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+Project Gutenberg's Minnie; or, The Little Woman, by Caroline Snowden Guild
+
+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: Minnie; or, The Little Woman
+       A Fairy Story
+
+Author: Caroline Snowden Guild
+
+Release Date: July 17, 2011 [EBook #36760]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MINNIE; OR, THE LITTLE WOMAN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Heather Clark and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  MINNIE;
+  OR,
+  THE LITTLE WOMAN
+
+  A Fairy Story.
+
+  BY THE AUTHOR OF "VIOLET."
+
+
+  BOSTON:
+  PHILLIPS, SAMPSON AND COMPANY,
+  13 WINTER STREET.
+  1857.
+
+
+
+
+  Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by
+  PHILLIPS, SAMPSON & CO.,
+  In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of
+  Massachusetts.
+
+
+  STEREOTYPED BY
+  HOBART & ROBBINS,
+  New England Type and Stereotype Foundry,
+  BOSTON.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: MINNIE AND THE SQUIRREL.]
+
+
+
+
+HOW THE STORY CAME TO BE WRITTEN.
+
+
+One evening, last summer, a little girl, with laughing eyes that no one
+could resist, looked up into my face, and said,
+
+"'Touldn't you wite me a story?"
+
+"Yes. What shall it be about?" was the answer.
+
+"O, wite something I could wead myself,--something with
+pictures,--something like Tom Thumb, you know; and I shouldn't care if
+it had pink covers, too, and wasn't larger than--this." And she held up
+the palm of a rosy hand.
+
+In a moment more she came bounding back to whisper, "I shouldn't care if
+you left off the fingers, only make a _cunning_ story, and something I
+can wead."
+
+Instead of leaving off, I should have to add a great many of Minnie's
+fingers, to cover the book, which would grow so large, and I couldn't
+help it, any more than you can when a little bud opens out to a great
+flower. So, I ask her forgiveness; hoping that she will find, inside of
+the volume, something "cunning" enough to make her forget the covers.
+
+And now, dear children, if you like my story, you must all thank Minnie
+C----, to whom it is dedicated, with the heartiest good wishes of
+
+    THE AUTHOR.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                           PAGE
+
+  CHAPTER   I.--RODOCANACHI,                  9
+
+     "     II.--DANDELION,                   15
+
+     "    III.--MINNIE'S HOME,               21
+
+     "     IV.--MINNIE AND THE SQUIRREL,     26
+
+     "      V.--A SQUIRREL-BACK RIDE,        31
+
+     "     VI.--LIVING IN A TREE,            36
+
+     "    VII.--MASTER SQUIRREL,             40
+
+     "   VIII.--NIGHT,                       45
+
+     "     IX.--THE NEW HOME,                51
+
+     "      X.--IN THE WOODS,                56
+
+     "     XI.--THE SQUIRREL'S PARTY,        60
+
+     "    XII.--BY THE RIVER,                63
+
+     "   XIII.--YELLOW-BIRD,                 70
+
+     "    XIV.--IN A BIRD'S NEST,            75
+
+     "     XV.--MINNIE AND THE BIRDS,        81
+
+     "    XVI.--THE SQUIRREL'S TEAM,         87
+
+     "   XVII.--THE MOONLIGHT DANCE,         92
+
+     "  XVIII.--THE LITTLE NURSES,           96
+
+     "    XIX.--MOUSE,                      100
+
+     "     XX.--HOUSEKEEPING,               104
+
+     "    XXI.--TROUBLE FOR MINNIE,         108
+
+     "   XXII.--TROUBLE STILL,              113
+
+     "  XXIII.--FREE AT LAST,               118
+
+     "   XXIV.--TURTLE,                     123
+
+     "    XXV.--MINNIE'S WINGS,             127
+
+     "   XXVI.--HIDE-AND-SEEK,              130
+
+     "  XXVII.--MINNIE IN PRISON,           135
+
+     " XXVIII.--NARROW ESCAPES,             140
+
+     "   XXIX.--THE LITTLE SEAMSTRESS,      146
+
+     "    XXX.--STORK,                      151
+
+     "   XXXI.--THE SEA-SHORE,              156
+
+     "  XXXII.--STORM AND CALM,             161
+
+
+
+
+  MINNIE;
+  OR,
+  THE LITTLE WOMAN.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+RODOCANACHI.
+
+
+Somewhere in Massachusetts is a little town as beautiful as a garden.
+Nay, in summer-time I think this place is prettier than a garden; for it
+is not laid out in long, stiff beds and paths; but the roads wind about
+like rivers under its shady trees, and, wherever you see a bed of
+flowers, a cosey little house is sure to rise up in its midst; and then
+the hills,---- Did you ever read about the giant, who wouldn't give the
+fairies any peace, but chopped them up for mince-meat, and did all
+kinds of wicked things, till they resolved to kill him, if they could?
+
+The fairy queen, who was very wise, knew that the giant's strength lay
+in a great brass helmet which he wore; so she told her people to watch,
+and, if ever he laid it aside, to steal this, and hide it away.
+
+Now, one summer's day, the giant went hunting, and had such good success
+that he came home with his arms full of game, tired and warm enough.
+
+I don't remember the giant's name: perhaps it was Ugolino, or Loeschigk,
+or Rodocanachi. We'll call it Rodocanachi. Down he threw his game,--the
+deer and squirrels he had killed to eat; and the poor little robins, and
+blue-birds, and humming-birds, he had only killed for the pleasure of
+seeing them flutter down from the boughs where they were singing
+sweetly--down to the ground, with their broken, bloody wings.
+
+Rodocanachi threw his game aside, and then lay down himself to drink
+from a pretty stream that ran bubbling and sparkling under the shady
+trees. He was so thirsty, and had such a monstrous swallow, that,
+before long, the stream stopped flowing, and, wherever the sun fell into
+its bed, the pebbles began to grow white and dry. He had drank it almost
+up, when the giant said to himself, "Bah! what a shallow river, and how
+the pebbles get into my teeth! I must have a drop of wine to take away
+the earthy taste."
+
+There, under the shady trees, Rodocanachi drank and smoked, till his
+head grew hotter than ever, and so confused, that he stretched himself
+upon the grass; and, while trying to collect his thoughts, fell fast
+asleep.
+
+Then, how the fairies flew into sight! Down they swung, from all the
+high oaks and elms, on rope-ladders made of spider-web; and, from under
+the broad mulleins, up they poured in a swarm; from the other side of
+the stream they fitted up rafts of pond-lily leaves, and came floating
+across; for, after the giant turned away, the river had run full again.
+What had seemed beds of fern-leaves came marching down from the
+hill-side, or out from the deep shade,--they were fairy armies, with
+banners all astir; and such a rustling as they made, and such a patter
+of little feet, and flutter of tiny wings, and singing and shouting of
+soft, glad voices, you never heard!
+
+Last came the car of the fairy queen, a pearly pond-lily, lined and
+fringed inside with gold, with a golden seat, and drawn by six
+bright-blue dragon-flies, that sprinkled a light from their transparent
+wings, as the car shed fragrance all along its way.
+
+The queen arose and lifted her sceptre; which was tipped with a diamond
+so bright it shone like a star, and could light a path at midnight
+through the densest wood. She stretched this wand forth, and the noisy
+multitude grew so still--so still that you could not hear a sound,
+except the giant's breathing;--then she spoke:
+
+"The time we have watched and waited for so long, so impatiently, has
+come; the wicked Rodocanachi is in our power at last. Say, what shall we
+do with him, my subjects?"
+
+Then swelled forth a breeze of little voices, so confused that you could
+not tell one from another; and the queen's wand rose again.
+
+"We have not a moment to waste, be still, and hear the advice of my
+general."
+
+"If I have led your armies bravely, O, great queen--"
+
+"Yes, yes," interrupted the queen, "but what shall I do with
+Rodocanachi? I'll praise you, and receive your compliments afterwards."
+
+"Suffer me, then, to go alone, and, with my spear, this tough
+acacia-thorn, put out the giant's eyes."
+
+The fairy shook her head, and turned to a statesman, the greatest in all
+her kingdom:
+
+"What say you?"
+
+"Cut off his hands and feet, and make mince-meat of them, as he made of
+my cousin's family!"
+
+Again the queen shook her head, and turned to a grave judge, the wisest
+man in Fairy-land:
+
+"Let us go together, and, while he sleeps, roll this old sinner off from
+the mountain-top, that his bones may be well broken when he reaches the
+valley below!"
+
+At this the little people all shouted for joy, and some ran towards
+Rodocanachi, impatiently, to begin; but the fairy, with her sparkling
+sceptre, called them back.
+
+Puzzled and sorrowful, great queen as she was, she wrung her little
+hands and wept. "I cannot bear to do such cruel deeds," she sighed; "and
+yet how shall I banish this tyrant, and make my people happy? O, I wish
+any one, who thinks it a pleasant thing to be a queen, could stand in my
+place to-day!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+DANDELION.
+
+
+In the court of the fairy queen was a child, as pretty and gentle as a
+flower; a little boy, whose work it was to gather dew and honey, and
+bring it to his mistress in an acorn-cup, or strewn in separate drops
+over some broad leaf.
+
+Now, this child loved his mistress dearly, and his heart was large and
+true as if it had beat in a larger bosom; he could not bear to think of
+torturing even the cruel Rodocanachi,--much less could he bear to see
+his dear queen grieve.
+
+Little fellow as he was, he tried to make his way toward the fairy's
+chariot; but the people crowded so, and moved their banners about so
+restlessly, that more than once he was thrown to the ground, and trodden
+under their feet.
+
+But Dandelion--that was his name--caught at the tip of one of the
+fern-leaf banners, which happened to lean toward him; and, when it was
+lifted into the air, he swung himself, like a spider, from banner to
+banner, over the heads of the crowd.
+
+Then he climbed up among the pearly, perfumed lily-leaves of the fairy's
+car, and, all powdered over himself with gold-dust from its splendid
+lining, knelt at his mistress' feet.
+
+The queen smiled through her tears,--for she was fond of Dandelion,--and
+asked why he had come at such a time; then said: "Perhaps my pretty one
+can give me some advice." And all the fairy-people laughed at the
+thought of a poor little boy being wiser than statesmen and generals.
+
+Dandelion did not care how small they thought him, if he could but help
+his queen; so he said, bravely:
+
+"O, my great mistress, I was shaking dew out of the cups of white
+violets that grow by the stream, when this giant lay down near me and
+fell asleep. Then all the people hurried, and I with them, to your
+court. I heard you ask what should be done with the wicked
+Rodocanachi; and, when no one had an answer to give, and my mistress
+sorrowed, I crept back all alone to the hill-top, where the giant lay,
+and climbed on his shoulder--"
+
+[Illustration: DANDELION TICKLES THE GIANT'S NOSE.]
+
+"My brave little Dandelion!" said the queen.
+
+"I had picked up a feather, that a wood-dove had just let fall on the
+grass; and with this I tickled Rodocanachi's nose--"
+
+"Fine work!" growled the general. "Suppose you had wakened him, and we
+were all slaves again!"
+
+But the queen, waving the general back to his seat with her sceptre,
+said, "Let the boy go on: I am curious to hear the rest."
+
+"The giant stirred; his head was on uneven ground, and the great brass
+helmet tipped, tipped, tipped, and at last it rolled away, and left his
+forehead bare."
+
+"O, Dandelion, you have saved my kingdom!" said the queen; and the
+people all shouted "Bravo!" and "Hurrah for Dandelion!" as, without
+waiting longer for leave, they rushed to the hill-top where Rodocanachi
+lay.
+
+Then came a clanging sound, as if all the mountains were great brass
+drums, and twenty giants were beating them--it echoed so far and wide.
+
+"Ah, it's the giant's helmet! and now we fairies are safe!" exclaimed
+the queen. She clapped her hands, and the six blue dragon-flies flew to
+the hill-top with their chariot in time for Dandelion to see the helmet,
+still jarring where it had been thrown by the fairy-people, far down
+among the rocks.
+
+"Now, fly, fly quickly," said the queen, "and tear up sods and bushes,
+and gather leaves, till you've hidden the helmet so safely that
+Rodocanachi can never find it again."
+
+Fairies, though little people, are not slow; and when at last the giant,
+with a snore that sounded like thunder, awoke from his sleep, the
+helmet, for which he began to look at once, was nowhere to be seen.
+
+And the giant's strength was gone. He could not break the stem of a
+wild-flower, much less lift the game he had killed that very day. He
+could hardly totter home; and, when there, could not open his own door.
+
+So Rodocanachi began a search for his helmet: all in vain, in vain. He
+stepped his great feet into it, and never guessed it was hid underneath
+the grass, and bushes, and flowers, that looked as if they had always
+grown where they were.
+
+For a year he wandered up and down the earth, growing thinner and sadder
+every day. He had nothing to satisfy his monstrous appetite except
+berries and mushrooms. Sometimes the fairies, in pity of his wretched
+state, would crack a handful of nuts, or kill a frog or two, for his
+breakfast; but Rodocanachi fairly starved and worried himself to death.
+
+And the queen was so grateful to dear little Dandelion, that she made
+him always dress in cloth-of-gold, and gave him a beautiful golden
+shield.
+
+But this was only to remind the people how he looked when the boy crept
+up into her chariot that day, all dusted over with gold. When Dandelion
+died, a plant sprang out of his grave,--and every one said the fairy put
+it there,--that had blossoms exactly like his golden shield; and, when
+these withered, there came globes of seed, with starry wings, that
+could fly about in the air, and swing on the wind, from leaf to leaf, as
+Dandelion swung on the fern-leaf banners once. We call the flowers
+Dandelions, to this day.
+
+When, in summer-time, you see these golden shields sprinkled over the
+meadows, and along the roadsides, you must think of the brave little
+fairy, who did great things because so willing to do the best that he
+could.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+MINNIE'S HOME.
+
+
+We have found, from the history of Dandelion, that no one is too small
+to be of use. We have found that kind hearts may succeed where wise
+heads and strong arms fail; but perhaps you will wonder what Rodocanachi
+has to do with my story.
+
+I'll tell you. Have you forgotten that I began to describe a beautiful
+little town, with roads that wound about like rivers, and houses set in
+the midst of garden-beds?
+
+Great hills rose on every side, folding against each other as if they
+meant to shut out the rest of the world, with its noise, and trouble,
+and weariness. So the valley looked, from a distance, like a bird's nest
+lined with moss, and leaves, and long fine grass; and the houses and
+churches seemed like white eggs scattered among the greenery.
+
+Or, if you stood in the centre, the slopes of the hills were so smooth
+and round, that the valley was like the inside of a painted bowl:--here
+were woods and waterfalls like pictures; here meadows of grass and
+grain; white patches of buckwheat, and the tender green of oat-fields,
+were striped along with brown potato-beds, and patches of dark-green
+tasselled maize.
+
+In this gay-painted bowl, in this soft grassy nest, lived a little girl,
+whose name was Minnie, and whose history I mean to tell.
+
+But what has it all to do with Rodocanachi?
+
+Why, this: people say that the beautiful valley between the hills was
+nothing less than the inside of the giant's great brass helmet! Rivers
+had found their way through it now, and forests had rooted themselves on
+the sods that were spread by fairy hands; yet, deep down underneath, the
+helmet still was wedged among the rocks. Think what a giant Rodocanachi
+must have been, when you could thus put a whole town into his hat!
+
+Whether the wonderful place in which she lived had anything to do with
+Minnie's strange history, I cannot tell. See what you think about it.
+
+The house of Minnie's father was near the centre of the town, and in a
+street where there were many other houses. These were not joined
+together in a block, like city dwellings, but each had a garden and
+summer-house, and a patch of grass in front for the children's
+play-ground.
+
+Around Minnie's house was a curious fence, made of thin strips of iron,
+bound at the top with a square board, painted white.
+
+In the next house lived a boy named Frank. He was a bright, good-natured
+little fellow, just of Minnie's age, with rosy cheeks and curly hair,
+and as full of fun as he could be.
+
+Minnie herself was very fond of play. Perhaps she played too hard, for
+she did not look hearty and rosy like Frank, but was slight and quick as
+a humming-bird, and fluttered about so from one thing to another, that
+it was more than her mother could do to keep her always in sight.
+
+One minute she'd be seated quietly on the door-step, looking at the
+pictures in a book; the next she was away, and you only caught sight of
+her curls going round the corner of the house.
+
+Or, perhaps, after you had looked for Minnie in the garden, she would
+start up with her laughing eyes from behind your very chair, and the
+next instant she was fluttering along the top of the fence, standing on
+one foot, and, with her bright pink dress, looking more like a flower
+than a little girl.
+
+The iron strips of the fence were so far apart that Minnie could easily
+peep through, and could even crowd her little hand between the squares,
+to stroke Franky's curls, or pat his rosy cheeks.
+
+As soon as breakfast was over, every morning, both Minnie and Frank
+would run to the fence, and talk and play there for hours.
+
+But Minnie was not satisfied with this; she wanted to swing on the
+boughs of her father's young fruit-trees, and, as I told you, would
+climb the fence, and skip along the rail upon one foot.
+
+Again and again her mother warned her that she might fall and kill
+herself, or at least soil and tear her dress, and that it was rude for
+little girls to be climbing trees and fences.
+
+It was of no use. Even while she was talking, Minnie would clamber into
+some place so dangerous that her mother would have to run and take her
+down.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+MINNIE AND THE SQUIRREL.
+
+
+One day, when Minnie's mother had been telling her how wicked it was to
+be so disobedient, and how much trouble she gave every one that loved
+her, the little girl thought she never would climb another fence, but
+would begin now, and be good.
+
+So she seated herself on the door-step, and was quiet as many as two
+minutes.
+
+Then a little brown sparrow came hopping, hopping along the top of the
+fence, and stopped a short way off, and chirped, as if he were saying,
+"You can't catch me!"
+
+"Can't I?" said Minnie, and another minute she was dancing along the
+rail.
+
+The sparrow flew away, and then Minnie, remembering the promise which
+she had made to her mother, went back to her seat.
+
+She was quiet longer this time, for she began to think how hard it was
+to be good. Then she remembered how the sparrow had flown away--away off
+alone up into the bright blue air, and could sing as loud as he chose,
+and tilt on the highest boughs of the trees, and nobody call him rude.
+
+And the sparrow didn't have to be washed and dressed in the morning, and
+to eat his breakfast at just such a time, and be careful to take his
+fork in his right hand, and not to spill his milk.
+
+O, how much better breakfasts the sparrow had! First, a drink of dew
+from the leaves about his nest; then, a sweet-brier blossom to give him
+an appetite; and then, wild raspberries and strawberries, as many as he
+wanted; and, afterwards, wild honey to sweeten his tongue, or smooth gum
+from the cherry-tree to clear his throat before the morning song!
+
+Then for a merry chase through the woods, instead of going to school.
+"O, dear! O, dear!" said Minnie, "why wasn't I made a sparrow?"
+
+Just then she heard a chattering in the pine-tree over her head, and a
+squirrel tripped in sight. Minnie happened to have some nuts in her
+pocket, so she quietly rolled one along the top of the fence, and
+squirrel came down for it.
+
+I think wild creatures know which children are their friends, and which
+their enemies. At all events, this squirrel did not feel afraid of
+Minnie, but sat there nibbling at the nut she gave him, until he had
+eaten out all the meat.
+
+Just then her mother came to the door with some ladies, who had been
+making her a call, and off darted squirrel, quicker than you can think.
+
+"Now, where has he gone?" thought Minnie; "down under the cool grass, I
+suppose, or far off into the pleasant woods, where he can have all the
+nuts he wants, and play hide-and-go-seek among the boughs. O, dear! I
+wish I had been a squirrel! I wonder if I couldn't run along the fence
+as quickly as he did just now!"
+
+Her mother was talking so busily with her friends that she forgot to
+watch Minnie, and off the little girl flew, along the rail, skipping
+and dancing, and twirling upon one foot.
+
+And now comes the wonderful part of my story. Minnie thought she heard
+somebody scream, and then she looked round, and her mother was gone, and
+she was seated on the door-step all alone again, and squirrel, on the
+fence beside her, was eating his nut.
+
+"Come, give us another!" he said, at last, throwing away the shell, and
+speaking with the queerest little squeaky, grumbling voice.
+
+"Why, who taught you how to talk?" asked Minnie, in surprise.
+
+"O, nobody. Squirrels don't go to school. They couldn't keep us quiet on
+the benches, you see. It makes us ache to sit still!" and he ran round
+and round the rail of the fence, to rest himself.
+
+"Pray, don't go away yet," called Minnie; "I want to know if all
+squirrels talk, or what you did to learn."
+
+Down the squirrel jumped into the grass, pulled the blades apart with
+his paws, and smelt of this weed and that, till at last he found what
+seemed to satisfy him, for he broke off a sprig, and went back to his
+seat on the fence.
+
+"Minnie, how should you like to live with us?" he said. "We have good
+times, I tell you, out in the woods. We do nothing but chatter, and eat,
+and fly about, all day long. We haven't any master, and the whole
+world's our play-ground; the deep earth is our cellar; the sun is our
+lamp and stove."
+
+"But I should frighten the squirrels, I'm so large!" and Minnie stood on
+tip-toe, to let him see what a great girl--as indeed she was, beside a
+squirrel!
+
+"The same weed that made me talk like a little girl, will make you grow
+small as a squirrel. Do you dare to taste it?" and he tossed the green
+sprig into Minnie's lap.
+
+"Dare? yes, indeed! who's afraid?" She ate the leaves at a mouthful.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+A SQUIRREL-BACK RIDE.
+
+
+Minnie had only half believed what the squirrel said, and was surprised
+and almost frightened when she felt herself growing smaller in every
+limb. Did you ever drop a kid glove into boiling water? It will keep its
+former shape, but shrink together so as to be hardly large enough for a
+doll. Thus Minnie's whole form shrank, until she was no taller than
+squirrel himself, and not half so stout, and her hands were as tiny as
+his paws.
+
+"Now we'll have plenty of fun," said squirrel; and they started together
+for the woods.
+
+But Minnie walked so slowly, with her little feet, that her guide soon
+lost his patience. He would dart on out of sight, and come back for her,
+again and again; he would wait to eat nuts, and dig holes in the ground
+to bury some against winter-time; and still Minnie, for all her
+hurrying, lagged behind.
+
+At last squirrel said, "This will never do; seat yourself on my back,
+and I'll carry you faster than any steam-car that ever you saw. Here we
+go!"
+
+It was a pretty sight--the little rider and her frisky steed, bounding
+so gracefully over the road. They had not gone far, however, when Minnie
+called,
+
+"O, squirrel, pray, pray stop!"
+
+"What's the trouble now?"
+
+"You go so fast it takes away my breath, and the underbrush all but
+scratches my eyes out; and the grass is full of bugs and ugly
+caterpillars, that stretch their cold claws to catch at me as I go
+past."
+
+"Is that all?" He darted by a post, along the fence-rails, and up the
+trunk of a tree, and into the leafy boughs. But now it was the
+squirrel's turn to complain.
+
+"Don't pull at my ears so hard! Why, my eyes are half out of my head!
+It is bad enough to carry such a load!"
+
+"But, dear squirrel, I shall tumble off! Here we are, away up in the
+air, higher than any house, and you skip and leap, and scramble so, it
+frightens me out of my wits."
+
+"Jump off a minute, then; I know a better way to carry you."
+
+No sooner had Minnie obeyed, than he was out of sight. With one spring,
+he had leaped to the bough of a taller tree;--and now would he ever come
+back?
+
+It made her dizzy to look down. It seemed further than ever to the
+ground, now, she had grown so small. And the insects that crept and flew
+around her looked so large! A great mosquito came buzzing about with his
+poisoned bill, and then a hard-backed beetle trolled past, and two or
+three fat ants. And a bird alighted on the bough, and began to sing.
+
+Minnie drew down a broad leaf to hide her face, for she felt afraid that
+the bird would think her some kind of bug, and eat her up. Perhaps he
+meant to do so, for he kept hopping nearer and nearer as he sang.
+
+"O, how I wish I were at home!" thought Minnie. "Perhaps my mother is
+looking for me now; and Franky has been standing ever so long at the
+fence, with the half of his cake that he promised to save for me. How
+could that old squirrel be so wicked as to leave me here alone?"
+
+Still the bird hopped nearer, and eyed her as he sang, and looked as if
+his mouth were watering for a taste.
+
+"I shall be killed and eaten up by ants and worms if I fall to the
+ground," thought Minnie; "or, even if I reached it alive, I could never,
+never find the way home, with these small, slow feet. Let the robin eat
+me, then."
+
+But now came a rustling amongst the leaves, and a chirping, chattering
+sound, and, lo! her friend the squirrel frisked into sight. He seemed to
+be quarrelling with the bird, for she half spread her wings, and
+stretched her beak as if she could bite him; and squirrel chattered and
+chuckled at her, and his bright brown eyes flashed with anger, till the
+robin flew away.
+
+"A moment later, Minnie, and you would have been changed into a song.
+That saucy fellow meant to eat you for his luncheon," said squirrel.
+"Now, don't complain that I went away; if you do, I shall go again. We
+never allow any grumbling out here in the woods."
+
+"Yet they allow quarrelling, and murder, and mischief of many kinds, I
+see," thought Minnie; "but as I've come so far, I will not go home
+without learning how birds and squirrels live."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+LIVING IN A TREE.
+
+
+The squirrel now tucked his little friend under his chin, as if she were
+a nut, and off they went together, fast as any bird could fly.
+
+Minnie soon found there was no use in urging squirrel to go in a
+straight line, and pick out the smoothest paths: it was not his way. He
+made her dizzy, often, by running along the under side of the boughs, or
+twirling round them in his frisky way; and, in passing from tree to
+tree, whichever branches were farthest apart, they were the ones he
+chose for a leap.
+
+If he heard with his quick ears any sound that frightened him, down
+squirrel darted into some hollow trunk, that was full of ants and rotten
+wood, and wiry snails; but Minnie found he was growing very tired, and
+was all in a perspiration with carrying such a burden; so she did not
+complain.
+
+Yet, when, in passing, her curly hair caught on the rough bark, and had
+many a pull, and her cheeks became bruised with brushing against the
+leaves, and she shook black ants and beetles out of her dress, Minnie
+more than once wished herself home again.
+
+At last, with a chuckle of delight, squirrel darted up the trunk of a
+beautiful elm, and seated Minnie where the great boughs parted into
+something like an arm-chair; while he went to find his mate.
+
+This, then, was her new home! Tired and hungry as she was, the little
+girl looked about her with pleasure--it was such a lovely place. On one
+side were sunny fields; on the other, stretched the silent, shady wood,
+with its beds of moss, and curtains of vine, and clumps of wild-flowers.
+
+Closer about her, fanning her warm cheeks, were the green leaves of the
+elm--more thousands of them than she could think of counting, and all so
+fresh, and creased, and pointed so prettily. "Many a game of
+hide-and-seek I'll have here!" she thought.
+
+But now squirrel returned with his wife, who shook hands with her little
+guest very politely, and begged her to feel quite at home. Madam
+Squirrel was not so handsome as her husband, but was such a kind,
+motherly person, that you would not notice her looks.
+
+She had brought some dry moss from her nest, and with this made a soft
+bed for Minnie to rest upon while she prepared dinner. The good soul
+even wove the twigs together into a leafy bower above her head, and
+called one of her young ones to stand near and keep the flies away, so
+that Minnie might have a nap.
+
+The young squirrel, however, was less thoughtful than his mamma. He had
+so many questions to ask, and so much news to tell, that sleep was out
+of the question. And Minnie found that the wonderful herb had not only
+made her grow small as squirrels, but at the same time had taught her to
+understand their language.
+
+And not this alone; by listening carefully, at first, she could soon
+make out what all the creatures around her were saying--the bees, and
+birds; and grasshoppers, and wasps, and mice.
+
+Even the leaves she saw talked to each other all day long; the wind had
+only to come, and make them a call, and start a subject or two--then
+there was whispering enough! And the grass underneath whispered back,
+and perfumed wild-flowers talked with the grass, and the river talked to
+the flowers, or, when they would not listen, talked to its own still
+pebbles.
+
+The sun, if he did not speak, smiled such a broad, warm smile, that any
+one could guess it meant, "I know you, and love you, friends!" And at
+night the silent moonshine stole into the wood, and kissed the leaves
+till they smiled with happiness, and kissed the flowers till the air was
+full of perfumes they breathed back to her, and kissed the brook till
+all its little wavelets sparkled and laughed together for joy.
+
+Meantime the stars were winking at each other, to think they had caught
+the cold moon making love!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+MASTER SQUIRREL.
+
+
+No sooner had young Master Squirrel taken up his stand by Minnie's
+couch, than he began to tell how fortunate she was in having such
+friends.
+
+"Yes," Minnie replied, "I was thinking of them this very minute, and
+wishing I could send word to my dear mother that I was safe. Poor Franky
+must be tired of waiting for me by this time; there's no one else to
+play with him. And then, if you could only see our baby; she's so sweet
+and cunning!"
+
+"Nonsense!" said Master Squirrel; "she is not half so cunning as you
+are, now. I was speaking of your new friends, my father and mother."
+
+"Well, what about them?"
+
+"O, we belong to such a fine family, and are so much respected here in
+the woods, and my father is so rich!"
+
+Minnie laughed. "Who ever heard of a rich squirrel? Where do you keep
+your money? Are there any banks in the woods?"
+
+"Banks enough, but they bear nothing except grass and violets. We are
+not so foolish as to put our wealth into pieces of white and yellow
+stone. My father may not have gold, but he has more nuts and acorns
+hidden away than any other squirrel in creation. As for the silly birds,
+they never save anything, and the worms and beetles live from hand to
+mouth."
+
+"What happens to the frogs and flies?"
+
+"O, they creep into a hole, when winter comes, and freeze, like stupid
+flowers, till the spring sun is ready to thaw them out again. You see,
+we squirrels are the only wise and prudent creatures. And to think that,
+among all squirrels, you should have become acquainted with the richest
+one--you are very lucky!"
+
+"If all your father's nuts were brought together and measured," said
+Minnie, "how many bushels would there be?"
+
+"What do I know about bushels? He has at least as many as would make a
+wagon-load!"
+
+Master Squirrel said this with a great air, but Minnie only laughed. "My
+father does not pretend to be rich, but he gives away more than a
+wagon-load of nuts every year; besides keeping all we want for
+ourselves."
+
+Dear children, as Minnie looked upon the squirrel's nuts, that made him
+feel so important, just so God's angels look upon _our_ treasures.
+Money, fine horses and carriages, are to them no reason for being proud.
+They smile at our gains and savings, which seem foolish toys to them.
+The angels have better wealth.
+
+The squirrel was silent, and so ashamed that Minnie said, to comfort
+him:
+
+"I should not mind never seeing a nut, if I were as bright and spry as
+your father; and, whether she were rich or poor, I know any one as kind
+and generous as your mother would always be respected."
+
+"Poh! it is easy enough to be kind. I've seen one ant help another home
+with his dinner; I've seen a ground-sparrow, when her neighbor was
+shot, feed the hungry young ones left in the nest; but that's
+nothing--that doesn't give one a place in the best society!"
+
+"I don't believe the little orphan-birds waited to ask if their friend
+belonged to the aristocracy. But, Master Squirrel, what do you call
+society?"
+
+"I will show you, to-morrow. I heard my mother say that she should give
+a grand party in honor of your coming. Though it will be like my parents
+(who are very condescending) to ask some of the common people, you may
+expect to see along with them all the aristocracy of the woods."
+
+Now the mother-squirrel came with Minnie's dinner; and, sending her
+talkative son away to give invitations for the party, busied herself
+with spreading out the tempting meal.
+
+Of course there were nut-meats in plenty; walnuts on one leaf, chestnuts
+on another, and ground-nuts and grains of wheat on a third. Then there
+was a bit of honey-comb, and a ripe red strawberry that squirrel had run
+a mile to pick on the mountain-top; and there were some slices of what
+Minnie thought must be squirrels' tongues, they were so small and
+tender; she ate them with a great relish.
+
+Then squirrel brought, in a nut-shell, a drink of fresh water from the
+brook; and, filling her shell again, dropping in a sweet-brier leaf or
+two to perfume it, she bathed Minnie's forehead till the tired little
+traveller went fast asleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+NIGHT.
+
+
+Upon awaking, Minnie was surprised to find all dark about her. The good
+old squirrel had tucked the moss of her couch together so nicely that
+she was warm and comfortable; but, on reaching out a hand, she felt the
+leaves wet with dew.
+
+Then a wind stirred the branches, and far up in the sky she saw the
+twinkling stars, and knew that it was night.
+
+Night, and the little girl was alone there out of doors! No mother in
+the next room listening to see if her children breathed sweetly, and all
+was well; no sister Allie to nestle close beside her, now; but the great
+lonely sky above her, and the creaking elm-bough for her cradle.
+
+And how high this cradle lifted her into the air! She hardly knew which
+was farthest off, the ground or the sky. It was all so strange that
+Minnie thought she must be dreaming. She stretched her hands out in the
+starlight; they were small as squirrels' paws,--ten times smaller than
+even baby Allie's dimpled hands,--small as those of her smallest doll.
+Who ever heard of such hands for a little girl?
+
+Yes, she felt sure it was a dream; but, turning to sleep, she was
+aroused by a loud snoring. Could a man be hidden up here among the
+boughs? And suppose he should catch her alive, and shut her up in a
+cage, to be advertised, and talked about, and pointed at with canes and
+parasols in Barnum's museum?
+
+But now the snores seemed changing to sounds more like the purring of a
+cat. Were not tigers a kind of cat? Suppose this were a tiger, ready to
+spring down and seize her in his great paws, as a cat might seize a
+mouse!
+
+No; there came next a loud, rough laugh, startling to hear in the
+silence; and then a great flutter, and a scratching sound, and
+something alighted on the bough above her--something heavy, for the
+bough bent till its leaves were crushed upon her face.
+
+As soon as Minnie could push the leaves apart she looked up, and saw to
+her dismay two great round eyes staring full at her! She covered her own
+eyes, and in her terror would have fallen from the tree, had not her
+dress been caught among the leaves.
+
+"What's that? What's that?" a gruff voice called.
+
+Then Minnie remembered what she had heard her mother, and even the
+little squirrels, say, that it is foolish to fear anything; so, as
+loudly as she could with her trembling voice, the little woman shouted:
+
+"How do you do, sir? It's a fine evening, all but the cold!"
+
+And, venturing to look once more, she saw what a curious animal she had
+addressed; with the eyes of a man, he had the face of a cat, and the
+bill and body of a bird.
+
+"Who's here? who are you?" was his only answer.
+
+"I am a traveller, sir. I have come from my home in the village, to make
+my friends, the squirrels, a visit; perhaps I shall have the pleasure of
+meeting you at their house."
+
+"Not so fast! I'm an owl, I'd have you know, and do not keep company
+with chattering squirrels. If you wish to see me you must come to my own
+home."
+
+"And where is that?"
+
+"In the hollow around on the other side of the elm. We owls are
+satisfied to sit thinking over our wisdom, and do not go scrambling
+about like squirrels, and other simple creatures."
+
+"How did you happen out to-night?"
+
+"O, every evening I come up on this branch to take the air, and study
+astronomy."
+
+"Astronomy?--what's that?"
+
+"It is counting the stars, and telling how they move, and watching when
+they fall. I expect to catch one, some day."
+
+"What shall you do then?"
+
+"Hide it in my nest, to be sure, until I can plant the seeds, and raise
+another crop."
+
+"Hide a star in an owl's nest! Why, the stars are worlds," laughed
+Minnie.
+
+"O, that is what ignorant people say. This, that you see above your
+head, is a huge tree with dark leaves, and hung all over with golden
+oranges. When the stars seem to move, it is only the boughs that are
+waving; when the stars seem to fall, it is ripe fruit that drops to the
+earth. Let me catch one, and you'll see what a fine orange-bush I'll
+grow from the seed!"
+
+"I'd sooner fly out, in the pleasant morning sunshine, and pick up
+strawberries, blueberries, checkerberries, all the nice things that grow
+in the wood," said Minnie; "but, if you can't be happy without the
+stars,--"
+
+"I never can!" exclaimed the owl.
+
+"Then I would fly up where they grow, and pick them myself from the
+boughs;--not sit in a dark hole, and wait for them to fall."
+
+But the owl--who thought no one's opinion worth much, except his
+own--could not agree with her, and flew away.
+
+Then Minnie, tired of talking so long, fell asleep once more, hoping,
+with all her heart, that she should awake in her little room at home,
+with Allie's rosy cheek pressed close to hers, and her mother stooping
+to give them both her morning kiss.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE NEW HOME.
+
+
+Cool air and pleasant music were about her, when Minnie awoke the next
+day, but no home. She was wrapped in a bundle of moss, on the elm-bough,
+still.
+
+The bright morning sunshine lay over the leaves, fragrant odors came
+stealing out from the wood, and wreaths of beautiful white mist floated
+above the brook, and, slowly rising, reached, at last, and melted in
+with those other white clouds far up in the sky. Yet the lower end of
+the mist-wreath rested still upon the brook, so that it seemed like a
+long pearly pathway, joining the earth and heaven.
+
+Many birds had their nests in the elm, and they were feeding and singing
+to their young; or, floating up in the sky, still kept a close watch
+over their little homes among the leaves.
+
+Minnie found she had plenty of neighbors. The tree was like a town,
+filled with people of all colors, and sizes, and occupations. Of course,
+these were only birds or insects; but Minnie had grown so small that
+they looked monstrous to her. The birds were as large as herself, you
+remember. Little lady-bugs seemed as big as a rabbit does to us, and
+fire-flies were great street-lanterns; butterflies' wings were like
+window-curtains; bees were like robins; and squirrels, as large as
+Newfoundland dogs!
+
+As her friends did not come to bid her good-morning, the little girl
+thought she would go in search of them. She felt afraid to move, at
+first, but found soon that the bough was as wide for her small feet as a
+good road would be for larger ones; so, steadying herself now and then
+by help of a twig or leaf, she wandered on.
+
+Sliding carefully down the slope of a bough, she found herself, at
+length, close by the entrance of the squirrel nest. Her friend, the
+young squirrel, was just sweeping the door-way with his bushy tail;
+but, when he took Minnie in to see his brothers and sisters, she did not
+find their home a very orderly place.
+
+She could not step without treading on empty nut-shells, bits of moss,
+or broken sticks; then the place was dark, and did not have a clean,
+sweet smell, like her mother's parlor. In one corner lay a heap of young
+squirrels, some so small you could put them into a nut-shell--others
+larger, and larger still. The nest was so cold and damp that the poor
+little things had crept together to keep warm.
+
+Master Squirrel said, by way of excuse, that his mother was so busy,
+preparing for the party, she had not been able to set her house in order
+this morning; but Minnie never afterwards happened to go there when it
+was in better order than now.
+
+"Where is your mother?" she asked.
+
+"In the woods, at some of our other houses; for we squirrels don't live
+always in one place. She is gathering nuts and all kinds of goodies for
+our supper, and will scold me well if I have not the table set when she
+comes home."
+
+"O, let me help you!"
+
+Squirrel was glad to accept her offer, and they went to work in earnest.
+First, Minnie insisted upon bringing all the young ones out into the
+sun, when they stretched out their little heads and paws to receive the
+pleasant warmth, while Minnie returned to see if anything could be done
+with their disorderly home.
+
+She sent squirrel into the woods for some pine leaves, and of these made
+a broom as large as she could handle. Then she swept, and dusted, and
+brushed black cobwebs down, and wiped the mouldy walls, and put fresh
+leaves in place of the musty moss on which the children had laid.
+
+By this time the old squirrel had come back from the woods again; and
+told what a beautiful place his wife had found for their feast, and how
+glad she would be of Minnie's help. He limped a little, and said his
+back ached still from carrying such a load the day before; but, as there
+was no other way for the little woman to reach the ground, she might go
+with him, only be sure not to pull his ears!
+
+No sooner said than done. Down the trunk of the tall tree they went
+with a leap or two, and along the stone walls, over bushes, through
+hollows, further and further into the wood, till they came to a lovely
+spot.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+IN THE WOODS.
+
+
+A number of trees stood so closely together that they seemed like a
+solid wood; but, when the squirrel had made a way for Minnie to pass
+under the heavy boughs, she found inside a circle, covered only with
+fine soft grass and moss, a few wild flowers nodding across it, and the
+leaves, with their low, pleasant rustle, closing around it like a wall.
+
+"Now," said the old squirrels, who were too wise to be proud and
+boastful like their son, "now, Minnie, you know better than we what is
+proper, and you must tell us how everything shall be arranged."
+
+Nothing could please Miss Minnie better than this. Her mother had not
+even allowed her to go into the supper-room before company came; and
+here she was to order all things, and be herself the little mistress of
+the feast!
+
+They decided to have their party in the afternoon, because at that time
+the sunshine always slanted so pleasantly through the wood. If they
+waited till evening, the dew would begin to rise, and there was no
+depending on the moon for light; and their children, besides, would be
+needing them at home.
+
+First, Minnie said, they must have a more convenient entrance to the
+supper-room. On one side stood a large azalea, or wild honeysuckle, in
+full flower, and near it a sweet-brier; between these were some
+whortleberry bushes, around the roots of which last Minnie made the
+squirrels burrow till she could drag them away.
+
+Then, smoothing the broken earth, she covered it with sods of fresh
+moss, while overhead the sweet-brier and azalia met in a beautiful
+archway of fragrant leaves and flowers.
+
+And it was so much prettier to have flowers growing in the ground than
+if they had been cut and brought from some green-house! Both Minnie and
+the squirrels were delighted with their dining-hall.
+
+Next they spread shining oak-leaves for a table-cloth, which was better
+so than if it had all been in one piece, because now, wherever a tuft of
+violets grew, or any of the slight starry flowers that dotted over the
+grass, they could remain there, and save the trouble of arranging vases.
+
+Then came a great variety of food,--nuts, honey, grain and berries,
+apple and quince seeds, bits of gum, and strips of fragrant bark. Minnie
+was shocked when she saw among the game a dish of dead ants, and one of
+frogs' feet, and another of red spiders; but the squirrel said she must
+have something to suit all tastes, and the birds would be disappointed
+if they had not animal food.
+
+Then she begged Minnie to slice some cold meat for her, and brought a
+big black beetle to be shaved up like dried beef, and an angle-worm to
+be cut in slices for tongue.
+
+"O, dear!" exclaimed Minnie, as the little round slices of this last
+fell into the plate, "can this be what I mistook for tongue, and
+relished so heartily last night?"
+
+"Very likely," squirrel answered; "it is one of the tenderest meats we
+have."
+
+Minnie resolved to eat no more dainties in the wood, until she had first
+found out their names; but she had not time to grieve much over her
+mistake, for the father-squirrel came to tell that he had promised his
+oldest children a race in the woods, and invited her to make one of the
+party.
+
+She was glad to take lessons in running of such a quick little body as
+he; and, while his young ones frisked and bounded, and chased each
+other, he was very patient in teaching her all his arts. Before many
+such lessons, Minnie could balance herself on the most uneven and
+unsteady place; could climb slippery boughs, skip without stopping over
+the crookedest places, and even leap from branch to branch, so nimbly
+that squirrel was proud of his pupil.
+
+He would not let her go very far that day, because she must be fresh for
+the afternoon, when his guests would come.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE SQUIRREL'S PARTY.
+
+
+In due time the company arrived, and all were in such good spirits, and
+so polite, that Minnie thought she had never known a more charming
+party.
+
+On each side of herself sat the birds; a blue-bird and yellow-bird
+first, then a thrush and an oriole, then--cunning little creatures!--a
+wren and an indigo-bird. The robins and bobolinks were not invited,
+because they were such gluttons. The crows could not come, because they
+were so quarrelsome, and the cherry-birds were too great thieves.
+
+Then came a whole row of squirrels, that sat with their bushy tails up
+in the air, and paws folded quietly, notwithstanding the nuts before
+them, while they made themselves agreeable to the meek mice and moles,
+that were all a-tremble, not often finding themselves in such grand
+company.
+
+One large gray squirrel came in his rough hunting-coat; but he talked so
+loud and boastfully, and seemed to look down upon all the others with
+such contempt, they were not sorry when he said, at last, that he had
+promised to take a walk with his distinguished friend the rabbit, and
+must therefore go home.
+
+Several toads were invited, and Minnie had even taken pains to roll some
+round stones into the room for their seats. They came, and were chatting
+gayly, when their eyes, that wandered over the delicious feast, fell
+upon the dish of frogs' feet, and home they hopped at once, offended. It
+was a great mistake, on the squirrel's part, to bring such guests and
+such a dish together; for who could be expected to relish seeing his
+cousin chopped up into souse?
+
+The butterflies came, but declined taking seats at the table, as they
+never ate anything. They fluttered above, with their beautiful velvet
+wings, and clung to the flowers, bending them down with their weight;
+and, when Minnie observed how wistfully the birds were eying them, she
+thought perhaps the butterflies had a better reason than they gave for
+keeping at a distance.
+
+After eating all they wanted, squirrel proposed that his guests should
+go to the brook for a drink. It was not far, and Minnie had swept the
+path nicely with her broom, and spread new moss wherever the ground was
+bare; so they seemed to be walking on a strip of green velvet carpeting,
+as, two by two, they started for the water-side.
+
+Some little green, graceful snakes followed on from curiosity, while
+over the heads of the party fluttered all the butterflies; and a rabbit,
+chancing to see them, very politely asked squirrel if he might join the
+guests.
+
+Meantime the toads, that had crept into a corner to mutter about their
+insult, hopped back to the table, and, along with a swarm of flies and
+ants, and greedy robins, crows, and bobolinks, soon finished all that
+the company had left.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+BY THE RIVER.
+
+
+A yellow-bird was the companion of Minnie's walk, and a pleasant little
+man he was, with his gayly-spotted wings, his graceful manners, and
+musical voice.
+
+The oriole was handsomer, and had a sweeter song; but he was proud, and
+spoke in a sharp, short way, that was not agreeable. Minnie said to
+herself, "I can listen to oriole while he sings at the top of the tall
+elm; but for my friend I will choose some one with gentler behavior, if
+he hasn't so loud a song." Do you think Minnie was wise?
+
+Yellow-bird was equally pleased with his companion, and very ready to
+converse. He told her that he had often wished to become acquainted with
+some of his neighbors in the village, but dare not trust them.
+
+"Why?" Minnie asked.
+
+"O, one of my brothers, after eating the plant that makes us wise, heard
+a little girl begging him to come and live with her. She promised a
+beautiful cage in the summer-house, and plants to eat and drink."
+
+"And he went?"
+
+"Yes; he was so unwise. Before the end of a week the little girl had
+forgotten to feed him, and he lay dead in the bottom of his cage."
+
+"Yet that was an accident; the little girl was sorry, I am sure."
+
+"Her sorrow did not bring him to life again; and I could tell sadder
+stories--O, too sad stories for to-day!" Here yellow-bird stopped
+talking, and breathed forth a low, mournful song.
+
+The squirrel, hearing him, turned quickly: "This will never do! Why,
+friend, we're going to a feast, and not a funeral; pray give us some
+gladder music."
+
+"Excuse me, I never can sing so soon after eating," said yellow-bird,
+who was not willing to leave his new friend.
+
+As for Minnie, she had never stood so near a bird before in her life;
+and could not be satisfied with looking into yellow-bird's round eyes,
+and stroking the soft feathers on his neck. She had a hundred questions
+to ask; and he answered so graciously that she began to think she would
+rather live with those gentle creatures, the birds, than with her kind,
+but wild and frisky friends, the squirrels.
+
+You may remember it was Minnie's wish at first to live like a bird, on
+that morning--how long ago it seemed to her now!--when she had sat on
+her father's door-step, and watched a sparrow soar into the sky, and
+sing.
+
+They had not time for many words before reaching the water, which in one
+place spread to a little pond beneath the trees, and reflected the leafy
+branches on every side, and the sky, with its pearl-white clouds, and
+the sunshine that lay across it like a path of gold.
+
+An aged birch-tree, uprooted by the wind, had fallen into this pond. Its
+large and handsome boughs were still alive; and here flew oriole at
+once, singing as he alighted, and swung on the tip of a branch. The
+other birds followed through the air, except Minnie's friend, who
+walked quietly on with her. The squirrels bounded in a trice across the
+broad, white trunk of the tree. The mice and the moles followed them,
+and the rabbit was not far behind. The butterflies chose to hover above
+the sunny water in a flock.
+
+Then squirrel made a speech, thanking his guests for the honor they had
+done him in spending so much time at his poor feast. He was glad it had
+been in his power to make some return, by presenting to them so
+distinguished a guest.
+
+The rabbit took this compliment to himself; so he replied by assuring
+squirrel that the obligation was all on the part of his guests. In
+ending, he regretted that he had not chanced to meet earlier with such
+pleasant companions; the truth was, he had only an hour ago been able to
+rid himself of a gray squirrel, a rough, unmannerly fellow from the
+backwoods, whom he would have been ashamed to bring into such polite
+society.
+
+"Ha!" said squirrel, forgetting his dignity as host, "the very chap that
+honored us with his presence a little while, and boasted about his
+mighty friend, the rabbit."
+
+Rabbit folded his ears together very wisely at this, and replied: "A
+person who feels it necessary to boast of his friends, is never much in
+himself. Now, _I_ always feel that I'm as good as any of my
+acquaintance."
+
+"I wonder which is worse vanity," thought Minnie, "to boast of one's
+friends or one's self!"
+
+But here yellow-bird hopped upon a spray, and sang a delightful little
+song in honor of their fair guest, whom he compared to a flower, a
+little cloud, a soft willow-bud of the spring-time, a white strawberry,
+and many other things in which birds delight.
+
+The company were so pleased that they begged to hear the song
+again,--all except rabbit, who, finding his mistake at last, hopped
+further in among the leaves, and hid himself, feeling very much ashamed.
+
+Then yellow-bird, instead of repeating his first song, sang another,
+which was sweeter still. It told how full the world might be of love
+and happiness, how many such good times as this all creatures might
+have, if they would but be gentle and kind, willing to please, and ready
+to forgive.
+
+As the last note died away, oriole, impatient to show his skill,
+remarked that yellow-bird's song was too much like a sermon; and,
+without waiting for invitation, he then gave what seemed to him a better
+one.
+
+And it was enchanting music. O, so clear, and wild, and joyous, that it
+made the other birds lift their wings, and long to fly!
+
+Hearing a plunge in the water near, and a sigh of pleasure, Minnie
+looked down between the branches, and saw a handsome green frog, that
+had come to listen to the music; and swarms of little fish, with
+rainbow-colors on their silver scales, all listening too.
+
+So the afternoon passed in speeches and music. The squirrels, who could
+not sing, told stories that made the company laugh right heartily. Even
+Minnie took her part in the entertainment, by relating how people in the
+village lived, how they ate, and drank, and slept, and why they did
+many things which had puzzled the birds and squirrels amazingly.
+
+All this was as interesting to her listeners as it would be for us to
+read Robinson Crusoe, or Dr. Kane's travels among the icebergs and
+Esquimaux.
+
+Repeating their thanks to squirrel, and each one politely urging Minnie
+to visit him, the company now went home.
+
+Yellow-bird insisted upon taking Minnie on his wings, but soon found the
+little woman so heavy that he was satisfied to let her dance along by
+squirrel's side, and flew off to find his young. He had, too, a world to
+tell his mate about the merry feast, and the queer little lady in whose
+honor it was given.
+
+I am afraid all the birds and squirrels that were at the party kept
+their mates or their brothers and sisters awake that night, relating
+what they had seen and heard. Even the mice talked about it in their
+cellars under ground; and oriole did not sleep a wink, he worked so hard
+composing a song to Minnie's eyelashes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE YELLOW-BIRD.
+
+
+At daybreak the next morning yellow-bird came with the indigo-bird and
+thrush, and awakened Minnie with their charming songs. Sunrise, you
+know, is the time birds always choose for serenades; and I am not sure
+they are wrong--everything is so fresh, and still, and dewy, then.
+
+She could hardly wait till the music was over before shaking away the
+moss in which she had slept, and going to bid her friends good-morning.
+Skipping fearlessly along the boughs,--for she had not forgotten
+squirrel's lessons,--just as the birds were preparing to fly away,
+Minnie surprised them with a sight of her merry face.
+
+They did not chat long, for Minnie could see that her friends were
+impatient for their morning sail up in the fresh blue air. So she
+begged them to fly away, while she would go to the squirrel-nest and
+find if breakfast was ready.
+
+She met squirrel, who, though much fatigued, and sometimes obliged to
+put his tail before his mouth in order to hide his gapes, was as civil
+as ever, and bade her a pleasant good-morning.
+
+His wife did not happen to be in so amiable a mood. Not only was she
+tired from all the work and anxiety of the day before, but Minnie's
+sweeping and dusting, she said, had put everything out of order in her
+nest. Besides this, the children had taken cold from staying out of
+doors so long, and the light of the sun had given them weak eyes.
+
+Minnie was troubled, and offered her help in making things go right
+again.
+
+"No," Mrs. Squirrel replied, "I have had enough of such help, and now
+you can best assist me by keeping out of the way."
+
+This was very rude, and brought tears into Minnie's eyes. It was bad
+enough, she thought, to be so far from home, but to be treated unkindly,
+and after she had worked so hard in hopes to please the squirrel, this
+was more than she could bear.
+
+Running so far from the nest that she could not hear the angry voice
+within, Minnie seated herself on the bough, and, all alone there,
+thought of her pleasant home, and the mother who was so ready to praise
+her when she did right, and just as ready to forgive her when she did
+wrong. She seemed to see Franky looking through the fence, waiting, and
+wondering if she would never come. Then she saw Allie open her large
+eyes, and, peeping between the bars of her crib, look all about the
+room, and stretch her little hands forth for Minnie, and no Minnie
+there!
+
+Even if she went back now, would they know her, shrunk as she was to a
+mere doll? Before she could reach her father's door, wouldn't the boys
+in the street pick up such a curious little being, and put her in a
+cage, or sell her, perhaps, to be killed and stuffed for some museum?
+
+"O, I haven't any home, or friends in all the world!" she said, and,
+covering her face with her little hands, Minnie sobbed as if her heart
+would break.
+
+"Hallo, there! what's the matter?" shouted young Master Squirrel from
+the bough above. "It can't be you're crying because the old woman is
+cross? Why, she'll be good as chestnuts by the time you see her again.
+Here, catch these nuts! she made me crack them for your breakfast."
+
+Minnie thanked the squirrel, but she could not eat. Her heart was too
+heavy. She hoped that, when the birds came back, they would not find
+her, for she was too much grieved to talk, or even listen to music.
+
+She had hardly drawn the leaves about her, when she saw the indigo-bird,
+and then the thrush, making their way towards the elm. Minnie held her
+breath, while they alighted and hopped from bough to bough, and turned
+their heads on one side to peer between the leaves, and sang little
+snatches of song, that she might hear and answer them. At last they flew
+away, and when oriole came, he had no better success.
+
+Then came yellow-bird, with a fresh ripe strawberry in his mouth. He
+also looked in vain, until, just as he was lifting his wings to go, his
+quick ear caught a sigh, so low that only loving ears would have heard
+it, and he flew at once to Minnie's feet.
+
+She still held the leaves fast, and yellow-bird was obliged to tear them
+with his beak before he could be certain that she was within.
+
+"Poor little soul! what is the matter?" he said, when he saw her sad
+face, wet with tears.
+
+Then Minnie put her arms around yellow-bird's neck, and told all her
+troubles. He did not speak a word until she had finished, when he
+exclaimed, "You shall not live with the squirrels any longer. Come to my
+own warm little nest on the other side of the elm. My mate will be glad
+to see you, and you shall have sunshine and music all day long. Tell me,
+Minnie, will you come?" He ended with a little strain of song, so sweet
+and pleading that Minnie could have kissed him for it, only, you know, a
+bird's mouth is rather sharp to kiss. She pleased him better by
+promising to go that very hour to his nest.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+IN A BIRD'S NEST.
+
+
+Yellow-bird's nest was all that he had promised. It was built on one of
+the outer boughs of the elm, deep enough among the leaves to be shady at
+noon, yet not so deep but in the cool of morning the sunshine could rest
+upon it.
+
+Then the view was much finer than that from squirrel's side of the tree.
+Minnie looked down upon fields of wild flowers all wet with dew, across
+at hills that rose grandly against the sky; and, better still, between
+the trees she caught a glimpse of the town, with its white spires and
+cottages.
+
+It was an important day with yellow-bird, for a whole brood of young
+ones were leaving his nest for the last time. He had taught them to sing
+and fly, had shown them where to find food, and given so much good
+advice, that now he did not feel afraid to trust them by themselves.
+
+He brought his children to see Minnie before they left, made them sing a
+little song of welcome and farewell, and then watched with pleasure as
+they flew into the wood, and soon were lost amid its shady boughs.
+
+Minnie asked if it did not make him sad to lose his treasures all at
+once.
+
+"O, no," he said; "if one of my chicks had been blind, or had grown up
+with a broken wing, and could not leave the nest, I well might grieve.
+Now that all has gone well, I'm only too glad to see them fly away."
+
+"But suppose that, when out of your sight, they fall into trouble or
+mischief?"
+
+"They are never out of God's sight. Cannot he take better care of them
+than a little bird like me? Ah, Minnie, it isn't best to fret! The
+smaller and weaker we are, the more care our heavenly Father takes of
+us."
+
+Yellow-bird's mate came now to see what her husband could be talking
+about, and invited Minnie to take a nearer look at her nest, which she
+had been industriously cleaning and mending since her children went.
+
+It was a smooth, cool bed of horse-hair and moss, set prettily amidst
+the thick green leaves. Slender roots and threads were woven across the
+outside, and what was Minnie's delight to find among them a scrap of one
+of her mother's dresses, which yellow-bird said he had picked up beneath
+a window in the village, for it was so soft, and covered with such
+bright flowers, he knew it must please his mate!
+
+Minnie felt that the nest would be dearer to her, and more like home
+than ever now. Yet she knew it was not civil to leave her good friends,
+the squirrels, without a word of good-by; so, lighter-hearted than when
+she left it, she skipped back to their den on the other side of the
+tree.
+
+She found the old lady's temper very much improved, perhaps because she
+had her nest in what she called order again. Minnie tumbled over
+nut-shells, tore her dress against thorny sticks, and, when she
+stretched her hand toward the wall, trying to rise, she felt cold
+mushrooms growing out of the crumbling wood.
+
+It was dark, too,--no prospect there,--and there was the old musty odor,
+which she remembered so well, instead of the sweet air and fresh green
+leaves above yellow-bird's nest; and there was the heap of sleepy young
+squirrels squeaking in a corner.
+
+"O, dear!" thought Minnie, "how could I ever have wished to live in a
+place like this?"
+
+Mrs. Squirrel was polite once more, and kindly offered her some
+luncheon, but did not ask her to stay. And, though surprised, she did
+not seem grieved when the little lady told her that she had come to say
+farewell.
+
+Not so squirrel himself, who was proud of Minnie, and fond of her, and
+felt so badly at parting, that his lips trembled too much to bid her
+good-by, and he ran off into a hole in the ground to hide his tears.
+
+"Dear squirrel! he has done the best he could for me," she thought; "and
+now, because he doesn't happen to have a pleasant home, I am about to
+leave him! I have a great mind to go back!"
+
+Just then a nut-shell dropped on her head, and, looking up, she saw
+Master Squirrel, who laughed at her surprise. Leaping a little nearer,
+he began:
+
+"So you've returned, Miss Runaway! My mother said it would be too good
+luck to lose you in a hurry. She was sure we should see you before the
+sun went down."
+
+"Then your mother doesn't like me?"
+
+"O, yes! she says you're a cunning little body, and mean no harm; but,
+like all company, you make a great deal of trouble, and do no one any
+good, that she can see."
+
+"What does your father say to that?"
+
+"He takes your part; tells her he's ashamed that she is not more
+hospitable; and then they quarrel well, I tell you!"
+
+"There shall be no more trouble on my account," said Minnie, with
+dignity. "I am going to live with my friends, the yellow-birds. I have
+bidden your father and mother good-by, and now good-by, squirrel; you
+have all been very kind to me."
+
+"No we haven't, Minnie; and I have been rudest of all; and you, so good,
+to be satisfied with our poor home!"
+
+"Dinner-time! plenty of checkerberry buds and juicy berries in the
+wood!" sang yellow-bird on a bough above. "Come, Minnie, come!"
+
+"Good-by, squirrel! Yellow-bird, here I am."
+
+"O, Minnie!" was all the answer squirrel could make. She left him wiping
+his eyes on his hairy paws--left him, and skipped away with her new
+friend.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+MINNIE AND THE BIRDS.
+
+
+For a little while Minnie was very happy with the yellow-birds; they
+were gentle and loving as the days were long, and only disputed to know
+which should have the pleasure of doing most for their company.
+
+At home it was all sunshine and music, exactly as they had promised;
+and, when there was too much sun, they flew to the wood, where hundreds
+of other birds met also, and merrily passed the long, bright afternoons.
+
+It was like a party every day. Instead of needing to set a table each
+time, there was the whole wood, with its flowers, berries, gums, and
+spicy buds, spread out for them to take their choice. The wine bubbled
+up freshly from their cellar, and spread into bright wells wreathed
+with flowers. No need of corkscrews and coolers; yet, the best wine in
+the world never tasted so good, nor left such clear heads, and such
+merry, thankful hearts, as this simple water--the only drink the birds
+asked at this woodland feast.
+
+Minnie made friends among great and small, she was so sprightly, and
+ready to please, and so willing to be pleased herself. This last is a
+great secret in winning friends. If people find it hard to amuse us,
+they very soon grow tired of trying, and leave us to entertain
+ourselves.
+
+But Minnie had a pleasant word and a merry answer for every one. She did
+not laugh at the oriole for his foolish pride, nor at the ant for her
+stinginess and silence, nor at the bee for making such a bustle, nor at
+the indigo-bird for her diffidence. She knew it was their way, and only
+took care not to imitate their faults herself.
+
+Meantime she never was tired of admiring their better traits of
+character. Let the oriole be proud as he would; she knew that hardly any
+one else could sing such lovely songs as he was always twittering. Let
+the ant be ever so mean and dumb; who else had such an orderly house,
+and such a store of food? Let the bee buzz; couldn't he turn the poorest
+weeds into delicious honey, and set it in waxen jars of his own making,
+yet so neat, and delicate, and well contrived, that any man or woman
+might be proud of them? Let the indigo-bird be shy; once hidden among
+the leaves, wasn't she willing enough to trill forth the clearest,
+loudest, sweetest little songs?
+
+Ah! in this great wide world there is no creature but has some precious
+gift for us, if we can only find it. The little bird is weak, but his
+voice can fill the whole sky with music. You may know some rough boy who
+seems wicked; but be sure there's a good spot in his heart, and, by
+treating him kindly, we may make that good spot larger. Isn't it worth
+while to try?
+
+Though yellow-bird, after giving many lessons, found he could not teach
+Minnie to fly, he taught her so much that, by resting one hand on his
+neck, she could easily glide along with him through the air.
+
+In this way they fluttered from bough to bough in the wood, then took
+longer flights through sunny meadows, and at last ventured up among the
+clouds, where Minnie had longed to go.
+
+Up, up, they soared,--yellow-bird singing for joy,--till there was
+nothing around them except the bright blue air, and, close over their
+heads, rose the pearly morning clouds.
+
+Many a time had the little girl sat on her father's door-step, and
+longed to be where she now found herself. Many a summer morning she had
+watched these same clouds gather and wrap themselves together, till they
+looked like splendid palaces of pearl--pearly domes and spires
+dazzlingly bright in the sunshine, and porticos with pillars of twisted
+pearl; and, at little openings, she could look through vast halls, all
+paved with pearl, and curtained with silvery hangings.
+
+At sunset the roof of her beautiful palace had changed from pearl to
+silver, and all its spires were gilded; the silvery hangings changed to
+rose-color; the floor, instead of pearl, was paved with solid gold, and
+the pillars were made of shining amethyst.
+
+"O," Minnie had thought, "if, instead of this little house, with its
+dull, iron fence, I could live in such a noble home as that, how proud
+and happy I should be!"
+
+Then, as a man passed, with his ladder, to light the street-lamps, she
+wondered if hundreds of ladders tied together couldn't reach as far as
+the clouds.
+
+"How I would skip up the rounds," she thought, "and, when I had reached
+the highest, send my ladder tumbling back to earth! The ladder would
+break, so no one could follow me; and all day long I'd fly from hall to
+hall, or, through great winding staircases, find my way to the golden
+cupolas, where I could look down into the poor old dusty earth I had
+left."
+
+And now, without tying a hundred ladders together, here she was among
+the clouds. Alas! the pearly halls, that from below had looked so
+beautiful, were damp and dismal vapors. It was chilly and lonesome up
+there, while, wonderful to tell! the earth seemed a warmer, sunnier,
+more cheerful place than she had ever known it. There was the pretty
+town, with its surrounding hills and woods, with its winding rivers, and
+green fields, and tranquil lakes. In all the sky there was nothing half
+so beautiful!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE SQUIRREL'S TEAM.
+
+
+After the long sky-journey, Minnie was glad to reach her home in the elm
+once more. She was weary, wet, cold, and disappointed. She longed for
+the blazing fire in her mother's room, and the warm, pleasant drink her
+mother could mix for her. She longed to hear Frank's merry voice, and to
+see baby Allie with her golden curls.
+
+There was no use in longing. Even if yellow-bird should fly with her to
+the very window, they wouldn't know her. They would only laugh at the
+curious little creature she had grown, and hang her up in the cage with
+their canary-birds. So she would make the best of her home that was
+left, and not distress her kind friends by wearing a gloomy face.
+
+She was trying to smile, when a pleasant chirp told her that the
+yellow-bird's mate was near. She soon hopped into sight, and, welcoming
+Minnie in her kind way, told that she had an invitation from no less a
+person than his majesty, the owl.
+
+The party was made especially for Minnie; so she could not refuse,
+although it was to be held at midnight. Yellow-bird would go with her.
+
+"And you, too?" Minnie asked.
+
+"Excuse me, dear, this time. I feel obliged to stay at home."
+
+"So do I, then."
+
+"Ah, I will tell you a secret. I have in my nest some of the prettiest
+little eggs you ever saw. If I should leave them they might be chilled
+with the night-air; so never mind me, Minnie, but go and have the
+pleasantest time you can."
+
+"To tell another secret, then," Minnie answered, "my dress is not only
+worn to rags, but so soiled that I am ashamed of it, and cannot think of
+going into company. See what a plight!" And she held up the skirt that
+was torn into strips like ribbon.
+
+"Is that all? I watched to-day while a cruel boy was shooting in the
+wood. He fired at a poor little humming-bird, and broke its wing. It
+fluttered down among the bushes, and lies there now, I suppose, for I
+took care to call the boy away."
+
+"How?"
+
+"O, we understand. I cried out as if he had also wounded me; and, when
+he began to search, went slyly round into another place, and cried
+again. So I led the boy on, till I felt pretty sure he could not find
+his game if he went back."
+
+"But why did you take so much pains?"
+
+"Partly so that he should not carry the pretty little creature home, and
+send half the boys in town out here, next day, hunting humming-birds,
+and partly because I thought the feathers would make you such a warm,
+handsome cloak. Fly with me, now, and we'll find it; for here comes my
+mate, to take his turn in staying with the nest."
+
+They quickly reached the bush, under which humming-bird lay dead; but
+how heavy he was! It was as much as ever Minnie could do to lift him
+from the ground.
+
+While they stood over him, wondering what was next to be done, Master
+Squirrel frisked in sight, rolling before him a large, round
+turtle-shell.
+
+"Stand out of the way!" he shouted. But Minnie stood across his path,
+and, for fear of throwing her down, he stopped; and, leaning on his
+shell, not very good-naturedly asked what she wanted.
+
+"O, squirrel, do leave your play a little while, and help us!" she said.
+"We have this heavy bird to carry home, and skin, and make the skin into
+a cloak, while the daylight lasts; do be kind, now, and help us!"
+
+"It isn't my way to be kind; but I'll make a bargain with you."
+
+"Well."
+
+"Yellow-bird shall fix a harness out of straw, fasten you into my shell
+for a horse, and I will drive home with your load."
+
+"That's a good plan," said Minnie, not waiting to think how squirrel
+had kept the best of the bargain for his own share. "What say you,
+yellow-bird?"
+
+"Poor little woman! after such a long journey you are too tired to drag
+this great fellow home. I will do it myself."
+
+"Then I will help you twist the ropes."
+
+To work they went, and soon had the harness finished. Squirrel,
+meantime, selected a good long twig for a whip, laid the humming-bird
+across the shell, and leaped into his place.
+
+He could hardly wait for the harnessing to be ended; but Minnie made him
+stay until he had promised only to snap his whip in the air, not use it
+on yellow-bird, and they darted on.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE MOONLIGHT DANCE.
+
+
+Minnie tripped behind, watching the little team. She had grown so nimble
+that she could keep nearer than squirrel thought.
+
+When he supposed he was out of sight from her, he lifted his whip, and
+gave yellow-bird a smart stroke across his shoulders.
+
+But she knew how to punish him;--spreading her wings at once, she rose
+into the air, and made the deceitful squirrel roll out of his chariot.
+
+He was ashamed to see Minnie after this, so limped away, whining that he
+had broken his paw, and would tell his mother.
+
+Then yellow-bird sung one of her droll little songs, that were like
+twenty laughs shaken together, and, when Minnie came, begged her to
+take the squirrel's place, and drive home.
+
+The little woman was too thoughtful of her kind friend for that. She
+went behind and pushed, while yellow-bird dragged the shell, and they
+soon had it safe beneath the elm.
+
+Then they slipped off the humming-bird's skin in a trice, hung it a
+while on the sunny side of the elm to dry, and Minnie's good friend
+pulled out from among the twigs of the nest that dear piece of her
+mother's dress, and gave it to her for a lining.
+
+You never saw a prettier and more fairy-like little garment than this
+when it was finished; the tiny feathers all lay together so evenly, and
+whenever the wearer moved they took such brilliant hues! Now the cloak
+was red, now brown, now green and gold, and again it glittered with all
+these colors at once.
+
+Minnie had always seemed like a bird, with her quick, light, flying
+ways, and more than ever she seemed one now, with her gay feather cloak,
+and the fluttering, sailing motions she had caught from yellow-bird.
+
+Mrs. Yellow-bird, having put the last stitch in Minnie's cloak, fastened
+it about her neck, and looked at her guest with great satisfaction.
+Then, at a chirp, her mate came, and readily consented to be Minnie's
+escort; so away they flew together.
+
+The evening was mild, and clear moonlight filled the wood. Owl had
+chosen a lovely green dell in which to meet his friends, and had fitted
+it up with taste, and no little pains. All among the bushes and lower
+boughs of the trees he had tied live fire-flies and bright green
+beetles. He had built for the dance a tent of bark, and had sanded the
+floor with a curious dust that is found in the wood countries, and is
+like pale coals of fire.
+
+The birds dared not step on this fiery carpet at first, for fear of
+singeing their feet; but owl assured them that it had no warmth. As for
+the fire-fly lanterns, it must be confessed that the birds' mouths
+watered in passing them, but they were too civil to eat up their host's
+decorations.
+
+There was an orchestra of crickets, and they played such merry tunes
+that the guests all danced and waltzed till they were tired, and then
+it was supper-time.
+
+Alas! owl had not been so thoughtful as the squirrels, and had only
+furnished such food as he liked himself. You may judge the surprise and
+disgust of the company, when, to the music of the band, they were
+marched in front of a heap of dead mice!
+
+The owl began to eat at once, and begged his guests not to be diffident.
+Not one of them tasted a morsel, however. Some politely refused, some
+went home angry, and a few had the courage to own that they were not
+fond of mouse-flesh.
+
+Thus owl's party ended, and, indeed, all his parties, for, the next time
+he sent out invitations, every bird in the wood respectfully declined.
+
+If we think of no one but ourselves, we shall soon be left to ourselves.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE LITTLE NURSES.
+
+
+Minnie almost fell asleep on her way back to the elm, and found it hard
+to keep up with yellow-bird, who flew on briskly as ever.
+
+Her long morning journey, the labor and hurry of making her cloak, as
+well as the effort to bring the humming-bird home, and the party
+afterwards, the dancing and late hours, tired her so much--so much that
+she feared all the rest in the world would not make her strong again.
+
+And when the tree was reached, Minnie's friends did not, as usual, offer
+her their nest. They must keep it now for the eggs. Cold and weary as
+she was, the little girl must lie down among damp leaves, with no other
+bed than a mossy place which she found on the rough bark of the elm.
+
+In the morning she still felt tired, lame, and stiff, yet her spirits
+came back with the sunshine, and when she told yellow-bird she had not
+strength enough to fly away with him, he stayed and sung to her a while,
+and afterwards brought her delicious berries from the wood, all sweet
+and ripe, and cool with dew.
+
+With such an attentive friend to supply her wants, it was not very hard
+to sit quietly upon her couch of moss, so green and velvety, with
+sunshine all about her on the leaves, and the pleasant prospect below.
+
+You will remember that the tree was full of inhabitants, and our Minnie
+had made friends with almost all of them. When well and active, she had
+never passed them without a pleasant word, or at least a nod of welcome;
+and, now that she was sick, they were most happy to sit and talk with
+her, or offer their assistance.
+
+They brought her presents, each in his kind. The bee came up from among
+the clover-blossoms, to place clear drops of honey on the leaf beside
+his little friend. The silent ant stopped a moment to tell the news, and
+presented a morsel of sugar which she had hoarded in her nest till it
+was brown with age. Indigo-bird brought a berry, blue as his wings. Some
+of the birds brought good fat angle-worms or snails, which would be
+dainty morsels to them. These Minnie laid aside for her friend Mr.
+Yellow-bird, although she thanked the givers politely, as if what they
+brought were her own favorite food.
+
+This was not deceitful, because what Minnie enjoyed was the thoughtful
+kindness of her friends, and not their gifts. The berries were sweet, to
+be sure, but their friendship was sweeter.
+
+Master Squirrel came among the rest. He and a spider of his
+acquaintance had made Minnie a beautiful parasol, with the
+humming-bird's bill for a handle, and a wild rose for the top.
+
+The pink cup of this flower, turned downward as it was, cast such a glow
+upon Minnie's pale face, that Master Squirrel thought he had never
+before seen her look so handsome.
+
+Soon, tired of listening to his coarse compliments, the little girl
+asked what else it was that he kept so nicely covered in his hands.
+
+"O, that's my mother's offering!" he replied. "How the old woman would
+have scolded if I had forgotten to give it to you!"
+
+"Pray, let me have it. How kind your mother always is!"
+
+"Except when her nest is too clean, eh? Well, she saw me working over
+the humming-bird's carcass, and thought, as the meat was fresh, perhaps
+you'd like a scrap cooked for your dinner."
+
+"Cooked meat! O, I haven't tasted a morsel since I left my father's
+house!" said Minnie, in delight. "Where could your mother have found the
+fire, though?"
+
+"Not far off the woods are burning,--took fire in the dry season, as
+they often do,--and there were plenty of coals; so madam cut off the
+humming-bird's wing, and broiled it--O, my!--till it smells so nice that
+it made my mouth water to bring it to you!"
+
+He lifted the cover, and there, on a green leaf, lay the dainty wing,
+all crisp and smoking now. Minnie relished her dinner more than words
+can tell.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+MOUSE.
+
+
+Before Minnie was strong again, yellow-bird's eggs hatched, and both he
+and his mate were busy and anxious, all the time, with taking care of
+their nest full of little ones. She did not see her friends so often as
+formerly, and, when they came, their visits were hurried and short.
+
+And, one by one, her other acquaintances grew forgetful, for birds and
+insects don't have such good memories as we, you know. Each was occupied
+with his own cares and amusements. Perhaps the truth was that they had
+grown tired of Minnie, as you grow tired, in time, of your prettiest
+playthings.
+
+She felt all these changes. She remembered sadly what Master Squirrel
+had said, that his mother thought company a great deal of trouble, and
+herself, though a cunning body, of no use to any one.
+
+What if yellow-bird and his mate should begin to feel the same? She
+determined not to stay and trouble them any longer, after they both had
+been so kind; but where in the great world could she go for a home? Who
+would feed, and comfort, and love her? Ah! how sadly she remembered the
+dear mother who had made it all her care to watch over and supply her
+children's wants!
+
+Every creature in the wood had a home and friends, except herself! And
+yet none of these homes were so pleasant, none of these friends so sweet
+and loving, as the ones she had foolishly thrown away.
+
+"Ah!" thought Minnie, as in the dusky twilight she lay swinging on a
+lonely bough of the elm, "Ah! if I could whisper loud enough for every
+little boy and girl on earth to hear, I'd say, 'Be happy in your own
+home, with your own friends; for there are no others like them--none,
+none, none!'"
+
+Though these sad feelings were weighing on the heart, the rocking of
+the bough and sighing of the evening wind among the leaves lulled Minnie
+soon asleep.
+
+She awoke in a terrible storm. She was drenched with rain, which pelted
+like pebbles, in sharp, quick drops, beating the leaves, while the wind
+dashed the boughs together, and made Minnie fear that, though clinging
+with all her strength to the branch, she must fall.
+
+And she did fall into the wet grass far below, and was stunned, perhaps,
+for she did not awake until morning.
+
+Then the sun shone brightly once more, the elm above her glittered with
+sparkling drops, and the first sound which Minnie heard was
+yellow-bird's song of joy that his little ones were safe after all the
+wind and rain.
+
+"He has forgotten me, or he would not be so glad!" she whispered to
+herself. Then came the thought, "Perhaps he is happier because I am
+swept away out of his sight!" and with this she began to cry.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked a little mouse, that was running about in the
+grass, picking up worms and flies which had perished in the rain.
+"What's the matter? Have my proud cousins, the squirrels, been treating
+you badly again?"
+
+"No, they all do more for me than I can do for them; but, dear little
+mouse, I've stayed in the woods too long. Every one is tired of me.
+Couldn't you show me the way back to my mother's house?"
+
+"Why, Minnie, _I_ am not tired of you. Pray, don't go home yet. Come and
+make me a visit in my snug little hole, so quiet underground. No storms
+reach there. I shall not whisk you about as squirrel has done; nor take
+you long, weary journeys through the air, like yellow-bird. I'll bring
+you cheese, and meal, and melon-seeds, till you grow rosy as your little
+sister Alice."
+
+"My sister! What can you know about her, pray?"
+
+"Wasn't I at your house this morning? I have, not far from this very
+wood, a passage-way underground that leads into your mother's pantry.
+Come to my nest, and you'll hear news from home."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+HOUSEKEEPING.
+
+
+Minnie gladly followed the mouse into his hole. To see some one who had
+been in her dear lost home, was almost as good as to feel her mother's
+gentle hand laid on her head once more.
+
+In the promised news she was disappointed! Alas! the mouse disappointed
+her in many things. Minnie had not lived with him long before she found
+that she had fallen into bad company.
+
+He was good-natured and hospitable in his way, but a sad thief, and his
+word could never be depended upon. The little girl even felt afraid of
+her own safety, when she saw what pleasure mouse took in betraying all
+who trusted in him.
+
+The first time she fell asleep, the mischievous fellow nibbled off what
+rags were left of her gown, to make a bed for his young. Minnie feared
+that next he might pick out her eyes for their luncheon, and determined
+to leave him before it should be too late.
+
+But it seemed as if the sly mouse saw into her mind, for, as she was
+composing her farewell speech, he came running out in the grass where
+she had seated herself, and said, in his squeaking voice, "Minnie, will
+you do me a great favor?"
+
+"I shall be glad to do anything in my power," was the reply.
+
+"Well, you didn't seem satisfied with the news I brought from home, and
+so I have resolved to go and try if I cannot pick up some more."
+
+"I suppose you won't pick up any of my mother's cheese and pie-crust?"
+said Minnie, laughing.
+
+"Of course not; at least, not more than enough to pay for my trouble in
+going. And now, Minnie dear, I want you to take care of my little ones
+while I'm gone,--to feed them, and see that they don't roll out of their
+nest."
+
+"That I will do very willingly."
+
+Mouse scampered away, and Minnie little thought how long it would be
+before she should see him again.
+
+The nest was narrower, deeper, and darker, than squirrel's, and quite as
+close and disorderly. It was hard for Minnie to crowd herself through
+the entrance; but, once within, she found paths winding in every
+direction, some of them ending in little chambers. Part of these rooms
+were store-houses of grain, cheese, and all manner of rubbish, which
+mouse must have stolen for the pleasure of stealing, Minnie thought, it
+was so wholly useless. The other rooms had each its brood of little
+mice, of all sizes and ages, some almost as large as the mother, some
+not much larger than a fly.
+
+It took the whole afternoon to wander from one room to another,
+explaining where the mother had gone, comforting those that began to
+fret, feeding the hungry, quieting the quarrelsome. Glad enough was
+Minnie when she had tucked up the last brood in their bed of wool, and
+could creep out into the grass for a breath of air and a look at the
+pleasant sky.
+
+Shaking the earth from her cloak of humming-bird feathers, and picking a
+handful of checkerberries, Minnie looked about for a stone to sit upon
+while she ate her supper.
+
+She soon found one, smooth as any pebble in the brook. Here she could
+eat at her leisure, while a band of crickets and katydids played to her,
+and all the beautiful stars twinkled over her head, and all the grass
+about her was strung with glistening drops of dew.
+
+"After all," she thought, "this is more to my taste than being shut up
+in my curtained bed at home. What's the use in stars and dew, if we
+never look at them? What use is there in the evening breeze, if we shut
+it out with our windows? It's a good thing to have our own way, and I
+may yet be glad that I left my father's house."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+TROUBLE FOR MINNIE.
+
+
+As Minnie sat meditating, suddenly the grass about her seemed to move.
+The long blades bent this way and that, and shook their dew-drops over
+her.
+
+What could this mean? Had the grass feet? Could it draw its roots up out
+of the ground and walk?
+
+Why, _she_ was moving! The grass behind lay bowed together in her
+pathway, and here she was, seated close under an evening primrose, which
+opened its yellow blossoms so far from the mouse-nest that she had only
+felt their fragrance when the wind blew.
+
+Presently something like the head of a great snake was stretched out
+from under her seat. Minnie sprang up at once, and, climbing into the
+primrose branches, wondered if she were awake or asleep, that such
+strange things should happen.
+
+Then the snake's head disappeared, and a low voice spoke from under the
+stone, "Why do you leave me? I live in a pleasanter place than the
+mouse, and am myself more honest and agreeable. Will not the little
+woman make me a visit?"
+
+"Why, what's your name, and where did you come from? and are you a
+stone, or something alive? and is that snake's head a part of you?" said
+Minnie, half frightened, and half amused.
+
+"What you are so polite as to call a snake's head is my own, and what
+you call a stone is my shell, and I am a turtle, Miss Minnie," the voice
+answered, with dignity.
+
+"Pray, don't be angry with me, turtle; I meant no harm. Now the
+moonlight has come, I can see the beautiful golden stars on your back;
+and, now my fright is over, I remember what a pleasant ride you took me
+through the grass."
+
+"You shall have as many such rides as you want, if only you'll come and
+stay with me by the side of the brook."
+
+Here was the very opportunity Minnie had wished, to find a safer home;
+but she could not forget her promise to the mouse, and leave the little
+ones to suffer.
+
+When she told turtle this, he said that she was perfectly right, and,
+creeping back with his load to the entrance of the nest, and finding the
+mouse was still away, he left Minnie, promising that by sunrise in the
+morning he would return for her.
+
+Accustomed as she had long been to the shelter of the elm-leaves, the
+dampness rising from the ground made Minnie sneeze so violently that the
+crickets stopped playing to listen. She was glad to go, at last, inside
+of the nest, and sleep in one of the close little rubbish-rooms.
+
+At daylight she was awakened by a small brown beetle running up and down
+her arm. Rubbing her eyes, she asked, rather sharply, why he could not
+let her sleep in peace.
+
+"The turtle wants to know why you don't keep your promises. He has been
+waiting this half hour, and sends word that it is a shame for you to
+sleep away the beautiful morning hours."
+
+Minnie sprang to her feet at once, and was following the beetle, when
+squeak, squeak! ho, hallo! wait a minute, Minnie! came from every room
+she attempted to pass.
+
+She found that mouse had not kept her promise of coming home, and,
+sending a message to the turtle, she was obliged to wait and hear a
+hundred questions and complaints, and settle a hundred disputes between
+the quarrelsome young ones.
+
+One had pushed the other out of bed; one had trodden on the other's
+tail; one tickled the other so that he could not sleep; one snored so
+loud it made another nervous; one had eaten up the other's grain.
+
+As Minnie crept about in this dark, disagreeable place, so full of angry
+voices, she remembered that lost home of hers, where all was peace and
+love. She remembered dear Franky, with his rosy cheeks and curly
+hair,--the good, generous little fellow that he was; and baby Alice,
+with her large brown eyes; and the kind parents who never went away and
+forgot _their_ little ones.
+
+Then she rummaged the store-rooms for food; and, not finding enough to
+satisfy the greedy mice, crept out into the air to see if she could not
+pick up something for their breakfast.
+
+She saw no turtle. The grass was bent still with his foot-tracks, but he
+was gone. So Minnie went busily to work picking off seeds and berries,
+and the honeyed end of clover-blossoms, till she had such a heap that it
+seemed to her she could never carry it all into the nest.
+
+Then thinking, "Perhaps, if I set the mice at work, it will stop their
+quarrelling," she called out several of the elder broods.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+TROUBLE STILL.
+
+
+The young mice seemed obedient to Minnie until they had reached the
+entrance of the nest; but, at the first taste of fresh air, they began
+to frisk about, and do whatever they chose.
+
+First they attacked her heap of food, and ate all the choicest bits
+which she had saved for the little ones. Then off they ran, this, that,
+and every way, Minnie calling after them in vain.
+
+She went in search of the runaways, but they hid safely under the leaves
+and grass, or burrowed into the ground. Tired and discouraged, the poor
+girl turned back to collect what food was left, and give it to the
+little ones.
+
+And still the old mouse did not come home. Minnie wondered if she had
+gone on purpose to be rid of her family, and if she must herself have
+the care of bringing up this great brood of noisy, troublesome mice.
+
+Why not let them starve? If they grew up, it would only be to cheat and
+steal, like their mother, and run away with people's meal and cheese.
+
+Ah! but Minnie had promised. And, besides, the old mouse had been kind
+in her way, and had offered Minnie a home when other friends forsook
+her. No, she would not desert the little ones.
+
+All at once she remembered a trap that used to stand in her mother's
+pantry; suppose the mouse was caught in it! She would go this instant,
+and see.
+
+Now the underground pathway was very, very narrow, and so close and warm
+that three times Minnie gave up her attempt, and as many times went
+back; for, when she thought that the friend who had fed her might be
+starving, it was enough to drive away all other thoughts.
+
+Still, not being a mouse, she could not breathe in that close
+cellar-way. Her strength all left her. The little heart, that had beat
+so fast when she thought of going home, home, only fluttered faintly
+now. She began to feel that she could not even creep back to the
+mouse-nest; that this dark passage was to be her grave.
+
+But one step forward brought Minnie into a good-sized room, and what was
+her surprise to find this the nest of the father-mouse!
+
+He didn't like the noise and trouble of children, he said, and so kept
+away from the sound of their voices. He hoped his mate was well, and was
+just on the point of going to see what had become of her.
+
+When Minnie told her fears, he uttered a frightened squeak, and said he
+was sure she must be right, and that he was a poor, lonesome widower,
+and should never see his dear, dear wife again.
+
+Minnie cheered him by telling that her mother's trap was not one of the
+cruel ones with teeth, but only a box with wires, in which his wife
+might live safely for several days. Then she explained how with his
+teeth and paws he could open the door and set her free.
+
+Away flew the mouse, first showing his friend a nearer and easier
+pathway out into the air.
+
+Minnie now began to consider how displeased the mother-mouse would be,
+on returning, to find her children scattered in all directions. If she
+could but call them together, and see them safe in the nest once more,
+bid the old mice good-by, and ride off quietly herself on the turtle's
+back, how happy she would be!
+
+She climbed the tall evening primrose, and looked on every side, but not
+a sign of a mouse. She leaped into the grass again, and, with the stick
+of her parasol, stirred every tuft of clover and bunch of violet or
+plantain leaves. In vain.
+
+Minnie had made up her mind that they were lost, drowned in the brook,
+or eaten by some bird of prey, when she caught sight of one, with his
+bright eyes and sharp little nose peeping up from under a toadstool.
+
+Then she knew that all the rest must be near, and, jumping on top of the
+toadstool, she said,
+
+"You mischievous fellows, I dare say you are all laughing at me in your
+hiding-places; but hear this! your mother is dead, perhaps, and as sure
+as you stay out of your nest at night, some mischief will come to you.
+I shall waste no more time in this search."
+
+Wasn't it ungrateful in the mice to disobey Minnie, when she had taken
+so much trouble for their sakes? And yet I have known children whose
+parents took as much pains for their sake, and who were as thoughtless
+and disobedient as Minnie's mice.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+FREE AT LAST.
+
+
+When Minnie returned to the nest, whom should she meet but mouse in the
+midst of her little ones?
+
+The mate was there also. He had come partly to help home his wife,--who
+had lamed her foot in the trap,--and partly to boast of his wonderful
+courage and ingenuity in setting her free.
+
+Both were very profuse in their thanks to Minnie; for the young mice had
+already told of her kindness and care. Minnie interrupted their thanks
+to ask the news from home.
+
+This, mouse had half forgotten in her flight. She only remembered how,
+after the trap shut down upon her, the pantry-door had opened, and a
+lady came in.
+
+"Tell me exactly how she looked," said Minnie.
+
+"She wore a gown of pink muslin, and pink ribbons in her hair."
+
+"O, that was my own mother! How I wish I had been in your place!"
+
+"I wished so too. When she lifted her hand and took down a jar of
+sweetmeats, that stood close by the trap, I felt sure she'd see me, and
+have me killed. O, how I trembled! It was as much as ever I could do to
+keep from squeaking when I thought of my mate, and all the little ones."
+
+"Was my mother alone?"
+
+"No; a little boy came with her, and watched while she took the
+sweetmeats out into a dish. Before closing the jar, I saw her give him a
+taste of the delicious pine-apple."
+
+"How did you know it was pine-apple?"
+
+"O, after my mate had set me free, we waited to lap up a few drops that
+trickled down the side of the jar. We know the taste of good things! Was
+that boy your brother?"
+
+"No; it was dear Franky, my playfellow, who lives at the other side of
+the fence. Didn't he say anything?"
+
+"He asked the lady if she supposed Minnie was where she could have nice
+pine-apple for tea. I couldn't hear the answer, for they both left the
+pantry then."
+
+"My generous Franky! He always thought more of others than himself."
+
+"Don't cry, dear, and I'll call you my generous Minnie. Think! if you
+had not been so kind, all our little ones might have starved."
+
+"Yes; and my own wife might have dried up into a skeleton in that
+dreadful trap!" said the father-mouse. "How glad we are that we have
+such a kind friend to live with us always!"
+
+Alas, it was hard for Minnie now to tell that she meant to leave their
+nest! But, hearing the slow steps of turtle brush through the grass
+above, she thanked the mice for their good-will, and hurried out into
+the sunshine, to meet her new and faithful friend.
+
+As for the mice, they were so taken by surprise, that at first they
+could only look after her, without saying a word. But, before she had
+reached the brook, Minnie heard a squeaking and scrambling underground;
+and, from a little opening, which she had not seen before, up darted
+mouse and her mate, trembling with anger, and talking so noisily, both
+at once, that she could not make out what either said.
+
+Meantime turtle, who had little respect for mice, kept on at his steady,
+slow pace, through the grass. As Minnie was mounted on his back, the
+mice were obliged to travel also, in order that she might hear their
+complaints and reproaches.
+
+For they had forgotten all about gratitude, now, and could only grieve
+over the missing broods of young.
+
+As soon as Minnie discovered this, she begged turtle to wait a moment,
+that she might tell her side of the tale; but on he jogged, and, when
+the mice would not be still, snapped at them so fiercely with his snaky
+head, that they both scampered home in fright.
+
+They had not grieved for naught. Four of the truants had drowned
+themselves in attempting to cross the brook; two had been eaten by a
+crow; and the rest were snapped up at a mouthful, by a spaniel, that
+happened to run through the field.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+TURTLE.
+
+
+You remember Minnie was a restless little soul; and will not be
+surprised to learn that she had not lived with the turtle long before
+his slow ways tired her.
+
+He was stubborn and disobliging, too. If he started for a place, she
+couldn't make him turn one inch aside; but on, on, on he crept at the
+same slow pace,--no matter whether Minnie were wet, and half-frozen with
+rain, or parched with sunshine,--on, on, till he reached his goal.
+
+Still he was always quiet and dignified, had no quarrels with his
+neighbors, and seemed to treat his little guest as well as he knew how.
+
+It is true he surprised her in disagreeable ways sometimes. If he saw a
+pool of deep mud by the road-side he would wallow through it, sadly
+soiling Minnie's fine cloak of humming-bird feathers. She knew he was
+partial to mud, and would not have blamed him so much had this excursion
+been all; but, instead of going back to the grass, where she might wipe
+herself clean, he would mount some slanting log that rose out of the
+water, and stand there sunning himself for hours.
+
+One day, a gentleman, who was driving past in a chaise, saw Minnie and
+the turtle perched thus on a log, and stopped to examine the curious
+object.
+
+Turtle drew his head inside of his shell at once, and left poor Minnie
+to her fate.
+
+Now it happened that the traveller was a great naturalist, and
+especially fond of collecting turtles. He had hundreds of them, snapping
+at each other, and scrambling over each others' backs, in his yard at
+home.
+
+Still he was always on the watch for a new specimen; and here was a
+famous one, he thought. Springing from his chaise, the gentleman ran to
+the other side of the brook, and was walking cautiously toward them,
+when turtle thought it time to look out for his own safety. So, dropping
+from the log, he disappeared in the thick, muddy bottom of the brook.
+
+The naturalist went back, disappointed, to his chaise. Minnie, in
+passing, caught at some iris-leaves, and clung to them. As soon as she
+could wipe the water from her mouth, she called out, "Allow me to bid
+you good-by, Mr. Turtle. I think I can take as good care of myself as
+you've taken of me thus far, and henceforth I will save you the
+trouble."
+
+"What's that? I'm rather thick of hearing," said turtle, from under the
+mud.
+
+"Good-by, that's all!" And, by the time he had reached the end of his
+log once more, Minnie was floating down the brook on a pond-lily leaf,
+diving every now and then to cleanse herself from the mud which turtle
+had dragged her through.
+
+"Why shouldn't I live by myself? Where's the use in giving others so
+much trouble?" she said now. "Why cannot I play with the flowers and
+butterflies, run races with the ripples, and bright little fishes, in
+the brook; or sleep on any bank of moss, or in any empty bird's nest
+that I can find? At least, let me try; and, if I grow hungry or
+lonesome, there are enough good people to take me in."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+MINNIE'S WINGS.
+
+
+Now came the most beautiful and happiest part of Minnie's wandering
+life. So nimble was she, and ready for sport, and so droll, and withal
+so gentle and ready to oblige, that she made friends on every side.
+Wherever she went you'd be sure to find a flock of butterflies, or bees,
+or birds, about her.
+
+They taught her all the pretty sports which they had practised among
+themselves; once more she flew across the meadows with the birds, fed on
+the fresh, clear honey of the bee, and played hide-and-seek with
+butterflies.
+
+Sometimes the butterflies lifted her far up into the air. How do you
+suppose they contrived to do it, with their slender wings, which even
+the wind could break?
+
+Minnie told them that, in her father's house stood a statue, with wings
+on the wrists and feet. This was Mercury, whom the Greeks in old times
+worshipped as one of their many gods.
+
+Now, she thought the butterflies might make a little Mercury of her. No
+sooner had she said as much than a beautiful pair, spreading wings large
+enough for sails to her lily-leaf boat, floated through the sunshine to
+settle upon the little woman's shoulders. Then followed smaller ones,
+with blue, white, and yellow wings; and, fastening themselves to her
+ankles and wrists, up, up, they all flew together!
+
+But the next day Minnie found her little friends creeping about with
+their wings sadly sprained. So she would not often let them repeat this
+experiment.
+
+O, I should have to write a larger book than this to tell you what good
+times Minnie had with the butterflies; into what pleasant places they
+were always leading her; how gentle and playful they were, and how their
+wings were perfumed with the flowers they had lived among.
+
+She loved to have them follow her when she walked, especially that
+little golden kind you have often seen in the meadows. Some followed,
+some fluttered on before, as if she were a little queen, and they her
+body-guard.
+
+There were no angry voices now, no envious neighbors; no Master Squirrel
+came to repeat disagreeable stories. Instead of that stifled
+squirrel-hole in the elm, she had the sweet air of heaven about her now.
+Instead of that crowded yellow-bird's nest, where Minnie had felt in the
+way, she had now the wide meadow, with room enough in its soft, green
+lining, for herself and all her friends.
+
+But, alas! Minnie was the one, this time, to cause trouble and
+discontent. Only to gratify her wilful temper, she did what she would
+have given half the world to undo afterwards. It was a little
+thing,--you would hardly call it wicked; and yet it grieved and drove
+away her gentle friends, and would have cost her own life, but for an
+accident. These _little things_ make half the mischief in the world.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+HIDE-AND-SEEK.
+
+
+One afternoon, tired of playing in the hot sun, Minnie thought she would
+creep under some shady cluster of leaves, and sleep.
+
+But the butterflies could never have play enough, and the hotter the
+sunshine, the better for them. So they did not understand that the
+little girl needed rest, and, thinking her weariness only make-believe,
+would not give her any peace.
+
+They ran across her hands, they tickled her cheeks with their feathery
+feelers, they pelted her with buttercups, and at last began to cover her
+over with leaves of the wild rose. So full of mischief were they, that
+one could no more sleep, while they were about, than if they'd been so
+many bees.
+
+At first Minnie tried to be good-natured, and laugh at their pranks;
+but, warm and tired as she was, you cannot wonder that her patience
+didn't last.
+
+Some children would have roughly driven the butterflies away--have
+pelted them with stones, perhaps, and broken their beautiful wings. But
+Minnie could not forget how kind they had been; and besides, you know,
+they were not such little things to her as they seem to us; they were
+almost as large as herself.
+
+She only arose, and, turning her back, would not speak to them, or spoke
+in such a snappish manner that the butterflies were frightened, and flew
+away.
+
+Left alone, she espied, near the wood, something that looked like a
+side-saddle, just large enough for a little body like herself. She
+sprang to see if there were a tiny horse to fit, and thought how quickly
+he should gallop off with her, so far that the butterflies could not
+follow--no, not if they wore their wings off!
+
+But the saddle proved only to be a flower, so much like a wadded leather
+cushion, that Minnie took her seat upon it, and was swaying back and
+forth with its tall, stiff stem, when she noticed that it was surrounded
+by a row of leaves more curious, even, than the flower.
+
+Each leaf was like a little pitcher, with such great ears that Minnie
+wondered if it were not the very kind she had heard her mother talk
+about, when she was whispering secrets. There they stood, like the forty
+jars in which Ali-Baba caught the forty thieves, in the Arabian Nights.
+
+"Here's a place to hide!" She had hardly said it, when the butterflies
+came in sight, and Minnie slipped into the tallest pitcher, unseen by
+them, she thought.
+
+But no--they found her; and now was Minnie's time to laugh. Fold their
+wide wings together, crumple them as they might, not one of the
+butterflies could crowd himself through the narrow neck of the pitcher.
+They could only stand and look down wistfully at the roguish face
+within.
+
+"I'm glad to see you! shake hands!" said Minnie, shaking their slender
+wrists till they begged her to be still.
+
+"Ah! Minnie, not so rough! Come, now, don't be cross any longer. Come
+out and play with us!"
+
+"Don't you wish I would? Don't you wish you could catch me?" was all the
+answer she made.
+
+"But we've found a bee that a bird killed, and we saved the honey-bag
+for you."
+
+In vain they urged. Minnie was very stubborn. She laughed at the
+butterflies, and teased them, until they were offended, and, one by one,
+flew back to the brook.
+
+And, now that she had leisure to look about, the little girl found
+herself in an uncomfortable place. Not only was the pitcher half full of
+water, but so narrow that she could hardly move, and lined with stiff
+hairs, that seemed like thorns to tiny hands like hers. She would not
+stay here.
+
+But how to escape was the question! She only climbed the sides to slip
+back again; her arms were scratched till they bled; her garments were
+heavy with the water in which they drabbled. Night was coming down; she
+could hear the crickets sing; she caught glimpses of birds flying home
+to their nests; yet all were so noisy or so busy that they could not
+hear her voice.
+
+How she wished, now, that her rudeness had not driven the butterflies
+away! But it was too late for such wishes; they had gone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+MINNIE IN PRISON.
+
+
+Minnie thought the night would never end. She watched the stars that
+moved so slowly overhead; she watched the moonlight slant into the wood,
+and the pale flowers fill with dew. She heard the night wind creep among
+the leaves; and her old friend the owl, and other wild creatures that
+hide by day, she heard prowling about in the dark.
+
+Sometimes there would be a quick cry, or a patter of light little feet,
+or the dull hoot of the owl; and then all was still again, and Minnie
+gazed once more to see how far the stars had moved. O, it was such a
+little way, and they had so far to go before the sun would shine again!
+
+At last she fell asleep from very weariness, and awoke to find a faint
+red light above the eastern hills. It was morning--morning! Another hour
+would see the sun rise, and bring some friend, perhaps, to help her away
+from her prison.
+
+When some kind friend awakens you at sunrise on a summer morning, and,
+feeling drowsy, you long to turn and sleep again, and wish daylight
+would never come, you must suppose that you were in Minnie's place, and
+see then if you do not find it easier to spring from your beds. Because
+the sunshine comes to us so freely, we must not forget how precious and
+beautiful it is.
+
+Suppose the darkness, instead of lasting for one night, should last
+whole months, as it does at the far north. What a damp, dismal world it
+would be! How we should grope from place to place, and, sitting in our
+houses by the flicker of poor lamps, how we should long for the
+sunshine--for the beaming, generous light and pleasant warmth that
+spread now over all the land!
+
+The birds began to rustle among the boughs, or, half asleep still, sing
+short dreamy songs upon their nests; but Minnie could not make them
+hear her little voice, and had resolved to call no more, but drown or
+starve, if she must, when a humming-bird came wheeling and buzzing by.
+
+He was such a noisy fellow himself, that, like the rest, he might have
+passed on without noticing Minnie's cry, but he paused to drink at the
+pitcher, where he knew that water was hid; and what was his surprise to
+find an old acquaintance there!
+
+Minnie was always ready for a joke; so she popped up her head like the
+little men you have seen shut into boxes, that, when the cover is
+lifted, start up and frighten you.
+
+She knew very well that if humming-bird flew away at first, his
+curiosity would lead him back again. She laughed to see how quickly he
+flitted into the wood, and then how cautiously he came forth, and, from
+bough to bough and plant to plant, made his way to her side once more.
+
+Then Minnie's face grew serious, as she told her little friend how much
+she had suffered and feared through the long, long night, and begged
+that he would help her to escape. He was not half strong enough to lift
+her, though he tried till his bill ached with dragging at her tangled
+hair.
+
+And this work, if hard to him, was not, as you may judge, the most
+agreeable to Minnie. She persuaded the humming-bird to leave her for a
+while, and see if he could not find help, or, at least, find something
+for her to eat.
+
+It happened that, in seeking food for Minnie, the bird found something
+of which he was especially fond himself; so, after eating his fill, he
+went humming across the meadow, never thinking again of the friend he
+had promised to help.
+
+Very impatiently the little girl expected him every moment, until an
+hour had passed, and still she waited, hungry and alone.
+
+Then came a great flapping of wings overhead, and a rustling such as she
+had once heard when a hawk flew into her father's poultry-yard. He had
+eaten the white chicken that she called her own, and it was as large as
+she was now. Suppose he should eat her!
+
+The rush of wings came nearer, and the bird, whatever his name might
+be, alighted close beside Minnie, who ventured to peep over the edge of
+her pitcher, and beheld a curious, tall, awkward creature, such as she
+had never seen before in her life.
+
+She coughed to attract his attention, and he turned toward her a bill as
+long as her own arm was once, and began to stalk about on legs longer,
+even, than his bill, and that looked like a pair of stilts.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+NARROW ESCAPES.
+
+
+"It's a pleasant morning for a walk," Minnie ventured to say.
+
+Her visitor answered with a croak so rough that she couldn't tell
+whether he agreed with her or not. But, taking a long step, the stork
+came nearer, and looked directly down into Minnie's prison, and upon the
+little, tired, mournful, frightened face.
+
+"Pray, don't hurt me! I have lost my way, and fallen into this dreadful
+place."
+
+"Why do you stay here, if it is not pleasant?"
+
+"O, I cannot climb out, I'm so small; and the sides are so slippery, and
+all these thorns so rough!"
+
+Then, without waiting to be asked, the stork broke the leaf-stem, and,
+turning it upside down, shook Minnie out into the grass.
+
+It was so good to stretch herself in the pleasant sunshine, that Minnie
+folded her hands, and lay there quietly as if she was asleep, or dead.
+
+The stork travelled around her on his stilts, and Minnie heard him say,
+"In all my flying, I never came across such an odd little creature
+before; it looks like a woman, yet isn't larger than a bird. Its
+feathers are like a humming-bird's, and yet they are pretty well worn
+out. I wonder how it happens!"
+
+With this he began to poke and pull at her cloak; finally, off it came,
+and stork held it up in the sun for examination. Then he eyed the little
+silk apron her mother had made, and twitched it by one corner, till
+Minnie began to think he would eat her piece by piece.
+
+So, the first time he turned his head away, she sprang to her feet, and,
+without once looking behind, ran, leaped the fences and the fallen
+boughs, and, reaching her home by the brook-side, hid under the shadow
+of a stone.
+
+And high above her, she watched the stork beating the air with his
+heavy wings, and sailing on out of sight.
+
+After eating some savory roots, which the mouse had taught her how to
+find, and taking a berry or two for dessert, Minnie jumped into the
+brook, which looked warm and tempting as it rippled through the
+sunshine.
+
+She could swim as swiftly as any fish, and was so very fond of the sport
+that she soon forgot her weariness. Laughing and shouting, she started
+in chase of a swarm of little minnows, whose silvery sides shone like
+moonbeams when they darted across the brook.
+
+Minnie kept gaining ground, and thought, at last, that she could lay her
+hand upon the minnows, crowded all together as they swam; but, lo! at
+the first touch, like so many bubbles of quicksilver, they scattered far
+and wide. Some shot before her, some dodged behind her back, some hid
+their silly noses under stones and weeds, thinking, if only their eyes
+were out of sight, that nobody else could see them.
+
+Of these last, Minnie caught several; but they slipped through her
+fingers again before she could be certain that she had them there. She
+might as well have tried to hold one of the ripples of the brook.
+
+Now that the butterflies had forsaken her, Minnie found it lonely in the
+meadow, and spent most of her time by the stream. When it was low she
+would trip over the wet, rough stones in its bed so fast that the
+dragon-flies, with all their wings, could hardly keep pace with her.
+
+And, when the little stream was full to its brim, she would nestle
+inside of a water-lily, and float for hours, half asleep, watching the
+sunny ripples pass. In more restless moods, she would climb tall
+bulrushes, or swing among the long, ribbon-like iris leaves. There was
+no end to the ways she had of amusing herself.
+
+But one day, when she was swinging, a boy mistook her for a butterfly,
+and, springing among the iris-leaves, had almost caught her in his hat.
+Another day, as she was floating in the brook, an angler came, and threw
+a pretty, gay-winged fly into the water. When Minnie seized this, a
+sharp hook pierced her hand, and, the next thing she knew, she was
+lifted high in the air on the fisherman's line! In an instant she freed
+herself from the hook, and fell back into the water; but it was many
+days before the wound stopped smarting, and many more before it healed.
+
+Still another time, Minnie found the brook covered with mosquitoes; the
+fields were parched with the August sun; and the road, where all the
+birds had gone to chat with the butterflies, was hot and dusty. So the
+little girl nestled under some cool violet leaves. In the woods violets
+blossom all the year round, you know, not plentifully as in spring, but
+here and there you find a cluster in bloom.
+
+Such an one Minnie found, and, when she stretched herself in the
+grateful shade of its leaves, the sweet flowers looked down at her like
+the blue eyes of her mother, and the wind, that was whispering through
+the long, fine grass, seemed her dear lullaby.
+
+But, as she leaned her head on the moss at the violet roots, and thought
+of home, there came a sudden jar, and the next moment she was rolling in
+a heap of dusty earth, and vainly striving to free herself, as you have
+seen ants when their nest was broken open.
+
+A man was digging up the sod of violets to plant on the grave of his
+little child that was dead. Minnie feared that, if he detected her, he
+would stick her on a pin, as some new kind of butterfly, for his
+cabinet. She hardly dared breathe until his work was finished, and the
+man had gone away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+THE LITTLE SEAMSTRESS.
+
+
+All dusty and ragged, Minnie stood wondering whither she should turn
+next, and what would become of her.
+
+No place seemed safe, no friends stood by her long; her garments were
+torn to fringes, and the hot sun pelted down its rays upon her so that
+she was faint.
+
+She had barely strength to climb a tall pine-tree near, in whose boughs
+she had often swung through the long afternoons. But that was in
+happier days. The sighing of the wind among the branches, which used to
+be such pleasant music, was so mournful now that it filled Minnie's eyes
+with tears. It seemed as if a hundred soft, sad voices were calling,
+just as Minnie's heart called, for her mother to come and fold her in
+her own dear arms once more, and comfort her, and forgive her, and take
+her home, never, never to wander or be disobedient again.
+
+"Halloa!" said a voice. "What's the matter this time? Have you lost your
+fine cloak, or has some one else grown tired of my little woman, and
+sent her off to starve?"
+
+"Pray, squirrel, don't tease me, now. I'm so homesick, and so poor, and
+tired, and discouraged, that it seems to me I shall die."
+
+"That's what I said you'd come to, when you left us; but I'm your
+friend, Minnie, though I am such a rude fellow, and I don't mean you any
+harm. Good-by!"
+
+Master Squirrel was frisking off, when Minnie called, "Wait, wait!
+Couldn't you--"
+
+"O, you mustn't ask any favors. I'm full of business and care. Since we
+parted I have found a mate; and have a nest of my own, and lots of
+little ones. Call and see us!"
+
+He had hardly gone, when Mrs. Yellow-bird came in sight. "My dear
+friend," Minnie began.
+
+"A pretty friend!" she interrupted; "think of the trouble you've caused
+me!"
+
+"How?"
+
+"Ah, you can pretend not to know; but I am sure Master Squirrel has told
+you what he did, in spite, because I helped carry the humming-bird home
+for you, one day, and tipped him out of the car. You never even came to
+say you were sorry."
+
+"How could I? I do not even know what the mischief was."
+
+"He upset my nest, and killed all my pretty little birds!" And she
+poured forth a song that seemed to say, "All my little ones, all my
+pretty birds gone! I can never be happy again!"
+
+Even after yellow-bird was out of sight, the sad notes of her song came
+back, and she never knew of the tears that Minnie shed for her.
+
+A spider now let herself down by her silken thread from the bough above,
+where she had been listening to Minnie's words, and pitying her sorrow.
+
+"Come! this is no way to be happy," she said, "and no way to make
+friends. Who'd care to know such a ragged little witch as you? And
+you're dusty as a toad. Why don't you wash your face, and mend your
+gown, and let folks see you are good for something?"
+
+"O, I have tried!" said Minnie, mournfully. "I tried to sew a new gown
+out of elm leaves; but they were so tender they wilted and tore before I
+could put them together. Then I picked some beautiful oak leaves, and
+they were so tough they blunted my needle, and frayed the spider-webs I
+was sewing with."
+
+"O, well, come down in the grass, and see what we can do together."
+
+Down leaped Minnie, like a squirrel, and down dropped spider on her
+silken thread. They ran through the grass together till they came to a
+dwarf-oak, from which Minnie picked the large leaves, while spider wove
+them together with her curious web.
+
+Minnie seated herself on a mushroom, and watched her good-natured friend
+at work. Spider wove her threads back and forth, till the seams appeared
+to be laced together with silvery, silken cords. She finished each with
+silver tassels; and, when Minnie had dressed in her handsome gown, wove
+a scarf of silver-gauze to throw across her shoulders.
+
+Then Minnie twisted grass-blades together, as yellow-bird had taught
+her, and made a strong girdle for her waist, and tucked a rose leaf
+under it for apron, and picked for bonnet a purple snap dragon, with a
+golden frill inside.
+
+But, alas, the happy, laughing look was gone from Minnie's eyes; and the
+rags and the little sun-burnt face looked out beneath all her finery!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+STORK.
+
+
+A few days after Minnie's escape from the pitcher-plant she heard the
+minnows telling each other about a dreadful creature, that had been
+wading in the brook, catching the fish in his wide bill, and gobbling
+them down two or three at a time.
+
+She thought it must be the stork, and that she would keep out of his
+way; but, when he really came at last, she couldn't help feeling how
+nice it would be to sit high and dry on his back while he waded up and
+down the stream. So Minnie came out of her hiding-place, and asked stork
+if he remembered her.
+
+"Don't I? It's all I have lingered here for--the hope of seeing my queer
+little woman again. My own home is far off, beside the blue ocean,
+where I can hear the pleasant music of the waves."
+
+"How I should like to hear them!" Minnie exclaimed. "Do they make as
+loud a sound as the water of the brook?"
+
+"Not much louder when the weather is fair; but, in a storm, they roar
+like thunder, and don't they throw dainty breakfasts upon the rocks for
+me, then!"
+
+"What! honey, and rose leaves, and berries?"
+
+"No; where should they come from? The waves bring good fat fish, and
+clams, and black lobster-claws, that get broken in the storm."
+
+"O, dear, is that all?"
+
+"If you like it better, they bring shells, and pebbles white as eggs,
+and beautiful seaweeds gay as any garden-flower, and little red crabs,
+and curious star-fish. Come home with me, and I'll show what the waves
+can do!"
+
+Minnie was not sorry to leave the brook, which had become so unsafe for
+her; and, besides, you know she was always ready for a change. So,
+begging the stork to bend his neck as near the ground as he could, she
+clambered upon his back. Then stork outspread his broad, strong
+wings, and up they flew, and on, on, on, I cannot tell how many miles,
+till they reached the ocean-side.
+
+[Illustration: MINNIE'S RIDE.]
+
+Minnie had seen wide rivers and lakes before; but never anything equal
+to this mighty ocean, which lay beneath them like an enormous mirror, as
+they flew,--like a great glittering floor of glass.
+
+On one side it stretched far out--nothing but water--till it reached the
+sky; on the other, it was bordered by a beach of smooth, white sand,
+over which lay strewn the gay seaweeds, and pebbles, and shells, about
+which stork had told her.
+
+Glad to stand on her feet again, Minnie skipped along the shore,
+stooping often to admire some smooth, pearly shell, or glistening
+pebble, or heap of shining bubbles thrown up by the waves, and changing
+like opals in the sun.
+
+It seemed as if the little waves were chasing her; as if they ran up the
+smooth sand on purpose to kiss her feet; as if they were asking her to
+accept the pretty weeds and stones which they kept tossing on the
+beach.
+
+"O, stork, what a beautiful place it is! We will stay here as long as we
+live!" she said.
+
+"I don't know about that. The beach is a good place after a storm; but
+we can't dine on bubbles and pebbles, Minnie, so climb my back again,
+and I'll take you across to the rocks."
+
+A long, black ledge, against which the waves kept dashing, to turn white
+with foam, and leap glittering into the air,--this was the place toward
+which stork now steered.
+
+The little woman could not but tremble as she looked down upon all the
+restless waves which stretched on every side as far as she could see. It
+was a beautiful sight; but Minnie knew that, if she should fall, the
+ocean would swallow her more easily than ever stork swallowed a minnow
+in the brook.
+
+The rocks were wet, they found, and slippery; half covered with coarse
+seaweed, that was brown as leaves in winter, and did not look like any
+growing thing. But, selecting a higher ledge, which the sun had dried,
+stork asked Minnie to sit here and rest, while he went in search of
+food.
+
+At first she watched the beautiful glittering foam, which leaped so
+lightly into the air, and then rolled back from the stones, in scattered
+drops, like showers of red pearls.
+
+Then a croak called Minnie's attention; and, looking across the rocks,
+she saw stork almost choking himself with trying to swallow a fish too
+large for his throat. Down it went, at last; and now she watched how
+cautiously and silently stork crept from stone to stone, lifting his
+wings that he might easier walk on tip-toe with his clumsy feet.
+Suddenly down went his snaky neck, and, when it rose, another fish was
+writhing in his bill.
+
+The little girl was so absorbed in watching her friend at his work, that
+she did not notice how night was falling, until a gust of cold sea-air
+made a chill creep over her.
+
+Then, looking about, she found that the water had risen on every side,
+so as almost to cover the rocks on which she sat. Stars one by one were
+coming out in the sky, and she called loudly for stork to take her back
+to the shore.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+THE SEA-SHORE.
+
+
+Minnie did not call the stork a minute too soon. He had just caught
+sight of his mate, and, rather stupid with eating so hearty a supper,
+was about to fly away, forgetting his new friend.
+
+He did not tell her this, but treated her more kindly, perhaps, when he
+thought how near she came to being drowned by his neglect. For the tide,
+which rose every minute, would soon have swept her away.
+
+What should he find for Minnie's supper? She was not partial to raw
+fish. It was too dark now to look for checkerberries and violet buds.
+Ah! he would find some snails, and she should pick them out from their
+pretty white shells. They were sweet as smelts, he told her.
+
+But, when Minnie came to look at them, it seemed to her like eating
+worms, or bugs; and, though stork assured her that in England he had
+seen some of the finest people eat these snails, she could not make up
+her mind to put one in her mouth.
+
+So, a bright thought struck stork. Leaving Minnie on the beach, he
+seized a clam, rose high in the air, and let it fall with such force
+that the shell broke; out dropped its contents, and the little girl was
+hungry enough to eat them with a relish.
+
+And, on their way home, stork stopped where there were birds' eggs in
+plenty. Minnie remembered yellow-bird's grief over the loss of his
+young, and could not bear to rob the nests at first. But hunger drove
+her to it afterwards.
+
+Stork settled into his own quiet nest at last, and Minnie, creeping
+under his wing to keep warm, slept soundly, lulled by the music of the
+waves.
+
+The next morning Minnie found the beach all over star-shaped tracks, too
+small for the stork's great feet. She found, soon, that these belonged
+to a curious little bird, that came in flocks. These skipped about the
+beach, as if they were trying to dance, or learning to take their steps.
+They were not larger than a robin, but had long legs and bills, so as to
+wade and catch fish among the waves.
+
+Minnie made friends with them, and offered to give them lessons in
+dancing, of which they seemed so fond; but they told her they had only
+learned their droll steps from a habit of skipping away from waves when
+the tide was coming in.
+
+Still, they allowed her to arrange them for a contra dance, and, though
+she had some trouble in persuading part to wait while the others went
+through their figure, Minnie laughed till she was tired, with the funny
+sight they made.
+
+As the tide left the beach, Minnie found plenty of rocks, and all along
+the crevices of the rock were snails, such as stork had brought her the
+night before; and, on the sides, barnacles, a kind of fish that, except
+it is white and hard, looks like some plant growing. In hollows, where
+there were pools of water, she saw purple mussels, their shells half
+open that they might enjoy the sun.
+
+Then the seaweeds were different from anything she had ever seen. They
+were shaped like trees,--apple-trees, or willows, or elms; but were of
+the gayest colors you can think,--bright red, pink, purple, yellow,
+green, and some were jet black, and pretty shades of brown. Some had
+fruit on them,--dark yellow berries, or apples, with a rosy side like
+any on our trees, only small as the head of a pin. The tallest of the
+trees were not higher than the length of your hand. It was like a little
+fairy forest.
+
+Then Minnie found, to her surprise, that the snails, which seemed so
+fastened into the rocks by their shell, moved, shell and all. She found
+them travelling in every direction,--but O, so slowly! It made her ache
+to see them. She could run across the beach a dozen times before a snail
+had moved an inch.
+
+Sometimes she took them in her hands and carried them to the pool they
+were trying to reach; but they always said it made them dizzy and
+confused to fly along so fast, and they preferred their own slow way.
+
+Sometimes the snails ran races with each other. That was a droll thing
+to watch, for they all travelled as slowly, it seemed to Minnie, as the
+minute-hand on the clock in her father's office. They would start
+together, large snails and little ones, white snails and yellow, brown
+and black, striped, spotted, shaded, dragging their houses after them.
+There was a pretty little fellow, with a shell so bright it looked like
+gold; he almost always won the race.
+
+One day Minnie picked up a beautiful purple mussel-shell, lined with
+pearl, and with a ledge of pearl inside, that served her for a seat. She
+launched this on the waves, and they bore her out to sea, where she
+drifted on without a fear, she knew how to swim so well, in case her
+boat upset; and then the beach birds were always ready to sail alongside
+of her little bark, and they could carry tidings home, should any harm
+befall her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+STORM AND CALM.
+
+
+Minnie was very happy at the shore. A stranger stork did come one day,
+and, mistaking her for a fish, suddenly snatch her from her boat; but
+she held his bill so fast that he was glad to drop her on the beach. And
+at dark she was sorely afraid of the lobsters that crawled about the
+rocks, blindly stretching their black claws for food; but they had never
+harmed her yet, and, on the whole, the tiny woman thought she was having
+a beautiful time.
+
+She loved to chase the little dimpling waves; she was never tired of
+watching the flash of sunlight on the water by day, and at evening the
+sweet path of moonlight, that stretched so far, seemed like a path to
+her home,--if only she dared to trust herself on the waves!
+
+Then all the changing colors of the water, and the pretty wreaths of
+foam, delighted her. She built a house, for herself, of such white
+pebbles and shells that it looked like a little marble palace. And the
+tables and seats inside, and the bed, were all beautiful
+mother-of-pearl.
+
+But a storm came one day, and washed away her house, and dashed the
+waves so high upon the beach, that Minnie fled for her life.
+
+It happened a spruce-tree stood not far from the shore; so she scrambled
+up into its branches, both to be sheltered from, and to watch, the
+storm.
+
+It was awful to see the great waves rise and beat against the beach, as
+if they meant to wash the whole world away, and to hear the grating of
+the stones they clashed together, and see the great mats of seaweed they
+tore from the rocks, and the shells they swept out of their crevices,
+and tossed on the shore in heaps.
+
+And the water kept rising, and rising, till it covered the beach, and
+came nearer and nearer, until it reached the roots of the very tree into
+which Minnie had climbed. It had been hard enough to bear the beating
+of the branches in the wind, but now must she be drowned, so far from
+her home, and no one ever dream what had become of her?
+
+[Illustration: MINNIE AT HOME.]
+
+Minnie screamed with fright, and then, through the storm, she seemed to
+hear a low song, such as her mother used to sing, and, instead of the
+rough spruce branches, it seemed as if her mother's arms were about her
+now.
+
+She opened her eyes in wonder. Could it be that the soft hand she had
+missed so long was stroking her curls once more? that the dear voice she
+had never thought to hear again was singing soft lullabies over her?
+that Allie was looking in her face, and Frank was holding her pale hand
+in his?
+
+Yes, and, stranger still, her mother and Franky declared that they had
+been with her all the while. On that first day of my story, when the
+squirrel came,--it seemed years ago to Minnie, now,--she had fallen from
+the fence, and bruised her head, and had been sick with a fever ever
+since, and they thought she must have dreamed these marvellous things.
+
+Certain it was that, when the little girl looked in the glass, she found
+herself large as ever, though pale and very thin. Her gown, too, was
+made of muslin, instead of forest leaves; and, instead of being perched
+on a pine-bough, here she stood in her own father's home!
+
+And here she resolved to stay and be content. For, whether awake or in a
+fever-dream, Minnie had learned this, that, let it be large or small,
+there is, in all this great wide world, no place so safe and pleasant as
+our home. And this, besides, that the handsomest, kindest, gayest among
+strangers, will never make up for the loss of our own friends, the
+parents that have watched over us ever since we were born, the brothers
+and sisters that have played by the same fireside, and under the same
+green trees.
+
+Dear children, when you are older, you will find that all the people in
+this world have strayed, like Minnie; that they wander about, making
+acquaintance with many creatures, but still unsatisfied; that they
+encounter storms, and suffer weariness and loneliness, and long for
+those who dwell in the far-off home.
+
+Yes, and some morning we all shall wake in our Father's house, and find
+about us the blessed voices and dear forms of those we have loved; and
+then it will be like a dream that we seemed to lose them once.
+
+That home is on the other side of the stars. But Frank and Minnie are
+young yet, and expect to find it here. They are young, and cannot
+believe that their senses may be mistaken, and that all Minnie's curious
+changes happened in a dream. Many an afternoon they still spend in
+looking for the wondrous weed that will make them understand the
+language of birds, and squirrels, and butterflies.
+
+And, to tell you the truth, I more than half believe they will find it
+yet.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Minnie; or, The Little Woman, by 
+Caroline Snowden Guild
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