
+
+"Valentine did as he was told, and he soon found that the boat was
+gliding swiftly along. The trees and houses on each side seemed to be
+running a race to the rear, and the boats that he passed on the River
+seemed to be standing still. He went on for some hours, always
+trusting to the River. When he grew tired, he held his oar in the air
+and rested, but whether he rested or whether he rowed, he saw that his
+boat was always gliding swiftly along.
+
+"Presently, in the far distance, he could see the spires and steeples
+of a city, and he wondered whether he would be compelled to go gliding
+by, or whether the River would land him there. But he was not left
+long in doubt.
+
+"'That is your future home,' said the River. 'There you will find
+friends, and there you will become rich and famous.'
+
+"'But how?' asked Valentine.
+
+"'I can only tell you the beginning,' replied the River. 'When your
+boat glides to the landing-place, you will see there an old gentleman
+richly dressed. He will ask you if you have seen his little son. He
+has been there every day for two days, and he has asked of all comers
+the same question.'
+
+"'What shall I say to him?' asked Valentine.
+
+"'Tell him you have not seen his son,' replied the River, 'but that
+you feel sure you can find the boy. Tell the old gentleman that you
+have come a long journey, and need rest, but that when you have
+refreshed yourself, you will go and seek his son.'
+
+"'But where shall I seek for the boy?' asked Valentine.
+
+"'Come to me,' said the River. 'I will be here. I am always going, and
+yet I am always coming.'
+
+"By this time they had come to the city. 'Row for the landing,' said
+the River; 'your fortune is there.'
+
+"Valentine dipped his oar in the water and rowed to the landing. He
+leaped from his boat, threw the chain around a stake, and looked
+around. Sure enough, an old gentleman, richly dressed, was walking up
+and down, his hands crossed behind him. When he saw Valentine he
+paused and looked at him. Valentine bowed politely as he had been
+taught to do.
+
+"'You are a comely lad,' said the old gentleman. 'Did you come down
+the River, or from below?'
+
+"'I came down the River,' replied Valentine, touching his hat again.
+
+"'I have lost my youngest son,' said the old gentleman. 'He is a
+little boy about six years old. He wandered from home two days ago,
+came to the River landing, and was last seen playing in a boat. I have
+been trying to find him. My boats have been searching in all
+directions, but the child cannot be found.'
+
+"'I think I can find him,' said Valentine, 'but first I must rest and
+refresh myself. I have come a long journey, and I am tired.'
+
+"The old gentleman seized him by the hand. 'Come with me!' he
+exclaimed. 'You shall go to my house. Your every want shall be
+supplied. If you succeed in finding my lost boy you shall have
+whatever you ask for.'
+
+"'I shall ask for nothing,' replied Valentine. 'The pleasure I shall
+have in restoring your son to your arms will be sufficient reward for
+me.'
+
+"'Nevertheless,' said the gentleman, 'you shall have a more
+substantial reward than that.'
+
+"So he took Valentine home, and treated him with the greatest
+kindness. He was served with rich food and the finest spiced wines,
+and fitted out with an elegant suit of clothes. Early the next
+morning, Valentine thanked the gentleman for his kindness.
+
+"'I go now,' he said, 'to find your son. Watch for me near the River.
+I may return soon, or I may be gone long, but when I return I will
+bring your son.'
+
+"'You are young,' remarked the gentleman. 'You are hopeful and brave.
+You imagine you can succeed where others have failed. But I fear not.
+My lost boy has been sought by men older than you, and quite as brave,
+but they have not found him.'
+
+"'Certainly, I may fail,' Valentine replied. 'If I depended on myself
+alone, I know I would fail. But I trust in Providence.'
+
+"Valentine and the gentleman then went to the River--one to go in
+search of the lost child, and the other to watch and wait for the
+return. Valentine went to the water's edge.
+
+"'Get a boat with a sail,' whispered the River, lapping the sand at
+his feet. This was provided at once, for the gentleman was very
+wealthy, and then Valentine set out on his voyage. 'Go back the way
+you came,' said the River, 'but keep out of the middle current. Let
+the wind fill your sails and carry you near the shore, on the right.'
+With the River to direct him, Valentine sailed along with a light
+heart and a happy mind. For more than two hours he journeyed up the
+River, and it was not until the sun was low in the west that the River
+told him to lower the sails of his boat. This done, the River carried
+his boat gently ashore, and as it glided on the sand, he saw, near by,
+a boat, in which a little boy lay fast asleep. Without disturbing him,
+Valentine lifted the little fellow in his arms, and transferred him to
+the new boat, in which wraps, and cloaks, and food had been placed.
+
+"It was easy to guess how the little boy had been lost. He had gone
+to play in a boat, which broke loose from its fastenings, and drifted
+slowly up the River in the eddies that play hide and seek near the
+bank. The first day the searchers searched for him, they went too far.
+The next day they searched too near, and so the child drifted and
+drifted, and was lost sure enough. He was very cold and wet when
+Valentine found him, but in a little while he was warmly wrapped in
+the cloaks that had been provided.
+
+"'Take his boat in tow,' said the River. 'Let your sails stay down,
+and take the oars and row home as hard as you can.'
+
+"The River helped with its swift current, and it was not long before
+Valentine caught a glimpse of the bonfire that was burning at the
+landing to light him back to the city.
+
+"There was great rejoicing when Valentine returned with the lost
+child. The bells were rung and salutes fired from the big cannon that
+commanded the approaches to the city. It turned out that the gentleman
+whose child Valentine had found was the ruler of the city, and you may
+depend upon it he was grateful to the unknown young man.
+
+"But in all large cities there are some envious people, and these
+soon had it whispered about that Valentine was a mere adventurer who
+had stolen the child and hid it so that he might rescue it again when
+a big reward was offered. These whispers grew thicker and thicker
+until at last they reached the ears of every one. No one knew
+Valentine, and appearances were against him, but one day he was
+approached by an old man with a long white beard, who asked him from
+whence he came. The old man was so kind and agreeable in his manner
+that Valentine told him the story of the rescue of Geraldine.
+
+"Much to his surprise the old man rose and embraced him. 'Come with
+me!' he cried. So saying, he carried Valentine to the marketplace, and
+there in the presence of a great crowd of people, the old man said:--
+
+"'Behold my rescuer! Behold the brave youth who conquered Rimrak, the
+Conjurer.'
+
+"This closed the mouths of the envious, and when that happens, there
+is not much more to tell in any story."
+
+Here Mrs. Meadows paused and looked at Mr. Rabbit, who sat fast asleep
+in his chair.
+
+"Did he get rich and marry Geraldine?" inquired Sweetest Susan.
+
+"Why of course," replied Mrs. Meadows. "Do you reckon he'd have gone
+through all these ups and downs if he wasn't to marry and settle down
+and be happy in the end?"
+
+"Well," said Buster John, "it was a pretty good story."
+
+"I speck so," remarked Drusilla, "but dey's lots too much richness in
+it fer me."
+
+Mrs. Meadows laughed so heartily at this that Mr. Rabbit was aroused
+from his nap, and looked around in surprise.
+
+"Did I hear somebody say supper was ready?" he asked.
+
+Mrs. Meadows laughed again, but this time she glanced at the sky of
+Mr. Thimblefinger's queer country. It had grown perceptibly darker.
+Mr. Thimblefinger drew out his little watch. Mr. Rabbit closed one
+eye, and sat as if listening for something.
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Meadows with a sigh, "I reckon we'll have to tell
+you good-by for this time, but I do hope you'll come again. I declare
+it has been a treat to have some new somebody to talk to. By the
+time you get back home the sun will be setting in your country, and
+your folks will begin to be uneasy about you."
+
+[Illustration: BUSTER JOHN SHAKING HANDS WITH MR. RABBIT]
+
+The children were not at all anxious to go. They had had a very
+curious experience in Mr. Thimblefinger's queer country, and they had
+almost forgotten that the sun in their part of the world had a habit
+of going down. But they said they were ready, and then they shook
+hands all around. When Buster John came to shake hands with Mr.
+Rabbit, the latter looked at the youngster a moment.
+
+"Did you ever happen to know a colored man named Aaron?" he asked.
+
+"Uncle Aaron!" exclaimed Buster John. "Why, he lives on our
+plantation. He's the foreman."
+
+"Well," said Mr. Rabbit solemnly, "when you see Aaron, take his left
+hand in both of yours, bend his thumb back a little, and with your
+right thumb make this mark *. The first time he will pay no attention.
+Make it the second time. Then he will be ready to listen. Make it the
+third time. Then he will ask you what you want. Say to him that you
+want to learn the language of the animals."
+
+"Won't he get angry?" asked Buster John.
+
+"Try him," replied Mr. Rabbit with a cunning look. "Now, good-by!"
+
+"When you get ready to come again," said Mrs. Meadows, "just drop a
+big apple in the spring, and I'll be bound we'll all see it and know
+what it means. And when you come be sure and bring the apple. It's
+been a month of Sundays since I've had one."
+
+The children promised they would, and then, with Mr. Thimblefinger
+leading the way, they started home, which they reached without further
+adventure. As they stood on the brink of the spring, waving their
+hands to Mr. Thimblefinger, who was smiling at them from the bottom,
+Drusilla remarked with unction:--
+
+"I dunner how 't is wid you all, but I don't no mo' b'lieve we been
+down dar under dat water dar dan--dan--dan de man in de moon. Dat I
+don't!"
+
+Then the youngsters heard the supper-bell ring, and they all ran
+towards the house.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note
+
+Minor typographic errors have been corrected without note.
+
+Some illustrations have been moved slightly so that they are not
+mid-paragraph.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Little Mr. Thimblefinger and His Queer
+Country, by Joel Chandler Harris
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MR. THIMBLEFINGER ***
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