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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Mother Goose in Prose, by L. Frank Baum,
+Illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
+
+
+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: Mother Goose in Prose
+
+
+Author: L. Frank Baum
+
+
+
+Release Date: June 29, 2002  [eBook #5312]
+This revision posted May 28, 2014
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOTHER GOOSE IN PROSE***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Bebra Knutson and revised by David Edwards and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net). The original
+illustrations were generously made available by Internet Archive
+(https://archive.org).
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 5312-h.htm or 5312-h.zip:
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5312/5312-h/5312-h.htm)
+      or
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5312/5312-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+MOTHER GOOSE IN PROSE
+
+
+[Illustration: "There was a little man and he had a little gun"]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+MOTHER GOOSE IN PROSE
+
+by
+
+L. FRANK BAUM
+
+Illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+New York
+MCMI
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+
+    Introduction                             9
+    Sing a Song o' Sixpence                 19
+    The Story of Little Boy Blue            31
+    The Cat and the Fiddle                  45
+    The Black Sheep                         55
+    Old King Cole                           65
+    Mistress Mary                           75
+    The Wond'rous Wise Man                  89
+    What Jack Horner Did                    99
+    The Man in the Moon                    109
+    The Jolly Miller                       119
+    The Little Man and His Little Gun      131
+    Hickory, Dickory, Dock                 141
+    Little Bo-Peep                         151
+    The Story of Tommy Tucker              163
+    Pussy-cat Mew                          175
+    How the Beggars Came to Town           183
+    Tom, the Piper's Son                   199
+    Humpty Dumpty                          207
+    The Woman Who Lived in a Shoe          221
+    Little Miss Muffet                     233
+    Three Wise Men of Gotham               245
+    Little Bun Rabbit                      257
+
+
+
+
+Illustrations
+
+
+    "There was a little man and he had a little gun"    _Frontispiece_
+    Little Boy Blue                                                36
+    The Black Sheep                                                58
+    Old King Cole                                                  68
+    The Wond'rous Wise Man                                         92
+    Jack Horner                                                   102
+    The Man in the Moon                                           112
+    Little Bo-Peep                                                156
+    Tommy Tucker                                                  166
+    Tom, the Piper's Son                                          200
+    Humpty Dumpty                                                 212
+    Three Wise Men of Gotham                                      248
+
+
+
+
+Introduction.
+
+
+NONE of us, whether children or adults, needs an introduction to Mother
+Goose. Those things which are earliest impressed upon our minds cling
+to them the most tenaciously. The snatches sung in the nursery are
+never forgotten, nor are they ever recalled without bringing back with
+them myriads of slumbering feelings and half-forgotten images.
+
+We hear the sweet, low voice of the mother, singing soft lullabies
+to her darling, and see the kindly, wrinkled face of the grandmother
+as she croons the old ditties to quiet our restless spirits. One
+generation is linked to another by the everlasting spirit of song; the
+ballads of the nursery follow us from childhood to old age, and they
+are readily brought from memory's recesses at any time to amuse our
+children or our grandchildren.
+
+The collection of jingles we know and love as the "Melodies of Mother
+Goose" are evidently drawn from a variety of sources. While they are,
+taken altogether, a happy union of rhyme, wit, pathos, satire and
+sentiment, the research after the author of each individual verse
+would indeed be hopeless. It would be folly to suppose them all the
+composition of uneducated old nurses, for many of them contain much
+reflection, wit and melody. It is said that Shelley wrote "Pussy-Cat
+Mew," and Dean Swift "Little Bo-Peep," and these assertions are as
+difficult to disprove as to prove. Some of the older verses, however,
+are doubtless offshoots from ancient Folk Lore songs, and have
+descended to us through many centuries.
+
+The connection of Mother Goose with the rhymes which bear her name is
+difficult to determine, and, in fact, three countries claim her for
+their own: France, England and America.
+
+About the year 1650 there appeared in circulation in London a small
+book, named "Rhymes of the Nursery; or Lulla-Byes for Children," which
+contained many of the identical pieces that have been handed down to
+us; but the name of Mother Goose was evidently not then known. In this
+edition were the rhymes of "Little Jack Horner," "Old King Cole,"
+"Mistress Mary," "Sing a Song o' Sixpence," and "Little Boy Blue."
+
+In 1697 Charles Perrault published in France a book of children's tales
+entitled "Contes de ma Mére Oye," and this is really the first time we
+find authentic record of the use of the name of Mother Goose, although
+Perrault's tales differ materially from those we now know under this
+title. They comprised "The Sleeping Beauty," "The Fairy," "Little Red
+Riding-Hood," "Blue Beard," "Puss in Boots," "Riquet with the Tuft,"
+"Cinderella," and "Little Thumb;" eight stories in all. On the cover
+of the book was depicted an old lady holding in her hand a distaff and
+surrounded by a group of children listening eagerly. Mr. Andrew Lang
+has edited a beautiful English edition of this work (Oxford, 1888).
+
+America bases her claim to Mother Goose upon the following statement,
+made by the late John Fleet Eliot, a descendant of Thomas Fleet, the
+printer:
+
+At the beginning of the eighteenth century there lived in Boston a
+lady named Eliza Goose (written also Vergoose and Vertigoose) who
+belonged to a wealthy family. Her eldest daughter, Elizabeth Goose
+(or Vertigoose), was married by Rev. Cotton Mather in 1715 to an
+enterprising and industrious printer named Thomas Fleet, and in
+due time gave birth to a son. Like most mothers-in-law in our day,
+the importance of Mrs. Goose increased with the appearance of her
+grandchild, and poor Mr. Fleet, half distracted with her endless
+nursery ditties, finding all other means fail, tried what ridicule
+could effect, and actually printed a book under the title "Songs of the
+Nursery; or, Mother Goose's Melodies for Children." On the title page
+was the picture of a goose with a very long neck and a mouth wide open,
+and below this, "Printed by T. Fleet, at his Printing House in Pudding
+Lane, 1719. Price, two coppers."
+
+Mr. Wm. A. Wheeler, the editor of Hurd & Houghton's elaborate edition
+of Mother Goose, (1870), reiterated this assertion, and a writer in
+the Boston Transcript of June 17, 1864, says: "Fleet's book was partly
+a reprint of an English collection of songs, (Barclay's), and the new
+title was doubtless a compliment by the printer to his mother-in-law
+Goose for her contributions. She was the mother of sixteen children and
+a typical 'Old Woman who lived in a Shoe.'"
+
+We may take it to be true that Fleet's wife was of the Vergoose family,
+and that the name was often contracted to Goose. But the rest of the
+story is unsupported by any evidence whatever. In fact, all that Mr.
+Eliot knew of it was the statement of the late Edward A. Crowninshield,
+of Boston, that he had seen Fleet's edition in the library of the
+American Antiquarian Society. Repeated researches at Worcester having
+failed to bring to light this supposed copy, and no record of it
+appearing on any catalogue there, we may dismiss the entire story with
+the supposition that Mr. Eliot misunderstood the remarks made to him.
+Indeed, as Mr. William H. Whitmore points out in his clever monograph
+upon Mother Goose (Albany, 1889), it is very doubtful whether in 1719
+a Boston printer would have been allowed to publish such "trivial"
+rhymes. "Boston children at that date," says Mr. Whitmore, "were fed
+upon Gospel food, and it seems extremely improbable that an edition
+could have been sold."
+
+Singularly enough, England's claim to the venerable old lady is of
+about the same date as Boston's. There lived in a town in Sussex, about
+the year 1704, an old woman named Martha Gooch. She was a capital
+nurse, and in great demand to care for newly-born babies; therefore,
+through long years of service as nurse, she came to be called Mother
+Gooch. This good woman had one peculiarity: she was accustomed to croon
+queer rhymes and jingles over the cradles of her charges, and these
+rhymes "seemed so senseless and silly to the people who overheard them"
+that they began to call her "Mother Goose," in derision, the term being
+derived from Queen Goosefoot, the mother of Charlemagne. The old nurse
+paid no attention to her critics, but continued to sing her rhymes as
+before; for, however much grown people might laugh at her, the children
+seemed to enjoy them very much, and not one of them was too peevish
+to be quieted and soothed by her verses. At one time Mistress Gooch
+was nursing a child of Mr. Ronald Barclay, a physician residing in the
+town, and he noticed the rhymes she sang and became interested in them.
+In time he wrote them all down and made a book of them, which it is
+said was printed by John Worthington & Son in the Strand, London, in
+1712, under the name of "Ye Melodious Rhymes of Mother Goose." But even
+this story of Martha Gooch is based upon very meager and unsatisfactory
+evidence.
+
+The earliest English edition of Mother Goose's Melodies that is
+absolutely authentic was issued by John Newbury of London about the
+year 1760, and the first authentic American edition was a reprint of
+Newbury's made by Isaiah Thomas of Worcester, Mass., in 1785.
+
+None of the earlier editions, however, contained all the rhymes so well
+known at the present day, since every decade has added its quota to
+the mass of jingles attributed to "Mother Goose." Some of the earlier
+verses have become entirely obsolete, and it is well they have, for
+many were crude and silly and others were coarse. It is simply a result
+of the greater refinement of modern civilization that they have been
+relegated to oblivion, while the real gems of the collection will
+doubtless live and grow in popular favor for many ages.
+
+While I have taken some pains to record the various claims to the
+origin of Mother Goose, it does not matter in the least whether she was
+in reality a myth, or a living Eliza Goose, Martha Gooch or the "Mére
+Oye" of Perrault. The songs that cluster around her name are what we
+love, and each individual verse appeals more to the childish mind than
+does Mother Goose herself.
+
+Many of these nursery rhymes are complete tales in themselves, telling
+their story tersely but completely; there are others which are but
+bare suggestions, leaving the imagination to weave in the details of
+the story. Perhaps therein may lie part of their charm, but however
+that may be I have thought the children might like the stories told
+at greater length, that they may dwell the longer upon their favorite
+heroes and heroines.
+
+For that reason I have written this book.
+
+In making the stories I have followed mainly the suggestions of the
+rhymes, and my hope is that the little ones will like them, and not
+find that they interfere with the fanciful creations of their own
+imaginations.
+
+                                            L. FRANK BAUM.
+
+Chicago, Illinois, July, 1899.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Sing a Song o' Sixpence]
+
+
+
+
+Sing a Song o' Sixpence
+
+    Sing a song o' sixpence, a handful of rye,
+    Four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie;
+    When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,
+    Wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the King?
+
+
+IF you have never heard the legend of Gilligren and the King's pie you
+will scarcely understand the above verse; so I will tell you the whole
+story, and then you will be able to better appreciate the rhyme.
+
+Gilligren was an orphan, and lived with an uncle and aunt who were
+very unkind to him. They cuffed him and scolded him upon the slightest
+provocation, and made his life very miserable indeed. Gilligren never
+rebelled against this treatment, but bore their cruelty silently and
+with patience, although often he longed to leave them and seek a home
+amongst kinder people.
+
+It so happened that when Gilligren was twelve years old the King died,
+and his son was to be proclaimed King in his place, and crowned with
+great ceremony. People were flocking to London from all parts of the
+country, to witness the festivities, and the boy longed to go with
+them.
+
+One evening he said to his uncle,
+
+"If I had sixpence I could make my fortune."
+
+"Pooh! nonsense!" exclaimed his uncle, "a sixpence is a small thing.
+How then could you make a fortune from it?"
+
+"That I cannot tell you," replied Gilligren, "but if you will give me
+the sixpence I will go to London, and not return until I am a rich man."
+
+"The boy is a fool!" said his uncle, with anger; but the aunt spoke up
+quickly.
+
+"Give him the money and let him go," she said, "and then we shall be
+well rid of him and no longer be obliged to feed and clothe him at our
+expense."
+
+"Well," said her husband, after a moment's thought, "here is the money;
+but remember, this is all I shall ever give you, and when it is gone
+you must not come to me for more."
+
+"Never fear," replied Gilligren, joyfully, as he put the sixpence in
+his pocket, "I shall not trouble you again."
+
+The next morning he cut a short stick to assist him in walking, and
+after bidding good-bye to his uncle and aunt he started upon his
+journey to London.
+
+"The money will not last him two days," said the man, as he watched
+Gilligren go down the turnpike road, "and when it is gone he will
+starve to death."
+
+"Or he may fall in with people who will treat him worse than we did,"
+rejoined the woman, "and then he'll wish he had never left us."
+
+But Gilligren, nothing dismayed by thoughts of the future, trudged
+bravely along the London road. The world was before him, and the bright
+sunshine glorified the dusty road and lightened the tips of the dark
+green hedges that bordered his path. At the end of his pilgrimage was
+the great city, and he never doubted he would find therein proper work
+and proper pay, and much better treatment than he was accustomed to
+receive.
+
+So, on he went, whistling merrily to while away the time, watching the
+sparrows skim over the fields, and enjoying to the full the unusual
+sights that met his eyes. At noon he overtook a carter, who divided
+with the boy his luncheon of bread and cheese, and for supper a
+farmer's wife gave him a bowl of milk. When it grew dark he crawled
+under a hedge and slept soundly until dawn.
+
+The next day he kept steadily upon his way, and toward evening met a
+farmer with a wagon loaded with sacks of grain.
+
+"Where are you going, my lad?" asked the man.
+
+"To London," replied Gilligren, "to see the King crowned."
+
+"Have you any money?" enquired the farmer.
+
+"Oh yes," answered Gilligren, "I have a sixpence."
+
+"If you will give me the sixpence," said the man, "I will give you a
+sack of rye for it."
+
+"What could I do with a sack of rye?" asked Gilligren, wonderingly.
+
+"Take it to the mill, and get it ground into flour. With the flour you
+could have bread baked, and that you can sell."
+
+"That is a good idea," replied Gilligren, "so here is my sixpence, and
+now give me the sack of rye."
+
+The farmer put the sixpence carefully into his pocket, and then reached
+under the seat of the wagon and drew out a sack, which he cast on the
+ground at the boy's feet.
+
+"There is your sack of rye," he said, with a laugh.
+
+"But the sack is empty!" remonstrated Gilligren.
+
+"Oh, no; there is some rye in it."
+
+"But only a handful!" said Gilligren, when he had opened the mouth of
+the sack and gazed within it.
+
+"It is a sack of rye, nevertheless," replied the wicked farmer, "and
+I did not say how much rye there would be in the sack I would give
+you. Let this be a lesson to you never again to buy grain without
+looking into the sack!" and with that he whipped up his horses and left
+Gilligren standing in the road with the sack at his feet and nearly
+ready to cry at his loss.
+
+"My sixpence is gone," he said to himself, "and I have received nothing
+in exchange but a handful of rye! How can I make my fortune with that?"
+
+He did not despair, however, but picked up the sack and continued his
+way along the dusty road. Soon it became too dark to travel farther,
+and Gilligren stepped aside into a meadow, where, lying down upon the
+sweet grass, he rolled the sack into a pillow for his head and prepared
+to sleep.
+
+The rye that was within the sack, however, hurt his head, and he sat up
+and opened the sack.
+
+"Why should I keep a handful of rye?" he thought, "It will be of no
+value to me at all."
+
+So he threw out the rye upon the ground, and rolling up the sack again
+for a pillow, was soon sound asleep.
+
+When he awoke the sun was shining brightly over his head and the
+twitter and chirping of many birds fell upon his ears. Gilligren opened
+his eyes and saw a large flock of blackbirds feeding upon the rye he
+had scattered upon the ground. So intent were they upon their feast
+they never noticed Gilligren at all.
+
+He carefully unfolded the sack, and spreading wide its opening threw it
+quickly over the flock of blackbirds. Some escaped and flew away, but a
+great many were caught, and Gilligren put his eye to the sack and found
+he had captured four and twenty. He tied the mouth of the sack with a
+piece of twine that was in his pocket, and then threw the sack over his
+shoulder and began again his journey to London.
+
+"I have made a good exchange, after all," he thought, "for surely four
+and twenty blackbirds are worth more than a handful of rye, and perhaps
+even more than a sixpence, if I can find anyone who wishes to buy
+them."
+
+He now walked rapidly forward, and about noon entered the great city of
+London.
+
+Gilligren wandered about the streets until he came to the King's
+palace, where there was a great concourse of people and many guards to
+keep intruders from the gates.
+
+Seeing he could not enter from the front, the boy walked around to the
+rear of the palace and found himself near the royal kitchen, where the
+cooks and other servants were rushing around to hasten the preparation
+of the King's dinner.
+
+Gilligren sat down upon a stone where he could watch them, and laying
+the sack at his feet was soon deeply interested in the strange sight.
+
+Presently a servant in the King's livery saw him and came to his side.
+
+"What are you doing here?" he asked, roughly.
+
+"I am waiting to see the King," replied Gilligren.
+
+"The King! The King never comes here," said the servant; "and neither
+do we allow idlers about the royal kitchen. So depart at once, or I
+shall be forced to call a guard to arrest you."
+
+Gilligren arose obediently and slung his sack over his shoulder. As he
+did so the birds that were within began to flutter.
+
+"What have you in the sack?" asked the servant.
+
+"Blackbirds," replied Gilligren.
+
+"Blackbirds!" echoed the servant, in surprise, "well, that is very
+fortunate indeed. Come with me at once!" He seized the boy by the arm
+and drew him hastily along until they entered the great kitchen of the
+palace.
+
+"Here, Mister Baker!" the man called, excitedly, "I have found your
+blackbirds!"
+
+A big, fat man who was standing in the middle of the kitchen with
+folded arms and a look of despair upon his round, greasy face, at once
+came toward them and asked eagerly,
+
+"The blackbirds? are you sure you can get them?"
+
+"They are here already; the boy has a bag full of them."
+
+"Give them to me," said the cook, who wore a square cap, that was
+shaped like a box, upon his head.
+
+"What do you want with them?" asked Gilligren.
+
+"I want them for a pie for the King's dinner," answered Mister Baker;
+"His Majesty ordered the dish, and I have hunted all over London for
+the blackbirds, but could not find them. Now that you have brought
+them, however, you have saved me my position as cook, and perhaps my
+head as well."
+
+"But it would be cruel to put the beautiful birds in a pie,"
+remonstrated Gilligren, "and I shall not give them to you for such a
+purpose."
+
+"Nonsense!" replied the cook, "the King has ordered it; he is very fond
+of the dish."
+
+"Still, you cannot have them," declared the boy stoutly, "the birds
+are mine, and I will not have them killed."
+
+"But what can I do?" asked the cook, in perplexity; "the King has
+ordered a blackbird pie, and your birds are the only blackbirds in
+London."
+
+Gilligren thought deeply for a moment, and conceived what he thought to
+be a very good idea. If the sixpence was to make his fortune, then this
+was his great opportunity.
+
+"You can have the blackbirds on two conditions," he said.
+
+"What are they?" asked the cook.
+
+"One is that you will not kill the birds. The other condition is that
+you secure me a position in the King's household."
+
+"How can I put live birds in a pie?" enquired the cook.
+
+"Very easily, if you make the pie big enough to hold them. You can
+serve the pie after the King has satisfied his hunger with other
+dishes, and it will amuse the company to find live birds in the pie
+when they expected cooked ones."
+
+"It is a risky experiment," exclaimed the cook, "for I do not know the
+new King's temper. But the idea may please His Majesty, and since you
+will not allow me to kill the birds, it is the best thing I can do. As
+for your other condition, you seem to be a very bright boy, and so I
+will have the butler take you as his page, and you shall stand back of
+the King's chair and keep the flies away while he eats."
+
+The butler being called, and his consent secured, the cook fell to
+making the crusts for his novel pie, while Gilligren was taken to the
+servants' hall and dressed in a gorgeous suit of the King's livery.
+
+When the dinner was served, the King kept looking for the blackbird
+pie, but he said nothing, and at last the pie was placed before him,
+its crusts looking light and brown, and sprigs of myrtle being stuck in
+the four corners to make it look more inviting.
+
+Although the King had already eaten heartily, he smacked his lips when
+he saw this tempting dish, and picking up the carving-fork he pushed it
+quickly into the pie.
+
+At once the crust fell in, and all the four and twenty blackbirds
+put up their heads and began to look about them. And coming from the
+blackness of the pie into the brilliantly lighted room they thought
+they were in the sunshine, and began to sing merrily, while some of the
+boldest hopped out upon the table or began flying around the room.
+
+At first the good King was greatly surprised; but soon, appreciating
+the jest, he lay back in his chair and laughed long and merrily. And
+his courtiers and the fine ladies present heartily joined in the
+laughter, for they also were greatly amused.
+
+Then the King called for the cook, and when Mister Baker appeared,
+uncertain of his reception, and filled with many misgivings, His
+Majesty cried,
+
+"Sirrah! how came you to think of putting live birds in the pie?"
+
+The cook, fearing that the King was angry, answered,
+
+"May it please your Majesty, it was not my thought, but the idea of the
+boy who stands behind your chair."
+
+The King turned his head, and seeing Gilligren, who looked very well in
+his new livery, he said,
+
+"You are a clever youth, and deserve a better position than that of a
+butler's lad. Hereafter you shall be one of my own pages, and if you
+serve me faithfully I will advance your fortunes with your deserts."
+
+And Gilligren did serve the King faithfully, and as he grew older
+acquired much honor and great wealth.
+
+"After all," he used to say, "that sixpence made my fortune. And it all
+came about through such a small thing as a handful of rye!"
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: The Story of Little Boy Blue]
+
+
+
+
+The Story of Little Boy Blue
+
+    Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn,
+    The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn;
+    Where's the little boy that minds the sheep?
+    He's under the haystack, fast asleep!
+
+
+THERE once lived a poor widow who supported herself and her only son
+by gleaning in the fields the stalks of grain that had been missed by
+the reapers. Her little cottage was at the foot of a beautiful valley,
+upon the edge of the river that wound in and out among the green hills;
+and although poor, she was contented with her lot, for her home was
+pleasant and her lovely boy was a constant delight to her.
+
+He had big blue eyes, and fair golden curls, and he loved his good
+mother very dearly, and was never more pleased than when she allowed
+him to help her with her work.
+
+And so the years passed happily away till the boy was eight years old,
+but then the widow fell sick, and their little store of money melted
+gradually away.
+
+"I don't know what we shall do for bread," she said, kissing her boy
+with tears in her eyes, "for I am not yet strong enough to work, and we
+have no money left."
+
+"But I can work," answered the boy; "and I'm sure if I go to the Squire
+up at the Hall he will give me something to do."
+
+At first the widow was reluctant to consent to this, since she loved to
+keep her child at her side, but finally, as nothing else could be done,
+she decided to let him go to see the Squire.
+
+Being too proud to allow her son to go to the great house in his ragged
+clothes, she made him a new suit out of a pretty blue dress she had
+herself worn in happier times, and when it was finished and the boy
+dressed in it, he looked as pretty as a prince in a fairy tale. For the
+bright blue jacket set off his curls to good advantage, and the color
+just matched the blue of his eyes. His trousers were blue, also, and
+she took the silver buckles from her own shoes and put them on his,
+that he might appear the finer. And then she brushed his curls and
+placed his big straw hat upon them and sent him away with a kiss to see
+the Squire.
+
+It so happened that the great man was walking in his garden with his
+daughter Madge that morning, and was feeling in an especially happy
+mood, so that when he suddenly looked up and saw a little boy before
+him, he said, kindly,
+
+"Well, my child, what can I do for you?"
+
+"If you please, sir," said the boy, bravely, although he was frightened
+at meeting the Squire face to face, "I want you to give me some work to
+do, so that I can earn money."
+
+"Earn money!" repeated the Squire, "why do you wish to earn money?"
+
+"To buy food for my mother, sir. We are very poor, and since she is no
+longer able to work for me I wish to work for her."
+
+"But what can you do?" asked the Squire; "you are too small to work in
+the fields."
+
+"I could earn something, sir, couldn't I?"
+
+His tone was so pleading that mistress Madge was unable to resist it,
+and even the Squire was touched. The young lady came forward and took
+the boy's hand in her own, and pressing back his curls, she kissed his
+fair cheek.
+
+"You shall be our shepherd," she said, pleasantly, "and keep the sheep
+out of the meadows and the cows from getting into the corn. You know,
+father," she continued, turning to the Squire, "it was only yesterday
+you said you must get a boy to tend the sheep, and this little boy can
+do it nicely."
+
+"Very well," replied the Squire, "it shall be as you say, and if he is
+attentive and watchful he will be able to save me a good bit of trouble
+and so really earn his money."
+
+Then he turned to the child and said,
+
+"Come to me in the morning, my little man, and I will give you a silver
+horn to blow, that you may call the sheep and the cows whenever they go
+astray. What is your name?"
+
+"Oh, never mind his name, papa!" broke in the Squire's daughter; "I
+shall call him Little Boy Blue, since he is dressed in blue from head
+to foot, and his dress but matches his eyes. And you must give him
+a good wage, also, for surely no Squire before ever had a prettier
+shepherd boy than this."
+
+"Very good," said the Squire, cheerfully, as he pinched his daughter's
+rosy cheek; "be watchful, Little Boy Blue, and you shall be well paid."
+
+Then Little Boy Blue thanked them both very sweetly and ran back
+over the hill and into the valley where his home lay nestled by the
+river-side, to tell the good news to his mother.
+
+The poor widow wept tears of joy when she heard his story, and smiled
+when he told her that his name was to be Little Boy Blue. She knew the
+Squire was a kind master and would be good to her darling son.
+
+Early the next morning Little Boy Blue was at the Hall, and the
+Squire's steward gave him a new silver horn, that glistened brightly in
+the sunshine, and a golden cord to fasten it around his neck. And then
+he was given charge of the sheep and the cows, and told to keep them
+from straying into the meadowlands and the fields of grain.
+
+It was not hard work, but just suited to Little Boy Blue's age, and he
+was watchful and vigilant and made a very good shepherd boy indeed. His
+mother needed food no longer, for the Squire paid her son liberally and
+the Squire's daughter made a favorite of the small shepherd and loved
+to hear the call of his silver horn echoing amongst the hills. Even
+the sheep and the cows were fond of him, and always obeyed the sound
+of his horn; therefore the Squire's corn thrived finely, and was never
+trampled.
+
+Little Boy Blue was now very happy, and his mother was proud and
+contented and began to improve in health. After a few weeks she became
+strong enough to leave the cottage and walk a little in the fields
+each day; but she could not go far, because her limbs were too feeble
+to support her long, so the most she could attempt was to walk as far
+as the stile to meet Little Boy Blue as he came home from work in the
+evening. Then she would lean on his shoulder and return to the cottage
+with him, and the boy was very glad he could thus support his darling
+mother and assist her faltering steps.
+
+But one day a great misfortune came upon them, since it is true that no
+life can be so happy but that sorrow will creep in to temper it.
+
+Little Boy Blue came homeward one evening very light of heart and
+whistled merrily as he walked, for he thought he should find his mother
+awaiting him at the stile and a good supper spread upon the table in
+the little cottage. But when he came to the stile his mother was not in
+sight, and in answer to his call a low moan of pain reached his ears.
+
+Little Boy Blue sprang over the stile and found lying upon the ground
+his dear mother, her face white and drawn with suffering, and tears of
+anguish running down her cheeks. For she had slipped upon the stile
+and fallen, and her leg was broken!
+
+[Illustration: Little Boy Blue]
+
+Little Boy Blue ran to the cottage for water and bathed the poor
+woman's face, and raised her head that she might drink. There were no
+neighbors, for the cottage stood all alone by the river, so the child
+was obliged to support his mother in his arms as best he could while
+she crawled painfully back to the cottage. Fortunately, it was not far,
+and at last she was safely laid upon her bed. Then Little Boy Blue
+began to think what he should do next.
+
+"Can I leave you alone while I go for the doctor, mamma?" he asked,
+anxiously, as he held her clasped hands tightly in his two little ones.
+His mother drew him towards her and kissed him.
+
+"Take the boat, dear," she said, "and fetch the doctor from the
+village. I shall be patient till you return."
+
+Little Boy Blue rushed away to the river bank and unfastened the little
+boat; and then he pulled sturdily down the river until he passed the
+bend and came to the pretty village below. When he had found the doctor
+and told of his mother's misfortune, the good man promised to attend
+him at once, and very soon they were seated in the boat and on their
+way to the cottage.
+
+It was very dark by this time, but Little Boy Blue knew every turn and
+bend in the river, and the doctor helped him pull at the oars, so that
+at last they came to the place where a faint light twinkled through
+the cottage window. They found the poor woman in much pain, but the
+doctor quickly set and bandaged her leg, and gave her some medicine to
+ease her suffering. It was nearly midnight when all was finished and
+the doctor was ready to start back to the village.
+
+"Take good care of your mother," he said to the boy, "and don't worry
+about her, for it is not a bad break and the leg will mend nicely in
+time; but she will be in bed many days, and you must nurse her as well
+as you are able."
+
+All through the night the boy sat by the bedside, bathing his mother's
+fevered brow and ministering to her wants. And when the day broke she
+was resting easily and the pain had left her, and she told Little Boy
+Blue he must go to his work.
+
+"For," said she, "more than ever now we need the money you earn from
+the Squire, as my misfortune will add to the expenses of living, and
+we have the doctor to pay. Do not fear to leave me, for I shall rest
+quietly and sleep most of the time while you are away."
+
+Little Boy Blue did not like to leave his mother all alone, but he knew
+of no one he could ask to stay with her; so he placed food and water
+by her bedside, and ate a little breakfast himself, and started off to
+tend his sheep.
+
+The sun was shining brightly, and the birds sang sweetly in the trees,
+and the crickets chirped just as merrily as if this great trouble had
+not come to Little Boy Blue to make him sad.
+
+But he went bravely to his work, and for several hours he watched
+carefully; and the men at work in the fields, and the Squire's
+daughter, who sat embroidering upon the porch of the great house, heard
+often the sound of his horn as he called the straying sheep to his side.
+
+But he had not slept the whole night, and he was tired with his long
+watch at his mother's bedside, and so in spite of himself the lashes
+would droop occasionally over his blue eyes, for he was only a child,
+and children feel the loss of sleep more than older people.
+
+Still, Little Boy Blue had no intention of sleeping while he was on
+duty, and bravely fought against the drowsiness that was creeping
+over him. The sun shone very hot that day, and he walked to the shady
+side of a big haystack and sat down upon the ground, leaning his back
+against the stack.
+
+The cows and sheep were quietly browsing near him, and he watched them
+earnestly for a time, listening to the singing of the birds, and the
+gentle tinkling of the bells upon the wethers, and the far-away songs
+of the reapers that the breeze brought to his ears. And before he knew
+it the blue eyes had closed fast, and the golden head lay back upon the
+hay, and Little Boy Blue was fast asleep and dreaming that his mother
+was well again and had come to the stile to meet him.
+
+The sheep strayed near the edge of the meadow and paused, waiting for
+the warning sound of the horn. And the breeze carried the fragrance
+of the growing corn to the nostrils of the browsing cows and tempted
+them nearer and nearer to the forbidden feast. But the silver horn
+was silent, and before long the cows were feeding upon the Squire's
+pet cornfield and the sheep were enjoying themselves amidst the juicy
+grasses of the meadows.
+
+The Squire himself was returning from a long, weary ride over his
+farms, and when he came to the cornfield and saw the cows trampling
+down the grain and feeding upon the golden stalks he was very angry.
+
+"Little Boy Blue!" he cried; "ho! Little Boy Blue, come blow your
+horn!" But there was no reply. He rode on a way and now discovered that
+the sheep were deep within the meadows, and that made him more angry
+still.
+
+"Here, Isaac," he said to a farmer's lad who chanced to pass by, "where
+is Little Boy Blue?"
+
+"He's under the hay-stack, your honor, fast asleep!" replied Isaac with
+a grin, for he had passed that way and seen that the boy was lying
+asleep.
+
+"Will you go and wake him?" asked the Squire; "for he must drive out
+the sheep and the cows before they do more damage."
+
+"Not I," replied Isaac, "if I wake him he'll surely cry, for he is
+but a baby, and not fit to mind the sheep. But I myself will drive
+them out for your honor," and away he ran to do so, thinking that now
+the Squire would give him Little Boy Blue's place, and make him the
+shepherd boy, for Isaac had long coveted the position.
+
+The Squire's daughter, hearing the angry tones of her father's voice,
+now came out to see what was amiss, and when she heard that Little Boy
+Blue had failed in his trust she was deeply grieved, for she had loved
+the child for his pretty ways.
+
+The Squire dismounted from his horse and came to where the boy was
+lying.
+
+"Awake!" said he, shaking him by the shoulder, "and depart from my
+lands, for you have betrayed my trust, and let the sheep and the cows
+stray into the fields and meadows!"
+
+Little Boy Blue started up at once and rubbed his eyes; and then he did
+as Isaac prophesied, and began to weep bitterly, for his heart was sore
+that he had failed in his duty to the good Squire and so forfeited his
+confidence.
+
+But the Squire's daughter was moved by the child's tears, so she took
+him upon her lap and comforted him, asking,
+
+"Why did you sleep, Little Boy Blue, when you should have watched the
+cows and the sheep?"
+
+"My mother has broken her leg," answered the boy, between his sobs,
+"and I did not sleep all last night, but sat by her bedside nursing
+her. And I tried hard not to fall asleep, but could not help myself;
+and oh, Squire! I hope you will forgive me this once, for my poor
+mother's sake!"
+
+"Where does your mother live?" asked the Squire, in a kindly tone, for
+he had already forgiven Little Boy Blue.
+
+"In the cottage down by the river," answered the child; "and she is all
+alone, for there is no one near to help us in our trouble."
+
+"Come," said Mistress Madge, rising to her feet and taking his hand;
+"lead us to your home, and we will see if we cannot assist your poor
+mother."
+
+So the Squire and his daughter and Little Boy Blue all walked down to
+the little cottage, and the Squire had a long talk with the poor widow.
+And that same day a big basket of dainties was sent to the cottage,
+and Mistress Madge bade her own maid go to the widow and nurse her
+carefully until she recovered.
+
+So that after all Little Boy Blue did more for his dear mother by
+falling asleep than he could had he kept wide awake; for after his
+mother was well again the Squire gave them a pretty cottage to live in
+very near to the great house itself, and the Squire's daughter was ever
+afterward their good friend, and saw that they wanted for no comforts
+of life.
+
+And Little Boy Blue did not fall asleep again at his post, but watched
+the cows and the sheep faithfully for many years, until he grew up to
+manhood and had a farm of his own.
+
+He always said his mother's accident had brought him good luck, but I
+think it was rather his own loving heart and his devotion to his mother
+that made him friends. For no one is afraid to trust a boy who loves to
+serve and care for his mother.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: The Cat and the Fiddle]
+
+
+
+
+The Cat and the Fiddle
+
+        Hey, diddle, diddle,
+        The cat and the fiddle,
+    The cow jumped over the moon!
+        The little dog laughed
+        To see such sport,
+    And the dish ran off with the spoon!
+
+
+PERHAPS you think this verse is all nonsense, and that the things it
+mentions could never have happened; but they did happen, as you will
+understand when I have explained them all to you clearly.
+
+Little Bobby was the only son of a small farmer who lived out of town
+upon a country road. Bobby's mother looked after the house and Bobby's
+father took care of the farm, and Bobby himself, who was not very big,
+helped them both as much as he was able.
+
+It was lonely upon the farm, especially when his father and mother were
+both busy at work, but the boy had one way to amuse himself that served
+to pass many an hour when he would not otherwise have known what to do.
+He was very fond of music, and his father one day brought him from the
+town a small fiddle, or violin, which he soon learned to play upon. I
+don't suppose he was a very fine musician, but the tunes he played
+pleased himself, as well as his father and mother, and Bobby's fiddle
+soon became his constant companion.
+
+One day in the warm summer the farmer and his wife determined to drive
+to the town to sell their butter and eggs and bring back some groceries
+in exchange for them, and while they were gone Bobby was to be left
+alone.
+
+"We shall not be back till late in the evening," said his mother, "for
+the weather is too warm to drive very fast. But I have left you a dish
+of bread and milk for your supper, and you must be a good boy and amuse
+yourself with your fiddle until we return."
+
+Bobby promised to be good and look after the house, and then his father
+and mother climbed into the wagon and drove away to the town.
+
+The boy was not entirely alone, for there was the big black tabby-cat
+lying upon the floor in the kitchen, and the little yellow dog barking
+at the wagon as it drove away, and the big moolie-cow lowing in the
+pasture down by the brook. Animals are often very good company, and
+Bobby did not feel nearly as lonely as he would had there been no
+living thing about the house.
+
+Besides he had some work to do in the garden, pulling up the weeds that
+grew thick in the carrot-bed, and when the last faint sounds of the
+wheels had died away he went into the garden and began his task.
+
+The little dog went too, for dogs love to be with people and to watch
+what is going on; and he sat down near Bobby and cocked up his ears and
+wagged his tail and seemed to take a great interest in the weeding.
+Once in a while he would rush away to chase a butterfly or bark at a
+beetle that crawled through the garden, but he always came back to the
+boy and kept near his side.
+
+By and by the cat, which found it lonely in the big, empty kitchen,
+now that Bobby's mother was gone, came walking into the garden also,
+and lay down upon a path in the sunshine and lazily watched the boy at
+his work. The dog and the cat were good friends, having lived together
+so long that they did not care to fight each other. To be sure Towser,
+as the little dog was called, sometimes tried to tease pussy, being
+himself very mischievous; but when the cat put out her sharp claws and
+showed her teeth, Towser, like a wise little dog, quickly ran away, and
+so they managed to get along in a friendly manner.
+
+By the time the carrot-bed was all weeded, the sun was sinking behind
+the edge of the forest and the new moon rising in the east, and now
+Bobby began to feel hungry and went into the house for his dish of
+bread and milk.
+
+"I think I'll take my supper down to the brook," he said to himself,
+"and sit upon the grassy bank while I eat it. And I'll take my fiddle,
+too, and play upon it to pass the time until father and mother come
+home."
+
+It was a good idea, for down by the brook it was cool and pleasant;
+so Bobby took his fiddle under his arm and carried his dish of bread
+and milk down to the bank that sloped to the edge of the brook. It
+was rather a steep bank, but Bobby sat upon the edge, and placing his
+fiddle beside him, leaned against a tree and began to eat his supper.
+
+The little dog had followed at his heels, and the cat also came slowly
+walking after him, and as Bobby ate, they sat one on either side of him
+and looked earnestly into his face as if they too were hungry. So he
+threw some of the bread to Towser, who grabbed it eagerly and swallowed
+it in the twinkling of an eye. And Bobby left some of the milk in
+the dish for the cat, also, and she came lazily up and drank it in a
+dainty, sober fashion, and licked both the dish and spoon until no drop
+of the milk was left.
+
+Then Bobby picked up his fiddle and tuned it and began to play some of
+the pretty tunes he knew. And while he played he watched the moon rise
+higher and higher until it was reflected in the smooth, still water
+of the brook. Indeed, Bobby could not tell which was the plainest to
+see, the moon in the sky or the moon in the water. The little dog lay
+quietly on one side of him, and the cat softly purred upon the other,
+and even the moolie-cow was attracted by the music and wandered near
+until she was browsing the grass at the edge of the brook.
+
+After a time, when Bobby had played all the tunes he knew, he laid the
+fiddle down beside him, near to where the cat slept, and then he lay
+down upon the bank and began to think.
+
+It is very hard to think long upon a dreamy summer night without
+falling asleep, and very soon Bobby's eyes closed and he forgot all
+about the dog and the cat and the cow and the fiddle, and dreamed he
+was Jack the Giant Killer and was just about to slay the biggest giant
+in the world.
+
+And while he dreamed, the cat sat up and yawned and stretched herself,
+and then began wagging her long tail from side to side and watching the
+moon that was reflected in the water.
+
+But the fiddle lay just behind her, and as she moved her tail, she drew
+it between the strings of the fiddle, where it caught fast. Then she
+gave her tail a jerk and pulled the fiddle against the tree, which made
+a loud noise. This frightened the cat greatly, and not knowing what
+was the matter with her tail, she started to run as fast as she could.
+But still the fiddle clung to her tail, and at every step it bounded
+along and made such a noise that she screamed with terror. And in her
+fright she ran straight towards the cow, which, seeing a black streak
+coming at her, and hearing the racket made by the fiddle, became also
+frightened and made such a jump to get out of the way that she jumped
+right across the brook, leaping over the very spot where the moon shone
+in the water!
+
+Bobby had been awakened by the noise, and opened his eyes in time to
+see the cow jump; and at first it seemed to him that she had actually
+jumped over the moon in the sky, instead of the one in the brook.
+
+The dog was delighted at the sudden excitement caused by the cat, and
+ran barking and dancing along the bank, so that he presently knocked
+against the dish, and behold! it slid down the bank, carrying the spoon
+with it, and fell with a splash into the water of the brook.
+
+As soon as Bobby recovered from his surprise he ran after the cat,
+which had raced to the house, and soon came to where the fiddle lay
+upon the ground, it having at last dropped from the cat's tail. He
+examined it carefully, and was glad to find it was not hurt, in spite
+of its rough usage. And then he had to go across the brook and drive
+the cow back over the little bridge, and also to roll up his sleeve and
+reach into the water to recover the dish and the spoon.
+
+Then he went back to the house and lighted a lamp, and sat down to
+compose a new tune before his father and mother returned.
+
+The cat had recovered from her fright and lay quietly under the stove,
+and Towser sat upon the floor panting, with his mouth wide open, and
+looking so comical that Bobby thought he was actually laughing at the
+whole occurrence.
+
+And these were the words to the tune that Bobby composed that night:
+
+        Hey, diddle, diddle,
+        The cat and the fiddle,
+    The cow jumped over the moon!
+        The little dog laughed
+        To see such sport,
+    And the dish ran away with the spoon!
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: The Black Sheep]
+
+
+
+
+The Black Sheep
+
+    Black sheep, black sheep, have you any wool?
+    Yes, my little master, three bags full;
+    One for my master and one for his dame,
+    And one for the little boy that lives in the lane.
+
+
+IT was a bright spring day, and the sun shone very warm and pleasant
+over the pastures, where the new grass was growing so juicy and tender
+that all the sheep thought they had never tasted anything so delicious.
+
+The sheep had had a strange experience that morning, for the farmer had
+taken them down to the brook and washed them, and then he tied their
+legs together and laid them on the grass and clipped all the heavy,
+soft wool from their bodies with a great pair of shears.
+
+The sheep did not like this very well, for every once in a while the
+shears would pull the wool and hurt them; and when they were sheared
+they felt very strange, for it was almost as if someone took off all
+your clothes and let you run around naked. None of them were in a very
+good temper this morning, although the sun shone so warmly and the
+grass was so sweet, and as they watched the farmer and his man carry
+their wool up to the house in great bags, the old ram said, crossly,
+
+"I hope they are satisfied, now that they have stolen from us all our
+soft, warm fleece."
+
+"What are they going to do with it?" asked one of the sheep.
+
+"Oh, they will spin it into threads and make coats for the men and
+dresses for the women. For men are such strange creatures that no wool
+grows on them at all, and that is why they selfishly rob us of our
+fleece that they may cover their own skinny bodies!"
+
+"It must be horrid to be a man," said the Black Sheep, "and not to have
+any wool grow on you at all. I'm sorry for that little boy that lives
+in the lane, for he will never be able to keep warm unless we give him
+some of our wool."
+
+"But what a shame it is," continued the ram, "for the farmer to steal
+all the wool from us when we have taken all the trouble to grow it!"
+
+"I don't mind," bleated a young lamb named Frisky, as it kicked up
+its heels and gambolled about upon the grass; "it's nice to have all
+that heavy wool cut off my back, for I sha'n't have to carry it around
+wherever I go."
+
+"Oh, indeed!" sneered the ram, "you like it, do you? Have you any idea
+what you look like, all sheared down to your skin? How would you like
+to have someone come along and see you, now that you are all head and
+legs?"
+
+"Oh, I wouldn't mind," said the lamb again; "I shall grow more wool by
+winter-time, and I'm sure I don't look any worse than you do."
+
+Some of the sheep looked at the ram and began to titter, for he was old
+and thin, and looked very comical indeed without any wool. And this
+made him so angry that he went off by himself and began eating grass,
+and would not speak to the others at all.
+
+"I don't know why sheep should feel badly about having their fleeces
+cut," remarked the Black Sheep, thoughtfully, "for the farmer is very
+kind to us, and so is his dame, and I am glad my wool serves to keep
+them warm in the winter. For before the snow comes our wool will grow
+out again, and we shall not be any the worse for our loss."
+
+"What do those people who haven't any sheep do for clothes?" asked the
+lamb.
+
+"I'm sure I don't know. They must nearly freeze in the winter. Perhaps
+the ram can tell us."
+
+But the ram was still angry, and refused to say anything, so the sheep
+stopped talking and began to scatter over the pasture and eat the
+tender, new grass.
+
+By and by the Black Sheep wandered near the lane, and looking up, saw
+the little boy watching it through the bars.
+
+"Good morning, Black Sheep," said the boy; "why do you look so funny
+this morning?"
+
+"They have cut off my wool," answered the sheep.
+
+[Illustration: The Black Sheep]
+
+"What will they do with it, Black Sheep?" enquired the little boy.
+
+"They will make coats of it, to keep themselves warm."
+
+"I wish I had some wool," said the boy, "for I need a new coat very
+badly, and mamma is so poor she cannot buy me one."
+
+"That is too bad," replied the Black Sheep; "but I shall have more wool
+by and by, and then I will give you a bagful to make a new coat from."
+
+"Will you really?" asked the boy, looking very much pleased.
+
+"Indeed I will," answered the sheep, "for you are always kind and have
+a pleasant word for me. So you watch until my wool grows again, and
+then you shall have your share of it."
+
+"Oh, thank you!" said the boy, and he ran away to tell his mother what
+the Black Sheep had said.
+
+When the farmer came into the field again the Black Sheep said to him,
+
+"Master, how many bags of wool did you cut from my back?"
+
+"Two bags full," replied the farmer; "and it was very nice wool indeed."
+
+"If I grow three bags full the next time, may I have one bag for
+myself?" asked the sheep.
+
+"Why, what could you do with a bag of wool?" questioned the farmer.
+
+"I want to give it to the little boy that lives in the lane. He is very
+poor and needs a new coat."
+
+"Very well," answered the master; "if you can grow three bags full I
+will give one to the little boy."
+
+So the Black Sheep began to grow wool, and tried in every way to grow
+the finest and heaviest fleece in all the flock. She always lay in the
+sunniest part of the pastures, and drank from the clearest part of
+the brook, and ate only the young and juicy shoots of grass and the
+tenderest of the sheep-sorrel. And each day the little boy came to the
+bars and looked at the sheep and enquired how the wool was growing.
+
+"I am getting along finely," the Black Sheep would answer, "for not one
+sheep in the pasture has so much wool as I have grown already."
+
+"Can I do anything to help you?" asked the little boy.
+
+"Not that I think of," replied the sheep, "unless you could get me a
+little salt. I believe salt helps the wool to grow."
+
+So the boy ran to the house and begged his mother for a handful of
+salt, and then he came back to the bars, where the Black Sheep licked
+it out of his hand.
+
+Day by day the wool on the sheep grew longer and longer, and even the
+old ram noticed it and said,
+
+"You are foolish to grow so much wool, for the farmer will cut it all
+off, and it will do you no good. Now I am growing just as little as
+possible, for since he steals what I have I am determined he shall get
+very little wool from my back."
+
+Black Sheep did not reply to this, for she thought the old ram very
+ill-tempered and selfish, and believed he was doing wrong not to grow
+more wool.
+
+Finally the time came to shear the sheep again, and the farmer and his
+man came into the pasture to look at them, and were surprised to see
+what a fine, big fleece the Black Sheep had grown.
+
+"There will be three bagsful at the least," said the master, "and I
+will keep my promise and give one to the little boy in the lane. But,
+my goodness! how scraggly and poor the old ram looks. There is scarcely
+any wool on him at all. I think I must sell him to the butcher!"
+
+And, in truth, although the ram kicked and struggled and bleated with
+rage, they tied his legs and put him into the cart and carried him away
+to the butcher. And that was the last the sheep ever saw of him.
+
+But the Black Sheep ran up to the bars by the lane and waited with a
+glad heart till the little boy came. When he saw the sheep waiting for
+him he asked,
+
+    "Black Sheep, Black Sheep, have you any wool?"
+
+And the sheep replied,
+
+    "Yes my little master, three bags full!"
+
+"That is fine!" said the boy; "but who are the three bags for?"
+
+    "One for my master, one for his dame,
+     And one for the little boy that lives in the lane."
+
+"Thank you, Black Sheep," said the little boy; "you are very kind, and
+I shall always think of you when I wear my new coat."
+
+The next day the sheep were all sheared, and the Black Sheep's fleece
+made three big bagsful. The farmer kept his promise and carried one bag
+to the little boy that lived in the lane, and the wool was so soft and
+so heavy that there was enough not only for the new coat, but to make
+his mother a warm dress as well.
+
+The Black Sheep was very proud and happy when the mother and her little
+boy came down to the bars and showed the new clothes that had been made
+from the wool.
+
+"This pays me for all my trouble," said the Black Sheep, and the little
+boy reached his hand through the bars and patted her gently upon the
+head.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Old King Cole]
+
+
+
+
+Old King Cole
+
+    Old King Cole was a merry old soul,
+      And a merry old soul was he;
+    He called for his pipe and he called for his bowl
+      And he called for his fiddlers three.
+
+
+OLD KING COLE was not always a king, nor was he born a member of any
+royal family. It was only chance--"hard luck" he used to call it--that
+made him a king at all.
+
+He had always been a poor man, being the son of an apple peddler, who
+died and left him nothing but a donkey and a fiddle. But that was
+enough for Cole, who never bothered his head about the world's goods,
+but took things as they came and refused to worry about anything.
+
+So, when the house he lived in, and the furniture, and even the
+apple-cart were sold to pay his father's debts, and he found himself
+left with the old fiddle that nobody wanted and the old donkey that no
+one would have--it being both vicious and unruly--he uttered no word of
+complaint. He simply straddled the donkey and took the fiddle under his
+arm and rode out into the world to seek his fortune.
+
+When he came to a village he played a merry tune upon the fiddle and
+sang a merry song with it, and the people gave him food most willingly.
+There was no trouble about a place to sleep, for if he was denied a bed
+he lay down with the donkey in a barn, or even on the village green,
+and making a pillow of the donkey's neck he slept as soundly as anyone
+could in a bed of down.
+
+And so he continued riding along and playing upon his fiddle for many
+years, until his head grew bald and his face was wrinkled and his bushy
+eyebrows became as white as snow. But his eyes never lost their merry
+twinkle, and he was just as fat and hearty as in his younger days,
+while, if you heard him singing his songs and scraping upon the old
+fiddle, you would know at once his heart was as young as ever.
+
+He never guided the donkey, but let the beast go where it would, and so
+it happened that at last they came to Whatland, and entered one day the
+city where resided the King of that great country.
+
+Now, even as Cole rode in upon his donkey the King of Whatland lay
+dying in his palace, surrounded by all the luxury of the court. And as
+he left no heir, and was the last of the royal line, the councilors and
+wise men of Whatland were in a great quandary as to who should succeed
+him. But finally they bethought themselves of the laws of the land,
+and upon looking up the records they found in an old book a law that
+provided for just such a case as this.
+
+"If the King dies," so read the law, "and there be no one to succeed
+to the throne, the prime minister shall be blinded and led from the
+palace into the main street of the city. And he shall stretch out his
+arms and walk about, and the first person he touches shall be crowned
+as King of the land."
+
+The councilors were greatly pleased when they found this law, for it
+enabled them to solve the problem that confronted them. So when the
+King had breathed his last they blindfolded the prime minister and led
+him forth from the palace, and he began walking about with outstretched
+arms seeking someone to touch.
+
+Of course the people knew nothing of this law, nor even that the old
+King was dead, and seeing the prime minister groping about blindfolded
+they kept out of his way, fearing they might be punished if he stumbled
+against them. But Cole was then riding along on the donkey, and did not
+even know it was the prime minister who was feeling about in such a
+funny way. So he began to laugh, and the minister, who had by this time
+grown tired of the game, heard the laugh and came toward the stranger
+and touched him, and immediately all the wise men and the councilors
+fell down before him and hailed him as King of Whatland!
+
+Thus did the wandering fiddler become King Cole, and you may be sure
+he laughed more merrily than ever when they explained to him his good
+fortune.
+
+[Illustration: Old King Cole]
+
+They carried him within the palace and dressed him in purple and fine
+linen, and placed a crown of gold upon his bald head and a jeweled
+scepter in his wrinkled hand, and all this amused old King Cole very
+much. When he had been led to the great throne-room and placed upon the
+throne of gold (where the silken cushions felt very soft and pleasant
+after his long ride upon the donkey's sharp back) the courtiers all
+knelt before him and asked what commands he wished to give, since
+everyone in the kingdom must now obey his slightest word.
+
+"Oh well," said the new King, "I think the first thing I would like is
+my old pipe. You'll find it in the pocket of the ragged coat I took
+off."
+
+One of the officers of the court at once ran for the pipe, and when it
+was brought King Cole filled it with tobacco from his greasy pouch and
+lighted it, and you can imagine what a queer sight it was to see the
+fat King sitting upon the rich throne, dressed in silks and satins and
+a golden crown, and smoking at the same time an old black pipe!
+
+The councilors looked at each other in dismay, and the ladies of the
+court sneezed and coughed and seemed greatly shocked, and all this
+pleased old King Cole so much that he lay back in his throne and roared
+with laughter.
+
+Then the prime minister came forward very gravely, and bowing low he
+said,
+
+"May it please your Majesty, it is not the custom of Kings to smoke
+a pipe while seated upon the throne."
+
+"But it is my custom," answered Cole.
+
+"It is impolite, and--unkingly!" ventured the minister.
+
+"Now, see here, old fellow," replied his Majesty, "I didn't ask to
+be King of this country; it's all your own doing. All my life I have
+smoked whenever I wished, and if I can't do as I please here, why, I
+won't be king--so there!"
+
+"But you must be the King, your Majesty, whether you want to or not.
+The law says so."
+
+"If that's the case," returned the King, "I can do as I please in other
+things. So you just run and get me a bowl of punch, there's a good
+fellow."
+
+The aged minister did not like to be addressed thus, but the King's
+commands must be obeyed; so, although the court was greatly horrified,
+he brought the bowl of punch, and the King pushed his crown onto the
+back of his head and drank heartily, and smacked his lips afterwards.
+
+"That's fine!" he said; "but say--what do you people do to amuse
+yourselves?"
+
+"Whatever your Majesty commands," answered one of the councilors.
+
+"What! must I amuse you as well as myself? Methinks it is no easy
+task to be a King if so many things are required of me. But I suppose
+it is useless to fret, since the law obliges me to reign in this
+great country against my will. Therefore will I make the best of my
+misfortune, and propose we have a dance, and forget our cares. Send at
+once for some fiddlers, and clear the room for our merry-making, and
+for once in our lives we shall have a jolly good time!"
+
+So one of the officers of the court went out and soon returned with
+three fiddlers, and when at the King's command they struck up a tune,
+the monarch was delighted, for every fiddler had a very fine fiddle and
+knew well how to use it.
+
+Now, Old King Cole was a merry old soul, so he soon set all the ladies
+and gentlemen of the court to dancing, and he himself took off his
+crown and his ermine robe and laid them upon the throne, while he
+danced with the prettiest lady present till he was all out of breath.
+
+Then he dismissed them, and they were all very well pleased with the
+new King, for they saw that, in spite of his odd ways, he had a kind
+heart, and would try to make every one about him as merry as he was
+himself.
+
+The next morning the King was informed that several of his subjects
+craved audience with him, as there were matters of dispute between
+them that must be settled. King Cole at first refused to see them,
+declaring he knew nothing of the quarrels of his subjects and they must
+manage their own affairs; but when the prime minister told him it was
+one of his duties as king, and the law required it, he could not do
+otherwise than submit. So he put on his crown and his ermine robe and
+sat upon the throne, although he grumbled a good deal at the necessity;
+for never having had any business of his own to attend to he thought
+it doubly hard that in his old age he must attend to the business of
+others.
+
+The first case of dispute was between two men who each claimed to own a
+fine cow, and after hearing the evidence, the King ordered the cow to
+be killed and roasted and given to the poor, since that was the easiest
+way to decide the matter. Then followed a quarrel between two subjects
+over ten pieces of gold, one claiming the other owed him that sum. The
+King, thinking them both rascals, ordered the gold to be paid, and then
+he took it and scattered it amongst the beggars outside the palace.
+
+By this time King Cole decided he had transacted enough business for
+one day, so he sent word to those outside that if anyone had a quarrel
+that was not just he should be severely punished; and, indeed, when the
+subjects learned the manner in which the King settled disputes, they
+were afraid to come to him, as both sides were sure to be losers by the
+decision. And that saved King Cole a lot of trouble thereafter, for the
+people thought best to settle their own differences.
+
+The King, now seeing he was free to do as he pleased, retired to his
+private chamber, where he called for the three fiddlers and made them
+play for him while he smoked his pipe and drank a bowl of punch.
+
+Every evening he had a dance in the palace, and every day there were
+picnics and merry-makings of all kinds, and before long King Cole had
+the reputation of having the merriest court in all the world.
+
+He loved to feast and to smoke and to drink his punch, and he was never
+so merry as when others were merry with him, so that the three fiddlers
+were almost always by his side, and at any hour of the day you could
+hear sweet strains of music echoing through the palace.
+
+Old King Cole did not forget the donkey that had been his constant
+companion for so long. He had a golden saddle made for him, with a
+saddle-cloth broidered in gold and silver, and the bridle was studded
+with diamonds and precious stones, all taken from the King's treasury.
+
+And when he rode out, the old fat King always bestrode the donkey,
+while his courtiers rode on either side of him upon their prancing
+chargers.
+
+Old King Cole reigned for many years, and was generally beloved by his
+subjects; for he always gave liberally to all who asked, and was always
+as merry and happy as the day was long.
+
+When he died the new King was found to be of a very different temper,
+and ruled the country with great severity; but this only served to make
+the memory of Old King Cole more tenderly cherished by his people, and
+they often sighed when they recalled his merry pranks, and the good
+times they enjoyed under his rule.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Mistress Mary]
+
+
+
+
+Mistress Mary
+
+    Mistress Mary, quite contrary,
+      How does your garden grow?
+    With dingle bells and cockle shells
+      And cowslips, all in a row.
+
+
+HIGH upon a cliff that overlooked the sea was a little white cottage,
+in which dwelt a sailor and his wife, with their two strong sons and a
+little girl. The sons were also sailors, and had made several voyages
+with their father in a pretty ship called the "Skylark." Their names
+were Hobart and Robart. The little girl's name was Mary, and she was
+very happy indeed when her father and her brothers were at home, for
+they petted her and played games with, her and loved her very dearly.
+But when the "Skylark" went to sea, and her mother and herself were
+left alone in the little white cottage, the hours were very dull and
+tedious, and Mary counted the days until the sailors came home again.
+
+One spring, just as the grasses began to grow green upon the cliff
+and the trees were dressing their stiff, barren branches in robes of
+delicate foliage, the father and brothers bade good-bye to Mary and her
+mother, for they were starting upon a voyage to the Black Sea.
+
+"And how long will you be gone, papa?" asked Mary, who was perched
+upon her father's knee, where she could nestle her soft cheek against
+his bushy whiskers.
+
+"How long?" he repeated, stroking her curls tenderly as he spoke;
+"well, well, my darling, it will be a long time indeed! Do you know the
+cowslips that grow in the pastures, Mary?"
+
+"Oh, yes; I watch for them every spring," she answered.
+
+"And do you know the dingle-bells that grow near the edge of the wood?"
+he asked again.
+
+"I know them well, papa," replied Mary, "for often I gather their blue
+blossoms and put them in a vase upon the table."
+
+"And how about the cockle-shells?"
+
+"Them also I know," said Mary eagerly, for she was glad her father
+should find her so well acquainted with the field flowers; "there is
+nothing prettier than the big white flowers of the cockle-shells. But
+tell me, papa, what have the flowers to do with your coming home?"
+
+"Why, just this, sweetheart," returned the sailor gravely; "all the
+time that it takes the cowslips and dingle-bells and cockle-shells
+to sprout from the ground, and grow big and strong, and blossom into
+flower, and, yes--to wither and die away again--all that time shall
+your brothers and I sail the seas. But when the cold winds begin to
+blow, and the flowers are gone, then, God willing, we shall come back
+to you; and by that time you may have grown wiser and bigger, and I am
+sure you will have grown older. So one more kiss, sweetheart, and then
+we must go, for our time is up."
+
+The next morning, when Mary and her mother had dried their eyes, which
+had been wet with grief at the departure of their loved ones, the
+little girl asked earnestly,
+
+"Mamma, may I make a flower-garden?"
+
+"A flower-garden!" repeated her mother in surprise; "why do you wish a
+flower-garden, Mary?"
+
+"I want to plant in it the cockle-shells and the cowslips and the
+dingle-bells," she answered.
+
+And her mother, who had heard what the sailor had said to his little
+girl, knew at once what Mary meant; so she kissed her daughter and
+replied,
+
+"Yes, Mary, you may have the flower-garden, if you wish. We will dig a
+nice little bed just at the side of the house, and you shall plant your
+flowers and care for them yourself."
+
+"I think I'd rather have the flowers at the front of the house," said
+Mary.
+
+"But why?" enquired her mother; "they will be better sheltered at the
+side."
+
+"I want them in front," persisted Mary, "for the sun shines stronger
+there."
+
+"Very well," answered her mother, "make your garden at the front, if
+you will, and I will help you to dig up the ground."
+
+"But I don't want you to help," said Mary, "for this is to be my own
+little flower-garden, and I want to do all the work myself."
+
+Now I must tell you that this little girl, although very sweet in many
+ways, had one serious fault. She was inclined to be a bit contrary, and
+put her own opinions and ideas before those of her elders. Perhaps Mary
+meant no wrong in this; she often thought she knew better how to do a
+thing than others did; and in such a case she was not only contrary,
+but anxious to have her own way.
+
+And so her mother, who did not like her little daughter to be unhappy,
+often gave way to her in small things, and now she permitted Mary to
+make her own garden, and plant it as she would.
+
+So Mary made a long, narrow bed at the front of the house, and then she
+prepared to plant her flowers.
+
+"If you scatter the seeds," said her mother, "the flower-bed will look
+very pretty."
+
+Now this was what Mary was about to do; but since her mother advised
+it, she tried to think of another way, for, as I said, she was contrary
+at times. And in the end she planted the dingle-bells all in one
+straight row, and the cockle-shells in another straight row the length
+of the bed, and she finished by planting the cowslips in another long
+row at the back.
+
+Her mother smiled, but said nothing; and now, as the days passed by,
+Mary watered and tended her garden with great care; and when the
+flowers began to sprout she plucked all the weeds that grew among
+them, and so in the mild spring weather the plants grew finely.
+
+"When they have grown up big and strong," said Mary one morning, as
+she weeded the bed, "and when they have budded and blossomed and faded
+away again, then papa and my brothers will come home. And I shall call
+the cockle-shells papa, for they are the biggest and strongest; and the
+dingle-bells shall be brother Hobart, and the cowslips brother Robart.
+And now I feel as if the flowers were really my dear ones, and I must
+be very careful that they come to no harm!"
+
+She was filled with joy when one morning she ran out to her
+flower-garden after breakfast and found the dingle-bells and cowslips
+were actually blossoming, while even the cockle-shells were showing
+their white buds. They looked rather comical, all standing in stiff,
+straight rows, one after the other; but Mary did not mind that.
+
+While she was working she heard the tramp of a horse's hoofs, and
+looking up saw the big bluff Squire riding toward her. The big Squire
+was very fond of children, and whenever he rode near the little
+white cottage he stopped to have a word with Mary. He was old and
+bald-headed, and he had side-whiskers that were very red in color and
+very short and stubby; but there was ever a merry twinkle in his blue
+eyes, and Mary well knew him for her friend.
+
+Now, when she looked up and saw him coming toward her flower-garden,
+she nodded and smiled at him, and the big bluff Squire rode up to her
+side, and looked down with a smile at her flowers.
+
+Then he said to her in rhyme (for it was a way of speaking the jolly
+Squire had),
+
+    "Mistress Mary, so contrary,
+      How does your garden grow?
+    With dingle-bells and cockle-shells
+      And cowslips all in a row!"
+
+And Mary, being a sharp little girl, and knowing the Squire's queer
+ways, replied to him likewise in rhyme, saying,
+
+    "I thank you, Squire, that you enquire
+      How well the flowers are growing;
+    The dingle-bells and cockle-shells
+      And cowslips all are blowing!"
+
+The Squire laughed at this reply, and patted her upon her head, and
+then he continued,
+
+    "'Tis aptly said. But prithee, maid,
+       Why thus your garden fill
+     When ev'ry field the same flowers yield
+       To pluck them as you will?"
+
+"That is a long story, Squire," said Mary; "but this much I may tell
+you,
+
+    "The cockle-shell is father's flower,
+       The cowslip here is Robart,
+     The dingle-bell, I now must tell,
+       I've named for Brother Hobart.
+
+    "And when the flowers have lived their lives
+       In sunshine and in rain,
+     And then do fade, why, papa said
+       He'd sure come home again."
+
+"Oh, that's the idea, is it?" asked the big bluff Squire, forgetting
+his poetry. "Well, it's a pretty thought, my child, and I think because
+the flowers are strong and hearty that you may know your father and
+brothers are the same; and I'm sure I hope they'll come back from their
+voyage safe and sound. I shall come and see you again, little one, and
+watch the garden grow." And then he said "gee-up" to his gray mare, and
+rode away.
+
+The very next day, to Mary's great surprise and grief, she found the
+leaves of the dingle-bells curling and beginning to wither.
+
+"Oh, mamma," she called, "come quick! Something is surely the matter
+with brother Hobart!"
+
+"The dingle-bells are dying," said her mother, after looking carefully
+at the flowers; "but the reason is that the cold winds from the sea
+swept right over your garden last night, and dingle-bells are delicate
+flowers and grow best where they are sheltered by the woods. If you had
+planted them at the side of the house, as I wished you to, the wind
+would not have killed them."
+
+Mary did not reply to this, but sat down and began to weep, feeling at
+the same time that her mother was right and it was her own fault for
+being so contrary.
+
+While she sat thus the Squire rode up, and called to her
+
+    "Fie, Mary, fie! Why do you cry,
+       And blind your eyes to knowing
+     How dingle-bells and cockle-shells
+       And cowslips all are growing?"
+
+"Oh, Squire!" sobbed Mary, "I am in great trouble.
+
+    "Each dingle-bell I loved so well
+       Before my eyes is dying,
+     And much I fear my brother dear
+       In sickness now is lying!"
+
+"Nonsense!" said the Squire; "because you named the flowers after your
+brother Hobart is no reason he should be affected by the fading of
+the dingle-bells. I very much suspect the real reason they are dying
+is because the cold sea wind caught them last night. Dingle-bells are
+delicate. If you had scattered the cockle-shells and cowslips all about
+them, the stronger plants would have protected the weaker; but you see,
+my girl, you planted the dingle-bells all in a row, and so the wind
+caught them nicely."
+
+Again Mary reproached herself for having been contrary and refusing to
+listen to her mother's advice; but the Squire's words comforted her,
+nevertheless, and made her feel that brother Hobart and the flowers had
+really nothing to do with each other.
+
+The weather now began to change, and the cold sea winds blew each night
+over Mary's garden. She did not know this, for she was always lying
+snugly tucked up in her bed, and the warm morning sun usually drove
+away the winds; but her mother knew it, and feared Mary's garden would
+suffer.
+
+One day Mary came into the house where her mother was at work and said,
+gleefully,
+
+"Papa and my brothers will soon be home now."
+
+"Why do you think so?" asked her mother.
+
+"Because the cockle-shells and cowslips are both fading away and
+dying, just as the dingle-bells did, and papa said when they faded and
+withered he and the boys would come back to us."
+
+Mary's mother knew that the harsh winds had killed the flowers before
+their time, but she did not like to disappoint her darling, so she only
+said, with a sigh,
+
+"I hope you are right, Mary, for we both shall be glad to welcome our
+dear ones home again."
+
+But soon afterward the big bluff Squire came riding up, as was his
+wont, to where Mary stood by her garden, and he at once asked,
+
+    "Pray tell me, dear, though much I fear
+       The answer sad I know,
+     How grow the sturdy cockle-shells
+       And cowslips, all in a row?"
+
+And Mary looked up at him with her bright smile and answered,
+
+    "Dingle-bells and cockle-shells
+       And cowslips are all dead,
+     And now my papa's coming home,
+       For so he surely said."
+
+"Ah," said the Squire, looking at her curiously, "I'm afraid you are
+getting way ahead of time. See here, Mary, how would you like a little
+ride with me on my nag?"
+
+"I would like it very much, sir," replied Mary.
+
+"Then reach up your hand. Now!--there you are, little one!" and Mary
+found herself seated safely in front of the Squire, who clasped her
+with one strong arm so that she could not slip off.
+
+"Now, then," he said, "we'll take a little ride down the hill and by
+the path that runs beside the wood."
+
+So he gave the rein to his mare and they rode along, chatting merrily
+together, till they came to the wood. Then said the Squire,
+
+    "Take a look within that nook
+     And tell me what is there."
+
+And Mary exclaimed,
+
+    "A dingle-bell, and truth to tell
+     In full bloom, I declare!"
+
+The Squire now clucked to his nag, and as they rode away he said,
+
+    "Now come with me and you shall see
+       A field with cowslips bright,
+     And not a garden in the land
+       Can show so fair a sight."
+
+And so it was, for as they rode through the pastures the cowslips
+bloomed on every hand, and Mary's eyes grew bigger and bigger as she
+thought of her poor garden with its dead flowers.
+
+And then the Squire took her toward the little brook that wandered
+through the meadows, flowing over the pebbles with a soft, gurgling
+sound that was very nearly as sweet as music; and when they reached it
+the big Squire said,
+
+    "If you will look beside the brook
+       You'll see, I know quite well,
+     That hidden in each mossy nook
+       Is many a cockle-shell."
+
+This was indeed true, and as Mary saw them she suddenly dropped her
+head and began to weep.
+
+"What's the matter, little one?" asked the Squire in his kind, bluff
+voice. And Mary answered,
+
+    "Although the flowers I much admire,
+       You know papa did say
+     He won't be home again, Squire,
+       Till all have passed away."
+
+"You must be patient, my child," replied her friend; "and surely you
+would not have been thus disappointed had you not tried to make the
+field flowers grow where they do not belong. Gardens are all well
+enough for fancy flowers to grow in, but the posies that God gave to
+all the world, and made to grow wild in the great garden of Nature,
+will never thrive in other places. Your father meant you to watch the
+flowers in the field; and if you will come and visit them each day,
+you will find the time of waiting very short indeed."
+
+Mary dried her eyes and thanked the kindly old Squire, and after that
+she visited the fields each day and watched the flowers grow.
+
+And it was not so very long, as the Squire said, before the blossoms
+began to wither and fall away; and finally one day Mary looked out over
+the sea and saw a little speck upon the waters that looked like a sail.
+And when it came nearer and had grown larger, both she and her mother
+saw that it was the "Skylark" come home again, and you can imagine how
+pleased and happy the sight of the pretty little ship made them.
+
+And soon after, when Mary had been hugged by her two sunburned brothers
+and was clasped in her father's strong arms, she whispered,
+
+"I knew you were coming soon, papa."
+
+"And how did you know, sweetheart?" he asked, giving her an extra kiss.
+
+"Because I watched the flowers; and the dingle-bells and cowslips and
+cockle-shells are all withered and faded away. And did you not say
+that, God willing, when this happened you would come back to us?"
+
+"To be sure I did," answered her father, with a happy laugh; "and
+I must have spoken truly, sweetheart, for God in His goodness was
+willing, and here I am!"
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: The Wond'rous Wise Man]
+
+
+
+
+The Wond'rous Wise Man
+
+    There was a man in our town
+      And he was wond'rous wise;
+    He jumped into a bramble bush
+      And scratched out both his eyes.
+    And when he saw his eyes were out,
+      With all his might and main
+    He jumped into another bush
+      And scratched them in again!
+
+
+OUR town is a quiet little town, and lies nestling in a little valley
+surrounded by pretty green hills. I do not think you would ever have
+heard our town mentioned had not the man lived there who was so wise
+that everyone marvelled at his great knowledge.
+
+He was not always a wise man; he was a wise boy before he grew to
+manhood, and even when a child he was so remarkable for his wisdom that
+people shook their heads gravely and said, "when he grows up there will
+be no need of books, for he will know everything!"
+
+His father thought he had a wond'rous wise look when he was born, and
+so he named him Solomon, thinking that if indeed he turned out to be
+wise the name would fit him nicely, whereas, should he be mistaken,
+and the boy grow up stupid, his name could be easily changed to Simon.
+
+But the father was not mistaken, and the boy's name remained Solomon.
+
+When he was still a child Solomon confounded the schoolmaster by
+asking, one day,
+
+"Can you tell me, sir, why a cow drinks water from a brook?"
+
+"Well really," replied the abashed schoolmaster, "I have never given
+the subject serious thought. But I will sleep upon the question, and
+try to give you an answer to-morrow."
+
+But the schoolmaster could not sleep; he remained awake all the night
+trying to think why a cow drinks water from a brook, and in the morning
+he was no nearer the answer than before. So he was obliged to appear
+before the wise child and acknowledge that he could not solve the
+problem.
+
+"I have looked at the subject from every side," said he, "and given it
+careful thought, and yet I cannot tell why a cow drinks water from a
+brook."
+
+"Sir," replied the wise child, "it is because the cow is thirsty."
+
+The shock of this answer was so great that the schoolmaster fainted
+away, and when they had brought him to he made a prophecy that Solomon
+would grow up to be a wond'rous wise man.
+
+It was the same way with the village doctor. Solomon came to him one
+day and asked,
+
+"Tell me, sir, why has a man two eyes?"
+
+"Bless me!" exclaimed the doctor, "I must think a bit before I answer,
+for I have never yet had my attention called to this subject."
+
+So he thought for a long time, and then he said,
+
+"I must really give it up. I cannot tell, for the life of me, why a man
+has two eyes. Do you know?"
+
+"Yes, sir," answered the boy.
+
+"Then," said the doctor, after taking a dose of quinine to brace up his
+nerves, for he remembered the fate of the schoolmaster, "then please
+tell me why a man has two eyes."
+
+"A man has two eyes, sir," returned Solomon, solemnly, "because he was
+born that way."
+
+And the doctor marvelled greatly at so much wisdom in a little child,
+and made a note of it in his note-book.
+
+Solomon was so full of wisdom that it flowed from his mouth in a
+perfect stream, and every day he gave new evidence to his friends that
+he could scarcely hold all the wise thoughts that came to him. For
+instance, one day he said to his father,
+
+"I perceive our dog has six legs."
+
+"Oh, no!" replied his father, "our dog has only four legs."
+
+"You are surely mistaken, sir," said Solomon, with the gravity that
+comes from great wisdom, "these are our dog's fore legs, are they not?"
+pointing to the front legs of the dog.
+
+[Illustration: The Wond'rous Wise Man]
+
+"Yes," answered his father.
+
+"Well," continued Solomon, "the dog has two other legs, besides, and
+two and four are six; therefore the dog has six legs."
+
+"But that is very old," exclaimed his father.
+
+"True," replied Solomon, "but this is a young dog."
+
+Then his father bowed his head in shame that his own child should teach
+him wisdom.
+
+Of course Solomon wore glasses upon his eyes--all wise people wear
+them,--and his face was ever grave and solemn, while he walked slowly
+and stiffly so that people might know he was the celebrated wise man,
+and do him reverence.
+
+And when he had grown to manhood the fame of his wisdom spread all
+over the world, so that all the other wise men were jealous, and tried
+in many ways to confound him; but Solomon always came out ahead and
+maintained his reputation for wisdom.
+
+Finally a very wise man came from Cumberland, to meet Solomon and see
+which of them was the wisest. He was a very big man, and Solomon was
+a very little man, and so the people all shook their heads sadly and
+feared Solomon had met his match, for if the Cumberland man was as full
+of wisdom as Solomon, he had much the advantage in size.
+
+They formed a circle around the two wise men, and then began the trial
+to see which was the wisest.
+
+"Tell me," said Solomon, looking straight up into the big man's face
+with an air of confidence that reassured his friends, "how many sisters
+has a boy who has one father, one mother, and seven brothers?"
+
+The big wise man got very red in the face, and scowled and coughed and
+stammered, but he could not tell.
+
+"I do not know," he acknowledged; "nor do you know, either, for there
+is no rule to go by."
+
+"Oh, yes, I know," replied Solomon; "he has two sisters. I know this is
+the true answer, because I know the boy and his father and his mother
+and his brothers and his sisters, so that I cannot be mistaken."
+
+Now all the people applauded at this, for they were sure Solomon had
+got the best of the man from Cumberland.
+
+But it was now the big man's turn to try Solomon, so he said,
+
+    "Fingers five are on my hand;
+     All of them upright do stand.
+     One a dog is, chasing kittens;
+     One a cat is, wearing mittens;
+     One a rat is, eating cheese;
+     One a wolf is, full of fleas;
+     One a fly is, in a cup--
+     How many fingers do I hold up?"
+
+"Four," replied Solomon, promptly, "for one of them is a thumb!"
+
+The wise man from Cumberland was so angry at being outwitted that he
+sprang at Solomon and would no doubt have injured him had not our
+wise man turned and run away as fast as he could go. The man from
+Cumberland at once ran after him, and chased him through the streets
+and down the lanes and up the side of the hill where the bramble-bushes
+grow.
+
+Solomon ran very fast, but the man from Cumberland was bigger, and he
+was just about to grab our wise man by his coat-tails when Solomon gave
+a great jump, and jumped right into the middle of a big bramble-bush!
+
+The people were all coming up behind, and as the big man did not dare
+to follow Solomon into the bramble-bush, he turned away and ran home to
+Cumberland.
+
+All the men and women of our town were horrified when they came up and
+found their wise man in the middle of the bramble-bush, and held fast
+by the brambles, which scratched and pricked him on every side.
+
+"Solomon! are you hurt?" they cried.
+
+"I should say I am hurt!" replied Solomon, with a groan; "my eyes are
+scratched out!"
+
+"How do you know they are?" asked the village doctor.
+
+"I can see they are scratched out!" replied Solomon; and the people all
+wept with grief at this, and Solomon howled louder than any of them.
+
+Now the fact was that when Solomon jumped into the bramble-bush he was
+wearing his spectacles, and the brambles pushed the glasses so close
+against his eyes that he could not open them; and so, as every other
+part of him was scratched and bleeding, and he could not open his
+eyes, he made sure they were scratched out.
+
+"How am I to get out of here?" he asked at last.
+
+"You must jump out," replied the doctor, "since you have jumped in."
+
+So Solomon made a great jump, and although the brambles tore him
+cruelly, he sprang entirely out of the bush and fell plump into another
+one.
+
+This last bush, however, by good luck, was not a bramble-bush, but one
+of elderberry, and when he jumped into it his spectacles fell off, and
+to his surprise he opened his eyes and found that he could see again.
+
+"Where are you now?" called out the doctor.
+
+"I'm in the elderberry bush, and I've scratched my eyes in again!"
+answered Solomon.
+
+When the people heard this they marvelled greatly at the wisdom of a
+man who knew how to scratch his eyes in after they were scratched out;
+and they lifted Solomon from the bush and carried him home, where they
+bound up the scratches and nursed him carefully until he was well again.
+
+And after that no one ever questioned the wond'rous wisdom of our wise
+man, and when he finally died, at a good old age, they built a great
+monument over his grave, and on one side of it were the words,
+
+    "Solomon; the Man who was Wond'rous Wise."
+
+and on the other side was a picture of a bramble-bush.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: What Jack Horner Did]
+
+
+
+
+What Jack Horner Did
+
+    Little Jack Horner sat in a corner,
+      Eating a Christmas pie;
+    He put in his thumb and pulled out a plum
+      And said, "What a good boy am I!"
+
+
+LITTLE JACK HORNER lived in an old, tumble-down house at the edge of a
+big wood; and there many generations of Horners had lived before him,
+and had earned their living by chopping wood. Jack's father and mother
+were both dead, and he lived with his grandfather and grandmother, who
+took great pains to teach him all that a boy should know.
+
+They lived very comfortably and happily together until one day a great
+tree fell upon Grandpa Horner and crushed his legs; and from that time
+on he could not work at all, but had to be nursed and tended very
+carefully.
+
+This calamity was a great affliction to the Horners. Grandma Horner had
+a little money saved up in an old broken teapot that she kept in the
+cupboard, but that would not last them a great time, and when it was
+gone they would have nothing with which to buy food.
+
+"I'm sure I don't know what is to become of us," she said to Jack,
+"for I am too old to work, and you are too young." She always told her
+troubles to Jack now; small though he was, he was the only one she
+could talk freely with, since it would only bother the poor crippled
+grandfather to tell him how low the money was getting in the teapot.
+
+"It is true," replied Jack, "that you are too old to work, for your
+rheumatism will barely allow you to care for the house and cook our
+meals; and there is grandpa to be tended. But I am not too young to
+work, grandma, and I shall take my little hatchet and go into the wood.
+I cannot cut the big trees, but I can the smaller ones, and I am sure
+I shall be able to pile up enough wood to secure the money we need for
+food."
+
+"You are a good boy, dear," said grandma Horner, patting his head
+lovingly, "but you are too young for the task. We must think of some
+other way to keep the wolf from the door."
+
+But Jack was not shaken in his resolve, although he saw it was useless
+to argue further with his grandmother. So the next morning he rose very
+early and took his little axe and went into the wood to begin his work.
+There were a good many branches scattered about, and these he was able
+to cut with ease; and then he piled them up nicely to be sold when the
+wood-carter next came around. When dinner-time came he stopped long
+enough to eat some of the bread and cheese he had brought with him,
+and then he resumed his work.
+
+But scarcely had he chopped one branch when a faint cry from the wood
+arrested his attention. It seemed as if some one was shouting for help.
+Jack listened a moment, and again heard the cry.
+
+Without hesitation he seized his axe and ran toward the place from
+whence the cry had proceeded. The underbrush was very thick and the
+thorns caught in his clothing and held him back, but with the aid of
+his sharp little axe he overcame all difficulties and presently reached
+a place where the wood was more open.
+
+He paused here, for often he had been told by Grandpa Horner that there
+were treacherous bogs in this part of the wood, which were so covered
+with mosses and ferns that the ground seemed solid enough to walk
+upon. But woe to the unlucky traveler who stepped unawares upon their
+surface; for instantly he found himself caught by the clinging moist
+clay, to sink farther and farther into the bog until, swallowed up in
+the mire, he would meet a horrible death beneath its slimy surface.
+His grandfather had told him never to go near these terrible bogs, and
+Jack, who was an obedient boy, had always kept away from this part of
+the wood. But as he paused, again that despairing cry came to his ears,
+very near to him now, it seemed:
+
+"Help!"
+
+Forgetful of all save a desire to assist this unknown sufferer, Jack
+sprang forward with an answering cry, and only halted when he found
+himself upon the edge of a vast bog.
+
+[Illustration: Jack Horner]
+
+"Where are you?" he then shouted.
+
+"Here!" answered a voice, and, looking down, Jack saw, a few feet
+away, the head and shoulders of a man. He had walked into the bog and
+sunk into its treacherous depths nearly to his waist, and, although he
+struggled bravely, his efforts only seemed to draw him farther down
+toward a frightful death.
+
+For a moment, filled with horror and dismay, Jack stood looking at the
+man. Then he remembered a story he had once heard of how a man had been
+saved from the bog.
+
+"Be quiet, sir!" he called to the unfortunate stranger; "save all your
+strength, and I may yet be able to rescue you."
+
+He then ran to a tall sapling that stood near and began chopping away
+with his axe. The keen blade speedily cut through the young but tough
+wood, and, then Jack dragged it to the edge of the bog, and, exerting
+all his strength, pushed it out until the sapling was within reach of
+the sinking man.
+
+"Grab it, sir!" he called out, "and hold on tightly. It will keep you
+from sinking farther into the mire, and when you have gained more
+strength you may be able to pull yourself out."
+
+"You are a brave boy," replied the stranger, "and I shall do as you
+tell me."
+
+It was a long and tedious struggle, and often Jack thought the stranger
+would despair and be unable to drag his body from the firm clutch of
+the bog; but little by little the man succeeded in drawing himself up
+by the sapling, and at last he was saved, and sank down exhausted upon
+the firm ground by Jack's side.
+
+The boy then ran for some water that stood in a slough near by, and
+with this he bathed the stranger's face and cooled his parched lips.
+Then he gave him the remains of his bread and cheese, and soon the
+gentleman became strong enough to walk with Jack's help to the cottage
+at the edge of the wood.
+
+Grandma Horner was greatly surprised to see the strange man
+approaching, supported by her sturdy little grandson; but she ran to
+help him, and afterward gave him some old clothing of Grandpa Horner's
+to replace his own muddy garments. When the man had fully rested, she
+brewed him her last bit of tea, and by that time the stranger declared
+he felt as good as new.
+
+"Is this your son, ma'am?" he asked, pointing to Jack.
+
+"He is my grandson, sir," answered the woman.
+
+"He is a good boy," declared the stranger, "and a brave boy as well,
+for he has saved my life. I live far away in a big city, and have
+plenty of money. If you will give Jack to me I will take him home and
+educate him, and make a great man of him when he grows up."
+
+Grandma Horner hesitated, for the boy was very dear to her and the
+pride of her old age; but Jack spoke up for himself.
+
+"I'll not go," he said, stoutly; "you are very kind, and mean well by
+me, but grandma and grandpa have only me to care for them now, and I
+must stay with them and cut the wood, and so keep them supplied with
+food."
+
+The stranger said nothing more, but he patted Jack's head kindly, and
+soon after left them and took the road to the city.
+
+The next morning Jack went to the wood again, and began chopping as
+bravely as before. And by hard work he cut a great deal of wood, which
+the wood-carter carried away and sold for him. The pay was not very
+much, to be sure, but Jack was glad that he was able to earn something
+to help his grandparents.
+
+And so the days passed rapidly away until it was nearly Christmas time,
+and now, in spite of Jack's earnings, the money was very low indeed in
+the broken teapot.
+
+One day, just before Christmas, a great wagon drove up to the door of
+the little cottage, and in it was the stranger Jack had rescued from
+the bog. The wagon was loaded with a store of good things which would
+add to the comfort of the aged pair and their grandson, including
+medicines for grandpa and rare teas for grandma, and a fine suit of
+clothes for Jack, who was just then away at work in the wood.
+
+When the stranger had brought all these things into the house, he asked
+to see the old teapot. Trembling with the excitement of their good
+fortune, Grandma Horner brought out the teapot, and the gentleman drew
+a bag from beneath his coat and filled the pot to the brim with shining
+gold pieces.
+
+"If ever you need more," he said, "send to me, and you shall have all
+you wish to make you comfortable."
+
+Then he told her his name, and where he lived, so that she might find
+him if need be, and then he drove away in the empty wagon before
+Grandma Horner had half finished thanking him.
+
+You can imagine how astonished and happy little Jack was when he
+returned from his work and found all the good things his kind
+benefactor had brought. Grandma Horner was herself so delighted that
+she caught the boy in her arms, and hugged and kissed him, declaring
+that his brave rescue of the gentleman had brought them all this
+happiness in their hour of need.
+
+"To-morrow is Christmas," she said, "and we shall have an abundance
+with which to celebrate the good day. So I shall make you a Christmas
+pie, Jack dear, and stuff it full of plums, for you must have your
+share of our unexpected prosperity."
+
+And Grandma Horner was as good as her word, and made a very delicious
+pie indeed for her darling grandson.
+
+And this was how it came that
+
+    "Little Jack Horner sat in a corner
+       Eating a Christmas pie;
+     He put in his thumb and pulled out a plum,
+       And said, 'What a good boy am I!'"
+
+And he was--a very good boy. Don't you think so?
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: The Man in the Moon]
+
+
+
+
+The Man in the Moon
+
+    The Man in the Moon came tumbling down,
+      And enquired the way to Norwich;
+    He went by the south and burned his mouth
+      With eating cold pease porridge!
+
+
+WHAT! have you never heard the story of the Man in the Moon? Then I
+must surely tell it, for it is very amusing, and there is not a word of
+truth in it.
+
+The Man in the Moon was rather lonesome, and often he peeked over
+the edge of the moon and looked down upon the earth and envied all
+the people who lived together, for he thought it must be vastly more
+pleasant to have companions to talk to than to be shut up in a big
+planet all by himself, where he had to whistle to keep himself company.
+
+One day he looked down and saw an alderman sailing up through the air
+towards him. This alderman was being translated (instead of being
+transported, owing to a misprint in the law) and as he came near the
+Man in the Moon called to him and said,
+
+"How is everything down on the earth?"
+
+"Everything is lovely," replied the alderman, "and I wouldn't leave it
+if I was not obliged to."
+
+"What's a good place to visit down there? enquired the Man in the Moon.
+
+"Oh, Norwich is a mighty fine place," returned the alderman, "and it's
+famous for its pease porridge;" and then he sailed out of sight and
+left the Man in the Moon to reflect upon what he had said.
+
+The words of the alderman made him more anxious than ever to visit the
+earth, and so he walked thoughtfully home, and put a few lumps of ice
+in the stove to keep him warm, and sat down to think how he should
+manage the trip.
+
+You see, everything went by contraries in the Moon, and when the Man
+wished to keep warm he knocked off a few chunks of ice and put them in
+his stove; and he cooled his drinking water by throwing red-hot coals
+of fire into the pitcher. Likewise, when he became chilly he took off
+his hat and coat, and even his shoes, and so became warm; and in the
+hot days of summer he put on his overcoat to cool off.
+
+All of which seems very queer to you, no doubt; but it wasn't at all
+queer to the Man in the Moon, for he was accustomed to it.
+
+Well, he sat by his ice-cool fire and thought about his journey to the
+earth, and finally he decided the only way he could get there was to
+slide down a moonbeam.
+
+So he left the house and locked the door and put the key in his pocket,
+for he was uncertain how long he should be gone; and then he went to
+the edge of the moon and began to search for a good strong moonbeam.
+
+At last he found one that seemed rather substantial and reached right
+down to a pleasant-looking spot on the earth; and so he swung himself
+over the edge of the moon, and put both arms tight around the moonbeam
+and started to slide down. But he found it rather slippery, and in
+spite of all his efforts to hold on he found himself going faster and
+faster, so that just before he reached the earth he lost his hold and
+came tumbling down head over heels and fell plump into a river.
+
+The cool water nearly scalded him before he could swim out, but
+fortunately he was near the bank and he quickly scrambled upon the land
+and sat down to catch his breath.
+
+By that time it was morning, and as the sun rose its hot rays cooled
+him off somewhat, so that he began looking about curiously at all the
+strange sights and wondering where on earth he was.
+
+By and by a farmer came along the road by the river with a team of
+horses drawing a load of hay, and the horses looked so odd to the Man
+in the Moon that at first he was greatly frightened, never before
+having seen horses except from his home in the moon, from whence they
+looked a good deal smaller. But he plucked up courage and said to the
+farmer,
+
+"Can you tell me the way to Norwich, sir?"
+
+"Norwich?" repeated the farmer musingly; "I don't know exactly where
+it be, sir, but it's somewhere away to the south."
+
+[Illustration: The Man in the Moon]
+
+"Thank you," said the Man in the Moon.--But stop! I must not call him
+the Man in the Moon any longer, for of course he was now _out_ of the
+moon; so I'll simply call him the Man, and you'll know by that which
+man I mean.
+
+Well, the Man in the--I mean the Man (but I nearly forgot what I have
+just said)--the Man turned to the south and began walking briskly along
+the road, for he had made up his mind to do as the alderman had advised
+and travel to Norwich, that he might eat some of the famous pease
+porridge that was made there. And finally, after a long and tiresome
+journey, he reached the town and stopped at one of the first houses he
+came to, for by this time he was very hungry indeed.
+
+A good-looking woman answered his knock at the door, and he asked
+politely,
+
+"Is this the town of Norwich, madam?"
+
+"Surely this is the town of Norwich," returned the woman.
+
+"I came here to see if I could get some pease porridge," continued the
+Man, "for I hear you make the nicest porridge in the world in this
+town."
+
+"That we do, sir," answered the woman, "and if you'll step inside I'll
+give you a bowl, for I have plenty in the house that is newly made."
+
+So he thanked her and entered the house, and she asked,
+
+"Will you have it hot or cold, sir?"
+
+"Oh, cold, by all means," replied the Man, "for I detest anything hot
+to eat."
+
+She soon brought him a bowl of cold pease porridge, and the Man was so
+hungry that he took a big spoonful at once.
+
+But no sooner had he put it into his mouth than he uttered a great
+yell, and began dancing frantically about the room, for of course
+the porridge that was cold to earth folk was hot to him, and the big
+spoonful of cold pease porridge had burned his mouth to a blister!
+
+"What's the matter?" asked the woman.
+
+"Matter!" screamed the Man; "why, your porridge is so hot it has burned
+me."
+
+"Fiddlesticks!" she replied, "the porridge is quite cold."
+
+"Try it yourself!" he cried. So she tried it and found it very cold and
+pleasant. But the Man was so astonished to see her eat the porridge
+that had blistered his own mouth that he became frightened and ran out
+of the house and down the street as fast as he could go.
+
+The policeman on the first corner saw him running, and promptly
+arrested him, and he was marched off to the magistrate for trial.
+
+"What is your name?" asked the magistrate.
+
+"I haven't any," replied the Man; for of course as he was the only Man
+in the Moon it wasn't necessary he should have a name.
+
+"Come, come, no nonsense!" said the magistrate, "you must have some
+name. Who are you?"
+
+"Why, I'm the Man in the Moon."
+
+"That's rubbish!" said the magistrate, eyeing the prisoner severely,
+"you may be a man, but you're not in the moon--you're in Norwich."
+
+"That is true," answered the Man, who was quite bewildered by this idea.
+
+"And of course you must be called something," continued the magistrate.
+
+"Well, then," said the prisoner, "if I'm not the Man in the Moon I must
+be the Man out of the Moon; so call me that."
+
+"Very good," replied the judge; "now, then, where did you come from?"
+
+"The moon."
+
+"Oh, you did, eh? How did you get here?"
+
+"I slid down a moonbeam."
+
+"Indeed! Well, what were you running for?"
+
+"A woman gave me some cold pease porridge, and it burned my mouth."
+
+The magistrate looked at him a moment in surprise, and then he said,
+
+"This person is evidently crazy; so take him to the lunatic asylum and
+keep him there."
+
+This would surely have been the fate of the Man had there not been
+present an old astronomer who had often looked at the moon through
+his telescope, and so had discovered that what was hot on earth was
+cold in the moon, and what was cold here was hot there; so he began to
+think the Man had told the truth. Therefore he begged the magistrate
+to wait a few minutes while he looked through his telescope to see if
+the Man in the Moon was there. So, as it was now night, he fetched his
+telescope and looked at the Moon,--and found there was no man in it at
+all!
+
+"It seems to be true," said the astronomer, "that the Man has got out
+of the Moon somehow or other. Let me look at your mouth, sir, and see
+if it is really burned."
+
+Then the Man opened his mouth, and everyone saw plainly it was burned
+to a blister! Thereupon the magistrate begged his pardon for doubting
+his word, and asked him what he would like to do next.
+
+"I'd like to get back to the Moon," said the Man, "for I don't like
+this earth of yours at all. The nights are too hot."
+
+"Why, it's quite cool this evening!" said the magistrate.
+
+"I'll tell you what we can do," remarked the astronomer; "there's a big
+balloon in town which belongs to the circus that came here last summer,
+and was pawned for a board bill. We can inflate this balloon and send
+the Man out of the Moon home in it."
+
+"That's a good idea," replied the judge. So the balloon was brought
+and inflated, and the Man got into the basket and gave the word to let
+go, and then the balloon mounted up into the sky in the direction of
+the moon.
+
+The good people of Norwich stood on the earth and tipped back their
+heads, and watched the balloon go higher and higher, until finally the
+Man reached out and caught hold of the edge of the moon, and behold!
+the next minute he was the Man in the Moon again!
+
+After this adventure he was well contented to stay at home; and I've no
+doubt if you look through a telescope you will see him there to this
+day.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: The Jolly Miller]
+
+
+
+
+The Jolly Miller
+
+    There was a jolly miller
+      Lived on the river Dee;
+    He sang and worked from morn till night,
+      No lark so blithe as he.
+    And this the burden of his song
+      Forever seemed to be:
+    I care for nobody, no! not I,
+      Since nobody cares for me.
+
+
+"CREE-E-EEKETY-CRUCK-CRICK! cree-e-eekety-cruck-crick!" sang out the
+big wheel of the mill upon the river Dee, for it was old and ricketty
+and had worked many years grinding corn for the miller; so from morning
+till night it creaked and growled and complained as if rebelling
+against the work it must do. And the country people, at work in the
+fields far away, would raise their heads when the soft summer breezes
+wafted the sound of the wheel to their ears and say,
+
+"The jolly miller is grinding his corn." And again, at the times when
+the mill was shut down and no sound of the wheel reached them, they
+said to one another,
+
+"The jolly miller has no corn to grind to-day," or, "The miller is
+oiling the great wheel." But they would miss the creaking, monotonous
+noise, and feel more content when the mill started again and made music
+for them as they worked.
+
+But no one came to the mill unless they brought corn to grind, for the
+miller was a queer man, and liked to be alone. When people passed by
+the mill and saw the miller at his work, they only nodded their heads,
+for they knew he would not reply if they spoke to him.
+
+He was not an old man, nor a sour man, nor a bad man; on the contrary
+he could be heard singing at his work most of the time. But the words
+of his song would alone have kept people away from him, for they were
+always these:
+
+    "I care for nobody, no! not I,
+     Since nobody cares for me."
+
+He lived all alone in the mill-house, cooking his own meals and making
+his own bed, and neither asking nor receiving help from anyone. It
+is very certain that if the jolly miller had cared to have friends
+many would have visited him, since the country people were sociable
+enough in their way; but it was the miller himself who refused to make
+friends, and old Farmer Dobson used to say,
+
+"The reason nobody cares for the miller is because he won't let them.
+It is the fault of the man himself, not the fault of the people!"
+
+However this may have been, it is true the miller had no friends, and
+equally sure that he cared to have none, for it did not make him a bit
+unhappy.
+
+Sometimes, indeed, as he sat at evening in the doorway of the mill and
+watched the moon rise in the sky, he grew a bit lonely and thoughtful,
+and found himself longing for some one to love and cherish, for this is
+the nature of all good men. But when he realized how his thoughts were
+straying he began to sing again, and he drove away all such hopeless
+longings.
+
+At last a change came over the miller's life. He was standing one
+evening beside the river, watching the moonbeams play upon the water,
+when something came floating down the stream that attracted his
+attention. For a long time he could not tell what it was, but it looked
+to him like a big black box; so he got a long pole and reached it out
+towards the box and managed to draw it within reach just above the big
+wheel. It was fortunate he saved it when he did, for in another moment
+it would have gone over the wheel and been dashed to pieces far below.
+
+When the miller had pulled the floating object upon the bank he found
+it really was a box, the lid being fastened tight with a strong cord.
+So he lifted it carefully and carried it into the mill-house, and then
+he placed it upon the floor while he lighted a candle. Then he cut
+the cord and opened the box, and behold! a little babe lay within it,
+sweetly sleeping upon a pillow of down.
+
+The miller was so surprised that he stopped singing and gazed with big
+eyes at the beautiful face of the little stranger. And while he gazed
+its eyes opened--two beautiful, pleading blue eyes,--and the little one
+smiled and stretched out her arms toward him.
+
+"Well, well!" said the miller, "where on earth did you come from?"
+
+The baby did not reply, but she tried to, and made some soft little
+noises that sounded like the cooing of a pigeon.
+
+The tiny arms were still stretched upwards, and the miller bent down
+and tenderly lifted the child from the box and placed her upon his
+knee, and then he began to stroke the soft, silken ringlets that
+clustered around her head, and to look upon her wonderingly. The baby
+leaned against his breast and fell asleep again, and the miller became
+greatly troubled, for he was unused to babies and did not know how to
+handle them or care for them. But he sat very still until the little
+one awoke, and then, thinking it must be hungry, he brought some sweet
+milk and fed her with a spoon.
+
+The baby smiled at him and ate the milk as if it liked it, and then one
+little dimpled hand caught hold of the miller's whiskers and pulled
+sturdily, while the baby jumped its little body up and down and cooed
+its delight.
+
+Do you think the miller was angry? Not a bit of it! He smiled back
+into the laughing face and let her pull his whiskers as much as she
+liked. For his whole heart had gone out to this little waif that he
+had rescued from the river, and at last the solitary man had found
+something to love.
+
+The baby slept that night in the miller's own bed, snugly tucked in
+beside the miller himself; and in the morning he fed her milk again,
+and then went out to his work singing more merrily than ever.
+
+Every few minutes he would put his head into the room where he had left
+the child, to see if it wanted anything, and if it cried even the least
+bit he would run in and take it in his arms and soothe the little girl
+until she smiled again.
+
+That first day the miller was fearful some one would come and claim the
+child, but when evening came without the arrival of any stranger he
+decided the baby had been cast adrift and now belonged to nobody but
+him.
+
+"I shall keep her as long as I live," he thought, "and never will we be
+separated for even a day. For now that I have found some one to love I
+could not bear to let her go again."
+
+He cared for the waif very tenderly; and as the child was strong and
+healthy she was not much trouble to him, and to his delight grew bigger
+day by day.
+
+The country people were filled with surprise when they saw a child in
+the mill-house, and wondered where it came from; but the miller would
+answer no questions, and as year after year passed away they forgot to
+enquire how the child came there and looked upon her as the miller's
+own daughter.
+
+She grew to be a sweet and pretty child, and was the miller's constant
+companion. She called him "papa," and he called her Nathalie, because
+he had found her upon the water, and the country people called her the
+Maid of the Mill.
+
+The miller worked harder than ever before, for now he had to feed and
+clothe the little girl; and he sang from morn till night, so joyous was
+he, and still his song was:
+
+    "I care for nobody, no! not I,
+     Since nobody cares for me."
+
+One day, while he was singing this, he heard a sob beside him, and
+looked down to see Nathalie weeping.
+
+"What is it, my pet?" he asked, anxiously.
+
+"Oh, papa," she answered, "why do you sing that nobody cares for you,
+when you know I love you so dearly?"
+
+The miller was surprised, for he had sung the song so long he had
+forgotten what the words meant.
+
+"Do you indeed love me, Nathalie?" he asked.
+
+"Indeed, indeed! You know I do!" she replied.
+
+"Then," said the miller, with a happy laugh, as he bent down and kissed
+the tear-stained face, "I shall change my song."
+
+And after that he sang:
+
+    "I love sweet Nathalie, that I do,
+     For Nathalie she loves me."
+
+The years passed by and the miller was very happy. Nathalie grew to
+be a sweet and lovely maiden, and she learned to cook the meals and
+tend the house, and that made it easier for the miller, for now he was
+growing old.
+
+One day the young Squire, who lived at the great house on the hill,
+came past the mill and saw Nathalie sitting in the doorway, her pretty
+form framed in the flowers that climbed around and over the door.
+
+And the Squire loved her after that first glance, for he saw that she
+was as good and innocent as she was beautiful. The miller, hearing the
+sound of voices, came out and saw them together, and at once he became
+very angry, for he knew that trouble was in store for him, and he must
+guard his treasure very carefully if he wished to keep her with him.
+The young Squire begged very hard to be allowed to pay court to the
+Maid of the Mill, but the miller ordered him away, and he was forced to
+go. Then the miller saw there were tears in Nathalie's eyes, and that
+made him still more anxious, for he feared the mischief was already
+done.
+
+Indeed, in spite of the miller's watchfulness, the Squire and Nathalie
+often met and walked together in the shady lanes or upon the green
+banks of the river. It was not long before they learned to love one
+another very dearly, and one day they went hand in hand to the miller
+and asked his consent that they should wed.
+
+"What will become of me?" asked the miller, with a sad heart.
+
+"You shall live in the great house with us," replied the Squire, "and
+never again need you labor for bread."
+
+But the old man shook his head.
+
+"A miller I have lived," quoth he, "and a miller will I die. But tell
+me, Nathalie, are you willing to leave me?"
+
+The girl cast down her eyes and blushed sweetly.
+
+"I love him," she whispered, "and if you separate us I shall die."
+
+"Then," said the miller, kissing her with a heavy heart, "go; and may
+God bless you!"
+
+So Nathalie and the Squire were wed, and lived in the great house, and
+the very day after the wedding she came walking down to the mill in her
+pretty new gown to see the miller.
+
+But as she drew near she heard him singing, as was his wont; and the
+song he sung she had not heard since she was a little girl, for this
+was it:
+
+    "I care for nobody, no! not I,
+     Since nobody cares for me."
+
+She came up softly behind him, and put her arms around his neck.
+
+"Papa," said she, "you must not sing that song. Nathalie loves you yet,
+and always will while she lives; for my new love is complete in itself,
+and has not robbed you of one bit of the love that has always been your
+very own."
+
+The miller turned and looked into her blue eyes, and knew that she
+spoke truly.
+
+"Then I must learn a new song again," he said, "for it is lonely at
+the mill, and singing makes the heart lighter. But I will promise that
+never again, till you forget me, will I sing that nobody cares for me."
+
+And the miller did learn a new song, and sang it right merrily for many
+years; for each day Nathalie came down to the mill to show that she had
+not forgotten him.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: The Little Man and His Little Gun]
+
+
+
+
+The Little Man and His Little Gun
+
+    There was a little man and he had a little gun,
+      And the bullets were made of lead, lead, lead.
+    He went to the brook and shot a little duck,
+      And the bullet went right through its head, head, head.
+
+
+THERE was once a little man named Jimson, who had stopped growing when
+he was a boy, and never started again. So, although he was old enough
+to be a man he was hardly big enough, and had he not owned a bald head
+and gray whiskers you would certainly have taken him for a boy whenever
+you saw him.
+
+This little man was very sorry he was not bigger, and if you wanted to
+make him angry you had but to call attention to his size. He dressed
+just as big men do, and wore a silk hat and a long-tailed coat when
+he went to church, and a cap and top-boots when he rode horseback. He
+walked with a little cane and had a little umbrella made to carry when
+it rained. In fact, whatever other men did this little man was anxious
+to do also, and so it happened that when the hunting season came
+around, and all the men began to get their guns ready to hunt for snipe
+and duck, Mr. Jimson also had a little gun made, and determined to use
+it as well as any of them.
+
+When he brought it home and showed it to his wife, who was a very big
+woman, she said,
+
+"Jimson, you'd better use bullets made of bread, and then you won't
+hurt anything."
+
+"Nonsense, Joan," replied the little man, "I shall have bullets made
+of lead, just as other men do, and every duck I see I shall shoot and
+bring home to you."
+
+"I'm afraid you won't kill many," said Joan.
+
+But the little man believed he could shoot with the best of them, so
+the next morning he got up early and took his little gun and started
+down to the brook to hunt for duck.
+
+It was scarcely daybreak when he arrived at the brook, and the sun
+had not yet peeped over the eastern hill-tops, but no duck appeared
+anywhere in sight, although Mr. Jimson knew this was the right time
+of day for shooting them. So he sat down beside the brook and begun
+watching, and before he knew it he had fallen fast asleep.
+
+By and by he was awakened by a peculiar noise.
+
+"Quack, quack, quack!" sounded in his ears; and looking up he saw a
+pretty little duck swimming in the brook and popping its head under
+the water in search of something to eat. The duck belonged to Johnny
+Sprigg, who lived a little way down the brook, but the little man
+did not know this. He thought it was a wild duck, so he stood up and
+carefully took aim.
+
+"I'm afraid I can't hit it from here," he thought, "so I'll just step
+upon that big stone in the brook, and shoot from there."
+
+So he stepped out upon the stone, and took aim at the duck again, and
+fired the gun.
+
+The next minute the little man had tumbled head over heels into the
+water, and he nearly drowned before he could scramble out again; for,
+not being used to shooting, the gun had kicked, or recoiled, and had
+knocked him off the round stone where he had been standing.
+
+When he had succeeded in reaching the bank he was overjoyed to see that
+he had shot the duck, which lay dead upon the water a short distance
+away. The little man got a long stick, and, reaching it out, drew the
+dead duck to the bank. Then he started joyfully homeward to show the
+prize to his wife.
+
+"There, Joan," he said, as he entered the house, "is a nice little duck
+for our dinner. Do you now think your husband cannot shoot?"
+
+"But there's only one duck," remarked his wife, "and it's very small.
+Can't you go and shoot another? Then we shall have enough for dinner."
+
+"Yes, of course I can shoot another," said the little man, proudly;
+"you make a fire and get the pot boiling, and I'll go for another duck."
+
+"You'd better shoot a drake this time," said Joan, "for drakes are
+bigger."
+
+She started to make the fire, and the little man took his gun and went
+to the brook; but not a duck did he see, nor drake neither, and so he
+was forced to come home without any game.
+
+"There's no use cooking one duck," said his wife, "so we'll have pork
+and beans for dinner and I'll hang the little duck in the shed. Perhaps
+you'll be able to shoot a drake to-morrow, and then we'll cook them
+both together."
+
+So they had pork and beans, to the great disappointment of Mr. Jimson,
+who had expected to eat duck instead; and after dinner the little man
+lay down to take a nap while his wife went out to tell the neighbors
+what a great hunter he was.
+
+The news spread rapidly through the town, and when the evening paper
+came out the little man was very angry to see this verse printed in it:
+
+    There was a little man and he had a little gun,
+      And the bullets were made of lead, lead, lead.
+    He went to the brook and shot a little duck,
+      And the bullet went right through its head, head, head.
+
+    He carried it home to his good wife Joan,
+      And bade her a fire to make, make, make,
+    While he went to the brook where he shot the little duck,
+      And tried for to shoot the drake, drake, drake.
+
+"There's no use putting it into the paper," exclaimed the little man,
+much provoked, "and Mr. Brayer, the editor, is probably jealous because
+he himself cannot shoot a gun. Perhaps people think I cannot shoot a
+drake, but I'll show them to-morrow that I can!"
+
+So the next morning he got up early again, and took his gun, and
+loaded it with bullets made of lead. Then he said to his wife,
+
+"What does a drake look like, my love?"
+
+"Why," she replied, "it's much like a duck, only it has a curl on its
+tail and red on its wing."
+
+"All right," he answered, "I'll bring you home a drake in a short time,
+and to-day we shall have something better for dinner than pork and
+beans."
+
+When he got to the brook there was nothing in sight, so he sat down on
+the bank to watch, and again fell fast asleep.
+
+Now Johnny Sprigg had missed his little duck, and knew some one had
+shot it; so he thought this morning he would go the brook and watch for
+the man who had killed the duck, and make him pay a good price for it.
+Johnny was a big man, whose head was very bald; therefore he wore a red
+curly wig to cover his baldness and make him look younger.
+
+When he got to the brook he saw no one about, and so he hid in a clump
+of bushes. After a time the little man woke up, and in looking around
+for the drake he saw Johnny's red wig sticking out of the top of the
+bushes.
+
+"That is surely the drake," he thought, "for I can see a curl and
+something red;" and the next minute "bang!" went the gun, and Johnny
+Sprigg gave a great yell and jumped out of the bushes. As for his
+beautiful wig, it was shot right off his head, and fell into the water
+of the brook a good ten yards away!
+
+"What are you trying to do?" he cried, shaking his fist at the little
+man.
+
+"Why, I was only shooting at the drake," replied Jimson; "and I hit it,
+too, for there it is in the water."
+
+"That's my wig, sir!" said Johnny Sprigg, "and you shall pay for it,
+or I'll have the law on you. Are you the man who shot the duck here
+yesterday morning?"
+
+"I am, sir," answered the little man, proud that he had shot something
+besides a wig.
+
+"Well, you shall pay for that also," said Mr. Sprigg; "for it belonged
+to me, and I'll have the money or I'll put you in jail!"
+
+The little man did not want to go to jail, so with a heavy heart he
+paid for the wig and the duck, and then took his way sorrowfully
+homeward.
+
+He did not tell Joan of his meeting with Mr. Sprigg; he only said he
+could not find a drake. But she knew all about it when the paper came
+out, for this is what it said on the front page:
+
+    There was a little man and he had a little gun,
+      And the bullets were made of lead, lead, lead.
+    He shot Johnny Sprigg through the middle of his wig,
+      And knocked it right off from his head, head, head.
+
+The little man was so angry at this, and at the laughter of all the men
+he met, that he traded his gun off for a lawn-mower, and resolved never
+to go hunting again.
+
+He had the little duck he had shot made into a pie, and he and Joan ate
+it; but he did not enjoy it very much.
+
+"This duck cost me twelve dollars," he said to his loving wife, "for
+that is the sum Johnny Sprigg made me pay; and it's a very high price
+for one little duck--don't you think so, Joan?"
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Hickory, Dickory, Dock]
+
+
+
+
+Hickory, Dickory, Dock
+
+    Hickory, Dickory, Dock!
+    The mouse ran up the clock.
+      The clock struck one,
+      The mouse ran down,
+    Hickory, Dickory, Dock!
+
+
+WITHIN the hollow wall of an old brick mansion, away up near the roof,
+there lived a family of mice. It was a snug little home, pleasant
+and quiet, and as dark as any mouse could desire. Mamma Mouse liked it
+because, as she said, the draught that came through the rafters made it
+cool in summer, and they were near enough to the chimney to keep warm
+in winter-time.
+
+Besides the Mamma Mouse there were three children, named Hickory and
+Dickory and Dock. There had once been a Papa Mouse as well; but while
+he was hunting for food one night he saw a nice piece of cheese in a
+wire box, and attempted to get it. The minute he stuck his head into
+the box, however, it closed with a snap that nearly cut his head off,
+and when Mamma Mouse came down to look for him he was quite dead.
+
+Mamma Mouse had to bear her bitter sorrow all alone, for the children
+were too young at that time to appreciate their loss. She felt that
+people were very cruel to kill a poor mouse for wishing to get food for
+himself and his family. There is nothing else for a mouse to do but
+take what he can find, for mice cannot earn money, as people do, and
+they must live in some way.
+
+But Mamma Mouse was a brave mouse, and knew that it was now her duty to
+find food for her little ones; so she dried her eyes and went bravely
+to work gnawing through the base-board that separated the pantry from
+the wall. It took her some time to do this, for she could only work
+at night. Mice like to sleep during the day and work at night, when
+there are no people around to interrupt them, and even the cat is fast
+asleep. Some mice run about in the day-time, but they are not very wise
+mice who do this.
+
+At last Mamma Mouse gnawed a hole through the base-board large enough
+for her to get through into the pantry, and then her disappointment was
+great to find the bread jar covered over with a tin pan.
+
+"How thoughtless people are to put things where a hungry mouse cannot
+get at them," said Mamma Mouse to herself, with a sigh. But just then
+she espied a barrel of flour standing upon the floor; and that gave her
+new courage, for she knew she could easily gnaw through that, and the
+flour would do to eat just as well as the bread.
+
+It was now nearly daylight, so she decided to leave the attack upon the
+flour barrel until the next night; and gathering up for the children
+a few crumbs that were scattered about, she ran back into the wall and
+scrambled up to her nest.
+
+Hickory and Dickory and Dock were very glad to get the crumbs, for they
+were hungry; and when they had breakfasted they all curled up alongside
+their mother and slept soundly throughout the day.
+
+"Be good children," said Mamma Mouse the next evening, as she prepared
+for her journey to the pantry, "and don't stir out of your nest till I
+come back. I am in hopes that after to-night we shall not be hungry for
+a long time, as I shall gnaw a hole at the back of the flour barrel,
+where it will not be discovered."
+
+She kissed each one of them good-bye and ran down the wall on her
+errand.
+
+When they were left alone Hickory wanted to go to sleep again, but
+little Dock was wide awake, and tumbled around so in the nest that his
+brothers were unable to sleep.
+
+"I wish I could go with mother some night," said Dock, "it's no fun to
+stay here all the time."
+
+"She will take us when we are big enough," replied Dickory.
+
+"We are big enough now," declared Dock, "and if I knew my way I would
+go out into the world and see what it looks like."
+
+"I know a way out," said Hickory, "but mamma wouldn't like it if we
+should go without her permission."
+
+"She needn't know anything about it," declared the naughty Dock, "for
+she will be busy at the flour-barrel all the night. Take us out for a
+little walk, Hick, if you know the way."
+
+"Yes do," urged Dickory.
+
+"Well," said Hickory, "I'd like a little stroll myself, so if you'll
+promise to be very careful, and not get into any mischief, I'll take
+you through the hole that I have discovered."
+
+So the three little mice started off, with Hickory showing the way, and
+soon came to a crack in the wall. Hickory stuck his head through, and
+finding everything quiet, for the family of people that lived in the
+house were fast asleep, he squeezed through the crack, followed by his
+two brothers. Their little hearts beat very fast, for they knew if they
+were discovered they would have to run for their lives; but the house
+was so still they gained courage, and crept along over a thick carpet
+until they came to a stairway.
+
+"What shall we do now?" whispered Hickory to his brothers.
+
+"Let's go down," replied Dock.
+
+So, very carefully, they descended the stairs and reached the hallway
+of the house, and here they were much surprised by all they saw.
+
+There was a big rack for hats and coats, and an umbrella stand, and two
+quaintly carved chairs, and, most wonderful of all, a tall clock that
+stood upon the floor and ticked out the minutes in a grave and solemn
+voice.
+
+When the little mice first heard the ticking of the clock they were
+inclined to be frightened, and huddled close together upon the bottom
+stair.
+
+"What is it?" asked Dickory, in an awed whisper.
+
+"I don't know," replied Hickory, who was himself rather afraid.
+
+"Is it alive?" asked Dock.
+
+"I don't know," again answered Hickory.
+
+Then, seeing that the clock paid no attention to them, but kept ticking
+steadily away and seemed to mind its own business, they plucked up
+courage and began running about.
+
+Presently Dickory uttered a delighted squeal that brought his brothers
+to his side. There in a corner lay nearly the half of a bun which
+little May had dropped when nurse carried her upstairs to bed. It was
+a great discovery for the three mice, and they ate heartily until the
+last crumb had disappeared.
+
+"This is better than a cupboard or a pantry," said Dock, when they had
+finished their supper, "and I shouldn't be surprised if there were
+plenty more good things around if we only hunt for them."
+
+But they could find nothing more, for all the doors leading into the
+hall were closed, and at last Dock came to the clock and looked at it
+curiously.
+
+"It doesn't seem to be alive," he thought, "although it does make so
+much noise. I'm going behind it to see what I can find."
+
+He found nothing except a hole that led to the inside of the clock, and
+into this he stuck his head. He could hear the ticking plainer than
+ever now, but looking way up to the top of the clock he saw something
+shining brightly, and thought it must be good to eat if he could only
+get at it. Without saying anything to his brothers, Dock ran up the
+sides of the clock until he came to the works, and he was just about to
+nibble at a glistening wheel, to see what it tasted like, when suddenly
+"Bang!" went the clock.
+
+It was one o'clock, and the clock had only struck the hour, but the
+great gong was just beside Dock's ear and the noise nearly deafened the
+poor little mouse. He gave a scream of terror and ran down the clock
+as fast as he could go. When he reached the hall he heard his brothers
+scampering up the stairs, and after them he ran with all his might.
+
+It was only when they were safe in their nest again that they stopped
+to breathe, and their little hearts beat fast for an hour afterward, so
+great had been their terror.
+
+When Mamma Mouse came back in the morning, bringing a quantity of nice
+flour with her for breakfast, they told her of their adventure.
+
+She thought they had been punished enough already for their
+disobedience, so she did not scold them, but only said,
+
+"You see, my dears, your mother knew best when she told you not to
+stir from the nest. Children sometimes think they know more than their
+parents, but this adventure should teach you always to obey your
+mother. The next time you run away you may fare worse than you did last
+night; remember your poor father's fate."
+
+But Hickory and Dickory and Dock did not run away again.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Little Bo-Peep]
+
+
+
+
+Little Bo-Peep
+
+
+On the beautiful, undulating hills of Sussex feed many flocks of sheep,
+which are tended by many shepherds and shepherdesses, and one of these
+flocks used to be cared for by a poor woman who supported herself and
+her little girl by this means.
+
+They lived in a small cottage nestled at the foot of one of the hills,
+and each morning the mother took her crook and started out with her
+sheep, that they might feed upon the tender, juicy grasses with which
+the hills abounded. The little girl usually accompanied her mother
+and sat by her side upon the grassy mounds and watched her care for
+the ewes and lambs, so that in time she herself grew to be a very
+proficient shepherdess.
+
+So when the mother became too old and feeble to leave her cottage,
+Little Bo-Peep (as she was called) decided that she was fully able
+to manage the flocks herself. She was a little mite of a child, with
+flowing nut-brown locks and big gray eyes that charmed all who gazed
+into their innocent depths. She wore a light gray frock, fastened about
+the waist with a pretty pink sash, and there were white ruffles around
+her neck and pink ribbons in her hair.
+
+All the shepherds and shepherdesses upon the hills, both young and old,
+soon came to know Little Bo-Peep very well indeed, and there were many
+willing hands to aid her if (which was not often) she needed their
+assistance.
+
+Bo-Peep usually took her sheep to the side of a high hill above the
+cottage, and allowed them to eat the rich grass while she herself sat
+upon a mound and, laying aside her crook and her broad straw hat with
+its pink ribbons, devoted her time to sewing and mending stockings for
+her aged mother.
+
+One day, while thus occupied, she heard a voice beside her say:
+
+"Good morning, Little Bo-Peep!" and looking up the girl saw a woman
+standing near her and leaning upon a short stick. She was bent nearly
+double by weight of many years, her hair was white as snow and her
+eyes as black as coals. Deep wrinkles seamed her face and hands, while
+her nose and chin were so pointed that they nearly met. She was not
+pleasant to look upon, but Bo-Peep had learned to be polite to the
+aged, so she answered, sweetly,
+
+"Good morning, mother. Can I do anything for you?"
+
+"No, dearie," returned the woman, in a cracked voice, "but I will sit
+by your side and rest for a time."
+
+The girl made room on the mound beside her, and the stranger sat down
+and watched in silence the busy fingers sew up the seams of the new
+frock she was making.
+
+By and by the woman asked,
+
+"Why do you come out here to sew?"
+
+"Because I am a shepherdess," replied the girl.
+
+"But where is your crook?"
+
+"On the grass beside me."
+
+"And where are your sheep?"
+
+Bo-Peep looked up and could not see them.
+
+"They must have strayed over the top of the hill," she said, "and I
+will go and seek them."
+
+"Do not be in a hurry," croaked the old woman; "they will return
+presently without your troubling to find them."
+
+"Do you think so?" asked Bo-Peep.
+
+"Of course; do not the sheep know you?"
+
+"Oh, yes; they know me every one."
+
+"And do not you know the sheep?"
+
+"I can call every one by name," said Bo-Peep, confidently; "for though
+I am so young a shepherdess I am fond of my sheep and know all about
+them."
+
+The old woman chuckled softly, as if the answer amused her, and replied,
+
+"No one knows all about anything, my dear."
+
+"But I know all about my sheep," protested Little Bo-Peep.
+
+"Do you, indeed? Then you are wiser that most people. And if you know
+all about them, you also know they will come home of their own accord,
+and I have no doubt they will all be wagging their tails behind them,
+as usual."
+
+"Oh," said Little Bo-Peep, in surprise, "do they wag their tails? I
+never noticed that!"
+
+"Indeed!" exclaimed the old woman, "then you are not very observing for
+one who knows all about sheep. Perhaps you have never noticed their
+tails at all."
+
+"No," answered Bo-Peep, thoughtfully, "I don't know that I ever have."
+
+The woman laughed so hard at this reply that she began to cough, and
+this made the girl remember that her flock had strayed away.
+
+"I really must go and find my sheep," she said, rising to her feet,
+"and then I shall be sure to notice their tails, and see if they wag
+them."
+
+"Sit still, my child," said the old woman, "I am going over the
+hill-top myself, and I will send the sheep back to you."
+
+So she got upon her feet and began climbing the hill, and the girl
+heard her saying, as she walked away,
+
+    "Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,
+       And doesn't know where to find 'em.
+     But leave 'em alone, and they'll come home,
+       All wagging their tails behind 'em."
+
+Little Bo-Peep sat still and watched the old woman toil slowly up the
+hill-side and disappear over the top. By and by she thought, "very soon
+I shall see the sheep coming back;" but time passed away and still the
+errant flock failed to make its appearance.
+
+Soon the head of the little shepherdess began to nod, and presently,
+still thinking of her sheep,
+
+    Little Bo-Peep fell fast asleep,
+      And dreamt she heard them bleating;
+    But when she awoke she found it a joke,
+      For still they were a-fleeting.
+
+The girl now became quite anxious, and wondered why the old woman
+had not driven her flock over the hill. But as it was now time for
+luncheon she opened her little basket and ate of the bread and cheese
+and cookies she had brought with her. After she had finished her meal
+and taken a drink of cool water from a spring near by, she decided she
+would not wait any longer.
+
+    So up she took her little crook,
+    Determined for to find them,
+
+and began climbing the hill.
+
+When she got to the top there was never a sight of sheep about--only a
+green valley and another hill beyond.
+
+Now really alarmed for the safety of her charge, Bo-Peep hurried into
+the valley and up the farther hill-side. Panting and tired she reached
+the summit, and, pausing breathlessly, gazed below her.
+
+Quietly feeding upon the rich grass was her truant flock, looking as
+peaceful and innocent as if it had never strayed away from its gentle
+shepherdess.
+
+[Illustration: Little Bo-Peep]
+
+Bo-Peep uttered a cry of joy and hurried toward them; but when she
+came near she stopped in amazement and held up her little hands with a
+pretty expression of dismay. She had
+
+    Found them, indeed, but it made her heart bleed,
+    For they'd left their tails behind them!
+
+Nothing was left to each sheep but a wee little stump where a tail
+should be, and Little Bo-Peep was so heart-broken that she sat down
+beside them and sobbed bitterly.
+
+But after awhile the tiny maid realized that all her tears would not
+bring back the tails to her lambkins; so she plucked up courage and
+dried her eyes and arose from the ground just as the old woman hobbled
+up to her.
+
+"So you have found your sheep, dearie," she said, in her cracked voice.
+
+"Yes," replied Little Bo-Peep, with difficulty repressing a sob; "but
+look, mother! They've all left their tails behind them!"
+
+"Why, so they have!" exclaimed the old woman; and then she began to
+laugh as if something pleased her.
+
+"What do you suppose has become of their tails?" asked the girl.
+
+"Oh, some one has probably cut them off. They make nice tippets in
+winter-time, you know;" and then she patted the child upon her head and
+walked away down the valley.
+
+Bo-Peep was much grieved over the loss that had befallen her dear
+sheep, and so, driving them before her, she wandered around to see if
+by any chance she could find the lost tails.
+
+But soon the sun began to sink over the hill-tops, and she knew she
+must take her sheep home before night overtook them.
+
+She did not tell her mother of her misfortune, for she feared the old
+shepherdess would scold her, and Bo-Peep had fully decided to seek for
+the tails and find them before she related the story of their loss to
+any one.
+
+Each day for many days after that Little Bo-Peep wandered about the
+hills seeking the tails of her sheep, and those who met her wondered
+what had happened to make the sweet little maid so anxious. But there
+is an end to all troubles, no matter how severe they may seem to be, and
+
+    It happened one day, as Bo-Peep did stray
+      Unto a meadow hard by,
+    There she espied their tails side by side,
+      All hung on a tree to dry!
+
+The little shepherdess was overjoyed at this discovery, and, reaching
+up her crook, she knocked the row of pretty white tails off the tree
+and gathered them up in her frock. But how to fasten them onto her
+sheep again was the question, and after pondering the matter for a time
+she became discouraged, and, thinking she was no better off than before
+the tails were found, she began to weep and to bewail her misfortune.
+
+But amidst her tears she bethought herself of her needle and thread.
+
+"Why," she exclaimed, smiling again, "I can sew them on, of course!"
+Then
+
+    She heaved a sigh and wiped her eye
+    And ran o'er hill and dale, oh,
+      And tried what she could
+      As a shepherdess should,
+    To tack to each sheep its tail, oh.
+
+But the very first sheep she came to refused to allow her to sew on
+the tail, and ran away from her, and the others did the same, so that
+finally she was utterly discouraged.
+
+She was beginning to cry again, when the same old woman she had before
+met came hobbling to her side and asked,
+
+"What are you doing with my cat tails?"
+
+"Your cat tails!" replied Bo-Peep, in surprise; "what do you mean?"
+
+"Why, these tails are all cut from white pussy-cats, and I put them on
+the tree to dry. What are you doing with them?"
+
+"I thought they belonged to my sheep," answered Bo-Peep, sorrowfully;
+"but if they are really your pussy-cat tails, I must hunt until I find
+those that belong to my sheep."
+
+"My dear," said the old woman, "I have been deceiving you; you said
+you knew all about your sheep, and I wanted to teach you a lesson.
+For, however wise we may be, no one in this world knows _all_ about
+anything. Sheep do not have long tails--there is only a little stump to
+answer for a tail. Neither do rabbits have tails, nor bears, nor many
+other animals. And if you had been observing you would have known all
+this when I said the sheep would be wagging their tails behind them,
+and then you would not have passed all those days in searching for what
+is not to be found. So now, little one, run away home, and try to be
+more thoughtful in the future. Your sheep will never miss the tails,
+for they have never had them."
+
+And now
+
+    Little Bo-Peep no more did weep;
+    My tale of tails ends here.
+        Each cat has one,
+        But sheep have none;
+    Which, after all, is queer!
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: The Story of Tommy Tucker]
+
+
+
+
+The Story of Tommy Tucker
+
+    Little Tommy Tucker sang for his supper.
+    What did he sing for? white bread and butter.
+    How could he cut it, without any knife?
+    How could he marry, without any wife?
+
+
+LITTLE TOMMY TUCKER was a waif of the streets. He never remembered
+having a father or mother or any one to care for him, and so he learned
+to care for himself. He ate whatever he could get, and slept wherever
+night overtook him--in an old barrel, a cellar, or, when fortune
+favored him, he paid a penny for a cot in some rude lodging-house.
+
+His life about the streets taught him early how to earn a living by
+doing odd jobs, and he learned to be sharp in his speech and wise
+beyond his years.
+
+One morning Tommy crawled out from a box in which he had slept over
+night, and found that he was hungry. His last meal had consisted of a
+crust of bread, and he was a growing boy with an appetite.
+
+He had been unable to earn any money for several days, and this morning
+life looked very gloomy to him. He started out to seek for work or to
+beg a breakfast; but luck was against him, and he was unsuccessful.
+By noon he had grown more hungry than before, and stood before a
+bake-shop for a long time, looking wistfully at the good things behind
+the window-panes, and wishing with all his heart he had a ha'penny to
+buy a bun.
+
+And yet it was no new thing for Little Tommy Tucker to be hungry, and
+he never thought of despairing. He sat down upon a curb-stone, and
+thought what was best to be done. Then he remembered he had frequently
+begged a meal at one of the cottages that stood upon the outskirts of
+the city, and so he turned his steps in that direction.
+
+"I have had neither breakfast nor dinner," he said to himself, "and
+I must surely find a supper somewhere, or I shall not sleep much
+to-night. It is no fun to be hungry."
+
+So he walked on until he came to a dwelling-house where a goodly
+company sat upon a lawn and beneath a veranda. It was a pretty place,
+and was the home of a fat alderman who had been married that very day.
+
+The alderman was in a merry mood, and seeing Tommy standing without the
+gate he cried to him,
+
+"Come here, my lad, and sing us a song."
+
+Tommy at once entered the grounds, and came to where the fat alderman
+was sitting beside his blushing bride.
+
+"Can you sing?" enquired the alderman.
+
+"No," answered Tommy, earnestly, "but I can eat."
+
+"Ho, ho!" laughed the alderman, "that is a very ordinary
+accomplishment. Anyone can eat."
+
+"If it please you, sir, you are wrong," replied Tommy, "for I have been
+unable to eat all day."
+
+"And why is that?" asked the alderman.
+
+"Because I have had nothing to put to my mouth. But now that I have met
+so kind a gentleman, I am sure that I shall have a good supper."
+
+The alderman laughed again at this shrewd answer, and said,
+
+"You shall have supper, no doubt; but you must sing a song for the
+company first, and so earn your food."
+
+Tommy shook his head sadly.
+
+"I do not know any song, sir," he said.
+
+The alderman called a servant and whispered something in his ear. The
+servant hastened away, and soon returned bearing upon a tray a huge
+slice of white bread and butter. White bread was a rare treat in those
+days, as nearly all the people ate black bread baked from rye or barley
+flour.
+
+"Now," said the alderman, placing the tray beside him, "you shall have
+this slice of white bread and butter when you have sung us a song, and
+complied with one condition."
+
+"And what is that condition?" asked Tommy.
+
+"I will tell you when we have heard the song," replied the fat
+alderman, who had decided to have some amusement at the boy's expense.
+
+[Illustration: Tommy Tucker]
+
+Tommy hesitated, but when he glanced at the white bread and butter his
+mouth watered in spite of himself, and he resolved to compose a song,
+since he did not know how to sing any other.
+
+So he took off his cap, and standing before the company he sang as
+follows:
+
+    "A bumble-bee lit on a hollyhock flower
+     That was wet with the rain of a morning shower.
+           While the honey he sipped
+           His left foot slipped,
+     And he couldn't fly again for half an hour!"
+
+"Good!" cried the alderman, after the company had kindly applauded
+Tommy. "I can't say much for the air, nor yet for the words; but it was
+not so bad as it might have been. Give us another verse."
+
+So Tommy pondered a moment, and then sang again:
+
+    "A spider threw its web so high
+     It caught on a moon in a cloudy sky.
+           The moon whirled round,
+           And down to the ground
+     Fell the web, and captured a big blue fly!"
+
+"Why, that is fine!" roared the fat alderman. "You improve as you go
+on, so give us another verse."
+
+"I don't know any more," said Tommy, "and I am very hungry."
+
+"One more verse," persisted the man, "and then you shall have the bread
+and butter upon the condition."
+
+So Tommy sang the following verse:
+
+    "A big frog lived in a slimy bog,
+     And caught a cold in an awful fog.
+           The cold got worse,
+           The frog got hoarse,
+     Till croaking he scared a polliwog!"
+
+"You are quite a poet," declared the alderman; "and now you shall have
+the white bread upon one condition."
+
+"What is it?" said Tommy, anxiously.
+
+"That you cut the slice into four parts."
+
+"But I have no knife!" remonstrated the boy.
+
+"But that is the condition," insisted the alderman. "If you want the
+bread you must cut it."
+
+"Surely you do not expect me to cut the bread without any knife!" said
+Tommy.
+
+"Why not?" asked the alderman, winking his eye at the company.
+
+"Because it cannot be done. How, let me ask you, sir, could you have
+married without any wife?"
+
+"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the jolly alderman; and he was so pleased with
+Tommy's apt reply that he gave him the bread at once, and a knife to
+cut it with.
+
+"Thank you, sir," said Tommy; "now that I have the knife it is easy
+enough to cut the bread, and I shall now be as happy as you are with
+your beautiful wife."
+
+The alderman's wife blushed at this, and whispered to her husband.
+The alderman nodded in reply, and watched Tommy carefully as he ate
+his supper. When the boy had finished his bread--which he did very
+quickly, you may be sure,--the man said,
+
+"How would you like to live with me and be my servant?"
+
+Little Tommy Tucker had often longed for just such a place, where he
+could have three meals each day to eat and a good bed to sleep in at
+night, so he answered,
+
+"I should like it very much, sir."
+
+So the alderman took Tommy for his servant, and dressed him in a smart
+livery; and soon the boy showed by his bright ways and obedience that
+he was worthy any kindness bestowed upon him.
+
+He often carried the alderman's wig when his master attended the town
+meetings, and the mayor of the city, who was a good man, was much taken
+with his intelligent face. So one day he said to the alderman,
+
+"I have long wanted to adopt a son, for I have no children of my own;
+but I have not yet been able to find a boy to suit me. That lad of
+yours looks bright and intelligent, and he seems a well-behaved boy
+into the bargain."
+
+"He is all that you say," returned the alderman, "and would be a credit
+to you should you adopt him."
+
+"But before I adopt a son," continued the mayor, "I intend to satisfy
+myself that he is both wise and shrewd enough to make good use of my
+money when I am gone. No fool will serve my purpose; therefore I shall
+test the boy's wit before I decide."
+
+"That is fair enough," answered the alderman; "but in what way will you
+test his wit?"
+
+"Bring him to my house to-morrow, and you shall see," said the mayor.
+
+So the next day the alderman, followed by Tommy and a little terrier
+dog that was a great pet of his master, went to the grand dwelling of
+the mayor. The mayor also had a little terrier dog, which was very fond
+of him and followed him wherever he went.
+
+When Tommy and the alderman reached the mayor's house the mayor met
+them at the door and said:
+
+"Tommy, I am going up the street, and the alderman is going in the
+opposite direction. I want you to keep our dogs from following us; but
+you must not do it by holding them."
+
+"Very well, sir," replied Tommy; and as the mayor started one way and
+the alderman the other, he took out his handkerchief and tied the tails
+of the two dogs together. Of course each dog started to follow its
+master; but as they were about the same size and strength, and each
+pulled in a different direction, the result was that they remained in
+one place, and could not move either one way or the other.
+
+"That was well done," said the mayor, coming back again; "but tell me,
+can you put my cart before my horse and take me to ride?"
+
+"Certainly, sir," replied Tommy; and going to the mayor's stable he put
+the harness on the nag and then led him head-first into the shafts,
+instead of backing him into them, as is the usual way. After fastening
+the shafts to the horse, he mounted upon the animal's back, and away
+they started, pushing the cart before the horse.
+
+"That was easy," said Tommy. "If your honor will get into the cart I'll
+take you to ride." But the mayor did not ride, although he was pleased
+at Tommy's readiness in solving a difficulty.
+
+After a moment's thought he bade Tommy follow him into the house, where
+he gave him a cupful of water, saying,
+
+"Let me see you drink up this cup of water."
+
+Tommy hesitated a moment, for he knew the mayor was trying to catch
+him; then, going to a corner of the room, he set down the cup and stood
+upon his head in the corner. He now carefully raised the cup to his
+lips and slowly drank the water until the cup was empty. After this he
+regained his feet, and, bowing politely to the mayor, he said,
+
+"The water is drunk up, your honor."
+
+"But why did you stand on your head to do it?" enquired the alderman,
+who had watched the act in astonishment.
+
+"Because otherwise I would have drunk the water down, and not up,"
+replied Tommy.
+
+The mayor was now satisfied that Tommy was shrewd enough to do him
+honor, so he immediately took him to live in the great house as his
+adopted son, and he was educated by the best masters the city afforded.
+
+And Tommy Tucker became in after years not only a great, but a good
+man, and before he died was himself mayor of the city, and was known by
+the name of Sir Thomas Tucker.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Pussy-cat Mew]
+
+
+
+
+Pussy-cat Mew
+
+    "_Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat, where do you go?"
+    "To London, to visit the palace, you know."
+    "Pussy-cat Mew, will you come back again?"
+    "Oh, yes! I'll scamper with might and with main!_"
+
+
+    PUSSY-CAT MEW set off on her way,
+    Stepping quite softly and feeling quite gay.
+    Smooth was the road, so she traveled at ease,
+    Warmed by the sunshine and fanned by the breeze.
+
+    Over the hills to the valleys below,
+    Through the deep woods where the soft mosses grow,
+    Skirting the fields, with buttercups dotted,
+    Swiftly our venturesome Pussy-cat trotted.
+
+    Sharp watch she kept when a village she neared,
+    For boys and their mischief our Pussy-cat feared.
+    Often she crept through the grasses so deep
+    To pass by a dog that was lying asleep.
+
+    Once, as she walked through a sweet-clover field,
+    Something beside her affrightedly squealed,
+    And swift from her path there darted away
+    A tiny field-mouse, with a coat of soft gray.
+
+    "Now here," thought our Pussy, "is chance for a dinner;
+    The one that runs fastest must surely be winner!"
+    So quickly she started the mouse to give chase,
+    And over the clover they ran a great race.
+
+    But just when it seemed that Pussy would win,
+    The mouse spied a hole and quickly popped in;
+    And so he escaped, for the hole was so small
+    That Pussy-cat couldn't squeeze in it at all.
+
+    So, softly she crouched, and with eyes big and round
+    Quite steadily watched that small hole in the ground.
+    "This mouse really thinks he's escaped me," she said,
+    "But I'll catch him sure if he sticks out his head!"
+
+    But while she was watching the poor mouse's plight,
+    A deep growl behind made her jump with affright;
+    She gave a great cry, and then started to run
+    As swift as a bullet that's shot from a gun!
+
+    "Meow! Oh, meow!" our poor Puss did say;
+    "Bow-wow!" cried the dog, who was not far away.
+    O'er meadows and ditches they scampered apace,
+    O'er fences and hedges they kept up the race!
+
+    Then Pussy-cat Mew saw before her a tree,
+    And knew that a safe place of refuge 'twould be;
+    So far up the tree with a bound she did go,
+    And left the big dog to growl down below.
+
+    But now, by good fortune, a man came that way,
+    And called to the dog, who was forced to obey;
+    But Puss did not come down the tree till she knew
+    That the man and the dog were far out of view.
+
+    Pursuing her way, at nightfall she came
+    To London, a town you know well by name;
+    And wandering 'round in byway and street,
+    A strange Pussy-cat she happened to meet.
+
+    "Good evening," said Pussy-cat Mew. "Can you tell
+    In which of these houses the Queen may now dwell?
+    I'm a stranger in town, and I'm anxious to see
+    What sort of a person a real Queen may be."
+
+    "My friend," said the other, "you really must know
+    It isn't permitted that strangers should go
+    Inside of the palace, unless they're invited,
+    And stray Pussy-cats are apt to be slighted.
+
+    "By good luck, however, I'm quite well aware
+    Of a way to the palace by means of a stair
+    That never is guarded; so just come with me,
+    And a glimpse of the Queen you shall certainly see."
+
+    Puss thanked her new friend, and together they stole
+    To the back of the palace, and crept through a hole
+    In the fence, and quietly came to the stair
+    Which the stranger Pussy-cat promised was there.
+
+    "Now here I must leave you," the strange Pussy said,
+    "So don't be 'fraid-cat, but go straight ahead,
+    And don't be alarmed if by chance you are seen,
+    For people will think you belong to the Queen."
+
+    So Pussy-cat Mew did as she had been told,
+    And walked through the palace with manner so bold
+    She soon reached the room where the Queen sat in state,
+    Surrounded by lords and by ladies so great.
+
+    And there in the corner our Pussy sat down,
+    And gazed at the scepter and blinked at the crown,
+    And eyed the Queen's dress, all purple and gold;
+    Which was surely a beautiful sight to behold.
+
+    But all of a sudden she started, for there
+    Was a little gray mouse, right under the chair
+    Where her Majesty sat, and Pussy well knew
+    She'd scream with alarm if the mouse met her view.
+
+    So up toward the chair our Pussy-cat stole,
+    But the mouse saw her coming and ran for its hole;
+    But Pussy ran after, and during the race
+    A wonderful, terrible panic took place!
+
+    The ladies all jumped on their chairs in alarm,
+    The lords drew their swords to protect them from harm,
+    And the Queen gave a scream and fainted away--
+    A very undignified act, I must say.
+
+    And some one cried "Burglars!" and some one cried "Treason!"
+    And some one cried "Murder!" but none knew the reason;
+    And some one cried "Fire! they are burning the house!"
+    And some one cried "Silence! it's only a mouse!"
+
+    But Pussy-cat Mew was so awfully scared
+    By the shouting and screaming, no longer she dared
+    To stay in the room; so without more delay
+    She rushed from the palace and scampered away!
+
+    So bristling her fur, and with heart beating fast,
+    She came to the road leading homeward at last.
+    "What business," she thought, "has a poor country cat
+    To visit a city of madmen like that?
+
+    "Straight homeward I'll go, where I am well fed,
+    Where mistress is kind, and soft is my bed;
+    Let other cats travel, if they wish to roam,
+    But as for myself, I shall now stay at home."
+
+    And now over hills and valleys she ran,
+    And journeyed as fast as a Pussy-cat can;
+    Till just as the dawn of the day did begin
+    She, safely at home, stole quietly in.
+
+    And there was the fire, with the pot boiling on it,
+    And there was the maid, in the blue checkered bonnet,
+    And there was the corner where Pussy oft basked,
+    And there was the mistress, who eagerly asked:
+
+    _"Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat, where have you been?"
+     "I've been to London, to visit the Queen."
+     "Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat, what did you there?"
+     "I frightened a little mouse under her chair!"_
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: How the Beggars Came to Town]
+
+
+
+
+How the Beggars Came to Town
+
+    Hark, hark, the dogs do bark,
+    The beggars are coming to town:
+    Some in rags, and some in tags,
+    And some in velvet gown.
+
+
+VERY fair and sweet was little Prince Lilimond, and few could resist
+his soft, pleading voice and gentle blue eyes. And as he stood in the
+presence of the King, his father, and bent his knee gracefully before
+His Majesty, the act was so courteous and dignified it would have
+honored the oldest nobleman of the court.
+
+The King was delighted, and for a time sat silently regarding his son
+and noting every detail of his appearance, from the dark velvet suit
+with its dainty ruffles and collar to the diamond buckles on the little
+shoes, and back again to the flowing curls that clustered thick about
+the bright, childish face.
+
+Well might any father be proud of so manly and beautiful a child, and
+the King's heart swelled within him as he gazed upon his heir.
+
+"Borland," he said to the tutor, who stood modestly behind the Prince,
+"you may retire. I wish to speak privately with his royal highness."
+
+The tutor bowed low and disappeared within the ante-room, and the King
+continued, kindly,
+
+"Come here, Lilimond, and sit beside me. Methinks you seem over-grave
+this morning."
+
+"It is my birthday, Your Majesty," replied the Prince, as he slowly
+obeyed his father and sat beside him upon the rich broidered cushions
+of the throne. "I am twelve years of age."
+
+"So old!" said the King, smiling into the little face that was raised
+to his. "And is it the weight of years that makes you sad?"
+
+"No, Your Majesty; I long for the years to pass, that I may become a
+man, and take my part in the world's affairs. It is the sad condition
+of my country which troubles me."
+
+"Indeed!" exclaimed the King, casting a keen glance at his son. "Are
+you becoming interested in politics, then; or is there some grievous
+breach of court etiquette which has attracted your attention?"
+
+"I know little of politics and less of the court, sire," replied
+Lilimond; "it is the distress of the people that worries me."
+
+"The people? Of a surety, Prince, you are better posted than am I,
+since of the people and their affairs I know nothing at all. I have
+appointed officers to look after their interests, and therefore I have
+no cause to come into contact with them myself. But what is amiss?"
+
+"They are starving," said the Prince, looking at his father very
+seriously; "the country is filled with beggars, who appeal for charity,
+since they are unable otherwise to procure food."
+
+"Starving!" repeated the King; "surely you are misinformed. My Lord
+Chamberlain told me but this morning the people were loyal and
+contented, and my Lord of the Treasury reports that all taxes and
+tithes have been paid, and my coffers are running over."
+
+"Your Lord Chamberlain is wrong, sire," returned the Prince; "my tutor,
+Borland, and I have talked with many of these beggars the past few
+days, and we find the tithes and taxes which have enriched you have
+taken the bread from their wives and children."
+
+"So!" exclaimed the King. "We must examine into this matter." He
+touched a bell beside him, and when a retainer appeared directed his
+Chamberlain and his Treasurer to wait upon him at once.
+
+The Prince rested his head upon his hand and waited patiently, but the
+King was very impatient indeed till the high officers of the court
+stood before him. Then said the King, addressing his Chamberlain,
+
+"Sir, I am informed my people are murmuring at my injustice. Is it
+true?"
+
+The officer cast an enquiring glance at the Prince, who met his eyes
+gravely, before he replied,
+
+"The people always murmur, Your Majesty. They are many, and not all can
+be content, even when ruled by so wise and just a King. In every land
+and in every age there are those who rebel against the laws, and the
+protests of the few are ever heard above the contentment of the many."
+
+"I am told," continued the King, severely, "that my country is overrun
+with beggars, who suffer for lack of the bread we have taken from them
+by our taxations. Is this true?"
+
+"There are always beggars, Your Majesty, in every country," replied
+the Chamberlain, "and it is their custom to blame others for their own
+misfortunes."
+
+The King thought deeply for a moment; then he turned to the Lord of the
+Treasury.
+
+"Do we tax the poor?" he demanded.
+
+"All are taxed, sire," returned the Treasurer, who was pale from
+anxiety, for never before had the King so questioned him, "but from the
+rich we take much, from the poor very little."
+
+"But a little from the poor man may distress him, while the rich
+subject would never feel the loss. Why do we tax the poor at all?"
+
+"Because, Your Majesty, should we declare the poor free from taxation
+all your subjects would at once claim to be poor, and the royal
+treasury would remain empty. And as none are so rich but there are
+those richer, how should we, in justice, determine which are the rich
+and which are the poor?"
+
+Again the King was silent while he pondered upon the words of the Royal
+Treasurer. Then, with a wave of his hand, he dismissed them, and turned
+to the Prince, saying,
+
+"You have heard the wise words of my councilors, Prince. What have you
+to say in reply?"
+
+"If you will pardon me, Your Majesty, I think you are wrong to leave
+the affairs of the people to others to direct. If you knew them as well
+as I do, you would distrust the words of your councilors, who naturally
+fear your anger more than they do that of your subjects."
+
+"If they fear my anger they will be careful to do no injustice to my
+people. Surely you cannot expect me to attend to levying the taxes
+myself," continued the King, with growing annoyance. "What are my
+officers for, but to serve me?"
+
+"They should serve you, it is true," replied the Prince, thoughtfully,
+"but they should serve the people as well."
+
+"Nonsense!" answered the King; "you are too young as yet to properly
+understand such matters. And it is a way youth has to imagine it is
+wiser than age and experience combined. Still, I will investigate the
+subject further, and see that justice is done the poor."
+
+"In the meantime," said the Prince, "many will starve to death. Can you
+not assist these poor beggars at once?"
+
+"In what way?" demanded the King.
+
+"By giving them money from your full coffers."
+
+"Nonsense!" again cried the King, this time with real anger; "you have
+heard what the Chamberlain said: we always have beggars, and none, as
+yet, have starved to death. Besides, I must use the money for the grand
+ball and tourney next month, as I have promised the ladies of the court
+a carnival of unusual magnificence."
+
+The Prince did not reply to this, but remained in silent thought,
+wondering what he might do to ease the suffering he feared existed on
+every hand amongst the poor of the kingdom. He had hoped to persuade
+the King to assist these beggars, but since the interview with the
+officers of the court he had lost heart and despaired of influencing
+his royal father in any way.
+
+Suddenly the King spoke.
+
+"Let us dismiss this subject, Lilimond, for it only serves to distress
+us both, and no good can come of it. You have nearly made me forget it
+is your birthday. Now listen, my son: I am much pleased with you, and
+thank God that he has given me such a successor for my crown, for I
+perceive your mind is as beautiful as your person, and that you will
+in time be fitted to rule the land with wisdom and justice. Therefore
+I promise, in honor of your birthday, to grant any desire you may
+express, provided it lies within my power. Nor will I make any further
+condition, since I rely upon your judgment to select some gift I may be
+glad to bestow."
+
+As the King spoke, Lilimond suddenly became impressed with an idea
+through which he might succor the poor, and therefore he answered,
+
+"Call in the ladies and gentlemen of the court, my father, and before
+them all will I claim your promise."
+
+"Good!" exclaimed the King, who looked for some amusement in his son's
+request; and at once he ordered the court to assemble.
+
+The ladies and gentlemen, as they filed into the audience chamber, were
+astonished to see the Prince seated upon the throne beside his sire,
+but being too well bred to betray their surprise they only wondered
+what amusement His Majesty had in store for them.
+
+When all were assembled, the Prince rose to his feet and addressed them.
+
+"His Majesty the King, whose kindness of heart and royal condescension
+is well known to you all, hath but now promised me, seeing that it is
+my birthday, to grant any one request that I may prefer. Is it not
+true, Your Majesty?"
+
+"It is true," answered the King, smiling upon his son, and pleased
+to see him addressing the court so gravely and with so manly an air;
+"whatsoever the Prince may ask, that will I freely grant."
+
+"Then, oh sire," said the Prince, kneeling before the throne, "I ask
+that for the period of one day I may reign as King in your stead,
+having at my command all kingly power and the obedience of all who owe
+allegiance to the crown!"
+
+For a time there was perfect silence in the court, the King growing
+red with dismay and embarrassment and the courtiers waiting curiously
+his reply. Lilimond still remained kneeling before the throne, and as
+the King looked upon him he realized it would be impossible to break
+his royal word. And the affair promised him amusement after all, so he
+quickly decided in what manner to reply.
+
+"Rise, oh Prince," he said, cheerfully, "your request is granted. Upon
+what day will it please you to reign?"
+
+Lilimond arose to his feet.
+
+"Upon the seventh day from this," he answered.
+
+"So be it," returned the King. Then, turning to the royal herald he
+added, "Make proclamation throughout the kingdom that on the seventh
+day from this Prince Lilimond will reign as King from sunrise till
+sunset. And whoever dares to disobey his commands will be guilty of
+treason and shall be punished with death!"
+
+The court was then dismissed, all wondering at this marvellous decree,
+and the Prince returned to his own apartment where his tutor, Borland,
+anxiously awaited him.
+
+Now this Borland was a man of good heart and much intelligence, but
+wholly unused to the ways of the world. He had lately noted, with much
+grief, the number of beggars who solicited alms as he walked out with
+the Prince, and he had given freely until his purse was empty. Then
+he talked long and earnestly with the Prince concerning this shocking
+condition in the kingdom, never dreaming that his own generosity had
+attracted all the beggars of the city toward him and encouraged them to
+become more bold than usual.
+
+Thus was the young and tender-hearted Prince brought to a knowledge of
+all these beggars, and therefore it was that their condition filled him
+with sadness and induced him to speak so boldly to the King, his father.
+
+When he returned to Borland with the tidings that the King had granted
+him permission to rule for a day the kingdom, the tutor was overjoyed,
+and at once they began to plan ways for relieving all the poor of the
+country in that one day.
+
+For one thing, they dispatched private messengers to every part of the
+kingdom, bidding them tell each beggar they met to come to the Prince
+on that one day he should be King and he would relieve their wants,
+giving a broad gold piece to every poor man or woman who asked.
+
+For the Prince had determined to devote to this purpose the gold that
+filled the royal coffers; and as for the great ball and tourney the
+King had planned, why, that could go begging much better than the
+starving people.
+
+On the night before the day the Prince was to reign there was a great
+confusion of noise within the city, for beggars from all parts of the
+kingdom began to arrive, each one filled with joy at the prospect of
+receiving a piece of gold.
+
+There was a continual tramp, tramp of feet, and a great barking of
+dogs, as all dogs in those days were trained to bark at every beggar
+they saw, and now it was difficult to restrain them.
+
+And the beggars came to town singly and by twos and threes, until
+hundreds were there to await the morrow. Some few were very pitiful to
+behold, being feeble and infirm from age and disease, dressed in rags
+and tags, and presenting an appearance of great distress. But there
+were many more who were seemingly hearty and vigorous; and these were
+the lazy ones, who, not being willing to work, begged for a livelihood.
+
+And some there were dressed in silken hose and velvet gowns, who,
+forgetting all shame, and, eager for gold, had been led by the Prince's
+offer to represent themselves as beggars, that they might add to their
+wealth without trouble or cost to themselves.
+
+The next morning, when the sun arose upon the eventful day, it found
+the Prince sitting upon the throne of his father, dressed in a robe
+of ermine and purple, a crown upon his flowing locks and the King's
+scepter clasped tightly in his little hand. He was somewhat frightened
+at the clamor of the crowd without the palace, but Borland, who stood
+behind him, whispered,
+
+"The more you can succor the greater will be your glory, and you will
+live in the hearts of your people as the kind Prince who relieved their
+sufferings. Be of good cheer, Your Majesty, for all is well."
+
+Then did the Prince command the Treasurer to bring before him the royal
+coffers, and to stand ready to present to each beggar a piece of gold.
+The Treasurer was very unwilling to do this, but he was under penalty
+of death if he refused, and so the coffers were brought forth.
+
+"Your Majesty," said the Treasurer, "if each of those who clamor
+without is to receive a piece of gold, there will not be enough within
+these coffers to go around. Some will receive and others be denied,
+since no further store of gold is to be had."
+
+At this news the Prince was both puzzled and alarmed.
+
+"What are we to do?" he asked of the tutor; but Borland was unable to
+suggest a remedy.
+
+Then said the aged Chamberlain, coming forward, and bowing low before
+the little King,
+
+"Your Majesty, I think I can assist you in your difficulty. You did
+but promise a piece of gold to those who are really suffering and in
+need, but so great is the greed of mankind that many without are in
+no necessity whatever, but only seek to enrich themselves at your
+expense. Therefore I propose you examine carefully each case that
+presents itself, and unless the beggar is in need of alms turn him away
+empty-handed, as being a fraud and a charlatan."
+
+"Your counsel is wise, oh Chamberlain," replied the Prince, after a
+moment's thought; "and by turning away the impostors we shall have gold
+enough for the needy. Therefore bid the guards to admit the beggars one
+by one."
+
+When the first beggar came before him the Prince asked,
+
+"Are you in need?"
+
+"I am starving, Your Majesty," replied the man, in a whining tone. He
+was poorly dressed, but seemed strong and well, and the Prince examined
+him carefully for a moment. Then he answered the fellow, saying,
+
+"Since you are starving, go and sell the gold ring I see you are
+wearing upon your finger. I can assist only those who are unable to
+help themselves."
+
+At this the man turned away muttering angrily, and the courtiers
+murmured their approval of the Prince's wisdom.
+
+The next beggar was dressed in velvet, and the Prince sent him away
+with a sharp rebuke. But the third was a woman, old and feeble, and she
+blessed the Prince as she hobbled joyfully away with a broad gold-piece
+clasped tightly within her withered hand.
+
+The next told so pitiful a story that he also received a gold-piece;
+but as he turned away the Prince saw that beneath his robe his shoes
+were fastened with silver buckles, and so he commanded the guards to
+take away the gold and to punish the man for attempting to deceive his
+King.
+
+And so many came to him that were found to be unworthy that he finally
+bade the guards proclaim to all who waited that any who should be found
+undeserving would be beaten with stripes.
+
+That edict so frightened the imposters that they quickly fled, and only
+those few who were actually in want dared to present themselves before
+the King.
+
+And lo! the task that had seemed too great for one day was performed in
+a few hours, and when all the needy had been provided for but one of
+the royal coffers had been opened, and that was scarcely empty!
+
+"What think you, Borland?" asked the Prince, anxiously, "have we done
+aright?"
+
+"I have learned, Your Majesty," answered the tutor, "that there is a
+great difference between those who beg and those who suffer for lack
+of bread. For, while all who needed aid were in truth beggars, not all
+the beggars needed aid; and hereafter I shall only give alms to those I
+know to be honestly in want."
+
+"It is wisely said, my friend," returned the Prince, "and I feel I was
+wrong to doubt the wisdom of my father's councilors. Go, Borland, and
+ask the King if he will graciously attend me here."
+
+The King arrived and bowed smilingly before the Prince whom he had set
+to reign in his own place, and at once the boy arose and presented his
+sire with the scepter and crown, saying,
+
+"Forgive me, oh my King, that I presumed to doubt the wisdom of your
+rule. For, though the sun has not yet set, I feel that I am all
+unworthy to sit in your place, and so I willingly resign my power to
+your more skillful hands. And the coffers which I, in my ignorance, had
+determined to empty for the benefit of those unworthy, are still nearly
+full, and more than enough remains for the expenses of the carnival.
+Therefore forgive me, my father, and let me learn wisdom in the future
+from the justness of your rule."
+
+Thus ended the reign of Prince Lilimond as King, and not till many
+years later did he again ascend the throne upon the death of his father.
+
+And really there was not much suffering in the kingdom at any time, as
+it was a prosperous country and well governed; for, if you look for
+beggars in any land you will find many, but if you look only for the
+deserving poor there are less, and these all the more worthy of succor.
+
+I wish all those in power were as kind-hearted as little Prince
+Lilimond, and as ready to help the needy, for then there would be
+more light hearts in the world, since it is "better to give than to
+receive."
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Tom, the Piper's Son]
+
+
+
+
+Tom, the Piper's Son
+
+    Tom, Tom, the piper's son,
+    Stole a pig and away he run;
+    The pig was eat and Tom was beat
+    And Tom ran crying down the street.
+
+
+THERE was not a worse vagabond in Shrewsbury than old Barney the
+piper. He never did any work except to play the pipes, and he played
+so badly that few pennies ever found their way into his pouch. It was
+whispered around that old Barney was not very honest, but he was so sly
+and cautious that no one had ever caught him in the act of stealing,
+although a good many things had been missed after they had fallen into
+the old man's way.
+
+Barney had one son, named Tom; and they lived all alone in a little hut
+away at the end of the village street, for Tom's mother had died when
+he was a baby. You may not suppose that Tom was a very good boy, since
+he had such a queer father; but neither was he very bad, and the worst
+fault he had was in obeying his father's wishes when Barney wanted him
+to steal a chicken for their supper or a pot of potatoes for their
+breakfast. Tom did not like to steal, but he had no one to teach him to
+be honest, and so, under his father's guidance, he fell into bad ways.
+
+[Illustration: Tom, the Piper's Son]
+
+One morning
+
+    Tom, Tom, the piper's son,
+    Was hungry when the day begun;
+    He wanted a bun and asked for one,
+    But soon found out that there were none.
+
+"What shall we do?" he asked his father.
+
+"Go hungry," replied Barney, "unless you want to take my pipes and play
+in the village. Perhaps they will give you a penny."
+
+"No," answered Tom, shaking his head; "no one will give me a penny for
+playing; but Farmer Bowser might give me a penny to stop playing, if I
+went to his house. He did last week, you know."
+
+"You'd better try it," said his father; "it's mighty uncomfortable to
+be hungry."
+
+So Tom took his father's pipes and walked over the hill to Farmer
+Bowser's house; for you must know that
+
+    Tom, Tom, the piper's son,
+    Learned to play when he was young;
+    But the only tune that he could play
+    Was "Over the hills and far away."
+
+And he played this one tune as badly as his father himself played, so
+that the people were annoyed when they heard him, and often begged him
+to stop.
+
+When he came to Farmer Bowser's house, Tom started up the pipes and
+began to play with all his might. The farmer was in his woodshed,
+sawing wood, so he did not hear the pipes; and the farmer's wife was
+deaf, and could not hear them. But a little pig that had strayed around
+in front of the house heard the noise, and ran away in great fear to
+the pigsty.
+
+Then, as Tom saw the playing did no good, he thought he would sing
+also, and therefore he began bawling, at the top of his voice,
+
+    "Over the hills, not a great ways off,
+     The woodchuck died with the whooping-cough!"
+
+The farmer had stopped sawing to rest, just then; and when he heard the
+singing he rushed out of the shed, and chased Tom away with a big stick
+of wood.
+
+The boy went back to his father, and said, sorrowfully, for he was more
+hungry than before,
+
+"The farmer gave me nothing but a scolding; but there was a very nice
+pig running around the yard."
+
+"How big was it?" asked Barney.
+
+"Oh, just about big enough to make a nice dinner for you and me."
+
+    The piper slowly shook his head;
+    "'Tis long since I on pig have fed,
+    And though I feel it's wrong to steal,
+    Roast pig is very nice," he said.
+
+Tom knew very well what he meant by that, so he laid down the pipes,
+and went back to the farmer's house.
+
+When he came near he heard the farmer again sawing wood in the
+woodshed, and so he went softly up to the pig-sty and reached over and
+grabbed the little pig by the ears. The pig squealed, of course, but
+the farmer was making so much noise himself that he did not hear it,
+and in a minute Tom had the pig tucked under his arm and was running
+back home with it.
+
+The piper was very glad to see the pig, and said to Tom,
+
+"You are a good son, and the pig is very nice and fat. We shall have a
+dinner fit for a king."
+
+It was not long before the piper had the pig killed and cut into pieces
+and boiling in the pot. Only the tail was left out, for Tom wanted to
+make a whistle of it, and as there was plenty to eat besides the tail
+his father let him have it.
+
+The piper and his son had a fine dinner that day, and so great was
+their hunger that the little pig was all eaten up at one meal!
+
+Then Barney lay down to sleep, and Tom sat on a bench outside the door
+and began to make a whistle out of the pig's tail with his pocket-knife.
+
+Now Farmer Bowser, when he had finished sawing the wood, found it
+was time to feed the pig, so he took a pail of meal and went to the
+pigsty. But when he came to the sty there was no pig to be seen, and he
+searched all round the place for a good hour without finding it.
+
+"Piggy, piggy, piggy!" he called, but no piggy came, and then he knew
+his pig had been stolen. He was very angry, indeed, for the pig was a
+great pet, and he had wanted to keep it till it grew very big.
+
+So he put on his coat and buckled a strap around his waist, and went
+down to the village to see if he could find out who had stolen his pig.
+
+Up and down the street he went, and in and out the lanes, but no traces
+of the pig could he find anywhere. And that was no great wonder, for
+the pig was eaten by that time and its bones picked clean.
+
+Finally the farmer came to the end of the street where the piper lived
+in his little hut, and there he saw Tom sitting on a bench and blowing
+on a whistle made from a pig's tail.
+
+"Where did you get that tail?" asked the farmer.
+
+"I found it," said naughty Tom, beginning to be frightened.
+
+"Let me see it," demanded the farmer; and when he had looked at it
+carefully he cried out,
+
+"This tail belonged to my little pig, for I know very well the curl at
+the end of it! Tell me, you rascal, where is the pig?"
+
+Then Tom fell in a tremble, for he knew his wickedness was discovered.
+
+"The pig is eat, your honor," he answered.
+
+The farmer said never a word, but his face grew black with anger, and,
+unbuckling the strap that was about his waist, he waved it around his
+head, and whack! came the strap over Tom's back.
+
+"Ow, ow!" cried the boy, and started to run down the street.
+
+Whack! whack! fell the strap over his shoulders, for the farmer
+followed at his heels half-way down the street, nor did he spare the
+strap until he had given Tom a good beating. And Tom was so scared that
+he never stopped running until he came to the end of the village, and
+he bawled lustily the whole way and cried out at every step as if the
+farmer was still at his back.
+
+It was dark before he came back to his home, and his father was still
+asleep; so Tom crept into the hut and went to bed. But he had received
+a good lesson, and never after that could the old piper induce him to
+steal.
+
+When Tom showed by his actions his intention of being honest he soon
+got a job of work to do, and before long he was able to earn a living
+more easily, and a great deal more honestly, than when he stole the pig
+to get a dinner and suffered a severe beating as a punishment.
+
+    Tom, Tom, the piper's son
+    Now with stealing pigs was done,
+    He'd work all day instead of play,
+    And dined on tart and currant bun.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Humpty, Dumpty]
+
+
+
+
+Humpty Dumpty
+
+    Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
+    Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
+        All the King's horses
+        And all the King's men
+    Cannot put Humpty together again.
+
+
+AT the very top of the hay-mow in the barn, the Speckled Hen had made
+her nest, and each day for twelve days she had laid in it a pretty
+white egg. The Speckled Hen had made her nest in this out-of-the-way
+place so that no one would come to disturb her, as it was her intention
+to sit upon the eggs until they were hatched into chickens.
+
+Each day, as she laid her eggs, she would cackle to herself, saying,
+"This will in time be a beautiful chick, with soft, fluffy down all
+over its body and bright little eyes that will look at the world in
+amazement. It will be one of my children, and I shall love it dearly."
+
+She named each egg, as she laid it, by the name she should call it
+when a chick, the first one being "Cluckety-Cluck," and the next
+"Cadaw-Cut," and so on; and when she came to the twelfth egg she called
+it "Humpty Dumpty."
+
+This twelfth egg was remarkably big and white and of a very pretty
+shape, and as the nest was now so full she laid it quite near the
+edge. And then the Speckled Hen, after looking proudly at her work,
+went off to the barn-yard, clucking joyfully, in search of something to
+eat.
+
+When she had gone, Cluckety-Cluck, who was in the middle of the nest
+and the oldest egg of all, called out, angrily,
+
+"It's getting crowded in this nest; move up there, some of you
+fellows!" And then he gave Cadaw-Cut, who was above him, a kick.
+
+"I can't move unless the others do; they're crowding me down!" said
+Cadaw-Cut; and he kicked the egg next above him. And so they continued
+kicking one another and rolling around in the nest until one kicked
+Humpty Dumpty, and as he lay on the edge of the nest he was kicked
+out and rolled down the hay-mow until he came to a stop near the very
+bottom.
+
+Humpty did not like this very well, but he was a bright egg for one
+so young, and after he had recovered from his shaking up he began to
+look about to see where he was. The barn door was open, and he caught
+a glimpse of trees and hedges, and green grass with a silvery brook
+running through it. And he saw the waving grain and the tasselled maize
+and the sunshine flooding it all.
+
+The scene was very enticing to the young egg, and Humpty at once
+resolved to see something of this great world before going back to the
+nest.
+
+He began to make his way carefully through the hay, and was getting
+along fairly well when he heard a voice say,
+
+"Where are you going?"
+
+Humpty looked around and found he was beside a pretty little nest in
+which was one brown egg.
+
+"Did you speak?" he asked.
+
+"Yes," replied the brown egg; "I asked where you were going."
+
+"Who are you?" enquired Humpty; "do you belong in our nest?"
+
+"Oh, no!" answered the brown egg; "my name is Coutchie-Coulou, and the
+Black Bantam laid me about an hour ago."
+
+"Oh," said Humpty, proudly; "I belong to the Speckled Hen, myself."
+
+"Do you, indeed!" returned Coutchie-Coulou. "I saw her go by a little
+while ago, and she's much bigger than the Black Bantam."
+
+"Yes, and I'm much bigger than you," replied Humpty. "But I'm going out
+to see the world, and if you like to go with me I'll take good care of
+you."
+
+"Isn't it dangerous for eggs to go about all by themselves?" asked
+Coutchie, timidly.
+
+"Perhaps so," answered Humpty; "but it's dangerous in the nest, too; my
+brothers might have smashed me with their kicking. However, if we are
+careful we can't come to much harm; so come along, little one, and I'll
+look after you."
+
+Coutchie-Coulou gave him her hand while he helped her out of the nest,
+and together they crept over the hay until they came to the barn floor.
+They made for the door at once, holding each other tightly by the hand,
+and soon came to the threshold, which appeared very high to them.
+
+"We must jump," said Humpty.
+
+"I'm afraid!" cried Coutchie-Coulou. "And I declare! there's my
+mother's voice clucking, and she's coming this way."
+
+"Then hurry!" said Humpty. "And do not tremble so or you will get
+yourself all mixed up; it doesn't improve eggs to shake them. We will
+jump, but take care not to bump against me or you may break my shell.
+Now,--one,--two,--three!"
+
+They held each other's hand and jumped, alighting safely in the
+roadway. Then, fearing their mothers would see them, Humpty ran as fast
+as he could go until he and Coutchie were concealed beneath a rose-bush
+in the garden.
+
+"I'm afraid we're bad eggs," gasped Coutchie, who was somewhat out of
+breath.
+
+"Oh, not at all," replied Humpty; "we were laid only this morning, so
+we are quite fresh. But now, since we are in the world, we must start
+out in search of adventure. Here is a roadway beside us which will lead
+us somewhere or other; so come along, Coutchie-Coulou, and do not be
+afraid."
+
+The brown egg meekly gave him her hand, and together they trotted
+along the roadway until they came to a high stone wall, which had sharp
+spikes upon its top. It seemed to extend for a great distance, and the
+eggs stopped and looked at it curiously.
+
+"I'd like to see what is behind that wall," said Humpty, "but I don't
+think we shall be able to climb over it."
+
+"No, indeed," answered the brown egg, "but just before us I see a
+little hole in the wall, near the ground; perhaps we can crawl through
+that."
+
+They ran to the hole and found it was just large enough to admit
+them. So they squeezed through very carefully, in order not to break
+themselves, and soon came to the other side.
+
+They were now in a most beautiful garden, with trees and bright-hued
+flowers in abundance and pretty fountains that shot their merry sprays
+far into the air. In the center of the garden was a great palace, with
+bright golden turrets and domes, and many windows that glistened in the
+sunshine like the sparkle of diamonds.
+
+Richly dressed courtiers and charming ladies strolled through the
+walks, and before the palace door were a dozen prancing horses, gaily
+caparisoned, awaiting their riders.
+
+It was a scene brilliant enough to fascinate anyone, and the two eggs
+stood spellbound while their eyes feasted upon the unusual sight.
+
+"See!" whispered Coutchie-Coulou, "there are some birds swimming in
+the water yonder. Let us go and look at them, for we also may be birds
+some day."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"True," answered Humpty, "but we are just as likely to be omelets or
+angel's-food. Still, we will have a look at the birds."
+
+So they started to cross the drive on their way to the pond, never
+noticing that the King and his courtiers had issued from the palace and
+were now coming down the drive riding upon their prancing steeds. Just
+as the eggs were in the middle of the drive the horses dashed by, and
+Humpty, greatly alarmed, ran as fast as he could for the grass.
+
+Then he stopped and looked around, and behold! there was poor
+Coutchie-Coulou crushed into a shapeless mass by the hoof of one of the
+horses, and her golden heart was spreading itself slowly over the white
+gravel of the driveway!
+
+Humpty sat down upon the grass and wept grievously, for the death of
+his companion was a great blow to him. And while he sobbed, a voice
+said to him,
+
+"What is the matter, little egg?"
+
+Humpty looked up, and saw a beautiful girl bending over him.
+
+"One of the horses has stepped upon Coutchie-Coulou," he said; "and now
+she is dead, and I have no friend in all the world."
+
+The girl laughed.
+
+"Do not grieve," she said, "for eggs are but short-lived creatures at
+best, and Coutchie-Coulou has at least died an honorable death and
+saved herself from being fried in a pan or boiled in her own shell. So
+cheer up, little egg, and I will be your friend--at least so long as
+you remain fresh. A stale egg I never could abide."
+
+"I was laid only this morning," said Humpty, drying his tears, "so you
+need have no fear. But do not call me 'little egg,' for I am quite
+large, as eggs go, and I have a name of my own."
+
+"What is your name?" asked the Princess.
+
+"It is Humpty Dumpty," he answered, proudly. "And now, if you will
+really be my friend, pray show me about the grounds, and through the
+palace; and take care I am not crushed."
+
+So the Princess took Humpty in her arms and walked with him all through
+the grounds, letting him see the fountains and the golden fish that
+swam in their waters, the beds of lilies and roses, and the pools where
+the swans floated. Then she took him into the palace, and showed him
+all the gorgeous rooms, including the King's own bedchamber and the
+room where stood the great ivory throne.
+
+Humpty sighed with pleasure.
+
+"After this," he said, "I am content to accept any fate that may befall
+me, for surely no egg before me ever saw so many beautiful sights."
+
+"That is true," answered the Princess; "but now I have one more sight
+to show you which will be grander than all the others; for the King
+will be riding home shortly with all his horses and men at his back,
+and I will take you to the gates and let you see them pass by."
+
+"Thank you," said Humpty.
+
+So she carried him to the gates, and while they awaited the coming of
+the King the egg said,
+
+"Put me upon the wall, Princess, for then I shall be able to see much
+better than in your arms."
+
+"That is a good idea," she answered; "but you must be careful not to
+fall."
+
+Then she sat the egg gently upon the top of the stone wall, where there
+was a little hollow; and Humpty was delighted, for from his elevated
+perch he could see much better than the Princess herself.
+
+"Here they come!" he cried; and, sure enough, the King came riding
+along the road with many courtiers and soldiers and vassals following
+in his wake, all mounted upon the finest horses the kingdom could
+afford.
+
+As they came to the gate and entered at a brisk trot, Humpty,
+forgetting his dangerous position, leaned eagerly over to look at them.
+The next instant the Princess heard a sharp crash at her side, and,
+looking downward, perceived poor Humpty Dumpty, who lay crushed and
+mangled among the sharp stones where he had fallen!
+
+The Princess sighed, for she had taken quite a fancy to the egg; but
+she knew it was impossible to gather it up again or mend the matter in
+any way, and therefore she returned thoughtfully to the palace.
+
+Now it happened that upon this evening several young men of the
+kingdom, who were all of high rank, had determined to ask the King for
+the hand of the Princess; so they assembled in the throne room and
+demanded that the King choose which of them was most worthy to marry
+his daughter.
+
+The King was in a quandary, for all the suitors were wealthy and
+powerful, and he feared that all but the one chosen would become his
+enemies. Therefore he thought long upon the matter, and at last said,
+
+"Where all are worthy it is difficult to decide which most deserves the
+hand of the Princess. Therefore I propose to test your wit. The one who
+shall ask me a riddle I cannot guess, can marry my daughter."
+
+At this the young men looked thoughtful, and began to devise riddles
+that his Majesty should be unable to guess. But the King was a shrewd
+monarch, and each one of the riddles presented to him he guessed with
+ease.
+
+Now there was one amongst the suitors whom the Princess herself
+favored, as was but natural. He was a slender, fair-haired youth, with
+dreamy blue eyes and a rosy complexion, and although he loved the
+Princess dearly he despaired of finding a riddle that the King could
+not guess.
+
+But while he stood leaning against the wall the Princess approached him
+and whispered in his ear a riddle she had just thought of. Instantly
+his face brightened, and when the King called, "Now, Master Gracington,
+it is your turn," he advanced boldly to the throne.
+
+"Speak your riddle, sir," said the King, gaily; for he thought this
+youth would also fail, and that he might therefore keep the Princess by
+his side for a time longer.
+
+But Master Gracington, with downcast eyes, knelt before the throne and
+spoke in this wise:
+
+"This is my riddle, oh, King:
+
+    "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
+     Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
+         All the King's horses
+         And all the King's men
+     Cannot put Humpty together again!"
+
+"Read me that, sire, an' you will!"
+
+The King thought earnestly for a long time, and he slapped his head and
+rubbed his ears and walked the floor in great strides; but guess the
+riddle he could not.
+
+"You are a humbug, sir!" he cried out at last; "there is no answer to
+such a riddle."
+
+"You are wrong, sire," answered the young man; "Humpty Dumpty was an
+egg."
+
+"Why did I not think of that before!" exclaimed the King; but he gave
+the Princess to the young man to be his bride, and they lived happily
+together.
+
+And thus did Humpty Dumpty, even in his death, repay the kindness of
+the fair girl who had shown him such sights as an egg seldom sees.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: The Woman Who Lived in a Shoe]
+
+
+
+
+The Woman Who Lived in a Shoe
+
+    There was an old woman
+      Who lived in a shoe,
+    She had so many children
+      She didn't know what to do;
+    She gave them some broth
+      Without any bread,
+    And whipped them all soundly
+      And sent them to bed.
+
+
+A LONG time ago there lived a woman who had four daughters, and these
+in time grew up and married and went to live in different parts of
+the country. And the woman, after that, lived all alone, and said to
+herself, "I have done my duty to the world, and now shall rest quietly
+for the balance of my life. When one has raised a family of four
+children and has married them all happily, she is surely entitled to
+pass her remaining days in peace and comfort."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+She lived in a peculiar little house, that looked something like this
+picture. It was not like most of the houses you see, but the old woman
+had it built herself, and liked it, and so it did not matter to her how
+odd it was. It stood upon the top of a little hill, and there was a
+garden at the back and a pretty green lawn in front, with white gravel
+paths and many beds of bright colored flowers.
+
+The old woman was very happy and contented there until one day she
+received a letter saying that her daughter Hannah was dead and had sent
+her family of five children to their grandmother to be taken care of.
+
+This misfortune ruined all the old woman's dreams of quiet; but the
+next day the children arrived--three boys and two girls,--and she
+made the best of it and gave them the beds her own daughters had once
+occupied, and her own cot as well; and she made a bed for herself on
+the parlor sofa.
+
+The youngsters were like all other children, and got into mischief once
+in awhile; but the old woman had much experience with children and
+managed to keep them in order very well, while they quickly learned to
+obey her, and generally did as they were bid.
+
+But scarcely had she succeeded in getting them settled in their new
+home when Margaret, another of her daughters, died, and sent four more
+children to her mother to be taken care of.
+
+The old woman scarcely knew where to keep this new flock that had come
+to her fold, for the house was already full; but she thought the matter
+over and finally decided she must build an addition to her house.
+
+So she hired a carpenter and built what is called a "lean-to" at the
+right of her cottage, making it just big enough to accommodate the four
+new members of her family. When it was completed her house looked very
+much as it does in this picture.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+She put four little cots in her new part of the house, and then she
+sighed contentedly, and said, "Now all the babies are taken care of and
+will be comfortable until they grow up." Of course it was much more
+difficult to manage nine small children than five; and they often led
+each other into mischief, so that the flower beds began to be trampled
+upon and the green grass to be worn under the constant tread of little
+feet, and the furniture to show a good many scratches and bruises.
+
+But the old woman continued to look after them, as well as she was
+able, until Sarah, her third daughter, also died, and three more
+children were sent to their grandmother to be brought up.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The old woman was nearly distracted when she heard of this new addition
+to her family, but she did not give way to despair. She sent for the
+carpenter again, and had him build another addition to her house, as
+the picture shows. Then she put three new cots in the new part for the
+babies to sleep in, and when they arrived they were just as cozy and
+comfortable as peas in a pod.
+
+The grandmother was a lively old woman for one of her years, but she
+found her time now fully occupied in cooking the meals for her twelve
+small grandchildren, and mending their clothes, and washing their
+faces, and undressing them at night and dressing them in the morning.
+There was just a dozen of the babies now, and when you consider they
+were about the same age you will realize what a large family the old
+woman had, and how fully her time was occupied in caring for them all.
+
+And now, to make the matter worse, her fourth daughter, who had been
+named Abigail, suddenly took sick and died, and she also had four small
+children that must be cared for in some way.
+
+The old woman, having taken the other twelve, could not well refuse to
+adopt these little orphans also.
+
+"I may as well have sixteen as a dozen," she said, with a sigh; "they
+will drive me crazy some day, anyhow, so a few more will not matter at
+all!"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Once more she sent for the carpenter, and bade him build a third
+addition to the house; and when it was completed she added four more
+cots to the dozen that were already in use. The house presented a very
+queer appearance now, but she did not mind that so long as the babies
+were comfortable. "I shall not have to build again," she said; "and
+that is one satisfaction. I have now no more daughters to die and leave
+me their children, and therefore I must make up my mind to do the best
+I can with the sixteen that have already been inflicted upon me in my
+old age."
+
+It was not long before all the grass about the house was trodden down,
+and the white gravel of the walks all thrown at the birds, and the
+flower beds trampled into shapeless masses by thirty-two little feet
+that ran about from morn till night. But the old woman did not complain
+at this; her time was too much taken up with the babies for her to miss
+the grass and the flowers.
+
+It cost so much money to clothe them that she decided to dress them
+all alike, so that they looked like the children of a regular orphan
+asylum. And it cost so much to feed them that she was obliged to give
+them the plainest food; so there was bread-and-milk for breakfast and
+milk-and-bread for dinner and bread-and-broth for supper. But it was a
+good and wholesome diet, and the children thrived and grew fat upon it.
+
+One day a stranger came along the road, and when he saw the old woman's
+house he began to laugh.
+
+"What are you laughing at, sir?" asked the grandmother, who was sitting
+upon her door-steps engaged in mending sixteen pairs of stockings.
+
+"At your house," the stranger replied; "it looks for all the world like
+a big shoe!"
+
+"A shoe!" she said, in surprise.
+
+"Why, yes. The chimneys are shoe-straps, and the steps are the heel,
+and all those additions make the foot of the shoe."
+
+"Never mind," said the woman; "it may be a shoe, but it is full of
+babies, and that makes it different from most other shoes."
+
+But the stranger went on to the village and told all he met that he had
+seen an old woman who lived in a shoe; and soon people came from all
+parts of the country to look at the queer house, and they usually went
+away laughing.
+
+The old woman did not mind this at all; she was too busy to be angry.
+Some of the children were always getting bumped heads or bruised shins,
+or falling down and hurting themselves, and these had to be comforted.
+And some were naughty and had to be whipped; and some were dirty and
+had to be washed; and some were good and had to be kissed. It was
+"Gran'ma, do this!" and "Gran'ma, do that!" from morning to night, so
+that the poor grandmother was nearly distracted. The only peace she
+ever got was when they were all safely tucked in their little cots and
+were sound asleep; for then, at least, she was free from worry and had
+a chance to gather her scattered wits.
+
+"There are so many children," she said one day to the baker-man, "that
+I often really don't know what to do!"
+
+"If they were mine, ma'am," he replied, "I'd send them to the
+poor-house, or else they'd send me to the mad-house."
+
+Some of the children heard him say this, and they resolved to play him
+a trick in return for his ill-natured speech.
+
+The baker-man came every day to the shoe-house, and brought two great
+baskets of bread in his arms for the children to eat with their milk
+and their broth.
+
+So one day, when the old woman had gone to the town to buy shoes, the
+children all painted their faces, to look as Indians do when they are
+on the war-path; and they caught the roosters and the turkey-cock and
+pulled feathers from their tails to stick in their hair. And then the
+boys made wooden tomahawks for the girls and bows-and-arrows for their
+own use, and then all sixteen went out and hid in the bushes near the
+top of the hill.
+
+By and by the baker-man came slowly up the path with a basket of bread
+on either arm; and just as he reached the bushes there sounded in his
+ears a most unearthly war-whoop. Then a flight of arrows came from the
+bushes, and although they were blunt and could do him no harm, they
+rattled all over his body; and one hit his nose, and another his chin,
+while several stuck fast in the loaves of bread.
+
+Altogether, the baker-man was terribly frightened; and when all the
+sixteen small Indians rushed from the bushes and flourished their
+tomahawks, he took to his heels and rand down the hill as fast as he
+could go!
+
+When the grandmother returned she asked, "Where is the bread for your
+supper?"
+
+The children looked at one another in surprise, for they had forgotten
+all about the bread. And then one of them confessed, and told her the
+whole story of how they had frightened the baker-man for saying he
+would send them to the poor-house.
+
+"You are sixteen very naughty children!" exclaimed the old woman;
+"and for punishment you must eat your broth without any bread, and
+afterwards each one shall have a sound whipping and be sent to bed."
+
+Then all the children began to cry at once, and there was such an
+uproar that their grandmother had to put cotton in her ears that she
+might not lose her hearing.
+
+But she kept her promise, and made them eat their broth without any
+bread; for, indeed, there was no bread to give them.
+
+Then she stood them in a row and undressed them, and as she put the
+night-dress on each one she gave it a sound whipping and sent it to bed.
+
+They cried some, of course, but they knew very well they deserved the
+punishment, and it was not long before all of them were sound asleep.
+
+They took care not to play any more tricks on the baker-man, and as
+they grew older they were naturally much better behaved.
+
+Before many years the boys were old enough to work for the neighboring
+farmers, and that made the woman's family a good deal smaller. And then
+the girls grew up and married, and found homes of their own, so that
+all the children were in time well provided for.
+
+But not one of them forgot the kind grandmother who had taken such good
+care of them, and often they tell their children of the days when they
+lived with the old woman in a shoe and frightened the baker-man almost
+into fits with their wooden tomahawks.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Little Miss Muffet]
+
+
+
+
+Little Miss Muffet
+
+        Little Miss Muffet
+        Sat on a tuffet,
+    Eating of curds and whey.
+        There came a great spider
+        And sat down beside her
+    And frightened Miss Muffet away.
+
+
+LITTLE MISS MUFFET'S father was a big banker in a big city, and he
+had so much money that the house he lived in was almost as beautiful
+as a king's palace. It was built of granite and marble, and richly
+furnished with every luxury that money can buy. There was an army of
+servants about the house, and many of them had no other duties than
+to wait upon Miss Muffet, for the little girl was an only child and
+therefore a personage of great importance. She had a maid to dress her
+hair and a maid to bathe her, a maid to serve her at table and a maid
+to tie her shoestrings, and several maids beside. And then there was
+Nurse Holloweg to look after all the maids and see they did their tasks
+properly.
+
+The child's father spent his days at his office and his evenings at his
+club; her mother was a leader in society, and therefore fully engaged
+from morning till night and from night till morn; so that Little Miss
+Muffet seldom saw her parents and scarce knew them when she did see
+them.
+
+I have never known by what name she was christened. Perhaps she did
+not know herself, for everyone had called her "Miss Muffet" since she
+could remember. The servants spoke of her respectfully as Miss Muffet.
+Mrs. Muffet would say, at times, "By the way, Nurse, how is Miss
+Muffet getting along?" And Mr. Muffet, when he met his little daughter
+by chance on the walk or in the hallway, would stop and look at her
+gravely and say, "So this is Miss Muffet. Well, how are you feeling,
+little one?" And then, without heeding her answer, he would walk away.
+
+Perhaps you think that Miss Muffet, surrounded by every luxury and with
+a dozen servants to wait upon her, was happy and contented; but such
+was not the case. She wanted to run and romp, but they told her it was
+unladylike; she wished to play with other children, but none were rich
+enough to be proper associates for her; she longed to dig in the dirt
+in the garden, but Nurse Holloweg was shocked at the very thought. So
+Miss Muffet became sullen and irritable, and scolded everyone about
+her, and lived a very unhappy life. And her food was too rich and gave
+her dyspepsia, so that she grew thin and pale and did not sleep well at
+night.
+
+One afternoon her mother, who happened to be at home for an hour,
+suddenly thought of her little daughter; so she rang the bell and asked
+for Nurse Holloweg.
+
+"How is Miss Muffet, Nurse?" enquired the lady.
+
+"Very badly, ma'am," was the reply.
+
+"Badly! What do you mean? Is she ill?"
+
+"She's far from well, ma'am," answered the Nurse, "and seems to be
+getting worse every day."
+
+"Well," replied the lady; "you must have the doctor to see her; and
+don't forget to let me know what he says. That is all, Nurse."
+
+She turned to her novel again, and the Nurse walked away and sent a
+servant for the doctor. That great man, when he came, shook his head
+solemnly and said,
+
+"She must have a change. Take her away into the country as soon as
+possible."
+
+"And very good advice it was, too," remarked the Nurse to one of the
+maids; "for I feel as if I needed a change myself."
+
+When she reported the matter to Mrs. Muffet the mother answered,
+
+"Very well; I will see Mr. Muffet and have him write out a cheque."
+
+And so it was that a week later Little Miss Muffet went to the country,
+or rather to a small town where there was a summer hotel that had been
+highly recommended to Nurse Holloweg; and with her went the string of
+maids and a wagon-load of boxes and trunks.
+
+The morning after their arrival the little girl asked to go out upon
+the lawn.
+
+"Well," replied Nurse Holloweg, "Sarah can take you out for half an
+hour. But remember you are not to run and get heated, for that will
+ruin your complexion; and you must not speak to any of the common
+children you meet, for your mother would object; and you must not get
+your shoes dusty nor your dress soiled, nor disobey Sarah in any way."
+
+Little Miss Muffet went out in a very angry and sulky mood.
+
+"What's the use of being in the country," she thought, "if I must act
+just as I did in the city? I hate Nurse Holloweg, and Sarah, and all
+the rest of them! and if I dared I'd just--just run away."
+
+Indeed, a few minutes later, when Sarah had fallen asleep upon a bench
+under a big shade tree, Miss Muffet decided she would really run away
+for once in her life, and see how it seemed.
+
+There was a pretty lane near by, running between shady trees far out
+into the country, and, stealing softly away from Sarah's side, the
+little girl ran as fast as she could go, and never stopped until she
+was all out of breath.
+
+While she rested and wondered what she could do next, a farmer came
+along, driving an empty cart.
+
+"I'll catch on behind," said Miss Muffet, gleefully, "just as I've seen
+the boys do in the city. Won't it be fun!"
+
+So she ran and caught on the end of the cart, and actually climbed into
+it, falling all in a heap upon the straw that lay upon the bottom. But
+it didn't hurt her at all, and the next minute the farmer whipped up
+his horses, and they went trotting along the lane, carrying Miss Muffet
+farther and farther away from hated Nurse Holloweg and the dreadful
+maids.
+
+She looked around upon the green fields and the waving grain, and drew
+in deep breaths of the fresh country air, and was happy for almost the
+first time in her little life. By and by she lay back upon the straw
+and fell asleep; and the farmer, who did not know she was in his cart,
+drove on for many miles, until at last he stopped at a small wooden
+farm-house, and jumped to the ground.
+
+A woman came to the door to greet him, and he said to her,
+
+"Well, mother, we're home again, you see."
+
+"So I see," she answered; "but did you bring my groceries?"
+
+"Yes," he replied, as he began to unharness the horses; "they are in
+the cart."
+
+So she came to the cart and looked within, and saw Miss Muffet, who was
+still asleep.
+
+"Where did you get the little girl?" asked the farmer's wife, in
+surprise.
+
+"What little girl?" asked he.
+
+"The one in the cart."
+
+He came to the cart and looked in, and was as surprised as his wife.
+
+"She must have climbed into the cart when I left the town," he said;
+"but waken her, wife, and we will hear what she has to say."
+
+So the farmer's wife shook the girl by the arm, and Miss Muffet sat up
+in the cart and rubbed her eyes and wondered where she was.
+
+"How came you in my cart?" asked the farmer.
+
+"I caught on behind, and climbed in," answered the girl.
+
+"What is your name, and where do you live?" enquired the farmer's wife.
+
+"My name is Miss Muffet, and I live in a big city,--but where, I do not
+know."
+
+And that was all she could tell them, so the woman said at last,
+
+"We must keep her till some one comes to claim her, and she can earn
+her living by helping me make the cheeses."
+
+"That will be nice," said Miss Muffet, with a laugh, "for Nurse
+Holloweg never lets me do anything, and I should like to help somebody
+do something."
+
+So they led her into the house, where the farmer's wife wondered at the
+fine texture of her dress and admired the golden chain that hung around
+her neck.
+
+"Some one will surely come for her," the woman said to her husband,
+"for she is richly dressed and must belong to a family of some
+importance."
+
+Nevertheless, when they had eaten dinner, for which Little Miss Muffet
+had a wonderful appetite, the woman took her into the dairy and told
+her how she could assist her in curdling the milk and preparing it for
+the cheese-press.
+
+"Why, it's really fun to work," said the girl, at first, "and I should
+like to live here always. I do hope Nurse Holloweg will not find me."
+
+After a time, however, she grew weary, and wanted to rest; but the
+woman had not yet finished her cheese-making, so she bade the girl keep
+at her tasks.
+
+"It's time enough to rest when the work is done," she said, "and if you
+stay with me you must earn your board. No one is allowed to idle in
+this house."
+
+So Little Miss Muffet, though she felt like crying and was very tired,
+kept at her work until at length all was finished and the last cheese
+was in the press.
+
+"Now," said the farmer's wife, "since you have worked so well I shall
+give you a dish of curds and whey for your supper, and you may go out
+into the orchard and eat it under the shade of the trees."
+
+Little Miss Muffet had never eaten curds and whey before, and did not
+know how they tasted; but she was very hungry, so she took the dish and
+went into the orchard.
+
+She first looked around for a place to sit down, and finally
+discovered a little grassy mound, which is called a tuffet in the
+country, and seated herself upon it. Then she tasted the curds and whey
+and found them very good.
+
+But while she was eating she chanced to look down at her feet, and
+there was a great black spider coming straight towards her. The girl
+had never seen such an enormous and hideous-looking spider before, and
+she was so frightened that she gave a scream and tipped backward off
+the tuffet, spilling the curds and whey all over her dress as she did
+so. This frightened her more than ever, and as soon as she could get
+upon her feet she scampered away to the farm-house as fast as she could
+go, crying bitterly as she ran.
+
+The farmer's wife tried to comfort her, and Miss Muffet, between her
+sobs, said she had seen "the awfulest, biggest, blackest spider in all
+the world!"
+
+This made the woman laugh, for she was not afraid of spiders.
+
+Soon after they heard a sound of wheels upon the road and a handsome
+carriage came dashing up to the gate.
+
+"Has anyone seen a little girl who has run away?" asked Nurse Holloweg,
+leaning out of the carriage.
+
+"Oh, yes," answered Little Miss Muffet; "here I am, Nurse." And she ran
+out and jumped into the carriage, for she was very glad to get back
+again to those who would care for her and not ask her to work making
+cheeses.
+
+When they were driving back to the town the Nurse said,
+
+"You must promise me, Miss Muffet, never to run away again. You have
+frightened me nearly into hysterics, and had you been lost your mother
+would have been quite disappointed."
+
+The little girl was silent for a time; then she answered,
+
+"I will promise not to run away if you will let me play as other
+children do. But if you do not allow me to run and romp and dig in the
+ground, I shall keep running away, no matter how many horrid spiders
+come to frighten me!"
+
+And Nurse Holloweg, who had really been much alarmed at so nearly
+losing her precious charge, thought it wise to agree to Miss Muffet's
+terms.
+
+She kept her word, too, and when Little Miss Muffet went back to her
+home in the city her cheeks were as red as roses and her eyes sparkled
+with health. And she grew, in time, to be a beautiful young lady, and
+as healthy and robust as she was beautiful. Seeing which, the doctor
+put an extra large fee in his bill for advising that the little girl be
+taken to the country; and Mr. Muffet paid it without a word of protest.
+
+Even after Miss Muffet grew up and was married she never forgot the day
+that she ran away, nor the curds and whey she ate for her supper, nor
+the great spider that frightened her away from the tuffet.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Three Wise Men of Gotham]
+
+
+
+
+Three Wise Men of Gotham
+
+    Three Wise Men of Gotham
+    Went to sea in a bowl.
+    If the bowl had been stronger
+    My tale had been longer.
+
+
+THERE lived in the great city of Gotham, over against the north gate, a
+man who possessed a very wise aspect, but very little else. He was tall
+and lean, and had a fine large head, bald and smooth upon the top, with
+a circle of white hair behind the ears. His beard was pure white, and
+reached to his waist; his eyes were small, dark, and so piercing that
+they seemed to read your every thought. His eyebrows were very heavy,
+and as white as his beard. He dressed in a long black mantle with a
+girdle corded about the middle, and he walked slowly and majestically,
+and talked no more than he was obliged to.
+
+When this man passed down the street with his stately tread the people
+all removed their hats and bowed to him with great reverence, saying
+within themselves,
+
+"He is very wise, this great man; he is a second Socrates."
+
+And soon this was the only name he was called by, and every one in
+Gotham knew him as "Socrates."
+
+To be sure this man was not really wise. Had they realized the
+truth, not one he met but knew more than Socrates; but his venerable
+appearance certainly betokened great wisdom, and no one appeared to
+remember that things are seldom what they seem.
+
+Socrates would strut about with bowed head and arms clasped behind him,
+and think:
+
+"My! how wise these people take me to be. Every one admires my
+beautiful beard. When I look into their faces they drop their eyes. I
+am, in truth, a wonderful man, and if I say nothing they will believe
+I am full of wisdom. Ah, here comes the schoolmaster; I shall frown
+heavily and refuse to notice him, for then he also will be deceived and
+think I am pondering upon matters of great import."
+
+Really, the one wise thing about this Socrates was his ability to keep
+quiet. For, saying no word, it was impossible he should betray his
+ignorance.
+
+Singularly enough, over by the south gate of Gotham there dwelt another
+wise man, of much the same appearance as Socrates. His white beard was
+a trifle longer and he had lost his left eye, which was covered by a
+black patch; but in all other ways his person betokened as much wisdom
+as that of the other.
+
+He did not walk about, being lazy and preferring his ease; but he
+lived in a little cottage with one room, where the people came to
+consult him in regard to all their troubles.
+
+They had named him Sophocles, and when anything went wrong they would
+say,
+
+"Let us go and consult Sophocles, for he is very wise and will tell us
+what to do."
+
+Thus one man, who had sued his neighbor in the courts, became worried
+over the outcome of the matter and came to consult the wise man.
+
+"Tell me, O Sophocles!" he said, as he dropped a piece of money upon a
+plate, "shall I win my lawsuit or not?"
+
+Sophocles appeared to ponder for a moment, and then he looked at his
+questioner with his one eye and replied,
+
+"If it is not decided against you, you will certainly win your suit."
+
+And the man was content, and went away feeling that his money had been
+well invested.
+
+At another time the mother of a pair of baby twins came to him in great
+trouble.
+
+"O most wise Sophocles!" she said, "I am in despair! For my little twin
+girls are just alike, and I have lost the ribbon that I placed on one
+that I might be able to tell them apart. Therefore I cannot determine
+which is Amelia and which is Ophelia, and as the priest has christened
+them by their proper names it would be a sin to call them wrongly."
+
+[Illustration: Three Wise Men of Gotham]
+
+"Cannot the priest tell?" asked the wise man.
+
+"No one can tell," answered the woman; "neither the priest nor their
+father nor myself, for they are just alike. And they are yet too young
+to remember their own names. Therefore your great wisdom is our only
+resource."
+
+"Bring them to me," commanded Sophocles.
+
+And when they were brought he looked at them attentively and said,
+
+"This is Ophelia and this Amelia. Now tie a red ribbon about Ophelia's
+wrist and put a blue ribbon on Amelia, and so long as they wear them
+you will not be troubled to tell them apart."
+
+Everyone marvelled greatly that Sophocles should know the children
+better than their own mother, but he said to himself,
+
+"Since no one can prove that I am wrong I am sure to be right;" and
+thus he maintained his reputation for wisdom.
+
+In a little side street near the center of Gotham lived an old woman
+named Deborah Smith. Her home was a wretched little hut, for she was
+poor, and supported herself and her husband by begging in the streets.
+Her husband was a lazy, short, fat old man, who lay upon a ragged
+blanket in the hut all day and refused to work.
+
+"One beggar in the family is enough," he used to grumble, when his wife
+upbraided him, "and I am really too tired to work. So let me alone,
+my Deborah, as I am about to take another nap."
+
+Nothing she could say would arouse him to action, and she finally
+allowed him to do as he pleased.
+
+But one day she met Socrates walking in the street, and after watching
+him for a time made up her mind he was nothing more than a fool. Other
+people certainly thought him wise, but she was a shrewd old woman, and
+could see well enough that he merely looked wise. The next day she went
+to the south of the city to beg, and there she heard of Sophocles. When
+the people repeated his wise sayings she thought,
+
+"Here is another fool, for any one could tell as much as this man does."
+
+Still, she went to see Sophocles, and, dropping a penny upon his plate,
+she asked,
+
+"Tell me, O wise man, how shall I drive my husband to work?"
+
+"By starving him," answered Sophocles; "if you refuse to feed him he
+must find a way to feed himself."
+
+"That is true," she thought, as she went away; "but any fool could have
+told me that. This wise man is a fraud; even my husband is as wise as
+he."
+
+Then she stopped short and slapped her hand against her forehead.
+
+"Why," she cried, "I will make a Wise Man of Perry, my husband, and
+then he can earn money without working!"
+
+So she went to her husband and said,
+
+"Get up, Perry Smith, and wash yourself; for I am going to make a Wise
+Man of you."
+
+"I won't," he replied.
+
+"You will," she declared, "for it is the easiest way to earn money I
+have ever discovered."
+
+Then she took a stick and beat him so fiercely that at last he got up,
+and agreed to do as she said.
+
+She washed his long beard until it was as white as snow, and she
+shaved his head to make him look bald and venerable. Then she brought
+him a flowing black robe with a girdle at the middle; and when he was
+dressed, lo! he looked fully as wise as either Socrates or Sophocles.
+
+"You must have a new name," she said, "for no one will ever believe
+that Perry Smith is a Wise Man. So I shall hereafter call you Pericles,
+the Wisest Man of Gotham!"
+
+She then led him into the streets, and to all they met she declared,
+
+"This is Pericles, the wisest man in the world."
+
+"What does he know?" they asked.
+
+"Everything, and much else," she replied.
+
+Then came a carter, and putting a piece of money in the hand of
+Pericles, he enquired,
+
+"Pray tell me of your wisdom what is wrong with my mare?"
+
+"How should I know?" asked Pericles.
+
+"I thought you knew everything," returned the carter, in surprise.
+
+"I do," declared Pericles; "but you have not told me what her symptoms
+are."
+
+"She refuses to eat anything," said the carter.
+
+"Then she is not hungry," returned Pericles; "for neither man nor beast
+will refuse to eat when hungry."
+
+And the people who heard him whispered together and said,
+
+"Surely this is a wise man, for he has told the carter what is wrong
+with his mare."
+
+After a few days the fame of Pericles' sayings came to the ears of both
+Socrates and Sophocles, and they resolved to see him, for each feared
+he would prove more wise than they were, knowing themselves to be
+arrant humbugs. So one morning the three wise men met together outside
+the hut of Pericles, and they sat themselves down upon stools, facing
+each other, while a great crowd of people gathered around to hear the
+words of wisdom that dropped from their lips.
+
+But for a time all three were silent, and regarded one another
+anxiously, for each feared he might betray himself.
+
+Finally Sophocles winked his one eye at the others and said, in a grave
+voice,
+
+"The earth is flat; for, were it round, as some fools say, all the
+people would slide off the surface."
+
+Then the people, who had listened eagerly, clapped their hands together
+and murmured,
+
+"Sophocles is wisest of all. What he says is truth."
+
+This provoked Socrates greatly, for he felt his reputation was in
+danger; so he said with a frown,
+
+"The world is shallow, like a dish; were it flat the water would all
+run over the edges, and we should have no oceans."
+
+Then the people applauded more loudly than before, and cried,
+
+"Socrates is right! he is wisest of all."
+
+Pericles, at this, shifted uneasily upon his stool, for he knew he must
+dispute the matter boldly or his fame would depart from him. Therefore
+he said, with grave deliberation,
+
+"You are wrong, my friends. The world is hollow, like the shell of a
+cocoanut, and we are all inside the shell. The sky above us is the
+roof, and if you go out upon the ocean you will come to a place, no
+matter in which direction you go, where the sky and the water meet. I
+know this is true, for I have been to sea."
+
+The people cheered loudly at this, and said,
+
+"Long live Pericles, the wisest of the wise men!"
+
+"I shall hold I am right," protested Sophocles, "until Pericles and
+Socrates prove that I am wrong."
+
+"That is fair enough," said the people.
+
+"And I also shall hold myself to be right until they prove me wrong,"
+declared Socrates, firmly.
+
+"I know I am right," said Pericles, "for you cannot prove me wrong."
+
+"We can take a boat and sail over the sea," remarked Socrates, "and
+when we come to the edge we will know the truth. Will you go?"
+
+"Yes," answered Sophocles; and Pericles, because he did not dare
+refuse, said "Yes" also.
+
+Then they went to the shore of the sea, and the people followed them.
+There was no boat to be found anywhere, for the fishers were all away
+upon the water; but there was a big wooden bowl lying upon the shore,
+which the fishermen used to carry their fish to market in.
+
+"This will do," said Pericles, who, because he weighed the most, was
+the greatest fool of the three.
+
+So the wise men all sat within the bowl, with their feet together, and
+the people pushed them out into the water.
+
+The tide caught the bowl and floated it out to sea, and before long the
+wise men were beyond sight of land.
+
+They were all greatly frightened, for the bowl was old and cracked, and
+the water leaked slowly through until their feet were covered. They
+clung to the edge with their hands and looked at one another with white
+faces. Said Pericles,
+
+"I was a fool to come to sea in this bowl."
+
+"Ah," remarked Socrates, "if you are a fool, as you confess, then you
+cannot be a wise man."
+
+"No," answered Pericles, "but I'll soon be a dead man."
+
+"I also was a fool," said Sophocles, who was weeping from his one eye
+and trembling all over, "for if I had stayed upon land I would not
+have been drowned."
+
+"Since you both acknowledge it," sighed Socrates, "I will confess that
+I also am a fool, and have always been one; but I looked so wise the
+people insisted I must know everything!"
+
+"Yes, yes," Sophocles groaned, "the people have murdered us!"
+
+"My only regret," said Pericles, "is that my wife is not with me. If
+only she were here"--
+
+He did not finish what he was saying, for just then the bowl broke in
+two. And the people are still waiting for the three wise men to come
+back to them.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Little Bun Rabbit]
+
+
+
+
+Little Bun Rabbit
+
+    "Oh, Little Bun Rabbit, so soft and so shy,
+    Say, what do you see with your big, round eye?"
+    "On Christmas we rabbits," says Bunny so shy,
+    "Keep watch to see Santa go galloping by."
+
+
+LITTLE DOROTHY had passed all the few years of her life in the country,
+and being the only child upon the farm she was allowed to roam about
+the meadows and woods as she pleased. On the bright summer mornings
+Dorothy's mother would tie a sun-bonnet under the girl's chin, and then
+she romped away to the fields to amuse herself in her own way.
+
+She came to know every flower that grew, and to call them by name,
+and she always stepped very carefully to avoid treading on them, for
+Dorothy was a kind-hearted child and did not like to crush the pretty
+flowers that bloomed in her path. And she was also very fond of all the
+animals, and learned to know them well, and even to understand their
+language, which very few people can do. And the animals loved Dorothy
+in turn, for the word passed around amongst them that she could be
+trusted to do them no harm. For the horse, whose soft nose Dorothy
+often gently stroked, told the cow of her kindness, and the cow told
+the dog, and the dog told the cat, and the cat told her black kitten,
+and the black kitten told the rabbit when one day they met in the
+turnip patch.
+
+Therefore when the rabbit, which is the most timid of all animals and
+the most difficult to get acquainted with, looked out of a small bush
+at the edge of the wood one day and saw Dorothy standing a little way
+off, he did not scamper away, as is his custom, but sat very still and
+met the gaze of her sweet eyes boldly, although perhaps his heart beat
+a little faster than usual.
+
+Dorothy herself was afraid she might frighten him away, so she kept
+very quiet for a time, leaning silently against a tree and smiling
+encouragement at her timorous companion until the rabbit became
+reassured and blinked his big eyes at her thoughtfully. For he was as
+much interested in the little girl as she in him, since it was the
+first time he had dared to meet a person face to face.
+
+Finally Dorothy ventured to speak, so she asked, very softly and slowly,
+
+    "Oh, Little Bun Rabbit, so soft and so shy,
+     Say, what do you see with your big, round eye?"
+
+"Many things," answered the rabbit, who was pleased to hear the girl
+speak in his own language; "in summer-time I see the clover-leaves
+that I love to feed upon and the cabbages at the end of the farmer's
+garden. I see the cool bushes where I can hide from my enemies, and I
+see the dogs and the men long before they can see me, or know that I am
+near, and therefore I am able to keep out of their way."
+
+"Is that the reason your eyes are so big?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"I suppose so," returned the rabbit; "you see we have only our eyes and
+our ears and our legs to defend ourselves with. We cannot fight, but we
+can always run away, and that is a much better way to save our lives
+than by fighting."
+
+"Where is your home, bunny?" enquired the girl.
+
+"I live in the ground, far down in a cool, pleasant hole I have dug in
+the midst of the forest. At the bottom of the hole is the nicest little
+room you can imagine, and there I have made a soft bed to rest in at
+night. When I meet an enemy I run to my hole and jump in, and there I
+stay until all danger is over."
+
+"You have told me what you see in summer," continued Dorothy, who was
+greatly interested in the rabbit's account of himself, "but what do you
+see in the winter?"
+
+    "In winter we rabbits," said Bunny so shy,
+    "Keep watch to see Santa go galloping by."
+
+"And do you ever see him?" asked the girl, eagerly.
+
+"Oh, yes; every winter. I am not afraid of him, nor of his reindeer.
+And it is such fun to see him come dashing along, cracking his whip and
+calling out cheerily to his reindeer, who are able to run even swifter
+than we rabbits. And Santa Claus, when he sees me, always gives me a
+nod and a smile, and then I look after him and his big load of toys
+which he is carrying to the children, until he has galloped away out of
+sight. I like to see the toys, for they are so bright and pretty, and
+every year there is something new amongst them. Once I visited Santa,
+and saw him make the toys."
+
+"Oh, tell me about it!" pleaded Dorothy.
+
+"It was one morning after Christmas," said the rabbit, who seemed to
+enjoy talking, now that he had overcome his fear of Dorothy, "and I was
+sitting by the road-side when Santa Claus came riding back in his empty
+sleigh. He does not come home quite so fast as he goes, and when he saw
+me he stopped for a word.
+
+"'You look very pretty this morning, Bun Rabbit,' he said, in his jolly
+way; 'I think the babies would love to have you to play with.'
+
+"'I don't doubt it, your honor,' I answered; 'but they'd soon kill me
+with handling, even if they did not scare me to death; for babies are
+very rough with their playthings.'
+
+"'That is true,' replied Santa Claus; 'and yet you are so soft and
+pretty it is a pity the babies can't have you. Still, as they would
+abuse a live rabbit I think I shall make them some toy rabbits, which
+they cannot hurt; so if you will jump into my sleigh with me and ride
+home to my castle for a few days, I'll see if I can't make some toy
+rabbits just like you.'
+
+"Of course I consented, for we all like to please old Santa, and a
+minute later I had jumped into the sleigh beside him and we were
+dashing away at full speed toward his castle. I enjoyed the ride
+very much, but I enjoyed the castle far more; for it was one of the
+loveliest places you could imagine. It stood on the top of a high
+mountain and is built of gold and silver bricks, and the windows are
+pure diamond crystals. The rooms are big and high, and there is a soft
+carpet upon every floor and many strange things scattered around to
+amuse one. Santa Claus lives there all alone, except for old Mother
+Hubbard, who cooks the meals for him; and her cupboard is never bare
+now, I can promise you! At the top of the castle there is one big room,
+and that is Santa's work-shop, where he makes the toys. On one side is
+his work-bench, with plenty of saws and hammers and jack-knives; and on
+another side is the paint-bench, with paints of every color and brushes
+of every size and shape. And in other places are great shelves, where
+the toys are put to dry and keep new and bright until Christmas comes
+and it is time to load them all into his sleigh.
+
+"After Mother Hubbard had given me a good dinner, and I had eaten some
+of the most delicious clover I have ever tasted, Santa took me up into
+his work-room and sat me upon the table.
+
+"'If I can only make rabbits half as nice as you are,' he said, 'the
+little ones will be delighted.' Then he lit a big pipe and began to
+smoke, and soon he took a roll of soft fur from a shelf in a corner
+and commenced to cut it out in the shape of a rabbit. He smoked and
+whistled all the time he was working, and he talked to me in such a
+jolly way that I sat perfectly still and allowed him to measure my ears
+and my legs so that he could cut the fur into the proper form.
+
+"'Why, I've got your nose too long, Bunny,' he said once; and so he
+snipped a little off the fur he was cutting, so that the toy rabbit's
+nose should be like mine. And again he said, 'Good gracious! the ears
+are too short entirely!' So he had to get a needle and thread and sew
+on more fur to the ears, so that they might be the right size. But
+after a time it was all finished, and then he stuffed the fur full
+of sawdust and sewed it up neatly; after which he put in some glass
+eyes that made the toy rabbit look wonderfully life-like. When it was
+all done he put it on the table beside me, and at first I didn't know
+whether I was the live rabbit or the toy rabbit, we were so much alike.
+
+"'It's a very good job,' said Santa, nodding his head at us pleasantly;
+'and I shall have to make a lot of these rabbits, for the little
+children are sure to be greatly pleased with them.'
+
+"So he immediately began to make another, and this time he cut the fur
+just the right size, so that it was even better than the first rabbit.
+
+"'I must put a squeak in it,' said Santa.
+
+"So he took a box of squeaks from a shelf and put one into the rabbit
+before he sewed it up. When it was all finished he pressed the toy
+rabbit with his thumb, and it squeaked so naturally that I jumped off
+the table, fearing at first the new rabbit was alive. Old Santa laughed
+merrily at this, and I soon recovered from my fright and was pleased to
+think the babies were to have such pretty playthings.
+
+"'After this,' said Santa Claus, 'I can make rabbits without having you
+for a pattern; but if you like you may stay a few days longer in my
+castle and amuse yourself.'
+
+"I thanked him and decided to stay. So for several days I watched him
+making all kinds of toys, and I wondered to see how quickly he made
+them, and how many new things he invented.
+
+"'I almost wish I was a child,' I said to him one day, 'for then I too
+could have playthings.'
+
+"'Ah, you can run about all day, in summer and in winter, and enjoy
+yourself in your own way,' said Santa; 'but the poor little children
+are obliged to stay in the house in the winter and on rainy days in
+the summer, and then they must have toys to amuse them and keep them
+contented.'
+
+"I knew this was true, so I only said, admiringly,
+
+"'You must be the quickest and the best workman in all the world,
+Santa.'
+
+"'I suppose I am,' he answered; 'but then, you see, I have been making
+toys for hundreds of years, and I make so many it is no wonder I am
+skillful. And now, if you are ready to go home, I'll hitch up the
+reindeer and take you back again.'
+
+"'Oh, no,' said I, 'I prefer to run by myself, for I can easily find
+the way and I want to see the country.'
+
+"'If that is the case,' replied Santa, 'I must give you a magic collar
+to wear, so that you will come to no harm.'
+
+"So, after Mother Hubbard had given me a good meal of turnips and
+sliced cabbage, Santa Claus put the magic collar around my neck and I
+started for home. I took my time on the journey, for I knew nothing
+could harm me, and I saw a good many strange sights before I got back
+to this place again."
+
+"But what became of the magic collar?" asked Dorothy, who had listened
+with breathless interest to the rabbit's story.
+
+"After I got home," replied the rabbit, "the collar disappeared from
+around my neck, and I knew Santa had called it back to himself again.
+He did not give it to me, you see; he merely let me take it on my
+journey to protect me. The next Christmas, when I watched by the
+road-side to see Santa, I was pleased to notice a great many of the toy
+rabbits sticking out of the loaded sleigh. The babies must have liked
+them, too, for every year since I have seen them amongst the toys.
+
+"Santa never forgets me, and every time he passes he calls out, in his
+jolly voice,
+
+"'A merry Christmas to you, Bun Rabbit! The babies still love you
+dearly.'"
+
+The Rabbit paused, and Dorothy was just about to ask another question
+when Bunny raised his head and seemed to hear something coming.
+
+"What is it?" enquired the girl.
+
+"It's the farmer's big shepherd dog," answered the Rabbit, "and I must
+be going before he sees me, or I shall have to run for my life. So good
+bye, Dorothy; I hope we shall meet again, and then I will gladly tell
+you more of my adventures."
+
+The next instant he had sprung into the wood, and all that Dorothy
+could see of him was a gray streak darting in and out amongst the trees.
+
+
+
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