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diff --git a/old/45388.txt b/old/45388.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4be2a4a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/45388.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2367 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Toots and his Friends, by Kate Tannatt Woods + +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: Toots and his Friends + +Author: Kate Tannatt Woods + +Release Date: April 14, 2014 [EBook #45388] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOOTS AND HIS FRIENDS *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger from page images generously +provided by the Internet Archive + + + + + + + +[Illustration: 0001] + +[Illustration: 0006] + +[Illustration: 0007] + + + +TOOTS AND HIS FRIENDS + +By Kate Tannatt Woods + +Author Of "Twice Two," "Six Little Rebels," "Doctor Dick," +"Out And About," Etc. + +Illustrated + +Cassell & Company, Limited New York, London And Paris + +1883 + +[Illustration: 0009] + +[Illustration: 0010] + + + + +HOW TOOTS WENT TO BED. + +OOTS is our baby. He is a queer one too; up early, and always in dread +of bed-time. One morning, not long ago, we heard him singing, and on +looking for him, found the little rogue in the very middle of our best +bed in the guest chamber, where he was playing hand-organ with a long +hairpin put through the pretty pillow covers which had just come home +from the laundry. There he sat singing a droll medley of "Uncle Ned," +"Blessed Desus," and "Down in the Coal Mine." He had been watching two +soldiers with a hand-organ, and Toots likes to do everything he sees +done. While we were putting the guest-room in order, Toots marched out +as a blind man, with his eyes shut and a cane in his hand. This brought +him to grief, for he was picked up at the foot of the stairs with two +large bumps on his pretty white brow. Toots was quiet then for a little +while, a very little while, for as soon as we decided that his bones +were all sound and a doctor need not be called, he "played sick," and +asked for "shicken brof" and toast. + +One night mamma was imprudent, for she said to a visitor, who was +praising the little fellow, "Oh, yes, Toots is always lovely and gentle +at bed-time." That very night while mamma was resting on the lounge, and +her friend was chatting, both ladies heard a mysterious clicking. "It +can't be Toots," said mamma; "his eyes were closed when I left him." +Then the clicking came again louder than ever, and suddenly a crash as +of breaking glass. Mamma sprang up at once, and there was Toots seated +on a bath-tub driving for dear life with two of his best sashes for +reins. He had fastened one on each side of the mirror, and in his +eagerness to drive fast, had tumbled down toilet-bottles, cushions, and +all the pretty things his mamma loved to see. Toots was playing circus. +Barnum had been in town the day before, and Toots had made a grand +procession with chairs, books, bottles, pictures, and everything his +little hands could reach. Such a happy, beaming face was never seen +before. "Why, Toots, I thought you were asleep," said mamma. "No, I hab +too much to do, my 'cession is coming up street fast." + +When he was quite small, Toots used to spend hours in the garden safely +fastened into the standing stool which his grandpa had when a little +boy. The little fellow's face was so bright, and his large eyes so full +of innocent fun, that no one could be angry with Toots even when he did +very strange and unexpected things. + +[Illustration: 0013] + + + + +TOOTS AT THE KINDERGARTEN. + +|WHEN Toots was old enough to enter a little school, his mamma said he +must go to a Kindergarten, which, you all know, is a delightful place +for all children. Our good German friends first thought of it for their +little people, and here in America we have found it an excellent fashion +to follow. Block building, song singing, and drawing with pretty things +in needlework, and forms in clay, not only teach the children to think +but to do, and good thinking must always come before well doing, Toots' +mamma knew a kind German lady who understood teaching the little ones, +and after some delay a school was opened and Toots was a pupil. He cried +hard at first. He was afraid of strangers, and he dreaded to speak aloud +before them, although he was such a rogue at home. His mamma bought him +a pretty lunch basket and put in it some little cakes for his lunch, and +then they rode away in the horse car to the schoolroom. After the first +day Toots was always ready to go. "It is only play," he said. But it +was more than play, for every night Toots had something new to tell; +sometimes he had watered the plants in the school-room, sometimes he +talked of cubes and triangles, sometimes he sang a little song. Toots +was learning without knowing it, and all the time he was very happy. No +one was allowed to say a naughty word, no one was ever rude or unkind, +and all the little eyes and hands were trained. + +[Illustration: 0016] + +When Toots told his grandma about the seed germ of a plant and how +it grew she said, "Ah, I wish I could have gone to such a school; the +children are very fortunate now a days." One day Toots brought his +grandma a pretty book-mark he had worked, and he could tell the names of +all the colors in it and the names of the stitches. Such pretty things +as he made in clay, such dainty shapes and forms, it really was quite +wonderful to see them and hear the little fellow in kilt skirts talk +about them. One day Toots did not come home from the Kindergarten as +usual. His favorite car driver shook his head as he passed the house. +Toots had not come out to ride home with him. Grandma was much worried. +"Never mind," said mamma, "he is quite safe, perhaps they are all out +for walk, or studying the trees or flowers in the garden; he will come +in the next car, for his teacher always puts him on herself." When the +next car came, there was the little boy, smiling and happy. The children +had taken a long walk with their teacher, and when they returned Toots +had fallen asleep, so the kind teacher would not disturb him, and the +little fellow was well rested. + +After dinner he had a long story to tell about the lungs of plants +and the edges of leaves, which were like little saws, and a pretty +pitcher-plant he had seen. When his story was complete he added, "All my +children shall go to a Kindergarten, for it is the nicest place in the +world 'cept mamma's room." + + + + +THE HAPPY HOUR. + +[Illustration: 9018] + +VERY night just before bedtime Toots and his mamma had a happy hour +together. + +Sometimes a friend or two would share the pleasures of this evening +hour, and Toots enjoyed it much more if Bessie or Flossie, or some of +his mates, could hear mamma's stories or verses written expressly for +children. When Toots was quite small he was rude enough one day to +strike his nurse, and after mamma had heard all the story, she read +these lines about + + +JOHNNIE'S TROUBLES. + +``My mamma's sorry, now, she is; + +```I don' know what I'se done; + +``S'pec' she feels sorry jess bekause + +```I slapped old nurse like fun.= + +``Old nurse she digs and shates me too; + +```I wish I went to stool; + +``Teacher won't set me down so hard, + +```An' call me "little fool."= + +``She pinches awful! dess I know, + +```My arms is black an' blue; + +``She says she "hopes to do to Heaven + +```I hope I shan't do too.= + +``I don't like nurses--do you now? + +```Dey is dest as mean as dirls; + +``When I dits big I'll let'em know + +```Dey musn't pull my turls.= + +``My mamma she's real dood, she is; + +```On most the days I play + +``With her jess like she was a boy, + +```She hugs me every day.= + +``My mamma she don't stold me none, + +```I dess she don't know how; + +``But nurse, oh, my! she spoke so loud; + +```Hush, she is toming now!= + +``No, dat ain't nurse, an' ain't I glad? + +```I jess know what I'll do, + +``I'll do tell mamma I was bad, + +```An' I feel sorry too.= + +``I dess Dod made my mamma sure, + +```She is so sweet and nice; + +``But who made nurse, s'pose you know? + +```I'll ask my Drandma Rice.= + +[Illustration: 00290] + + + + +ELFIE. + +[Illustration: 9021] + +MONG Toots' friends was a little girl whose name was Elfie. She lived +just across the way, and her papa's garden joined that of Toots' mamma. +There was a large gate, between the gardens, and the children went back +and forth in the summer. They seldom quarrelled, and both children were +glad to share their playthings. When Toots had the scarlet fever and +was shut up in a room with his mamma and nurse, Elfie cried to have the +fever too, so she could see him. It was summer time when Toots was sick, +and sometimes when he was tired and restless he would moan so Elfie +could hear him in the garden. One day when it was very warm and every +one was tired and cross, Auntie bathed Elfie and put her on the bed, but +she did not stay there long; she began to think of Toots--how warm he +must be, how tired of the bed and that ugly dark room. Suddenly Elfie +remembered that people used to bring her mamma pretty flowers when she +was ill. + +[Illustration: 0022] + +Perhaps she might carry Toots some flowers; her auntie was fast asleep +and the nurse was out. Yes, she would go into the garden and get the +prettiest flowers there for poor Toots. She had no shoes--auntie had put +them away--and no stockings; but it would not matter; plenty of children +never had shoes or stockings, and it could not hurt very much, for they +could run. + +Just then a low moan was heard and that decided Elfie; she sprang up and +ran down stairs; no one was in sight but Touser, and he was such a good +dog, he only lapped her bare feet with his tongue, so little Elfie went +into the garden and began to gather flowers. + +Presently she heard another moan from the sick-room, and she ran as fast +as she could through the gate and up to the door. One of the servants +was just coming out. "Why, little Elfie!" said she, "you will hurt those +poor bare feet and you must not come here now, did any one send you?" + +"No, I runned away,'coz I wanted Toots to have some flowers, and I wish +I could have the fever too, and be sick with him." + +"Poor child!" said the maid, "Master Toots shall have your flowers and +he is better to-day, only the great heat makes him moan; wait here a bit +until I send them up to his room and then I will take you home." + +The flowers were carried to the sick-room and Toots smiled when they +told him what his little friend said. "Tell her not to wish for the +fever," he said, "for I feel as if I were on fire, and there is no cool +place in the bed; but when I am well again we will play together at the +fountain and keep our store as we used to." Elfie was very happy when +she heard this message, and after that she sent flowers to the sick boy +every day. + + + + +PAUL BROWN. + +[Illustration: 9024] + +HEN Toots first went to the Kindergarten he met there a little boy whose +name was Paul Brown. He was a very bright little fellow, but he could +not talk as well as Toots; some of his words were cut short and it +sounded very cunning, for Paul did his best and the Kindergarten teacher +told the boys and girls that no one could do better than his best. One +day a little baby sister came to Paul's house and this is the story he +told his grandpa when the old gentleman came in to see the stranger: + +PAUL'S REMARKS AT FOUR YEARS OF AGE. + +``"Fink I don't know what dat fing is, + +```All wrapped up in gwanma's lap? + +``I does; nurse told me so to-day, + +```It's my sisser tatin' a nap. + +``"She's only a piece of a day old now, + +```But she _looks_ like any fing; + +``Wight out of her great eyes all boo, + +```An', ganpa, she can sing:= + +``"There, don't you hear her, naughty dirl? + +``She skuled dat way--because + +``I feeled her foots, to see if 'em gowed + +```Like mine or pussy's claws.= + +``"Sissers ain't nice to sing dat way, + +```And gwanma holds her snug; + +``I wouldn't cuy if her holded me, + +```All up in dat pwetty rug.= + +``"Oh, yes, me knows, she's a sisser, she is, + +```An' I'm jess a boy, dat's all; + +``Sissers ain't dood for much, I fink, + +```Why, her couldn't hold my ball.= + +``"Dess if I was made a piece of a day, + +```I would know some more dan dat; + +``No, ganpa, sissers ain't dood for much, + +```I'll do and find my cat."= + +[Illustration: 0025] + +[Illustration: 0026] + + + + +PAUL'S VIEWS AT EIGHT YEARS OF AGE. + +|WHEN Paul grew older and the little sister could go with him to school +he changed his mind about her value. Sometimes, I am sorry to say, he +led her into mischief, and once they were lost a whole day in the woods +because Paul wanted to show her how the flowers grew and the trees sang, +but after all the little girl made him a better boy as we shall see.= + +``What's that you say? "She's only a girl?" + +```Well, so much the better for that; + +``Her eyes are the prettiest I ever saw, + +```Just peep at them under her hat.= + +``She talks in the funniest broken way, + +```Just as I did once! Well, who cares? + +``I never could smile the way she does, + +```Or pit-a-pat on the stairs.= + +``I wonder at girls, I do, Jim Pool, + +```Let me try as hard as I will, + +``To put my feet down easy and soft, + +```They will pound and thump down still.= + +``And I never yet tried to close the door + +```As gentle as sister pan do, + +``That it doesn't go bang and shake the house, + +```"That's queer; it's just so with you."= + +[Illustration: 0028] + +``Well, Jim, we are boys, only boys you see, + +```And apt to be noisy and rough; + +``But my little sister, she just teaches me, + +```One look of her eyes is enough.= + +``I can't tell just why, but as true as you live, + +```I am better since she came here; + +``"She's only a girl!" Yes, I know, Jim Pool, + +```And I'm only a boy, that's clear.= + +``My mother was once a girl like her, + +```And she's just as good as gold; + +``What's that? oh, nonsense, I know, Jim Pool, + +```My mother won't ever "grow old."= + +``What's that? False hair and teeth for her? + +```Go home, Jim Pool, I won't play + +``With a boy who says my mother dear + +```Will ever be "ugly and gray."= + +``But never mind, Jim, you ain't to blame, + +```You've no sister or mother, you see; + +``If mine grows ugly, and wrinkled, and lame, + +```She will still be mother to me.= + + + + +MAX THE MEDDLER. + +[Illustration: 9030] + +AX was not one of Toots' "really truly friends," so Toots said, but +mamma and cousin Hattie were kind to Max. He needed friends badly. He +had no mother, and his father was a cruel, wicked man. One day when +Toots and his mother were spending the day with cousin Hattie, the +latter said, "I have some very bad news to tell you. Some wicked boy has +torn down my little bird-house which papa put in the maple tree for me, +and my dear little birds have gone away." + +"How cruel!" said Toots. + +"Who could climb over your high wall?" asked his mamma. + +"I cannot guess," replied cousin Hattie, "but my roses are trampled, and +papa says it must be a boy, as he measured the footsteps." + +"You had better watch for the thief, and, perhaps, we can coax him to +behave better in future." Miss Hattie and the servants watched in vain +for a week, but one day while the ladies were reading in the library the +servant knocked to say that a queer-looking boy had just slid down the +fence, and perhaps he was the thief. + +The ladies went out at once and found him. He looked ragged and +neglected, but his face was a good one if it had only been clean and +happy. + +"I am sorry you climbed over that way," said cousin Hattie; "whenever +you would like to see my garden you shall come in if you will ring the +bell." The boy looked very much ashamed. "Please tell me your name." + +"Max," was the brief reply. + +"It is a very nice name," said cousin Hattie. "Now Max, if you will come +with me into the kitchen I will find some lunch for you." Max followed +her in, but he could not eat much; the cook looked at him sharply. + +"I know him, miss," said she, "he is called Max the Meddler. He never +lets a poor bird or cat have any rest where he is, and he is prying +about everywhere. I am sure he took your bird-house." + +Cousin Hattie said, "Never mind, cook; he will never do it again; +perhaps he will earn a new name and a better one." After he had eaten +his lunch the young lady took him out into the garden and told him the +story of her birds--how much she loved them, how her papa put up their +house, and how sorry she was to have them disturbed. Max looked more +than ever ashamed. At last he said: "I will never do so again, lady, and +if you will let me come and work in your garden I will pay you for the +little house, which I sold to another boy." + +[Illustration: 0032] + + + + +OUR MAY. + +[Illustration: 9033] + +ITTLE MAY is Toots' own cousin, and one of the dearest little girls you +ever knew! + +She is a tender-hearted child, and, like Toots, very fond of pets. Once +on a cold winter day she found a poor little dead bird which the snow +storm of the night before had killed. She brought it to cousin Toots, +and together they buried it under a snowbank in the garden. One night +during the "Happy Hour" May said "I wish you wrote some truly verses +about me, dear auntie," and the very next night auntie did, and here +they are:= + +``In the early summer light, + +``Trampling down the red and white, + +``Eating clover, sweet and fair, + +``Happy child with floating hair; + +``Not a thought of injured hay. + +```That's our darling, + +```That's our May.= + +``In the garret, on the stair, + +``Climbing haymows, everywhere; + +``Wearing glasses, teaching school, + +``Bringing dollies up by rule, + +``Working hard to call it play, + +```That's our darling, + +```That's our May.= + +[Illustration: 0034] + +``In the parlor, on the floor, + +``Looking all the pictures o'er; + +``Making fun of grave old books, + +``Searching into sacred nooks-- + +``Always cheerful, always gay. + +```That's our darling, + +```That's our May.= + +``At the door, the first to see + +``Papa, as he comes to tea, + +``In his lap, with dancing eyes, + +``Searching pockets for a prize, + +``Asking "what you've done all day?" + +```That's our darling, + +```That's our May.= + +``In the chamber just at night, + +``Nestled in her gown of white; + +``Eyelids closed on cheeks of red, + +``Kneeling by her little bed, + +``Lisping "teach me how to pray." + +```That's our darling, + +```That's our May.= + +``Future woman, what maybe + +``Life with all its cares to thee? + +``Who shall say in after time, + +``Blessings on that head of thine? + +``Rich and good thy life we pray, + +```God's and ours, + +```Dear little May.= + + + + +A BUBBLE PARTY. + +[Illustration: 9036] + +HEN Toots was four years old, his mamma thought she would let him have a +birthday party. She wrote the invitations on the prettiest little +paper, with funny frogs and dogs and cats in the corner, and each +little envelope was made to match. Twenty-five pretty little notes to +twenty-five dear little people, and every one came. No one else ever had +such a party before. Large tables were covered with books and toys, +all manner of games were waiting to be played, and in one corner of the +children's play-room was a table with bowls, plates, and pipes, and all +the children were invited to blow bubbles. Such fun as they had! Some +blew large and some blew small, and those who laughed hard blew none at +all. At last Toots and Robbie Mason began to see something in the soap +bubble, "beautiful colors like the rainbow," said Toots. + +"More of them," said Robbie, and then all the children began to wonder. + +"What makes it?" asked Robbie, eagerly; "I wish I knew?" + +"I will tell you," said mamma. "When a ray of light is divided, as it +always is when it reaches an object on which to rest, it has different +colors, because each color has different powers and is refracted or +turned from its course. Let us cast a ray of light on this piece +of glass called a prism; now examine it closely, here we have seven +colors--red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet The red is +bent out of its course the least and it remains at the bottom; the blue +is refracted most and goes to the top. Now blow a nice bubble, little +Daisy, and I will explain the colors. You see the film is thicker +in some places than in others, and that causes different powers of +refraction or turning aside of the rays, and therefore, you observe +different colors; as the soap bubble constantly changes its thickness, +the rays vary or change also." + +"There isn't any soap in the real rainbow in the clouds, is there?" +asked thoughtful Robbie. + +"Oh, no; when the clouds opposite the sun are dark and rain is still +falling, the rays of the bright sun are divided by the rain drops as +they would be here with my prism." # + +After the children grew tired of bubbles they had many games and a nice +supper, after which they went home saying it was the best party they +ever went to. + +[Illustration: 0037] + +[Illustration: 0038] + + + + +SEWING A SEAM. + +[Illustration: 9039] + +LOSE by the window I saw her, + +``Only a bright young girl, + +``With a tear on her drooping lashes, + +```Half hid by a straying curl.= + +``June sunshine was tempting her sorely, + +```The children were playing near by, + +``And still she sat with her sewing, + +```And the tear-drop in her eye.= + +``At last in anger she muttered, + +```"So cruel, so hateful, and mean! + +``I lose all the brightness and beauty, + +```As I sit here sewing a seam.= + +``"My thread grows tangled and dirty, + +```My needle is sure to stick fast, + +``And the girls are passing the window: + +```Please tell me that work-time has past."= + +``Ah, Daisy, dear child, in the future, + +```As the shadows of life come and go, + +``You will find some duties as irksome + +```As the seam you are trying to sew.= + +[Illustration: 0040] + +``Threads will knot, Daisy dear, and the needles + +```Will rust if you wet them with tears; + +``And seams will grow rough to your fingers, + +```When feeble and trembling with years.= + +``Even brightness may pass like the sunshine, + +```Your life holding one little gleam; + +``But God is still watching my darling, + +```He knows we are sewing a seam.= + +``Dear Grandma is wiser but cheerful, + +```She sits by the window to-day; + +``Where the sunlight is kissing her forehead, + +```And children are near her at play.= + +``A smile in place of your tear-drop, + +```Grey locks where your golden are seen; + +``She says God's loved hath illumined + +```Her life, and made easy each seam.= + +``She, too, can think of a summer day, + +```So sunny and bright in the past; + +``But her lips always say, "Father take me, + +```When play-time and work-time are past."= + +[Illustration: 0041] + + + + +A FOUR-FOOTED FRIEND. + +[Illustration: 9042] + +LL Toots' playmates among the boys and girls knew how very fond he was +of his four-footed friends, and the children were very fond of watching +him when he made his pets perform all sorts of tricks. Poor Toots +was nearly ill one day when one of his pet cats was found dead in the +stable. He cried and would not be comforted, but his mamma said that +poor pussy had not been well for a long time, and she probably died in +a fit. Not long after Pussy Meek's death, Toots was confined to his room +with a bad cough, and his mamma went to a store to buy some cough drops +which the doctor had ordered. When the old lady who kept the store heard +that Toots was ill she said, "I wish I had something nice to send him; +he is so polite and kind. Do you suppose he would like another kitten? +We have three beauties now, and our cat mother is a fine old mouser." + +"He would like it very much. I left him just now crying for his dear pet +Pussy Meek." + +"Dear little fellow!" said the old lady, "he shall have the very +prettiest one we have." + +Then she took a candy-box and made some holes in it and put the +prettiest little kitty inside. + +Toots was wild with pleasure; he sat up in bed and held her in his arms, +then he fed her some warm milk, and at last she cuddled down with her +little head peeping out of the bosom of his night-gown, and then she +slept a long, long time. Toots was much troubled to find a pretty name +for her. At last he said, "poor little Pussy, we cannot find a name +good enough or sweet enough for you." His mamma said suppose we call her +_Psyche._ This pleased Toots very much and the new kitty was duly named +Pysche, and a nice ribbon was tied about her neck. For many days she +lived in Toots' room and nestled close to him. As she grew older she +grew wiser and very full of fun. All summer long she chased flies and +grasshoppers, and when the children played ball, Pysche understood it +all and took her place properly. She has two very cunning tricks--one +was to never enter a door if she could make some one open a window to +let her in, and the other was to hide away at bedtime and then come out +to play when all the house was still. In the summer time Pysche went to +the seaside with the family, where she was a great pet with the grown-up +people as well as the children. + +[Illustration: 0044] + + + + +NAUGHTY SANDY + +[Illustration: 9045] + +NLY a doll! I wouldn't cry," + +`Said naughty, teasing Sandy; + +`"She's just a lot of rags and things + +``I'd rather have some candy."= + +``But little sister cried and cried, + +```It was her "bestest" treasure; + +``While naughty Sandy tried and tried + +```To tease her for his pleasure.= + +``"Don't cry, dear pet," the sister said, + +```"Some day he would be sorry + +``To have us treat his pretty boat + +```As he is treating Dolly."= + +``"Only a doll," said he again, + +```"A boat is ten times better; + +``This thing can't sail; I'll go and see + +```If she can swim, I'll let her."= + +``Oh, sister, make him div' her back; + +```He'll kill my darling pet; + +``Don't let him put her in the pond + +```And get her nice d'ess wet.= + +``"You's very cruel, bruver, now-; + +``Please, div' her back to me; + +``'Tause she's my only darlin' child, + +``She sleeps upon my knee."= + +``"Only a little, mean old doll, + +``Not worth my bat or ball; + +``Hark! take your baby; here comes pa; + +``I hear him in the hall."= + +``"Teasing again? Ah! Sandy, lad, + +``Remember this, I pray: + +``Only a coward teases one + +``Too small to get away.= + +``"Go to your room, my boy, and there + +``Think how this game would please, + +``If sister Nell should serve you so, + +``And always try to tease." + + + + +FLOSSIE'S HANDS. + +[Illustration: 9048] + +LOSSIE helps ever so much," said Toots, one day--"she dusts the chairs +in her mother's room, waters the plants, and holds her auntie's worsted. +Her auntie is knitting a new rug for the phaeton." + +"Little hands should always help," said mamma, "they were made to be +useful, and I know Flossie is happier when she is doing something to +make home pleasant. One day I heard Flossie saying, "Oh dear! I wish I +had something to do. I am tired of my dollies, I don't want to read, and +there is no one here for me to play with." I said, "My dear little girl, +your mamma has too much to do; she will give you something, and auntie +will be glad to have you help her; those little hands must be kept busy +every day." Soon after Flossie learned how to dust the chairs, then she +picked the bits of thread from the carpet, then she gave the canary some +food and water, and now she is making a dress for her dollie. In a few +short months Flossie will learn to do a great many useful things and no +one will hear her say, "I wish I had something to do." + +"I always have enough to do," said Toots, "I cannot get time to read +half the books I like, and then there are so many pets to take care of, +beside the skating and sliding in winter, and the fun at the seaside in +summer, and when I am at grandpa's he calls me 'a little worker.'" + +Just then Flossie came running after Toots. "Would he go with her to buy +some rolls for tea and take a book back to the library?" + +Toots was very glad to go and carry some books for mamma, beside he +must stop at the post-office for some stamps, and bring home a sheet of +transparent paper to make some paper balloons for the children in the +hospital. Such busy little people as they were! and how happy, too! + +That night when Toots was fast asleep, his good mother said to his papa: +"Children do more than we give them credit for; last week I kept an +account of all the kind and useful things performed by our little boy, +and it would surprise you to see how much it all amounts to. Beside the +errands for me he has thought of others, and that is good for us all. +I really think he has found more pleasure in mending old books and toys +for sick children than in having them for himself, and Flossie is quite +another little girl since she learned to help mamma." + +[Illustration: 0049] + +[Illustration: 0050] + + + + +JAMIE DOON. + +[Illustration: 9051] + +E is lying on his pillows + +`All day, sweet Jamie Doon + +`His little back is crooked, + +```Yet he sings a merry tune.= + +``For light of heart is Jamie, + +```Poor cripple though he be; + +``He is cheerful as the sunshine, + +```Or the birdies on the tree.= + +``What makes you so contented, + +```My little Jamie boy?" + +``Asks a thoughtful lady, kindly, + +```When she carries him a toy.= + +``I have so many blessings," + +```Said gentle Jamie Doon, + +``I watch the flowers, and birdies + +```Oft sing for me a tune.= + +``Then the children come to see me, + +```And every one is kind; + +``It might be worse you see, Miss, + +``If I were deaf and blind."= + +``Ah, gentle little Jamie! + +```Count blessings day by day; + +``It might be worse, indeed, lad, + +```So smile and sing away.= + +[Illustration: 0052] + +Jamie had once been a very active boy and a good scholar, but his back +was injured by a blow given him by a thoughtless playmate, and ever +since he has been a great sufferer. It is a dreadful thing to injure +any one for life, and boys cannot be too careful when playing with each +other. I am sorry to say that the little boy who hurt Jamie does not +seem to care for the terrible ruin he has wrought; perhaps he has not +been taught at home to think kindly and tenderly of others. + + + + +FIVES. + +A LITTLE STORY IN RHYME. + +|FIVE little sparrows one sunny morn Eating their breakfast out in the +corn: + +``Five little boys, cruel as boys can be, + +``Longing to kill those birds blithe and free: + +``Five little stones that whizzed in the air, + +``And fell all at once where the sparrows were: + +``Five little sparrows that flew safe away + +``For sparrows are quicker than boys, any day: + +``Five little boys that looked quite forlorn + +``As they wandered on through the waving corn.= + + + + +OLIVER TWIST AT HOME. + +[9054] + +LIVER TWIST was the name of a fine rooster or gamecock which belonged to +Toots' grandpa, and many were the stories told of him. He became quite +famous in the family, and out of it, and none of the children wanted +him killed or sold even if he grew too old to walk. When grandpa bought +Oliver he carried him home between his knees in the carriage, while he +drove Frisk, the pony. Toots' mamma sat by his side with a huge basket +in her lap containing a fine old mother hen with ten little chicks. They +were all going into grandpa's coop at the farm, and then he would take +care of them for Toots. + +"I suppose I have been very foolish to pay such a price for this +fellow," said grandpa, "but he is smart enough to peck pretty hard." + +All the way to the farm the new rooster made himself as disagreeable as +he could, now biting grandpa's hands, and now his knees, until the +dear old man wished he had never seen him. At last he was safe in +the hen-house, where he soon began to eat, and, as he never seemed +satisfied, he was called Oliver Twist. + +"There has been an old fox about here stealing chicks," said the hired +man, "but this Oliver will tackle him, I reckon." + +The hired man was right. Only a few days after grandpa heard a great +noise among the poultry, and there was a large fox trying to get into +the chicken-yard from the barn. Grandpa stole softly into the house and +got his gun. When he went back Oliver was pecking at the head and eyes +of the fox with all his might. Oliver was very angry but did not show +any signs of fear, while the fox tried in vain to get nearer. At last +the old fox made up his mind to spring over and eat chicken for his +lunch, but just then, bang! went grandpa's gun, and the sly enemy +tumbled over on the barn floor. + +When Oliver heard the gun he thought he was shot too, for he fell down +and closed his eyes. When grandpa petted and praised him, and held out a +dish of corn, he seemed to think better of it, and began to strut about, +while all the hens cackled in chorus and seemed very proud of their +defender. + +Poor Oliver met with an accident during the cold winter weather; his +beautiful red comb was frozen and fell off. He seemed so ashamed of it +that he could not or would not hold up his head, but a nice new comb has +grown now and he is as proud and lordly as ever. Indeed, only yesterday +he was seen driving a strange cat out of the yard. + +[Illustration: 0056] + + + + +MRS. WHITE'S FAMILY. + +[Illustration: 9057] + +P at grandpa's farm the chicks were very happy since the old fox was +killed, and as Toots wanted some more cunning little ones to play with +and feed when he went up for a visit, grandpa decided to put some eggs +under Mrs. White. Now, Mrs. White was a very fine hen, and although she +had never raised any chicks of her own, she seemed so kind and gentle +that grandpa was sure she would make a kind mother. He selected the eggs +with great care, marking some very choice ones with a blue pencil. Mrs. +White sat very quietly upon her nest for many days, until it was time +for the little chicks to come out of their shell houses; then grandpa +paid her a visit. Three little ones were already toddling about, and +Mrs. White seemed to be in great distress concerning some others who +were just trying to see what the world was made of. Grandpa helped the +little fellows by picking away small bits of the shell, and then he +hurried away to make some nice dough for them. When he returned, Mrs. +White was nowhere to be seen, so grandpa covered the little new babies +with some wool and then looked for the neglectful mother. He soon found +her in the yard with Oliver Twist and a large flock of hens. + +[Illustration: 0058] + +Grandpa caught her and carried her back, but Mrs. White hurt the little +ones and refused to scratch for them. She covered them with her wings +for a few moments while grandpa was there, and then ran away again. + +Grandpa tried shutting her up, but still she hurt her little chicks +and at last killed one. Then grandpa told her she was a cruel, wicked +mother, and he carried the chicks into the kitchen and covered them over +in a nice warm basket. There they nestled for several days until they +began to hop out and get under grandma's feet. After that they had a +little house in the shed and soon grew very fast. Toots called them the +orphans, and never again liked Mrs. White, although she was so handsome. +Soon after this grandpa put some eggs under a queer old hen which all +the family called Mrs. Gummidge, she was so cross and queer. When her +chicks came she was a very kind mother and scratched for them all day +long. She was very proud of them, too, and seemed to say, "Did you ever +see such little darlings?" Mrs. Gummidge went about with her children +until they were large enough to take care of themselves, and then she +sat quietly on some more eggs and raised another family, but none of +them ever seemed quite so precious to Toots as the little neglected +chicks of Mrs. White. + +[Illustration: 0059] + + + + +BUD AND BUNNIE. + +[Illustration: 9060] + +WO dear little girlies, born at the same time, with eyes, hair, and +little faces so exactly alike that even their mother could not tell them +apart; and when their pictures were taken and sent to Toots' papa, every +one wondered which was Bud and which was Bunnie. The twins' papa was +an old classmate of Toots' papa, and as soon as the baby girls came he +wrote a very funny letter telling all about them. He said they were both +like little rosebuds, and he was puzzled to know what to call them, so +he simply nicknamed them Bud and Bunnie until the mamma could decide +upon a name. + +"They are dear little bits of womanhood," he said, when the children +were three years old, "and I am ashamed to say that we still go on +calling them by the old pet names. It would please you to see them at +play, they are so very happy. Bunnie, who is a little more gentle than +her sister, often gives up to her in their sports; and yet Bud is never +cross. She takes the lead because she is fitted for it, while Bunnie +nestles down and is content to do as she is told. They are into mischief +every hour in the day--good-natured mischief of course. Sometimes we +find them dressed in their mother's clothes, sometimes in my coats. + +"Not long ago my wife and I determined to send a hamper of good things +to her old nurse, who has been very unfortunate. We collected all our +gifts and were about to pack them, when we chanced to think of a new +prayer-book in large type, so away we went, to buy it, for she would not +go without me and I would not know how to select without her. When we +returned to the store-room where we were packing, what did we see but +our twins, Bud and Bunnie, both seated in the hamper. They made such a +charming picture that I sketched them on the spot." + +Of course Toots' papa sent back a letter at once, and said they were the +dearest little girlies in the world, and he wished he had some himself; +but he was quite sure that his boys were just as good boys as ever grew, +and he would send their pictures to prove it. + +[Illustration: 0062] + +[Illustration: 0061] + + + + +DAISY DEAN. + +[Illustration: 9063] + +AISY DEAN is a little lass, + +`With rosy cheeks and eyes like glass; + +`When she sulks she is very queer, + +`When she smiles she is very dear; + +``Pretty and fair as a flower is she, + +``Busy and quick as a little bee.= + +``Good or bad, do what she may, + +``We wash and dress her every day; + +``Comb her hair, and give her milk, + +``And dress her well with sash of silk. + +``With all her faults, we never have seen + +``A dearer girl than our Daisy Dean. + +Daisy was much pleased with her little verses, "all her own," as she +said, and I heard her whispering to her friend May that she would never +sulk again if she could help it. Daisy has one serious fault: she never +puts things in their places. One morning she could not find her hat +anywhere, and her mamma made her go to school without it. Daisy cried +and wanted to wear her best one, but her mamma said, "No; that would not +teach her to remember." The girls were much amused when Daisy entered +the dressing-room at school without any hat on. + +"What have you done with it?" asked May. + +[Illustration: 0064] + +"I don't know; it is lost somewhere." + +"What a careless little girl! Why, I always hang mine up in one place +when I go home from school or play," said May. + +"So do I," said several of the girls, but some of the boys did not +speak, and a little bird whispers to me that some of my kindest "little +friends throw their caps down on the floor, table, lounge, chairs, +or the first place they can find." Oh, oh, boys! this is too bad, for +"order is heaven's first law." + +[Illustration: 0065] + + + + +THE COMMISSARY. + +[Illustration: 9066] + +COMMISSARY is one who furnishes supplies of food to an army or body of +men, but I dare say you never heard of a dog commissary. He lived at +the boarding-school where Toots' mamma went when a little girl, and his +owner was the lady who kept the school. Her son brought him home one day +and taught him many tricks. Every day he went to market for the family, +and it was great fun for the younger girls to see "Captain Com" go out +with his basket in his mouth. His errands were always faithfully done. +No boy ever dared to meddle with Com, and although he went five blocks +to market no one ever tried to get his note out of the basket. Every +morning he waited until madam consulted with cook and wrote down the +order, and then when it was put into his care he would trot away in a +very happy frame of mind. "Com" was very good to the younger pupils. He +would let them drive him in a little cart, or play tag with them by the +hour. Once in the vacation, when nearly all the pupils had gone home, +madam said: "We will not send an order to the butcher to-day; it is so +warm, we will have a light lunch." + +"Com" did not like this; he was very restless for a long time, and at +last one of the children said, "I think Com has gone to market. He tried +to get his basket from the nail and he could not; then he ran away." + +"We will go out for a walk and see," said madam, "for 'Com' can do +everything but talk, and he is greatly distressed because I did not +order dinner." + +When they reached the butcher's, there was "Com" with his paws on the +cutting block, patiently waiting to be served. + +"He deserves a nice dinner," said the butcher, and he gave him some +meat; still "Com" was not satisfied; he wanted it put up in paper and +laid in a basket before he would go away. "Com" never would touch a bit +of meat until he went home to cook, with his marketing. + +Where Com lived they did not have letter carriers or postmen, and his +mistress made a little mail-bag for him which he carried to the office +morning and night. He always entered by the back door, and the clerk +would kindly wait upon him. Sometimes his bag would be full of letters +and papers for the pupils, and then "Com" was very proud. Every night +this wise dog guarded the house, and madam always felt quite happy about +the younger children if "Com" was with them. + +[Illustration: 0068] + + + + +HOW MAY WAS CURED. + +[Illustration: 9069] + +O wise person ever expects children to be perfect--grown people are +not--still all can try to overcome their faults and grow wiser day by +day. + +Although little May was a very sweet child, as she grew older she began +to fret about little things, and one day when she was urged to learn her +lesson in arithmetic she said, "I wish I never had to see another old +arithmetic; I hate them all!" + +May's mother was very patient, and she had her own thoughts about +punishing children. When her little daughter showed such ill-temper she +said, quietly: "May dear, I am going out to do some errands; would you +like to go?" + +May was delighted; she would do any thing to get away from her hateful +book. Their first visit was to a shop where fruit was sold, and then to +a florist's where the lady bought some flowers. + +"Now where shall we go, mamma?" + +"You will see presently, my dear. We will take a car and make a call on +a friend of mine." + +[Illustration: 0070] + +At last they got out and went up some steps, where a lad answered their +ring at the door. + +When they entered they saw a little girl seated on a chair with her +hands folded. She was blind. She heard their footsteps and said, "Please +be seated, ladies." + +"How long have you been blind, dear?" asked May's mother. + +"Four years, madam. I was very ill and have never seen the light since." + +"You must remember many things which you saw before your illness?" + +"Oh, yes; and it makes me very happy. I know just how the grass looks, +and how blue the sky is, and when I am tired I think of it over and +over." + +After some more conversation the matron came in and gladly welcomed +May and her mother. "I would like to show my little girl through the +school," said the latter, and the matron kindly took them into various +rooms. Not one of the children could see, yet all seemed happy and busy. +Some were getting lessons, some were knitting, the boys in the work-room +were putting new seats into chairs, and yet all were blind. + +It was a sad sight to little May, and after she had left the flowers and +fruit she went away looking quite thoughtful: Since that day she never +complains when asked to get a lesson, and even her music is not tiresome +when she thinks of blind Maggie. + + + + +HARRY'S GUEST. + +[Illustration: 9072] + +HE'S only an orphan," mother dear, + +`"Her father and mother are dead; + +``She hasn't a home to shelter her, + +```Or a hat to cover her head.= + +``"I found her crying alone in the street, + +```And nobody seemed to care; + +``I know she is hungry and tired now-- + +```Please give her all of my share.= + +``"I am glad we have tea in the garden to-night + +```For she wouldn't go into our home; + +``I could hardly coax her up here, papa, + +```She hasn't a friend, not one."= + +``"Come in, little girl, sit down here and eat, + +```We have plenty of food and to spare; + +``You are tired, poor child. Go Harry, my love, + +```And get your young friend a chair.= + +``"There, now you have eaten, pray tell us why + +```You wander alone in the street; + +``And why there is none to look after your clothes, + +```And keep you more tidy and neat?"= + +``"My mother just died, and they took her away, + +```And our landlady said I must go; + +``And all of our things belonged to her, + +```To pay up the rent we owe.= + +``"I went to the river to sit down and think, + +```For no one cared for me now; + +``I wanted to die like my own dear ma, + +```But I could not--I did not know how.= + +``"This boy he spoke kindly, and led me away, + +```He said he would bring me to you; + +``I knows I am dirty, not fit to be seen, + +```But, lady, my story is true."= + +``So they took her in, as Harry had said, + +```And they cared for her kindly and well-- + +``The good they have done and the good they will do, + +```Only angels in heaven can tell.= + +[Illustration: 0073] + +[Illustration: 0074] + + + + +A TIRED VISITOR. + +[Illustration: 9075] + +NE day in the summer Toots sat on the doorstep talking with his little +friend, Fred Haldon, when a man came up to the gate with a hand-organ +and asked if he might come in. + +"Oh, mamma! mamma!" called Toots, "come as soon as you can, for he has a +monkey with him." + +His mother looked out of the window and nodded to the man. "Yes, he +could play if he wished." Then she went out on the doorstep with the +children. The monkey came to her at once. It looked so tired and sad, +she said, "Poor little fellow!" He seemed to understand her, for he +sprang into her lap and rubbed his head against her hand. + +"How tired he is!" she said kindly, "do let him rest while we feed him." + +The monkey would not eat much, he seemed too weary, but he bowed his +thanks and then put his head on her hand again. When the man stopped +playing the lady told him he would lose his monkey if he did not let it +rest. + +[Illustration: 0076] + +The man laughed and sat down under a tree. This seemed to please the +monkey, for he went to him and kissed him and then returned to his new +friend, nestling down in her lap like a tired child. + +"He has danced too much when it was warm," said the man in broken +English. + +"Then you must be very good and let him sleep." After a good rest the +organ-grinder went away with him, and soon after Toots went with all the +family to the sea-side, where the monkeys in the park made them think of +their tired little visitor. Long, long after, when winter came and all +the family were in town and all the aunts and cousins were invited to +meet grandpa Bergland--little May's grandpa from over the sea, the door +opened just in the very midst of the Christmas festival, and in walked +Leno, all dressed in his best suit. + +"Where is his master?" asked Toots, "bring him in and let him show us +the old tricks." + +So the master came in. He said, "the kind ladies and gentlemen must +excuse him, but he could not make Leno pass the gate where the lady was +so kind to him when he was sick." + +"He was quite sick then, poor thing!" said Toots' mamma. + +"He was very sick, dear lady. I took him away in the cool country, but +he was like to die, and for many days I thought I must leave him there, +for he could neither eat nor sleep, only look in my face and make a sad +noise. I could not Leno die, for he is my only friend." + +"There, mamma," said grandpa Bergland, "you was kind to the dumb brute +and it did thank you." + + + + +MR. SMITH'S FAMILY. + +[Illustration: 9078] + +MAN who took charge of the park was very kind to Toots and allowed him +to feed the parrots, birds, and rabbits. The rabbit-house was a favorite +place with the children. They never tired of watching them, and the +family was so large that the good keeper who cared for them called the +old rabbit "Mr. Smith." + +"You see he has so many children, his name must be Smith," said he. + +The children fed them grass and clover, and many of the little creatures +had pet names, but it was impossible to name them all, for the family +increased so fast. One morning when the gardener went into the park to +look at some plants he had set out the day before, he found them all out +of the ground and the earth thrown about in every direction. "Ah!" said +he, "those puppies must be shut up; they did all this mischief last +night; I heard them barking." + +Then the gardener took the three puppies and shut them in a cellar, +while he hurried his garden-making, in order to get more plants in place +before the superintendent came that way. He was so anxious to get the +plants cared for before the sun was hot that he quite neglected the +other pets. + +While he was hard at work Toots ran to him crying, "Oh, Mr. Snyder, they +are all out, the whole of Mr. Smith's family, and there is a big hole +dug down under their house." + +Sure enough, the house was empty and the family nowhere to be seen. +Toots and the boys found them at last hiding under some steps. After +some trouble and much chasing about over the grounds they were put into +their cage and the big hole was securely fastened. + +Toots released the puppies and fed them well, while Mr. Smith's family +seemed tired out with their travels and were glad to lie down and rest. + +That evening while the family sat on the piazza watching the moonlight +on the water, something ran up the steps and hid in one corner. + +"It must be one of those ugly rats," said Aunt Bell. + +"No, indeed, it is some poor hunted thing seeking refuge," said mamma. +"Bring me a lamp, Bridget, and let us see." + +The lamp was brought and there in one corner of the piazza was a poor, +lonely little rabbit. He had strayed from the rest, and now when it was +dark he sought shelter where he heard familiar voices. + +[Illustration: 0080] + + + + +WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH BABY? + +[Illustration: 9081] + +HAT shall we do with baby, + +`The bright-eyed mischievous one? + +`He wakens us all in the morning, + +```Two hours before the sun.= + +``From the time that his peepers open, + +```He pinches and pulls at our nose; + +``Or, perhaps, by way of diversion, + +```He gives us a taste of his toes.= + +``We find him rattles and clothes-pins, + +```We give him books by the score, + +``And make him a house in the corner + +```When lo! he is at the door.= + +``We pile up a basket of playthings, + +```And seat the rogue in a chair; + +``We leave to order the dinner, + +```Behold! no baby is there.= + +``He has found his way to the closet, + +```He is rattling our chinaware; + +``We run--he is clasping a goblet, + +```And trying to climb a chair.= + +[Illustration: 0082] + +``He is full of the funniest capers, + +```And scolds in the funniest way; + +``But never will own he is weary, + +```Or rest from his busy play.= + +``He struggles and battles with slumber, + +```He scratches and picks at his eyes, + +``We fancy him quietly sleeping, + +```But baby is watching the flies.= + +``We give him a seat at the table, + +```We make him a house of our chairs, + +``And while the coach is preparing, + +```The baby is tumbling down stairs.= + +``The apples are thrown from the basket, + +```His milk is spilled on the floor; + +``Bread and butter sticks to the carpet, + +``` And sugar sticks on the door.= + +``We puzzle our brains to amuse him, + +```We bow to his lordly will; + +``But do what we may, the baby + +```Is never a moment still.= + +``Oh, what shall we do with baby-- + +```With his fun, and frolic, and fears? + +``He charms us all with his mischief, + +```And conquers us all with his tears.= + + + + +DADDY TOUGH. + +[Illustration: 9084] + +T was a queer, very queer name, but the soldiers gave it to him, and +when you hear how he conducted himself you will not wonder. Daddy Tough +lived in a fort in the western country, and he belonged to the United +States Government. On one side he had the letters "U. S." branded, in +order to keep people from stealing him. The children in the fort all +called those letters "Uncle Sam," and everything with that mark on it +was said to belong to Uncle Sam, meaning the Government. + +The children about the fort used to ride on his back in a sort of double +saddle made of willow. One day the soldiers took him inside of a small +gate in order to remove some ashes from a cellar. The cart was backed in +and Daddy stood with his head just outside of the gate. He looked like +a droll picture in a frame. There he stood winking his eyes and shaking +his long ears. When the soldiers had the ashes all in the wagon they +told Daddy to go on, but he would not move; then they coaxed him but he +did not stir. His driver pelted and pulled, but Daddy winked and never +moved a step. + +"We must get him away somehow," said the soldiers, and at last they +struck him. Daddy looked at them in the most reproachful manner, but he +did not move an inch. For more than half an hour the poor soldiers tried +to have him carry his burden away. + +"We must be all cleared up before dress parade," said one. + +"We must get him out of here somehow," said the other. + +"Just think how the boys would laugh if they saw Daddy standing here +winking while the colonel was issuing his orders at dress parade." + +"It will never do," said the driver. "Come, Daddy, you must move on or +you will disgrace the command." + +Daddy looked knowing, but still stood firm. Other soldiers came and +they tried, but Daddy would not yield even after hard whipping. Then +the colonel came out and told them what to do, but Daddy winked at the +colonel as if to say, "I like this place very much and I will not go +even for you." + +When all efforts had failed the colonel's wife said, + +"Let me try; we cure horses of ill-temper by feeding them sugar." + +"Nothing will cure Daddy," said her husband, "but you may try." + +The lady brought out some sugar and gave Daddy a taste. He shook his +ears and made a sort of grunt. Then she patted him and held it farther +away and at last he marched after her out of the gate and ran so fast he +upset part of the ashes. After that when Daddy grew sulky a little sugar +would win him over. + +[Illustration: 0086] + + + + +BUTTON BLUE. + +[Illustration: 9087] + +OOTS had a brother much older than himself, and never were two boys +better friends. Nothing pleased Toots more than stories of his brother's +pranks when he was small. Then Toots' parents travelled nearly all the +time, and their eldest boy saw a great deal of this busy world. All the +soldiers in his father's regiment called him "Button Blue," for when +they first saw him he wore little dresses with a good many buttons +on them. After that he had a jacket and pants, or, as he called them, +"Bocker-nickers." He was a droll little fellow, and always managed to +twist words about. The soldiers were very fond of Button, and made him +many presents. They taught him games of all kinds, and here we see him +showing the major's little daughter how to play cat's cradle. + +[Illustration: 0088] + +One day Button Blue was lost and all the camp was astir. The black man, +whose duty it was to care for him, said he left him at the sutler's +little store, and the sutler said he saw him playing with a dog near +the flag-staff just before the general's door. The general was away on +horseback and he had not taken the child, for some one had seen seen him +riding away with one of his officers and their orderlies. The men were +nearly wild over the lost boy, but Button's mother said she only feared +his going to the river, and yet Button never went anywhere without +permission. The dinner hour came and went, but no boy answered to the +summons, and men were sent in different directions to find him. They had +not returned when the general came up on horseback. + +"We are in great trouble, sir," said the surgeon; "the colonel's boy is +lost." + +"Button, our little Button; it is impossible. Have you sent out men to +search? Have you looked in all the men's quarters? Why, bless you, I +kissed the little rogue good-bye the last thing before starting; we had +a grand romp together. I will go myself to search for him." The general +sprang off his horse and unlocked the door of the little house known as +his headquarters. He threw his gloves on the table and said aloud in an +anxious tone: + +"Why, I love that rascal like one of my own. He must be somewhere +about." + +"We have searched everywhere, sir, and no trace can be found. Even the +colonel is discouraged, but his mother will not give up. She says he +will be found." + +"Found! found! of course he will," replied the general. "Why, there +isn't a man or boy that doesn't love Button." + +"Here I am, General," piped a boy's voice; and there, just waking up +from a sound sleep, was the boy who had slipped in as the general's +servant locked the door, and then, tired with play, threw himself on a +lounge behind a screen where his friend the general had often rested. + + + + +THE STORY OF THE CUCKOO. + +[Illustration: 0090] + +T was a dreary, rainy day, and Toots and his cousins were gathered in +the library, where a cheerful open fire made them forget the chilling +rain outside. + +"Auntie," said May, "please tell me why you keep that pretty bird always +sitting above your desk?" + +"Toots has something to do with that. It is his bird, and perhaps you +would like to hear about it; wait one moment until I get you a dish of +fruit, and I will tell you how the pretty bird came here: + +"One summer when Toots was quite small and not very strong, our family +doctor said, 'Couldn't you go and camp out in the pine woods somewhere +for a few weeks?' At first it seemed quite impossible to take all the +family, but Button Blue was so active and helpful, and the cook said she +would like the fun of it, so at last we went, taking care to be near +a house where we could get pure water. We had two tents. One was our +parlor by day and the boys' bedroom by night; the other held my bed and +an easy camp cot for Toots. We were very cosey and happy. The birds sang +over our heads all day, and at night we could hear the whip-poor-will's +note only a few feet from our tent door." + +"What did you do when it rained?" asked one of the boys. + +"We drew the tent curtains close, made little ditches outside to carry +off the water, and read, played games, or told stories. One day a party +of gentlemen came to our camp. They were out hunting, and one of them +had in his game bag a pretty cuckoo he had just killed. Poor Toots felt +terribly when he saw it. Only the day before he had heard its pretty +note, 'Cuckoo! cuckoo!' and we had told him that its name was given it +because it made that peculiar song." + +"I think he was wicked to shoot it," said Toots. + +"We all felt very sorry," said his mother, "and I think the hunters did, +too, for they promised to keep away from our camp and avoid shooting any +of our pets. When they left us, they told Toots he would hear from them +again, but we forgot all about it until one day a small box was brought +to our house by the expressman. It was directed to Toots and marked +'with care.' On opening it we found our little friend the cuckoo +handsomely stuffed and mounted on a branch. Toots was very much +pleased and it has stood where it now is ever since it came." + +"I wish he could fly once more, and say 'Cuckoo, cuckoo,' as he used to," +said Toots. + +[Illustration: 0092] + + + + +MAJOR AND BENJAMINA. + +[Illustration: 9093] + +KIND lady and dear friend of Toots and his mother owns a bright little +dog named Benjamina. Its mother was blind and lame when the little puppy +was born, and the good lady thought it was the child of the dog mother's +old age; so she called it Benjamina, and a very cunning, wise little +creature she is. + +Benjamina likes to curl up on a sofa pillow and take life easy. Nearly +every day she takes a walk with her mistress and frisks about here and +there. Once when they were out walking, naughty Bennie ran too near the +horse car and was kicked by one of the horses. She lay quite still for +a moment, and all who saw her feared she was dead. Before any one could +reach her, a large, strong dog who belonged to a neighbor sprang across +the street and carried her to her mistress. Poor doggie had a bad cut +in her side which the doctor sewed up, and it was so very sore that she +could not lie down for many days. It was quite pitiful to see it walk +around and around in a circle, trying to go to sleep. Old Major came +every day to see her, and when he was allowed to come into the room he +would sit down gravely and look at her. He evidently wanted to say, "I +am very, very sorry for you and shall be glad to see you out again." + +[Illustration: 0094] + +After a time poor Benjamina grew well enough to sit in a chair at the +window, and Major would sit outside on the piazza and look at her. They +really seemed to understand each other perfectly. If anything went wrong +in the street Major would run down the steps and attend to it, and then +come back to his station before the window. At last Bennie was taken +out for a drive and Major ran all the way by the side of the carriage, +barking with pleasure. + +Once Bennie's mistress found a large bone put on her piazza, which Major +had brought for his friend's breakfast, and great was the good fellow's +delight when it was carried to Bennie. + +Major went to church every Sunday and sat in the porch until his master +came out; he tried very hard to go inside but was never allowed to do +so. When the sexton went out to open the doors Major would shake himself +and take his position on the steps. Once he came on Sunday and tried to +coax Bennie out, but her mistress said no. When I last saw Bennie she +was sitting in her mistress' lap while she wrote some letters. Major is +still the same faithful friend and visits her every day. + + + + +THE COMMODORE'S GUESTS. + +[Illustration: 9096] + +OW happy the little people were at the seashore! There was so much to +see and so much to do that the long days ran quickly away. + +Toots and his friend learned many things. They caught hermit crabs, and +were told how they stole shell houses to live in. They found star fish, +and horse-shoe crabs, and beautiful sea anemones, and sometimes a kind +old sailor would tell them about trawls, lobster traps, nets, and the +queer tricks of the various fish they caught. + +Away out on a point of rocks near the water lived some very bright +little boys who often came to play with Toots. One day their parents +were invited to visit a beautiful yacht lying in the harbor. The ladies +and gentlemen were much pleased, and when they returned from their visit +they told the children all about it. Two little boys, Philip and +Harry, who lived in the cottage at the point, heard the story with much +pleasure; so did Toots, who wished he could see it. One morning when +the wind blew hard and the water was covered with white caps, Philip's +mother missed both her little boys. "Perhaps they have gone over to +Toots'," she said. Their sister inquired, but Toots was swinging in the +hammock with another little friend. He had not seen Philip or Harry all +the morning. Then the nurse and all the family began to look, but no +boys could they find. + +At last an old sailor said, "There's a little boat a-bob-bing up and +down out there, and I think it has two little chaps in it." + +The ladies took a glass, and there indeed were the two little rogues +liable to be drowned at any moment; but two kind sailors went after them +and brought them safe on shore. + +"Where were you going?" asked their mamma. + +"To visit the Tommodore's pretty water-house." + +Both boys were very small and could not speak distinctly. + +"But how strange! you were not invited," said their mother. + +"Oh, yes, I 'vited 'Ilip and 'Ilip Vited me!" + +"What would you have done if you had reached the yacht?"' + +"I was going to 'duce 'Ilip to the Tommodore and 'Ilip was going to +'duce me." + +"But you must not introduce people anywhere unless you are welcome +yourself and invited. When the Commodore invites my little boys, I will +take them out to his yacht and introduce them myself. Besides, the water +is very rough and you are too young to row a boat so far." + +"We could do it;'cause 'Ilip rowed one oar and I rowed the other. We +like it." + +Their mother was very glad to get them back again, and the good +Commodore never knew what funny little guests he missed seeing that +summer morning. + +[Illustration: 0098] + + + + +HARVEST FESTIVAL. + +[Illustration: 9099] + +RAIN, plenty of grain, + +`Sang the birds in the harvest field; + +`Grain, plenty of grain; + +```H ow grandly it doth yield!= + +``Grain, plenty of grain, + +```Eat, and chirp, and sing; + +``Come one and all to the harvest field, + +```Each with buoyant wing.= + +``Grain, plenty of grain, + +```The reapers are out to-day; + +``And every bird from far and near, + +```Must sing a roundelay.= + +``Grain, plenty of grain, + +```And not a farmer near; + +``Chirp, chirp, how glad are we, + +```To find this harvest here!= + +``Over the top of the stack, + +```Down on the bundle bound; + +``Swoop and pick, and sing your songs; + +```Such a feast is seldom found.= + +[Illustration: 0100] + +``Chirp, chirp, chirp, + +```Sing with all your might, + +``The glorious day will soon be done, + +```And the harvest ends to-night. + +``Grain, plenty of grain, + +```Eat your fill, my friends; + +``Let us gladly, cheerfully take, + +```The food the dear God sends. + +"I think," said Toots, "that every song you read is the best one, and I +wish birds could talk. + +"They certainly talk to each other," said his mother, "and the robins in +our apple-tree try very hard to answer me when I talk to them." + +[Illustration: 0101] + +[Illustration: 0105] + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Toots and his Friends, by Kate Tannatt Woods + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOOTS AND HIS FRIENDS *** + +***** This file should be named 45388.txt or 45388.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/5/3/8/45388/ + +Produced by David Widger from page images generously +provided by the Internet Archive + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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