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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:25:18 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:25:18 -0700 |
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diff --git a/5312-h/5312-h.htm b/5312-h/5312-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6b61683 --- /dev/null +++ b/5312-h/5312-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8018 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Mother Goose in Prose, by L. Frank Baum</title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + text-indent: 1.25em; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + + + .maintitle {font-size: 200%; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;} + .copyright {text-align: center; font-size: 70%;} + .author {font-size: 120%; text-align: center;} + .sig {margin-right: 10%; text-align: right;} + + .poem {margin-left: 30%; text-align: left;} + + img {border: 0;} + .tnote {border: dashed 1px; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em;} + + .unindent {margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +hr.chap {width: 65%} + + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + + + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + + + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold; font-size: 90%;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 1em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +.figright { + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1em; + margin-bottom: + 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +/*Drop caps*/ +.drop-cap { margin-top: 1em; + text-indent: 0em; + text-align: justify; +} +.drop-cap:first-letter +{ + float: left; + margin: 0.15em 0.1em 0em 0em; + font-size: 250%; + line-height:0.5em; +} +@media handheld +{ + .drop-cap:first-letter + { + float: none; + margin: 0; + font-size: 100%; + } +} + + p.pg { text-align: left; + text-indent: 0em; } + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Mother Goose in Prose, by L. Frank Baum, +Illustrated by Maxfield Parrish</h1> +<p class="pg">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 <a +href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></p> +<p class="pg">Title: Mother Goose in Prose</p> +<p class="pg">Author: L. Frank Baum</p> +<p class="pg">Release Date: June 29, 2002 [eBook #5312]<br /> +This revision posted May 28, 2014</p> +<p class="pg">Language: English</p> +<p class="pg">Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p class="pg">***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOTHER GOOSE IN PROSE***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Bebra Knutson<br /> + and revised by David Edwards<br /> + and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> + <br /> + HTML version prepared by David Edwards<br /> + and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)<br /> + from illustrations generously made available by<br /> + Internet Archive<br /> + (<a href="https://archive.org">https://archive.org</a>)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 476px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="476" height="800" alt="cover" /> +</div><div class='tnote copyright'><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> This cover was +created by the transcriber by adding text to the original plain cover and is placed in the public +domain.</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> +<div class='maintitle'>Mother Goose in Prose</div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 476px;"><a id="frontis"></a> +<img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="476" height="539" alt="man with gun" /> +<div class="caption">"There was a little man and he had a little gun"</div> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> + + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 479px;"> +<img src="images/titlepage.jpg" width="479" height="556" alt="Title page" /> +</div> + + +<h1>MOTHER GOOSE<br /> +IN PROSE</h1> + +<div class='center'> +<span class='author'>BY L. FRANK BAUM</span><br /> +<big><i>Illustrated by</i> MAXFIELD PARRISH</big><br /> +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +New York<br /> +MCMI + +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align="left">Introduction</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sing a Song o' Sixpence</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Story of Little Boy Blue</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Cat and the Fiddle</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Black Sheep</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Old King Cole</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mistress Mary</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Wond'rous Wise Man</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">What Jack Horner Did</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Man in the Moon</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Jolly Miller</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Little Man and His Little Gun </td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Hickory, Dickory, Dock</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Little Bo-Peep</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Story of Tommy Tucker</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_163">163</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Pussy-cat Mew</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_175">175</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">How the Beggars Came to Town</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_183">183</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Tom, the Piper's Son</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_199">199</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Humpty Dumpty</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_207">207</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Woman Who Lived in a Shoe</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_221">221</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Little Miss Muffet</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_233">233</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Three Wise Men of Gotham</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_245">245</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Little Bun Rabbit</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_257">257</a></td> +</tr> +</table></div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a><br /><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>Illustrations</h2> + + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Illustration"> +<tr><td align="left">"There was a little man and he had a little gun" </td> +<td align="right"><i><a href="#frontis">Frontispiece</a></i></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Little Boy Blue</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Black Sheep</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Old King Cole</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Wond'rous Wise Man</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Jack Horner</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_102">102</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Man in the Moon</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Little Bo-Peep</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_156">156</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Tommy Tucker</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Tom, the Piper's Son</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_200">200</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Humpty Dumpty</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_212">212</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td align="left">Three Wise Men of Gotham</td> +<td align='right'><a href="#Page_248">248</a></td> +</tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a><br /><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>Introduction.</h2> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +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).</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>Mr. Wm. A. Wheeler, the editor of Hurd & +Houghton's elaborate edition of Mother Goose, (1870),<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +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.'"</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>Singularly enough, England's claim to the venerable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>The earliest English edition of Mother Goose's +Melodies that is absolutely authentic was issued by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +children might like the stories told at greater length, +that they may dwell the longer upon their favorite +heroes and heroines.</p> + +<p>For that reason I have written this book.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<div class='sig'> +L. FRANK BAUM.<br /> +</div> + +<p>Chicago, Illinois, July, 1899.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a><br /><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a><br /><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a><br /><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 471px;"> +<img src="images/i017.jpg" width="471" height="289" alt="Sing a Song o' Sixpence" /> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h2>Sing a Song o' Sixpence</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +Sing a song o' sixpence, a handful of rye,<br /> +Four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie;<br /> +When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,<br /> +Wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the King?<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p> + +<p>One evening he said to his uncle,</p> + +<p>"If I had sixpence I could make my fortune."</p> + +<p>"Pooh! nonsense!" exclaimed his uncle, "a sixpence +is a small thing. How then could you make a +fortune from it?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"The boy is a fool!" said his uncle, with anger; +but the aunt spoke up quickly.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Never fear," replied Gilligren, joyfully, as he put +the sixpence in his pocket, "I shall not trouble you +again."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The next day he kept steadily upon his way, and +toward evening met a farmer with a wagon loaded +with sacks of grain.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going, my lad?" asked the man.</p> + +<p>"To London," replied Gilligren, "to see the King +crowned."</p> + +<p>"Have you any money?" enquired the farmer.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes," answered Gilligren, "I have a sixpence."</p> + +<p>"If you will give me the sixpence," said the man, +"I will give you a sack of rye for it."</p> + +<p>"What could I do with a sack of rye?" asked +Gilligren, wonderingly.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Take it to the mill, and get it ground into flour. +With the flour you could have bread baked, and that +you can sell."</p> + +<p>"That is a good idea," replied Gilligren, "so here +is my sixpence, and now give me the sack of rye."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"There is your sack of rye," he said, with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"But the sack is empty!" remonstrated Gilligren.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no; there is some rye in it."</p> + +<p>"But only a handful!" said Gilligren, when he had +opened the mouth of the sack and gazed within it.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>The rye that was within the sack, however, hurt +his head, and he sat up and opened the sack.</p> + +<p>"Why should I keep a handful of rye?" he +thought, "It will be of no value to me at all."</p> + +<p>So he threw out the rye upon the ground, and +rolling up the sack again for a pillow, was soon sound +asleep.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> + +<p>He now walked rapidly forward, and about noon +entered the great city of London.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Presently a servant in the King's livery saw him +and came to his side.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing here?" he asked, roughly.</p> + +<p>"I am waiting to see the King," replied Gilligren.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>Gilligren arose obediently and slung his sack over +his shoulder. As he did so the birds that were within +began to flutter.</p> + +<p>"What have you in the sack?" asked the servant.</p> + +<p>"Blackbirds," replied Gilligren.</p> + +<p>"Blackbirds!" echoed the servant, in surprise,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +"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.</p> + +<p>"Here, Mister Baker!" the man called, excitedly, +"I have found your blackbirds!"</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"The blackbirds? are you sure you can get +them?"</p> + +<p>"They are here already; the boy has a bag full of +them."</p> + +<p>"Give them to me," said the cook, who wore a +square cap, that was shaped like a box, upon his head.</p> + +<p>"What do you want with them?" asked Gilligren.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" replied the cook, "the King has +ordered it; he is very fond of the dish."</p> + +<p>"Still, you cannot have them," declared the boy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +stoutly, "the birds are mine, and I will not have them +killed."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"You can have the blackbirds on two conditions," +he said.</p> + +<p>"What are they?" asked the cook.</p> + +<p>"One is that you will not kill the birds. The +other condition is that you secure me a position in +the King's household."</p> + +<p>"How can I put live birds in a pie?" enquired +the cook.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +you as his page, and you shall stand back of the +King's chair and keep the flies away while he eats."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Then the King called for the cook, and when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> +Mister Baker appeared, uncertain of his reception, and +filled with many misgivings, His Majesty cried,</p> + +<p>"Sirrah! how came you to think of putting live +birds in the pie?"</p> + +<p>The cook, fearing that the King was angry, answered,</p> + +<p>"May it please your Majesty, it was not my +thought, but the idea of the boy who stands behind +your chair."</p> + +<p>The King turned his head, and seeing Gilligren, +who looked very well in his new livery, he said,</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>And Gilligren did serve the King faithfully, and as +he grew older acquired much honor and great wealth.</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a><br /><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a><br /><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<img src="images/i029.jpg" width="470" height="270" alt="The Story of +Little Boy Blue" /> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h2>The Story of Little Boy Blue</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn,<br /> +The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn;<br /> +Where's the little boy that minds the sheep?<br /> +He's under the haystack, fast asleep!<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"Well, my child, what can I do for you?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Earn money!" repeated the Squire, "why do you +wish to earn money?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"But what can you do?" asked the Squire; "you +are too small to work in the fields."</p> + +<p>"I could earn something, sir, couldn't I?"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>Then he turned to the child and said,</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, never mind his name, papa!" broke in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +down her cheeks. For she had slipped upon the stile +and fallen, and her leg was broken!</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 384px;"> +<img src="images/i036.jpg" width="384" height="467" alt="Boy asleep" /> +<div class="caption">Little Boy Blue</div> +</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"Take the boat, dear," she said, "and fetch the +doctor from the village. I shall be patient till you +return."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The sun was shining brightly, and the birds sang +sweetly in the trees, and the crickets chirped just as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> +merrily as if this great trouble had not come to Little +Boy Blue to make him sad.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"Here, Isaac," he said to a farmer's lad who +chanced to pass by, "where is Little Boy Blue?"</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"Will you go and wake him?" asked the Squire; +"for he must drive out the sheep and the cows before +they do more damage."</p> + +<p>"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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The Squire dismounted from his horse and came to +where the boy was lying.</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>But the Squire's daughter was moved by the child's +tears, so she took him upon her lap and comforted +him, asking,</p> + +<p>"Why did you sleep, Little Boy Blue, when you +should have watched the cows and the sheep?"</p> + +<p>"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;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> +and oh, Squire! I hope you will forgive me this once, +for my poor mother's sake!"</p> + +<p>"Where does your mother live?" asked the Squire, +in a kindly tone, for he had already forgiven Little +Boy Blue.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a><br /><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a><br /><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 494px;"> +<img src="images/i043.jpg" width="494" height="288" alt="The Cat and the Fiddle" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2>The Cat and the Fiddle</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hey, diddle, diddle,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The cat and the fiddle,</span><br /> +The cow jumped over the moon!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The little dog laughed</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To see such sport,</span><br /> +And the dish ran off with the spoon!<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +tunes he played pleased himself, as well as his father +and mother, and Bobby's fiddle soon became his constant +companion.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The little dog went too, for dogs love to be with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>After a time, when Bobby had played all the tunes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span></p> + +<p>And these were the words to the tune that Bobby +composed that night:</p> + +<div class='poem'> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hey, diddle, diddle,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The cat and the fiddle,</span><br /> +The cow jumped over the moon!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The little dog laughed</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To see such sport,</span><br /> +And the dish ran away with the spoon!<br /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a><br /><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a><br /><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a><br /><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 479px;"> +<img src="images/i053.jpg" width="479" height="290" alt="The Black Sheep" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2>The Black Sheep</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +Black sheep, black sheep, have you any wool?<br /> +Yes, my little master, three bags full;<br /> +One for my master and one for his dame,<br /> +And one for the little boy that lives in the lane.<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> +carry their wool up to the house in great bags, the +old ram said, crossly,</p> + +<p>"I hope they are satisfied, now that they have +stolen from us all our soft, warm fleece."</p> + +<p>"What are they going to do with it?" asked one +of the sheep.</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"What do those people who haven't any sheep do +for clothes?" asked the lamb.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I don't know. They must nearly +freeze in the winter. Perhaps the ram can tell us."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>By and by the Black Sheep wandered near the +lane, and looking up, saw the little boy watching it +through the bars.</p> + +<p>"Good morning, Black Sheep," said the boy; "why +do you look so funny this morning?"</p> + +<p>"They have cut off my wool," answered the sheep.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 387px;"> +<img src="images/i058.jpg" width="387" height="484" alt="man and sheep" /> +<div class="caption">The Black Sheep</div> +</div> + +<p>"What will they do with it, Black Sheep?" enquired +the little boy.</p> + +<p>"They will make coats of it, to keep themselves +warm."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Will you really?" asked the boy, looking very +much pleased.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Oh, thank you!" said the boy, and he ran away +to tell his mother what the Black Sheep had said.</p> + +<p>When the farmer came into the field again the +Black Sheep said to him,</p> + +<p>"Master, how many bags of wool did you cut +from my back?"</p> + +<p>"Two bags full," replied the farmer; "and it was +very nice wool indeed."</p> + +<p>"If I grow three bags full the next time, may I +have one bag for myself?" asked the sheep.</p> + +<p>"Why, what could you do with a bag of wool?" +questioned the farmer.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I want to give it to the little boy that lives in +the lane. He is very poor and needs a new coat."</p> + +<p>"Very well," answered the master; "if you can +grow three bags full I will give one to the little boy."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Can I do anything to help you?" asked the little +boy.</p> + +<p>"Not that I think of," replied the sheep, "unless +you could get me a little salt. I believe salt helps the +wool to grow."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Day by day the wool on the sheep grew longer +and longer, and even the old ram noticed it and said,</p> + +<p>"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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +he steals what I have I am determined he shall get +very little wool from my back."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"Black Sheep, Black Sheep, have you any wool?"<br /> +</div> + +<p>And the sheep replied,</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"Yes my little master, three bags full!"<br /> +</div> + +<p>"That is fine!" said the boy; "but who are the +three bags for?"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p> + +<div class='poem'> +"One for my master, one for his dame,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And one for the little boy that lives in the lane."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a><br /><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a><br /><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a><br /><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 482px;"> +<img src="images/i063.jpg" width="482" height="284" alt="Old King Cole" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2>Old King Cole</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +Old King Cole was a merry old soul,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And a merry old soul was he;</span><br /> +He called for his pipe and he called for his bowl<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And he called for his fiddlers three.</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>When he came to a village he played a merry tune<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"If the King dies," so read the law, "and there be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> +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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 396px;"> +<img src="images/i068.jpg" width="396" height="443" alt="King Cole on throne" /> +<div class="caption">Old King Cole</div> +</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Then the prime minister came forward very gravely, +and bowing low he said,</p> + +<p>"May it please your Majesty, it is not the custom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +of Kings to smoke a pipe while seated upon the +throne."</p> + +<p>"But it is my custom," answered Cole.</p> + +<p>"It is impolite, and—unkingly!" ventured the +minister.</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>"But you must be the King, your Majesty, whether +you want to or not. The law says so."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"That's fine!" he said; "but say—what do you +people do to amuse yourselves?"</p> + +<p>"Whatever your Majesty commands," answered +one of the councilors.</p> + +<p>"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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +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!"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a><br /><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a><br /><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 484px;"> +<img src="images/i073.jpg" width="484" height="288" alt="Mistress Mary" /> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h2>Mistress Mary</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +Mistress Mary, quite contrary,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">How does your garden grow?</span><br /> +With dingle bells and cockle shells<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And cowslips, all in a row.</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"And how long will you be gone, papa?" asked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +Mary, who was perched upon her father's knee, where +she could nestle her soft cheek against his bushy +whiskers.</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes; I watch for them every spring," she answered.</p> + +<p>"And do you know the dingle-bells that grow +near the edge of the wood?" he asked again.</p> + +<p>"I know them well, papa," replied Mary, "for +often I gather their blue blossoms and put them in a +vase upon the table."</p> + +<p>"And how about the cockle-shells?"</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +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."</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"Mamma, may I make a flower-garden?"</p> + +<p>"A flower-garden!" repeated her mother in surprise; +"why do you wish a flower-garden, Mary?"</p> + +<p>"I want to plant in it the cockle-shells and the +cowslips and the dingle-bells," she answered.</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"I think I'd rather have the flowers at the front +of the house," said Mary.</p> + +<p>"But why?" enquired her mother; "they will be +better sheltered at the side."</p> + +<p>"I want them in front," persisted Mary, "for the +sun shines stronger there."</p> + +<p>"Very well," answered her mother, "make your +garden at the front, if you will, and I will help you to +dig up the ground."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>So Mary made a long, narrow bed at the front of +the house, and then she prepared to plant her flowers.</p> + +<p>"If you scatter the seeds," said her mother, "the +flower-bed will look very pretty."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> +to sprout she plucked all the weeds that grew among +them, and so in the mild spring weather the plants +grew finely.</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Then he said to her in rhyme (for it was a way of +speaking the jolly Squire had),</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"Mistress Mary, so contrary,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">How does your garden grow?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">With dingle-bells and cockle-shells</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And cowslips all in a row!"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>And Mary, being a sharp little girl, and knowing +the Squire's queer ways, replied to him likewise in +rhyme, saying,</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"I thank you, Squire, that you enquire<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">How well the flowers are growing;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">The dingle-bells and cockle-shells</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And cowslips all are blowing!"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>The Squire laughed at this reply, and patted her +upon her head, and then he continued,</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"'Tis aptly said. But prithee, maid,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Why thus your garden fill</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">When ev'ry field the same flowers yield</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">To pluck them as you will?"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>"That is a long story, Squire," said Mary; "but +this much I may tell you,</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"The cockle-shell is father's flower,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The cowslip here is Robart,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">The dingle-bell, I now must tell,</span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I've named for Brother Hobart.</span><br /> +<br /> +"And when the flowers have lived their lives<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">In sunshine and in rain,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And then do fade, why, papa said</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">He'd sure come home again."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>The very next day, to Mary's great surprise and +grief, she found the leaves of the dingle-bells curling +and beginning to wither.</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma," she called, "come quick! Something +is surely the matter with brother Hobart!"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p> + +<p>While she sat thus the Squire rode up, and called +to her</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"Fie, Mary, fie! Why do you cry,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And blind your eyes to knowing</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">How dingle-bells and cockle-shells</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And cowslips all are growing?"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>"Oh, Squire!" sobbed Mary, "I am in great +trouble.</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"Each dingle-bell I loved so well<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Before my eyes is dying,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And much I fear my brother dear</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">In sickness now is lying!"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The weather now began to change, and the cold +sea winds blew each night over Mary's garden. She<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>One day Mary came into the house where her +mother was at work and said, gleefully,</p> + +<p>"Papa and my brothers will soon be home now."</p> + +<p>"Why do you think so?" asked her mother.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"I hope you are right, Mary, for we both shall be +glad to welcome our dear ones home again."</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"Pray tell me, dear, though much I fear<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The answer sad I know,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">How grow the sturdy cockle-shells</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And cowslips, all in a row?"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>And Mary looked up at him with her bright smile +and answered,</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"Dingle-bells and cockle-shells<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And cowslips are all dead,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And now my papa's coming home,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">For so he surely said."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"I would like it very much, sir," replied Mary.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"Now, then," he said, "we'll take a little ride +down the hill and by the path that runs beside the +wood."</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"Take a look within that nook<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And tell me what is there."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>And Mary exclaimed,</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"A dingle-bell, and truth to tell<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">In full bloom, I declare!"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>The Squire now clucked to his nag, and as they +rode away he said,</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"Now come with me and you shall see<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">A field with cowslips bright,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And not a garden in the land</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Can show so fair a sight."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>And so it was, for as they rode through the pastures<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"If you will look beside the brook<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">You'll see, I know quite well,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">That hidden in each mossy nook</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Is many a cockle-shell."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>This was indeed true, and as Mary saw them she +suddenly dropped her head and began to weep.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, little one?" asked the Squire +in his kind, bluff voice. And Mary answered,</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"Although the flowers I much admire,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">You know papa did say</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">He won't be home again, Squire,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Till all have passed away."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>"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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> +and visit them each day, you will find the time of +waiting very short indeed."</p> + +<p>Mary dried her eyes and thanked the kindly old +Squire, and after that she visited the fields each day +and watched the flowers grow.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>And soon after, when Mary had been hugged by +her two sunburned brothers and was clasped in her +father's strong arms, she whispered,</p> + +<p>"I knew you were coming soon, papa."</p> + +<p>"And how did you know, sweetheart?" he asked, +giving her an extra kiss.</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a><br /><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a><br /><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 475px;"> +<img src="images/i087.jpg" width="475" height="291" alt="The Wond'rous Wise Man" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2>The Wond'rous Wise Man</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +There was a man in our town<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And he was wond'rous wise;</span><br /> +He jumped into a bramble bush<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And scratched out both his eyes.</span><br /> +And when he saw his eyes were out,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With all his might and main</span><br /> +He jumped into another bush<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And scratched them in again!</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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!"</p> + +<p>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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> +and the boy grow up stupid, his name could be +easily changed to Simon.</p> + +<p>But the father was not mistaken, and the boy's +name remained Solomon.</p> + +<p>When he was still a child Solomon confounded the +schoolmaster by asking, one day,</p> + +<p>"Can you tell me, sir, why a cow drinks water +from a brook?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Sir," replied the wise child, "it is because the +cow is thirsty."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>It was the same way with the village doctor. Solomon +came to him one day and asked,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Tell me, sir, why has a man two eyes?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>So he thought for a long time, and then he said,</p> + +<p>"I must really give it up. I cannot tell, for the +life of me, why a man has two eyes. Do you know?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," answered the boy.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"A man has two eyes, sir," returned Solomon, +solemnly, "because he was born that way."</p> + +<p>And the doctor marvelled greatly at so much wisdom +in a little child, and made a note of it in his +note-book.</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"I perceive our dog has six legs."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" replied his father, "our dog has only +four legs."</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 390px;"> +<img src="images/i093.jpg" width="390" height="430" alt="man seated" /> +<div class="caption">The Wond'rous Wise Man</div> +</div> + +<p>"Yes," answered his father.</p> + +<p>"Well," continued Solomon, "the dog has two +other legs, besides, and two and four are six; therefore +the dog has six legs."</p> + +<p>"But that is very old," exclaimed his father.</p> + +<p>"True," replied Solomon, "but this is a young +dog."</p> + +<p>Then his father bowed his head in shame that his +own child should teach him wisdom.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>They formed a circle around the two wise men, +and then began the trial to see which was the wisest.</p> + +<p>"Tell me," said Solomon, looking straight up into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> +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?"</p> + +<p>The big wise man got very red in the face, and +scowled and coughed and stammered, but he could +not tell.</p> + +<p>"I do not know," he acknowledged; "nor do you +know, either, for there is no rule to go by."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>Now all the people applauded at this, for they +were sure Solomon had got the best of the man from +Cumberland.</p> + +<p>But it was now the big man's turn to try Solomon, +so he said,</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"Fingers five are on my hand;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">All of them upright do stand.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">One a dog is, chasing kittens;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">One a cat is, wearing mittens;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">One a rat is, eating cheese;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">One a wolf is, full of fleas;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">One a fly is, in a cup—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">How many fingers do I hold up?"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>"Four," replied Solomon, promptly, "for one of +them is a thumb!"</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Solomon! are you hurt?" they cried.</p> + +<p>"I should say I am hurt!" replied Solomon, with +a groan; "my eyes are scratched out!"</p> + +<p>"How do you know they are?" asked the village +doctor.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> +could not open his eyes, he made sure they were +scratched out.</p> + +<p>"How am I to get out of here?" he asked at last.</p> + +<p>"You must jump out," replied the doctor, "since +you have jumped in."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Where are you now?" called out the doctor.</p> + +<p>"I'm in the elderberry bush, and I've scratched +my eyes in again!" answered Solomon.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Solomon; the Man who was Wond'rous Wise."</p></blockquote> + +<p>and on the other side was a picture of a bramble-bush.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a><br /><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a><br /><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a><br /><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<img src="images/i097.jpg" width="470" height="275" alt="What Jack Horner Did" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2>What Jack Horner Did</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +Little Jack Horner sat in a corner,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Eating a Christmas pie;</span><br /> +He put in his thumb and pulled out a plum<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And said, "What a good boy am I!"</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> +bread and cheese he had brought with him, and then +he resumed his work.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"Help!"</p> + +<p>Forgetful of all save a desire to assist this unknown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +sufferer, Jack sprang forward with an answering cry, +and only halted when he found himself upon the edge +of a vast bog.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 387px;"> +<img src="images/i102.jpg" width="387" height="474" alt="Jack holding bowl in lap" /> +<div class="caption">Jack Horner</div> +</div> + +<p>"Where are you?" he then shouted.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Be quiet, sir!" he called to the unfortunate +stranger; "save all your strength, and I may yet be +able to rescue you."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"You are a brave boy," replied the stranger, "and +I shall do as you tell me."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Is this your son, ma'am?" he asked, pointing to +Jack.</p> + +<p>"He is my grandson, sir," answered the woman.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p> + +<p>Grandma Horner hesitated, for the boy was very +dear to her and the pride of her old age; but Jack +spoke up for himself.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>The stranger said nothing more, but he patted +Jack's head kindly, and soon after left them and took +the road to the city.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"If ever you need more," he said, "send to me, +and you shall have all you wish to make you comfortable."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>And Grandma Horner was as good as her word, +and made a very delicious pie indeed for her darling +grandson.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p> + +<p>And this was how it came that</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"Little Jack Horner sat in a corner<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Eating a Christmas pie;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">He put in his thumb and pulled out a plum,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And said, 'What a good boy am I!'"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>And he was—a very good boy. Don't you think +so?</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a><br /><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a><br /><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 467px;"> +<img src="images/i107.jpg" width="467" height="279" alt="The Man in the Moon" /> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /> + + + +<h2>The Man in the Moon</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +The Man in the Moon came tumbling down,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And enquired the way to Norwich;</span><br /> +He went by the south and burned his mouth<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With eating cold pease porridge!</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"How is everything down on the earth?"</p> + +<p>"Everything is lovely," replied the alderman, "and +I wouldn't leave it if I was not obliged to."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What's a good place to visit down there? +enquired the Man in the Moon.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> +the moon and began to search for a good strong +moonbeam.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"Can you tell me the way to Norwich, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Norwich?" repeated the farmer musingly; "I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +don't know exactly where it be, sir, but it's somewhere +away to the south."</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 379px;"> +<img src="images/i113.jpg" width="379" height="474" alt="man in jestor suit sitting in moon" /> +<div class="caption">The Man in the Moon</div> +</div> + +<p>"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 <i>out</i> of the moon; so +I'll simply call him the Man, and you'll know by +that which man I mean.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>A good-looking woman answered his knock at the +door, and he asked politely,</p> + +<p>"Is this the town of Norwich, madam?"</p> + +<p>"Surely this is the town of Norwich," returned the +woman.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p> + +<p>So he thanked her and entered the house, and she +asked,</p> + +<p>"Will you have it hot or cold, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, cold, by all means," replied the Man, "for I +detest anything hot to eat."</p> + +<p>She soon brought him a bowl of cold pease porridge, +and the Man was so hungry that he took a big +spoonful at once.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked the woman.</p> + +<p>"Matter!" screamed the Man; "why, your porridge +is so hot it has burned me."</p> + +<p>"Fiddlesticks!" she replied, "the porridge is quite +cold."</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>The policeman on the first corner saw him running, +and promptly arrested him, and he was marched +off to the magistrate for trial.</p> + +<p>"What is your name?" asked the magistrate.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"Come, come, no nonsense!" said the magistrate, +"you must have some name. Who are you?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I'm the Man in the Moon."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"That is true," answered the Man, who was quite +bewildered by this idea.</p> + +<p>"And of course you must be called something," +continued the magistrate.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Very good," replied the judge; "now, then, +where did you come from?"</p> + +<p>"The moon."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you did, eh? How did you get here?"</p> + +<p>"I slid down a moonbeam."</p> + +<p>"Indeed! Well, what were you running for?"</p> + +<p>"A woman gave me some cold pease porridge, and +it burned my mouth."</p> + +<p>The magistrate looked at him a moment in surprise, +and then he said,</p> + +<p>"This person is evidently crazy; so take him to +the lunatic asylum and keep him there."</p> + +<p>This would surely have been the fate of the Man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> +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!</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Why, it's quite cool this evening!" said the +magistrate.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"That's a good idea," replied the judge. So the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a><br /><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a><br /><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 466px;"> +<img src="images/i117.jpg" width="466" height="277" alt="The Jolly Miller" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2>The Jolly Miller</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +There was a jolly miller<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lived on the river Dee;</span><br /> +He sang and worked from morn till night,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">No lark so blithe as he.</span><br /> +And this the burden of his song<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Forever seemed to be:</span><br /> +I care for nobody, no! not I,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Since nobody cares for me.</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>"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,</div> + +<p>"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,</p> + +<p>"The jolly miller has no corn to grind to-day," +or, "The miller is oiling the great wheel." But they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> +would miss the creaking, monotonous noise, and feel +more content when the mill started again and made +music for them as they worked.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"I care for nobody, no! not I,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Since nobody cares for me."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>However this may have been, it is true the miller<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> +had no friends, and equally sure that he cared to have +none, for it did not make him a bit unhappy.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Well, well!" said the miller, "where on earth +did you come from?"</p> + +<p>The baby did not reply, but she tried to, and +made some soft little noises that sounded like the cooing +of a pigeon.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Do you think the miller was angry? Not a bit of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The country people were filled with surprise when +they saw a child in the mill-house, and wondered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"I care for nobody, no! not I,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Since nobody cares for me."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>One day, while he was singing this, he heard a sob +beside him, and looked down to see Nathalie weeping.</p> + +<p>"What is it, my pet?" he asked, anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Oh, papa," she answered, "why do you sing that +nobody cares for you, when you know I love you so +dearly?"</p> + +<p>The miller was surprised, for he had sung the song +so long he had forgotten what the words meant.</p> + +<p>"Do you indeed love me, Nathalie?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Indeed, indeed! You know I do!" she replied.</p> + +<p>"Then," said the miller, with a happy laugh, as +he bent down and kissed the tear-stained face, "I shall +change my song."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span></p> + +<p>And after that he sang:</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"I love sweet Nathalie, that I do,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">For Nathalie she loves me."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>"What will become of me?" asked the miller, +with a sad heart.</p> + +<p>"You shall live in the great house with us," +replied the Squire, "and never again need you labor +for bread."</p> + +<p>But the old man shook his head.</p> + +<p>"A miller I have lived," quoth he, "and a miller +will I die. But tell me, Nathalie, are you willing to +leave me?"</p> + +<p>The girl cast down her eyes and blushed sweetly.</p> + +<p>"I love him," she whispered, "and if you separate +us I shall die."</p> + +<p>"Then," said the miller, kissing her with a heavy +heart, "go; and may God bless you!"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"I care for nobody, no! not I,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Since nobody cares for me."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>She came up softly behind him, and put her arms +around his neck.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span></p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>The miller turned and looked into her blue eyes, +and knew that she spoke truly.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a><br /><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a><br /><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a><br /><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 463px;"> +<img src="images/i129.jpg" width="463" height="275" alt="The Little Man and +His Little Gun" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2>The Little Man and His Little Gun</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +There was a little man and he had a little gun,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And the bullets were made of lead, lead, lead.</span><br /> +He went to the brook and shot a little duck,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And the bullet went right through its head, head, head.</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span></p> + +<p>When he brought it home and showed it to his +wife, who was a very big woman, she said,</p> + +<p>"Jimson, you'd better use bullets made of bread, +and then you won't hurt anything."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid you won't kill many," said Joan.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>By and by he was awakened by a peculiar noise.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I can't hit it from here," he thought,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> +"so I'll just step upon that big stone in the brook, +and shoot from there."</p> + +<p>So he stepped out upon the stone, and took aim at +the duck again, and fired the gun.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"You'd better shoot a drake this time," said Joan, +"for drakes are bigger."</p> + +<p>She started to make the fire, and the little man +took his gun and went to the brook; but not a duck<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> +did he see, nor drake neither, and so he was forced to +come home without any game.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<div class='poem'> +There was a little man and he had a little gun,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And the bullets were made of lead, lead, lead.</span><br /> +He went to the brook and shot a little duck,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And the bullet went right through its head, head, head.</span><br /> +<br /> +He carried it home to his good wife Joan,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And bade her a fire to make, make, make,</span><br /> +While he went to the brook where he shot the little duck,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And tried for to shoot the drake, drake, drake.</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>So the next morning he got up early again, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +took his gun, and loaded it with bullets made of lead. +Then he said to his wife,</p> + +<p>"What does a drake look like, my love?"</p> + +<p>"Why," she replied, "it's much like a duck, only +it has a curl on its tail and red on its wing."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What are you trying to do?" he cried, shaking +his fist at the little man.</p> + +<p>"Why, I was only shooting at the drake," replied +Jimson; "and I hit it, too, for there it is in the +water."</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"I am, sir," answered the little man, proud that +he had shot something besides a wig.</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<div class='poem'> +There was a little man and he had a little gun,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And the bullets were made of lead, lead, lead.</span><br /> +He shot Johnny Sprigg through the middle of his wig,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And knocked it right off from his head, head, head.</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a><br /><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a><br /><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a><br /><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 467px;"> +<img src="images/i139.jpg" width="467" height="276" alt="Hickory, Dickory, Dock" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2>Hickory, Dickory, Dock</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +Hickory, Dickory, Dock!<br /> +The mouse ran up the clock.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The clock struck one,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The mouse ran down,</span><br /> +Hickory, Dickory, Dock!<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Mamma Mouse had to bear her bitter sorrow all +alone, for the children were too young at that time to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>It was now nearly daylight, so she decided to leave +the attack upon the flour barrel until the next night;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>She kissed each one of them good-bye and ran +down the wall on her errand.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"I wish I could go with mother some night," said +Dock, "it's no fun to stay here all the time."</p> + +<p>"She will take us when we are big enough," +replied Dickory.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"I know a way out," said Hickory, "but mamma +wouldn't like it if we should go without her permission."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span></p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Yes do," urged Dickory.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"What shall we do now?" whispered Hickory to +his brothers.</p> + +<p>"Let's go down," replied Dock.</p> + +<p>So, very carefully, they descended the stairs and +reached the hallway of the house, and here they were +much surprised by all they saw.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> +the floor and ticked out the minutes in a grave and +solemn voice.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Dickory, in an awed whisper.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," replied Hickory, who was himself +rather afraid.</p> + +<p>"Is it alive?" asked Dock.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," again answered Hickory.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"It doesn't seem to be alive," he thought, "although<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> +it does make so much noise. I'm going +behind it to see what I can find."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>When Mamma Mouse came back in the morning, +bringing a quantity of nice flour with her for breakfast, +they told her of their adventure.</p> + +<p>She thought they had been punished enough +already for their disobedience, so she did not scold +them, but only said,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span></p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>But Hickory and Dickory and Dock did not run +away again.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a><br /><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a><br /><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a><br /><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 467px;"> +<img src="images/i149.jpg" width="467" height="268" alt="Little Bo-Peep" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2>Little Bo-Peep</h2> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>One day, while thus occupied, she heard a voice +beside her say:</p> + +<p>"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,</p> + +<p>"Good morning, mother. Can I do anything for +you?"</p> + +<p>"No, dearie," returned the woman, in a cracked +voice, "but I will sit by your side and rest for a +time."</p> + +<p>The girl made room on the mound beside her, and +the stranger sat down and watched in silence the busy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> +fingers sew up the seams of the new frock she was +making.</p> + +<p>By and by the woman asked,</p> + +<p>"Why do you come out here to sew?"</p> + +<p>"Because I am a shepherdess," replied the girl.</p> + +<p>"But where is your crook?"</p> + +<p>"On the grass beside me."</p> + +<p>"And where are your sheep?"</p> + +<p>Bo-Peep looked up and could not see them.</p> + +<p>"They must have strayed over the top of the hill," +she said, "and I will go and seek them."</p> + +<p>"Do not be in a hurry," croaked the old woman; +"they will return presently without your troubling to +find them."</p> + +<p>"Do you think so?" asked Bo-Peep.</p> + +<p>"Of course; do not the sheep know you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes; they know me every one."</p> + +<p>"And do not you know the sheep?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>The old woman chuckled softly, as if the answer +amused her, and replied,</p> + +<p>"No one knows all about anything, my dear."</p> + +<p>"But I know all about my sheep," protested Little +Bo-Peep.</p> + +<p>"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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> +I have no doubt they will all be wagging their tails +behind them, as usual."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Little Bo-Peep, in surprise, "do they +wag their tails? I never noticed that!"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"No," answered Bo-Peep, thoughtfully, "I don't +know that I ever have."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>So she got upon her feet and began climbing the +hill, and the girl heard her saying, as she walked +away,</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And doesn't know where to find 'em.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">But leave 'em alone, and they'll come home,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">All wagging their tails behind 'em."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> +shall see the sheep coming back;" but time passed +away and still the errant flock failed to make its +appearance.</p> + +<p>Soon the head of the little shepherdess began to +nod, and presently, still thinking of her sheep,</p> + +<div class='poem'> +Little Bo-Peep fell fast asleep,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And dreamt she heard them bleating;</span><br /> +But when she awoke she found it a joke,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For still they were a-fleeting.</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<div class='poem'> +So up she took her little crook,<br /> +Determined for to find them,<br /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'>and began climbing the hill.</div> + +<p>When she got to the top there was never a sight +of sheep about—only a green valley and another hill +beyond.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Quietly feeding upon the rich grass was her truant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> +flock, looking as peaceful and innocent as if it had +never strayed away from its gentle shepherdess.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 379px;"> +<img src="images/i157.jpg" width="379" height="466" alt="Girl" /> +<div class="caption">Little Bo-Peep</div> +</div> + +<p>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</p> + +<div class='poem'> +Found them, indeed, but it made her heart bleed,<br /> +For they'd left their tails behind them!<br /> +</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"So you have found your sheep, dearie," she said, +in her cracked voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Little Bo-Peep, with difficulty +repressing a sob; "but look, mother! They've all +left their tails behind them!"</p> + +<p>"Why, so they have!" exclaimed the old woman; +and then she began to laugh as if something pleased +her.</p> + +<p>"What do you suppose has become of their tails?" +asked the girl.</p> + +<p>"Oh, some one has probably cut them off. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> +make nice tippets in winter-time, you know;" and +then she patted the child upon her head and walked +away down the valley.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>But soon the sun began to sink over the hill-tops, +and she knew she must take her sheep home before +night overtook them.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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</p> + +<div class='poem'> +It happened one day, as Bo-Peep did stray<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Unto a meadow hard by,</span><br /> +There she espied their tails side by side,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">All hung on a tree to dry!</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>But amidst her tears she bethought herself of her +needle and thread.</p> + +<p>"Why," she exclaimed, smiling again, "I can sew +them on, of course!" Then</p> + +<div class='poem'> +She heaved a sigh and wiped her eye<br /> +And ran o'er hill and dale, oh,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And tried what she could</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">As a shepherdess should,</span><br /> +To tack to each sheep its tail, oh.<br /> +</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>She was beginning to cry again, when the same +old woman she had before met came hobbling to her +side and asked,</p> + +<p>"What are you doing with my cat tails?"</p> + +<p>"Your cat tails!" replied Bo-Peep, in surprise; +"what do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"I thought they belonged to my sheep," answered +Bo-Peep, sorrowfully; "but if they are really your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> +pussy-cat tails, I must hunt until I find those that +belong to my sheep."</p> + +<p>"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 +<i>all</i> 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."</p> + +<p>And now</p> + +<div class='poem'> +Little Bo-Peep no more did weep;<br /> +My tale of tails ends here.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Each cat has one,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But sheep have none;</span><br /> +Which, after all, is queer!<br /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a><br /><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a><br /><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a><br /><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 465px;"> +<img src="images/i161.jpg" width="465" height="272" alt="The Story of Tommy Tucker" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2>The Story of Tommy Tucker</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +Little Tommy Tucker sang for his supper.<br /> +What did he sing for? white bread and butter.<br /> +How could he cut it, without any knife?<br /> +How could he marry, without any wife?<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The alderman was in a merry mood, and seeing +Tommy standing without the gate he cried to him,</p> + +<p>"Come here, my lad, and sing us a song."</p> + +<p>Tommy at once entered the grounds, and came to +where the fat alderman was sitting beside his blushing +bride.</p> + +<p>"Can you sing?" enquired the alderman.</p> + +<p>"No," answered Tommy, earnestly, "but I can +eat."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ho, ho!" laughed the alderman, "that is a very +ordinary accomplishment. Anyone can eat."</p> + +<p>"If it please you, sir, you are wrong," replied +Tommy, "for I have been unable to eat all day."</p> + +<p>"And why is that?" asked the alderman.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>The alderman laughed again at this shrewd answer, +and said,</p> + +<p>"You shall have supper, no doubt; but you must +sing a song for the company first, and so earn your +food."</p> + +<p>Tommy shook his head sadly.</p> + +<p>"I do not know any song, sir," he said.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"And what is that condition?" asked Tommy.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 337px;"> +<img src="images/i166.jpg" width="337" height="447" alt="Boy sitting on chair eating" /> +<div class="caption">Tommy Tucker</div> +</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>So he took off his cap, and standing before the +company he sang as follows:</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"A bumble-bee lit on a hollyhock flower<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">That was wet with the rain of a morning shower.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">While the honey he sipped</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">His left foot slipped,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And he couldn't fly again for half an hour!"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>So Tommy pondered a moment, and then sang +again:</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"A spider threw its web so high<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">It caught on a moon in a cloudy sky.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">The moon whirled round,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">And down to the ground</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Fell the web, and captured a big blue fly!"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>"Why, that is fine!" roared the fat alderman. +"You improve as you go on, so give us another verse."</p> + +<p>"I don't know any more," said Tommy, "and I +am very hungry."</p> + +<p>"One more verse," persisted the man, "and then +you shall have the bread and butter upon the condition."</p> + +<p>So Tommy sang the following verse:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p> + +<div class='poem'> +"A big frog lived in a slimy bog,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And caught a cold in an awful fog.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">The cold got worse,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">The frog got hoarse,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Till croaking he scared a polliwog!"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>"You are quite a poet," declared the alderman; +"and now you shall have the white bread upon one +condition."</p> + +<p>"What is it?" said Tommy, anxiously.</p> + +<p>"That you cut the slice into four parts."</p> + +<p>"But I have no knife!" remonstrated the boy.</p> + +<p>"But that is the condition," insisted the alderman. +"If you want the bread you must cut it."</p> + +<p>"Surely you do not expect me to cut the bread +without any knife!" said Tommy.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" asked the alderman, winking his eye +at the company.</p> + +<p>"Because it cannot be done. How, let me ask +you, sir, could you have married without any wife?"</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> +the boy had finished his bread—which he did very +quickly, you may be sure,—the man said,</p> + +<p>"How would you like to live with me and be my +servant?"</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"I should like it very much, sir."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"He is all that you say," returned the alderman, +"and would be a credit to you should you adopt +him."</p> + +<p>"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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> +I am gone. No fool will serve my purpose; therefore +I shall test the boy's wit before I decide."</p> + +<p>"That is fair enough," answered the alderman; +"but in what way will you test his wit?"</p> + +<p>"Bring him to my house to-morrow, and you shall +see," said the mayor.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>When Tommy and the alderman reached the +mayor's house the mayor met them at the door and +said:</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span></p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>After a moment's thought he bade Tommy follow +him into the house, where he gave him a cupful +of water, saying,</p> + +<p>"Let me see you drink up this cup of water."</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"The water is drunk up, your honor."</p> + +<p>"But why did you stand on your head to do it?" +enquired the alderman, who had watched the act in +astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Because otherwise I would have drunk the water +down, and not up," replied Tommy.</p> + +<p>The mayor was now satisfied that Tommy was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a><br /><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a><br /><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a><br /><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 459px;"> +<img src="images/i173.jpg" width="459" height="277" alt="Pussy-cat Mew" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2>Pussy-cat Mew</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +<i>"Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat, where do you go?"<br /> +"To London, to visit the palace, you know."<br /> +"Pussy-cat Mew, will you come back again?"<br /> +"Oh, yes! I'll scamper with might and with main!"</i><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='poem'><div class='drop-cap'> +PUSSY-CAT MEW set off on her way,<br /> +Stepping quite softly and feeling quite gay.<br /> +Smooth was the road, so she traveled at ease,<br /> +Warmed by the sunshine and fanned by the breeze.<br /> +<br /> +Over the hills to the valleys below,<br /> +Through the deep woods where the soft mosses grow,<br /> +Skirting the fields, with buttercups dotted,<br /> +Swiftly our venturesome Pussy-cat trotted.<br /> +<br /> +Sharp watch she kept when a village she neared,<br /> +For boys and their mischief our Pussy-cat feared.<br /> +Often she crept through the grasses so deep<br /> +To pass by a dog that was lying asleep.<br /> +<br /> +Once, as she walked through a sweet-clover field,<br /> +Something beside her affrightedly squealed,<br /> +And swift from her path there darted away<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>A tiny field-mouse, with a coat of soft gray.<br /> +<br /> +"Now here," thought our Pussy, "is chance for a dinner;<br /> +The one that runs fastest must surely be winner!"<br /> +So quickly she started the mouse to give chase,<br /> +And over the clover they ran a great race.<br /> +<br /> +But just when it seemed that Pussy would win,<br /> +The mouse spied a hole and quickly popped in;<br /> +And so he escaped, for the hole was so small<br /> +That Pussy-cat couldn't squeeze in it at all.<br /> +<br /> +So, softly she crouched, and with eyes big and round<br /> +Quite steadily watched that small hole in the ground.<br /> +"This mouse really thinks he's escaped me," she said,<br /> +"But I'll catch him sure if he sticks out his head!"<br /> +<br /> +But while she was watching the poor mouse's plight,<br /> +A deep growl behind made her jump with affright;<br /> +She gave a great cry, and then started to run<br /> +As swift as a bullet that's shot from a gun!<br /> +<br /> +"Meow! Oh, meow!" our poor Puss did say;<br /> +"Bow-wow!" cried the dog, who was not far away.<br /> +O'er meadows and ditches they scampered apace,<br /> +O'er fences and hedges they kept up the race!<br /> +<br /> +Then Pussy-cat Mew saw before her a tree,<br /> +And knew that a safe place of refuge 'twould be;<br /> +So far up the tree with a bound she did go,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>And left the big dog to growl down below.<br /> +<br /> +But now, by good fortune, a man came that way,<br /> +And called to the dog, who was forced to obey;<br /> +But Puss did not come down the tree till she knew<br /> +That the man and the dog were far out of view.<br /> +<br /> +Pursuing her way, at nightfall she came<br /> +To London, a town you know well by name;<br /> +And wandering 'round in byway and street,<br /> +A strange Pussy-cat she happened to meet.<br /> +<br /> +"Good evening," said Pussy-cat Mew. "Can you tell<br /> +In which of these houses the Queen may now dwell?<br /> +I'm a stranger in town, and I'm anxious to see<br /> +What sort of a person a real Queen may be."<br /> +<br /> +"My friend," said the other, "you really must know<br /> +It isn't permitted that strangers should go<br /> +Inside of the palace, unless they're invited,<br /> +And stray Pussy-cats are apt to be slighted.<br /> +<br /> +"By good luck, however, I'm quite well aware<br /> +Of a way to the palace by means of a stair<br /> +That never is guarded; so just come with me,<br /> +And a glimpse of the Queen you shall certainly see."<br /> +<br /> +Puss thanked her new friend, and together they stole<br /> +To the back of the palace, and crept through a hole<br /> +In the fence, and quietly came to the stair<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>Which the stranger Pussy-cat promised was there.<br /> +<br /> +"Now here I must leave you," the strange Pussy said,<br /> +"So don't be 'fraid-cat, but go straight ahead,<br /> +And don't be alarmed if by chance you are seen,<br /> +For people will think you belong to the Queen."<br /> +<br /> +So Pussy-cat Mew did as she had been told,<br /> +And walked through the palace with manner so bold<br /> +She soon reached the room where the Queen sat in state,<br /> +Surrounded by lords and by ladies so great.<br /> +<br /> +And there in the corner our Pussy sat down,<br /> +And gazed at the scepter and blinked at the crown,<br /> +And eyed the Queen's dress, all purple and gold;<br /> +Which was surely a beautiful sight to behold.<br /> +<br /> +But all of a sudden she started, for there<br /> +Was a little gray mouse, right under the chair<br /> +Where her Majesty sat, and Pussy well knew<br /> +She'd scream with alarm if the mouse met her view.<br /> +<br /> +So up toward the chair our Pussy-cat stole,<br /> +But the mouse saw her coming and ran for its hole;<br /> +But Pussy ran after, and during the race<br /> +A wonderful, terrible panic took place!<br /> +<br /> +The ladies all jumped on their chairs in alarm,<br /> +The lords drew their swords to protect them from harm,<br /> +And the Queen gave a scream and fainted away—<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>A very undignified act, I must say.<br /> +<br /> +And some one cried "Burglars!" and some one cried "Treason!"<br /> +And some one cried "Murder!" but none knew the reason;<br /> +And some one cried "Fire! they are burning the house!"<br /> +And some one cried "Silence! it's only a mouse!"<br /> +<br /> +But Pussy-cat Mew was so awfully scared<br /> +By the shouting and screaming, no longer she dared<br /> +To stay in the room; so without more delay<br /> +She rushed from the palace and scampered away!<br /> +<br /> +So bristling her fur, and with heart beating fast,<br /> +She came to the road leading homeward at last.<br /> +"What business," she thought, "has a poor country cat<br /> +To visit a city of madmen like that?<br /> +<br /> +"Straight homeward I'll go, where I am well fed,<br /> +Where mistress is kind, and soft is my bed;<br /> +Let other cats travel, if they wish to roam,<br /> +But as for myself, I shall now stay at home."<br /> +<br /> +And now over hills and valleys she ran,<br /> +And journeyed as fast as a Pussy-cat can;<br /> +Till just as the dawn of the day did begin<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>She, safely at home, stole quietly in.<br /> +<br /> +And there was the fire, with the pot boiling on it,<br /> +And there was the maid, in the blue checkered bonnet,<br /> +And there was the corner where Pussy oft basked,<br /> +And there was the mistress, who eagerly asked:<br /> +<br /> +<i>"Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat, where have you been?"<br /> +"I've been to London, to visit the Queen."<br /> +"Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat, what did you there?"<br /> +"I frightened a little mouse under her chair!"</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a><br /><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a><br /><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 460px;"> +<img src="images/i181.jpg" width="460" height="270" alt="How the Beggars Came to Town" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2>How the Beggars Came to Town</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +Hark, hark, the dogs do bark,<br /> +The beggars are coming to town:<br /> +Some in rags, and some in tags,<br /> +And some in velvet gown.<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Borland," he said to the tutor, who stood modestly +behind the Prince, "you may retire. I wish to +speak privately with his royal highness."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span></p> + +<p>The tutor bowed low and disappeared within the +ante-room, and the King continued, kindly,</p> + +<p>"Come here, Lilimond, and sit beside me. Methinks +you seem over-grave this morning."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"I know little of politics and less of the court, +sire," replied Lilimond; "it is the distress of the people +that worries me."</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"They are starving," said the Prince, looking at his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> +father very seriously; "the country is filled with +beggars, who appeal for charity, since they are unable +otherwise to procure food."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"Sir, I am informed my people are murmuring at +my injustice. Is it true?"</p> + +<p>The officer cast an enquiring glance at the Prince, +who met his eyes gravely, before he replied,</p> + +<p>"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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> +laws, and the protests of the few are ever heard above +the contentment of the many."</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"There are always beggars, Your Majesty, in every +country," replied the Chamberlain, "and it is their +custom to blame others for their own misfortunes."</p> + +<p>The King thought deeply for a moment; then he +turned to the Lord of the Treasury.</p> + +<p>"Do we tax the poor?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You have heard the wise words of my councilors, +Prince. What have you to say in reply?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"They should serve you, it is true," replied the +Prince, thoughtfully, "but they should serve the people +as well."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"In the meantime," said the Prince, "many will +starve to death. Can you not assist these poor beggars +at once?"</p> + +<p>"In what way?" demanded the King.</p> + +<p>"By giving them money from your full coffers."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" again cried the King, this time with +real anger; "you have heard what the Chamberlain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> +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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the King spoke.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>As the King spoke, Lilimond suddenly became +impressed with an idea through which he might succor +the poor, and therefore he answered,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Call in the ladies and gentlemen of the court, +my father, and before them all will I claim your +promise."</p> + +<p>"Good!" exclaimed the King, who looked for +some amusement in his son's request; and at once he +ordered the court to assemble.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>When all were assembled, the Prince rose to his +feet and addressed them.</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>For a time there was perfect silence in the court, +the King growing red with dismay and embarrassment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>"Rise, oh Prince," he said, cheerfully, "your +request is granted. Upon what day will it please you +to reign?"</p> + +<p>Lilimond arose to his feet.</p> + +<p>"Upon the seventh day from this," he answered.</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> +Be of good cheer, Your Majesty, for all is +well."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>At this news the Prince was both puzzled and +alarmed.</p> + +<p>"What are we to do?" he asked of the tutor; but +Borland was unable to suggest a remedy.</p> + +<p>Then said the aged Chamberlain, coming forward, +and bowing low before the little King,</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Your counsel is wise, oh Chamberlain," replied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> +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."</p> + +<p>When the first beggar came before him the Prince +asked,</p> + +<p>"Are you in need?"</p> + +<p>"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,</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>At this the man turned away muttering angrily, +and the courtiers murmured their approval of the +Prince's wisdom.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>"What think you, Borland?" asked the Prince, +anxiously, "have we done aright?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, oh my King, that I presumed to +doubt the wisdom of your rule. For, though the sun<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> +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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a><br /><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a><br /><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 460px;"> +<img src="images/i197.jpg" width="460" height="276" alt="Tom, the Piper's Son" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2>Tom, the Piper's Son</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +Tom, Tom, the piper's son,<br /> +Stole a pig and away he run;<br /> +The pig was eat and Tom was beat<br /> +And Tom ran crying down the street.<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> +and so, under his father's guidance, he fell into bad +ways.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 387px;"> +<img src="images/i201.jpg" width="387" height="457" alt="man bent over crooking his finger ast someone" /> +<div class="caption">Tom, the Piper's Son</div> +</div> + +<p>One morning</p> + +<div class='poem'> +Tom, Tom, the piper's son,<br /> +Was hungry when the day begun;<br /> +He wanted a bun and asked for one,<br /> +But soon found out that there were none.<br /> +</div> + +<p>"What shall we do?" he asked his father.</p> + +<p>"Go hungry," replied Barney, "unless you want +to take my pipes and play in the village. Perhaps +they will give you a penny."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"You'd better try it," said his father; "it's +mighty uncomfortable to be hungry."</p> + +<p>So Tom took his father's pipes and walked over +the hill to Farmer Bowser's house; for you must +know that</p> + +<div class='poem'> +Tom, Tom, the piper's son,<br /> +Learned to play when he was young;<br /> +But the only tune that he could play<br /> +Was "Over the hills and far away."<br /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'>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.</div> + +<p>When he came to Farmer Bowser's house, Tom +started up the pipes and began to play with all his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"Over the hills, not a great ways off,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">The woodchuck died with the whooping-cough!"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The boy went back to his father, and said, sorrowfully, +for he was more hungry than before,</p> + +<p>"The farmer gave me nothing but a scolding; but +there was a very nice pig running around the yard."</p> + +<p>"How big was it?" asked Barney.</p> + +<p>"Oh, just about big enough to make a nice dinner +for you and me."</p> + +<div class='poem'> +The piper slowly shook his head;<br /> +"'Tis long since I on pig have fed,<br /> +And though I feel it's wrong to steal,<br /> +Roast pig is very nice," he said.<br /> +</div> + +<p>Tom knew very well what he meant by that, so +he laid down the pipes, and went back to the farmer's +house.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The piper was very glad to see the pig, and said to +Tom,</p> + +<p>"You are a good son, and the pig is very nice and +fat. We shall have a dinner fit for a king."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Where did you get that tail?" asked the farmer.</p> + +<p>"I found it," said naughty Tom, beginning to be +frightened.</p> + +<p>"Let me see it," demanded the farmer; and when +he had looked at it carefully he cried out,</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>Then Tom fell in a tremble, for he knew his +wickedness was discovered.</p> + +<p>"The pig is eat, your honor," he answered.</p> + +<p>The farmer said never a word, but his face grew +black with anger, and, unbuckling the strap that was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> +about his waist, he waved it around his head, and +whack! came the strap over Tom's back.</p> + +<p>"Ow, ow!" cried the boy, and started to run +down the street.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<div class='poem'> +Tom, Tom, the piper's son<br /> +Now with stealing pigs was done,<br /> +He'd work all day instead of play,<br /> +And dined on tart and currant bun.<br /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a><br /><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a><br /><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 464px;"> +<img src="images/i205.jpg" width="464" height="275" alt="Humpty, Dumpty" /> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /> + + + +<h2>Humpty Dumpty</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,<br /> +Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All the King's horses</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all the King's men</span><br /> +Cannot put Humpty together again.<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>This twelfth egg was remarkably big and white +and of a very pretty shape, and as the nest was now so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>When she had gone, Cluckety-Cluck, who was in +the middle of the nest and the oldest egg of all, called +out, angrily,</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span></p> + +<p>He began to make his way carefully through the +hay, and was getting along fairly well when he heard a +voice say,</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?"</p> + +<p>Humpty looked around and found he was beside a +pretty little nest in which was one brown egg.</p> + +<p>"Did you speak?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied the brown egg; "I asked where +you were going."</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" enquired Humpty; "do you +belong in our nest?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" answered the brown egg; "my name +is Coutchie-Coulou, and the Black Bantam laid me +about an hour ago."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Humpty, proudly; "I belong to the +Speckled Hen, myself."</p> + +<p>"Do you, indeed!" returned Coutchie-Coulou. +"I saw her go by a little while ago, and she's much +bigger than the Black Bantam."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Isn't it dangerous for eggs to go about all by +themselves?" asked Coutchie, timidly.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"We must jump," said Humpty.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid!" cried Coutchie-Coulou. "And I +declare! there's my mother's voice clucking, and +she's coming this way."</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid we're bad eggs," gasped Coutchie, +who was somewhat out of breath.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>The brown egg meekly gave him her hand, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>It was a scene brilliant enough to fascinate anyone, +and the two eggs stood spellbound while their eyes +feasted upon the unusual sight.</p> + +<p>"See!" whispered Coutchie-Coulou, "there are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> +some birds swimming in the water yonder. Let us +go and look at them, for we also may be birds some +day."</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 376px;"> +<img src="images/i213.jpg" width="376" height="512" alt="Humpty Dumpty on wall" /> +</div> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, little egg?"</p> + +<p>Humpty looked up, and saw a beautiful girl bending +over him.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>The girl laughed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span></p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"What is your name?" asked the Princess.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Humpty sighed with pleasure.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"That is true," answered the Princess; "but now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> +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."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," said Humpty.</p> + +<p>So she carried him to the gates, and while they +awaited the coming of the King the egg said,</p> + +<p>"Put me upon the wall, Princess, for then I shall +be able to see much better than in your arms."</p> + +<p>"That is a good idea," she answered; "but you +must be careful not to fall."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>The Princess sighed, for she had taken quite a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>But Master Gracington, with downcast eyes, knelt +before the throne and spoke in this wise:</p> + +<p>"This is my riddle, oh, King:</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">All the King's horses</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And all the King's men</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Cannot put Humpty together again!"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>"Read me that, sire, an' you will!"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"You are a humbug, sir!" he cried out at last; +"there is no answer to such a riddle."</p> + +<p>"You are wrong, sire," answered the young man; +"Humpty Dumpty was an egg."</p> + +<p>"Why did I not think of that before!" exclaimed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> +the King; but he gave the Princess to the young man +to be his bride, and they lived happily together.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a><br /><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a><br /><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a><br /><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 471px;"> +<img src="images/i219.jpg" width="471" height="274" alt="The Woman Who Lived in a Shoe" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2>The Woman Who Lived in a Shoe</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +There was an old woman<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Who lived in a shoe,</span><br /> +She had so many children<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">She didn't know what to do;</span><br /> +She gave them some broth<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Without any bread,</span><br /> +And whipped them all soundly<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And sent them to bed.</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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."</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 122px;"> +<img src="images/i221.jpg" width="122" height="143" alt="house that is one tower" /> +</div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>So she hired a carpenter and built what is called a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> +"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.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 137px;"> +<img src="images/i223a.jpg" width="137" height="117" alt="house with addition on right" /> +</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 157px;"> +<img src="images/i223b.jpg" width="157" height="126" alt="house with two additions on right" /> +</div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> +they were just as cozy and comfortable as peas in +a pod.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The old woman, having taken the other twelve, +could not well refuse to adopt these little orphans also.</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 185px;"> +<img src="images/i224.jpg" width="185" height="131" alt="house with three addtions on right and now in shape of shoe" /> +</div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> +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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>One day a stranger came along the road, and when +he saw the old woman's house he began to laugh.</p> + +<p>"What are you laughing at, sir?" asked the grandmother, +who was sitting upon her door-steps engaged +in mending sixteen pairs of stockings.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span></p> + +<p>"At your house," the stranger replied; "it looks +for all the world like a big shoe!"</p> + +<p>"A shoe!" she said, in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Why, yes. The chimneys are shoe-straps, and +the steps are the heel, and all those additions make +the foot of the shoe."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"There are so many children," she said one day to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> +the baker-man, "that I often really don't know what +to do!"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>Some of the children heard him say this, and they +resolved to play him a trick in return for his ill-natured +speech.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Altogether, the baker-man was terribly frightened;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> +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!</p> + +<p>When the grandmother returned she asked, +"Where is the bread for your supper?"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>But she kept her promise, and made them eat their +broth without any bread; for, indeed, there was no +bread to give them.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>They took care not to play any more tricks on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> +the baker-man, and as they grew older they were +naturally much better behaved.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a><br /><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a><br /><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a><br /><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;"> +<img src="images/i231.jpg" width="480" height="273" alt="Little Miss Muffet" /> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /> + + + +<h2>Little Miss Muffet</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Little Miss Muffet</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sat on a tuffet,</span><br /> +Eating of curds and whey.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There came a great spider</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And sat down beside her</span><br /> +And frightened Miss Muffet away.<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> +night and from night till morn; so that Little Miss +Muffet seldom saw her parents and scarce knew them +when she did see them.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>One afternoon her mother, who happened to be at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> +home for an hour, suddenly thought of her little +daughter; so she rang the bell and asked for Nurse +Holloweg.</p> + +<p>"How is Miss Muffet, Nurse?" enquired the lady.</p> + +<p>"Very badly, ma'am," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Badly! What do you mean? Is she ill?"</p> + +<p>"She's far from well, ma'am," answered the +Nurse, "and seems to be getting worse every day."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"She must have a change. Take her away into +the country as soon as possible."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>When she reported the matter to Mrs. Muffet the +mother answered,</p> + +<p>"Very well; I will see Mr. Muffet and have him +write out a cheque."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span></p> + +<p>The morning after their arrival the little girl asked +to go out upon the lawn.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>Little Miss Muffet went out in a very angry and +sulky mood.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>While she rested and wondered what she could do +next, a farmer came along, driving an empty cart.</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>A woman came to the door to greet him, and he +said to her,</p> + +<p>"Well, mother, we're home again, you see."</p> + +<p>"So I see," she answered; "but did you bring my +groceries?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," he replied, as he began to unharness the +horses; "they are in the cart."</p> + +<p>So she came to the cart and looked within, and +saw Miss Muffet, who was still asleep.</p> + +<p>"Where did you get the little girl?" asked the +farmer's wife, in surprise.</p> + +<p>"What little girl?" asked he.</p> + +<p>"The one in the cart."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span></p> + +<p>He came to the cart and looked in, and was as +surprised as his wife.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"How came you in my cart?" asked the farmer.</p> + +<p>"I caught on behind, and climbed in," answered +the girl.</p> + +<p>"What is your name, and where do you live?" +enquired the farmer's wife.</p> + +<p>"My name is Miss Muffet, and I live in a big city,—but +where, I do not know."</p> + +<p>And that was all she could tell them, so the +woman said at last,</p> + +<p>"We must keep her till some one comes to claim +her, and she can earn her living by helping me make +the cheeses."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Some one will surely come for her," the woman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> +said to her husband, "for she is richly dressed and +must belong to a family of some importance."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>She first looked around for a place to sit down,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!"</p> + +<p>This made the woman laugh, for she was not +afraid of spiders.</p> + +<p>Soon after they heard a sound of wheels upon the +road and a handsome carriage came dashing up to +the gate.</p> + +<p>"Has anyone seen a little girl who has run away?" +asked Nurse Holloweg, leaning out of the carriage.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span></p> + +<p>When they were driving back to the town the +Nurse said,</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>The little girl was silent for a time; then she +answered,</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a><br /><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a><br /><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a><br /><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 460px;"> +<img src="images/i243.jpg" width="460" height="274" alt="Three Wise Men of Gotham" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + + +<h2>Three Wise Men of Gotham</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +Three Wise Men of Gotham<br /> +Went to sea in a bowl.<br /> +If the bowl had been stronger<br /> +My tale had been longer.<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"He is very wise, this great man; he is a second +Socrates."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span></p> + +<p>And soon this was the only name he was called +by, and every one in Gotham knew him as "Socrates."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Socrates would strut about with bowed head and +arms clasped behind him, and think:</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>He did not walk about, being lazy and preferring<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>They had named him Sophocles, and when anything +went wrong they would say,</p> + +<p>"Let us go and consult Sophocles, for he is very +wise and will tell us what to do."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Tell me, O Sophocles!" he said, as he dropped +a piece of money upon a plate, "shall I win my lawsuit +or not?"</p> + +<p>Sophocles appeared to ponder for a moment, and +then he looked at his questioner with his one eye and +replied,</p> + +<p>"If it is not decided against you, you will certainly +win your suit."</p> + +<p>And the man was content, and went away feeling +that his money had been well invested.</p> + +<p>At another time the mother of a pair of baby +twins came to him in great trouble.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 402px;"> +<img src="images/i249.jpg" width="402" height="384" alt="three men in cup" /> +<div class="caption">Three Wise Men of Gotham</div> +</div> + +<p>"Cannot the priest tell?" asked the wise man.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Bring them to me," commanded Sophocles.</p> + +<p>And when they were brought he looked at them +attentively and said,</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>Everyone marvelled greatly that Sophocles should +know the children better than their own mother, but +he said to himself,</p> + +<p>"Since no one can prove that I am wrong I +am sure to be right;" and thus he maintained his +reputation for wisdom.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"One beggar in the family is enough," he used to +grumble, when his wife upbraided him, "and I am<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> +really too tired to work. So let me alone, my +Deborah, as I am about to take another nap."</p> + +<p>Nothing she could say would arouse him to action, +and she finally allowed him to do as he pleased.</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"Here is another fool, for any one could tell as +much as this man does."</p> + +<p>Still, she went to see Sophocles, and, dropping a +penny upon his plate, she asked,</p> + +<p>"Tell me, O wise man, how shall I drive my husband +to work?"</p> + +<p>"By starving him," answered Sophocles; "if you +refuse to feed him he must find a way to feed +himself."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>Then she stopped short and slapped her hand +against her forehead.</p> + +<p>"Why," she cried, "I will make a Wise Man of +Perry, my husband, and then he can earn money +without working!"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span></p> + +<p>So she went to her husband and said,</p> + +<p>"Get up, Perry Smith, and wash yourself; for I +am going to make a Wise Man of you."</p> + +<p>"I won't," he replied.</p> + +<p>"You will," she declared, "for it is the easiest way +to earn money I have ever discovered."</p> + +<p>Then she took a stick and beat him so fiercely +that at last he got up, and agreed to do as she +said.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>She then led him into the streets, and to all they +met she declared,</p> + +<p>"This is Pericles, the wisest man in the world."</p> + +<p>"What does he know?" they asked.</p> + +<p>"Everything, and much else," she replied.</p> + +<p>Then came a carter, and putting a piece of money +in the hand of Pericles, he enquired,</p> + +<p>"Pray tell me of your wisdom what is wrong +with my mare?"</p> + +<p>"How should I know?" asked Pericles.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I thought you knew everything," returned the +carter, in surprise.</p> + +<p>"I do," declared Pericles; "but you have not +told me what her symptoms are."</p> + +<p>"She refuses to eat anything," said the carter.</p> + +<p>"Then she is not hungry," returned Pericles; "for +neither man nor beast will refuse to eat when hungry."</p> + +<p>And the people who heard him whispered together +and said,</p> + +<p>"Surely this is a wise man, for he has told the +carter what is wrong with his mare."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>But for a time all three were silent, and regarded +one another anxiously, for each feared he might betray +himself.</p> + +<p>Finally Sophocles winked his one eye at the others +and said, in a grave voice,</p> + +<p>"The earth is flat; for, were it round, as some +fools say, all the people would slide off the surface."</p> + +<p>Then the people, who had listened eagerly, clapped +their hands together and murmured,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Sophocles is wisest of all. What he says is truth."</p> + +<p>This provoked Socrates greatly, for he felt his +reputation was in danger; so he said with a frown,</p> + +<p>"The world is shallow, like a dish; were it flat +the water would all run over the edges, and we should +have no oceans."</p> + +<p>Then the people applauded more loudly than +before, and cried,</p> + +<p>"Socrates is right! he is wisest of all."</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>The people cheered loudly at this, and said,</p> + +<p>"Long live Pericles, the wisest of the wise men!"</p> + +<p>"I shall hold I am right," protested Sophocles, +"until Pericles and Socrates prove that I am wrong."</p> + +<p>"That is fair enough," said the people.</p> + +<p>"And I also shall hold myself to be right until they +prove me wrong," declared Socrates, firmly.</p> + +<p>"I know I am right," said Pericles, "for you cannot +prove me wrong."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span></p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Sophocles; and Pericles, because +he did not dare refuse, said "Yes" also.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"This will do," said Pericles, who, because he +weighed the most, was the greatest fool of the three.</p> + +<p>So the wise men all sat within the bowl, with their +feet together, and the people pushed them out into +the water.</p> + +<p>The tide caught the bowl and floated it out to +sea, and before long the wise men were beyond sight +of land.</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p>"I was a fool to come to sea in this bowl."</p> + +<p>"Ah," remarked Socrates, "if you are a fool, as +you confess, then you cannot be a wise man."</p> + +<p>"No," answered Pericles, "but I'll soon be a dead +man."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span></p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," Sophocles groaned, "the people have +murdered us!"</p> + +<p>"My only regret," said Pericles, "is that my wife +is not with me. If only she were here"—</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a><br /><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a><br /><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;"> +<img src="images/i255.jpg" width="480" height="274" alt="Little Bun Rabbit" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2>Little Bun Rabbit</h2> + +<div class='poem'> +"Oh, Little Bun Rabbit, so soft and so shy,<br /> +Say, what do you see with your big, round eye?"<br /> +"On Christmas we rabbits," says Bunny so shy,<br /> +"Keep watch to see Santa go galloping by."<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='drop-cap'>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.</div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Finally Dorothy ventured to speak, so she asked, +very softly and slowly,</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"Oh, Little Bun Rabbit, so soft and so shy,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Say, what do you see with your big, round eye?"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>"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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> +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."</p> + +<p>"Is that the reason your eyes are so big?" asked +Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Where is your home, bunny?" enquired the girl.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"In winter we rabbits," said Bunny so shy,<br /> +"Keep watch to see Santa go galloping by."<br /> +</div> + +<p>"And do you ever see him?" asked the girl, +eagerly.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span></p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Oh, tell me about it!" pleaded Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"'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.'</p> + +<p>"'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.'</p> + +<p>"'That is true,' replied Santa Claus; 'and yet +you are so soft and pretty it is a pity the babies can't<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span> +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.'</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"After Mother Hubbard had given me a good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>"'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.</p> + +<p>"'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.</p> + +<p>"'It's a very good job,' said Santa, nodding his +head at us pleasantly; 'and I shall have to make a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> +lot of these rabbits, for the little children are sure to +be greatly pleased with them.'</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"'I must put a squeak in it,' said Santa.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"'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.'</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"'I almost wish I was a child,' I said to him one +day, 'for then I too could have playthings.'</p> + +<p>"'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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> +the summer, and then they must have toys to amuse +them and keep them contented.'</p> + +<p>"I knew this was true, so I only said, admiringly,</p> + +<p>"'You must be the quickest and the best workman +in all the world, Santa.'</p> + +<p>"'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.'</p> + +<p>"'Oh, no,' said I, 'I prefer to run by myself, for +I can easily find the way and I want to see the +country.'</p> + +<p>"'If that is the case,' replied Santa, 'I must give +you a magic collar to wear, so that you will come to +no harm.'</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"But what became of the magic collar?" asked +Dorothy, who had listened with breathless interest to +the rabbit's story.</p> + +<p>"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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>"Santa never forgets me, and every time he passes +he calls out, in his jolly voice,</p> + +<p>"'A merry Christmas to you, Bun Rabbit! The +babies still love you dearly.'"</p> + +<p>The Rabbit paused, and Dorothy was just about to +ask another question when Bunny raised his head and +seemed to hear something coming.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" enquired the girl.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOTHER GOOSE IN PROSE***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 5312-h.htm or 5312-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/5/3/1/5312">http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/1/5312</a></p> +<p> +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p> +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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