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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
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+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #52044 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52044)
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wide Awake Third Reader, by Clara Murray
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: The Wide Awake Third Reader
-
-Author: Clara Murray
-
-Release Date: May 11, 2016 [EBook #52044]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WIDE AWAKE THIRD READER ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Emmy, MWS and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
-produced from images generously made available by The
-Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-THE WIDE AWAKE THIRD READER
-
-
-
-
-The Wide Awake Series
-
-
-    THE WIDE AWAKE PRIMER, 30 cents
-    THE WIDE AWAKE FIRST READER, 30 cents
-    THE WIDE AWAKE SECOND READER, 35 cents
-    THE WIDE AWAKE THIRD READER, 40 cents
-
-[Illustration: THE CHILDREN SCRUB THEIR WOODEN SHOES.
-
-(From “Dutch Children.”)]
-
-
-
-
-    THE WIDE AWAKE
-
-    THIRD READER
-
-
-    BY
-
-    CLARA MURRAY
-
-    AUTHOR OF “THE WIDE AWAKE PRIMER,” “THE WIDE AWAKE FIRST
-    READER,” “THE WIDE AWAKE SECOND READER,” ETC.
-
-
-    [Illustration]
-
-
-    BOSTON
-    LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
-    1912
-
-
-
-
-    COPYRIGHT, 1908,
-    BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.
-
-    _All rights reserved._
-
-
-    Printers
-    S. J. PARKHILL & CO., BOSTON, U.S.A.
-
-
-
-
-PREFACE
-
-
-IN this, the third reader of the series, great care has been taken,
-not only in selecting material suited to the needs and ability of the
-pupil, but also to arrange the selections so that he may develop the
-habit of acquiring interesting facts as he reads.
-
-In the first two grades the children need to learn the mechanics of
-reading,—the recognition of words, the ability to find out _new_ words
-for themselves by means of phonics, correct pronunciation, enunciation,
-inflection, expression, etc., but in this grade especial stress may be
-laid on _learning by reading_,—getting the fact and remembering it.
-This prepares the pupil for the actual work of studying, when he is
-given a book and asked for the first time to “learn the lessons.” The
-questions at the end of many of the lessons should be read and answered
-by the pupil after he has read the selection. His answers should be
-thoughtfully prepared and correctly stated.
-
-Especial attention is called to the fact that the selections in this
-book are almost exclusively copyrighted material, and have never been
-and cannot be used in other series of readers. This avoids the tiresome
-repetition of stories, read first in one book and then again and again
-in others.
-
-Many of the selections are valuable from a literary standpoint, and the
-pupils will read with real enjoyment stories by Laura Richards, Mary E.
-Wilkins, Anna von Rydingsvärd, Helen Hunt Jackson, and other authors,
-noted for their skill in writing stories for children.
-
-The selections which deal especially with child life and interests in
-other countries will broaden the child’s view of the world, prepare him
-for the study of geography, and help him to be a wide awake child, just
-the child whom this Wide Awake Series is intended to develop.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The selections, “Little Grandmother’s Shoes,” “Children of
-a Sunny Land,” “The Little Plant,” “The Little Goatherds,”
-“Great-Great-Grandma’s Christmas in England,” “The Whipping Boy,”
-“The Christmas Spruce Tree,” “The Eve of St. Nicholas,” “The Little
-Turkeys,” “The Children of Armenia,” “Ahmow,—the Wolf,” “The Emperor
-and the Peasant,” and “The Christmas Monks,” are used by arrangement
-with the Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Company.
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS
-
-
-                                                                     PAGE
- ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE WORLD                                      9
- THE SONG SPARROW’S WORK                      _Etta Austin Blaisdell_  15
- DUTCH CHILDREN                                                        20
- A LITTLE DUTCH GIRL                          _Edith Colby Banfield_   25
- THE GREAT FEAST                              _Laura E. Richards_      26
- LITTLE GRANDMOTHER’S SHOES                                            30
- LITTLE-FOLK LAND                             _Edith Colby Banfield_   33
- CHILDREN OF A SUNNY LAND
-     A STRANGE MILK WAGON                                              35
-     A RIDE IN A CHAIR                                                 36
-     THE CARNIVAL                                                      39
- THE LITTLE PLANT                             _Anna von Rydingsvärd_   42
- TWO WAYS                                     _Laura E. Richards_      44
- A SONG IN THE WOODS                          _Louise C. Moulton_      46
- HOW THE CORN GREW                            _Julia Dalrymple_        47
- “DO YOU KNOW?”                               _Edith Colby Banfield_   51
- THE LITTLE GOATHERDS                                                  52
- SWISS CHILDREN                                                        56
- LULLABY-LAND                                 _Edith Colby Banfield_   60
- THE STONE BLOCKS                             _Laura E. Richards_      61
- GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMA’S CHRISTMAS IN ENGLAND                            63
- THE WHIPPING BOY                                                      69
- THE CHRISTMAS SPRUCE TREE                    _Anna von Rydingsvärd_   72
- A ROSE                                       _Emily Dickinson_        76
- THE EVE OF ST. NICHOLAS                                               77
- ROBIN REDBREAST                              _William Allingham_      81
- “THE LITTLE TURKEYS”
-     IN SCHOOL                                                         83
-     AT HOME                                                           88
- “GILLYFLOWER GENTLEMAN”                      _Laura E. Richards_      91
- THE RULER                                    _Laura E. Richards_      93
- THE MOON                                     _Edith Colby Banfield_   95
- THE CHILDREN OF ARMENIA                                               96
- ARMENIAN HOMES                                                       100
- THE NEST                                     _Helen Hunt Jackson_    104
- AHMOW—THE WOLF                               _Frederick Schwatka_    106
- ESKIMO CHILDREN                                                      113
- THE DREAM-SHIP                               _Blanche M. Channing_   117
- A TRIP TO JAPAN                          _Charlotte Chaffee Gibson_  118
- URASHIMA                                 _Charlotte Chaffee Gibson_  125
- A DAY                                        _Emily Dickinson_       130
- THE ANTS’ MONDAY DINNER                      _Helen Hunt Jackson_    131
- MY ANT’S COW                                 _Helen Hunt Jackson_    139
- COLORADO SNOW-BIRDS                          _Helen Hunt Jackson_    148
- THE PETERKINS’ EXCURSION AFTER MAPLE SYRUP   _Lucretia P. Hale_      153
- THE GRASS                                    _Emily Dickinson_       164
- SUNSET                                       _Emily Dickinson_       165
- THE BABY SQUIRRELS                           _Julia A. Schwartz_     166
- THE BABY THAT SLEEPS IN A POCKET             _Julia A. Schwartz_     180
- THE EMPEROR AND THE PEASANT                  _Anna von Rydingsvärd_  194
- THE CHRISTMAS MONKS                          _Mary E. Wilkins_
-     THE GARDEN                                                       203
-     PETER AND THE PRINCE                                             206
-     THE PRETTIEST DOLL                                               210
-     CHRISTMAS GIFTS                                                  214
-
-
-
-
-THE WIDE AWAKE THIRD READER
-
-
-
-
-ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE WORLD
-
-
-I wish you would try to think this morning about all the children in
-all the world.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-There are thousands and thousands of them, and they are doing all sorts
-of things this very minute.
-
-Some of them are wide awake and some are in bed and fast asleep. Some
-are in school and some are playing out of doors.
-
-Some live in such hot countries that they lie in the shade of big palm
-trees to keep cool. Others are in such a cold country that they see
-nothing but ice and snow, and they are dressed in furs from head to
-foot.
-
-When you read stories about the children in other lands, do they seem
-to you like fairy stories?
-
-I want you to know that all these children are real boys and girls, and
-they work and play and have happy times together, just as you do.
-
-Perhaps when you read about the children in the far North you will wish
-that you were an Eskimo boy, living in a snow hut, wearing thick furs,
-and riding over the fields of snow in a sled drawn by dogs.
-
-Or perhaps you would rather be a little Indian and live in a wigwam in
-the forest, learning to paddle a canoe, and to fish and hunt.
-
-While you are here in this beautiful schoolroom, learning to read and
-write and draw and sing, there are thousands of other children who
-never saw a schoolhouse, and who will grow up to be men and women
-without even learning to read.
-
-You can read stories about these people, and as you grow older perhaps
-you will know more about them, but they will probably never hear of you.
-
-Of course, there are many thousands of children everywhere who are in
-school this morning.
-
-Think of all the boys and girls in every town in the whole United
-States, who see the flag with its stars and stripes floating over their
-schoolhouses, and who learn to sing “America.”
-
-In France the children wave a flag of red, white and blue, and learn
-a song about their country, but their flag is not like yours, and you
-could not understand one word of their French song.
-
-The little English children sing a song about their country and their
-king which you could understand, and they read in books like yours. But
-then, there are the children who live in Germany, and learn to read in
-German, and the children who live in Italy and read Italian books, and
-many, many others.
-
-Oh, there are so many children in the world!
-
-In Japan and China the children use the queerest books that you ever
-saw. The words go up and down the page, and the stories begin at the
-end of the book, and at the bottom of the page. The words look like
-this:—
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Did you ever see such funny words?
-
-The boys and girls in these other countries do not go to school all of
-the time. They have holidays and vacations, and they play out of doors
-in the long summer days and the cold winter weather, just as you do.
-
-You would enjoy playing with these children, even if you could not talk
-with them. I know you would like to fly big kites with the boys in
-Japan, or skate down the canals with the little Dutch boys.
-
-And as for dolls! I am sure there are as many dolls in the world as
-there are little girls, and perhaps more, because some little girls
-have so many dolls that they cannot play with all of them.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-You would like to play with the queer Chinese dolls in their beautiful
-silken robes, or with the Eskimo dolls that are carved out of bone and
-are dressed in furs and sealskin.
-
-The Indian girl has wooden dolls dressed in bright blankets, with beads
-and feathers. The little French girl has a big wax doll, with blue eyes
-that shut when she lies down, and pop open when she sits up again. She
-wears beautiful gowns and big hats with feathers and ribbons.
-
-Wouldn’t it be fun to have a dolls’ party to-day, if the dolls from all
-over the world could come?
-
-These dolls might be dressed in furs, or silks, or blankets; they might
-be made of wax, or bone, or wood. But if they could talk they would
-tell you that the little girl who owns them loves them, and that,
-whether she lives in a snow hut or a tent in the desert, she has a
-loving father and mother and a happy childhood.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Are there many children in all the world?
-
-What are some of them doing this very minute?
-
-If you should go to school in Germany, what would you have to do first?
-
-What does a little German child have to do when he first goes to school
-in our country?
-
-Tell all the things you can that all the children in the world do
-almost every day.
-
-
-
-
-THE SONG SPARROW’S WORK
-
-
-In the forest where the birds live there is always work to do.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-The woodpecker is a carpenter. He climbs up and down the trees and
-chops a hole in the trunk of one of them to make his home.
-
-The crow flies down to the ground, and walks about in the fields.
-
-He is the birds’ farmer. Toward evening, when he cries, “Caw! Caw!” he
-means that the earth needs rain.
-
-The owl is the night policeman. He watches the rats and mice, and keeps
-them out of the farmer’s fields.
-
-The kingbirds are the soldiers. They fight the birds that come over
-from the next forest, and drive them away.
-
-The hawks have sharp eyes, and can see a long way. They are the scouts,
-and tell the soldiers when the enemy is coming.
-
-The whip-poor-wills can see in the night, so they are the birds’ night
-watchmen.
-
-The orioles are weavers. They weave their nests, and hang them in the
-tallest trees.
-
-One of the birds is a thief, and steals eggs from the nests of the
-other birds, but I shall not tell you _his_ name.
-
-So all of the birds have work to do in the forest.
-
-What do the song birds do? Ah! they have their work, too. They sing
-cheerfully while the other birds work, and make the hours short and the
-day happy.
-
-They sing of the goodness of God, and of the beauty in the forest and
-sky.
-
-If there were no song birds, the workers might forget all of these
-lovely things. Then their hearts would be as hard as the tree the
-woodpecker is chopping.
-
-One spring morning the song birds were singing so beautifully that
-every one listened.
-
-The woodpeckers cried, “Plitt! plitt!” The crows screamed, “Rah! rah!”
-and the blackbirds laughed with glee. This meant that they liked the
-songs.
-
-In the nests were many baby birds. They liked to hear the songs, too,
-so they stretched up their little heads.
-
-But _they_ could not understand the songs about the sky and the forest.
-You see, they had not seen these things yet, and they did not know
-what the songs meant.
-
-The poor babies drooped their heads and were very sad.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-There was one bird who thought of the babies in the nests, for he had a
-kind heart, and loved little things.
-
-“I will fly down and sing for them,” he thought; “perhaps it will make
-them happy.”
-
-So he flew into a little bush, quite near the ground, and sang the
-sweetest song he knew. Over and over again he sang it, and the babies
-in the nests listened all the time.
-
-“He is singing about the warm sunshine,” said the baby robins.
-
-“He is singing about rocking in this beautiful cradle,” said the baby
-orioles.
-
-Then, as the song grew sweeter and sweeter, “Listen, listen!” they
-cried. “Now he is singing about our mother. That is the best song of
-all.”
-
-So the song sparrow sang in the little bush, telling the babies about
-the sun and the breezes and their mothers’ love.
-
-He waked them in the morning; he sang them to sleep at night.
-
-Have you never heard him singing, “Sweet, sweet, sweet, loving little
-mother, sweet”?
-
-    —_Etta Austin Blaisdell._
-
-
-
-
-DUTCH CHILDREN
-
-
-How would you like to go to Holland with me to visit the little Dutch
-children?
-
-First we must go to New York City in a railroad train and then get on
-board of one of the big ships that cross the ocean.
-
-We shall have to travel over the water five or six days and nights in
-this big ship, and then ride a long way, after we come to land.
-
-When the Pilgrims came to this country, nearly three hundred years ago,
-they crossed the same ocean, but it took them many weeks. They were in
-a small sailing vessel, and had to come very slowly.
-
-On board of this big ship you will find a great many things to do
-and see. There are several hundred people on the vessel, and it is
-interesting to watch them. There are books to read, and games to play,
-and the days will go very swiftly.
-
-Most of the time you will not be able to see land in any direction.
-All you can see is the sun and the sky and the ocean with big waves
-rolling and tossing about.
-
-I wonder what you will notice the very first thing when you reach
-Holland.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Perhaps you will see a group of children running down the street with
-their wooden shoes clacking on the stone walks.
-
-Or perhaps you will see some girls standing at a corner knitting
-stockings, or a boy driving a dog harnessed to a little cart.
-
-If you take a train and ride through the country you will see many
-strange things.
-
-There are big windmills everywhere, with long arms, and sails to catch
-the wind. These mills turn wheels to pump water and grind corn and saw
-wood. In Holland there are no rivers with falls and swift currents to
-turn the mill wheels.
-
-In some towns there are canals instead of streets, with bridges for the
-people to cross from one side to the other.
-
-In summer there are many boats going up and down the canals, but in
-winter the water in the canals freezes, and then everybody skates.
-Think what fun it must be to skate to church, to skate to market, to
-skate to school, and then skate home again!
-
-A great many of the poor children in Holland wear wooden shoes when
-they are out of doors. When they go into the house they take off their
-shoes and leave them at the door. You can tell, by counting the pairs
-of shoes at the door, how many children there are in the house.
-
-Every week the children scrub their wooden shoes with soap and water
-until they are almost as white as snow; then they dry them in the sun,
-or before the fire in the big open fireplace.
-
-These wooden shoes make fine boats, and sometimes the boys take them
-off and sail them in the canals. The little girls use them for doll
-carriages, or play they are beds, and tuck their dolls into them for a
-nap.
-
-If you were walking down a village street in Holland you might see a
-red silk ball, or a pink silk one, hanging at the front door of one
-of the houses. This is to show that there is a little new baby in the
-house. If the ball is red, the baby is a boy; if it is pink, the baby
-is a girl.
-
-There are very good schools in Holland, and all the children go to
-school and learn to read and write and sing, just as you do. But their
-reading and singing would sound very strange to you, and you could not
-read one word of their writing.
-
-The Dutch children have vacations and holidays, of course. The holiday
-they like best of all is Santa Claus Day. It comes on the sixth day of
-December, and is very much like our Christmas Day.
-
-The boys and girls put their wooden shoes in front of the fireplace,
-on the hearth, just as you hang your stocking near the chimney, and
-Santa Claus rides over the roofs of the houses on a big horse and drops
-presents down the chimney into the little shoes.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-How would you go from your home to New York City? How long would it
-take?
-
-What would you like to see in Holland?
-
-What would you see that you never saw before?
-
-Why do the people in Holland build windmills?
-
-What kind of shoes do many of the children wear?
-
-What season would you like best if you were in Holland? Why?
-
-
-
-
-A LITTLE DUTCH GIRL
-
-
-    Were you a little Dutch girl
-    You’d be, perhaps, as sweet
-    As now you are, my darling,
-    And very much more neat!
-
-    You’d be a little housewife,
-    And even at your play
-    You’d take your knitting needles,
-    And knit and knit away!
-
-    You’d never be forgetting
-    To feed your pussy-cat,
-    And she, like Holland pussies,
-    Would grow so sleek and fat.
-
-    But were you, dear, a Gretchen,
-    You’d live across the sea,
-    And so would be, my dearie,
-    No kind of use to me.
-                 —_Edith Colby Banfield._
-
-
-
-
-THE GREAT FEAST
-
-
-Once the Play Angel came into a nursery where four little children sat
-on the floor with sad and troubled faces.
-
-“What is the matter, children?” asked the Play Angel.
-
-“We wanted to have a great feast,” said the child whose nursery it was.
-
-“Yes, that would be delightful,” said the Play Angel.
-
-“But there is only one cooky!” said the child whose nursery it was.
-
-“And it is a very small cooky!” said his little cousin.
-
-“Not big enough for me!” said the child whose nursery it was.
-
-The other two children said nothing, but they looked at the cooky with
-big round eyes, and their mouths went up in the middle and down at the
-sides.
-
-“Well,” said the Play Angel, “let us have the feast just the same. I
-think we can manage it.”
-
-She broke the cooky into four pieces, and gave one piece to the
-littlest child.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-“See,” she said. “This is a roast chicken. It is just as brown and
-crisp as it can be. There is cranberry sauce on one side, and on the
-other a little mountain of mashed potato. It must be a volcano, it
-smokes so. Do you see?”
-
-“Yes,” said the littlest child, and his mouth went down in the middle
-and up at the corners.
-
-The Play Angel gave a piece to the next child.
-
-“Here,” she said, “is a little pie. Outside, as you see, it is brown
-and crusty, and inside it is all chicken, and ham, and jelly, and
-hard-boiled eggs. Did you ever see such a pie?”
-
-“No, I never did,” said the child.
-
-“Now here,” said the Angel to the third child, “is a round cake. The
-frosting is half an inch thick, and inside there are chopped nuts and
-raisins. It is the prettiest cake I ever saw, and the best.”
-
-“So it is,” said the third child.
-
-Then the Angel gave the last piece to the child whose nursery it was.
-
-“My dear,” she said, “just look! Here is an ice-cream rabbit. He is
-snowy white outside, with eyes of red sugar; see his long ears, and his
-little tail. Inside, I think you will find he is pink.
-
-“Now, when I clap my hands and count one, two, three, you must eat the
-feast all up. One—two,—three!”
-
-So the children ate the feast all up.
-
-“There,” said the Angel, “did you ever see such a grand feast?”
-
-“No, we never did!” said all the four children together.
-
-“And there are some crumbs left over,” said the Angel. “Come, and we
-will give them to the brother birds.”
-
-“But you didn’t have any,” said the child whose nursery it was.
-
-“Oh, yes!” said the Angel, “I had it all.”
-
-    —_Laura E. Richards._
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-    Small service is true service while it lasts.
-    Of humblest friends, bright creature, scorn not one.
-    The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
-    Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun.
-                              —_William Wordsworth._
-
-
-
-
-LITTLE GRANDMOTHER’S SHOES
-
-
-“But, Grandmother,” said little May, holding up the tiny pair of
-calf-skin shoes, “were these your very _best_ shoes? Didn’t you have
-any shiny black ones, with a tassel on, like mine?
-
-[Illustration]
-
-“And where did you buy them, Grandmother? Did Columbus bring them with
-him in his ship?”
-
-“No, dear; Columbus didn’t bring Grandma’s shoes in his ship. He sailed
-back to Spain again three hundred years before these shoes were made.
-
-“Bring your chair and sit down by me. I will tell you all about these
-little worn-out shoes of mine.
-
-“When I was a little girl,” began Grandmother, “children did not wear
-shoes all the time. They went barefoot in the summer, except when they
-were dressed up. One pair of shoes had to last a whole year.
-
-“When we went to church we used to go barefoot, carrying our shoes in
-our hands. At the foot of the hill we washed our feet in the brook and
-put on our shoes and stockings.
-
-“Our shoes did not wear out very fast; and if we lost a shoe, we had to
-go barefoot till the shoemaker came again.”
-
-“Oh, dear!” sighed May, “how dreadful! Who was the shoemaker,
-Grandmother, and when did he come?”
-
-“The shoemaker,” Grandmother replied, “was a very important man when I
-was a little girl. ‘Shoe week’ was a busy week in the family.
-
-“I can remember how glad we all were when father said, ‘The shoemaker
-will be here to-morrow.’
-
-“That night the shoe bench was brought down from the attic and placed
-in a warm corner of the kitchen.
-
-“Father and mother made a list of the shoes that were needed. We
-children talked about our new shoes and the shoemaker until we fell
-asleep.
-
-“Early in the morning the shoemaker appeared. He carried his bag of
-tools and a roll of leather on his back. By seven o’clock he was seated
-at his bench, hard at work.
-
-“We children used to sit on the floor beside him and watch him work.
-First he measured our feet and drew some paper patterns. Then he cut
-out the leather.
-
-“He punched holes along the edges of the leather with a sharp awl; then
-the shoe was ready to sew.
-
-“For his sewing he used a long waxed thread, with a stiff bristle at
-each end for a needle. All day long he would sit at his bench, putting
-the needles into the holes and pulling the thread through, till the
-shoe was sewed firmly.
-
-“When all our shoes were made, he packed his bag and said good-by for
-another year.”
-
-
-
-
-LITTLE-FOLK LAND
-
-
-    The children all go looking
-    In vain for Fairyland,
-    Where little folk have dwelling,
-    And wander hand in hand;
-    Where silvery small voices
-    Ring clear upon the air,
-    Where magic little whispers
-    Work wonders everywhere;
-
-    Where flower fields are forests,
-    For tiny feet to tread;
-    Where one has lived a life-time
-    Before the day is fled.
-    For this dear wondrous country
-    The children look in vain;
-    They find but empty flowers,
-    Through sun and summer rain.
-
-    It is the grown folks only
-    Have eyes for Fairyland,
-    Where little people wander,
-    And toddle hand in hand;
-    Where happy voices prattle,
-    And whisper secrets strange;
-    Where tiny sprites by magic
-    To bigger fairies change;
-
-    Where dancing little figures
-    Get lost amid the flowers;
-    Where days as years are measured,
-    And minutes count for hours.
-    It is the grown folk only
-    Can find the land of elves;
-    How could the children guess it?
-    The fairies are themselves.
-                        —_Edith Colby Banfield._
-
-
-
-
-CHILDREN OF A SUNNY LAND
-
-
-I—A STRANGE MILK WAGON
-
-Domingo and his sister Marikena live in a warm, sunny land. It is the
-land of Brazil, where there are fruits and flowers all the year, and it
-is always summer.
-
-Domingo and Marikena love the sunshine, and the birds and flowers.
-
-They like to play out of doors in the early morning and at night, but
-at noon it is too hot, and every one takes a nap.
-
-When they go to the woods they do not see crows and blue jays and
-woodpeckers. Instead, there are gorgeous parrots and beautiful
-humming-birds that are almost as large as robins.
-
-Perhaps they see monkeys in the palm trees; and, instead of acorns,
-they find cocoanuts.
-
-In their schoolroom they sing all their lessons. Is not that a merry
-way? But it would seem strange to you because you could not understand
-one word they say. You see, they do not speak English, and they could
-not talk with you.
-
-Every morning the two children are up very early and out on the balcony
-watching for something. Soon they call out, “_leite, leite_,” which
-means, “milk, milk.”
-
-And what do you suppose they see? Not a wagon filled with glass jars or
-tin cans. Oh, no! It is only two or three cows being driven down the
-street by a woman.
-
-The woman stops the cows in front of Domingo’s house, and milks one of
-them while the children watch her. How sweet and fresh this milk is! I
-wish you could have some every morning, too!
-
-
-II—A RIDE IN A CHAIR
-
-Domingo and Marikena are going with their mother to visit their cousin.
-
-They have had their afternoon nap and it is not too hot out of doors
-now, as it is nearly four o’clock.
-
-If you were going to pay a visit you would walk or ride in a car or
-carriage, would you not?
-
-But Domingo and Marikena are not going in either of those ways. It is
-too hot to walk, and the streetcars do not go up the hill where their
-aunt lives, so they will ride in a chair.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-The chairs are large and have big, soft cushions. They have a cover
-overhead and curtains on all sides, and are carried by four men.
-
-The two children ride in one chair; their mother in another. The
-curtains are drawn down, but Domingo peeps out as they ride through the
-city streets.
-
-When they reach the cousin’s house they do not rap on the door or ring
-a bell. The mother claps her hands, and when the aunt sees them she
-says, “Enter and welcome. The house and all it contains is yours.”
-
-Is not that a strange way of saying, “I am glad to see you. Will you
-come in?”
-
-They sit in the parlor and while they talk they sip coffee from tiny
-cups. Before they come away they walk in the garden, where there are
-beautiful flowers and fountains, tall palm trees, and rubber trees with
-blossoms like yellow lilies.
-
-The chair-men wait and the children ride home again, but it is dark,
-and they can see only the lights in the houses. The chair swings back
-and forth like a cradle as the men trot down the hill into the city.
-
-They sing as they go, and the song is a low, sweet tune like a lullaby.
-Marikena puts her head on the cushions and almost falls asleep.
-
-Domingo nods and dreams of the fruit and the flowers and the funny pet
-monkey his cousin had in the garden. Oh! the days are long and happy in
-Brazil, and the children have merry times.
-
-
-III—THE CARNIVAL
-
-“The Carnival, the Carnival,” shouted Domingo one morning. “This is the
-first day of the Carnival.”
-
-Then he ran to find Marikena. “Look, Sister,” he cried, “I am a clown
-this year. What are you?”
-
-“I am a fairy,” she replied. “See my cap and wand. And here is a bag
-full of sugarplums and sweetmeats. I can hang the bag over my shoulder.”
-
-“See these big pockets,” said her brother. “They are bigger than a bag
-and they are just full of goodies. I like to be a clown, because I can
-have such big pockets. Take that!” and he threw a handful of sugarplums
-into her lap.
-
-Just then there was a clapping of hands at the door and the children
-ran to the balcony.
-
-In Brazil the Carnival is held on the three days before Lent, and
-every one has a holiday. The cities are beautifully decorated, and men,
-women and children wear odd costumes and masks.
-
-Some of them are dressed to look like monkeys, some like parrots, and
-some like clowns. Some wear gay dresses and funny masks, and others
-wear ugly skins of animals and hideous masks.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-The children often carry wreaths and garlands of flowers; and there is
-always music and feasting and dancing in the streets.
-
-Every one has pockets, bags, or baskets full of sugarplums, sweetmeats,
-bonbons and flowers.
-
-These they throw at every one they meet, laughing merrily if they make
-a good hit.
-
-The children think it is great fun to pelt each other with sugarplums
-and flowers. It is as good as snow-balling, only they can never have
-snow battles because they never have any snow.
-
-The Carnival is the best time of all the year in Brazil, or at least
-Domingo and Marikena think so.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Where do Domingo and Marikena live?
-
-When do they play out of doors?
-
-What do they see in the woods?
-
-How is the milk brought to their house?
-
-When they go visiting, what do they ride in?
-
-What did their aunt say when they went to call on her? What did they do
-at their aunt’s house?
-
-What do some of the people wear on Carnival days?
-
-What do they carry in their pockets? What do they throw at each other?
-
-
-
-
-THE LITTLE PLANT
-
-
-On the edge of the forest stood a tiny plant. It was only six inches
-tall.
-
-The ground around it was so cold and hard that it could not grow
-taller. It had stood there many years, sad and sorrowful.
-
-“Grow and be beautiful,” said the forest sternly, but the plant did not
-grow.
-
-“Do you not wish to grow?” said the blue jay. Then he began to tell the
-little plant how lazy and useless it was. But his words went into one
-ear and out of the other.
-
-Still the plant did not grow.
-
-“Grow! grow!” roared the wind. “Grow tall and straight. I will teach
-you to obey. Grow! grow!”
-
-Then the wind lashed the tiny plant with its cold wings, and beat its
-branches to the ground. But the poor thing came near dying and did not
-grow at all.
-
-“Do grow,” said the sun. “Grow and be beautiful. I will help you.”
-
-Then the sun warmed the earth around the plant, and gentle showers fell
-on it from the clouds.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Now the little twigs began to grow, and the tiny plant became a
-beautiful birch tree, with green leaves and snow-white bark.
-
-    —_Anna von Rydingsvärd._
-
-
-
-
-TWO WAYS
-
-
-Two little weeds grew on a bank by the roadside.
-
-All summer they had been drinking the dew and sunshine, and had been
-very happy.
-
-But now autumn had come, with gray skies and winds that nipped and
-pinched them.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-“We shall die soon,” said one little weed.
-
-“I should like to do something pleasant before I die, just to show what
-a happy time I have had. I think I will turn red, and then people will
-see how I feel.”
-
-“You will be very foolish to waste your strength in any such nonsense!”
-said the other little weed. “I shall live as long as I can, and hug
-the brown bank here.”
-
-So the first little weed turned bright scarlet, and was so pretty that
-every one looked at it.
-
-By and by there came down the road a most beautiful maiden.
-
-When she saw the scarlet leaves she picked them and put them in her
-hair.
-
-This made the little weed so happy that he died for pure joy.
-
-The second little weed lived on, and turned slowly brown, like the bank.
-
-“He was so foolish!” he said, speaking of the weed that turned scarlet.
-“He put all his strength into turning red, and so he died.”
-
-“I was proud of him,” said the brown bank. “He did what he could, and
-people loved him.”
-
-“Yes, but I am alive, and stay with you!” said the weed.
-
-“Much I care!” said the bank.
-
-    —_Laura E. Richards._
-
-
-
-
-A SONG IN THE WOOD
-
-
-    I found a shy little violet root
-      Half hid in the woods, on a day of spring,
-    And a bird flew over, and looked at it, too,
-      And for joy, as he looked, he began to sing.
-
-    The sky was the tenderest blue above,—
-      And the flower like a bit of the sky below;
-    And between them the wonderful winds of God
-      On heavenly errands went to and fro.
-
-    Away from the summer, and out of the South
-      The bird had followed a whisper true,
-    As out from the brown and desolate sod
-      Stepped the shy little blossom, with eyes of blue.
-
-    And he sang to her, in the young spring day,
-      Of all the joy in the world astir;
-    And her beauty and fragrance answered him,
-      While the spring and he bent over her.
-
-                        —_Louise Chandler Moulton._
-
-
-
-
-HOW THE CORN GREW
-
-
-Little Me Too walked to the right, then to the left, along the sidewalk
-in front of the house.
-
-As he walked he sang with all his might about the ocean, and the summer
-time, and any other pleasant thing that came into his head.
-
-He made it up as he went along, and grew quite out of breath at last,
-and had to stop.
-
-Just as he had got his breath and was meaning to begin all over again,
-he saw something very small and yellow on the edge of the walk.
-
-Then he began to sing the song of whatever it might be that was so
-small and yellow.
-
-This is what he sang:—
-
-    “I wonder what this is.
-     I guess it is a kernel of corn.
-     I wonder how it came here
-     All alone by itself.
-     I guess I don’t know.
-     I wonder if it can be planted
-     In the grass in our yard.
-     Yes!”
-
-When he said “Yes!” he stooped down and dug a hole in the ground in the
-dooryard with his fingers.
-
-Then he put the kernel of corn in the hole and covered it over with
-dirt.
-
-Afterwards he stood up and sang at the top of his voice, “Now I guess
-it will grow!”
-
-Of course it grew!
-
-After a few days it poked itself up through the earth to make Little Me
-Too remember. For Little Me Too had forgotten all about it.
-
-When he saw it poking its head up through the grass, he didn’t remember
-even then that it was the kernel of corn.
-
-It had changed.
-
-When he put it into the ground and covered it with dirt, it was yellow
-and hard.
-
-Now it was green and soft. It looked somewhat like the rest of the
-grass,—but not _just_ like it, or Little Me Too wouldn’t have noticed
-it.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-When he saw it he said, “There’s a grass that wants to be different.
-Perhaps it’s the grandfather grass.”
-
-He let it alone, and he got the man with the lawn mower to let it
-alone. That gave it a good chance to grow.
-
-It grew just as fast as it could, and as soon as it was big enough it
-showed Little Me Too that it was no grandfather grass, but a cornstalk.
-
-The man with the lawn mower said so.
-
-Then it was that Little Me Too remembered. When he remembered, he said,
-“Yes, it grew.”
-
-When it had grown to be taller than Little Me Too, people walking along
-the sidewalk would look at it, and say, “What a fine garden!”
-
-The mother said, “I am glad it is something that can’t find its way
-into the nursery.”
-
-Little Me Too it was who first saw the ear of corn growing on the stalk.
-
-He showed it to some people, and there were others who saw it without
-having it shown to them.
-
-Each of them asked for a bite from it when it should be ripe.
-
-Little Me Too said “yes,” to them all.
-
-When he had said “yes” to thirty-one people, his mother said, “Don’t
-say ‘yes’ to any more people; you won’t have corn enough for them all.”
-
-Little Me Too promised not to say “yes” again, but sometimes he
-forgot, and by the time the corn was ripe he had said “yes” to fifty
-people.
-
-But he had plenty of corn, for it was an ear of pop corn.
-
-After it was popped over the nursery fire it filled a big, big bowl.
-
-    —_Julia Dalrymple._
-
-
-
-
-“DO YOU KNOW?”
-
-
-      Do you know
-      That you can go
-    In the early morning light
-      When the dew is on the grass
-      And find the little cobweb tents
-    The fairies sleep in all the night?
-
-      But, alas, you’ll find no traces
-      Of their little fairy faces!
-
-                          —_Edith Colby Banfield._
-
-
-
-
-THE LITTLE GOATHERDS
-
-
-Louis and Marie live among the mountains in Switzerland. These
-mountains are very high and are called the Swiss Alps.
-
-The cold winds sweep down the mountain-side and rush through the
-valleys. Sometimes it blows so hard that it almost blows the thatched
-roofs off the houses.
-
-But the mountain people know all about these strong winds. What do you
-suppose they do to keep the roof from blowing away? They lay heavy
-stones on the roof to keep it in place.
-
-The winters are long and cold; and it snows and snows! You never saw
-such deep drifts nor such big fields of ice.
-
-But the summer is beautiful,—the sky is blue and the sun is bright; and
-far away the mountain peaks are capped with glistening snow.
-
-Then the grass is green and the flowers blossom everywhere. These are
-happy days for the children.
-
-In summer Louis and Marie go out every morning with the goats. Marie
-is just a tiny bit of a girl only four years old, but Louis is a big
-boy. He is almost nine, and that is very old when one has such a little
-sister.
-
-Louis lets the goats out of their yard. They jump and run and caper
-about, and Marie hides behind her mother’s dress. She is afraid of the
-goats at first.
-
-One of the big goats always runs to the vineyard, he is so fond of
-grapes. Louis drives him out with a long stick.
-
-Then the whole herd runs to the wheat field, and Louis runs after them,
-shouting at them and driving them away toward the mountain pasture.
-
-Marie runs along with him and Patte Blanche goes, too. Patte Blanche is
-their dog, and his name means White Foot.
-
-When the goats reach the pasture land they clamber over the rocks and
-eat the moss and the bushes and the sweet, green grass.
-
-Louis and Marie pick the flowers that grow on the mountain-side, and
-play little games with the stones. They watch the goats, too, and talk
-about them. Sometimes a goat wanders too far away and then Louis sends
-White Foot to drive her back to the others.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-At noon the children eat their lunch of barley-bread and cheese, and
-White Foot sits beside them and eats the bits they give him.
-
-There is always so much to do and so much to see that the days seem
-very short. Soon it is time for White Foot to drive the goats down
-from the rocks and the little company starts for home.
-
-One night a very funny thing happened when they were on their way home.
-
-The goats were wandering along, nibbling at the green grass, and the
-children were following them down the path, when they saw a strange
-man sitting on a log. The man was fast asleep and his head nodded and
-bobbed up and down.
-
-Just as Louis saw him, one of the goats spied him, too, and what do
-you think she did? She trotted along, ran up behind him and butted him
-right off the log. Of course the man waked up and I think he was going
-to be very angry, but the goat put her fore feet up on the log and
-looked as if she wanted to laugh.
-
-The children laughed, and so the man laughed, too. Then he walked home
-with them and helped them drive the goats into their yard.
-
-Louis and Marie will never forget how funny the goat looked trying to
-laugh at the man, and they like to tell the story over and over again.
-
-
-
-
-SWISS CHILDREN
-
-
-You have just read a story about Louis and Marie, who live among the
-mountains of Switzerland.
-
-Switzerland is a land of mountains and valleys and many beautiful lakes
-and rivers.
-
-Most of the people live in the valleys and keep cattle, sheep, and
-goats.
-
-In the springtime thousands of cattle are driven up into the mountains
-to stay all summer.
-
-Many of the people go up into the mountains, too, and live in little
-huts. The men and boys take care of the cattle, and the women make
-butter and cheese.
-
-The cows wear bells which tinkle as they walk, and the music of all the
-bells, in the stillness of the mountains, is very beautiful.
-
-In the fall the men drive the cattle down into the valleys again. When
-they reach the villages their friends come out to meet them, and every
-one has a holiday. The children think this is one of the best days in
-all the year. They like to hear the bells ring out their welcome;
-they like to see the flags and banners waving from the windows and the
-house-tops. They sing and dance and shout and are very merry.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-At night there is a feast in the village square, and perhaps they like
-this best of all.
-
-Many of the houses in Switzerland are very small and are made of wood.
-These little houses are called chalets.
-
-Louis and Marie live in a tiny chalet on the side of a steep mountain.
-Their father owns a farm and has cows and sheep and goats, and ever so
-many geese.
-
-You never saw such a farm in all your life. The mountain is so steep
-that the fields and pastures seem to be tipped up on edge, and it looks
-as if the horses would fall off when the farmer is plowing the fields,
-but they never do.
-
-Louis has a pet dog. He harnesses his dog to a little wagon and drives
-him up and down the road. Sometimes he gives Marie a ride in the wagon.
-
-Louis goes to the village school, and Marie will have to go as soon as
-she is six years old. There are very good schools in Switzerland, and
-the children learn the same things that you learn in your school.
-
-These children have many odd playthings and toys carved out of wood.
-They have wooden whistles and horns, and little wooden goats and bears.
-Marie has a tiny chalet, almost like the one she lives in, which she
-calls her “playhouse.”
-
-The toys the children like best are the ones that have a music box
-in them. The Swiss people make all kinds of music boxes and put them
-in all kinds of things, in chairs and tables and clocks, and even in
-plates.
-
-While the boys are learning to carve, the girls learn to embroider on
-linen and to make lace.
-
-Very often the Swiss girls sit outside the door of their chalet making
-lace which they sell to the people who are travelling through the
-mountains.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Where do Louis and Marie live?
-
-What does their father do?
-
-Where do the cattle live in the summer?
-
-Who takes care of them?
-
-What do the women make, up in the mountains?
-
-Which holiday do the Swiss children like best?
-
-What do they do on this day?
-
-What is a Swiss cottage called?
-
-Why do people like to travel in Switzerland?
-
-If you should go there, what would you like to see?
-
-What would you like to buy?
-
-
-
-
-LULLABY-LAND
-
-
-    Where is the road to Lullaby-land?
-    Where is the ferry to Dreamland-shore?
-    Here, little wanderer, take my hand,
-    Mother will show thee to Lullaby-land,
-    Mother will ferry her darling o’er
-    The sweet rocking waters to Dreamland-shore.
-
-    Soft lie the shadows in Lullaby-land,
-    Soft lap the waters by Dreamland-shore,
-    Sweet is the sound on that far-away strand
-    Of little keels grating along the sand,
-    And tenderly stealeth the moonlight o’er
-    The dear little children on Dreamland-shore.
-
-    Here, little weary one, take my hand,
-    Soon shall my dearie be far afloat;
-    Mother’s lap is Lullaby-land,
-    Mother’s arms are the empty boat,
-    Waiting to carry her darling o’er
-    The sweet rocking waters to Dreamland-shore.
-
-                            —_Edith Colby Banfield._
-
-
-
-
-THE STONE BLOCKS
-
-
-“Why is your little sister crying, dear?” asked the Play Angel. “I
-thought you were taking care of her.”
-
-[Illustration]
-
-“So I am, taking beautiful care of her,” said the child. “But the more
-beautiful care I take, the more she cries. She does not like to have me
-take care of her.”
-
-“Let me see,” said the Play Angel, and she sat down on the nursery
-floor. “Now show me what you have been doing.”
-
-“Look,” said the child. “First I showed her all my dolls, and then all
-my dolls’ dresses. Now I have given her my new stone blocks to play
-with, but she will not play with them. She puts them in her mouth and
-cries.”
-
-“Perhaps she is hungry!” said the Play Angel.
-
-So she took a piece of bread and gave it to the baby. The baby stopped
-crying and ate the bread, and laughed and crowed.
-
-“See!” said the Angel. “Now she is happy. Remember, dear, that when
-babies are hungry, stone blocks do them no good.”
-
-“You are a very clever angel to know that,” said the child.
-
-“You are a rather foolish child,” said the Angel, “or you would have
-found it out for yourself.”
-
-    —_Laura E. Richards._
-
-
-
-
-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMA’S CHRISTMAS IN ENGLAND
-
-
-Betty and Percy sat up until eleven o’clock that Christmas Eve. It was
-such a merry time!
-
-They saw the men bring in the Yule log. It was so big that it took
-three men to carry it, and then they had to bring it in on their
-shoulders.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-At one end of the hall was a large fireplace. I think you never saw one
-like it. Pots and kettles hung over the fire, and on each side were
-seats where the children could sit and eat apples and tell stories. You
-see, it was a very big fireplace.
-
-The men rolled the Yule log into the fireplace and lighted the fire.
-How the sparks flew! How the fire roared up the chimney!
-
-It lighted the great hall. It shone on the oak table where the supper
-was laid.
-
-On the supper table were two wax candles. These candles were almost as
-tall as you are. They were wreathed with holly.
-
-These were the Christmas candles and they burned the whole evening. The
-hall was trimmed with holly and mistletoe. The holly had bright green
-leaves and red berries, and the mistletoe had white berries.
-
-A big bunch of mistletoe hung down from the ceiling before the fire. If
-anyone happened to stand under the mistletoe, she was kissed.
-
-How many times Betty was kissed! First her father caught her under the
-mistletoe, then Uncle Edward, and then Grandpa.
-
-At eleven o’clock Nurse said that Betty and Percy must go to bed. They
-did not like to go one bit.
-
-There was a fire in the fireplace in Betty’s bedroom, but it was very
-cold. In Great-Great-Grandma’s time there were no such things as stoves
-and furnaces.
-
-Nurse undressed Betty, and then the little girl climbed up the steps
-into her bed. It was so big and high that she had to climb up five
-steps to get into it.
-
-Then Nurse drew the curtains of the bed to keep out the cold.
-
-Betty was almost asleep when she heard the Waits singing. The Waits
-always sang under the windows on Christmas Eve.
-
-“Open the lattice, please, Nurse,” she said.
-
-So Nurse opened one of the windows. It opened like a door, and had
-panes of glass which were small and diamond-shaped.
-
-The house Betty lived in was very, very large, and was called a castle.
-
-This is what the Waits were singing:—
-
-    “God rest ye, merry gentlemen,
-     Let nothing you dismay,
-     For Jesus Christ our Saviour
-     Was born upon this day.”
-
-Betty did not hear the next verse, because her eyes were shut and she
-was fast asleep.
-
-When she waked up in the morning, the first thing she heard was another
-Christmas carol.
-
-She slid down the side of the bed and ran to the window.
-
-It was a lovely Christmas morning. The trees and ground and walks were
-covered with snow. How it glistened in the sunshine!
-
-The singers were standing in a row under the window. There were seven
-of them, and they were all children from the village whom Betty had
-seen when she was driving with her mother.
-
-How they were bundled up, and their cheeks were as red as roses!
-
-They were singing this Christmas carol:—
-
-    “I saw three ships come sailing in,
-       On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
-     I saw three ships come sailing in,
-       On Christmas Day in the morning.”
-
-“Quick, quick, Nurse,” said Betty. “Please dress me as quickly as you
-can. I must run down with the Christmas boxes.”
-
-[Illustration: PLEASE DRESS ME AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN.]
-
-So Nurse hurried, and Betty hurried, and in a little while she was
-ready, with a sprig of holly in her dress, and a bit of mistletoe in
-her hair.
-
-Percy was ready, too, and they ran down the long staircase into the
-wide hall.
-
-The Yule log was still burning,—it had burned all night. The door was
-opened, and the little singers came in to warm themselves by the fire.
-
-Betty and Percy gave each of them a “Christmas box.” It wasn’t a box,
-it was a gift; but a Christmas gift was called a Christmas box in those
-days.
-
-After the singers had looked at their gifts and had eaten a slice of
-plum cake, they went home.
-
-I cannot tell you everything that Betty and Percy did that day, but you
-may be sure they had a good time.
-
-I must tell you about the Christmas dinner. It was served in the hall,
-on the big oak table that stood before the fire.
-
-When dinner was ready they did not ring a bell, but the cook knocked
-three times with his rolling-pin on the door.
-
-Two men stood in the hall, and when they heard the three knocks they
-sounded their trumpets, the doors were opened, and all the family
-marched in to dinner.
-
-I do not know just what they had to eat, but I know they had roast
-goose, and a plum pudding just as you do at Christmas time.
-
-After dinner the children played games. And what do you think they
-played? First they played “Puss-puss-in-the-corner,” and then
-“Blind-man’s-buff.”
-
-Isn’t it strange that Great-Great-Grandma should have played the very
-games you play, on that Christmas night more than two hundred years
-ago?
-
-
-
-
-THE WHIPPING BOY
-
-
-Many years ago there was a little boy living in England whose name was
-Edward. Of course there have been many boys in England by the name of
-Edward, but they are not so well known as this boy, for he was the son
-of a king.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Edward’s father was King Henry the Eighth, and Edward was called Edward
-the Sixth when he became King of England.
-
-King Henry was very fond of his children and did not like to have them
-punished, so he had a little “whipping boy” for each one of them.
-
-Whenever one of the Princes or Princesses did anything naughty, the
-whipping boy was punished.
-
-Sometimes he had to stand in the corner for a whole hour. Sometimes
-he was sent to bed without any supper, and sometimes he had to have a
-whipping.
-
-Prince Edward’s whipping boy was Edward Brown. He lived in the castle
-and played with the Prince every day. The two boys were very fond of
-each other, and the Prince did not like to have his friend punished.
-
-So he tried to be good, but there are so many things a Prince must not
-do!
-
-A Prince must not throw his toys out of the castle window. He must
-never get angry at his brothers and sisters and quarrel with them. He
-must learn his lessons every day.
-
-He must be polite and obedient to the King and Queen, to all the
-Gentlemen in Waiting and Ladies in Waiting, to the Head Nurse and all
-the Under Nurses, and to his Tutor and all his teachers.
-
-Oh! it is very hard to be a good Prince!
-
-Sometimes Edward Brown had to be punished more than once while the
-boys were at play, and sometimes Prince Edward was quite good all day
-long.
-
-One day the Prince did something that was very wrong; and when his
-Tutor would have punished the whipping boy, Edward took the cane from
-his hand and said, “Sir, you shall whip me for this. It is my command.
-I did wrong. I should be punished.”
-
-When Prince Edward was nine years old, his father died, and the Prince
-was made King of England.
-
-Perhaps you would like to know how he was dressed when he went to be
-crowned. He wore a suit of white velvet, embroidered with diamonds,
-pearls, and rubies. His cap was white velvet, and his coat was cloth of
-silver.
-
-He rode on a white horse through the city and the people shouted, “Long
-live King Edward.”
-
-
-
-
-THE CHRISTMAS SPRUCE TREE
-
-
-Among the tall trees in the forest grew a little spruce tree. It was no
-taller than a man, and that is very short for a tree.
-
-The other trees near it grew so tall and had such large branches that
-the poor little tree could not grow at all.
-
-She liked to listen when the other trees were talking, but it often
-made her sad.
-
-“I am king of the forest,” said the oak. “Look at my huge trunk and my
-branches. How they reach up toward heaven! I furnish planks for men
-from which they build their ships. Then I defy the storm on the ocean
-as I did the thunder in the forest.”
-
-“And I go with you over the foaming waves,” said the tall straight
-pine. “I hold up the flapping sails when the ships fly over the ocean.”
-
-“And we warm the houses when winter comes and the cold north wind
-drives the snow before him,” said the birches.
-
-“We have the same work to do,” said a tall fir tree, and she bowed
-gracefully, drooping her branches toward the ground.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-The little spruce tree heard the other trees talking about their work
-in the world. This made her sad, and she thought, “What work can I do?
-What will become of me?”
-
-But she could not think of any way in which she could be useful. She
-decided to ask the other trees in the forest.
-
-So she asked the oak, the pine and the fir, but they were so proud and
-stately they did not even hear her.
-
-Then she asked the beautiful white birch that stood near by. “You have
-no work to do,” said the birch, “because you can never grow large
-enough. Perhaps you might be a Christmas tree, but that is all.”
-
-“What is a Christmas tree?” asked the little spruce.
-
-“I do not know exactly,” replied the birch. “Sometimes when the days
-are short and cold, and the ground is covered with snow, men come out
-here into the forest. They look at all the little spruce trees and
-choose the prettiest, saying, ‘This will do for a Christmas tree.’
-
-“Then they chop it down and carry it away. What they do with it I
-cannot tell.”
-
-The little spruce asked the rabbit that hopped over the snow, the owls
-that slept in the pines, and the squirrels that came to find nuts and
-acorns.
-
-But no one knew more than the birch tree. No one could tell what men
-did with the Christmas trees.
-
-Then the little spruce tree wept because she had no work to do and
-could not be of any use in the world.
-
-The tears hardened into clear, round drops, which we call gum.
-
-At last a boy came into the forest with an axe in his hand. He looked
-the little tree all over. “Perhaps this will do for a Christmas tree,”
-he said. So he chopped it down, laid it on a sled, and dragged it home.
-
-The next day the boy sold the tree, and it was taken into a large room
-and dressed up with pop corn and gilded nuts and candles. Packages of
-all sizes and shapes, and tiny bags filled with candy, were tied on its
-branches.
-
-The tree was trembling with the excitement, but she stood as still as
-she could. “What if I should drop some of this fruit,” she thought.
-
-When it began to grow dark, every one left the room and the tree was
-alone. It began to feel lonely and to think sad thoughts.
-
-Soon the door opened and a lady came in. She lighted all the candles.
-
-How light and glowing it was then!
-
-The tree had never even dreamed of anything so beautiful!
-
-Then the children came and danced about the tree, singing a Christmas
-song. The father played on his violin, and the baby sat in her mother’s
-arms, smiling and cooing.
-
-“Now I know what I was made for,” thought the spruce tree; “I was
-intended to give joy to the little ones, because I, myself, am so small
-and humble.”
-
-    —_Anna von Rydingsvärd._
-
-
-
-
-A ROSE
-
-
-    A sepal, petal, and a thorn
-      Upon a common summer’s morn,
-    A flash of dew, a bee or two,
-    A breeze
-    A caper in the trees,—
-      And I’m a rose!
-
-                            —_Emily Dickinson._
-
-
-
-
-THE EVE OF ST. NICHOLAS
-
-
-It was the Eve of St. Nicholas. In Germany St. Nicholas’s Day comes on
-the sixth of December.
-
-The children were in the nursery. On the hearth before the fireplace,
-were five little sugar shoes.
-
-Thekla was filling her shoe with oats. Max put rye in his shoe. Hans
-put an apple in his, and Gretchen filled hers with lumps of sugar.
-
-Betty, the poor little girl who sometimes helped in the kitchen, had
-only a bit of brown bread to put in her shoe.
-
-The children were expecting St. Nicholas, who always comes on a white
-horse, and the things in the shoes were for the horse to eat.
-
-As the clock struck six there was a loud knock at the door.
-
-Aunt Hilda opened the door, and in came St. Nicholas. He was very tall
-and had a long white beard. He wore a long black robe and a red and
-white cap, with a big red tassel.
-
-“Dear little children,” he said, “it will soon be Christmas. I have
-come to find the good children. I shall bring gifts to them on
-Christmas Eve. Has Thekla learned to knit?”
-
-[Illustration]
-
-“Yes, indeed,” said her mother. “See this pair of stockings she has
-knit for Hans.”
-
-“They are very well made,” said St. Nicholas. “I shall surely bring a
-gift for Thekla. Has Hans learned to get up early?”
-
-“We have not had to call him for six weeks,” said his father.
-
-“Good,” said St. Nicholas. “Has Max learned his multiplication tables?”
-
-“Max is trying very hard,” said Aunt Hilda. “He knows all but the nines
-and twelves.”
-
-“And the dear little Gretchen?” said St. Nicholas, patting the baby’s
-golden curls.
-
-They all smiled, and the mother said, “The dear little Gretchen is
-always sweet and good.”
-
-“Well, well, I shall certainly bring many beautiful gifts to this
-house,” said St. Nicholas.
-
-“And don’t forget little Betty,” said Aunt Hilda.
-
-So the good Saint took the oats, the rye and the apple, the lumps of
-sugar, and the bit of brown bread out of the sugar shoes and went out
-into the night. I suppose he gave them to his horse.
-
-“St. Nicholas has eyes like Uncle Max,” said Thekla.
-
-“He smiled like Uncle Max, too,” said her brother.
-
-St. Nicholas kept his word. On Christmas Eve there was a Christmas tree
-in the parlor. On it there were many beautiful gifts, and little Betty
-was not forgotten.
-
-The next night the children hung gifts on the same tree for father,
-mother, Uncle Max, Aunt Hilda, and the dear Grandfather.
-
-Each one of the children had something of his very own for Grandfather.
-
-Thekla had knit a warm scarf for him. Max can carve in wood, so he had
-made a stout cane and had carved it very handsomely.
-
-Hans drew a picture for him, and the dear little Gretchen gave him two
-of her very best kisses.
-
-Oh, it was a very happy Christmas!
-
-
-
-
-ROBIN REDBREAST
-
-
-    Good-by, good-by to summer!
-      For summer’s nearly done;
-    The garden smiling faintly,
-      Cool breezes in the sun;
-    Our thrushes now are silent,
-      Our swallows flown away,—
-    But Robin’s here, in coat of brown,
-      And ruddy breast-knot gay,
-        Robin, Robin Redbreast,
-          O Robin dear!
-        Robin sings so sweetly
-          In the falling of the year.
-
-    Bright yellow, red, and orange,
-      The leaves come down in hosts;
-    The trees are Indian princes,
-      But soon they’ll turn to ghosts;
-    The leathery pears and apples
-      Hang russet on the bough;
-    It’s autumn, autumn, autumn late,
-      ’Twill soon be winter now.
-        Robin, Robin Redbreast,
-          O Robin dear!
-      And what will this poor Robin do?
-          For pinching days are near.
-
-    The fireside for the cricket,
-      The wheat stack for the mouse,
-    When trembling night-winds whistle
-      And moan all round the house.
-    The frosty ways like iron,
-      The branches plumed with snow,—
-    Alas! in winter dead and dark,
-      Where can poor Robin go?
-        Robin, Robin Redbreast,
-          O Robin dear!
-      And a crumb of bread for Robin,
-          His little heart to cheer!
-
-                            —_William Allingham._
-
-
-
-
-“THE LITTLE TURKEYS”
-
-IN SCHOOL
-
-
-The “little Turkeys” that I am going to tell you about are the children
-that live in a far away land called Turkey.
-
-To reach this land you would have to travel many hundreds of miles in
-railroad trains and big ships.
-
-In fact it is almost as far away as China, and that, you know, is
-farther away than you can imagine.
-
-The “little Turkeys” are very interesting, and they would think your
-way of living just as strange as you will think theirs is.
-
-To begin at the very beginning, the tiny baby doesn’t wear any dresses.
-He is wrapped round and round, body, legs, and arms, with cloths, until
-he looks like a dry-goods bundle.
-
-Every baby wears a gay little bonnet, usually bright green, because the
-favorite color of the Turks is green.
-
-The Turkish baby is often hung up in a little cloth hammock, but
-sometimes he is rocked to sleep in a wooden cradle.
-
-The cradle is a long wooden box on low rockers with high carved ends.
-
-In the Sultan’s treasure house is a cradle of solid gold, decorated
-with pearls, diamonds, and rubies. This is the cradle in which the baby
-princes are rocked; and it is very beautiful, as you can easily imagine.
-
-When the boy baby is about a year old he is placed in charge of a man
-nurse, if the father is not too poor. This man takes care of him until
-he is six years old.
-
-Then the boy is given a new suit of clothes and a pony, and he is ready
-to go to school. Almost all of the boys in Turkey ride on horse-back. I
-think you would like that.
-
-The new suit may be big baggy trousers, with an embroidered shirt and
-short jacket. Or it may be long full trousers of gay striped calico,
-and a little jacket, quilted in puffy squares.
-
-Every boy wears on his head a red fez with a black tassel.
-
-In his new suit, the boy starts off for school on his pony, and his
-brothers go with him. The bells on the pony jingle, the boys shout and
-sing, and it is a very merry procession.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-The schoolhouse stands near the church. Inside, it is very plain. There
-is a blackboard hung from the ceiling, a shelf for books and slates,
-and one for a water jar.
-
-There is a little shelf for the teacher’s pipe, and a place where he
-makes coffee over a tiny lamp. For the teacher smokes and sips coffee
-while the children study their lessons.
-
-The children sit cross-legged on mats on the floor, and study out loud,
-bending their bodies back and forth all the time. Perhaps they think
-this helps them to remember.
-
-They learn their letters, and very queer letters you would think them,
-out of the Koran. They have no other book until they know this one by
-heart, and can repeat it and write it.
-
-Then they learn a little arithmetic and a very little geography.
-
-In olden times the girls did not go to school at all, but stayed at
-home learning to keep house, sew, and embroider. They were also taught
-to weave cloth and to make beautiful rugs.
-
-Now there are many schools for girls, as well as high schools and
-colleges for both girls and boys.
-
-The noise of the studying is stopped once during the day. At noon the
-time for prayer is called out from the tower of the church. Then all
-is quiet for a few minutes while teacher and pupils kneel to say the
-midday prayer.
-
-Then the candy-man appears with all sorts of sweets on trays. The
-candies are called “Turkish delights.” They are “pasty, creamy, crackly
-things, made from rose-leaves, violets, nuts, dates and grapes, mixed
-with honey, sugar, syrup and spices.”
-
-Doesn’t that sound good enough to eat?
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Where do the “little Turkeys” live?
-
-How would you reach their country?
-
-Describe the Turkish baby’s cradle.
-
-Describe the princes’ cradle.
-
-How does the Turkish boy go to school?
-
-Tell what you can about the school.
-
-What does the candy-man sell?
-
-What are the candies made of, and what are they called?
-
-
-
-
-“THE LITTLE TURKEYS”
-
-AT HOME
-
-
-Little boys who like to lie in bed in the morning would not like to
-live in Turkey.
-
-All the grown people and all the children have to get up twice every
-day.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-They get up first at day-break, wash their faces and hands, and repeat
-their morning prayer. Then they go back to bed.
-
-Two hours later they rise, wash, and have their coffee. Breakfast is
-served two hours later still.
-
-After breakfast the father goes to work and the mother gets the
-children ready for school.
-
-The children have their lunch at school, as I told you. Dinner is
-served at night. If there are gentlemen to dine with the father, only
-the sons sit at the table. The mother and daughters dine in another
-room.
-
-After dinner every one has a good time. The children play games, and
-sometimes the older people play with them. They are also fond of story
-telling, and tell wonderful stories of battle and adventure.
-
-Then the family goes to bed on the floor. That is, they lay mattresses
-on the floor and cover themselves with blankets.
-
-Every one goes to church on Friday. The boys sit with their father, and
-the girls sit with their mother in a gallery where they cannot be seen.
-At the entrance to the church they wash their hands and feet and put on
-a pair of slippers.
-
-After church the children play games of tag, or hide-and-seek. They
-have few toys. The girls have dolls, and the boys have marbles or
-balls. The marbles are nothing but a kind of round nut.
-
-They do not have the holidays you do, but there are a few feast days,
-when they have a very good time. One of the feasts is like our Easter,
-only it lasts three days. Then there are merry-go-rounds in the
-squares, and ponies to ride on for a penny.
-
-The girls have new dresses of red, blue and yellow silk, and the boys
-have gay little uniforms.
-
-The candy-men walk the streets with big trays piled high with sweets,
-and every one eats a great deal too much candy.
-
-Should you like to live in Turkey, or do you like your own country best?
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Tell what the “Little Turkeys” do in the morning.
-
-What do the children do after dinner?
-
-What toys do they have? What games do they play?
-
-Where do the Turkish people sleep?
-
-Would you like to live in Turkey? Why?
-
-
-
-
-“GILLYFLOWER GENTLEMAN”
-
-
-“Why do you play alone, dear,” asked the Play Angel, “and look so sadly
-over your shoulder at the other children?”
-
-[Illustration]
-
-“Because they are so selfish!” said the child. “They will not play with
-me.”
-
-“Oh, what a pity!” said the Angel. “Tell me all about it.”
-
-“I want to play one game, and they all want to play another!” said the
-child. “It is very unkind of them.”
-
-“Did you ever play Gillyflower Gentleman?” asked the Angel.
-
-“No,” said the child. “What is it?”
-
-“You shall see,” said the Angel. “Let us ask the others if they know
-it.”
-
-The other children did not know it, but they were eager to learn, and
-soon they were all playing Gillyflower Gentleman. They played till all
-their breath was gone, and they had to sit down on the haycocks to rest.
-
-“That was a fine game!” said the first child. “I will play yours now,
-if you wish me to.”
-
-“We were just going to tell you that we would play yours,” said the
-other children. So they played both the games, and the Play Angel went
-back to her work.
-
-    —_Laura E. Richards._
-
-
-
-
-THE RULER
-
-
-It was time for the Child to have lessons. The father gave him a sheet
-of paper, smooth and white; a pencil, and a ruler.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-“Write as well as you can,” he said, “and be sure you keep the lines
-straight!”
-
-The Child admired the ruler very much. “I will put it up on the wall,”
-he said, “where I can see it always.”
-
-So he put it up on the wall, and the sunbeams sparkled on it.
-
-“It must be pure gold,” said the Child; “there is nothing else so
-beautiful in the world.” And then he began his task.
-
-By and by the lesson time was over, and the father came to see what had
-been done.
-
-The Child showed him the paper on which he had written his task. Up and
-down went the lines, here and there, from side to side of the sheet,
-which was covered with sprawling, straggling letters. There were spots,
-too, where he had tried to rub out something. It was not a pretty page.
-
-“What is this?” asked the father. “Where is your ruler?”
-
-“There it is,” said the Child. “It is up on the wall. It was so
-beautiful that I put it up there where I could see it all the time. See
-where it hangs! But it does not seem as bright as it was.”
-
-“No,” said the father. “It would have been brighter if you had used it.”
-
-“But I admired it very much,” said the Child.
-
-“But your lines are crooked,” said the father.
-
-    —_Laura E. Richards (Adapted)._
-
-
-
-
-THE MOON
-
-
-    There’s a throne in the east and a throne in the west,
-    And the royal heavens lie between.
-    For the golden sun is a sceptred king,
-    And the moon is his crownéd queen.
-    A lonely queen is the silver moon,
-    Though the dimpling stars her maidens are;
-    She passes among them silently
-    As she follows her lord afar.
-                   —_Edith Colby Banfield._
-
-
-
-
-THE CHILDREN OF ARMENIA
-
-
-When you were a very little boy did you have a “Noah’s Ark” for a
-plaything? And do you remember the story of “Noah and his Ark?”
-
-This story tells, you remember, about a severe storm, when it rained
-forty days and forty nights and all the land was flooded.
-
-But Noah had built an ark and invited two animals of every kind, and a
-few persons, to live in his ark during the flood.
-
-When the storms were over, the ark rested on a mountain, and this was
-Mount Ararat.
-
-Mount Ararat is in the country of Armenia, and in this country lives a
-very interesting people.
-
-Armenia is a mountainous country and Mount Ararat is the highest of all
-the mountains. It is so high that it has a snow cap all the year round,
-even during the hottest part of the summer.
-
-The Armenian children are often very pretty, with black hair, black
-eyes, and round, red cheeks. They are bright and anxious to learn, and
-they often ride a long way on donkey-back to get to the church schools.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-The schools are not free like the school you go to, and often the
-parents have to pay the school with grain and cheese because they have
-no money.
-
-There is a free school near every church, and the priest is the
-teacher. Here the little boys and girls learn the Armenian alphabet,
-and also study reading, writing, geography, and grammar.
-
-The mirigs (mothers) of the little Armenians have to wake them very
-early, for they have to go to school at seven.
-
-They sit cross-legged on the floor, and study their lessons aloud. All
-the children carry a lunch from home, and they eat together in another
-little room, still sitting on the floor.
-
-Boys and girls go to the same school until they are ten or twelve
-years old; then the girls go to a different school. Here they learn
-dressmaking and embroidery. The materials are supplied by the school,
-and at the end of the year the articles are sold and the money goes to
-the school.
-
-The boys do not earn money for the school, but they have to sing in the
-church on Sunday.
-
-When school closes at night the children form in line, with their hands
-folded, and march to their homes. The line stops at each house where a
-child lives, while the little one bids his friends good-night.
-
-In winter there are deep snows, and then Hagop (Jacob) and Garabet
-(George) and the other boys build snowmen and have snowball battles.
-
-But in summer they work more than they play, for they have to go up to
-the mountains with herds of goats. A few women go to cook for them, and
-they all live in huts built of boughs.
-
-The girls have rag dolls, with painted eyes, nose and mouth, and very
-red cheeks. These dolls are dressed just like the little girls, with
-gaily colored dresses of red, green, purple, or yellow. Their hair is
-braided in long braids, and strung with beads and coins.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Where is Mount Ararat?
-
-Tell the story of Noah and his Ark.
-
-What is the highest mountain in Armenia?
-
-What covers the top of this mountain?
-
-What is the Armenian word for “mamma?”
-
-What do the children learn in the church schools?
-
-How do the children go home from school?
-
-What do the boys do in winter? In summer?
-
-
-
-
-ARMENIAN HOMES
-
-
-Hagop and Garabet live at the foot of Mount Ararat in a small village.
-
-Their father is very poor and cannot afford to build a house, so they
-live in a hut, built of mud, with walls three feet thick.
-
-The inside of the house is plastered with chopped straw and mud mixed
-together. The mud roof is flat and is kept smooth by rolling it often
-with a stone, or treading it with bare feet. Hagop and Garabet think it
-is great fun to go up on the roof after it rains and tread the soft mud
-with their bare feet. Then their father rolls it with a big round stone
-until it is smooth and firm.
-
-There are many huts like this in Armenia, and they are often half under
-ground, with the earth that has been dug out piled up around them. A
-village of such dwellings looks a good deal like a village of huge
-ant-hills.
-
-There is only one door for the people and animals. Animals? Yes,
-animals. For in winter the poor people let the animals come into the
-room with them, and almost every family has at least a few goats.
-
-There is a fireplace in the middle of the earth floor for cooking, but
-there is no chimney, and the room is very smoky.
-
-The mother makes big thin sheets of blanket bread and bakes it before
-the fire. Sometimes she makes little cakes of the bread and spreads
-them with thick cream.
-
-The children drink goats’ milk with their bread, and once in a long
-while they have a few raisins.
-
-There are no windows in the hut, instead there are a few holes for
-light; and there are no tables, no chairs, no beds, no bureaus. In fact
-there is no furniture except some mats and blankets. Hagop’s mother
-weaves the mats and blankets herself. The children like to watch the
-patterns grow on the rugs as the mother weaves the colored threads back
-and forth.
-
-The people sit on the mats in the daytime and at night they roll
-themselves in the blankets and sleep on these same mats.
-
-Of course the rich people in the towns and cities have much more
-comfortable houses, and they often have beautiful carved furniture and
-handsome rugs. But these houses have flat roofs, too, and in summer
-every one, rich or poor, lives on the roofs.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-There all the work is done; the women weave rugs or make beautiful
-lace; the little girls play with their dolls; and at night the mats are
-spread and the family sleep under the stars.
-
-I do not believe I should like to live in Armenia, but I should enjoy
-sleeping out of doors on the warm summer nights, watching the twinkling
-stars until I fell asleep.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Describe the house where Hagop and Garabet live.
-
-What does a village of these huts look like?
-
-Where do the goats live?
-
-What makes the house smoky?
-
-What do the children have to eat and drink?
-
-Describe the inside of the house where Hagop and Garabet live.
-
-Where do the people live in the summer time?
-
-Where do they sleep in summer? In winter?
-
-Tell all the things you can that Hagop’s mother has to do.
-
-
-
-
-THE NEST
-
-
-    Under the apple tree, somebody said,
-    “Look at that robin’s nest overhead!
-    All of sharp sticks, and of mud, and clay—
-    What a rough home for a summer day!”
-    Gaunt stood the apple tree, gaunt and bare,
-    And creaked in the winds which blustered there.
-    The nest was wet with the April rain;
-    The clay ran down in an ugly stain;
-    Little it looked, I must truly say,
-    Like a lovely home for a summer day.
-
-    Up in the apple tree, somebody laughed,
-    “Little you know of the true home-craft.
-    Laugh if you like, at my sticks and clay;
-    They’ll make a good home for a summer day.
-    May turns the apple tree pink and white,
-    Sunny all day, and fragrant all night.
-    My babies will never feel the showers,
-    For rain can’t get through these feathers of ours.
-    Snug under my wings they will cuddle and creep,
-    The happiest babies awake or asleep,”
-    Said the robin-mother, flying away
-    After more of the sticks and mud and clay.
-
-    Under the apple tree somebody sighed,
-    “Ah me, the blunder of folly and pride!
-    The roughest small house of mud or clay
-    Might be a sweet home for a summer day,
-    Sunny and fragrant all day, all night,
-    With only good cheer for fragrance and light;
-    And the bitterest storms of grief and pain
-    Will beat and break on that home in vain,
-    Where a true-hearted mother broods alway,
-    And makes the whole year like a summer day.”
-                                —_Helen Hunt Jackson._
-
-
-
-
-AHMOW—THE WOLF
-
-
-I
-
-Little Ahmow was an Eskimo boy. He lived with his parents on the bleak
-northern shore of Hudson Bay.
-
-During the long Arctic winter these Eskimos kill the walrus which live
-at the edge of the ice. In the short summer they hunt them on the
-islands near the shore.
-
-The walrus meat is cut into strips and sewed up in bags made of the
-walrus skin. This is to keep the dogs from stealing and eating it.
-
-The walrus oil is put into casks to be used in the dark winter months
-for heat and light.
-
-Ahmow’s father killed many walrus every summer and stored the meat and
-oil on the islands. Then in the winter he rode over on the ice to get
-it.
-
-One cold winter day, when Ahmow was ten years old, his father said,
-“To-morrow I shall go to the island for oil.”
-
-“We need meat, too,” said his wife, “and food for the dogs.”
-
-“May I go with you, father?” said Ahmow. “I will help you all I can.”
-
-[Illustration]
-
-“No,” answered Nannook. “It is far and you are only a boy.”
-
-Ahmow begged so hard that at last his father said he might go.
-
-“But it will be a long cold ride, and there are often bears and wolves
-on the island.”
-
-So Ahmow dressed himself in his new reindeer suit that his mother had
-made, and pulled his sealskin cap well over his ears.
-
-He helped his father get ready for the long, cold journey. First they
-put a thick coating of ice on the sledge-runners. Then they filled two
-sealskin bags with food and water.
-
-They called the dogs and harnessed them to the sledge. There were eight
-of them, and they could run like the wind.
-
-Last of all Ahmow crawled into the house, bade his mother good-by, and
-brought out the long whip.
-
-Nannook wrapped his little boy in a bearskin, cracked his whip over the
-dogs, and away they flew over the ice. Oh, how happy Ahmow was!
-
-
-II
-
-After a while the dogs stopped running and began to trot, and Ahmow
-looked about over the vast fields of ice.
-
-Not a tree, not a house, not a person was in sight. As far as he could
-see there was nothing but ice and snow. Everything was still and white
-in the dim light.
-
-When they had nearly reached the island, what did they see but a huge
-polar bear! He was prowling around the oil casks, looking for something
-to eat.
-
-Nannook unharnessed the dogs at once. “Go,” he cried, and they raced
-across the ice after the bear.
-
-The bear was so big and clumsy that he could not run fast. The dogs
-soon surrounded him, and held him until Nannook came running up to
-shoot him.
-
-Ahmow helped his father skin the bear and cut up the meat. Then they
-loaded the sledge with a cask of oil, some walrus meat, the bearskin,
-and part of the bear meat.
-
-After eating their luncheon, Ahmow was again rolled up in the bear rug,
-and they started for home. Nannook walked beside the sledge. The dogs
-walked too, because the load was so heavy.
-
-When they were nearly halfway home, Nannook saw some reindeer.
-
-“Watch the dogs, Ahmow,” he said, “and I will try to shoot one of
-those reindeer. Then we can have a fine dinner.”
-
-So he took the gun and ran swiftly over the snow. Soon he was out of
-sight, and Ahmow was alone with the dogs.
-
-The little boy played with the dogs at first, but after a while they
-curled up and went to sleep.
-
-Ahmow was sleepy, too, and it was so warm in the bear rug that he
-almost went to sleep.
-
-All at once he heard a growl, then a dog barked. Ahmow was wide awake
-and listening. “What is it, Naka?” he said to the dog that barked.
-
-Naka barked again, and the hair stood up straight on his back.
-
-Ahmow stood up and looked about. There was a fierce, hungry-looking
-wolf coming toward him! He looked again! One, two, three, four wolves
-were leaping over the snow!
-
-The boy threw off the rug, and seized his father’s whip and walrus
-spear. “Come here,” he called to the dogs. “Come here to the sledge.”
-
-Then, as the wolves came nearer, he jumped into the cask of meat.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-One big wolf ran up to the sledge. Ahmow leaned over and struck him
-with the whip with all his might. The wolf howled and turned back.
-
-Another wolf would have killed one of the dogs, but Ahmow threw out a
-big piece of bear meat. The wolf seized the meat and began to eat it.
-
-Now a third wolf came up to the sledge. Just then Ahmow saw his father
-running toward him.
-
-“He will drive the wolves away,” he thought, “but I should like to kill
-one if I can.”
-
-So he held the spear as he had seen his father hold it. As the wolf
-came nearer, he raised it. As the wolf jumped, he threw it with all his
-might right into the wide-open mouth. There was a howl, a growl, and
-then the wolf tried to run away. But Ahmow wound the spear line around
-the sledge post and held it tight.
-
-Nannook shot two of the wolves, but the one that had the meat got away
-with it.
-
-Then as he ran to the sledge, “Look, father,” cried Ahmow. “See this
-fine wolf, with the sharp nose, and the bushy tail. He is held fast
-with the walrus line, and he has eaten the walrus spear.”
-
-“Well done, lad,” said his father. “You will be a good hunter. Now,
-you shall have a spear of your own and you shall go with me on the big
-hunts.”
-
-So from that day the boy was a hunter, and the people in the village
-called him “Ahmow,” which means, “little wolf.”
-
-    —_Frederick Schwatka._
-
-
-
-
-ESKIMO CHILDREN
-
-
-The Eskimos live in Greenland. I am sure you would wonder why it is
-called “Greenland,” for it is almost never “green.” Nearly all the year
-round the ground is covered with ice and snow, so that it seems as if
-“Whiteland” would be a better name.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-It is so cold in Greenland that the Eskimos have to wear very warm
-clothing. The boys and girls and men and women dress very much alike.
-They wear trousers made of bearskin and coats made of sealskin. Their
-stockings are like leggings and are made of birdskin, with soft
-feathers inside to keep their feet warm. Over these they wear sealskin
-boots, which are long enough to cover their knees.
-
-It is so cold in Greenland that trees cannot grow. If you think of all
-the ways in which we use the wood from our forest trees you will wonder
-what the Eskimos can do without them.
-
-We build houses of wood, but the Eskimos make theirs of blocks of ice
-and snow.
-
-We burn wood in our stoves. The Eskimos burn oil and fat which they get
-from the walrus and the seal. They burn this oil in a lamp which gives
-them all the light and heat they have.
-
-Our beds, chairs and tables are made of wood. The Eskimos have no beds.
-They sleep on bearskin rugs.
-
-They have no tables and no chairs. A big bowl made of bone is set on
-the floor, and the family sit around the bowl on bearskins, and eat out
-of it.
-
-There are no stores in Greenland, no churches, and no schools.
-Everything that a family needs has to be provided by the father or
-the mother. The father goes hunting and fishing, to get food to eat,
-and oil to burn, and skins to wear. He catches fish, and kills bears,
-seals, walrus, and reindeer. Sometimes in the summer he kills a few
-birds.
-
-The mother helps cut up the meat, and sometimes she cooks it, but much
-of the meat and fat is eaten raw. From the skins and furs she makes all
-the clothing for her family.
-
-As there are no schools the Eskimo children never learn to read or
-write, but they like to hear their mother and father tell stories, and
-they learn these stories so that they can tell them to their children.
-
-Every one in Greenland has a sled. The runners are made of bone, and
-the top is made of sealskin. Dogs draw these sleds over the snow, and
-they can run very fast and very far.
-
-The boys and girls have very few toys, but they like to play games, and
-they have many good times.
-
-The girls have dolls made of bone, and the boys play a game with a ball
-and stick made of bone.
-
-But the boys like to hunt and fish. They have small boats made of bone
-and sealskin, and paddles made of bone. Of course they can use these
-boats only in the short summer time, as the water is frozen the rest of
-the year. When they go hunting they carry spears, and a bow and arrows.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Do you think you would like to live in Greenland?
-
-Name ten things that you have that the Eskimo children have never seen.
-
-Tell five things that you can do that the little Eskimos cannot do.
-
-What do we have to eat that the Eskimos cannot have?
-
-Why do the Eskimos build their houses of snow? How is the house heated?
-
-Of what is their clothing made?
-
-How do they cook and eat their food?
-
-What do the Eskimo children do for fun?
-
-
-
-
-THE DREAM-SHIP
-
-
-    The Dream-ship minds no stormy gales,
-      Her masts are all of gold,
-    With splendor of wide silken sails,
-      Red-rosy, fold on fold.
-    They spread below, they spread aloft,
-      They’re never reefed nor furled,
-    And they will bear us safe and soft,
-      The other side the world.
-
-    We shall not see the shadow crew
-      That work among the spars,
-    But watch the topmast sailing through
-      The shoals of shining stars.
-    From point to point of silver light,
-      Through purple gulfs and bays,
-    As we below a-gliding go
-      Along the water-ways.
-                        —_Blanche M. Channing._
-
-
-
-
-A TRIP TO JAPAN
-
-
-There are so many things to tell you about “Nippon,” as the Japanese
-call their country, that I do not know where to begin.
-
-But first of all I must tell you how we landed. There were six of
-us,—Charlotte and Alice and Fred, their father and mother, and I,—and
-we had come all the way across the Pacific Ocean in a big ship.
-
-Our ship was anchored out in the harbor, and we were told we might go
-ashore.
-
-We wondered if we were expected to swim, but it seemed too far for that.
-
-You can imagine how glad we were when we looked over the side of the
-ship and saw a great many little boats waiting for us.
-
-A stairway was hung out over the side of the ship, and we walked down
-into the little boats, just as we walk down stairs in our houses.
-
-Then the trunks were lowered by ropes into little Japanese rowboats,
-called sampans, and we waved “good-by” to the captain and all our
-friends on the ship.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Did you ever go to sleep and dream you were in a doll’s country, where
-you seemed like a giant? Alice said she knew now just how that other
-Alice felt in her visit to Wonderland, for she never saw such tiny
-little people, and such tiny little houses, and even such tiny little
-trees.
-
-When we got on shore we found queer little two-wheeled carriages, drawn
-by men instead of horses. The carriages are called jinrikishas, and are
-just big enough for one person.
-
-We each got into one of these carriages and the jinrikisha boys picked
-up the shafts and trotted off like nice little ponies.
-
-These boys wear dark-blue trousers that fit their legs very tightly,
-and a short blue jacket with flowing sleeves, and on their back is a
-Chinese letter painted in white, which is their employer’s name.
-
-On their feet they wear straw sandals which they kick off, when they
-are worn out, as a horse casts his shoe. The hat is a funny round straw
-disk, covered with white, which makes them look like toadstools.
-
-The houses, as I said, are very tiny, not much larger than your
-playhouses, and the walls are all made of sliding screens that can be
-pushed aside, leaving the house open.
-
-The floors are covered with matting, which is as soft as cushions, but
-there is no furniture anywhere to be seen, for the Japanese sit on the
-floor and sleep on the floor, and their tables are tiny little trays.
-
-The houses are spotlessly clean, for no Japanese would think of going
-into a house with his shoes on, any more than you would walk over your
-mother’s chairs and cushions in your shoes.
-
-One day we went to see a wonderful image. We rode out to it in
-jinrikishas, and we each had two ’rikisha boys to pull us. We sped
-along at a rapid pace, for the boys are so well trained that they make
-nearly as good time as a horse, and a day’s run is sometimes as much as
-forty miles.
-
-We had a regular Japanese “tiffin,” or lunch, at a little Japanese inn
-that had a pretty garden all around it. We took off our shoes at the
-door just as the Japanese do, and walked across the soft, matted floor.
-
-A screen was drawn aside for us to enter, and then closed again,
-leaving us in a little room. Here we all squatted on our heels, as
-nearly like a Japanese as our stiff muscles would let us, for, without
-being trained, it is hard to shut up like a jackknife.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Then pretty little Japanese girls stole in noiselessly, bringing us
-trays of food, one for each person, and knelt down beside us to uncover
-our dishes and wait on us.
-
-In one tiny bowl was some vegetable soup, in another some rice, and in
-a third some fish, which was cooked for us, though to have been truly
-Japanese we should have eaten it raw.
-
-Of course there was tea. Everywhere you go they give you tea in wee
-cups without handles; just about a thimbleful, without cream and
-without sugar; not at all as we drink it at home.
-
-But with all this feast before us, there was nothing to eat it with but
-two funny little chopsticks, and terrible times we had trying to manage
-those little sticks that serve the Japanese so well, but which seemed
-bewitched the minute we got them between our fingers.
-
-After trying a long time we would get a mouthful, as we thought, firmly
-fixed between the chopsticks, but just as we would open our mouths to
-take it in, the bewitched chopsticks would give a twitch, and down the
-whole thing would fall again.
-
-So, though we spent much time over it, we ate very little, and we all
-agreed that it is better to eat with forks as we do in America.
-
-After tiffin we went to a silk factory, for a great deal of silk is
-manufactured in Japan. There we found over three thousand girls and
-women busy unrolling the cocoons. The silk is woven in another place,
-and rolled in neat rolls, ready for sale.
-
-Most of the way we rode along the beach, where we could see the
-fishermen in their boats, and in one boat was a boy we called Urashima,
-for when we looked for him a second time he had disappeared.
-
-    —_Charlotte Chaffee Gibson._
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-What do the Japanese call their country?
-
-Where was the big ship anchored?
-
-How did the passengers get from the ship to the shore?
-
-What is a jinrikisha? How is it drawn?
-
-Describe a Japanese house.
-
-What is the Japanese word for lunch?
-
-What did the children have to eat at the inn?
-
-What did they have to eat it with?
-
-Where did they go after “tiffin?”
-
-What would you like to do if you should go to Japan?
-
-
-
-
-URASHIMA
-
-
-Urashima was a fisher-boy who lived long ago in Japan.
-
-One day he went out in his boat, and after he had been fishing a little
-while, he felt something very heavy tugging at his line.
-
-He gave a hard pull and got it up into his boat. Then he found that it
-was a big tortoise with such a funny old wrinkled face that he burst
-out laughing when he saw it.
-
-In Japan a tortoise lives a thousand years, so Urashima thought it
-would be a shame to kill this funny old fellow, when he might have so
-long to live. Besides, a small fish would suit him just as well for
-dinner, so he threw the tortoise back into the sea, and meant to go on
-fishing.
-
-But somehow the air seemed too heavy and drowsy, just as it does on a
-summer’s day, and Urashima fell asleep.
-
-While he was sleeping a beautiful maiden rose out of the water and got
-into the boat with him. Urashima waked, and when he saw her he thought
-she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.
-
-The maiden spoke to him. “Urashima,” she said, “you thought you caught
-a tortoise a little while ago, but it was really me. My father had sent
-me in disguise to see if you were a good, kind boy.
-
-“We know now that you are kind-hearted, as you spared the life of the
-old tortoise. So I am going to take you with me to the Dragon Palace,
-where my father, the Sea King, and I live. There you shall marry me,
-and we shall be very happy.”
-
-[Illustration: I AM GOING TO TAKE YOU WITH ME TO THE DRAGON PALACE.]
-
-Urashima gladly consented, and they floated away till they came to a
-wonderful palace at the bottom of the sea.
-
-This palace was all built of the most beautiful pink and white coral,
-and was studded with diamonds and pearls.
-
-The leaves of the trees were emeralds, with berries of rubies and
-sapphires; and the fishes’ scales were of pure silver and gold.
-
-All this was given to Urashima, and the beautiful princess became his
-wife. Any boy would be happy in such a palace, and Urashima was happy
-for three years.
-
-Then he said to the princess, “I must go to see my father and mother,
-and my brothers and sisters, but I will return again to you.”
-
-This made the poor princess very sad, for she did not wish to have
-Urashima go away.
-
-But when she saw how much he wished to go, she gave him a little box to
-take with him, telling him under no conditions to open it, for if he
-did he could never return to her.
-
-So Urashima started off, and soon found himself on the shore where he
-had lived. But everything seemed strangely different. Even the people
-were different and looked at him in a curious way.
-
-He could not seem to find his way home, so he asked two men whom he met
-if they could tell him how to reach the house of Urashima’s parents.
-
-“Urashima!” they cried. “Why, he was drowned out fishing about four
-hundred years ago, and not even his body was found. His father and
-mother are buried over there.”
-
-Then they moved away hastily, for they thought he must be insane.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Poor Urashima could not think what to do. He began to think that the
-Dragon Palace must be a part of Fairyland, where a day is the same as a
-year on earth, and he wished to return to it. But how could he find the
-way?
-
-He could not remember how he had come.
-
-Suddenly he thought of the box that the princess had given him, and
-forgetting that he had promised not to open it, he pulled open the lid,
-hoping to learn the way back.
-
-There was nothing in the box but a fleecy white cloud that floated
-softly up into the blue sky.
-
-Then, too late, he remembered what the princess had said, and he called
-and called the cloud to come back. He even ran along the beach trying
-to catch it.
-
-But soon he could not call, for his breath came shorter and shorter,
-his hair turned white, and his back became weak and bent.
-
-Finally he fell down on the beach, crushed by the weight of his four
-hundred years.
-
-    —_Charlotte Chaffee Gibson._
-
-
-
-
-A DAY
-
-
-    I’ll tell you how the sun rose,—
-      A ribbon at a time.
-    The steeples swam in amethyst,
-      The news like squirrels ran.
-
-    The hills untied their bonnets,
-      The bobolinks begun,
-    Then I said softly to myself,
-      “That must have been the sun!”
-
-           *       *       *       *       *
-
-    But how he set, I know not.
-      There seemed a purple stile
-    Which little yellow boys and girls
-      Were climbing all the while.
-
-    Till when they reached the other side,
-      A dominie in gray
-    Put gently up the evening bars,
-     And led the flock away.
-                        —_Emily Dickinson._
-
-
-
-
-THE ANTS’ MONDAY DINNER
-
-
-How did I know what the ants had for dinner last Monday? It is odd that
-I should have known, but I’ll tell you how it happened.
-
-I was sitting under a big pine tree, high up on a hillside. The
-hillside was more than seven thousand feet above the sea, and that
-is higher than many mountains which people travel hundreds of miles
-to look at. But this hillside was in Colorado, so there was nothing
-wonderful in being up so high.
-
-I had been watching the great mountains with snow on them, and the
-great forests of pine trees—miles and miles of them—so close together
-that it looks as if you could lie down on their tops and not fall
-through; and my eyes were tired with looking at such great, grand
-things, so many miles off.
-
-So I looked down on the ground where I was sitting, and watched the
-ants which were running about everywhere, as busy and restless as if
-they had the whole world on their shoulders.
-
-Suddenly I saw a tiny caterpillar, which seemed to be bounding along in
-a very strange way. In a second more I saw an ant seize hold of him and
-begin to drag him off.
-
-The caterpillar was three times as long as the ant, and his body was
-more than twice as large round as the biggest part of the ant’s body.
-
-“Ho! ho! Mr. Ant,” said I, “you needn’t think you’re going to be strong
-enough to drag that fellow very far.”
-
-Why, it was about the same thing as if you or I should drag off a
-calf, which was kicking and struggling all the time; only that the
-calf hasn’t half so many legs to catch hold of things with as the
-caterpillar had.
-
-Poor caterpillar! how he did try to get away! But the ant never gave
-him a second’s time to take a good grip of anything; and he was cunning
-enough, too, to drag him on his side, so that he couldn’t use his legs
-very well.
-
-Up and down, and under and over stones and sticks; in and out of
-tufts of grass; up to the very top of the tallest blades, and then
-down again; over gravel and sand, and across bridges of pine needles
-from stone to stone; backward all the way ran that ant, dragging the
-caterpillar after him.
-
-I watched him very closely, thinking, of course, he must be going
-toward his house. Presently he darted up the trunk of a pine tree.
-
-“Dear me!” said I, “ants don’t live in trees! What does this mean?”
-
-The bark of the tree was all broken and jagged, and full of seams
-twenty times as deep as the height of the ant’s body. But he didn’t
-mind; down one side and up the other he went.
-
-They must have been awful chasms to him, and yet he never once stopped
-or went a bit slower. I had to watch the ant very closely, not to lose
-sight of him altogether.
-
-I began to think that he was merely trying to kill the caterpillar;
-that, perhaps, he didn’t mean to eat him, after all. How did I know but
-some ants might hunt caterpillars, just as some men hunt deer, for
-fun, and not at all because they need food?
-
-If I had been sure of this, I would have spoiled Mr. Ant’s sport for
-him very soon, you may be sure, and set the poor caterpillar free. But
-I never heard of an ant’s being cruel; and if it were really for dinner
-for his family that he was working so hard, I thought he ought to be
-helped, and not hindered.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Just then I heard a sharp cry overhead. I looked up, and there was an
-enormous hawk, sailing round in circles, with two small birds flying
-after him. They were pouncing down on his head, and then darting away,
-and all the time making shrill cries of fright and hatred.
-
-I knew very well what that meant. Mr. Hawk was also out trying to do
-some marketing for his dinner. He had his eye on some little birds in
-their nest, and there were the father and mother birds driving him away.
-
-You wouldn’t have believed that two such little birds could drive off
-such a big creature as the hawk, but they did. They seemed to fairly
-buzz round his head just as flies buzz round a horse’s head.
-
-At last he gave up the quest and flew off so far that he vanished in
-the blue sky, and the little birds came skimming home again into the
-forest.
-
-“Well, well,” said I, “the little people are stronger than the big
-ones, after all! Where has my ant gone?”
-
-Sure enough! It hadn’t been two minutes that I had been watching
-the hawk and the birds, but in that two minutes the ant and the
-caterpillar had disappeared. At last I found them,—where do you think?
-In a fold of my coat, on which I was sitting!
-
-The ant was running round and round the caterpillar. I shook the fold
-out, and as soon as the cloth lay straight and smooth, the ant fastened
-his nippers into his prey and started off as fast as ever.
-
-I suppose if I could have seen his face, and had understood the
-language of ants’ features, I should have seen plainly written there,
-“Dear me, what sort of a country was that I tumbled into?”
-
-By this time the caterpillar had had the breath pretty well knocked out
-of his body, and was so limp and helpless that the ant was not afraid
-of his getting away from him. So he stopped now and then to rest.
-
-Sometimes he would spring on the caterpillar’s back, and stretch
-himself out there; sometimes he would stand still on one side and look
-at him sharply, keeping one nipper on his head.
-
-All the time he was working steadily in one direction; he was headed
-for home I felt certain.
-
-It astonished me very much, at first, that none of the ants he met took
-any notice of him; they all went on their own way, and never took so
-much as a sniff at the caterpillar.
-
-But pretty soon I said to myself, “You stupid woman, not to suppose
-that ants can be as well behaved as people! When you passed Mr. Jones
-yesterday, you didn’t peep into his market-basket, nor touch the
-cabbage he had under his arm.”
-
-Presently the ant dropped the caterpillar, and ran on a few steps—I
-mean inches—to meet another ant who was coming towards him. They put
-their heads close together for a second.
-
-I could not hear what they said, but I could easily imagine, for they
-both ran quickly back to the caterpillar, and one took him by the head
-and the other by the tail, and then they lugged him along finely. It
-was only a few steps, however, to the ant’s house; that was the reason
-he happened to meet this friend just coming out.
-
-The door was a round hole in the ground, about as big as my little
-finger. Several ants were standing in the doorway, watching these
-two come up with the caterpillar. They all took hold as soon as the
-caterpillar was on the doorstep, and almost before I knew he was there,
-they had tumbled him down, heels over head, into the ground, and that
-was the last I saw of him.
-
-The oddest thing was, how the ants came running home from all
-directions. I don’t believe there was any dinner bell rung, though
-there might have been one too fine for my ears to hear; but in a
-minute, I counted thirty-three ants running down that hole. I fancied
-they looked as hungry as wolves.
-
-I had a great mind to dig down into the hole with a stick, and see what
-had become of the caterpillar. But I thought it wasn’t quite fair to
-take the roof off a man’s house to find out how he cooks his beef for
-dinner; so I sat still and wondered whether they would eat him all up
-or whether they would leave any for Tuesday; then I went home to my own
-dinner.
-
-    —_Helen Hunt Jackson._
-
-
-
-
-MY ANT’S COW
-
-
-My Ant lives in the country and keeps a cow. I am ashamed to say that,
-although I have always known she was a most interesting person, I never
-went to see her until last week.
-
-I am afraid I should not have gone then, if I had not found an account
-of her, and her house, and her cow, in a book which I was reading.
-
-“Dear me,” said I, “and there she has been living so near me all this
-time, and I never have been to call on her.”
-
-To tell the truth, it was much worse than that; I had often met her in
-the street, and had taken such a dislike to her looks that I always
-brushed by as quickly as possible without speaking to her.
-
-I had great difficulty in finding her house, though it is quite large.
-She belongs to a very peculiar family; they prefer to live in the dark;
-so they have no windows in their houses, only doors; and the doors are
-nothing but holes in the roof.
-
-The houses are built in the shape of a mound, and are not more than
-ten inches high. They are built out of old bits of wood, dead leaves,
-straw, old bones; in short, every sort of old thing that they find,
-they stick in the walls of their houses. Their best rooms are all down
-cellar; and dark enough they must be on a rainy day, when the doors are
-always kept shut tight.
-
-But I ought to have told you about my Ant herself before I told you
-about her house. When you hear what an odd person she is, you will not
-be surprised that she lives in such an outlandish house.
-
-To begin with, I must tell you that she belongs to a family that never
-does any work.
-
-You’d never suppose so, to see her. I really think she is the
-queerest-looking creature I ever met.
-
-In the first place, her skin is of a dark brown color, darker than an
-Indian’s, and she has six legs. Of course she can walk three times as
-fast as if she had only two,—but I would rather go slower and be more
-like other people.
-
-She has frightful jaws, with which she does all sorts of things besides
-eating. She uses them for scissors, tweezers, pickaxes, knife and fork,
-and in case of a battle, for swords.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Then she has growing out of the front part of her head two long slender
-horns, which she keeps moving about all the time, and with which she
-touches everything she wishes to understand.
-
-The first thing she does, when she meets you, is to bend both
-these horns straight towards you, and feel of you. It is quite
-disagreeable,—almost as bad as shaking hands with strangers.
-
-My Ant’s name is Fornica Rufa. If I knew her better I should call her
-Ant Ru, for short. But I do not expect ever to know her very well. She
-evidently does not like to be intimate with anybody but her own family;
-and I am not surprised, for I was never in any house so overrun with
-people as hers is. I wondered how they knew themselves apart.
-
-When I went to see her last week I found her just going out, and I
-thought perhaps that was one reason that she didn’t take any more
-notice of me.
-
-“How do you do, Ant?” said I. “I am spending the summer near by, and
-thought I would like to become acquainted with you. I hear you have a
-very curious cow, and I have a great desire to see it.”
-
-“Humph!” said she, and snapped her horns up and down, as she always
-does when she is displeased, I find.
-
-“I hope it will not give you any trouble to show her to me. You must
-be very proud of having such a fine cow. Perhaps you are on the way to
-milking now, and if so I should be most happy to go with you.”
-
-“Humph!” said my Ant again. At least I think that was what she said. It
-looked like it, but I can’t say that I heard any sound.
-
-But she turned short on her heels (I suppose she has heels), and
-plunged into the woods at the right, stopping and looking back at me as
-if she expected me to follow. So I stepped along after her as fast as I
-could, and said, “Thank you; I suppose this is the way to the pasture.”
-
-My Ant said nothing, but went ahead, snapping her horns furiously.
-
-“Oh, well,” thought I to myself, “you are an uncivil Ant. Even if I
-have come simply out of curiosity, you might be a little more polite
-in your own house, or at least on your own grounds, which is the same
-thing. I sha’n’t speak to you again.”
-
-That’s about all the conversation I have ever had with my Ant. But she
-took me to the pasture, and I saw her cow.
-
-I am almost afraid to tell you where the pasture was, and what the cow
-was; but if you don’t believe me, you can look in books written about
-such things, and they will prove to you that every word I say is true.
-
-The pasture was the stalk of a green brier; and there stood, not only
-my Ant’s cow, but as many as five hundred others, all feeding away upon
-it. You have seen millions of them in your lives, for you must know
-that they are nothing but little green plant-lice, like those that we
-find on our rosebushes, and that we try in every possible way to get
-rid of.
-
-Who would ever suppose there could be anything for which these little
-green plant-lice could serve as cows! I assure you it is true, and if
-you live in the country you can see it for yourself; but you will have
-to look through a magnifying glass to see them milked.
-
-Think of looking through a magnifying glass at anybody’s cow! I looked
-at my Ant’s for an hour, and it seemed to me I hardly winked, I was so
-much interested in the curious sight.
-
-Its skin was smooth as satin and of a most beautiful light green color.
-It had six legs, and little hooks at the end, instead of hoofs. The
-oddest thing of all was that the horns were not on its head, but at the
-other end of its body, where the tail would have been if it had had a
-tail like any other cow.
-
-The horns were hollow tubes, and it is out of them that the milk comes,
-a drop at a time. The milk is meant for the little plant-lice to drink
-before they are old enough to hook their six legs on to stalks and
-leaves, and feed on sap.
-
-But I think that in any place where there are many of my Ant’s race,
-the little plant-lice must fare badly, for the Ants are so fond of this
-milk that sometimes they carry off whole herds of the plant-lice and
-shut them up in chambers in their houses. There they feed them as we do
-cows in barns, and go and milk them whenever they please.
-
-“Oh, dear Ant,” said I to my Ant, “do pray milk your cow! I have such a
-desire to see how you do it.”
-
-She did not appear to understand me, and I dare say if she had she
-would not have done it any sooner. But presently I saw her go up behind
-her cow, and begin to tap her gently on her back, just at the place
-where the horns grew out.
-
-The cow did not look round nor stop eating, but in a moment out came a
-tiny drop of liquid from the tip of each tube. My Ant picked it up with
-her wonderful horns and whisked it into her mouth as quickly as you
-would a sugarplum.
-
-Then she went on to the next cow and milked that in the same manner,
-and then to a third one. She took only two drops from each one. Perhaps
-that is all that this kind of a cow can give at a time.
-
-There were several of her friends there at the same time doing their
-milking; and I could not help thinking how easy it would be for the
-great herd of cows to kill my Ant and all her race, if they chose. But
-it is thought by wise people who have studied these wonderful things
-that the cows are fond of being milked in this way, and would be sorry
-to be left alone by themselves.
-
-After my Ant had finished her supper, she stood still watching the cows
-for some time. I thought perhaps she would be in a better humor after
-having had so much to eat, and might possibly feel like talking with
-me. But she never once opened her mouth, though I sat there an hour and
-a half.
-
-At last it began to grow dark, and as I had quite a long walk to take,
-I knew I must go, or I should not get home in time for my own supper of
-milk.
-
-“Good-night, Ant,” said I. “I have had a charming visit. I am very
-much obliged to you for showing me your cow. I think she is the most
-wonderful creature I ever saw. I should be very happy to see you at my
-house.”
-
-“Humph!” said my Ant.
-
-    —_Helen Hunt Jackson._
-
-
-
-
-COLORADO SNOW-BIRDS
-
-
-    I’ll tell you how the snow-birds come,
-      Here in our Winter days;
-    They make me think of chickens,
-      With their cunning little ways.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-    We go to bed at night, and leave
-      The ground all bare and brown,
-    And not a single snow-bird
-      To be seen in all the town.
-
-    But when we wake at morning
-      The ground with snow is white,
-    And with the snow, the snow-birds
-      Must have travelled all the night;
-
-    For the streets and yards are full of them,
-      The dainty little things,
-    With snow-white breasts, and soft brown heads,
-      And speckled russet wings.
-
-    Not here and there a snow-bird,
-      As we see them at the East,
-    But in great flocks, like grasshoppers,
-      By hundreds, at the least,
-
-    They push and crowd and jostle,
-      And twitter as they feed,
-    And hardly lift their heads up,
-      For fear to miss a seed.
-
-    What ’tis they eat, nobody seems
-      To know or understand;
-    The seeds are much too fine to see,
-      All sifted in the sand.
-
-    But winds last Summer scattered them,
-      All thickly on these plains;
-    The little snow-birds have no barns,
-      But God protects their grains.
-
-    .   .   .   .   .   .   .
-
-    Some flocks count up to thousands,
-      I know, and when they fly,
-    Their tiny wings make rustle,
-      As if a wind went by.
-
-    They go as quickly as they come,
-      Go in a night or day;
-    Soon as the snow has melted off,
-      The darlings fly away,
-
-    But come again, again, again,
-      All winter with each snow;
-    Brave little armies, through the cold;
-      Swift back and forth they go.
-
-    I always wondered where they lived
-      In summer, till last year
-    I stumbled on them in their home,
-      High in the upper air;
-
-    ’Way up among the clouds it was,
-      A many thousand feet,
-    But on the mountain-side gay flowers
-      Were blooming fresh and sweet.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-    Great pine trees’ swaying branches
-      Gave cool and fragrant shade;
-    And here, we found, the snow-birds
-      Their summer home had made.
-
-    “Oh, lucky little snow-birds!”
-       We said, “to know so well,
-     In summer time and winter time,
-       Your destined place to dwell—
-
-    “To journey, nothing doubting,
-       Down to the barren plains,
-     Where harvests are all over,
-       To find your garnered grains!
-
-    “Oh, precious little snow-birds!
-       If we were half as wise,
-     If we were half as trusting
-       To the Father in the skies,—
-
-    “He would feed us, though the harvests
-       Had ceased throughout the land,
-     And hold us, all our lifetime,
-       In the hollow of his hand!”
-                        —_Helen Hunt Jackson._
-
-
-
-
-THE PETERKINS’ EXCURSION AFTER MAPLE SYRUP
-
-
-The Peterkins had decided not to go to Egypt.
-
-Of course the little boys were very much disappointed, so Mr. Peterkin
-said that he would take them out into the woods to get some maple syrup
-instead. But it was almost as difficult to arrange an excursion for
-maple sugar as to arrange for a trip to Egypt.
-
-You see, sugar can not be made until it is warm enough to make the sap
-run. On the other hand, it must be cold enough for snow, as you can
-only reach the woods on snow-sleds.
-
-Now, if there were sun enough for the sap to rise, it would melt the
-snow; and if it were cold enough for sledding, it must be too cold for
-the syrup. The little boys, however, said there always had been maple
-sugar every spring,—they had eaten it; why shouldn’t there be this
-spring?
-
-Elizabeth Eliza said that this was probably old sugar they had
-eaten,—you never could tell in the shops.
-
-Mrs. Peterkin thought there must be fresh sugar once in a while, as
-the old sugar would be eaten up. She felt the same about chickens. She
-never could understand why there were only the old, tough ones in the
-market, when there were certainly fresh young broods to be seen around
-the farmhouses every year.
-
-She supposed the market-men had begun with the old, tough fowls, and so
-they had to go on so. She wished they had begun the other way; and she
-had done her best to have the family eat up the old fowls, hoping they
-might, some day, get down to the young ones.
-
-As to the weather, she suggested they should go to Grandfather’s the
-day before. But how can you go the day before, when you don’t know the
-day?
-
-All were much delighted, therefore, when Hiram appeared with the
-wood-sled, one evening, to take them, as early as possible the next
-day, to their grandfather’s.
-
-He said that the sap had started, the kettles had been on some time,
-there had been a slight snow for sleighing, and to-morrow promised to
-be a fine day.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-It was decided that he should take the little boys and Elizabeth Eliza
-in the wood-sled; the others would follow later, in the carryall.
-
-Mrs. Peterkin thought it would be safer to have some of the party go on
-wheels, in case of a thaw the next day.
-
-A brilliant sun awoke them in the morning. The wood-sled was filled
-with hay, to make it warm and comfortable, and an armchair was tied in
-for Elizabeth Eliza.
-
-The little boys put on their India-rubber boots and their red mittens.
-Elizabeth Eliza took a shawl, a hot brick, and a big bag of cookies,
-and they started off.
-
-In passing the school-house the little boys saw five of their friends,
-who had reached the school door a full hour before the time. They asked
-these five boys to go with them, but Elizabeth Eliza thought they ought
-to inquire if their parents would be willing they should go, as they
-all expected to spend the night at Grandfather’s.
-
-Hiram thought it would take too much time to ask all the parents; if
-the sun kept on shining so brightly, the snow would be gone before they
-would reach the woods.
-
-But the little boys said that most of these boys lived in a row, and
-Elizabeth Eliza felt she ought not to take the boys away for all night
-without asking their parents.
-
-At each place they were obliged to stop for tippets and great-coats
-and India-rubber boots for the little boys. At the Harrimans’, too, the
-Harriman girls insisted on dressing up the wood-sled with evergreens,
-and made one of the boys bring the Christmas tree that was leaning up
-against the barn, to set it up in the back of the sled, over Elizabeth
-Eliza.
-
-All this took a good deal of time; and when they reached the highroad
-again, the snow was indeed fast melting. Elizabeth Eliza thought they
-ought to turn back, but Hiram said they would find the sleighing better
-farther up among the hills.
-
-The armchair joggled about a good deal, and the Christmas tree creaked
-and swayed, and Hiram was obliged to stop once in a while and tie in
-the chair and the tree more firmly.
-
-But the warm sun was very pleasant, the eight little boys were very
-lively, and the sleigh bells jingled gaily as they went on.
-
-It was so late when they reached the wood-road that Hiram decided they
-had better not go up the hill to their grandfather’s, but turn off into
-the woods.
-
-“Your grandfather will be up at the sugar camp by this time,” he
-declared.
-
-Elizabeth Eliza was afraid the carryall would miss them, and thought
-they had better wait. Hiram did not like to wait longer, and said that
-one or two of the little boys could stop to show the way.
-
-But it was so difficult to decide which little boys should stay that he
-gave it up. So he explained that there was a lunch hidden somewhere in
-the straw; and the little boys thought this was a good time to eat it,
-so they decided to stop in the sun at the corner of the road.
-
-Elizabeth Eliza felt a little jounced in the armchair, and was glad of
-a rest; and the boys soon discovered a good lunch,—just what might have
-been expected from Grandfather’s,—apple pie and doughnuts, and plenty
-of them! “It is lucky we brought so many little boys!” they exclaimed.
-
-Hiram, however, began to grow impatient. “There’ll be no snow left,” he
-exclaimed, “and no afternoon for the syrup!”
-
-But far in the distance the Peterkin carryall was seen slowly
-approaching through the snow, Solomon John waving a red handkerchief.
-The little boys waved back, and Hiram turned the sled into the
-wood-road, but he drove slowly, as Elizabeth Eliza still feared that by
-some accident the family might miss them.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-It was difficult for the carryall to follow in the deep but soft snow,
-in among the trunks of the trees and over piles of leaves hidden in the
-snow.
-
-At last they reached the edge of a meadow. On the high bank above it
-stood a row of maples, and back of which was a little shanty with smoke
-coming out of its chimney. The little boys screamed with delight, but
-there was no reply. Nobody there!
-
-“The folks all gone!” exclaimed Hiram; “then we must be late.” And he
-proceeded to pull out a large silver watch from a side pocket. It was
-so large that he seldom was at the pains to pull it out, as it took
-time; but when he had succeeded at last, and looked at it, he started.
-
-“Late, indeed! It is four o’clock, and we were to have been here by
-eleven; they have given you up.”
-
-The little boys wanted to force in the door; but Hiram said it was no
-use,—they wouldn’t understand what to do, and he should have to see to
-the horses,—and it was too late, and very likely the men had carried
-off all the syrup.
-
-But he thought a minute, as they all stood in silence and gloom; and
-then he guessed they might find some sugar at Deacon Spear’s, close
-by, on the back road, and that would be better than nothing.
-
-Mrs. Peterkin was pretty cold, and glad not to wait in the darkening
-wood; so the eight little boys walked through the wood-path, Hiram
-leading the way; and slowly the carryall followed.
-
-They reached Deacon Spear’s at length; but only Mrs. Spear was at home.
-She was very deaf, but could explain that the family had taken all
-their syrup to the sugar festival.
-
-“We might go to the festival,” exclaimed the boys.
-
-“It would be very well,” said Mrs. Peterkin, “to eat our fresh syrup
-there.”
-
-But Mrs. Spear could not tell where the festival was to be, as she had
-not heard; perhaps they might know at Squire Ramsay’s.
-
-Squire Ramsay’s was on their way to Grandfather’s, so they stopped
-there. They were told that the “Squire’s folks” had all gone with their
-syrup to the festival. The man who was chopping wood did not know where
-the festival was to be.
-
-“They’ll know at your grandfather’s,” said Mrs. Peterkin, from the
-carryall.
-
-“Yes, go on to your grandfather’s,” advised Mr. Peterkin, “for I
-think I felt a drop of rain.” So they made the best of their way to
-Grandfather’s.
-
-At the moment they reached the door of the house, a party of young
-people whom Elizabeth Eliza knew came by in sleighs. She had met them
-all when visiting at her grandfather’s.
-
-“Come along with us,” they shouted; “we are all going down to the sugar
-festival.”
-
-“That is what we have come for,” said Mr. Peterkin.
-
-“Where is it?” asked Solomon John.
-
-“It is down your way,” was the reply.
-
-“It is in your own New Hall,” said another. “We have sent down all our
-syrup. The Spears and Ramsays and Doolittles have gone on with theirs.
-No time to stop; there’s good sleighing on the old road.”
-
-Hiram said he could take them back with the wood-sled, when he heard
-there was sleighing on the old road. So it was decided that the whole
-party should go in the wood-sled, with the exception of Mr. Peterkin,
-who would follow on with the carryall.
-
-Mrs. Peterkin would take the armchair, and cushions were put in for
-Elizabeth Eliza, and more apple pie for all. No more drops of rain
-appeared, though the clouds were thickening over the setting sun.
-
-“All the way back again,” sighed Mrs. Peterkin, “when we might have
-stayed at home all day, and gone quietly out to the New Hall!” But the
-little boys thought the sledding was great fun,—and the apple pie! “And
-we did see the kettle through the cracks of the shanty!”
-
-    —_Lucretia P. Hale._
-
-
-
-
-THE GRASS
-
-
-    The grass so little has to do,—
-      A sphere of simple green,
-    With only butterflies to brood,
-      And bees to entertain,
-
-    And stir all day to pretty tunes
-      The breezes fetch along,
-    And hold the sunshine in its lap,
-      And bow to everything;
-
-[Illustration]
-
-    And thread the dews all night, like pearls,
-      And make itself so fine,—
-    A duchess were too common
-      For such a noticing.
-
-    And even when it dies, to pass
-      In odors so divine,
-    As lowly spices gone to sleep,
-      Or amulets of pine.
-
-    And then to dwell in sovereign barns,
-      And dream the days away,—
-    The grass so little has to do,
-      I wish I were the hay.
-                    —_Emily Dickinson._
-
-
-
-
-SUNSET
-
-
-    Where ships of purple gently toss
-      On seas of daffodil,
-    Fantastic sailors mingle,
-      And then—the wharf is still.
-                       —_Emily Dickinson._
-
-
-
-
-THE BABY SQUIRRELS
-
-
-The four baby squirrels were tired of staying in their soft nest in the
-hollow tree. They wanted to find out what was going on in the world
-outside.
-
-As they cuddled together in the shadowy hole they could hear the
-queerest sounds. They cocked their heads curiously at the rustling
-and whispering of the wind among the leaves. They heard chirping and
-singing, and a silvery tinkle, tinkle from the brook.
-
-Once a bee flew buzzing right over their heads, and made them clutch
-one another in terror.
-
-One morning, when the old mother squirrel was away hunting for birds’
-eggs to eat, the smallest baby crept to the mouth of the hole and
-peeped out with his round bright eyes.
-
-All around and above him there were wonderful green things flickering
-and fluttering. Twinkles of sunlight danced through the leaves and
-dazzled him. Something soft and cool blew back the new bristles on his
-lips and ruffled his satiny red fur.
-
-He was so much interested that he sat there, staring and staring, till
-the other little ones began to squeak and scold him for shutting out
-the light.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-After he crept down again to the nest the others climbed up, one by
-one, and looked out. They blinked and winked at each wonderful sight;
-they sniffed the strange odors, and twitched their eager little heads
-at every new sound.
-
-The scream of a blue jay in the tree-top above them sent them
-scampering inside again, to cuddle close together in the darkest
-corner. It was fun to see something new and exciting, even if it did
-make them shiver all over.
-
-Soon the mother squirrel came springing from branch to branch to reach
-the hollow.
-
-How the babies squeaked and chattered in welcome! Very likely they told
-her about the wonderful sights and sounds in the strange world outside
-the hole.
-
-The smallest one clasped his fore paws around her neck, and coaxed her
-to let them all go out to find more interesting things. It was stupid
-there in the dark nest, with nothing to watch except the patch of light
-across the opening above them.
-
-The old squirrel knew that the little ones were not strong enough yet
-to leave the nest.
-
-To be sure, they had grown and changed very much since the first days.
-Then they had been ugly little creatures, like tiny pug dogs, with big
-heads, no fur, and their eyes tight shut.
-
-Now they were half as big as she was herself. Their eyes were like
-jewels, and their red fur was smooth as satin.
-
-But their tails, with only fringes of hair along the sides, were not
-nearly so fluffy as the mother’s. Her tail was long and plumy. It
-curved so gracefully over her back that she seemed to be sitting in its
-shadow. One name of the squirrel is “shadow-tail.”
-
-For a few weeks longer the four babies scrambled about the doorway and
-looked longingly out at the wonderful green tree-world. They did not
-dare to step out upon the slender branches, for fear of falling off.
-
-It made them feel dizzy to look away down to the ground below. They did
-not know how to cling to the limbs with their feet while they balanced
-themselves with their tails.
-
-When the young squirrels were almost strong enough to learn to run and
-climb in the tree, the mother began to build another home higher up the
-trunk. The old nest was growing too warm for comfort, as summer brought
-the long sunny hours.
-
-The squirrel father was not there to help his mate.
-
-The mother squirrel thought the tree belonged to her, and that she
-needed all the room in the hollow for her little ones. She chased him
-off to live in the woods with all the other squirrel fathers till the
-babies were big enough to take care of themselves.
-
-The mother squirrel worked on the new nest in the early morning. She
-bit off leafy twigs and carried them to the top of the tree. There,
-where two branches forked, she packed the sticks and leaves together in
-a loose ball.
-
-Then she pushed a doorway through, at one side or another, just as she
-happened to be standing.
-
-This was not such a neat home as one in the next tree. That other
-mother squirrel built her new nest of strips of bark tied together with
-ribbons of soft fibre. Over the doorway she hung a curtain of bark, and
-lifted it up carefully whenever she went inside.
-
-At last the new home was ready. The old mother hurried down to the
-hollow and called the babies to come out and follow her. They stepped
-out, one after another, just as carefully as they could.
-
-The smallest baby came last. He dug his claws into the bark and hung
-on. The branch seemed so narrow that he trembled from fear of falling.
-
-The tree swayed in the wind. The branch bounced up and down, and a
-leaf blew in his face. The poor little fellow shut his eyes, because
-everything seemed to be whirling round and round.
-
-When he opened his eyes again he saw the three other little ones
-climbing up the trunk above him. They clutched the bark with their
-claws, and moved forward, one paw at a time.
-
-The mother was running on ahead of them. Every few steps she turned
-around to coax them on faster.
-
-Finally they reached a narrow branch which led over to the new nest.
-They crawled out on it, lifting one foot and then setting it down
-before lifting another.
-
-The farther they crept the narrower the branch grew under them. Their
-little paws began to slip over the smoother bark. The one in front
-tried to turn around, but he was afraid of falling. So they all three
-scrambled backwards to the safe trunk.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-The mother ran back to them, and chattered and scolded. Again and again
-they started out over the branch, and then went scrambling back.
-
-When at last the mother had coaxed them across to the nest she looked
-around for the smallest baby. There he was, away down at the door of
-the old nest.
-
-The old squirrel was tired out. Her fur was ruffled and her ears
-drooped. She ran down to the nest and began to scold the little
-fellow. He sat up and put his paws around her to let him stay there.
-
-But she started him up the trunk and pushed him along to the branch.
-Then she took hold of him by the neck and carried him across to the new
-home.
-
-After that the little ones were taken out every morning to practise
-climbing. Little by little they learned to balance themselves on the
-branches. Their tails were fluffy enough by this time to be of use in
-balancing.
-
-First to one side, then to the other, each baby tilted his tail as he
-crept along, step by step. Every day they could move a little faster.
-Finally they were able to chase one another up and down, from branch to
-branch.
-
-They went running around the trunks, skipping and leaping from twig to
-twig, and jumping from one tree to another, even through the air.
-
-Sometimes one or another missed his footing after a reckless jump.
-Often he caught hold of a branch below by a single toe and lifted
-himself up to a firmer foothold.
-
-Or, if there was no branch within reach, he spread out his fur, and
-flattened his tail, and went sailing down to the ground, almost as if
-he could fly. They never seemed to get hurt.
-
-The little squirrels seemed to be always doing something. They turned
-somersaults in the grass, or swung by one paw from the tip of a tough
-branch.
-
-There was always something to do or to see. Now they chattered at a
-blue jay, or chased a toad for the fun of watching him hop. Now they
-caught beetles or scolded at a fox slinking along through the woods.
-And every day there was the excitement of finding something to eat.
-
-The babies lived on milk till they were almost as heavy as their
-mother. Then she began to feed them with fruit and buds and grubs,
-which she first chewed for them.
-
-Like the beavers and the hares and rabbits, each had four chisel teeth
-in the front of its mouth. They needed to gnaw hard nuts or bark every
-day to keep these teeth from growing too long.
-
-The young squirrels were three months old in July and were then big
-enough to take care of themselves. Away they scampered from the old
-home tree and found new homes in stumps and hollows. The smallest one
-used to curl up in an old robin’s nest to sleep at night.
-
-All day long they were as busy as they could be. There were cones to be
-gathered from the evergreens. The little squirrels ran up the trees in
-a hurry, and, cutting off the cones with their sharp teeth, tossed them
-over their shoulders to the ground. Every few minutes they scurried
-down to bury the cones under the pine needles for the winter.
-
-Sometimes a drop of sticky pitch from the cut stems was rubbed against
-their fur. That made them so uncomfortable that they had to stop and
-lick it off.
-
-The squirrels loved to be clean. Ever since they were tiny babies, with
-their new red fur, they always helped one another with washing their
-faces and combing their tails with their claws.
-
-They were careful to run along logs over a muddy spot. If one happened
-to get wet he dried himself with his fluffy tail.
-
-When they were tired of eating seeds and twigs they hunted for grubs.
-Clinging to the bark of a dead tree, they listened till they heard
-something gnawing beneath the surface. Then, tearing off the bark in
-ragged pieces, they pounced upon the flat whitish grub beneath and ate
-him up.
-
-But the best time of all came in the autumn when nuts were ripe. Then
-what fun the little squirrels had! Early every morning out popped
-the little heads from the hollow stumps and logs. The big round eyes
-twinkled eagerly in every direction. Then, whisk! they were out, with a
-bark and a squeak!
-
-Scampering to the top of a tree, each one took a flying leap to the
-next tree. Up and down they followed the squirrel-paths through the
-woods till they reached the grove, where the nuts were ripening.
-
-It was a busy place, with little wings fluttering and little feet
-pattering, and yellow leaves drifting down in the sunshine. All the
-squirrels scurried to and fro, picking one nut here, and another there.
-
-They sat on the branches, with their bushy tails curving over their
-backs, and held the nuts in their fore paws to nibble. The smallest
-baby could open the hardest walnut and clean it out in less than a
-minute.
-
-All the while the blue jays and the thrifty chipmunks were gathering
-nuts and corn, and hiding their stores for the winter. That seemed so
-interesting that the squirrels gathered some, too.
-
-Autumn passed away, and the days grew colder. In the woods the leaves
-were all fallen and the branches were stripped bare of nuts.
-
-Every morning when the squirrels poked out their heads the air nipped
-their noses. Frost sparkled on the dead grass. The chipmunks had crept
-into their holes for the winter, and most of the birds had flown away
-south.
-
-The squirrels were not quite so gay now as in the autumn days, when
-they danced upon the branches and whistled and chuckled over the good
-things to eat and the curious sights to see. They slept with their warm
-tails wrapped over their noses.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-They still ran busily through the tree-tops, except when snow or icy
-rain kept them shut within their holes. They ate all the nuts they
-could find, and dug up the buried pine cones. They climbed the hemlock
-trees and ate the seeds.
-
-Once the smallest squirrel happened to dig up a heap of nuts from
-between two stones under the snow. He could not remember whether he had
-hidden them himself or not. How he squealed when he saw them!
-
-Late in the winter the squirrels had eaten all the nuts and cones
-within reach. They were so hungry on many a day that they tried to
-creep into a chipmunk’s hole and steal his store of food. But he was
-smaller than they were, and he had wisely made one bend in his tunnel
-too small for them to pass.
-
-Then they had to live on bark and seeds till spring started the tender
-green plants to growing.
-
-The squirrels gnawed the bark of the maple trees and drank the sweet
-sap that came oozing out. Later there were elm buds to nibble and
-birds’ eggs to suck. The woods were once more green with juicy leaves.
-
-All the squirrels went to housekeeping. Soon in almost every tree there
-was a family of squirrels peeping out with their round, bright eyes.
-
-    —_Julia A. Schwartz._
-
-
-
-
-THE BABY THAT SLEEPS IN A POCKET
-
-
-For days and days the baby opossums lay crowded close together in their
-mother’s furry pocket. They slept and drank milk, and grew and grew
-till their eyes began to open.
-
-It was dark all around them, but above their heads a gray line showed
-where light was stealing in over the edge of the pocket.
-
-The biggest baby opossum looked up with his little bright eyes. He
-wanted to see more. So he crawled up, clambering over the soft tiny
-bodies of the eleven other babies.
-
-Some of them wriggled and squirmed under his little bare feet. After
-slipping back once or twice he reached the edge and poked his pointed
-white snout outside.
-
-He could not see anything because he was under his mother, and her long
-fur hung down over him. She was lying on a nest of grasses in a hollow
-tree.
-
-That was where she stayed all day long while the sun was shining. Every
-night at dusk she climbed down the rough trunk and went to hunt for
-something to eat.
-
-When she felt the tiny claws of her baby clutching her fur she looked
-down between her fore paws at the little mouse-like fellow.
-
-Then with her smooth pink hands she gently pushed him back into the
-pocket and closed the opening. He was not big enough yet to come out of
-the warm dark nursery.
-
-So for a week longer he cuddled down beside the others, while they all
-slept and drank more milk and grew stronger every hour.
-
-The biggest baby was so restless that he scrambled around and crowded
-the others. Once he caught hold of a tiny tail between the thumbs and
-fingers of his hind feet, and pulled till the little one squeaked. His
-fore feet were like tiny hands without any thumbs.
-
-At last, one day, he saw the edge of the pocket open a crack. He was
-so glad that he climbed up as fast as he could scramble, and pushed
-outside. He held on to his mother’s fur with all four feet.
-
-When she reached down to smell him the bristles on her lips tickled his
-nose. Then he climbed around upon her back and twisted his tail about
-hers to hold him steady.
-
-He looked like a mouse with his long tail, his black ears, his bright
-eyes twinkling in his little white face, and his pointed nose.
-
-In a few minutes another and another baby followed the big brother and
-clung there on the mother’s furry back. It must have seemed a noisy
-place to them, for in the pocket they had heard only the soft rustling
-and scratching of the mother’s feet on the nest.
-
-Now they could hear a chirping, and a squeaking, and a rattling of
-branches. They crowded close together in fright at the scream of a blue
-jay, as it chased a chattering red squirrel through the tree-top.
-
-Then a sudden loud thump—thump—thump of a woodpecker hammering on the
-bark of the tree sent them tumbling back to the nursery in a hurry.
-
-After this the whole family climbed out every day to play about on the
-mother’s back. The biggest baby liked to curl his small tail about her
-large one, and then swing off head downward.
-
-Sometimes he pushed the others down just for the fun of seeing them
-scramble up again, hand over hand, clutching the long fur.
-
-Of course he was the first one to poke his head out every day. Once he
-woke from a nap in the pocket and started to climb outside.
-
-But he stopped halfway, hanging to the edge with both fore feet. It
-was nearly evening, and the mother opossum was clambering down the
-tree-trunk to go hunting for her supper.
-
-The baby held on tightly while she trotted away through the woods. Now
-and then a leaf rustled or a stick cracked under her feet. Sleepy birds
-were twittering in their nests.
-
-The mother pricked her ears and listened, for she ate eggs and young
-birds whenever she could find them. She had not tasted an egg this
-spring, because she could not climb very nimbly with her pocket full
-of babies.
-
-Soon she came to a swamp, and splash, splash, splash! the mud went
-flying. It spattered the baby’s face and made him cough.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Then he heard the croakings of dozens of frogs, and it frightened him
-so that he slid back into the nursery with his brothers.
-
-The mother was trying to catch a frog to eat. Now she jumped this way,
-and now she jumped that way. Such a jounce as the babies felt when she
-gave a spring for a big green fellow sitting on a log.
-
-She caught him, too, but the jounce almost knocked the breath out of
-the twelve soft bodies in her pocket.
-
-Every day the babies stayed outside the nursery for a longer time,
-though they were always ready to hurry back at the mother’s first
-warning grunt.
-
-They kept growing bigger, too, till one night they could not all crowd
-into the pocket. Then they cuddled together on her back, with their
-tails twisted around hers.
-
-In this way they rode through the woods when she went hunting. They
-watched with their bright eyes while she turned over rotting logs with
-her snout to catch the grubs underneath.
-
-Sometimes she rooted in the ground for sprouting acorns, or nipped off
-mouthfuls of tender grass. Once she caught a young rabbit. Then how
-excited the little opossums were! And how they all squeaked and hissed
-together as they rode trotting home.
-
-By this time they had cut their teeth,—fifty sharp little teeth in
-each hungry mouth. Then the mother picked some sweet red berries, and
-taught the hungry babies how to eat them. They learned to chew the
-juicy roots that she dug in the field.
-
-The babies were greedy little things. She was a good and patient
-mother. Of course, as long as they were small enough to stay in her
-pocket she carried them everywhere with her. Even when they grew as
-large as rats they rode on her back through the woods. These twelve fat
-babies were so heavy that sometimes she staggered and stumbled under
-the load.
-
-One night when all the babies were trotting along on their own feet
-they saw gleaming red eyes in the dark bushes before them. Something
-round and furry snarled and sprang at them.
-
-They all ran under their mother as quick as a wink. She ruffled her
-long grayish hair above them. When the animal jumped at her she
-growled, and hissed, and scratched, and bit, till he ran limping away.
-
-On another evening a big dog came galloping up before they could
-scramble into a tree. His red tongue was hanging out of his mouth
-between his white teeth. As soon as he caught sight of the opossums he
-made a dash to catch them. Instantly they all fell down and rolled over
-just as if they were dead.
-
-There they lay, with their eyes shut, their paws limber, their tails
-limp. They seemed to stop breathing. The dog smelled them and pushed
-them with his cold nose.
-
-But they kept perfectly still and did not move even an eyelash. They
-were pretending to be dead. It was one trick that they all knew without
-being taught.
-
-The minute the dog walked away they all jumped up and scampered into a
-tree. When the dog turned his head and saw them he ran back and leaped
-up to reach them.
-
-But all the opossums were safe enough now. While he was jumping and
-barking below they clung fast in the tree with their hand-like feet.
-They wound their tails about the branches above to hold more securely.
-
-The little opossums learned to climb all sorts of trees, rough or
-smooth. It was easier to climb the rough trees because they could dig
-their nails farther into the bark.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-The biggest baby could walk along the springiest limb, even if it kept
-teetering up and down in the wind. When he felt like it he swung by his
-tail the longest time without getting dizzy.
-
-All summer long the twelve little opossums stayed with their mother.
-During the day they slept cuddled in the hollow tree. Every night,
-after sunset, the mother and her twelve children set off on their
-hunting.
-
-Down through the marsh they trotted. Some waded into the mud to catch
-frogs, while others chased mud turtles over the shore. Some hunted for
-berries and others nosed for acorns under the oaks.
-
-It was beautiful there in the woods at night. When the stars twinkled
-overhead and the soft wind rustled in the tree-tops the little ones
-frisked and frolicked.
-
-They hid under the shadowy bushes or jumped hither and thither to snap
-at the fluttering moths.
-
-But on stormy evenings they plodded on in the rain, their wet fur
-drooping. With their noses close to the ground they hunted till they
-found a few mouthfuls to eat. Then they went back to the cosy hollow
-for a longer nap, after licking their pink hands and washing their
-faces, just as kittens do.
-
-One night, in autumn, the old mother opossum felt the nip of frost in
-the air. Then she knew that the persimmons were ready to be eaten.
-Away through the woods she hurried, with the young ones trotting after
-her.
-
-She led the way past the marsh and over the hill to a thicket of
-trees tangled with wild grapevines. There on the branches the round
-persimmons were shining yellow in the moonlight.
-
-Up the trees eleven of the babies scrambled hungrily, and, hanging by
-their tails, stuffed the fruit into their wide mouths. Ah! But wasn’t
-it delicious! Better than anything they had ever tasted before in all
-their short lives.
-
-Then the biggest baby, who had stopped to gobble ripe grapes, heard
-them munching so greedily. One look sent him hurrying after the others.
-He was sorry enough that he had wasted any time eating wild grapes.
-
-Night after night, till the little persimmons were gone, the opossums
-hurried away to the thicket, and ate and ate till they could eat no
-longer. They grew so fat that they puffed and panted when trotting home
-again in the gray light of the frosty dawn.
-
-Soon the ground was frozen hard over the juicy roots. All the fruit
-left in the woods hung wrinkled and frost-bitten. The worms and toads
-crawled into their holes for the winter. The beetles disappeared, and
-the spiders curled up in their hiding places to sleep through the cold
-weather. Most of the birds flew away south.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-One by one each little opossum wandered off by himself, and made a nest
-in a cosy hole or a hollow stump. There he dozed all day and often
-slept through the night without stirring out.
-
-Now and then one of them caught a mouse or dug up a frozen root to
-nibble. Sometimes they tore rotten logs apart to get at the grubs.
-
-In the beginning of the winter the little opossums were so fat that
-they could live three or four weeks without eating or drinking. When
-the cold winds blew, and the snow fell, they cuddled down in their warm
-nests and slept the time away. But many a night they woke up hungry.
-And every day their round furry bodies were a little thinner, till at
-last, spring melted the snow and ice everywhere.
-
-There was plenty to eat by that time, with all the green things
-growing. There were buds to nibble and beetles to catch. There were
-frogs croaking in the marsh, and berries were ripening in the field.
-
-The twelve little opossums were grown up now, and knew how to take care
-of themselves. Their mother had another family of babies in her furry
-pocket.
-
-Sometimes she met her other children roaming beside the marsh to catch
-frogs. One evening they saw a little pointed nose, and two twinkling
-bright eyes, peeping over the edge of her pocket.
-
-    —_Julia A. Schwartz._
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-    Will there really be a morning?
-    Is there such a thing as day?
-    Could I see it from the mountains
-    If I were as tall as they?
-
-    Has it feet like water lilies?
-    Has it feathers like a bird?
-    Is it brought from famous countries
-    Of which I have never heard?
-
-    Oh, some scholar! Oh, some sailor!
-    Oh, some wise man from the skies!
-    Please to tell a little pilgrim
-    Where the place called morning lies!
-                        —_Emily Dickinson._
-
-
-
-
-THE EMPEROR AND THE PEASANT
-
-
-I
-
-Once upon a time there was an Emperor of China, named Lee Wong. He
-would have been a very good Emperor if he had not been spoiled by
-kindness.
-
-If he cried when he was a baby, his nurse called all the nurses in the
-palace.
-
-They called the attendants, and the attendants called the musicians.
-The musicians played, the attendants danced, and the nurses walked up
-and down wheeling the baby in his carriage until he stopped crying.
-Sometimes this happened many times in one day.
-
-When Lee was a boy he had his own way in everything. If he played
-soldier he was always the general. If he went to fly kites, he had the
-ones that would fly the highest.
-
-Sometimes he wished to fly his kites when the wind did not blow. Then
-the poor attendants had to blow with a huge bellows to make the kites
-sail up into the air.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-If he wished it were summer in the winter-time, they filled his
-playroom with beautiful plants and brought canaries and nightingales to
-sing to him.
-
-In the hot summer days, if he longed for winter, they brought evergreen
-trees to the playroom. They covered the branches with cotton sprinkled
-with diamond dust to look like snow. They brought cakes of ice and
-made a skating rink and jingled sleigh bells all day long while he
-played.
-
-When he was a young man it was still worse. If he said anything, like,
-“This is a sunny morning,” or “I think it will rain to-night,” every
-one cried, “How wise!” “How wonderfully wise!”
-
-So you see the Emperor was spoiled, and this was very unfortunate.
-
-In China, just as in other places, every one longs for spring to come.
-
-One year the Emperor wanted the spring to come more than ever. He had
-had a dull winter in his city palace and he wanted to go to his country
-palace.
-
-“Command my brother, the Sun, to shine to-morrow,” he said, to his
-attendants. “Command the spring to come, also. And be ready, all of
-you, to go to the country to-morrow.”
-
-One of the attendants wrote the Emperor’s commands on the finest
-Chinese paper and then burned it in the garden. He thought in this way
-the commands might reach the sun.
-
-Perhaps they did; for the sun shone beautifully the next day, and the
-Emperor and his attendants went to the country palace.
-
-
-II
-
-The next morning the Emperor waked up very early. A little bird was
-singing in the garden. It was a lovely day.
-
-The Emperor thought he would go out into the garden to hear the little
-bird sing.
-
-He put on his silk dressing-gown, his silver shoes, and his gold crown.
-It was only six o’clock, so no one was awake in the palace.
-
-When the Emperor went into the garden the bird flew into the forest and
-sang still more sweetly.
-
-“How stupid I was,” thought the Emperor, “I ought to have commanded it
-to stay here. Now I must go into the woods to see it.”
-
-So he opened the gate and went across the field.
-
-At the edge of the woods a peasant was plowing.
-
-“Good morning, peasant,” said the Emperor, “That must be an Emperor
-bird singing in the forest, because it sings so sweetly.”
-
-“No, my lord,” said the peasant, taking off his cap, “that is a
-blackbird.”
-
-“You may call it so,” said the Emperor; “but it is an Emperor bird if
-I say so, because I am always right. It is as large as a swan, and its
-feathers are like shining gold.”
-
-“No, my lord,” said the peasant, “it is small and black.”
-
-Just then the blackbird lighted on a post in the fence and began to
-sing. It was easy to see that the peasant was right.
-
-“There must surely be something wrong,” said the Emperor, “because I
-never make a mistake.”
-
-“But, my lord, the Emperor can make a mistake. Every one does that.
-Your attendants may say that you are always right because they wish to
-please you. Perhaps they even praise what you do, when it is wrong and
-foolish.”
-
-“I can never believe that,” said the Emperor.
-
-“If you will do as I say,” replied the peasant, “I will prove that I
-have told you the truth.”
-
-
-III
-
-The Emperor promised to do this, although he could not believe he had
-been deceived.
-
-Just then all the attendants came running across the field, for they
-had waked up and missed the Emperor.
-
-Tears ran down their cheeks. They wished to have the Emperor think they
-were weeping because he was gone. He did not know each one had an onion
-in his handkerchief.
-
-“Command them to stop where they are,” the peasant whispered.
-
-The Emperor made them stop about twenty feet away, right in the middle
-of a ditch.
-
-“We are weeping because of your absence, beloved Emperor,” said the
-chief attendant. He wiped his eyes with his handkerchief, and all the
-others did the same thing.
-
-“How do you dare to stand beside the Emperor, you peasant,” said the
-Lord Marshal. “Go back to your plow!”
-
-[Illustration]
-
-“Say that I am standing beside my plow,” whispered the peasant. He was
-really standing beside the Emperor, and the plow was thirty feet away.
-
-“Do you not see,” said the Emperor, “that he is standing beside the
-plow?”
-
-“Oh, yes,” said one, “he is holding the plow with one hand.”
-
-“Yes, yes,” said another, “he is surely driving his oxen.”
-
-“Ask them,” whispered the peasant, “if they ever saw such white oxen.”
-
-Now the peasant’s oxen were coal black, without a single white spot on
-them.
-
-“Have you ever seen such beautiful white oxen?” said the Emperor,
-pointing to the black ones.
-
-“No, never,” said one, “they are indeed snow white.”
-
-“Yes,” said another, “they are whiter than snow. It hurts my eyes to
-look at them, they are so white.”
-
-The Emperor knew now that they were not telling the truth, and he
-decided to punish them.
-
-“Come here,” he called to some peasants who were plowing in the next
-field.
-
-“There is nothing so pleasant as plowing,” he said to his attendants.
-
-“It is a great pleasure,” said one.
-
-“I enjoy it more than anything in the world,” said another.
-
-“I would rather plow than dance,” said a third.
-
-“I am very glad you think so, my lords,” said the Emperor. “These
-peasants will be glad to have you plow for them. This is my command.
-Begin at once!”
-
-There was no help for it. The courtiers did not dare to disobey, so
-they took hold of the plows and tried to drive the oxen across the long
-fields.
-
-I do not believe they plowed very well, for they had never touched a
-plow before, and did not know how to drive oxen.
-
-But the peasant went to the palace and became the Emperor’s chief
-counsellor.
-
-The Emperor had this story written on a block of marble in golden
-letters, but few people can read it because it is written in Chinese,
-and it is very hard to have to read Chinese.
-
-    —_Anna von Rydingsvärd._
-
-
-
-
-THE CHRISTMAS MONKS
-
-
-I—THE GARDEN
-
-Have you always wondered where the Christmas presents come from? Well,
-I am going to tell you.
-
-Of course, every one knows that Santa Claus brings them. He comes in
-a sleigh, driving eight reindeer, and carries the presents down the
-chimney in a pack on his back.
-
-But where does _he_ get them? That is the question. And the answer
-is,—in the garden of the Christmas Monks.
-
-This garden is in a beautiful valley far away. But I must not tell you
-the name of the valley, for if I did you would all want to go there to
-live.
-
-The Christmas Monks live in a stone castle covered with ivy and
-evergreen vines. There are holly wreaths in every window, and over the
-door is an arch, with “Merry Christmas” in evergreen letters.
-
-The Christmas Monks wear white robes embroidered with gold, and they
-never go without a Christmas wreath on their heads. Every morning they
-sing a Christmas carol, and every evening they ring a Christmas chime
-on the bells.
-
-For dinner every day they have roast goose and plum pudding and mince
-pie, and at night they set lighted candles in all of the windows.
-
-But the best place of all is the garden, for that is where the
-Christmas presents grow.
-
-It is a very large garden and is divided into beds, just like our
-vegetable gardens. Every spring the Monks go out to plow the ground and
-plant the Christmas present seeds.
-
-There is one big bed for rocking-horses, another for drums, and another
-for sleds. The bed for the balls is not so large, and the top bed is
-quite small, because tops do not need much room when they are growing.
-
-The rocking-horse seed looks like tiny rocking-horses. The Monks drop
-these seeds quite far apart, then they cover them up neatly with earth,
-and put up a signpost with “Rocking-horses” on it in evergreen letters.
-
-Just so with the penny-trumpet seed, and the toy-furniture seed, the
-sled seed, and all the others.
-
-Perhaps the prettiest part of the garden is the wax-doll bed. There are
-other beds for the rag dolls and the china dolls, and the rubber dolls,
-but, of course, wax dolls look much handsomer growing.
-
-Wax dolls have to be planted very early in the season. The Monks sow
-them in rows in April and they begin to come up by the middle of May.
-
-First there is a glimmer of gold, or brown, or black hair. Then the
-snowy foreheads appear, and the blue eyes and black eyes, and at last
-all the pretty heads are out of the ground and nodding and smiling to
-each other.
-
-With their pink cheeks and bright eyes and curly hair, there is nothing
-so pretty as these little wax-doll heads peeping out of the ground.
-
-Slowly the dolls grow taller and taller, and by Christmas they are all
-ready to gather. There they stand, swaying to and fro, their dresses
-of pink or blue or white fluttering in the breeze.
-
-Just about the prettiest sight in the world is the bed of wax dolls in
-the garden of the Christmas Monks at Christmas time.
-
-
-II—PETER AND THE PRINCE
-
-All the children for miles around knew about this garden, of course,
-but they had never seen it. There is a thick hedge of Christmas trees
-all around it, and the gate where Santa Claus drives out is always
-locked with a golden key the moment he goes through.
-
-So you can imagine what excitement there was among the boys when this
-notice was hung out on the hedge of Christmas trees:—
-
-    _Wanted_:—By the Christmas Monks, two _good_ boys to
-    help in garden work. Apply at the garden on April tenth.
-
-The notice was hung out about five o’clock in the evening, one day in
-February. By noon the next day all the neighborhood had seen it and
-read it.
-
-Oh, what fun it would be to work in the garden of the Christmas Monks!
-There would be the dinner of roast goose and plum pudding every day.
-There would be the Christmas bells and the Christmas candles every
-night. And, of course, one could have all the toys he wanted, and pick
-them out himself.
-
-So, from that very minute until the tenth of April, the boys were as
-good,—as good as gold.
-
-Then, on the tenth of April, the big Santa Claus gate was opened, and
-_such_ a crowd poured into the garden! The ground was plowed, but the
-seed had not been planted, so they could walk about everywhere.
-
-Two of the Christmas Monks sat on a throne trimmed so thick with
-evergreens that it looked like a bird’s nest. They wore Christmas
-wreaths on their heads, and their eyes twinkled merrily.
-
-The little boys stood in a long row before them, and the fathers,
-mothers, uncles, aunts, grandmothers, and grandfathers looked on.
-
-It was very sad! One boy had taken eggs from a bird’s nest; and
-another had frightened a cat. One boy didn’t help his mother, and
-another didn’t take good care of his little brother.
-
-At last there were only two boys left,—Peter and the Prince.
-
-Now Peter was really and truly a good boy, and always had been. And of
-course every one said the Prince was a good boy, because a King’s son
-must be good. So the Monks chose Peter and the Prince to work in the
-garden.
-
-The next morning the two boys were dressed in white robes and green
-wreaths like the Monks. Then the Prince was sent to plant Noah’s-Ark
-seed and Peter was given picture-book seed.
-
-Up and down they went, scattering the seeds. Peter sang a little song
-to himself, but the Prince grumbled because they had not given him
-gold-watch seed.
-
-By noon Peter had planted all his picture books and fastened up the
-card to mark them, but the Prince had planted only two rows of Noah’s
-Arks.
-
-“We are going to have trouble with this boy,” said the Monks to each
-other. “We shall have to punish him.”
-
-[Illustration]
-
-So that day the Prince had no Christmas dinner, and the next morning he
-finished planting the Noah’s-Ark seed.
-
-But the very next day he was cross because he had to sow harmonicas
-instead of toy pianos, and had to be punished again. And so it was
-every other day through the whole summer.
-
-So the Prince was very unhappy and wished he could run away, but Peter
-had never been so happy in his life. He worked like a bee all day, and
-loved to watch the Christmas gifts grow and blossom.
-
-“They grow so slowly,” the Prince would say. “I thought I should have
-a bushel of new toys every month and not one have I had yet.” Then he
-would cry, and Peter would try to comfort him.
-
-At last one day the Prince found a ladder in the tool house. The Monks
-were in the chapel, singing Christmas carols, and Peter was tuning the
-penny trumpets. It was a fine chance to run away. The Prince put the
-ladder against the Santa Claus gate, climbed up to the top, and slid
-down on the outside.
-
-
-III—THE PRETTIEST DOLL
-
-It was nearly Christmas now, and most of the toys had been gathered.
-The rocking-horses were still growing, and a few of the largest dolls;
-but the tops, balls, guns, blocks, and drums were all packed in baskets
-ready for Santa Claus.
-
-One morning Peter was in the wax-doll bed, dusting the dolls. All of a
-sudden he heard a sweet voice saying, “Oh, Peter!”
-
-He thought at first it was one of the dolls, but they could only say
-“Papa!” and “Mamma!”
-
-“Here I am, Peter,” said the voice again, and what do you suppose Peter
-saw? It was his own dear little lame sister.
-
-She was not any taller than the dolls around her, and she looked just
-like one of them with her pink cheeks and yellow hair. She stood there
-on her crutches, poor little thing, smiling lovingly at Peter.
-
-“Oh, you darling,” cried Peter, catching her up in his arms. “How did
-you get in here?”
-
-“I saw one of the Monks going past our house, so I ran out and followed
-him. When he came through the gate I came in, too, but he did not see
-me.”
-
-“Well,” said Peter, “I don’t see what I can do with you. I can’t let
-you out, because the gate is locked, and I don’t know what the Monks
-will say.”
-
-“Oh, I know!” cried the little girl. “I’ll stay out here in the
-garden. I can sleep every night in one of those beautiful dolls’
-cradles over there, and you can bring me something to eat.”
-
-“But the Monks come out every morning to look at the Christmas gifts,
-and they will see you,” said her brother.
-
-“No, I’ll hide! Oh, Peter, here is a place where there isn’t any doll.”
-
-“Yes, that doll didn’t come up.”
-
-“Well, I’ll tell you what I’ll do! I’ll stand here where the doll
-didn’t come up and try to look like one.”
-
-“Perhaps you can do that,” said Peter. He was such a good boy that he
-didn’t want to do anything wrong, but he couldn’t help being glad to
-see his dear little sister.
-
-He took food out to her every day, and she helped him in the garden. At
-night he tucked her into one of the dolls’ cradles with lace pillows
-and a quilt of rose-colored silk.
-
-So they went on, day after day, and they were just as happy as they
-could be. Finally the day came for gathering the very last of the
-Christmas gifts, because in six days it would be Christmas, and Santa
-Claus had to start out in a day or two.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-So the Monks went into the garden to be sure that everything was
-perfect, and one of them wore his spectacles. When he came to the bed
-where the biggest dolls were growing, there stood Peter’s sister,
-smiling and swinging on her crutches.
-
-“Why, what is that!” said the Monk. “I thought that doll didn’t come
-up. There is a doll there—and a doll on crutches, too.”
-
-Then he put out his hand to touch the doll and she jumped,—she couldn’t
-help it. The Monk jumped too, and his Christmas wreath fell off his
-head.
-
-“The doll is alive!” he exclaimed. “I will pick her and show her to my
-brothers.”
-
-[Illustration: THE GOOD FATHER TOOK PETER’S LITTLE SISTER, CRUTCHES AND
-ALL, IN HIS ARMS.]
-
-Then the good father put on his Christmas wreath, took Peter’s little
-sister, crutches and all, in his arms, and carried her into the chapel.
-
-
-IV—CHRISTMAS GIFTS
-
-Soon the Monks came into the chapel to practise singing some new
-Christmas carols. There sat the near-sighted Monk, holding the big doll
-in his arms.
-
-“Behold a miracle,” he said, holding up the doll. “Thou wilt remember
-that there was one doll planted which did not come up. Behold, in her
-place I have found this doll on crutches, which is—alive!”
-
-“It is indeed a miracle,” said the Monk who was a doctor. He took the
-child in his arms and looked at the twisted ankle. “I think I can
-cure this lameness,” he said.
-
-“Take her, then,” said the abbot, “and we will sing our Christmas
-carols joyously in her honor.”
-
-Peter, of course, heard the Monks talking about the miracle, and he
-knew what it meant. He was very unhappy to think that he was deceiving
-them. At the same time he did not dare to tell them for fear the doctor
-would not try to cure his sister.
-
-He worked hard picking the Christmas presents, and getting them ready
-for Santa Claus.
-
-On Christmas Eve he was called into the chapel. The walls were covered
-with evergreen, and Christmas candles shone everywhere. There were
-Christmas wreaths in all the windows, and the Monks were singing a
-Christmas carol.
-
-On a chair covered with green branches sat Peter’s little sister,
-dressed in white, with a wreath of holly berries on her head.
-
-When the carol was ended, the Monks formed in a line with the abbot at
-the head. Each one had his hands full of the most beautiful Christmas
-presents. The abbot held a wax doll, the biggest and prettiest that
-grew in the garden.
-
-When he held it out to the little girl, she drew back, and said in her
-sweet little voice, “Please, I’m not a miracle; I’m only Peter’s little
-sister.”
-
-“Peter?” said the abbot; “the Peter who works in our garden?”
-
-“Yes,” said the little sister.
-
-The Monks looked at each other in dismay. This was not a miracle, it
-was only Peter’s little sister!
-
-But the abbot of the Christmas Monks spoke to them. “This little girl
-did not come up in the place of the wax doll, and she is not a miracle.
-But she is sweet and beautiful, and we all love her.”
-
-“Yes,” said the Christmas Monks, and they laid their presents down
-before her.
-
-Peter was so happy he danced for joy. And when he found his little
-sister was cured of her lameness, he did not know what to do.
-
-In the afternoon he took his sister and went home to see his father
-and mother. Santa Claus filled his sleigh with gifts and drove his
-reindeer down to the cottage.
-
-Oh! it was such a happy day. There was so much to tell that they all
-talked at once. There was so much to see that their eyes ached with
-looking.
-
-But in the palace of the King it was very different. The Prince was
-cross and unhappy. His old toys were broken. He was tired of his old
-games. There was no one for him to play with, and he didn’t have one
-single Christmas gift.
-
-    —_Mary E. Wilkins (abridged and adapted)._
-
-
-
-
-PRONOUNCING KEY AND WORD LIST
-
-
-The words in this list are divided into syllables and marked according
-to Webster’s International Dictionary. The list includes all the more
-difficult words which occur in the text.
-
-    ā        gāte
-    ă        băt
-    ä        cär
-    [a:]     b[a:]ll
-    â        câre
-    ȧ        ȧsk
-    ạ        whạt
-    [a=]     anim[a=]l
-    [+a]     sen[+a]te
-
-    ē        wē
-    ĕ        gĕt
-    ẽ        hẽr
-    [+e]     [+e] vent
-    ê=ă      thêre
-    [e=]=ā   th[e=]y
-
-    ī        pīne
-    ĭ        pĭn
-    ĩ        sĩr
-
-    ō        nōte
-    ŏ        nŏt
-    [o:]     d[o:]
-    ọ        wọlf
-    ȯ        sȯn
-    ô        ôr
-    [+o]      [+o] bey
-
-    ū        ūse
-    ŭ        cŭp
-    ṳ        frṳit
-    û        fûr
-    ụ        fụll
-    [+u]    [+u] nite
-
-    ȳ        mȳ
-    [)y]     cit[)y]
-
-    [=oo]    b[=oo]t
-    [)oo]    f[)oo]t
-    [oi)]    [oi)]l
-    [oy)]    b[oy)]
-    [ou)]    [ou)]t
-    [ow)]    c[ow)]
-
-    c        can
-    ç        çent
-    g        get
-    ġ        ġem
-    s        so
-    [s+]     a[s+]
-    ṉ        iṉk
-    th       think
-    [th)]    [th)]em
-
-    The silent letters are printed in italic.
-
-
-    ăb´bȯt
-    ăc c[ou)]nt´
-    ăc quā_i_nt´ĕd
-    ăd mīr_e_d´
-    ăd vĕn´t[+u]r_e_
-    ăd vī[s+]_e_d´
-    ȧ fär´
-    ăf fōrd´
-    ȧ flō_a_t´
-    ȧ frā_i_d´
-    ȧft´ẽr wards (wẽrdz)
-    ȧ gainst´ (gĕnst)
-    Ä_h_´mō_w_
-    ȧ līv_e_´
-    [a:]l´mōst
-    ȧ lŏft´
-    ȧ lōn_e_´
-    ăl´pha bĕt (fȧ)
-    [)A]lps
-    [a:]l thō_ugh_´
-    [a:]l t[o:] gĕth´ẽr
-    ăm´[+e] th[)y]st
-    ăm´[+u] lĕts
-    ăṉ´chored (kẽrd)
-    ān´ġĕl
-    ăn ȯth´ẽr
-    ăn´s_w_ẽred
-    anx´ious (ăṉk´shŭs)
-    ăp prō_a_ch´ĭng
-    [)A]r´[+a] răt
-    Ärc´tĭc
-    ȧ rĭth´m[+e] tĭc
-    Är mē´nĭ ȧ
-    är´tĭ cl_e_[s+]
-    ȧ shām_e_d´
-    ȧ shōr_e_
-    ȧs sur_e_´ (shṳr)
-    ȧ stĩr´
-    ăs tŏn´ĭsh_e_d
-    ăt´tĭc
-    [a:]_w_l
-
-
-    băck´ward (wẽrd)
-    băl´[a=]nç_e_d
-    băl´c[+o] n[)y]
-    băn´nẽr[s+]
-    bâr_e_´f[)oo]t
-    bär´l_e_[)y]
-    băr´ren
-    b[+e] l_i_ēv_e_d´
-    bĕnt
-    b[+e] wĭ_t_ch_e_d´
-    bĩrch
-    blăck´bō_a_rd
-    blād_e_[s+]
-    blē_a_k
-    blŏs´sȯm[s+]
-    blŭn´dẽr
-    blŭs´tẽr_e_d
-    bŏb´[+o] lĭṉk
-    bôn´bôn[s+]
-    brā_i_d´ĕd
-    Brȧ zĭl´
-    brĕ_a_k´f[a=]st
-    brĕ_a_st´_k_nŏt
-    brĕ_a_th
-    br[=ee]z_e_
-    brĭ_d_ġ_e_
-    brī´ẽr
-    brĭs´_t_l_e_
-    br[=oo]d[s+]
-    bū´reau (rō)
-    bûrst
-    bŭt´tĕd
-
-
-    cä_l_f
-    căl´ĭ c[+o]
-    cȧ năl´
-    cȧ nā´r[)y]
-    cȧ n[o:]_e_´
-    cā´pẽr
-    cär´nĭ v[a=]l
-    căr´ȯl
-    cär´pĕn tĕr
-    căr´r[)y] [a:]ll
-    cärv_e_
-    cȧsk
-    căs´_t_l_e_
-    căt´ẽr pĭl lar
-    (lẽr)
-    căt´_t_le
-    çē_a_s_e_d
-    çē_i_l´ĭng
-    çĕl´lar (lẽr)
-    çẽr´t_a_ĭn l[)y]
-    cha let (shȧ l[+a]´)
-    chām´bẽr[s+]
-    chȧnç_e_
-    chăp´ĕl
-    c_h_ă[s+]m
-    chăt´tẽr_e_d
-    chē_e_r´fụl l[)y]
-    chĭm´n_e_[)y]
-    Chī nē[s+]_e_´
-    chĭp´mŭṉk
-    chĭ[s+]´ĕl
-    ch[=oo][s+]_e_
-    chŏp´stĭcks
-    clăck´ĭng
-    clăm´bẽr
-    cl[a:]_w_[s+]
-    clā_y_
-    clĕv´ẽr
-    cl[ow)]n
-    clŭm´[s+][)y]
-    clŭ_t_ch
-    cō_a_x
-    cŏb´wĕb
-    cō´c[+o]_a_ nŭt
-    c[+o] c[=oo]n´
-    c[oi)]n[s+]
-    cŏl´lĕġ_e_
-    Cŏl [+o] rä´dō
-    C[+o] lŭm´bŭs
-    cȯm´fort ȧ bl_e_ (fẽrt)
-    cŏm mȧnd´
-    cȯm´pȧ n[)y]
-    cŏn di´tion (dĭsh´ŭn)
-    cŏn sĕnt´
-    cŏn tā_i_n[s+]´
-    cŏn vẽr sā´tion (shŭn)
-    c[=oo]´ĭng
-    côrn´st[a:]_l_k
-    cŏs´tūm_e_
-    cō´[s+][)y]
-    c[ou)]n´sĕl or(ẽr)
-    cō_u_rt´ier (yẽr)
-    crā´dl_e_
-    crăn´bĕr r[)y]
-    crē_a_´t[+u]r_e_
-    crĭck´ĕt
-    crō_a_k
-    cr[)oo]k´ĕd
-    crō_w_ed
-    cr[ow)]n_e_d
-    crṳ´ĕl
-    crŭm_b_
-    crŭ_t_ch´ĕs
-    cŭd´dl_e_
-    cū rĭ ŏs´ĭ t[)y]
-    cū´rĭ _o_ŭs
-    cûrl_e_d
-    cŭr´r_e_nt
-    cûr´t_a_ĭn
-    cụ´sh_i_ȯn
-
-
-    dăf´f[+o] dĭl
-    dā_i_n´t[)y]
-    därk´_e_n ĭng
-    därt´ĕd
-    d[a:]_ugh_´tẽr
-    dē_a_´c_o_n
-    d[+e] çē_i_v´ĭng
-    D[+e] çĕm´bẽr
-    d[+e] çīd´ĕd
-    dĕc´[+o] rāt ĕd
-    dē fȳ´
-    d[+e] li´cious (lĭsh´ŭs)
-    d[+e] lī_gh_t´fụl
-    d[e+] mūr_e_´
-    dĕ[s+]´ẽrt
-    dĕs´[+o] l[+a]t_e_
-    dĕs´tĭn_e_d
-    dĭm´plĭng
-    dĭ rĕc´tion (shŭn)
-
-
-    ē_a_´gẽr
-    ē_a_´gẽr l[)y]
-    ẽ_a_r´l[)y]
-    ẽ_a_rn
-    ē_a_´[s+]ĭ l[)y]
-    [=E]´ġ[)y]pt
-    [+e] lĕv´_e_n
-    ĕlv_e_[s+]
-    ĕm br[oi)]d´ẽr
-    ĕm´er [a=]ld
-    ĕm´pẽr or (ẽr)
-    ĕm pl[oy)]´er
-    ĕn´[+e] m[)y]
-    Eng´land (ĭṉ´gl[a=]nd)
-    Eng´lish (ĭṉ´glĭsh)
-    ĕn j[oy)]´
-    [+e] nôr´m_o_ŭs
-    ē nough´ (nŭf)
-    ĕn´tẽr
-    ĕn tẽr tā_i_n´
-    ĕr´r[a=]nd
-    [)E]s´kĭ mō
-    ĕv´ẽr [)y] where (hwâr)
-    ĕv´ĭ dĕnt l[)y]
-    ex ăct´l[)y] (ĕgz)
-    ĕx çĕpt´
-    ĕx çīt_e_´m_e_nt
-    ĕx cûr´sion (shŭn)
-    ĕx pĕct´ĕd
-    ĕx plā_i_ned´
-    eye´lȧsh (ī)
-
-
-    făc´t[+o] r[)y]
-    fā_i_nt´l[)y]
-    fâ_i_r´[)y]
-    făm´ĭ l[)y]
-    făn tȧs´tĭc
-    fā´vor ĭt_e_ (vẽr)
-    fē_a_st
-    fĕr´r[)y]
-    fĕs´tĭ v[a=]l
-    fĕ_t_ch
-    fĕz
-    fī´bre (bẽr)
-    f_i_ērç_e_
-    fī´n[a=]l l[)y]
-    fīr_e_´plāç_e_
-    fīrm´ẽr
-    fl[=ee]´çy
-    flĭck´ẽr ĭng
-    flȯ_o_d
-    flŭf´f[)y]
-    flŭt´tẽr ĭng
-    fō_l_k
-    fŏl´l[)y]
-    f[=oo]l´ĭsh
-    fŏnd
-    fōr_e_
-    fŏr gŏt´t_e_n
-    Fôr´nĭ cȧ Rṳ´fȧ
-    fôr´ward (wẽrd)
-    f[ou)]n´t_a_ĭn
-    frā´gr[a=]nç_e_
-    Frȧnç_e_
-    frī_gh_t´_e_n
-    frī_gh_t´fụl
-    frŏst´ĭng
-    frō´z_e_n
-    fū´rĭ _o_ŭs l[)y]
-    fûrl_e_d
-    fûr´n[+a]ç_e_
-    fûr´nĭsh
-    fûr´nĭ t[+u]r_e_
-    fûr´r[)y]
-
-
-    gāl_e_[s+]
-    găl´lẽr [)y]
-    Găr´[+a] bĕt
-    gär´l[a=]nd
-    gär´nẽr_e_d
-    gä_u_nt
-    gā_y_´l[)y]
-    ġĕn´ẽr [a=]l
-    ġĕn´tl_e_ m[a=]n
-    ġ[+e] ŏg´rȧ phy (f[)y])
-    Ġẽr´m[a=]n [)y]
-    g_h_ōsts
-    ġī´[a=]nt
-    gĭfts
-    gĭld´ĕd
-    ġĭl´l[)y] fl[ow)]´ẽr
-    glăd´l[)y]
-    glē_a_m´ĭng
-    gl[=ee]
-    glĭm´mẽr
-    glĭs´_te_n ĭng
-    gl[=oo]m
-    gŏb´bl_e_
-    gôr´ġ_eo_ŭs
-    g[ow)]n[s+]
-    Grĕt´chĕn
-
-
-    Hā´gŏp
-    hăm´mŏck
-    hănd´sȯm_e_
-    Hăn[s+]
-    hăr´bor (bẽr)
-    härd´_e_n_e_d
-    här mŏn´ĭ cȧ
-    här´nĕss
-    hās´tĭ l[)y]
-    hā´trĕd
-    h[a:]_w_k
-    hā_y_´cŏck
-    h_e_ärth
-    hĕ_a_v´[)y]
-    hẽrd
-    hĭd´[+e] _o_ŭs
-    Hŏl´l[a=]nd
-    hŏl´l[)y]
-    hōm_e_´-crȧft
-    hōst
-    h[ou)]s_e_´wīf_e_
-    h[ow)]l
-    hūġ_e_
-    hŭm´bl_e_
-    hū´mor (mẽr)
-    humph (hŭmf)
-    hŭn´drĕd
-    hŭṉ´gr[)y]
-    hŭn´tẽr
-
-
-    ĭm´[+a]ġ_e_
-    ĭm ăġ´ĭn_e_
-    ĭm pā´tient (sh_e_nt)
-    ĭm pôr´t[a=]nt
-    ĭn quīr_e_´
-    ĭn sān_e_´
-    ĭn´st[a=]nt l[)y]
-    ĭn stĕ_a_d´
-    ĭn tĕnd´ĕd
-    ĭn´tẽr ĕst ĭng
-    ĭn´tĭ m[+a]t_e_
-    [)I]´t[a=]l [)y]
-    [)I] tăl´ian (y[a=]n)
-
-
-    jăck´ĕt
-    jăg´gĕd
-    J[+a] păn´
-    jĭn rĭk´ĭ shȧ
-    jŏg´gl_e_d
-    j[ou)]nç_e_
-    j_o_ûr´n_e_[)y]
-    j[oy)]
-
-
-    k[=ee]l[s+]
-    kẽr´nĕl
-    _k_n[=ee]l
-    _k_nŏck
-    Kō´r[a=]n
-
-
-    lăṉ´guag_e_ (gw[+a]j)
-    lăsh_e_d
-    lăt´tĭç_e_
-    l[a:]_w_n
-    lā´z[)y]
-    lĕ_a_th´ẽr
-    lĕg´gĭng[s+]
-    l_e_ī´t[+e]
-    lĭd
-    liq´uid (lĭk´wĭd)
-    lĭṉ´gẽr ĭng
-    lĭmp
-    lĭs´_te_n
-    lōn_e_´l[)y]
-    l[ow)]´ẽr_e_d
-    lŭl´lȧ bȳ
-    lŭnch´_e_ȯn
-
-
-    măġ´ĭc
-    măg´nĭ fȳ ĭng
-    măn´[+a]ġ_e_
-    măn [+u] făc´t[+u]r_e_
-    mär´bl_e_
-    Mâr ĭ k[e=]´nȧ
-    măsk
-    mȧ tē´rĭ [a=]l
-    măt´trĕss
-    mĕ_a_nt
-    meas´[+u]r_e_ (mĕzh)
-    mĭd´dā_y_
-    mĭṉ´gl_e_
-    mĭn´ute (ĭt)
-    mĭr´ȧ cl_e_
-    mĭr´ĭg
-    mĭ[s+]´_t_le tō_e_
-    mō_a_n
-    mȯṉ´k_e_[)y]
-    mȯṉk
-    m[ou)]n´t_a_ĭn _o_ŭs
-    m[ou)]th´fụl
-    mō_w_´ẽr
-    mŭl tĭ plĭ cā´tion (shŭn)
-    mŭnch´ĭng
-    mū [s+]ĭ´cian (sh[a=]n)
-    mŭs´_c_l_e_
-
-
-    Nȧ´kȧ
-    Năn n[)oo]k´
-    năr´rō_w_
-    n[a:]_ugh_´t[)y]
-    nē_a_r´l[)y]
-    n[e=]_igh_´bor h[)oo]d (bẽr)
-    nī_gh_t´ĭn gāl_e_
-    nĭm´bl[)y]
-    nĭp´pẽr[s+]
-    Nĭp´p[+o]n
-    Nō´ȧ_h_
-    n[oi)][s+]_e_´lĕss l[)y]
-    nŏn´sĕns_e_
-    nō´tĭç_e_
-    nûr´sẽr [)y]
-
-
-    [+o] bē´dĭ _e_nt
-    [+o] b[e=]_y_´
-    ō´dor (dẽr)
-    ŏf´_te_n
-    [+o] pŏs´sŭm
-    ō´rĭ ōl_e_
-    [ou)]t lănd´ĭsh
-    ō vẽr hĕ_a_d´
-    ō vẽr rŭn´
-
-
-    pāç_e_
-    Pȧ çĭf´ĭc
-    păck´[+a]ġ_e_
-    păd´_d_l_e_
-    păl´[+a]ç_e_
-    pä_l_m
-    pān_e_
-    pâr´_e_nt
-    păr´rȯt
-    pā´tient (sh_e_nt)
-    păt´tẽr ĭng
-    păt´tẽrn
-    pē_a_k
-    pẽ_a_rl
-    pẽ_a_[s+]´[a=]nt
-    p[+e] cūl´iar (yẽr)
-    pĕlt
-    pĕn´çĭl
-    pẽr hăps´
-    pẽr sĭm´mȯn
-    pẽr´sȯn
-    Pĭl´grĭm[s+]
-    pĭnch_e_d
-    plăṉk
-    plȧs´tẽr_e_d
-    plĕa[s+]´[a=]nt
-    plŏd´dĕd
-    plūm_e_d
-    plŭnġ_e_d
-    pō´lar (lẽr)
-    p[+o] lic_e_´m[a=]n (lēs)
-    p[+o] līt_e_´
-    pō´n[)y]
-    p[ou)]nç´ĭng
-    prăc´tĭç_e_
-    prā_i_[s+]_e_
-    prăt´_t_le
-    pre´cious (prĕsh´ŭs)
-    pr[+e] fẽr´
-    prĕ[s+]´_e_nt l[)y]
-    pr[+e] tĕnd´ĭng
-    prīd_e_
-    pr_i_ēst
-    prĭnç_e_
-    prĭn´çĕss
-    prŏb´ȧ bl[)y]
-    prŏm´ĭs_e_d
-    pr[+o] tĕcts´
-    pr[ou)]d
-    pr[ow)]´lĭng
-    pŭn´ĭsh_e_d
-    pûr´pl_e_
-
-
-    qu[a:]r´rĕl
-    qu[=ee]r´ĕst
-    quĭlt´ĕd
-
-
-    rā_i_´[s+]_i_n
-    răp´ĭd
-    r[a:]_w_
-    rē´[a=]l l[)y]
-    rē_a_´[s+]_o_n
-    rĕck´lĕss
-    r[=ee]f_e_d
-    r[e=]_i_n´d[=ee]r
-    r[+e] mĕm´bẽr
-    r[+e] pē_a_t´
-    rĕst´lĕss
-    rō_a_r_e_d
-    rŏck´ẽr[s+]
-    rough´ĕst (rŭf)
-    r[oy)]´[a=]l
-    rṳ´bĭ_e_[s+]
-    rŭd´d[)y]
-    rṳl´ẽr
-    rŭs´sĕt
-    rŭs´_t_l_e_
-
-
-    săm´păn[s+]
-    săn´d[a=]l
-    sap´phire (săf´īr)
-    scăm´pẽr_e_d
-    scärf
-    scär´lĕt
-    s_c_ĕp´tẽr_e_d
-    scôrn
-    sc[ou)]t
-    scrăm´bl_e_d
-    scr[=ee]n
-    scrŭb
-    scŭr´rĭ_e_d
-    sē_a_l´skĭn
-    sē_a_m[s+]
-    s[+e] cūr_e_´l[)y]
-    sē_i_z_e_
-    sĕlf´ĭsh
-    sē´p[a=]l
-    sẽrv_e_d
-    sẽr´vĭç_e_
-    sĕv´ẽr [a=]l
-    s[+e] vēr_e_´
-    shȧfts
-    shăn´t[)y]
-    shō_a_l[s+]
-    sh[o:]_e_´māk ẽr
-    shōn_e_
-    sīd_e_´w[a:]_l_k
-    sī_gh_
-    sī´l_e_nt l[)y]
-    sĭlk´_e_n
-    sĭl´vẽr [)y]
-    skĭm´mĭng
-    slĕ_d_ġ_e_
-    sl[e=]_igh_
-    slīç_e_
-    snärl_e_d
-    snĭff
-    sn[ou)]t
-    snŭg
-    sōl´dier (jẽr)
-    sȯm´ẽr s[a:]_u_lt
-    sȯm_e_´what (hwŏt)
-    sŏr´r[+o]_w_ fụl
-    sȯv´er _e_ĭ_g_n
-    Spā_i_n
-    spär´kl_e_d
-    spär[s+]
-    spē_a_r
-    spĕc´tȧ cl_e_[s+]
-    spī_e_d
-    splȧsh
-    splĕn´dor (dẽr)
-    spŏt´lĕss l[)y]
-    spr[a:]_w_l´ĭng
-    sprĭg
-    sprīt_e_s
-    spr[ou)]t´ĭng
-    sprṳç_e_
-    squ[a:]t´tĕd
-    squē_a_k
-    squīr_e_
-    squĩrm_e_d
-    stā_i_n
-    stâ_i_r´cās_e_
-    stâ_i_r´wā_y_
-    st[a:]_l_k
-    stāt_e_´l[)y]
-    stĕ_a_d´ĭ l[)y]
-    stĕ_a_lth
-    stẽrn´l[)y]
-    St. Nich´[+o] l[a=]s (sānt nĭk)
-    st[ou)]t
-    străg´glĭng
-    strā_igh_t
-    strănd
-    strānġ_e_
-    strānġ_e_´l[)y]
-    strĕngth
-    strīp_e_s
-    strĭp´p_e_d
-    strŭg´glĭng
-    stŭd´dĕd
-    sŭd´dĕn ly
-    sŭg ġĕst´ĕd
-    sŭn´bē_a_m
-    sŭp plī_e_d´
-    sŭp pō[s+]_e_´
-    sŭr r[ou)]nd´ĕd
-    sw[a:]n
-    sw[a:]rm
-    swā_ye_d
-    swĭft´l[)y]
-    Swĭss
-    Switz´ẽr l[a=]nd (swĭts)
-    s[)y]r´ŭp
-
-
-    tȧsk
-    tăs´s_e_l
-    t[a:]_ugh_t
-    tĕn´dẽr l[)y]
-    thă_t_ch_e_d
-    th[a:]_w_
-    Thĕk´lȧ
-    there´fōr_e_ ([th)]âr)
-    th_i_ēf
-    thĭck´ĕt
-    thĭm´bl_e_ fụl
-    th[ou)]´s[a=]nd
-    thrĕ_a_d
-    thrĭf´t[)y]
-    thrōn_e_
-    thrŭsh´ĕ[s+]
-    tĭf´fĭn
-    tĭlt´ĕd
-    tĭṉ´kl_e_
-    tī´n[)y]
-    tĭp´pĕt
-    tŏd´dl_e_
-    tŏp´mȧst
-    tôr´t_o_ĭs_e_
-    tō´ward (ẽrd)
-    t[ow)]´ẽr
-    trĕ_a_d´ĭng
-    trĕm´bl_e_d
-    trou´bled (trŭb´l_e_d)
-    tr[ou)]´[s+]ẽr[s+]
-    trŭm´pĕt
-    trṳth
-    tŭg´gĭng
-    Tûr´k_e_[)y]
-    Tûr´kĭsh
-    tū´tor (tẽr)
-    tw[=ee]´zẽr[s+]
-    twĭṉ´klĭng
-    twĭ_t_ch_e_d
-
-
-    ŭg´l[)y]
-    ŭn çĭv´ĭl
-    ŭn cȯv´ẽr
-    ŭn dẽr stănd´
-    ŭn fôr´t[+u] n[+a]t_e_
-    ŭn hăp´p[)y]
-    ŭn här´nĕss_e_d
-    ūn´ĭ fôrm
-    ŭn kīnd´
-    [=U] rȧ shi´mȧ (shē)
-    ūs_e_´fụl
-    ūs_e_´lĕss
-
-
-    vā cā´tion
-    vā_i_n
-    vȧst
-    vĕġ´[+e] tȧ bl_e_
-    vĕl´vĕt
-    vĭl´l[+a]ġ_e_
-    vĭn_e_´yard (yẽrd)
-    vī´ō lĕt
-    vŏl cā´nō
-
-
-    wā_i_t
-    w[a:]l´nŭt
-    w[a:]l´rŭs
-    w[a:]nd
-    w[a:]n´dẽr ẽr
-    wē_a_´r[)y]
-    wē_a_v_e_
-    wĕl´cȯm_e_
-    wĕpt
-    wharf (hw[a:]rf)
-    what ĕv´ẽr (hwŏt)
-    wheth´ẽr (hwĕth)
-    whirl´ĭng (hwĩrl)
-    whis´pẽr_e_d (hwĭs)
-    wĭg´w[a:]m
-    wī[s+]_e_´l[)y]
-    wọlv_e_[s+]
-    wȯn´dẽr fụl
-    wȯn´dẽr l[a=]nd
-    wȯn´dr_o_ŭs
-    w[)oo]d´pĕck ẽr
-    worse (wûrs)
-    wound (w[=oo]nd)
-    wō´v_e_n
-    _w_rē_a_th[s+]
-    _w_rĭg´gl_e_d
-    _w_rĭṉ´kl_e_d
-
-
-    yĕs´tẽr dā_y_
-    yūl_e_
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Transcriber’s Notes:
-
-Page 210, [on)] changed to [ou)]
-
-Page 219, the final “e” was made italic to match form of silent letters
-(ȧs sur_e_´)
-
-Page 219, italics removed from e as it is not silent (băr´ren)
-
-Page 221, the final “e” was made italic to match form of silent letters
-(lăṉ´guag_e_)
-
-Page 222, the final “e” was made italic to match form of silent letters
-(p[+o] lic_e_´m[a=]n)
-
-
-
-
-
-End of Project Gutenberg's The Wide Awake Third Reader, by Clara Murray
-
-*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WIDE AWAKE THIRD READER ***
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-
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wide Awake Third Reader, by Clara Murray
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: The Wide Awake Third Reader
-
-Author: Clara Murray
-
-Release Date: May 11, 2016 [EBook #52044]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WIDE AWAKE THIRD READER ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Emmy, MWS and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
-produced from images generously made available by The
-Internet Archive)
-
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-
-</pre>
-
-<h1 class="faux">THE WIDE AWAKE THIRD READER</h1>
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 632px;">
-<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="632" height="800" alt="cover" />
-</div>
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />1<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="maintitle">THE WIDE AWAKE THIRD READER</div>
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />2<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<div class="bbox">
-<div class="adtitle2">The Wide Awake Series</div>
-
-
-
-<ul class="booklist"><li>THE WIDE AWAKE PRIMER, 30 cents</li>
-<li>THE WIDE AWAKE FIRST READER, 30 cents</li>
-<li>THE WIDE AWAKE SECOND READER, 35 cents</li>
-<li>THE WIDE AWAKE THIRD READER, 40 cents</li></ul>
-
-</div>
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 515px;">
-<img src="images/i-008.jpg" width="515" height="737" alt="four children sitting on floor" />
-<div class="caption">THE CHILDREN SCRUB THEIR WOODEN SHOES.<br />
-
-<small>(From “Dutch Children.”)</small></div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />3<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<div class="maintitle">THE WIDE AWAKE<br />
-THIRD READER</div>
-
-
-<div class="center"><br /><br /><br />
-BY<br />
-<span class="author">CLARA MURRAY</span><br />
-<span class="authorof">AUTHOR OF “THE WIDE AWAKE PRIMER,” “THE WIDE AWAKE FIRST<br />
-READER,” “THE WIDE AWAKE SECOND READER,” ETC.</span><br /><br /><br /><br />
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 424px;">
-<img src="images/title.jpg" width="424" height="291" alt="two Eskimo children" />
-</div>
-
-<div class="center"><br /><br /><br />
-BOSTON<br />
-LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY<br />
-1912<br />
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />4<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<div class="copyright">
-<span class="smcap">Copyright, 1908,<br />
-By LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.</span><br />
-<br />
-<i>All rights reserved.</i><br />
-<br />
-<br />
-Printers<br />
-<span class="smcap">S. J. Parkhill &amp; Co., Boston</span>, U.S.A.<br />
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />5<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>PREFACE</h2>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 85px;">
-<img src="images/doodad.jpg" width="85" height="9" alt="decoration" />
-</div>
-<p><span class="smcap">In</span> this, the third reader of the series, great care has been taken,
-not only in selecting material suited to the needs and ability
-of the pupil, but also to arrange the selections so that he may
-develop the habit of acquiring interesting facts as he reads.</p>
-
-<p>In the first two grades the children need to learn the mechanics
-of reading,—the recognition of words, the ability to find out <i>new</i>
-words for themselves by means of phonics, correct pronunciation,
-enunciation, inflection, expression, etc., but in this grade especial
-stress may be laid on <i>learning by reading</i>,—getting the fact and
-remembering it. This prepares the pupil for the actual work of
-studying, when he is given a book and asked for the first time to
-“learn the lessons.” The questions at the end of many of the
-lessons should be read and answered by the pupil after he has read
-the selection. His answers should be thoughtfully prepared and
-correctly stated.</p>
-
-<p>Especial attention is called to the fact that the selections in this
-book are almost exclusively copyrighted material, and have
-never been and cannot be used in other series of readers. This
-avoids the tiresome repetition of stories, read first in one book
-and then again and again in others.</p>
-
-<p>Many of the selections are valuable from a literary standpoint,
-and the pupils will read with real enjoyment stories by Laura
-Richards, Mary E. Wilkins, Anna von Rydingsvärd, Helen Hunt
-Jackson, and other authors, noted for their skill in writing stories
-for children.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />6<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>The selections which deal especially with child life and interests
-in other countries will broaden the child’s view of the world,
-prepare him for the study of geography, and help him to be a
-wide awake child, just the child whom this Wide Awake Series
-is intended to develop.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The selections, “Little Grandmother’s Shoes,” “Children of
-a Sunny Land,” “The Little Plant,” “The Little Goatherds,”
-“Great-Great-Grandma’s Christmas in England,” “The Whipping
-Boy,” “The Christmas Spruce Tree,” “The Eve of St.
-Nicholas,” “The Little Turkeys,” “The Children of Armenia,”
-“Ahmow,—the Wolf,” “The Emperor and the Peasant,” and
-“The Christmas Monks,” are used by arrangement with the
-Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Company.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />7<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-
-<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
-
-
-
-
-<div class="center">
-<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="contents">
-<tr>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="left"><small>PAGE</small></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">All the Children of all the World</span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Song Sparrow’s Work</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Etta Austin Blaisdell</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Dutch Children</span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_20">20</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Little Dutch Girl</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Edith Colby Banfield</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Great Feast</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Laura E. Richards</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_26">26</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Little Grandmother’s Shoes</span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Little-Folk Land</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Edith Colby Banfield</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Children of a Sunny Land</span></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">A Strange Milk Wagon</span></span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">A Ride in a Chair</span></span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">The Carnival</span></span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_39">39</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Little Plant</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Anna von Rydingsvärd</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Two Ways</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Laura E. Richards</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Song in the Woods</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Louise C. Moulton</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">How the Corn Grew</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Julia Dalrymple</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">“Do You Know?”</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Edith Colby Banfield</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Little Goatherds</span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Swiss Children</span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Lullaby-Land</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Edith Colby Banfield</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Stone Blocks</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Laura E. Richards</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Great-Great-Grandma’s Christmas in England</span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Whipping Boy</span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Christmas Spruce Tree</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Anna von Rydingsvärd</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />8<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span><span class="smcap">A Rose</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Emily Dickinson</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Eve of St. Nicholas</span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Robin Redbreast</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>William Allingham</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left">“<span class="smcap">The Little Turkeys</span>”</td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">In School</span></span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">At Home</span></span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left">“<span class="smcap">Gillyflower Gentleman</span>”</td>
-<td align="left"><i>Laura E. Richards</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_91">91</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Ruler</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Laura E. Richards</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_93">93</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Moon</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Edith Colby Banfield</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Children of Armenia</span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Armenian Homes</span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Nest</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Helen Hunt Jackson</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Ahmow—The Wolf</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Frederick Schwatka</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Eskimo Children</span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Dream-Ship</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Blanche M. Channing</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Trip to Japan</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Charlotte Chaffee Gibson</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Urashima</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Charlotte Chaffee Gibson</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Day</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Emily Dickinson</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Ants’ Monday Dinner</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Helen Hunt Jackson</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">My Ant’s Cow</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Helen Hunt Jackson</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Colorado Snow-Birds</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Helen Hunt Jackson</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Peterkins’ Excursion after Maple Syrup</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Lucretia P. Hale</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Grass</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Emily Dickinson</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_164">164</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Sunset</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Emily Dickinson</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_165">165</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Baby Squirrels</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Julia A. Schwartz</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Baby that Sleeps in a Pocket</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Julia A. Schwartz</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_180">180</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Emperor and the Peasant</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Anna von Rydingsvärd</i></td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_194">194</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Christmas Monks</span></td>
-<td align="left"><i>Mary E. Wilkins</i></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">The Garden</span></span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">Peter and the Prince</span></span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_206">206</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">The Prettiest Doll</span></span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_210">210</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">Christmas Gifts</span></span></td>
-<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
-<td align="right"><a href="#Page_214">214</a></td>
-</tr>
-
-</table></div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />9<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE WIDE AWAKE THIRD
-READER</h2>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-<h2>ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE WORLD</h2>
-
-
-<p>I wish you would try to think this morning about
-all the children in all the world.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 496px;">
-<img src="images/i-011.jpg" width="496" height="239" alt="Japanese girl playing with a doll" />
-</div>
-
-<p>There are thousands and thousands of them, and
-they are doing all sorts of things this very minute.</p>
-
-<p>Some of them are wide awake and some are in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />10<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-bed and fast asleep. Some are in school and some
-are playing out of doors.</p>
-
-<p>Some live in such hot countries that they lie in
-the shade of big palm trees to keep cool. Others are
-in such a cold country that they see nothing but
-ice and snow, and they are dressed in furs from head
-to foot.</p>
-
-<p>When you read stories about the children in other
-lands, do they seem to you like fairy stories?</p>
-
-<p>I want you to know that all these children are real
-boys and girls, and they work and play and have
-happy times together, just as you do.</p>
-
-<p>Perhaps when you read about the children in the
-far North you will wish that you were an Eskimo boy,
-living in a snow hut, wearing thick furs, and riding
-over the fields of snow in a sled drawn by dogs.</p>
-
-<p>Or perhaps you would rather be a little Indian
-and live in a wigwam in the forest, learning to paddle
-a canoe, and to fish and hunt.</p>
-
-<p>While you are here in this beautiful schoolroom,
-learning to read and write and draw and sing, there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />11<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-are thousands of other children who never saw a schoolhouse,
-and who will grow up to be men and women
-without even learning to read.</p>
-
-<p>You can read stories about these people, and
-as you grow older perhaps you will know more
-about them, but they will probably never hear of
-you.</p>
-
-<p>Of course, there are many thousands of children
-everywhere who are in school this morning.</p>
-
-<p>Think of all the boys and girls in every town in the
-whole United States, who see the flag with its stars
-and stripes floating over their schoolhouses, and who
-learn to sing “America.”</p>
-
-<p>In France the children wave a flag of red, white and
-blue, and learn a song about their country, but their
-flag is not like yours, and you could not understand
-one word of their French song.</p>
-
-<p>The little English children sing a song about their
-country and their king which you could understand,
-and they read in books like yours. But then, there
-are the children who live in Germany, and learn to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />12<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-read in German, and the children who live in Italy
-and read Italian books, and many, many others.</p>
-
-<p>Oh, there are so many children in the world!</p>
-
-<p>In Japan and China the children use the queerest
-books that you ever saw. The words go up and
-down the page, and the stories begin at the end of
-the book, and at the bottom of the page. The words
-look like this:—</p>
-
-<div class="figleft" style="width: 89px;">
-<img src="images/i-014.jpg" width="89" height="218" alt="Japanese writing" />
-</div>
-
-<p>Did you ever see such funny words?</p>
-
-<p>The boys and girls in these other
-countries do not go to school all of the
-time. They have holidays and vacations,
-and they play out of doors in the long
-summer days and the cold winter
-weather, just as you do.</p>
-
-<p>You would enjoy playing with these children, even
-if you could not talk with them. I know you would
-like to fly big kites with the boys in Japan, or skate
-down the canals with the little Dutch boys.</p>
-
-<p>And as for dolls! I am sure there are as many dolls
-in the world as there are little girls, and perhaps more,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />13<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-because some little girls have so many dolls that
-they cannot play with all of them.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 497px;">
-<img src="images/i-015.jpg" width="497" height="369" alt="Dutch boys skating" />
-</div>
-
-<p>You would like to play with the queer Chinese dolls
-in their beautiful silken robes, or with the Eskimo
-dolls that are carved out of bone and are dressed in
-furs and sealskin.</p>
-
-<p>The Indian girl has wooden dolls dressed in bright
-blankets, with beads and feathers. The little French
-girl has a big wax doll, with blue eyes that shut<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />14<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-when she lies down, and pop open when she sits up
-again. She wears beautiful gowns and big hats with
-feathers and ribbons.</p>
-
-<p>Wouldn’t it be fun to have a dolls’ party to-day, if
-the dolls from all over the world could come?</p>
-
-<p>These dolls might be dressed in furs, or silks, or
-blankets; they might be made of wax, or bone, or
-wood. But if they could talk they would tell you
-that the little girl who owns them loves them, and
-that, whether she lives in a snow hut or a tent in the
-desert, she has a loving father and mother and a
-happy childhood.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Are there many children in all the world?</p>
-
-<p>What are some of them doing this very minute?</p>
-
-<p>If you should go to school in Germany, what would
-you have to do first?</p>
-
-<p>What does a little German child have to do when
-he first goes to school in our country?</p>
-
-<p>Tell all the things you can that all the children in the
-world do almost every day.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />15<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE SONG SPARROW’S WORK</h2>
-
-
-<p>In the forest where the birds live there is always
-work to do.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 495px;">
-<img src="images/i-017.jpg" width="495" height="368" alt="owl in tree with full moon behind " />
-</div>
-
-<p>The woodpecker is a carpenter. He climbs up and
-down the trees and chops a hole in the trunk of one
-of them to make his home.</p>
-
-<p>The crow flies down to the ground, and walks about
-in the fields.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />16<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>He is the birds’ farmer. Toward evening, when
-he cries, “Caw! Caw!” he means that the earth
-needs rain.</p>
-
-<p>The owl is the night policeman. He watches the
-rats and mice, and keeps them out of the farmer’s
-fields.</p>
-
-<p>The kingbirds are the soldiers. They fight the
-birds that come over from the next forest, and drive
-them away.</p>
-
-<p>The hawks have sharp eyes, and can see a long way.
-They are the scouts, and tell the soldiers when the
-enemy is coming.</p>
-
-<p>The whip-poor-wills can see in the night, so they are
-the birds’ night watchmen.</p>
-
-<p>The orioles are weavers. They weave their nests,
-and hang them in the tallest trees.</p>
-
-<p>One of the birds is a thief, and steals eggs from the
-nests of the other birds, but I shall not tell you <i>his</i>
-name.</p>
-
-<p>So all of the birds have work to do in the
-forest.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />17<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>What do the song birds do? Ah! they have their
-work, too. They sing cheerfully while the other birds
-work, and make the hours short and the day
-happy.</p>
-
-<p>They sing of the goodness of God, and of the beauty
-in the forest and sky.</p>
-
-<p>If there were no song birds, the workers
-might forget all of these lovely things. Then their
-hearts would be as hard as the tree the woodpecker
-is chopping.</p>
-
-<p>One spring morning the song birds were singing so
-beautifully that every one listened.</p>
-
-<p>The woodpeckers cried, “Plitt! plitt!” The
-crows screamed, “Rah! rah!” and the blackbirds
-laughed with glee. This meant that they liked the
-songs.</p>
-
-<p>In the nests were many baby birds. They liked to
-hear the songs, too, so they stretched up their little
-heads.</p>
-
-<p>But <i>they</i> could not understand the songs about the
-sky and the forest. You see, they had not seen these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />18<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-things yet, and they did not know what the songs
-meant.</p>
-
-<p>The poor babies drooped their heads and were
-very sad.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 494px;">
-<img src="images/i-020.jpg" width="494" height="362" alt="bird on branch" />
-</div>
-
-<p>There was one bird who thought of the babies
-in the nests, for he had a kind heart, and loved little
-things.</p>
-
-<p>“I will fly down and sing for them,” he thought;
-“perhaps it will make them happy.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />19<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>So he flew into a little bush, quite near the ground,
-and sang the sweetest song he knew. Over and over
-again he sang it, and the babies in the nests listened
-all the time.</p>
-
-<p>“He is singing about the warm sunshine,” said
-the baby robins.</p>
-
-<p>“He is singing about rocking in this beautiful
-cradle,” said the baby orioles.</p>
-
-<p>Then, as the song grew sweeter and sweeter, “Listen,
-listen!” they cried. “Now he is singing about our
-mother. That is the best song of all.”</p>
-
-<p>So the song sparrow sang in the little bush, telling
-the babies about the sun and the breezes and their
-mothers’ love.</p>
-
-<p>He waked them in the morning; he sang them to
-sleep at night.</p>
-
-<p>Have you never heard him singing, “Sweet, sweet,
-sweet, loving little mother, sweet”?</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Etta Austin Blaisdell.</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />20<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>DUTCH CHILDREN</h2>
-
-
-<p>How would you like to go to Holland with me to
-visit the little Dutch children?</p>
-
-<p>First we must go to New York City in a railroad
-train and then get on board of one of the big ships
-that cross the ocean.</p>
-
-<p>We shall have to travel over the water five or
-six days and nights in this big ship, and then ride a
-long way, after we come to land.</p>
-
-<p>When the Pilgrims came to this country, nearly
-three hundred years ago, they crossed the same ocean,
-but it took them many weeks. They were in a small
-sailing vessel, and had to come very slowly.</p>
-
-<p>On board of this big ship you will find a great many
-things to do and see. There are several hundred
-people on the vessel, and it is interesting to watch
-them. There are books to read, and games to play,
-and the days will go very swiftly.</p>
-
-<p>Most of the time you will not be able to see land
-in any direction. All you can see is the sun and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />21<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-the sky and the ocean with big waves rolling and
-tossing about.</p>
-
-<p>I wonder what you will notice the very first thing
-when you reach Holland.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 495px;">
-<img src="images/i-023.jpg" width="495" height="365" alt="two girls knitting" />
-</div>
-
-<p>Perhaps you will see a group of children running
-down the street with their wooden shoes clacking on
-the stone walks.</p>
-
-<p>Or perhaps you will see some girls standing at a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />22<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-corner knitting stockings, or a boy driving a dog
-harnessed to a little cart.</p>
-
-<p>If you take a train and ride through the country
-you will see many strange things.</p>
-
-<p>There are big windmills everywhere, with long
-arms, and sails to catch the wind. These mills turn
-wheels to pump water and grind corn and saw wood.
-In Holland there are no rivers with falls and swift
-currents to turn the mill wheels.</p>
-
-<p>In some towns there are canals instead of streets,
-with bridges for the people to cross from one side to
-the other.</p>
-
-<p>In summer there are many boats going up and
-down the canals, but in winter the water in the
-canals freezes, and then everybody skates. Think
-what fun it must be to skate to church, to skate to
-market, to skate to school, and then skate home
-again!</p>
-
-<p>A great many of the poor children in Holland wear
-wooden shoes when they are out of doors. When
-they go into the house they take off their shoes and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />23<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-leave them at the door. You can tell, by counting
-the pairs of shoes at the door, how many children
-there are in the house.</p>
-
-<p>Every week the children scrub their wooden shoes
-with soap and water until they are almost as white
-as snow; then they dry them in the sun, or before the
-fire in the big open fireplace.</p>
-
-<p>These wooden shoes make fine boats, and sometimes
-the boys take them off and sail them in the
-canals. The little girls use them for doll carriages,
-or play they are beds, and tuck their dolls into them
-for a nap.</p>
-
-<p>If you were walking down a village street in Holland
-you might see a red silk ball, or a pink silk one,
-hanging at the front door of one of the houses. This
-is to show that there is a little new baby in the house.
-If the ball is red, the baby is a boy; if it is pink, the
-baby is a girl.</p>
-
-<p>There are very good schools in Holland, and all
-the children go to school and learn to read and write
-and sing, just as you do. But their reading and singing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />24<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-would sound very strange to you, and you could not
-read one word of their writing.</p>
-
-<p>The Dutch children have vacations and holidays,
-of course. The holiday they like best of all is Santa
-Claus Day. It comes on the sixth day of December,
-and is very much like our Christmas Day.</p>
-
-<p>The boys and girls put their wooden shoes in front
-of the fireplace, on the hearth, just as you hang your
-stocking near the chimney, and Santa Claus rides
-over the roofs of the houses on a big horse and
-drops presents down the chimney into the little
-shoes.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>How would you go from your home to New York
-City? How long would it take?</p>
-
-<p>What would you like to see in Holland?</p>
-
-<p>What would you see that you never saw before?</p>
-
-<p>Why do the people in Holland build windmills?</p>
-
-<p>What kind of shoes do many of the children wear?</p>
-
-<p>What season would you like best if you were in
-Holland? Why?</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />25<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>A LITTLE DUTCH GIRL</h2>
-
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Were you a little Dutch girl</div>
-<div class="verse">You’d be, perhaps, as sweet</div>
-<div class="verse">As now you are, my darling,</div>
-<div class="verse">And very much more neat!</div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">You’d be a little housewife,</div>
-<div class="verse">And even at your play</div>
-<div class="verse">You’d take your knitting needles,</div>
-<div class="verse">And knit and knit away!</div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">You’d never be forgetting</div>
-<div class="verse">To feed your pussy-cat,</div>
-<div class="verse">And she, like Holland pussies,</div>
-<div class="verse">Would grow so sleek and fat.</div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">But were you, dear, a Gretchen,</div>
-<div class="verse">You’d live across the sea,</div>
-<div class="verse">And so would be, my dearie,</div>
-<div class="verse">No kind of use to me.</div>
-<div class="sig">—<i>Edith Colby Banfield.</i></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />26<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE GREAT FEAST</h2>
-
-
-<p>Once the Play Angel came into a nursery where
-four little children sat on the floor with sad and troubled
-faces.</p>
-
-<p>“What is the matter, children?” asked the Play
-Angel.</p>
-
-<p>“We wanted to have a great feast,” said the child
-whose nursery it was.</p>
-
-<p>“Yes, that would be delightful,” said the Play
-Angel.</p>
-
-<p>“But there is only one cooky!” said the child
-whose nursery it was.</p>
-
-<p>“And it is a very small cooky!” said his little
-cousin.</p>
-
-<p>“Not big enough for me!” said the child whose
-nursery it was.</p>
-
-<p>The other two children said nothing, but they
-looked at the cooky with big round eyes, and their
-mouths went up in the middle and down at the
-sides.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />27<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>“Well,” said the Play Angel, “let us have the
-feast just the same. I think we can manage it.”</p>
-
-<p>She broke the cooky into four pieces, and gave one
-piece to the littlest child.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 493px;">
-<img src="images/i-029.jpg" width="493" height="362" alt="Angel on floor with children" />
-</div>
-
-<p>“See,” she said. “This is a roast chicken. It is
-just as brown and crisp as it can be. There is cranberry
-sauce on one side, and on the other a little
-mountain of mashed potato. It must be a volcano,
-it smokes so. Do you see?”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />28<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>“Yes,” said the littlest child, and his mouth went
-down in the middle and up at the corners.</p>
-
-<p>The Play Angel gave a piece to the next
-child.</p>
-
-<p>“Here,” she said, “is a little pie. Outside, as you
-see, it is brown and crusty, and inside it is all chicken,
-and ham, and jelly, and hard-boiled eggs. Did you
-ever see such a pie?”</p>
-
-<p>“No, I never did,” said the child.</p>
-
-<p>“Now here,” said the Angel to the third child,
-“is a round cake. The frosting is half an inch thick,
-and inside there are chopped nuts and raisins. It is
-the prettiest cake I ever saw, and the best.”</p>
-
-<p>“So it is,” said the third child.</p>
-
-<p>Then the Angel gave the last piece to the child
-whose nursery it was.</p>
-
-<p>“My dear,” she said, “just look! Here is an ice-cream
-rabbit. He is snowy white outside, with eyes
-of red sugar; see his long ears, and his little tail.
-Inside, I think you will find he is pink.</p>
-
-<p>“Now, when I clap my hands and count one, two,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />29<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-three, you must eat the feast all up. One—two,—three!”</p>
-
-<p>So the children ate the feast all up.</p>
-
-<p>“There,” said the Angel, “did you ever see such
-a grand feast?”</p>
-
-<p>“No, we never did!” said all the four children
-together.</p>
-
-<p>“And there are some crumbs left over,” said the
-Angel. “Come, and we will give them to the brother
-birds.”</p>
-
-<p>“But you didn’t have any,” said the child whose
-nursery it was.</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, yes!” said the Angel, “I had it all.”</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Laura E. Richards.</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-<div class="verse">Small service is true service while it lasts.</div>
-<div class="verse">Of humblest friends, bright creature, scorn not one.</div>
-<div class="verse">The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,</div>
-<div class="verse">Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun.</div>
-<div class="sig">—<i>William Wordsworth.</i></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />30<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>LITTLE GRANDMOTHER’S SHOES</h2>
-
-
-<p>“But, Grandmother,” said little May, holding up
-the tiny pair of calf-skin shoes, “were these your
-very <i>best</i> shoes? Didn’t you have any shiny black ones,
-with a tassel on, like mine?</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 493px;">
-<img src="images/i-032.jpg" width="493" height="243" alt="Girl with grandmother" />
-</div>
-
-<p>“And where did you buy them, Grandmother?
-Did Columbus bring them with him in his ship?”</p>
-
-<p>“No, dear; Columbus didn’t bring Grandma’s
-shoes in his ship. He sailed back to Spain again three
-hundred years before these shoes were made.</p>
-
-<p>“Bring your chair and sit down by me. I will tell
-you all about these little worn-out shoes of mine.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />31<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>“When I was a little girl,” began Grandmother,
-“children did not wear shoes all the time. They
-went barefoot in the summer, except when they were
-dressed up. One pair of shoes had to last a whole
-year.</p>
-
-<p>“When we went to church we used to go barefoot,
-carrying our shoes in our hands. At the foot of the
-hill we washed our feet in the brook and put on our
-shoes and stockings.</p>
-
-<p>“Our shoes did not wear out very fast; and if we
-lost a shoe, we had to go barefoot till the shoemaker
-came again.”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, dear!” sighed May, “how dreadful! Who
-was the shoemaker, Grandmother, and when did he
-come?”</p>
-
-<p>“The shoemaker,” Grandmother replied, “was a
-very important man when I was a little girl. ‘Shoe
-week’ was a busy week in the family.</p>
-
-<p>“I can remember how glad we all were when father
-said, ‘The shoemaker will be here to-morrow.’</p>
-
-<p>“That night the shoe bench was brought down from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />32<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-the attic and placed in a warm corner of the
-kitchen.</p>
-
-<p>“Father and mother made a list of the shoes that
-were needed. We children talked about our new
-shoes and the shoemaker until we fell asleep.</p>
-
-<p>“Early in the morning the shoemaker appeared.
-He carried his bag of tools and a roll of leather on
-his back. By seven o’clock he was seated at his bench,
-hard at work.</p>
-
-<p>“We children used to sit on the floor beside him and
-watch him work. First he measured our feet and drew
-some paper patterns. Then he cut out the leather.</p>
-
-<p>“He punched holes along the edges of the leather
-with a sharp awl; then the shoe was ready to sew.</p>
-
-<p>“For his sewing he used a long waxed thread,
-with a stiff bristle at each end for a needle. All day
-long he would sit at his bench, putting the needles
-into the holes and pulling the thread through, till the
-shoe was sewed firmly.</p>
-
-<p>“When all our shoes were made, he packed his
-bag and said good-by for another year.”</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />33<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>LITTLE-FOLK LAND</h2>
-
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">The children all go looking</div>
-<div class="verse">In vain for Fairyland,</div>
-<div class="verse">Where little folk have dwelling,</div>
-<div class="verse">And wander hand in hand;</div>
-<div class="verse">Where silvery small voices</div>
-<div class="verse">Ring clear upon the air,</div>
-<div class="verse">Where magic little whispers</div>
-<div class="verse">Work wonders everywhere;</div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Where flower fields are forests,</div>
-<div class="verse">For tiny feet to tread;</div>
-<div class="verse">Where one has lived a life-time</div>
-<div class="verse">Before the day is fled.</div>
-<div class="verse">For this dear wondrous country</div>
-<div class="verse">The children look in vain;</div>
-<div class="verse">They find but empty flowers,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />34<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>Through sun and summer rain.</div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">It is the grown folks only</div>
-<div class="verse">Have eyes for Fairyland,</div>
-<div class="verse">Where little people wander,</div>
-<div class="verse">And toddle hand in hand;</div>
-<div class="verse">Where happy voices prattle,</div>
-<div class="verse">And whisper secrets strange;</div>
-<div class="verse">Where tiny sprites by magic</div>
-<div class="verse">To bigger fairies change;</div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Where dancing little figures</div>
-<div class="verse">Get lost amid the flowers;</div>
-<div class="verse">Where days as years are measured,</div>
-<div class="verse">And minutes count for hours.</div>
-<div class="verse">It is the grown folk only</div>
-<div class="verse">Can find the land of elves;</div>
-<div class="verse">How could the children guess it?</div>
-<div class="verse">The fairies are themselves.</div>
-<div class="sig">—<i>Edith Colby Banfield.</i></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />35<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>CHILDREN OF A SUNNY LAND</h2>
-
-
-<h3>I—A STRANGE MILK WAGON</h3>
-
-<p>Domingo and his sister Marikena live in a warm,
-sunny land. It is the land of Brazil, where there are
-fruits and flowers all the year, and it is always summer.</p>
-
-<p>Domingo and Marikena love the sunshine, and the
-birds and flowers.</p>
-
-<p>They like to play out of doors in the early morning
-and at night, but at noon it is too hot, and every one
-takes a nap.</p>
-
-<p>When they go to the woods they do not see crows
-and blue jays and woodpeckers. Instead, there are
-gorgeous parrots and beautiful humming-birds that
-are almost as large as robins.</p>
-
-<p>Perhaps they see monkeys in the palm trees; and,
-instead of acorns, they find cocoanuts.</p>
-
-<p>In their schoolroom they sing all their lessons. Is
-not that a merry way? But it would seem strange to
-you because you could not understand one word<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />36<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-they say. You see, they do not speak English, and
-they could not talk with you.</p>
-
-<p>Every morning the two children are up very early
-and out on the balcony watching for something. Soon
-they call out, “<i>leite, leite</i>,” which means, “milk,
-milk.”</p>
-
-<p>And what do you suppose they see? Not a wagon
-filled with glass jars or tin cans. Oh, no! It is only
-two or three cows being driven down the street by a
-woman.</p>
-
-<p>The woman stops the cows in front of Domingo’s
-house, and milks one of them while the children watch
-her. How sweet and fresh this milk is! I wish you
-could have some every morning, too!</p>
-
-
-<h3>II—A RIDE IN A CHAIR</h3>
-
-<p>Domingo and Marikena are going with their mother
-to visit their cousin.</p>
-
-<p>They have had their afternoon nap and it is not
-too hot out of doors now, as it is nearly four o’clock.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />37<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>If you were going to pay a visit you would walk
-or ride in a car or carriage, would you not?</p>
-
-<p>But Domingo and Marikena are not going in either
-of those ways. It is too hot to walk, and the streetcars
-do not go up the hill where their aunt lives, so
-they will ride in a chair.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 491px;">
-<img src="images/i-039.jpg" width="491" height="351" alt="Children carrying a litter" />
-</div>
-
-<p>The chairs are large and have big, soft cushions.
-They have a cover overhead and curtains on all sides,
-and are carried by four men.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />38<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>The two children ride in one chair; their mother in
-another. The curtains are drawn down, but Domingo
-peeps out as they ride through the city streets.</p>
-
-<p>When they reach the cousin’s house they do not
-rap on the door or ring a bell. The mother claps her
-hands, and when the aunt sees them she says, “Enter
-and welcome. The house and all it contains is yours.”</p>
-
-<p>Is not that a strange way of saying, “I am glad to
-see you. Will you come in?”</p>
-
-<p>They sit in the parlor and while they talk they sip
-coffee from tiny cups. Before they come away they
-walk in the garden, where there are beautiful flowers
-and fountains, tall palm trees, and rubber trees with
-blossoms like yellow lilies.</p>
-
-<p>The chair-men wait and the children ride home again,
-but it is dark, and they can see only the lights in
-the houses. The chair swings back and forth like a
-cradle as the men trot down the hill into the city.</p>
-
-<p>They sing as they go, and the song is a low, sweet
-tune like a lullaby. Marikena puts her head on the
-cushions and almost falls asleep.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />39<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>Domingo nods and dreams of the fruit and the
-flowers and the funny pet monkey his cousin had in
-the garden. Oh! the days are long and happy in
-Brazil, and the children have merry times.</p>
-
-
-<h3>III—THE CARNIVAL</h3>
-
-<p>“The Carnival, the Carnival,” shouted Domingo
-one morning. “This is the first day of the Carnival.”</p>
-
-<p>Then he ran to find Marikena. “Look, Sister,”
-he cried, “I am a clown this year. What are you?”</p>
-
-<p>“I am a fairy,” she replied. “See my cap and
-wand. And here is a bag full of sugarplums and
-sweetmeats. I can hang the bag over my shoulder.”</p>
-
-<p>“See these big pockets,” said her brother. “They
-are bigger than a bag and they are just full of goodies.
-I like to be a clown, because I can have such big
-pockets. Take that!” and he threw a handful of
-sugarplums into her lap.</p>
-
-<p>Just then there was a clapping of hands at the
-door and the children ran to the balcony.</p>
-
-<p>In Brazil the Carnival is held on the three days<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />40<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-before Lent, and every one has a holiday. The cities
-are beautifully decorated, and men, women and
-children wear odd costumes and masks.</p>
-
-<p>Some of them are dressed to look like monkeys,
-some like parrots, and some like clowns. Some wear
-gay dresses and funny masks, and others wear ugly
-skins of animals and hideous masks.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 492px;">
-<img src="images/i-042.jpg" width="492" height="362" alt="dressed as a clown and a pixie" />
-</div>
-
-<p>The children often carry wreaths and garlands of
-flowers; and there is always music and feasting and
-dancing in the streets.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />41<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>Every one has pockets, bags, or baskets full of
-sugarplums, sweetmeats, bonbons and flowers.</p>
-
-<p>These they throw at every one they meet, laughing
-merrily if they make a good hit.</p>
-
-<p>The children think it is great fun to pelt each other
-with sugarplums and flowers. It is as good as snow-balling,
-only they can never have snow battles because
-they never have any snow.</p>
-
-<p>The Carnival is the best time of all the year in Brazil,
-or at least Domingo and Marikena think so.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Where do Domingo and Marikena live?</p>
-
-<p>When do they play out of doors?</p>
-
-<p>What do they see in the woods?</p>
-
-<p>How is the milk brought to their house?</p>
-
-<p>When they go visiting, what do they ride in?</p>
-
-<p>What did their aunt say when they went to call on
-her? What did they do at their aunt’s house?</p>
-
-<p>What do some of the people wear on Carnival days?</p>
-
-<p>What do they carry in their pockets? What do they
-throw at each other?</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />42<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE LITTLE PLANT</h2>
-
-
-<p>On the edge of the forest stood a tiny plant. It was
-only six inches tall.</p>
-
-<p>The ground around it was so cold and hard that it
-could not grow taller. It had stood there many
-years, sad and sorrowful.</p>
-
-<p>“Grow and be beautiful,” said the forest sternly,
-but the plant did not grow.</p>
-
-<p>“Do you not wish to grow?” said the blue jay.
-Then he began to tell the little plant how lazy and
-useless it was. But his words went into one ear and
-out of the other.</p>
-
-<p>Still the plant did not grow.</p>
-
-<p>“Grow! grow!” roared the wind. “Grow tall
-and straight. I will teach you to obey. Grow!
-grow!”</p>
-
-<p>Then the wind lashed the tiny plant with its cold
-wings, and beat its branches to the ground. But the
-poor thing came near dying and did not grow at
-all.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />43<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>“Do grow,” said the sun. “Grow and be beautiful.
-I will help you.”</p>
-
-<p>Then the sun warmed the earth around the plant,
-and gentle showers fell on it from the clouds.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 492px;">
-<img src="images/i-045.jpg" width="492" height="358" alt="small tree in woods with sunlight on it" />
-</div>
-
-<p>Now the little twigs began to grow, and the tiny
-plant became a beautiful birch tree, with green leaves
-and snow-white bark.</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Anna von Rydingsvärd.</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />44<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>TWO WAYS</h2>
-
-
-<p>Two little weeds grew on a bank by the roadside.</p>
-
-<p>All summer they had been drinking the dew and
-sunshine, and had been very happy.</p>
-
-<p>But now autumn had come, with gray skies and
-winds that nipped and pinched them.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
-<img src="images/i-046.jpg" width="500" height="248" alt="girl looking at weed" />
-</div>
-
-<p>“We shall die soon,” said one little weed.</p>
-
-<p>“I should like to do something pleasant before I
-die, just to show what a happy time I have had. I
-think I will turn red, and then people will see how I
-feel.”</p>
-
-<p>“You will be very foolish to waste your strength
-in any such nonsense!” said the other little weed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />45<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-“I shall live as long as I can, and hug the brown
-bank here.”</p>
-
-<p>So the first little weed turned bright scarlet, and
-was so pretty that every one looked at it.</p>
-
-<p>By and by there came down the road a most beautiful
-maiden.</p>
-
-<p>When she saw the scarlet leaves she picked them
-and put them in her hair.</p>
-
-<p>This made the little weed so happy that he died
-for pure joy.</p>
-
-<p>The second little weed lived on, and turned slowly
-brown, like the bank.</p>
-
-<p>“He was so foolish!” he said, speaking of the
-weed that turned scarlet. “He put all his strength
-into turning red, and so he died.”</p>
-
-<p>“I was proud of him,” said the brown bank. “He
-did what he could, and people loved him.”</p>
-
-<p>“Yes, but I am alive, and stay with you!” said the
-weed.</p>
-
-<p>“Much I care!” said the bank.</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Laura E. Richards.</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />46<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>A SONG IN THE WOOD</h2>
-
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">I found a shy little violet root</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Half hid in the woods, on a day of spring,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">And a bird flew over, and looked at it, too,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And for joy, as he looked, he began to sing.</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">The sky was the tenderest blue above,—</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And the flower like a bit of the sky below;</span></div>
-<div class="verse">And between them the wonderful winds of God</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">On heavenly errands went to and fro.</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Away from the summer, and out of the South</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">The bird had followed a whisper true,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">As out from the brown and desolate sod</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Stepped the shy little blossom, with eyes of blue.</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">And he sang to her, in the young spring day,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of all the joy in the world astir;</span></div>
-<div class="verse">And her beauty and fragrance answered him,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">While the spring and he bent over her.</span></div>
-<div class="sig">—<i>Louise Chandler Moulton.</i></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />47<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>HOW THE CORN GREW</h2>
-
-
-<p>Little Me Too walked to the right, then to the
-left, along the sidewalk in front of the house.</p>
-
-<p>As he walked he sang with all his might about the
-ocean, and the summer time, and any other pleasant
-thing that came into his head.</p>
-
-<p>He made it up as he went along, and grew quite
-out of breath at last, and had to stop.</p>
-
-<p>Just as he had got his breath and was meaning to
-begin all over again, he saw something very small
-and yellow on the edge of the walk.</p>
-
-<p>Then he began to sing the song of whatever it might
-be that was so small and yellow.</p>
-
-<p>This is what he sang:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-<div class="verse">“I wonder what this is.</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">I guess it is a kernel of corn.</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">I wonder how it came here</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">All alone by itself.</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />48<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">I guess I don’t know.</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">I wonder if it can be planted</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">In the grass in our yard.</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Yes!”</span></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>When he said “Yes!” he stooped down and dug a
-hole in the ground in the dooryard with his
-fingers.</p>
-
-<p>Then he put the kernel of corn in the hole and
-covered it over with dirt.</p>
-
-<p>Afterwards he stood up and sang at the top of
-his voice, “Now I guess it will grow!”</p>
-
-<p>Of course it grew!</p>
-
-<p>After a few days it poked itself up through the earth
-to make Little Me Too remember. For Little Me Too
-had forgotten all about it.</p>
-
-<p>When he saw it poking its head up through the
-grass, he didn’t remember even then that it was the
-kernel of corn.</p>
-
-<p>It had changed.</p>
-
-<p>When he put it into the ground and covered it with
-dirt, it was yellow and hard.</p>
-
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />49<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>Now it was green and soft. It looked somewhat
-like the rest of the grass,—but not <i>just</i> like it, or
-Little Me Too wouldn’t have noticed it.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 488px;">
-<img src="images/i-051.jpg" width="488" height="358" alt="Boy talking to man mowing grass" />
-</div>
-
-<p>When he saw it he said, “There’s a grass that wants
-to be different. Perhaps it’s the grandfather grass.”</p>
-
-<p>He let it alone, and he got the man with the lawn
-mower to let it alone. That gave it a good chance
-to grow.</p>
-
-<p>It grew just as fast as it could, and as soon as it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />50<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-was big enough it showed Little Me Too that it was no
-grandfather grass, but a cornstalk.</p>
-
-<p>The man with the lawn mower said so.</p>
-
-<p>Then it was that Little Me Too remembered. When
-he remembered, he said, “Yes, it grew.”</p>
-
-<p>When it had grown to be taller than Little Me Too,
-people walking along the sidewalk would look at it,
-and say, “What a fine garden!”</p>
-
-<p>The mother said, “I am glad it is something that
-can’t find its way into the nursery.”</p>
-
-<p>Little Me Too it was who first saw the ear of corn
-growing on the stalk.</p>
-
-<p>He showed it to some people, and there were others
-who saw it without having it shown to them.</p>
-
-<p>Each of them asked for a bite from it when it should
-be ripe.</p>
-
-<p>Little Me Too said “yes,” to them all.</p>
-
-<p>When he had said “yes” to thirty-one people, his
-mother said, “Don’t say ‘yes’ to any more people;
-you won’t have corn enough for them all.”</p>
-
-<p>Little Me Too promised not to say “yes” again,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />51<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-but sometimes he forgot, and by the time the corn
-was ripe he had said “yes” to fifty people.</p>
-
-<p>But he had plenty of corn, for it was an ear of pop
-corn.</p>
-
-<p>After it was popped over the nursery fire it filled
-a big, big bowl.</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Julia Dalrymple.</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-
-
-<h2>“DO YOU KNOW?”</h2>
-
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Do you know</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">That you can go</span></div>
-<div class="verse">In the early morning light</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">When the dew is on the grass</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And find the little cobweb tents</span></div>
-<div class="verse">The fairies sleep in all the night?</div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">But, alas, you’ll find no traces</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of their little fairy faces!</span></div>
-<div class="sig">—<i>Edith Colby Banfield.</i></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />52<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE LITTLE GOATHERDS</h2>
-
-
-<p>Louis and Marie live among the mountains in
-Switzerland. These mountains are very high and are
-called the Swiss Alps.</p>
-
-<p>The cold winds sweep down the mountain-side and
-rush through the valleys. Sometimes it blows so
-hard that it almost blows the thatched roofs off the
-houses.</p>
-
-<p>But the mountain people know all about these
-strong winds. What do you suppose they do to keep
-the roof from blowing away? They lay heavy stones
-on the roof to keep it in place.</p>
-
-<p>The winters are long and cold; and it snows and
-snows! You never saw such deep drifts nor such
-big fields of ice.</p>
-
-<p>But the summer is beautiful,—the sky is blue
-and the sun is bright; and far away the mountain
-peaks are capped with glistening snow.</p>
-
-<p>Then the grass is green and the flowers blossom
-everywhere. These are happy days for the children.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />53<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>In summer Louis and Marie go out every morning
-with the goats. Marie is just a tiny bit of a girl only
-four years old, but Louis is a big boy. He is
-almost nine, and that is very old when one has such
-a little sister.</p>
-
-<p>Louis lets the goats out of their yard. They jump
-and run and caper about, and Marie hides behind her
-mother’s dress. She is afraid of the goats at first.</p>
-
-<p>One of the big goats always runs to the vineyard,
-he is so fond of grapes. Louis drives him out with
-a long stick.</p>
-
-<p>Then the whole herd runs to the wheat field,
-and Louis runs after them, shouting at them and
-driving them away toward the mountain pasture.</p>
-
-<p>Marie runs along with him and Patte Blanche
-goes, too. Patte Blanche is their dog, and his name
-means White Foot.</p>
-
-<p>When the goats reach the pasture land they clamber
-over the rocks and eat the moss and the bushes and
-the sweet, green grass.</p>
-
-<p>Louis and Marie pick the flowers that grow on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />54<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-mountain-side, and play little games with the stones.
-They watch the goats, too, and talk about them.
-Sometimes a goat wanders too far away and then
-Louis sends White Foot to drive her back to the others.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 486px;">
-<img src="images/i-056.jpg" width="486" height="355" alt="woman and girl watching goats run past" />
-</div>
-
-<p>At noon the children eat their lunch of barley-bread
-and cheese, and White Foot sits beside them
-and eats the bits they give him.</p>
-
-<p>There is always so much to do and so much to see
-that the days seem very short. Soon it is time for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />55<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-White Foot to drive the goats down from the rocks
-and the little company starts for home.</p>
-
-<p>One night a very funny thing happened when they
-were on their way home.</p>
-
-<p>The goats were wandering along, nibbling at the
-green grass, and the children were following them
-down the path, when they saw a strange man sitting
-on a log. The man was fast asleep and his head
-nodded and bobbed up and down.</p>
-
-<p>Just as Louis saw him, one of the goats spied him,
-too, and what do you think she did? She trotted
-along, ran up behind him and butted him right off the
-log. Of course the man waked up and I think he was
-going to be very angry, but the goat put her fore feet
-up on the log and looked as if she wanted to laugh.</p>
-
-<p>The children laughed, and so the man laughed, too.
-Then he walked home with them and helped them
-drive the goats into their yard.</p>
-
-<p>Louis and Marie will never forget how funny the goat
-looked trying to laugh at the man, and they like to
-tell the story over and over again.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />56<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>SWISS CHILDREN</h2>
-
-
-<p>You have just read a story about Louis and Marie,
-who live among the mountains of Switzerland.</p>
-
-<p>Switzerland is a land of mountains and valleys
-and many beautiful lakes and rivers.</p>
-
-<p>Most of the people live in the valleys and keep
-cattle, sheep, and goats.</p>
-
-<p>In the springtime thousands of cattle are driven
-up into the mountains to stay all summer.</p>
-
-<p>Many of the people go up into the mountains, too,
-and live in little huts. The men and boys take care
-of the cattle, and the women make butter and cheese.</p>
-
-<p>The cows wear bells which tinkle as they walk,
-and the music of all the bells, in the stillness of the
-mountains, is very beautiful.</p>
-
-<p>In the fall the men drive the cattle down into the
-valleys again. When they reach the villages their
-friends come out to meet them, and every one has a
-holiday. The children think this is one of the best
-days in all the year. They like to hear the bells ring<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />57<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-out their welcome; they like to see the flags and
-banners waving from the windows and the house-tops.
-They sing and dance and shout and are very
-merry.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 496px;">
-<img src="images/i-059.jpg" width="496" height="365" alt="boy and dog" />
-</div>
-
-<p>At night there is a feast in the village square, and
-perhaps they like this best of all.</p>
-
-<p>Many of the houses in Switzerland are very small
-and are made of wood. These little houses are called
-chalets.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />58<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>Louis and Marie live in a tiny chalet on the side
-of a steep mountain. Their father owns a farm and
-has cows and sheep and goats, and ever so many
-geese.</p>
-
-<p>You never saw such a farm in all your life. The
-mountain is so steep that the fields and pastures
-seem to be tipped up on edge, and it looks as if
-the horses would fall off when the farmer is plowing
-the fields, but they never do.</p>
-
-<p>Louis has a pet dog. He harnesses his dog to a
-little wagon and drives him up and down the road.
-Sometimes he gives Marie a ride in the wagon.</p>
-
-<p>Louis goes to the village school, and Marie will have
-to go as soon as she is six years old. There are very
-good schools in Switzerland, and the children learn
-the same things that you learn in your school.</p>
-
-<p>These children have many odd playthings and
-toys carved out of wood. They have wooden whistles
-and horns, and little wooden goats and bears. Marie
-has a tiny chalet, almost like the one she lives in, which
-she calls her “playhouse.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />59<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>The toys the children like best are the ones that have
-a music box in them. The Swiss people make all kinds
-of music boxes and put them in all kinds of things,
-in chairs and tables and clocks, and even in plates.</p>
-
-<p>While the boys are learning to carve, the girls
-learn to embroider on linen and to make lace.</p>
-
-<p>Very often the Swiss girls sit outside the door of
-their chalet making lace which they sell to the people
-who are travelling through the mountains.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Where do Louis and Marie live?</p>
-
-<p>What does their father do?</p>
-
-<p>Where do the cattle live in the summer?</p>
-
-<p>Who takes care of them?</p>
-
-<p>What do the women make, up in the mountains?</p>
-
-<p>Which holiday do the Swiss children like best?</p>
-
-<p>What do they do on this day?</p>
-
-<p>What is a Swiss cottage called?</p>
-
-<p>Why do people like to travel in Switzerland?</p>
-
-<p>If you should go there, what would you like to see?</p>
-
-<p>What would you like to buy?</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />60<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>LULLABY-LAND</h2>
-
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Where is the road to Lullaby-land?</div>
-<div class="verse">Where is the ferry to Dreamland-shore?</div>
-<div class="verse">Here, little wanderer, take my hand,</div>
-<div class="verse">Mother will show thee to Lullaby-land,</div>
-<div class="verse">Mother will ferry her darling o’er</div>
-<div class="verse">The sweet rocking waters to Dreamland-shore.</div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Soft lie the shadows in Lullaby-land,</div>
-<div class="verse">Soft lap the waters by Dreamland-shore,</div>
-<div class="verse">Sweet is the sound on that far-away strand</div>
-<div class="verse">Of little keels grating along the sand,</div>
-<div class="verse">And tenderly stealeth the moonlight o’er</div>
-<div class="verse">The dear little children on Dreamland-shore.</div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Here, little weary one, take my hand,</div>
-<div class="verse">Soon shall my dearie be far afloat;</div>
-<div class="verse">Mother’s lap is Lullaby-land,</div>
-<div class="verse">Mother’s arms are the empty boat,</div>
-<div class="verse">Waiting to carry her darling o’er</div>
-<div class="verse">The sweet rocking waters to Dreamland-shore.</div>
-<div class="sig">—<i>Edith Colby Banfield.</i></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />61<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE STONE BLOCKS</h2>
-
-
-<p>“Why is your little sister crying, dear?” asked
-the Play Angel. “I thought you were taking care of
-her.”</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 490px;">
-<img src="images/i-063.jpg" width="490" height="236" alt="little ister crying on floor wihile big sister holds up doll to her" />
-</div>
-
-<p>“So I am, taking beautiful care of her,” said the
-child. “But the more beautiful care I take, the more
-she cries. She does not like to have me take care of
-her.”</p>
-
-<p>“Let me see,” said the Play Angel, and she sat
-down on the nursery floor. “Now show me what you
-have been doing.”</p>
-
-<p>“Look,” said the child. “First I showed her all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />62<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-my dolls, and then all my dolls’ dresses. Now I have
-given her my new stone blocks to play with, but she
-will not play with them. She puts them in her mouth
-and cries.”</p>
-
-<p>“Perhaps she is hungry!” said the Play Angel.</p>
-
-<p>So she took a piece of bread and gave it to the
-baby. The baby stopped crying and ate the bread,
-and laughed and crowed.</p>
-
-<p>“See!” said the Angel. “Now she is happy.
-Remember, dear, that when babies are hungry, stone
-blocks do them no good.”</p>
-
-<p>“You are a very clever angel to know that,” said
-the child.</p>
-
-<p>“You are a rather foolish child,” said the Angel,
-“or you would have found it out for yourself.”</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Laura E. Richards.</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />63<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMA’S CHRISTMAS IN
-ENGLAND</h2>
-
-
-<p>Betty and Percy sat up until eleven o’clock that
-Christmas Eve. It was such a merry time!</p>
-
-<p>They saw the men bring in the Yule log. It was
-so big that it took three men to carry it, and then they
-had to bring it in on their shoulders.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 489px;">
-<img src="images/i-065.jpg" width="489" height="358" alt="three men carrying log" />
-</div>
-
-<p>At one end of the hall was a large fireplace. I think
-you never saw one like it. Pots and kettles hung<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />64<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-over the fire, and on each side were seats where the
-children could sit and eat apples and tell stories. You
-see, it was a very big fireplace.</p>
-
-<p>The men rolled the Yule log into the fireplace and
-lighted the fire. How the sparks flew! How the
-fire roared up the chimney!</p>
-
-<p>It lighted the great hall. It shone on the oak table
-where the supper was laid.</p>
-
-<p>On the supper table were two wax candles. These
-candles were almost as tall as you are. They were
-wreathed with holly.</p>
-
-<p>These were the Christmas candles and they burned
-the whole evening. The hall was trimmed with holly
-and mistletoe. The holly had bright green leaves and
-red berries, and the mistletoe had white berries.</p>
-
-<p>A big bunch of mistletoe hung down from the
-ceiling before the fire. If anyone happened to stand
-under the mistletoe, she was kissed.</p>
-
-<p>How many times Betty was kissed! First her father
-caught her under the mistletoe, then Uncle Edward,
-and then Grandpa.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />65<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>At eleven o’clock Nurse said that Betty and Percy
-must go to bed. They did not like to go one bit.</p>
-
-<p>There was a fire in the fireplace in Betty’s bedroom,
-but it was very cold. In Great-Great-Grandma’s
-time there were no such things as stoves and furnaces.</p>
-
-<p>Nurse undressed Betty, and then the little girl
-climbed up the steps into her bed. It was so big
-and high that she had to climb up five steps to get
-into it.</p>
-
-<p>Then Nurse drew the curtains of the bed to keep
-out the cold.</p>
-
-<p>Betty was almost asleep when she heard the Waits
-singing. The Waits always sang under the windows
-on Christmas Eve.</p>
-
-<p>“Open the lattice, please, Nurse,” she said.</p>
-
-<p>So Nurse opened one of the windows. It opened
-like a door, and had panes of glass which were small
-and diamond-shaped.</p>
-
-<p>The house Betty lived in was very, very large, and
-was called a castle.</p>
-
-<p>This is what the Waits were singing:—</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />66<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-<div class="verse">“God rest ye, merry gentlemen,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Let nothing you dismay,</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">For Jesus Christ our Saviour</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Was born upon this day.”</span></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Betty did not hear the next verse, because her eyes
-were shut and she was fast asleep.</p>
-
-<p>When she waked up in the morning, the first thing
-she heard was another Christmas carol.</p>
-
-<p>She slid down the side of the bed and ran to the
-window.</p>
-
-<p>It was a lovely Christmas morning. The trees and
-ground and walks were covered with snow. How it
-glistened in the sunshine!</p>
-
-<p>The singers were standing in a row under the window.
-There were seven of them, and they were all
-children from the village whom Betty had seen when
-she was driving with her mother.</p>
-
-<p>How they were bundled up, and their cheeks were
-as red as roses!</p>
-
-<p>They were singing this Christmas carol:—</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />67<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-<div class="verse">“I saw three ships come sailing in,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">I saw three ships come sailing in,</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">On Christmas Day in the morning.”</span></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>“Quick, quick, Nurse,” said Betty. “Please dress
-me as quickly as you can. I must run down with the
-Christmas boxes.”</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 509px;">
-<img src="images/i-069.jpg" width="509" height="687" alt="Little girl being dressed by nurse" />
-<div class="caption">PLEASE DRESS ME AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>So Nurse hurried, and Betty hurried, and in a little
-while she was ready, with a sprig of holly in her dress,
-and a bit of mistletoe in her hair.</p>
-
-<p>Percy was ready, too, and they ran down the long
-staircase into the wide hall.</p>
-
-<p>The Yule log was still burning,—it had burned
-all night. The door was opened, and the little singers
-came in to warm themselves by the fire.</p>
-
-<p>Betty and Percy gave each of them a “Christmas
-box.” It wasn’t a box, it was a gift; but a Christmas
-gift was called a Christmas box in those days.</p>
-
-<p>After the singers had looked at their gifts and had
-eaten a slice of plum cake, they went home.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />68<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>I cannot tell you everything that Betty and Percy did
-that day, but you may be sure they had a good time.</p>
-
-<p>I must tell you about the Christmas dinner. It
-was served in the hall, on the big oak table that stood
-before the fire.</p>
-
-<p>When dinner was ready they did not ring a bell,
-but the cook knocked three times with his rolling-pin
-on the door.</p>
-
-<p>Two men stood in the hall, and when they heard
-the three knocks they sounded their trumpets, the
-doors were opened, and all the family marched in to
-dinner.</p>
-
-<p>I do not know just what they had to eat, but I
-know they had roast goose, and a plum pudding just
-as you do at Christmas time.</p>
-
-<p>After dinner the children played games. And what
-do you think they played? First they played “Puss-puss-in-the-corner,”
-and then “Blind-man’s-buff.”</p>
-
-<p>Isn’t it strange that Great-Great-Grandma should
-have played the very games you play, on that Christmas
-night more than two hundred years ago?</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />69<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE WHIPPING BOY</h2>
-
-
-<p>Many years ago there was a little boy living in
-England whose name was Edward. Of course there
-have been many boys in England by the name of
-Edward, but they are not so well known as this boy,
-for he was the son of a king.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 490px;">
-<img src="images/i-073.jpg" width="490" height="247" alt="two boys, wearing plumed hats, walking in country side" />
-</div>
-
-<p>Edward’s father was King Henry the Eighth, and
-Edward was called Edward the Sixth when he became
-King of England.</p>
-
-<p>King Henry was very fond of his children and did
-not like to have them punished, so he had a little
-“whipping boy” for each one of them.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />70<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>Whenever one of the Princes or Princesses did
-anything naughty, the whipping boy was punished.</p>
-
-<p>Sometimes he had to stand in the corner for a whole
-hour. Sometimes he was sent to bed without any
-supper, and sometimes he had to have a whipping.</p>
-
-<p>Prince Edward’s whipping boy was Edward Brown.
-He lived in the castle and played with the Prince every
-day. The two boys were very fond of each other,
-and the Prince did not like to have his friend punished.</p>
-
-<p>So he tried to be good, but there are so many things
-a Prince must not do!</p>
-
-<p>A Prince must not throw his toys out of the castle
-window. He must never get angry at his brothers
-and sisters and quarrel with them. He must learn
-his lessons every day.</p>
-
-<p>He must be polite and obedient to the King and
-Queen, to all the Gentlemen in Waiting and Ladies
-in Waiting, to the Head Nurse and all the Under
-Nurses, and to his Tutor and all his teachers.</p>
-
-<p>Oh! it is very hard to be a good Prince!</p>
-
-<p>Sometimes Edward Brown had to be punished<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />71<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-more than once while the boys were at play, and
-sometimes Prince Edward was quite good all day
-long.</p>
-
-<p>One day the Prince did something that was very
-wrong; and when his Tutor would have punished the
-whipping boy, Edward took the cane from his hand
-and said, “Sir, you shall whip me for this. It is my
-command. I did wrong. I should be punished.”</p>
-
-<p>When Prince Edward was nine years old, his father
-died, and the Prince was made King of England.</p>
-
-<p>Perhaps you would like to know how he was dressed
-when he went to be crowned. He wore a suit of white
-velvet, embroidered with diamonds, pearls, and rubies.
-His cap was white velvet, and his coat was cloth of
-silver.</p>
-
-<p>He rode on a white horse through the city and the
-people shouted, “Long live King Edward.”</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />72<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE CHRISTMAS SPRUCE TREE</h2>
-
-
-<p>Among the tall trees in the forest grew a little
-spruce tree. It was no taller than a man, and that
-is very short for a tree.</p>
-
-<p>The other trees near it grew so tall and had such
-large branches that the poor little tree could not
-grow at all.</p>
-
-<p>She liked to listen when the other trees were talking,
-but it often made her sad.</p>
-
-<p>“I am king of the forest,” said the oak. “Look
-at my huge trunk and my branches. How they reach
-up toward heaven! I furnish planks for men from
-which they build their ships. Then I defy the storm
-on the ocean as I did the thunder in the forest.”</p>
-
-<p>“And I go with you over the foaming waves,”
-said the tall straight pine. “I hold up the flapping
-sails when the ships fly over the ocean.”</p>
-
-<p>“And we warm the houses when winter comes
-and the cold north wind drives the snow before him,”
-said the birches.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />73<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>“We have the same work to do,” said a tall fir
-tree, and she bowed gracefully, drooping her branches
-toward the ground.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 496px;">
-<img src="images/i-077.jpg" width="496" height="368" alt="mother and children around the Christmas tree" />
-</div>
-
-<p>The little spruce tree heard the other trees talking
-about their work in the world. This made her sad,
-and she thought, “What work can I do? What
-will become of me?”</p>
-
-<p>But she could not think of any way in which she
-could be useful. She decided to ask the other trees
-in the forest.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />74<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>So she asked the oak, the pine and the fir, but they
-were so proud and stately they did not even hear her.</p>
-
-<p>Then she asked the beautiful white birch that stood
-near by. “You have no work to do,” said the birch,
-“because you can never grow large enough. Perhaps
-you might be a Christmas tree, but that is all.”</p>
-
-<p>“What is a Christmas tree?” asked the little
-spruce.</p>
-
-<p>“I do not know exactly,” replied the birch. “Sometimes
-when the days are short and cold, and the ground
-is covered with snow, men come out here into the
-forest. They look at all the little spruce trees and
-choose the prettiest, saying, ‘This will do for a
-Christmas tree.’</p>
-
-<p>“Then they chop it down and carry it away. What
-they do with it I cannot tell.”</p>
-
-<p>The little spruce asked the rabbit that hopped over
-the snow, the owls that slept in the pines, and the
-squirrels that came to find nuts and acorns.</p>
-
-<p>But no one knew more than the birch tree. No
-one could tell what men did with the Christmas trees.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />75<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>Then the little spruce tree wept because she had no
-work to do and could not be of any use in the
-world.</p>
-
-<p>The tears hardened into clear, round drops, which
-we call gum.</p>
-
-<p>At last a boy came into the forest with an axe in
-his hand. He looked the little tree all over. “Perhaps
-this will do for a Christmas tree,” he said. So he
-chopped it down, laid it on a sled, and dragged it
-home.</p>
-
-<p>The next day the boy sold the tree, and it was taken
-into a large room and dressed up with pop corn and
-gilded nuts and candles. Packages of all sizes and
-shapes, and tiny bags filled with candy, were tied on
-its branches.</p>
-
-<p>The tree was trembling with the excitement, but
-she stood as still as she could. “What if I should
-drop some of this fruit,” she thought.</p>
-
-<p>When it began to grow dark, every one left the
-room and the tree was alone. It began to feel lonely
-and to think sad thoughts.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />76<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>Soon the door opened and a lady came in. She
-lighted all the candles.</p>
-
-<p>How light and glowing it was then!</p>
-
-<p>The tree had never even dreamed of anything so
-beautiful!</p>
-
-<p>Then the children came and danced about the
-tree, singing a Christmas song. The father played on
-his violin, and the baby sat in her mother’s arms,
-smiling and cooing.</p>
-
-<p>“Now I know what I was made for,” thought the
-spruce tree; “I was intended to give joy to the little
-ones, because I, myself, am so small and humble.”</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Anna von Rydingsvärd.</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-
-<h2>A ROSE</h2>
-
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-<div class="verse">A sepal, petal, and a thorn</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Upon a common summer’s morn,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">A flash of dew, a bee or two,</div>
-<div class="verse">A breeze</div>
-<div class="verse">A caper in the trees,—</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And I’m a rose!</span></div>
-<div class="sig">—<i>Emily Dickinson.</i></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />77<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE EVE OF ST. NICHOLAS</h2>
-
-
-<p>It was the Eve of St. Nicholas. In Germany St.
-Nicholas’s Day comes on the sixth of December.</p>
-
-<p>The children were in the nursery. On the hearth
-before the fireplace, were five little sugar shoes.</p>
-
-<p>Thekla was filling her shoe with oats. Max put
-rye in his shoe. Hans put an apple in his, and Gretchen
-filled hers with lumps of sugar.</p>
-
-<p>Betty, the poor little girl who sometimes helped in
-the kitchen, had only a bit of brown bread to put in
-her shoe.</p>
-
-<p>The children were expecting St. Nicholas, who
-always comes on a white horse, and the things in the
-shoes were for the horse to eat.</p>
-
-<p>As the clock struck six there was a loud knock at
-the door.</p>
-
-<p>Aunt Hilda opened the door, and in came St.
-Nicholas. He was very tall and had a long white
-beard. He wore a long black robe and a red and white
-cap, with a big red tassel.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />78<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>“Dear little children,” he said, “it will soon be
-Christmas. I have come to find the good children. I
-shall bring gifts to them on Christmas Eve. Has
-Thekla learned to knit?”</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 494px;">
-<img src="images/i-082.jpg" width="494" height="364" alt="Santa Caus at the door" />
-</div>
-
-<p>“Yes, indeed,” said her mother. “See this pair of
-stockings she has knit for Hans.”</p>
-
-<p>“They are very well made,” said St. Nicholas.
-“I shall surely bring a gift for Thekla. Has Hans
-learned to get up early?”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />79<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>“We have not had to call him for six weeks,” said
-his father.</p>
-
-<p>“Good,” said St. Nicholas. “Has Max learned his
-multiplication tables?”</p>
-
-<p>“Max is trying very hard,” said Aunt Hilda. “He
-knows all but the nines and twelves.”</p>
-
-<p>“And the dear little Gretchen?” said St. Nicholas,
-patting the baby’s golden curls.</p>
-
-<p>They all smiled, and the mother said, “The dear
-little Gretchen is always sweet and good.”</p>
-
-<p>“Well, well, I shall certainly bring many beautiful
-gifts to this house,” said St. Nicholas.</p>
-
-<p>“And don’t forget little Betty,” said Aunt Hilda.</p>
-
-<p>So the good Saint took the oats, the rye and the
-apple, the lumps of sugar, and the bit of brown
-bread out of the sugar shoes and went out into
-the night. I suppose he gave them to his horse.</p>
-
-<p>“St. Nicholas has eyes like Uncle Max,” said
-Thekla.</p>
-
-<p>“He smiled like Uncle Max, too,” said her
-brother.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />80<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>St. Nicholas kept his word. On Christmas Eve
-there was a Christmas tree in the parlor. On it there
-were many beautiful gifts, and little Betty was not
-forgotten.</p>
-
-<p>The next night the children hung gifts on the same
-tree for father, mother, Uncle Max, Aunt Hilda, and
-the dear Grandfather.</p>
-
-<p>Each one of the children had something of his very
-own for Grandfather.</p>
-
-<p>Thekla had knit a warm scarf for him. Max can
-carve in wood, so he had made a stout cane and had
-carved it very handsomely.</p>
-
-<p>Hans drew a picture for him, and the dear little
-Gretchen gave him two of her very best kisses.</p>
-
-<p>Oh, it was a very happy Christmas!</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />81<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>ROBIN REDBREAST</h2>
-
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Good-by, good-by to summer!</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">For summer’s nearly done;</span></div>
-<div class="verse">The garden smiling faintly,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Cool breezes in the sun;</span></div>
-<div class="verse">Our thrushes now are silent,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Our swallows flown away,—</span></div>
-<div class="verse">But Robin’s here, in coat of brown,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And ruddy breast-knot gay,</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Robin, Robin Redbreast,</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 3em;">O Robin dear!</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Robin sings so sweetly</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 3em;">In the falling of the year.</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Bright yellow, red, and orange,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">The leaves come down in hosts;</span></div>
-<div class="verse">The trees are Indian princes,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">But soon they’ll turn to ghosts;</span></div>
-<div class="verse">The leathery pears and apples</div>
-<div class="verse"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />82<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hang russet on the bough;</span></div>
-<div class="verse">It’s autumn, autumn, autumn late,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">’Twill soon be winter now.</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Robin, Robin Redbreast,</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 3em;">O Robin dear!</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And what will this poor Robin do?</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 3em;">For pinching days are near.</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">The fireside for the cricket,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">The wheat stack for the mouse,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">When trembling night-winds whistle</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And moan all round the house.</span></div>
-<div class="verse">The frosty ways like iron,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">The branches plumed with snow,—</span></div>
-<div class="verse">Alas! in winter dead and dark,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Where can poor Robin go?</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Robin, Robin Redbreast,</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 3em;">O Robin dear!</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And a crumb of bread for Robin,</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 3em;">His little heart to cheer!</span></div>
-<div class="sig">—<i>William Allingham.</i></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />83<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>“THE LITTLE TURKEYS”</h2>
-
-<h3>IN SCHOOL</h3>
-
-
-<p>The “little Turkeys” that I am going to tell you
-about are the children that live in a far away land
-called Turkey.</p>
-
-<p>To reach this land you would have to travel many
-hundreds of miles in railroad trains and big ships.</p>
-
-<p>In fact it is almost as far away as China, and that,
-you know, is farther away than you can imagine.</p>
-
-<p>The “little Turkeys” are very interesting, and
-they would think your way of living just as strange as
-you will think theirs is.</p>
-
-<p>To begin at the very beginning, the tiny baby
-doesn’t wear any dresses. He is wrapped round and
-round, body, legs, and arms, with cloths, until he
-looks like a dry-goods bundle.</p>
-
-<p>Every baby wears a gay little bonnet, usually bright
-green, because the favorite color of the Turks is green.</p>
-
-<p>The Turkish baby is often hung up in a little cloth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />84<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-hammock, but sometimes he is rocked to sleep in a
-wooden cradle.</p>
-
-<p>The cradle is a long wooden box on low rockers
-with high carved ends.</p>
-
-<p>In the Sultan’s treasure house is a cradle of solid
-gold, decorated with pearls, diamonds, and rubies.
-This is the cradle in which the baby princes are rocked;
-and it is very beautiful, as you can easily imagine.</p>
-
-<p>When the boy baby is about a year old he is placed
-in charge of a man nurse, if the father is not too poor.
-This man takes care of him until he is six years old.</p>
-
-<p>Then the boy is given a new suit of clothes and a
-pony, and he is ready to go to school. Almost all of
-the boys in Turkey ride on horse-back. I think you
-would like that.</p>
-
-<p>The new suit may be big baggy trousers, with an
-embroidered shirt and short jacket. Or it may be
-long full trousers of gay striped calico, and a little
-jacket, quilted in puffy squares.</p>
-
-<p>Every boy wears on his head a red fez with a black
-tassel.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />85<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>In his new suit, the boy starts off for school on his
-pony, and his brothers go with him. The bells on the
-pony jingle, the boys shout and sing, and it is a very
-merry procession.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 490px;">
-<img src="images/i-089.jpg" width="490" height="365" alt="three boys, wearing fezes, sitting on mats reading" />
-</div>
-
-<p>The schoolhouse stands near the church. Inside,
-it is very plain. There is a blackboard hung from
-the ceiling, a shelf for books and slates, and one for a
-water jar.</p>
-
-<p>There is a little shelf for the teacher’s pipe, and a
-place where he makes coffee over a tiny lamp. For<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />86<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-the teacher smokes and sips coffee while the children
-study their lessons.</p>
-
-<p>The children sit cross-legged on mats on the floor,
-and study out loud, bending their bodies back and
-forth all the time. Perhaps they think this helps them
-to remember.</p>
-
-<p>They learn their letters, and very queer letters
-you would think them, out of the Koran. They have
-no other book until they know this one by heart,
-and can repeat it and write it.</p>
-
-<p>Then they learn a little arithmetic and a very little
-geography.</p>
-
-<p>In olden times the girls did not go to school at all,
-but stayed at home learning to keep house, sew, and
-embroider. They were also taught to weave cloth and
-to make beautiful rugs.</p>
-
-<p>Now there are many schools for girls, as well as
-high schools and colleges for both girls and boys.</p>
-
-<p>The noise of the studying is stopped once during
-the day. At noon the time for prayer is called out
-from the tower of the church. Then all is quiet for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />87<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-a few minutes while teacher and pupils kneel to say
-the midday prayer.</p>
-
-<p>Then the candy-man appears with all sorts of sweets
-on trays. The candies are called “Turkish delights.”
-They are “pasty, creamy, crackly things, made from
-rose-leaves, violets, nuts, dates and grapes, mixed
-with honey, sugar, syrup and spices.”</p>
-
-<p>Doesn’t that sound good enough to eat?</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Where do the “little Turkeys” live?</p>
-
-<p>How would you reach their country?</p>
-
-<p>Describe the Turkish baby’s cradle.</p>
-
-<p>Describe the princes’ cradle.</p>
-
-<p>How does the Turkish boy go to school?</p>
-
-<p>Tell what you can about the school.</p>
-
-<p>What does the candy-man sell?</p>
-
-<p>What are the candies made of, and what are they
-called?</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />88<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>“THE LITTLE TURKEYS”</h2>
-
-<h3>AT HOME</h3>
-
-
-<p>Little boys who like to lie in bed in the morning
-would not like to live in Turkey.</p>
-
-<p>All the grown people and all the children have to
-get up twice every day.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 495px;">
-<img src="images/i-092.jpg" width="495" height="358" alt="chidlren and  man hodling tray of things to sell" />
-</div>
-
-<p>They get up first at day-break, wash their faces
-and hands, and repeat their morning prayer. Then
-they go back to bed.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />89<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>Two hours later they rise, wash, and have their coffee.
-Breakfast is served two hours later still.</p>
-
-<p>After breakfast the father goes to work and the
-mother gets the children ready for school.</p>
-
-<p>The children have their lunch at school, as I told
-you. Dinner is served at night. If there are gentlemen
-to dine with the father, only the sons sit at the table.
-The mother and daughters dine in another room.</p>
-
-<p>After dinner every one has a good time. The children
-play games, and sometimes the older people play
-with them. They are also fond of story telling, and tell
-wonderful stories of battle and adventure.</p>
-
-<p>Then the family goes to bed on the floor. That is,
-they lay mattresses on the floor and cover themselves
-with blankets.</p>
-
-<p>Every one goes to church on Friday. The boys
-sit with their father, and the girls sit with their mother
-in a gallery where they cannot be seen. At the entrance
-to the church they wash their hands and feet and put
-on a pair of slippers.</p>
-
-<p>After church the children play games of tag, or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />90<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-hide-and-seek. They have few toys. The girls have
-dolls, and the boys have marbles or balls. The
-marbles are nothing but a kind of round nut.</p>
-
-<p>They do not have the holidays you do, but there
-are a few feast days, when they have a very good
-time. One of the feasts is like our Easter, only it
-lasts three days. Then there are merry-go-rounds in
-the squares, and ponies to ride on for a penny.</p>
-
-<p>The girls have new dresses of red, blue and yellow
-silk, and the boys have gay little uniforms.</p>
-
-<p>The candy-men walk the streets with big trays
-piled high with sweets, and every one eats a great deal
-too much candy.</p>
-
-<p>Should you like to live in Turkey, or do you like
-your own country best?</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Tell what the “Little Turkeys” do in the morning.</p>
-
-<p>What do the children do after dinner?</p>
-
-<p>What toys do they have? What games do they play?</p>
-
-<p>Where do the Turkish people sleep?</p>
-
-<p>Would you like to live in Turkey? Why?</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />91<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>“GILLYFLOWER GENTLEMAN”</h2>
-
-
-<p>“Why do you play alone, dear,” asked the Play
-Angel, “and look so sadly over your shoulder at
-the other children?”</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 488px;">
-<img src="images/i-095.jpg" width="488" height="350" alt="angel talking to little girl who is feeling left out" />
-</div>
-
-<p>“Because they are so selfish!” said the child.
-“They will not play with me.”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, what a pity!” said the Angel. “Tell me all
-about it.”</p>
-
-<p>“I want to play one game, and they all want to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />92<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-play another!” said the child. “It is very unkind of
-them.”</p>
-
-<p>“Did you ever play Gillyflower Gentleman?” asked
-the Angel.</p>
-
-<p>“No,” said the child. “What is it?”</p>
-
-<p>“You shall see,” said the Angel. “Let us ask the
-others if they know it.”</p>
-
-<p>The other children did not know it, but they were
-eager to learn, and soon they were all playing Gillyflower
-Gentleman. They played till all their breath
-was gone, and they had to sit down on the haycocks
-to rest.</p>
-
-<p>“That was a fine game!” said the first child. “I
-will play yours now, if you wish me to.”</p>
-
-<p>“We were just going to tell you that we would play
-yours,” said the other children. So they played both
-the games, and the Play Angel went back to her work.</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Laura E. Richards.</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />93<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE RULER</h2>
-
-
-<p>It was time for the Child to have lessons. The
-father gave him a sheet of paper, smooth and
-white; a pencil, and a ruler.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 489px;">
-<img src="images/i-097.jpg" width="489" height="369" alt="man handing ruler to son" />
-</div>
-
-<p>“Write as well as you can,” he said, “and be sure
-you keep the lines straight!”</p>
-
-<p>The Child admired the ruler very much. “I will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />94<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-put it up on the wall,” he said, “where I can see it
-always.”</p>
-
-<p>So he put it up on the wall, and the sunbeams
-sparkled on it.</p>
-
-<p>“It must be pure gold,” said the Child; “there is
-nothing else so beautiful in the world.” And then he
-began his task.</p>
-
-<p>By and by the lesson time was over, and the father
-came to see what had been done.</p>
-
-<p>The Child showed him the paper on which he had
-written his task. Up and down went the lines, here
-and there, from side to side of the sheet, which was
-covered with sprawling, straggling letters. There were
-spots, too, where he had tried to rub out something.
-It was not a pretty page.</p>
-
-<p>“What is this?” asked the father. “Where is your
-ruler?”</p>
-
-<p>“There it is,” said the Child. “It is up on the
-wall. It was so beautiful that I put it up there where
-I could see it all the time. See where it hangs! But
-it does not seem as bright as it was.”</p>
-
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />95<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>“No,” said the father. “It would have been
-brighter if you had used it.”</p>
-
-<p>“But I admired it very much,” said the Child.</p>
-
-<p>“But your lines are crooked,” said the father.</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Laura E. Richards (Adapted).</i><br />
-</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-
-<h2>THE MOON</h2>
-
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-<div class="verse">There’s a throne in the east and a throne in the west,</div>
-<div class="verse">And the royal heavens lie between.</div>
-<div class="verse">For the golden sun is a sceptred king,</div>
-<div class="verse">And the moon is his crownéd queen.</div>
-<div class="verse">A lonely queen is the silver moon,</div>
-<div class="verse">Though the dimpling stars her maidens are;</div>
-<div class="verse">She passes among them silently</div>
-<div class="verse">As she follows her lord afar.</div>
-<div class="sig">—<i>Edith Colby Banfield.</i></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />96<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE CHILDREN OF ARMENIA</h2>
-
-
-<p>When you were a very little boy did you have a
-“Noah’s Ark” for a plaything? And do you remember
-the story of “Noah and his Ark?”</p>
-
-<p>This story tells, you remember, about a severe storm,
-when it rained forty days and forty nights and all the
-land was flooded.</p>
-
-<p>But Noah had built an ark and invited two animals
-of every kind, and a few persons, to live in his ark
-during the flood.</p>
-
-<p>When the storms were over, the ark rested on a
-mountain, and this was Mount Ararat.</p>
-
-<p>Mount Ararat is in the country of Armenia, and in
-this country lives a very interesting people.</p>
-
-<p>Armenia is a mountainous country and Mount
-Ararat is the highest of all the mountains. It is so
-high that it has a snow cap all the year round, even
-during the hottest part of the summer.</p>
-
-<p>The Armenian children are often very pretty, with
-black hair, black eyes, and round, red cheeks. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />97<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-are bright and anxious to learn, and they often ride a
-long way on donkey-back to get to the church schools.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 490px;">
-<img src="images/i-101.jpg" width="490" height="361" alt="three children on donkey" />
-</div>
-
-<p>The schools are not free like the school you go to,
-and often the parents have to pay the school with
-grain and cheese because they have no money.</p>
-
-<p>There is a free school near every church, and the
-priest is the teacher. Here the little boys and girls
-learn the Armenian alphabet, and also study reading,
-writing, geography, and grammar.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />98<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>The mirigs (mothers) of the little Armenians have
-to wake them very early, for they have to go to
-school at seven.</p>
-
-<p>They sit cross-legged on the floor, and study their
-lessons aloud. All the children carry a lunch from
-home, and they eat together in another little room,
-still sitting on the floor.</p>
-
-<p>Boys and girls go to the same school until they
-are ten or twelve years old; then the girls go to a
-different school. Here they learn dressmaking and
-embroidery. The materials are supplied by the
-school, and at the end of the year the articles are
-sold and the money goes to the school.</p>
-
-<p>The boys do not earn money for the school, but they
-have to sing in the church on Sunday.</p>
-
-<p>When school closes at night the children form in
-line, with their hands folded, and march to their
-homes. The line stops at each house where a child
-lives, while the little one bids his friends good-night.</p>
-
-<p>In winter there are deep snows, and then Hagop<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />99<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-(Jacob) and Garabet (George) and the other boys
-build snowmen and have snowball battles.</p>
-
-<p>But in summer they work more than they play,
-for they have to go up to the mountains with herds
-of goats. A few women go to cook for them, and they
-all live in huts built of boughs.</p>
-
-<p>The girls have rag dolls, with painted eyes, nose
-and mouth, and very red cheeks. These dolls are dressed
-just like the little girls, with gaily colored dresses
-of red, green, purple, or yellow. Their hair is braided
-in long braids, and strung with beads and coins.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Where is Mount Ararat?</p>
-
-<p>Tell the story of Noah and his Ark.</p>
-
-<p>What is the highest mountain in Armenia?</p>
-
-<p>What covers the top of this mountain?</p>
-
-<p>What is the Armenian word for “mamma?”</p>
-
-<p>What do the children learn in the church schools?</p>
-
-<p>How do the children go home from school?</p>
-
-<p>What do the boys do in winter? In summer?</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />100<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>ARMENIAN HOMES</h2>
-
-
-<p>Hagop and Garabet live at the foot of Mount Ararat
-in a small village.</p>
-
-<p>Their father is very poor and cannot afford to
-build a house, so they live in a hut, built of mud,
-with walls three feet thick.</p>
-
-<p>The inside of the house is plastered with chopped
-straw and mud mixed together. The mud roof is flat
-and is kept smooth by rolling it often with a stone,
-or treading it with bare feet. Hagop and Garabet
-think it is great fun to go up on the roof after it rains
-and tread the soft mud with their bare feet. Then
-their father rolls it with a big round stone until it is
-smooth and firm.</p>
-
-<p>There are many huts like this in Armenia, and
-they are often half under ground, with the earth
-that has been dug out piled up around them. A
-village of such dwellings looks a good deal like a
-village of huge ant-hills.</p>
-
-<p>There is only one door for the people and animals.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />101<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-Animals? Yes, animals. For in winter the poor
-people let the animals come into the room with them,
-and almost every family has at least a few goats.</p>
-
-<p>There is a fireplace in the middle of the earth floor
-for cooking, but there is no chimney, and the room
-is very smoky.</p>
-
-<p>The mother makes big thin sheets of blanket bread
-and bakes it before the fire. Sometimes she makes
-little cakes of the bread and spreads them with thick
-cream.</p>
-
-<p>The children drink goats’ milk with their bread,
-and once in a long while they have a few raisins.</p>
-
-<p>There are no windows in the hut, instead there are
-a few holes for light; and there are no tables, no
-chairs, no beds, no bureaus. In fact there is no furniture
-except some mats and blankets. Hagop’s mother
-weaves the mats and blankets herself. The children
-like to watch the patterns grow on the rugs as the
-mother weaves the colored threads back and
-forth.</p>
-
-<p>The people sit on the mats in the daytime and at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />102<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-night they roll themselves in the blankets and sleep on
-these same mats.</p>
-
-<p>Of course the rich people in the towns and cities
-have much more comfortable houses, and they often
-have beautiful carved furniture and handsome rugs.
-But these houses have flat roofs, too, and in summer
-every one, rich or poor, lives on the roofs.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 496px;">
-<img src="images/i-106.jpg" width="496" height="369" alt="little girl watching woman weave on large frame" />
-</div>
-
-<p>There all the work is done; the women weave rugs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />103<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-or make beautiful lace; the little girls play with their
-dolls; and at night the mats are spread and the family
-sleep under the stars.</p>
-
-<p>I do not believe I should like to live in Armenia,
-but I should enjoy sleeping out of doors on the warm
-summer nights, watching the twinkling stars until I
-fell asleep.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Describe the house where Hagop and Garabet live.</p>
-
-<p>What does a village of these huts look like?</p>
-
-<p>Where do the goats live?</p>
-
-<p>What makes the house smoky?</p>
-
-<p>What do the children have to eat and drink?</p>
-
-<p>Describe the inside of the house where Hagop and
-Garabet live.</p>
-
-<p>Where do the people live in the summer time?</p>
-
-<p>Where do they sleep in summer? In winter?</p>
-
-<p>Tell all the things you can that Hagop’s mother has
-to do.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />104<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE NEST</h2>
-
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Under the apple tree, somebody said,</div>
-<div class="verse">“Look at that robin’s nest overhead!</div>
-<div class="verse">All of sharp sticks, and of mud, and clay—</div>
-<div class="verse">What a rough home for a summer day!”</div>
-<div class="verse">Gaunt stood the apple tree, gaunt and bare,</div>
-<div class="verse">And creaked in the winds which blustered there.</div>
-<div class="verse">The nest was wet with the April rain;</div>
-<div class="verse">The clay ran down in an ugly stain;</div>
-<div class="verse">Little it looked, I must truly say,</div>
-<div class="verse">Like a lovely home for a summer day.</div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Up in the apple tree, somebody laughed,</div>
-<div class="verse">“Little you know of the true home-craft.</div>
-<div class="verse">Laugh if you like, at my sticks and clay;</div>
-<div class="verse">They’ll make a good home for a summer day.</div>
-<div class="verse">May turns the apple tree pink and white,</div>
-<div class="verse">Sunny all day, and fragrant all night.</div>
-<div class="verse">My babies will never feel the showers,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />105<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>For rain can’t get through these feathers of ours.</div>
-<div class="verse">Snug under my wings they will cuddle and creep,</div>
-<div class="verse">The happiest babies awake or asleep,”</div>
-<div class="verse">Said the robin-mother, flying away</div>
-<div class="verse">After more of the sticks and mud and clay.</div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Under the apple tree somebody sighed,</div>
-<div class="verse">“Ah me, the blunder of folly and pride!</div>
-<div class="verse">The roughest small house of mud or clay</div>
-<div class="verse">Might be a sweet home for a summer day,</div>
-<div class="verse">Sunny and fragrant all day, all night,</div>
-<div class="verse">With only good cheer for fragrance and light;</div>
-<div class="verse">And the bitterest storms of grief and pain</div>
-<div class="verse">Will beat and break on that home in vain,</div>
-<div class="verse">Where a true-hearted mother broods alway,</div>
-<div class="verse">And makes the whole year like a summer day.”</div>
-<div class="sig">—<i>Helen Hunt Jackson.</i></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />106<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>AHMOW—THE WOLF</h2>
-
-
-<h3>I</h3>
-
-<p>Little Ahmow was an Eskimo boy. He lived with
-his parents on the bleak northern shore of Hudson
-Bay.</p>
-
-<p>During the long Arctic winter these Eskimos kill
-the walrus which live at the edge of the ice. In the
-short summer they hunt them on the islands near the
-shore.</p>
-
-<p>The walrus meat is cut into strips and sewed up in
-bags made of the walrus skin. This is to keep the
-dogs from stealing and eating it.</p>
-
-<p>The walrus oil is put into casks to be used in the
-dark winter months for heat and light.</p>
-
-<p>Ahmow’s father killed many walrus every summer
-and stored the meat and oil on the islands. Then in
-the winter he rode over on the ice to get it.</p>
-
-<p>One cold winter day, when Ahmow was ten years
-old, his father said, “To-morrow I shall go to the
-island for oil.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />107<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>“We need meat, too,” said his wife, “and food for
-the dogs.”</p>
-
-<p>“May I go with you, father?” said Ahmow. “I
-will help you all I can.”</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 488px;">
-<img src="images/i-111.jpg" width="488" height="359" alt="child, dog and sled and igloo" />
-</div>
-
-<p>“No,” answered Nannook. “It is far and you are
-only a boy.”</p>
-
-<p>Ahmow begged so hard that at last his father said
-he might go.</p>
-
-<p>“But it will be a long cold ride, and there are often
-bears and wolves on the island.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />108<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>So Ahmow dressed himself in his new reindeer suit
-that his mother had made, and pulled his sealskin
-cap well over his ears.</p>
-
-<p>He helped his father get ready for the long, cold
-journey. First they put a thick coating of ice on the
-sledge-runners. Then they filled two sealskin bags
-with food and water.</p>
-
-<p>They called the dogs and harnessed them to the
-sledge. There were eight of them, and they could
-run like the wind.</p>
-
-<p>Last of all Ahmow crawled into the house, bade his
-mother good-by, and brought out the long whip.</p>
-
-<p>Nannook wrapped his little boy in a bearskin,
-cracked his whip over the dogs, and away they flew
-over the ice. Oh, how happy Ahmow was!</p>
-
-
-<h3>II</h3>
-
-<p>After a while the dogs stopped running and began
-to trot, and Ahmow looked about over the vast fields
-of ice.</p>
-
-<p>Not a tree, not a house, not a person was in sight.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />109<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-As far as he could see there was nothing but ice and
-snow. Everything was still and white in the dim light.</p>
-
-<p>When they had nearly reached the island, what
-did they see but a huge polar bear! He was prowling
-around the oil casks, looking for something to eat.</p>
-
-<p>Nannook unharnessed the dogs at once. “Go,”
-he cried, and they raced across the ice after the bear.</p>
-
-<p>The bear was so big and clumsy that he could not
-run fast. The dogs soon surrounded him, and held
-him until Nannook came running up to shoot him.</p>
-
-<p>Ahmow helped his father skin the bear and cut up
-the meat. Then they loaded the sledge with a cask of
-oil, some walrus meat, the bearskin, and part of the
-bear meat.</p>
-
-<p>After eating their luncheon, Ahmow was again
-rolled up in the bear rug, and they started for home.
-Nannook walked beside the sledge. The dogs walked
-too, because the load was so heavy.</p>
-
-<p>When they were nearly halfway home, Nannook
-saw some reindeer.</p>
-
-<p>“Watch the dogs, Ahmow,” he said, “and I will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />110<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-try to shoot one of those reindeer. Then we can have
-a fine dinner.”</p>
-
-<p>So he took the gun and ran swiftly over the snow.
-Soon he was out of sight, and Ahmow was alone
-with the dogs.</p>
-
-<p>The little boy played with the dogs at first, but after
-a while they curled up and went to sleep.</p>
-
-<p>Ahmow was sleepy, too, and it was so warm in the
-bear rug that he almost went to sleep.</p>
-
-<p>All at once he heard a growl, then a dog barked.
-Ahmow was wide awake and listening. “What is
-it, Naka?” he said to the dog that barked.</p>
-
-<p>Naka barked again, and the hair stood up straight
-on his back.</p>
-
-<p>Ahmow stood up and looked about. There was a
-fierce, hungry-looking wolf coming toward him! He
-looked again! One, two, three, four wolves were
-leaping over the snow!</p>
-
-<p>The boy threw off the rug, and seized his father’s
-whip and walrus spear. “Come here,” he called to
-the dogs. “Come here to the sledge.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />111<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>Then, as the wolves came nearer, he jumped into
-the cask of meat.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 489px;">
-<img src="images/i-115.jpg" width="489" height="365" alt="boy being attacked by wolves" />
-</div>
-
-<p>One big wolf ran up to the sledge. Ahmow leaned
-over and struck him with the whip with all his
-might. The wolf howled and turned back.</p>
-
-<p>Another wolf would have killed one of the dogs, but
-Ahmow threw out a big piece of bear meat. The
-wolf seized the meat and began to eat it.</p>
-
-<p>Now a third wolf came up to the sledge. Just
-then Ahmow saw his father running toward him.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />112<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>“He will drive the wolves away,” he thought,
-“but I should like to kill one if I can.”</p>
-
-<p>So he held the spear as he had seen his father hold
-it. As the wolf came nearer, he raised it. As the
-wolf jumped, he threw it with all his might right into
-the wide-open mouth. There was a howl, a growl,
-and then the wolf tried to run away. But Ahmow
-wound the spear line around the sledge post and held
-it tight.</p>
-
-<p>Nannook shot two of the wolves, but the one that
-had the meat got away with it.</p>
-
-<p>Then as he ran to the sledge, “Look, father,”
-cried Ahmow. “See this fine wolf, with the sharp
-nose, and the bushy tail. He is held fast with the
-walrus line, and he has eaten the walrus spear.”</p>
-
-<p>“Well done, lad,” said his father. “You will be
-a good hunter. Now, you shall have a spear of your
-own and you shall go with me on the big hunts.”</p>
-
-<p>So from that day the boy was a hunter, and the
-people in the village called him “Ahmow,” which
-means, “little wolf.”</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Frederick Schwatka.</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />113<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>ESKIMO CHILDREN</h2>
-
-
-<p>The Eskimos live in Greenland. I am sure you
-would wonder why it is called “Greenland,” for
-it is almost never “green.” Nearly all the year
-round the ground is covered with ice and snow, so
-that it seems as if “Whiteland” would be a better
-name.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 490px;">
-<img src="images/i-117.jpg" width="490" height="357" alt="two children ice fishing" />
-</div>
-
-<p>It is so cold in Greenland that the Eskimos have
-to wear very warm clothing. The boys and girls<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />114<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-and men and women dress very much alike. They
-wear trousers made of bearskin and coats made of
-sealskin. Their stockings are like leggings and are
-made of birdskin, with soft feathers inside to keep
-their feet warm. Over these they wear sealskin
-boots, which are long enough to cover their knees.</p>
-
-<p>It is so cold in Greenland that trees cannot grow.
-If you think of all the ways in which we use the wood
-from our forest trees you will wonder what the Eskimos
-can do without them.</p>
-
-<p>We build houses of wood, but the Eskimos make
-theirs of blocks of ice and snow.</p>
-
-<p>We burn wood in our stoves. The Eskimos burn
-oil and fat which they get from the walrus and the
-seal. They burn this oil in a lamp which gives them
-all the light and heat they have.</p>
-
-<p>Our beds, chairs and tables are made of wood. The
-Eskimos have no beds. They sleep on bearskin rugs.</p>
-
-<p>They have no tables and no chairs. A big bowl
-made of bone is set on the floor, and the family sit
-around the bowl on bearskins, and eat out of it.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />115<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>There are no stores in Greenland, no churches,
-and no schools. Everything that a family needs has
-to be provided by the father or the mother. The
-father goes hunting and fishing, to get food to eat,
-and oil to burn, and skins to wear. He catches fish,
-and kills bears, seals, walrus, and reindeer. Sometimes
-in the summer he kills a few birds.</p>
-
-<p>The mother helps cut up the meat, and sometimes
-she cooks it, but much of the meat and fat is eaten
-raw. From the skins and furs she makes all the
-clothing for her family.</p>
-
-<p>As there are no schools the Eskimo children never
-learn to read or write, but they like to hear their mother
-and father tell stories, and they learn these stories
-so that they can tell them to their children.</p>
-
-<p>Every one in Greenland has a sled. The runners
-are made of bone, and the top is made of sealskin.
-Dogs draw these sleds over the snow, and they can
-run very fast and very far.</p>
-
-<p>The boys and girls have very few toys, but they
-like to play games, and they have many good times.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />116<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>The girls have dolls made of bone, and the boys
-play a game with a ball and stick made of bone.</p>
-
-<p>But the boys like to hunt and fish. They have
-small boats made of bone and sealskin, and paddles
-made of bone. Of course they can use these boats
-only in the short summer time, as the water is frozen
-the rest of the year. When they go hunting they
-carry spears, and a bow and arrows.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Do you think you would like to live in Greenland?</p>
-
-<p>Name ten things that you have that the Eskimo
-children have never seen.</p>
-
-<p>Tell five things that you can do that the little
-Eskimos cannot do.</p>
-
-<p>What do we have to eat that the Eskimos cannot
-have?</p>
-
-<p>Why do the Eskimos build their houses of
-snow? How is the house heated?</p>
-
-<p>Of what is their clothing made?</p>
-
-<p>How do they cook and eat their food?</p>
-
-<p>What do the Eskimo children do for fun?</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />117<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE DREAM-SHIP</h2>
-
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">The Dream-ship minds no stormy gales,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Her masts are all of gold,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">With splendor of wide silken sails,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Red-rosy, fold on fold.</span></div>
-<div class="verse">They spread below, they spread aloft,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">They’re never reefed nor furled,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">And they will bear us safe and soft,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">The other side the world.</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">We shall not see the shadow crew</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">That work among the spars,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">But watch the topmast sailing through</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">The shoals of shining stars.</span></div>
-<div class="verse">From point to point of silver light,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Through purple gulfs and bays,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">As we below a-gliding go</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Along the water-ways.</span></div>
-<div class="sig">—<i>Blanche M. Channing.</i></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />118<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>A TRIP TO JAPAN</h2>
-
-
-<p>There are so many things to tell you about “Nippon,”
-as the Japanese call their country, that I do
-not know where to begin.</p>
-
-<p>But first of all I must tell you how we landed.
-There were six of us,—Charlotte and Alice and
-Fred, their father and mother, and I,—and we had
-come all the way across the Pacific Ocean in a big
-ship.</p>
-
-<p>Our ship was anchored out in the harbor, and we
-were told we might go ashore.</p>
-
-<p>We wondered if we were expected to swim, but it
-seemed too far for that.</p>
-
-<p>You can imagine how glad we were when we looked
-over the side of the ship and saw a great many little
-boats waiting for us.</p>
-
-<p>A stairway was hung out over the side of the ship,
-and we walked down into the little boats, just as we
-walk down stairs in our houses.</p>
-
-<p>Then the trunks were lowered by ropes into little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />119<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-Japanese rowboats, called sampans, and we waved
-“good-by” to the captain and all our friends on the
-ship.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 490px;">
-<img src="images/i-123.jpg" width="490" height="361" alt="woman with parsol in rickshaw" />
-</div>
-
-<p>Did you ever go to sleep and dream you were in a
-doll’s country, where you seemed like a giant? Alice
-said she knew now just how that other Alice felt in
-her visit to Wonderland, for she never saw such tiny
-little people, and such tiny little houses, and even such
-tiny little trees.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />120<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>When we got on shore we found queer little two-wheeled
-carriages, drawn by men instead of horses.
-The carriages are called jinrikishas, and are just big
-enough for one person.</p>
-
-<p>We each got into one of these carriages and the
-jinrikisha boys picked up the shafts and trotted off
-like nice little ponies.</p>
-
-<p>These boys wear dark-blue trousers that fit their
-legs very tightly, and a short blue jacket with flowing
-sleeves, and on their back is a Chinese letter painted
-in white, which is their employer’s name.</p>
-
-<p>On their feet they wear straw sandals which they
-kick off, when they are worn out, as a horse casts his
-shoe. The hat is a funny round straw disk, covered
-with white, which makes them look like toadstools.</p>
-
-<p>The houses, as I said, are very tiny, not much
-larger than your playhouses, and the walls are all
-made of sliding screens that can be pushed aside,
-leaving the house open.</p>
-
-<p>The floors are covered with matting, which is as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />121<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-soft as cushions, but there is no furniture anywhere
-to be seen, for the Japanese sit on the floor and sleep
-on the floor, and their tables are tiny little trays.</p>
-
-<p>The houses are spotlessly clean, for no Japanese
-would think of going into a house with his shoes on,
-any more than you would walk over your mother’s
-chairs and cushions in your shoes.</p>
-
-<p>One day we went to see a wonderful image. We
-rode out to it in jinrikishas, and we each had two
-’rikisha boys to pull us. We sped along at a rapid
-pace, for the boys are so well trained that they make
-nearly as good time as a horse, and a day’s run is
-sometimes as much as forty miles.</p>
-
-<p>We had a regular Japanese “tiffin,” or lunch, at
-a little Japanese inn that had a pretty garden all
-around it. We took off our shoes at the door just as
-the Japanese do, and walked across the soft, matted
-floor.</p>
-
-<p>A screen was drawn aside for us to enter, and then
-closed again, leaving us in a little room. Here we all
-squatted on our heels, as nearly like a Japanese as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />122<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-our stiff muscles would let us, for, without being
-trained, it is hard to shut up like a jackknife.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 491px;">
-<img src="images/i-126.jpg" width="491" height="360" alt="woman in kimono carrying tea set iinto room" />
-</div>
-
-<p>Then pretty little Japanese girls stole in noiselessly,
-bringing us trays of food, one for each person, and
-knelt down beside us to uncover our dishes and wait
-on us.</p>
-
-<p>In one tiny bowl was some vegetable soup, in
-another some rice, and in a third some fish, which
-was cooked for us, though to have been truly Japanese
-we should have eaten it raw.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />123<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>Of course there was tea. Everywhere you go they
-give you tea in wee cups without handles; just about
-a thimbleful, without cream and without sugar;
-not at all as we drink it at home.</p>
-
-<p>But with all this feast before us, there was nothing
-to eat it with but two funny little chopsticks, and
-terrible times we had trying to manage those little
-sticks that serve the Japanese so well, but which
-seemed bewitched the minute we got them between
-our fingers.</p>
-
-<p>After trying a long time we would get a mouthful,
-as we thought, firmly fixed between the chopsticks,
-but just as we would open our mouths to take it in,
-the bewitched chopsticks would give a twitch, and
-down the whole thing would fall again.</p>
-
-<p>So, though we spent much time over it, we ate
-very little, and we all agreed that it is better to eat
-with forks as we do in America.</p>
-
-<p>After tiffin we went to a silk factory, for a great
-deal of silk is manufactured in Japan. There we
-found over three thousand girls and women busy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />124<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-unrolling the cocoons. The silk is woven in another
-place, and rolled in neat rolls, ready for sale.</p>
-
-<p>Most of the way we rode along the beach, where
-we could see the fishermen in their boats, and in one
-boat was a boy we called Urashima, for when we
-looked for him a second time he had disappeared.</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Charlotte Chaffee Gibson.</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>What do the Japanese call their country?</p>
-
-<p>Where was the big ship anchored?</p>
-
-<p>How did the passengers get from the ship to the
-shore?</p>
-
-<p>What is a jinrikisha? How is it drawn?</p>
-
-<p>Describe a Japanese house.</p>
-
-<p>What is the Japanese word for lunch?</p>
-
-<p>What did the children have to eat at the inn?</p>
-
-<p>What did they have to eat it with?</p>
-
-<p>Where did they go after “tiffin?”</p>
-
-<p>What would you like to do if you should go to
-Japan?</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />125<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>URASHIMA</h2>
-
-
-<p>Urashima was a fisher-boy who lived long ago in
-Japan.</p>
-
-<p>One day he went out in his boat, and after he had
-been fishing a little while, he felt something very heavy
-tugging at his line.</p>
-
-<p>He gave a hard pull and got it up into his boat.
-Then he found that it was a big tortoise with such
-a funny old wrinkled face that he burst out laughing
-when he saw it.</p>
-
-<p>In Japan a tortoise lives a thousand years, so Urashima
-thought it would be a shame to kill this funny
-old fellow, when he might have so long to live. Besides,
-a small fish would suit him just as well for
-dinner, so he threw the tortoise back into the sea, and
-meant to go on fishing.</p>
-
-<p>But somehow the air seemed too heavy and drowsy,
-just as it does on a summer’s day, and Urashima fell
-asleep.</p>
-
-<p>While he was sleeping a beautiful maiden rose out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />126<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-of the water and got into the boat with him. Urashima
-waked, and when he saw her he thought she
-was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.</p>
-
-<p>The maiden spoke to him. “Urashima,” she said,
-“you thought you caught a tortoise a little while ago,
-but it was really me. My father had sent me in disguise
-to see if you were a good, kind boy.</p>
-
-<p>“We know now that you are kind-hearted, as you
-spared the life of the old tortoise. So I am going to
-take you with me to the Dragon Palace, where my
-father, the Sea King, and I live. There you shall
-marry me, and we shall be very happy.”</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 506px;">
-<img src="images/i-131.jpg" width="506" height="684" alt="Woman and boy in boat surrounded by lilies" />
-<div class="caption">I AM GOING TO TAKE YOU WITH ME TO THE DRAGON PALACE.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Urashima gladly consented, and they floated away
-till they came to a wonderful palace at the bottom of
-the sea.</p>
-
-<p>This palace was all built of the most beautiful pink
-and white coral, and was studded with diamonds and
-pearls.</p>
-
-<p>The leaves of the trees were emeralds, with berries
-of rubies and sapphires; and the fishes’ scales were of
-pure silver and gold.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />127<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>All this was given to Urashima, and the beautiful
-princess became his wife. Any boy would be happy
-in such a palace, and Urashima was happy for three
-years.</p>
-
-<p>Then he said to the princess, “I must go to see my
-father and mother, and my brothers and sisters, but I
-will return again to you.”</p>
-
-<p>This made the poor princess very sad, for she did
-not wish to have Urashima go away.</p>
-
-<p>But when she saw how much he wished to go, she
-gave him a little box to take with him, telling him
-under no conditions to open it, for if he did he could
-never return to her.</p>
-
-<p>So Urashima started off, and soon found himself
-on the shore where he had lived. But everything seemed
-strangely different. Even the people were different
-and looked at him in a curious way.</p>
-
-<p>He could not seem to find his way home, so he asked
-two men whom he met if they could tell him how to
-reach the house of Urashima’s parents.</p>
-
-<p>“Urashima!” they cried. “Why, he was drowned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />128<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-out fishing about four hundred years ago, and not even
-his body was found. His father and mother are
-buried over there.”</p>
-
-<p>Then they moved away hastily, for they thought
-he must be insane.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 491px;">
-<img src="images/i-134.jpg" width="491" height="358" alt="boy releasing cloud" />
-</div>
-
-<p>Poor Urashima could not think what to do. He
-began to think that the Dragon Palace must be a part
-of Fairyland, where a day is the same as a year on
-earth, and he wished to return to it. But how could he
-find the way?</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />129<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>He could not remember how he had come.</p>
-
-<p>Suddenly he thought of the box that the princess
-had given him, and forgetting that he had promised
-not to open it, he pulled open the lid, hoping to learn
-the way back.</p>
-
-<p>There was nothing in the box but a fleecy white
-cloud that floated softly up into the blue sky.</p>
-
-<p>Then, too late, he remembered what the princess
-had said, and he called and called the cloud to come
-back. He even ran along the beach trying to catch it.</p>
-
-<p>But soon he could not call, for his breath came
-shorter and shorter, his hair turned white, and his
-back became weak and bent.</p>
-
-<p>Finally he fell down on the beach, crushed by the
-weight of his four hundred years.</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Charlotte Chaffee Gibson.</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />130<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>A DAY</h2>
-
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">I’ll tell you how the sun rose,—</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">A ribbon at a time.</span></div>
-<div class="verse">The steeples swam in amethyst,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">The news like squirrels ran.</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">The hills untied their bonnets,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">The bobolinks begun,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">Then I said softly to myself,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">“That must have been the sun!”</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse"><hr class="tb" /></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">But how he set, I know not.</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">There seemed a purple stile</span></div>
-<div class="verse">Which little yellow boys and girls</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Were climbing all the while.</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Till when they reached the other side,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">A dominie in gray</span></div>
-<div class="verse">Put gently up the evening bars,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And led the flock away.</span></div>
-<div class="sig">—<i>Emily Dickinson.</i></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />131<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE ANTS’ MONDAY DINNER</h2>
-
-
-<p>How did I know what the ants had for dinner last
-Monday? It is odd that I should have known, but
-I’ll tell you how it happened.</p>
-
-<p>I was sitting under a big pine tree, high up on a hillside.
-The hillside was more than seven thousand
-feet above the sea, and that is higher than many mountains
-which people travel hundreds of miles to look at.
-But this hillside was in Colorado, so there was nothing
-wonderful in being up so high.</p>
-
-<p>I had been watching the great mountains with snow
-on them, and the great forests of pine trees—miles
-and miles of them—so close together that it looks
-as if you could lie down on their tops and not fall
-through; and my eyes were tired with looking at
-such great, grand things, so many miles off.</p>
-
-<p>So I looked down on the ground where I was sitting,
-and watched the ants which were running about
-everywhere, as busy and restless as if they had the
-whole world on their shoulders.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />132<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>Suddenly I saw a tiny caterpillar, which seemed
-to be bounding along in a very strange way. In a
-second more I saw an ant seize hold of him and begin
-to drag him off.</p>
-
-<p>The caterpillar was three times as long as the ant,
-and his body was more than twice as large round as
-the biggest part of the ant’s body.</p>
-
-<p>“Ho! ho! Mr. Ant,” said I, “you needn’t think
-you’re going to be strong enough to drag that fellow
-very far.”</p>
-
-<p>Why, it was about the same thing as if you or I
-should drag off a calf, which was kicking and struggling
-all the time; only that the calf hasn’t half so many
-legs to catch hold of things with as the caterpillar
-had.</p>
-
-<p>Poor caterpillar! how he did try to get away!
-But the ant never gave him a second’s time to take a
-good grip of anything; and he was cunning enough,
-too, to drag him on his side, so that he couldn’t use
-his legs very well.</p>
-
-<p>Up and down, and under and over stones and sticks;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />133<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-in and out of tufts of grass; up to the very top of the
-tallest blades, and then down again; over gravel and
-sand, and across bridges of pine needles from stone
-to stone; backward all the way ran that ant, dragging
-the caterpillar after him.</p>
-
-<p>I watched him very closely, thinking, of course,
-he must be going toward his house. Presently he
-darted up the trunk of a pine tree.</p>
-
-<p>“Dear me!” said I, “ants don’t live in trees! What
-does this mean?”</p>
-
-<p>The bark of the tree was all broken and jagged, and
-full of seams twenty times as deep as the height of the
-ant’s body. But he didn’t mind; down one side and
-up the other he went.</p>
-
-<p>They must have been awful chasms to him, and yet
-he never once stopped or went a bit slower. I had
-to watch the ant very closely, not to lose sight of him
-altogether.</p>
-
-<p>I began to think that he was merely trying to kill
-the caterpillar; that, perhaps, he didn’t mean to eat
-him, after all. How did I know but some ants might<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />134<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-hunt caterpillars, just as some men hunt deer, for
-fun, and not at all because they need food?</p>
-
-<p>If I had been sure of this, I would have spoiled Mr.
-Ant’s sport for him very soon, you may be sure, and
-set the poor caterpillar free. But I never heard of an
-ant’s being cruel; and if it were really for dinner
-for his family that he was working so hard, I thought
-he ought to be helped, and not hindered.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 487px;">
-<img src="images/i-140.jpg" width="487" height="364" alt="hawk and two birds" />
-</div>
-
-<p>Just then I heard a sharp cry overhead. I looked
-up, and there was an enormous hawk, sailing round in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />135<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-circles, with two small birds flying after him. They
-were pouncing down on his head, and then darting
-away, and all the time making shrill cries of fright and
-hatred.</p>
-
-<p>I knew very well what that meant. Mr. Hawk
-was also out trying to do some marketing for his dinner.
-He had his eye on some little birds in their nest, and
-there were the father and mother birds driving him
-away.</p>
-
-<p>You wouldn’t have believed that two such little birds
-could drive off such a big creature as the hawk, but
-they did. They seemed to fairly buzz round his head
-just as flies buzz round a horse’s head.</p>
-
-<p>At last he gave up the quest and flew off so far
-that he vanished in the blue sky, and the little birds
-came skimming home again into the forest.</p>
-
-<p>“Well, well,” said I, “the little people are stronger
-than the big ones, after all! Where has my ant
-gone?”</p>
-
-<p>Sure enough! It hadn’t been two minutes that I
-had been watching the hawk and the birds, but in that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />136<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-two minutes the ant and the caterpillar had disappeared.
-At last I found them,—where do you think? In a
-fold of my coat, on which I was sitting!</p>
-
-<p>The ant was running round and round the caterpillar.
-I shook the fold out, and as soon as the cloth
-lay straight and smooth, the ant fastened his nippers
-into his prey and started off as fast as ever.</p>
-
-<p>I suppose if I could have seen his face, and had
-understood the language of ants’ features, I should
-have seen plainly written there, “Dear me, what sort
-of a country was that I tumbled into?”</p>
-
-<p>By this time the caterpillar had had the breath pretty
-well knocked out of his body, and was so limp and helpless
-that the ant was not afraid of his getting away
-from him. So he stopped now and then to rest.</p>
-
-<p>Sometimes he would spring on the caterpillar’s back,
-and stretch himself out there; sometimes he would
-stand still on one side and look at him sharply, keeping
-one nipper on his head.</p>
-
-<p>All the time he was working steadily in one direction;
-he was headed for home I felt certain.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />137<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>It astonished me very much, at first, that none of the
-ants he met took any notice of him; they all went on
-their own way, and never took so much as a sniff
-at the caterpillar.</p>
-
-<p>But pretty soon I said to myself, “You stupid
-woman, not to suppose that ants can be as well behaved
-as people! When you passed Mr. Jones yesterday,
-you didn’t peep into his market-basket, nor
-touch the cabbage he had under his arm.”</p>
-
-<p>Presently the ant dropped the caterpillar, and ran
-on a few steps—I mean inches—to meet another
-ant who was coming towards him. They put their
-heads close together for a second.</p>
-
-<p>I could not hear what they said, but I could easily
-imagine, for they both ran quickly back to the caterpillar,
-and one took him by the head and the other by
-the tail, and then they lugged him along finely. It
-was only a few steps, however, to the ant’s house;
-that was the reason he happened to meet this friend
-just coming out.</p>
-
-<p>The door was a round hole in the ground, about as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />138<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-big as my little finger. Several ants were standing
-in the doorway, watching these two come up with
-the caterpillar. They all took hold as soon as the
-caterpillar was on the doorstep, and almost before
-I knew he was there, they had tumbled him down,
-heels over head, into the ground, and that was the
-last I saw of him.</p>
-
-<p>The oddest thing was, how the ants came running
-home from all directions. I don’t believe there was
-any dinner bell rung, though there might have been
-one too fine for my ears to hear; but in a minute, I
-counted thirty-three ants running down that hole.
-I fancied they looked as hungry as wolves.</p>
-
-<p>I had a great mind to dig down into the hole with a
-stick, and see what had become of the caterpillar.
-But I thought it wasn’t quite fair to take the roof off
-a man’s house to find out how he cooks his beef for
-dinner; so I sat still and wondered whether they
-would eat him all up or whether they would leave any
-for Tuesday; then I went home to my own dinner.</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Helen Hunt Jackson.</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />139<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>MY ANT’S COW</h2>
-
-
-<p>My Ant lives in the country and keeps a cow. I
-am ashamed to say that, although I have always known
-she was a most interesting person, I never went to see
-her until last week.</p>
-
-<p>I am afraid I should not have gone then, if I had
-not found an account of her, and her house, and her
-cow, in a book which I was reading.</p>
-
-<p>“Dear me,” said I, “and there she has been living
-so near me all this time, and I never have been to call
-on her.”</p>
-
-<p>To tell the truth, it was much worse than that;
-I had often met her in the street, and had taken such
-a dislike to her looks that I always brushed by as
-quickly as possible without speaking to her.</p>
-
-<p>I had great difficulty in finding her house, though it
-is quite large. She belongs to a very peculiar family;
-they prefer to live in the dark; so they have no windows
-in their houses, only doors; and the doors are
-nothing but holes in the roof.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />140<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>The houses are built in the shape of a mound, and
-are not more than ten inches high. They are built
-out of old bits of wood, dead leaves, straw, old bones;
-in short, every sort of old thing that they find, they
-stick in the walls of their houses. Their best rooms
-are all down cellar; and dark enough they must be
-on a rainy day, when the doors are always kept shut
-tight.</p>
-
-<p>But I ought to have told you about my Ant herself
-before I told you about her house. When you hear
-what an odd person she is, you will not be surprised
-that she lives in such an outlandish house.</p>
-
-<p>To begin with, I must tell you that she belongs to a
-family that never does any work.</p>
-
-<p>You’d never suppose so, to see her. I really think
-she is the queerest-looking creature I ever met.</p>
-
-<p>In the first place, her skin is of a dark brown color,
-darker than an Indian’s, and she has six legs. Of
-course she can walk three times as fast as if she had
-only two,—but I would rather go slower and be more
-like other people.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />141<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>She has frightful jaws, with which she does all sorts
-of things besides eating. She uses them for scissors,
-tweezers, pickaxes, knife and fork, and in case of a
-battle, for swords.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 493px;">
-<img src="images/i-146.jpg" width="493" height="357" alt="shoe surrounded by many ants" />
-</div>
-
-<p>Then she has growing out of the front part of her
-head two long slender horns, which she keeps moving
-about all the time, and with which she touches everything
-she wishes to understand.</p>
-
-<p>The first thing she does, when she meets you, is to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />142<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-bend both these horns straight towards you, and feel
-of you. It is quite disagreeable,—almost as bad
-as shaking hands with strangers.</p>
-
-<p>My Ant’s name is Fornica Rufa. If I knew her
-better I should call her Ant Ru, for short. But I do
-not expect ever to know her very well. She evidently
-does not like to be intimate with anybody but her own
-family; and I am not surprised, for I was never in any
-house so overrun with people as hers is. I wondered
-how they knew themselves apart.</p>
-
-<p>When I went to see her last week I found her just
-going out, and I thought perhaps that was one reason
-that she didn’t take any more notice of me.</p>
-
-<p>“How do you do, Ant?” said I. “I am spending
-the summer near by, and thought I would like to become
-acquainted with you. I hear you have a very
-curious cow, and I have a great desire to see it.”</p>
-
-<p>“Humph!” said she, and snapped her horns up
-and down, as she always does when she is displeased, I
-find.</p>
-
-<p>“I hope it will not give you any trouble to show her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />143<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-to me. You must be very proud of having such a fine
-cow. Perhaps you are on the way to milking now,
-and if so I should be most happy to go with you.”</p>
-
-<p>“Humph!” said my Ant again. At least I think
-that was what she said. It looked like it, but I can’t
-say that I heard any sound.</p>
-
-<p>But she turned short on her heels (I suppose she has
-heels), and plunged into the woods at the right, stopping
-and looking back at me as if she expected me to follow.
-So I stepped along after her as fast as I could, and said,
-“Thank you; I suppose this is the way to the pasture.”</p>
-
-<p>My Ant said nothing, but went ahead, snapping her
-horns furiously.</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, well,” thought I to myself, “you are an
-uncivil Ant. Even if I have come simply out of
-curiosity, you might be a little more polite in your
-own house, or at least on your own grounds, which
-is the same thing. I sha’n’t speak to you again.”</p>
-
-<p>That’s about all the conversation I have ever had
-with my Ant. But she took me to the pasture, and
-I saw her cow.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />144<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>I am almost afraid to tell you where the pasture
-was, and what the cow was; but if you don’t believe
-me, you can look in books written about such things,
-and they will prove to you that every word I say is
-true.</p>
-
-<p>The pasture was the stalk of a green brier; and
-there stood, not only my Ant’s cow, but as many
-as five hundred others, all feeding away upon it. You
-have seen millions of them in your lives, for you must
-know that they are nothing but little green plant-lice,
-like those that we find on our rosebushes, and that
-we try in every possible way to get rid of.</p>
-
-<p>Who would ever suppose there could be anything
-for which these little green plant-lice could serve
-as cows! I assure you it is true, and if you live in the
-country you can see it for yourself; but you will have
-to look through a magnifying glass to see them milked.</p>
-
-<p>Think of looking through a magnifying glass at
-anybody’s cow! I looked at my Ant’s for an hour,
-and it seemed to me I hardly winked, I was so much
-interested in the curious sight.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />145<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>Its skin was smooth as satin and of a most beautiful
-light green color. It had six legs, and little hooks
-at the end, instead of hoofs. The oddest thing of all
-was that the horns were not on its head, but at the
-other end of its body, where the tail would have been
-if it had had a tail like any other cow.</p>
-
-<p>The horns were hollow tubes, and it is out of them
-that the milk comes, a drop at a time. The milk is
-meant for the little plant-lice to drink before they
-are old enough to hook their six legs on to stalks and
-leaves, and feed on sap.</p>
-
-<p>But I think that in any place where there are many
-of my Ant’s race, the little plant-lice must fare badly,
-for the Ants are so fond of this milk that sometimes
-they carry off whole herds of the plant-lice and shut
-them up in chambers in their houses. There they
-feed them as we do cows in barns, and go and milk
-them whenever they please.</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, dear Ant,” said I to my Ant, “do pray milk
-your cow! I have such a desire to see how you do it.”</p>
-
-<p>She did not appear to understand me, and I dare<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />146<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-say if she had she would not have done it any sooner.
-But presently I saw her go up behind her cow, and
-begin to tap her gently on her back, just at the place
-where the horns grew out.</p>
-
-<p>The cow did not look round nor stop eating, but in a
-moment out came a tiny drop of liquid from the tip
-of each tube. My Ant picked it up with her wonderful
-horns and whisked it into her mouth as quickly as
-you would a sugarplum.</p>
-
-<p>Then she went on to the next cow and milked that
-in the same manner, and then to a third one. She
-took only two drops from each one. Perhaps that is
-all that this kind of a cow can give at a time.</p>
-
-<p>There were several of her friends there at the same
-time doing their milking; and I could not help thinking
-how easy it would be for the great herd of cows to kill
-my Ant and all her race, if they chose. But it is
-thought by wise people who have studied these wonderful
-things that the cows are fond of being milked
-in this way, and would be sorry to be left alone by
-themselves.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />147<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>After my Ant had finished her supper, she stood
-still watching the cows for some time. I thought perhaps
-she would be in a better humor after having
-had so much to eat, and might possibly feel like talking
-with me. But she never once opened her mouth, though
-I sat there an hour and a half.</p>
-
-<p>At last it began to grow dark, and as I had quite a
-long walk to take, I knew I must go, or I should not
-get home in time for my own supper of milk.</p>
-
-<p>“Good-night, Ant,” said I. “I have had a charming
-visit. I am very much obliged to you for showing
-me your cow. I think she is the most wonderful
-creature I ever saw. I should be very happy to see
-you at my house.”</p>
-
-<p>“Humph!” said my Ant.</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Helen Hunt Jackson.</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />148<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>COLORADO SNOW-BIRDS</h2>
-
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-<div class="verse">I’ll tell you how the snow-birds come,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Here in our Winter days;</span></div>
-<div class="verse">They make me think of chickens,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">With their cunning little ways.</span></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 460px;">
-<img src="images/i-152.jpg" width="460" height="333" alt="birds in snow" />
-</div>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">We go to bed at night, and leave</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">The ground all bare and brown,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">And not a single snow-bird</div>
-<div class="verse"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />149<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">To be seen in all the town.</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">But when we wake at morning</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">The ground with snow is white,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">And with the snow, the snow-birds</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Must have travelled all the night;</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">For the streets and yards are full of them,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">The dainty little things,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">With snow-white breasts, and soft brown heads,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And speckled russet wings.</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Not here and there a snow-bird,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">As we see them at the East,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">But in great flocks, like grasshoppers,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">By hundreds, at the least,</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">They push and crowd and jostle,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And twitter as they feed,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">And hardly lift their heads up,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">For fear to miss a seed.</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">What ’tis they eat, nobody seems</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">To know or understand;</span></div>
-<div class="verse">The seeds are much too fine to see,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />150<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">All sifted in the sand.</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">But winds last Summer scattered them,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">All thickly on these plains;</span></div>
-<div class="verse">The little snow-birds have no barns,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">But God protects their grains.</span></div>
-<div class="spaced">.   .   .   .   .   .   .</div>
-<div class="verse">Some flocks count up to thousands,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">I know, and when they fly,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">Their tiny wings make rustle,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">As if a wind went by.</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">They go as quickly as they come,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Go in a night or day;</span></div>
-<div class="verse">Soon as the snow has melted off,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">The darlings fly away,</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">But come again, again, again,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">All winter with each snow;</span></div>
-<div class="verse">Brave little armies, through the cold;</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Swift back and forth they go.</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">I always wondered where they lived</div>
-<div class="verse"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />151<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">In summer, till last year</span></div>
-<div class="verse">I stumbled on them in their home,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">High in the upper air;</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">’Way up among the clouds it was,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">A many thousand feet,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">But on the mountain-side gay flowers</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Were blooming fresh and sweet.</span></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 462px;">
-<img src="images/i-156.jpg" width="462" height="336" alt="birds on ground in forest" />
-</div>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Great pine trees’ swaying branches</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gave cool and fragrant shade;</span></div>
-<div class="verse">And here, we found, the snow-birds</div>
-<div class="verse"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />152<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Their summer home had made.</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">“Oh, lucky little snow-birds!”</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">We said, “to know so well,</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">In summer time and winter time,</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Your destined place to dwell—</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">“To journey, nothing doubting,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Down to the barren plains,</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Where harvests are all over,</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">To find your garnered grains!</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">“Oh, precious little snow-birds!</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">If we were half as wise,</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">If we were half as trusting</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">To the Father in the skies,—</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">“He would feed us, though the harvests</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Had ceased throughout the land,</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And hold us, all our lifetime,</span></div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">In the hollow of his hand!”</span></div>
-<div class="sig">—<i>Helen Hunt Jackson.</i></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />153<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE PETERKINS’ EXCURSION AFTER MAPLE
-SYRUP</h2>
-
-
-<p>The Peterkins had decided not to go to Egypt.</p>
-
-<p>Of course the little boys were very much disappointed,
-so Mr. Peterkin said that he would take them
-out into the woods to get some maple syrup instead.
-But it was almost as difficult to arrange an excursion
-for maple sugar as to arrange for a trip to Egypt.</p>
-
-<p>You see, sugar can not be made until it is
-warm enough to make the sap run. On the other
-hand, it must be cold enough for snow, as you can
-only reach the woods on snow-sleds.</p>
-
-<p>Now, if there were sun enough for the sap to rise,
-it would melt the snow; and if it were cold enough for
-sledding, it must be too cold for the syrup. The little
-boys, however, said there always had been maple
-sugar every spring,—they had eaten it; why shouldn’t
-there be this spring?</p>
-
-<p>Elizabeth Eliza said that this was probably old sugar
-they had eaten,—you never could tell in the shops.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />154<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>Mrs. Peterkin thought there must be fresh sugar
-once in a while, as the old sugar would be eaten up.
-She felt the same about chickens. She never could
-understand why there were only the old, tough ones
-in the market, when there were certainly fresh young
-broods to be seen around the farmhouses every
-year.</p>
-
-<p>She supposed the market-men had begun with the
-old, tough fowls, and so they had to go on so. She
-wished they had begun the other way; and she had
-done her best to have the family eat up the old fowls,
-hoping they might, some day, get down to the young
-ones.</p>
-
-<p>As to the weather, she suggested they should go to
-Grandfather’s the day before. But how can you go
-the day before, when you don’t know the day?</p>
-
-<p>All were much delighted, therefore, when Hiram
-appeared with the wood-sled, one evening, to take
-them, as early as possible the next day, to their grandfather’s.</p>
-
-<p>He said that the sap had started, the kettles had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />155<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-on some time, there had been a slight snow for sleighing,
-and to-morrow promised to be a fine day.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 458px;">
-<img src="images/i-161.jpg" width="458" height="336" alt="packing up furniture" />
-</div>
-
-<p>It was decided that he should take the little boys and
-Elizabeth Eliza in the wood-sled; the others would
-follow later, in the carryall.</p>
-
-<p>Mrs. Peterkin thought it would be safer to have
-some of the party go on wheels, in case of a thaw the
-next day.</p>
-
-<p>A brilliant sun awoke them in the morning. The
-wood-sled was filled with hay, to make it warm and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />156<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-comfortable, and an armchair was tied in for Elizabeth
-Eliza.</p>
-
-<p>The little boys put on their India-rubber boots and
-their red mittens. Elizabeth Eliza took a shawl, a
-hot brick, and a big bag of cookies, and they started off.</p>
-
-<p>In passing the school-house the little boys saw five
-of their friends, who had reached the school door a full
-hour before the time. They asked these five boys to
-go with them, but Elizabeth Eliza thought they ought
-to inquire if their parents would be willing they should
-go, as they all expected to spend the night at Grandfather’s.</p>
-
-<p>Hiram thought it would take too much time to ask
-all the parents; if the sun kept on shining so brightly,
-the snow would be gone before they would reach the
-woods.</p>
-
-<p>But the little boys said that most of these boys lived
-in a row, and Elizabeth Eliza felt she ought not to take
-the boys away for all night without asking their
-parents.</p>
-
-<p>At each place they were obliged to stop for tippets<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />157<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-and great-coats and India-rubber boots for the little
-boys. At the Harrimans’, too, the Harriman girls
-insisted on dressing up the wood-sled with evergreens,
-and made one of the boys bring the Christmas tree
-that was leaning up against the barn, to set it up in
-the back of the sled, over Elizabeth Eliza.</p>
-
-<p>All this took a good deal of time; and when they
-reached the highroad again, the snow was indeed fast
-melting. Elizabeth Eliza thought they ought to turn
-back, but Hiram said they would find the sleighing
-better farther up among the hills.</p>
-
-<p>The armchair joggled about a good deal, and the
-Christmas tree creaked and swayed, and Hiram was
-obliged to stop once in a while and tie in the chair and
-the tree more firmly.</p>
-
-<p>But the warm sun was very pleasant, the eight little
-boys were very lively, and the sleigh bells jingled gaily
-as they went on.</p>
-
-<p>It was so late when they reached the wood-road
-that Hiram decided they had better not go up the
-hill to their grandfather’s, but turn off into the woods.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />158<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>“Your grandfather will be up at the sugar camp
-by this time,” he declared.</p>
-
-<p>Elizabeth Eliza was afraid the carryall would miss
-them, and thought they had better wait. Hiram
-did not like to wait longer, and said that one or two
-of the little boys could stop to show the way.</p>
-
-<p>But it was so difficult to decide which little boys
-should stay that he gave it up. So he explained that
-there was a lunch hidden somewhere in the straw;
-and the little boys thought this was a good time to eat
-it, so they decided to stop in the sun at the corner of
-the road.</p>
-
-<p>Elizabeth Eliza felt a little jounced in the armchair,
-and was glad of a rest; and the boys soon discovered
-a good lunch,—just what might have been expected
-from Grandfather’s,—apple pie and doughnuts, and
-plenty of them! “It is lucky we brought so many
-little boys!” they exclaimed.</p>
-
-<p>Hiram, however, began to grow impatient. “There’ll
-be no snow left,” he exclaimed, “and no afternoon for
-the syrup!”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />159<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>But far in the distance the Peterkin carryall was
-seen slowly approaching through the snow, Solomon
-John waving a red handkerchief. The little boys
-waved back, and Hiram turned the sled into the wood-road,
-but he drove slowly, as Elizabeth Eliza still
-feared that by some accident the family might miss
-them.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 460px;">
-<img src="images/i-165.jpg" width="460" height="335" alt="carriage making way through snow" />
-</div>
-
-<p>It was difficult for the carryall to follow in the deep
-but soft snow, in among the trunks of the trees and
-over piles of leaves hidden in the snow.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />160<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>At last they reached the edge of a meadow. On
-the high bank above it stood a row of maples, and
-back of which was a little shanty with smoke coming
-out of its chimney. The little boys screamed with
-delight, but there was no reply. Nobody there!</p>
-
-<p>“The folks all gone!” exclaimed Hiram; “then we
-must be late.” And he proceeded to pull out a large
-silver watch from a side pocket. It was so large that
-he seldom was at the pains to pull it out, as it took
-time; but when he had succeeded at last, and looked at
-it, he started.</p>
-
-<p>“Late, indeed! It is four o’clock, and we were to
-have been here by eleven; they have given you
-up.”</p>
-
-<p>The little boys wanted to force in the door; but
-Hiram said it was no use,—they wouldn’t understand
-what to do, and he should have to see to the
-horses,—and it was too late, and very likely the men
-had carried off all the syrup.</p>
-
-<p>But he thought a minute, as they all stood in silence
-and gloom; and then he guessed they might find some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />161<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-sugar at Deacon Spear’s, close by, on the back road, and
-that would be better than nothing.</p>
-
-<p>Mrs. Peterkin was pretty cold, and glad not to wait
-in the darkening wood; so the eight little boys walked
-through the wood-path, Hiram leading the way; and
-slowly the carryall followed.</p>
-
-<p>They reached Deacon Spear’s at length; but only
-Mrs. Spear was at home. She was very deaf, but could
-explain that the family had taken all their syrup to
-the sugar festival.</p>
-
-<p>“We might go to the festival,” exclaimed the boys.</p>
-
-<p>“It would be very well,” said Mrs. Peterkin, “to
-eat our fresh syrup there.”</p>
-
-<p>But Mrs. Spear could not tell where the festival was
-to be, as she had not heard; perhaps they might know
-at Squire Ramsay’s.</p>
-
-<p>Squire Ramsay’s was on their way to Grandfather’s,
-so they stopped there. They were told that the
-“Squire’s folks” had all gone with their syrup to the
-festival. The man who was chopping wood did not
-know where the festival was to be.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />162<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>“They’ll know at your grandfather’s,” said Mrs.
-Peterkin, from the carryall.</p>
-
-<p>“Yes, go on to your grandfather’s,” advised Mr.
-Peterkin, “for I think I felt a drop of rain.” So
-they made the best of their way to Grandfather’s.</p>
-
-<p>At the moment they reached the door of the house,
-a party of young people whom Elizabeth Eliza knew
-came by in sleighs. She had met them all when visiting
-at her grandfather’s.</p>
-
-<p>“Come along with us,” they shouted; “we are all
-going down to the sugar festival.”</p>
-
-<p>“That is what we have come for,” said Mr. Peterkin.</p>
-
-<p>“Where is it?” asked Solomon John.</p>
-
-<p>“It is down your way,” was the reply.</p>
-
-<p>“It is in your own New Hall,” said another. “We
-have sent down all our syrup. The Spears and Ramsays
-and Doolittles have gone on with theirs. No time to
-stop; there’s good sleighing on the old road.”</p>
-
-<p>Hiram said he could take them back with the wood-sled,
-when he heard there was sleighing on the old road.
-So it was decided that the whole party should go in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />163<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-the wood-sled, with the exception of Mr. Peterkin,
-who would follow on with the carryall.</p>
-
-<p>Mrs. Peterkin would take the armchair, and cushions
-were put in for Elizabeth Eliza, and more apple pie
-for all. No more drops of rain appeared, though the
-clouds were thickening over the setting sun.</p>
-
-<p>“All the way back again,” sighed Mrs. Peterkin,
-“when we might have stayed at home all day, and gone
-quietly out to the New Hall!” But the little boys
-thought the sledding was great fun,—and the
-apple pie! “And we did see the kettle through the
-cracks of the shanty!”</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Lucretia P. Hale.</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />164<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE GRASS</h2>
-
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">The grass so little has to do,—</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">A sphere of simple green,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">With only butterflies to brood,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And bees to entertain,</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">And stir all day to pretty tunes</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">The breezes fetch along,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">And hold the sunshine in its lap,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And bow to everything;</span></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 461px;">
-<img src="images/i-170.jpg" width="461" height="343" alt="loading the hay wagon" />
-</div>
-
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />165<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">And thread the dews all night, like pearls,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And make itself so fine,—</span></div>
-<div class="verse">A duchess were too common</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">For such a noticing.</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">And even when it dies, to pass</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">In odors so divine,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">As lowly spices gone to sleep,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Or amulets of pine.</span></div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">And then to dwell in sovereign barns,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And dream the days away,—</span></div>
-<div class="verse">The grass so little has to do,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">I wish I were the hay.</span></div>
-<div class="sig">—<i>Emily Dickinson.</i></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-
-<h2>SUNSET</h2>
-
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-<div class="verse">Where ships of purple gently toss</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">On seas of daffodil,</span></div>
-<div class="verse">Fantastic sailors mingle,</div>
-<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And then—the wharf is still.</span></div>
-<div class="sig">—<i>Emily Dickinson.</i></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />166<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE BABY SQUIRRELS</h2>
-
-
-<p>The four baby squirrels were tired of staying in their
-soft nest in the hollow tree. They wanted to find out
-what was going on in the world outside.</p>
-
-<p>As they cuddled together in the shadowy hole they
-could hear the queerest sounds. They cocked their
-heads curiously at the rustling and whispering of the
-wind among the leaves. They heard chirping and singing,
-and a silvery tinkle, tinkle from the brook.</p>
-
-<p>Once a bee flew buzzing right over their heads, and
-made them clutch one another in terror.</p>
-
-<p>One morning, when the old mother squirrel was
-away hunting for birds’ eggs to eat, the smallest
-baby crept to the mouth of the hole and peeped out
-with his round bright eyes.</p>
-
-<p>All around and above him there were wonderful
-green things flickering and fluttering. Twinkles of
-sunlight danced through the leaves and dazzled him.
-Something soft and cool blew back the new bristles
-on his lips and ruffled his satiny red fur.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />167<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>He was so much interested that he sat there, staring
-and staring, till the other little ones began to squeak
-and scold him for shutting out the light.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 485px;">
-<img src="images/i-173.jpg" width="485" height="350" alt="squirrels peeking out of tree trunk" />
-</div>
-
-<p>After he crept down again to the nest the others
-climbed up, one by one, and looked out. They blinked
-and winked at each wonderful sight; they sniffed the
-strange odors, and twitched their eager little heads
-at every new sound.</p>
-
-<p>The scream of a blue jay in the tree-top above them
-sent them scampering inside again, to cuddle close<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />168<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-together in the darkest corner. It was fun to see
-something new and exciting, even if it did make them
-shiver all over.</p>
-
-<p>Soon the mother squirrel came springing from branch
-to branch to reach the hollow.</p>
-
-<p>How the babies squeaked and chattered in welcome!
-Very likely they told her about the wonderful
-sights and sounds in the strange world outside the
-hole.</p>
-
-<p>The smallest one clasped his fore paws around her
-neck, and coaxed her to let them all go out to find
-more interesting things. It was stupid there in the
-dark nest, with nothing to watch except the patch of
-light across the opening above them.</p>
-
-<p>The old squirrel knew that the little ones were not
-strong enough yet to leave the nest.</p>
-
-<p>To be sure, they had grown and changed very much
-since the first days. Then they had been ugly little
-creatures, like tiny pug dogs, with big heads, no fur,
-and their eyes tight shut.</p>
-
-<p>Now they were half as big as she was herself. Their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />169<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-eyes were like jewels, and their red fur was smooth as
-satin.</p>
-
-<p>But their tails, with only fringes of hair along the
-sides, were not nearly so fluffy as the mother’s. Her
-tail was long and plumy. It curved so gracefully
-over her back that she seemed to be sitting in its
-shadow. One name of the squirrel is “shadow-tail.”</p>
-
-<p>For a few weeks longer the four babies scrambled
-about the doorway and looked longingly out at the
-wonderful green tree-world. They did not dare to step
-out upon the slender branches, for fear of falling off.</p>
-
-<p>It made them feel dizzy to look away down to the
-ground below. They did not know how to cling to the
-limbs with their feet while they balanced themselves
-with their tails.</p>
-
-<p>When the young squirrels were almost strong enough
-to learn to run and climb in the tree, the mother began
-to build another home higher up the trunk. The old
-nest was growing too warm for comfort, as summer
-brought the long sunny hours.</p>
-
-<p>The squirrel father was not there to help his mate.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />170<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>The mother squirrel thought the tree belonged to
-her, and that she needed all the room in the hollow
-for her little ones. She chased him off to live in the
-woods with all the other squirrel fathers till the babies
-were big enough to take care of themselves.</p>
-
-<p>The mother squirrel worked on the new nest in the
-early morning. She bit off leafy twigs and carried them
-to the top of the tree. There, where two branches
-forked, she packed the sticks and leaves together
-in a loose ball.</p>
-
-<p>Then she pushed a doorway through, at one side or
-another, just as she happened to be standing.</p>
-
-<p>This was not such a neat home as one in the next
-tree. That other mother squirrel built her new nest
-of strips of bark tied together with ribbons of soft
-fibre. Over the doorway she hung a curtain of bark,
-and lifted it up carefully whenever she went inside.</p>
-
-<p>At last the new home was ready. The old mother
-hurried down to the hollow and called the babies to
-come out and follow her. They stepped out, one after
-another, just as carefully as they could.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />171<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>The smallest baby came last. He dug his claws into
-the bark and hung on. The branch seemed so narrow
-that he trembled from fear of falling.</p>
-
-<p>The tree swayed in the wind. The branch bounced
-up and down, and a leaf blew in his face. The poor
-little fellow shut his eyes, because everything seemed
-to be whirling round and round.</p>
-
-<p>When he opened his eyes again he saw the three
-other little ones climbing up the trunk above him.
-They clutched the bark with their claws, and moved
-forward, one paw at a time.</p>
-
-<p>The mother was running on ahead of them. Every
-few steps she turned around to coax them on
-faster.</p>
-
-<p>Finally they reached a narrow branch which led
-over to the new nest. They crawled out on it, lifting
-one foot and then setting it down before lifting another.</p>
-
-<p>The farther they crept the narrower the branch
-grew under them. Their little paws began to slip
-over the smoother bark. The one in front tried to turn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />172<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-around, but he was afraid of falling. So they all
-three scrambled backwards to the safe trunk.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 489px;">
-<img src="images/i-178.jpg" width="489" height="353" alt="squirrel on branch" />
-</div>
-
-<p>The mother ran back to them, and chattered and
-scolded. Again and again they started out over the
-branch, and then went scrambling back.</p>
-
-<p>When at last the mother had coaxed them across to
-the nest she looked around for the smallest baby.
-There he was, away down at the door of the old nest.</p>
-
-<p>The old squirrel was tired out. Her fur was ruffled
-and her ears drooped. She ran down to the nest and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />173<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-began to scold the little fellow. He sat up and put his
-paws around her to let him stay there.</p>
-
-<p>But she started him up the trunk and pushed him
-along to the branch. Then she took hold of him by
-the neck and carried him across to the new
-home.</p>
-
-<p>After that the little ones were taken out every
-morning to practise climbing. Little by little they
-learned to balance themselves on the branches. Their
-tails were fluffy enough by this time to be of use in
-balancing.</p>
-
-<p>First to one side, then to the other, each baby tilted
-his tail as he crept along, step by step. Every day
-they could move a little faster. Finally they were able
-to chase one another up and down, from branch to
-branch.</p>
-
-<p>They went running around the trunks, skipping and
-leaping from twig to twig, and jumping from one tree
-to another, even through the air.</p>
-
-<p>Sometimes one or another missed his footing after
-a reckless jump. Often he caught hold of a branch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />174<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-below by a single toe and lifted himself up to a firmer
-foothold.</p>
-
-<p>Or, if there was no branch within reach, he spread
-out his fur, and flattened his tail, and went sailing down
-to the ground, almost as if he could fly. They never
-seemed to get hurt.</p>
-
-<p>The little squirrels seemed to be always doing something.
-They turned somersaults in the grass, or
-swung by one paw from the tip of a tough branch.</p>
-
-<p>There was always something to do or to see. Now
-they chattered at a blue jay, or chased a toad for the
-fun of watching him hop. Now they caught beetles or
-scolded at a fox slinking along through the woods.
-And every day there was the excitement of finding
-something to eat.</p>
-
-<p>The babies lived on milk till they were almost as
-heavy as their mother. Then she began to feed them
-with fruit and buds and grubs, which she first chewed
-for them.</p>
-
-<p>Like the beavers and the hares and rabbits, each
-had four chisel teeth in the front of its mouth. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />175<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-needed to gnaw hard nuts or bark every day to keep
-these teeth from growing too long.</p>
-
-<p>The young squirrels were three months old in July
-and were then big enough to take care of themselves.
-Away they scampered from the old home tree and
-found new homes in stumps and hollows. The smallest
-one used to curl up in an old robin’s nest to sleep at
-night.</p>
-
-<p>All day long they were as busy as they could be.
-There were cones to be gathered from the evergreens.
-The little squirrels ran up the trees in a hurry, and,
-cutting off the cones with their sharp teeth, tossed them
-over their shoulders to the ground. Every few minutes
-they scurried down to bury the cones under the pine
-needles for the winter.</p>
-
-<p>Sometimes a drop of sticky pitch from the cut
-stems was rubbed against their fur. That made them
-so uncomfortable that they had to stop and lick it
-off.</p>
-
-<p>The squirrels loved to be clean. Ever since they
-were tiny babies, with their new red fur, they always<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />176<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-helped one another with washing their faces and
-combing their tails with their claws.</p>
-
-<p>They were careful to run along logs over a muddy
-spot. If one happened to get wet he dried himself
-with his fluffy tail.</p>
-
-<p>When they were tired of eating seeds and twigs they
-hunted for grubs. Clinging to the bark of a dead tree,
-they listened till they heard something gnawing
-beneath the surface. Then, tearing off the bark in
-ragged pieces, they pounced upon the flat whitish
-grub beneath and ate him up.</p>
-
-<p>But the best time of all came in the autumn when
-nuts were ripe. Then what fun the little squirrels
-had! Early every morning out popped the little heads
-from the hollow stumps and logs. The big round eyes
-twinkled eagerly in every direction. Then, whisk!
-they were out, with a bark and a squeak!</p>
-
-<p>Scampering to the top of a tree, each one took a
-flying leap to the next tree. Up and down they
-followed the squirrel-paths through the woods till they
-reached the grove, where the nuts were ripening.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />177<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>It was a busy place, with little wings fluttering and
-little feet pattering, and yellow leaves drifting down
-in the sunshine. All the squirrels scurried to and fro,
-picking one nut here, and another there.</p>
-
-<p>They sat on the branches, with their bushy tails
-curving over their backs, and held the nuts in their
-fore paws to nibble. The smallest baby could open
-the hardest walnut and clean it out in less than a
-minute.</p>
-
-<p>All the while the blue jays and the thrifty chipmunks
-were gathering nuts and corn, and hiding their
-stores for the winter. That seemed so interesting that
-the squirrels gathered some, too.</p>
-
-<p>Autumn passed away, and the days grew colder.
-In the woods the leaves were all fallen and the branches
-were stripped bare of nuts.</p>
-
-<p>Every morning when the squirrels poked out their
-heads the air nipped their noses. Frost sparkled
-on the dead grass. The chipmunks had crept into
-their holes for the winter, and most of the birds had
-flown away south.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />178<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>The squirrels were not quite so gay now as in the
-autumn days, when they danced upon the branches
-and whistled and chuckled over the good things to
-eat and the curious sights to see. They slept with
-their warm tails wrapped over their noses.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 497px;">
-<img src="images/i-184.jpg" width="497" height="361" alt="squirrel on ground in snow" />
-</div>
-
-<p>They still ran busily through the tree-tops, except
-when snow or icy rain kept them shut within their
-holes. They ate all the nuts they could find, and dug
-up the buried pine cones. They climbed the hemlock
-trees and ate the seeds.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />179<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>Once the smallest squirrel happened to dig up a
-heap of nuts from between two stones under the snow.
-He could not remember whether he had hidden them
-himself or not. How he squealed when he saw them!</p>
-
-<p>Late in the winter the squirrels had eaten all the
-nuts and cones within reach. They were so hungry
-on many a day that they tried to creep into a chipmunk’s
-hole and steal his store of food. But he was
-smaller than they were, and he had wisely made one
-bend in his tunnel too small for them to pass.</p>
-
-<p>Then they had to live on bark and seeds till spring
-started the tender green plants to growing.</p>
-
-<p>The squirrels gnawed the bark of the maple trees
-and drank the sweet sap that came oozing out. Later
-there were elm buds to nibble and birds’ eggs to suck.
-The woods were once more green with juicy leaves.</p>
-
-<p>All the squirrels went to housekeeping. Soon in
-almost every tree there was a family of squirrels peeping
-out with their round, bright eyes.</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Julia A. Schwartz.</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />180<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE BABY THAT SLEEPS IN A POCKET</h2>
-
-
-<p>For days and days the baby opossums lay
-crowded close together in their mother’s furry pocket.
-They slept and drank milk, and grew and grew till their
-eyes began to open.</p>
-
-<p>It was dark all around them, but above their heads
-a gray line showed where light was stealing in over
-the edge of the pocket.</p>
-
-<p>The biggest baby opossum looked up with his
-little bright eyes. He wanted to see more. So he
-crawled up, clambering over the soft tiny bodies of
-the eleven other babies.</p>
-
-<p>Some of them wriggled and squirmed under his little
-bare feet. After slipping back once or twice he reached
-the edge and poked his pointed white snout outside.</p>
-
-<p>He could not see anything because he was under his
-mother, and her long fur hung down over him. She
-was lying on a nest of grasses in a hollow tree.</p>
-
-<p>That was where she stayed all day long while the
-sun was shining. Every night at dusk she climbed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />181<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-down the rough trunk and went to hunt for something
-to eat.</p>
-
-<p>When she felt the tiny claws of her baby clutching
-her fur she looked down between her fore paws at the
-little mouse-like fellow.</p>
-
-<p>Then with her smooth pink hands she gently pushed
-him back into the pocket and closed the opening. He
-was not big enough yet to come out of the warm dark
-nursery.</p>
-
-<p>So for a week longer he cuddled down beside the
-others, while they all slept and drank more milk and
-grew stronger every hour.</p>
-
-<p>The biggest baby was so restless that he scrambled
-around and crowded the others. Once he caught
-hold of a tiny tail between the thumbs and fingers
-of his hind feet, and pulled till the little one squeaked.
-His fore feet were like tiny hands without any thumbs.</p>
-
-<p>At last, one day, he saw the edge of the pocket open
-a crack. He was so glad that he climbed up as fast
-as he could scramble, and pushed outside. He held
-on to his mother’s fur with all four feet.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />182<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>When she reached down to smell him the bristles
-on her lips tickled his nose. Then he climbed around
-upon her back and twisted his tail about hers to hold
-him steady.</p>
-
-<p>He looked like a mouse with his long tail, his black
-ears, his bright eyes twinkling in his little white face,
-and his pointed nose.</p>
-
-<p>In a few minutes another and another baby followed
-the big brother and clung there on the mother’s furry
-back. It must have seemed a noisy place to them,
-for in the pocket they had heard only the soft rustling
-and scratching of the mother’s feet on the nest.</p>
-
-<p>Now they could hear a chirping, and a squeaking,
-and a rattling of branches. They crowded close
-together in fright at the scream of a blue jay, as it
-chased a chattering red squirrel through the tree-top.</p>
-
-<p>Then a sudden loud thump—thump—thump of
-a woodpecker hammering on the bark of the tree
-sent them tumbling back to the nursery in a
-hurry.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />183<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>After this the whole family climbed out every day
-to play about on the mother’s back. The biggest
-baby liked to curl his small tail about her large one,
-and then swing off head downward.</p>
-
-<p>Sometimes he pushed the others down just for the
-fun of seeing them scramble up again, hand over
-hand, clutching the long fur.</p>
-
-<p>Of course he was the first one to poke his head out
-every day. Once he woke from a nap in the pocket
-and started to climb outside.</p>
-
-<p>But he stopped halfway, hanging to the edge with
-both fore feet. It was nearly evening, and the mother
-opossum was clambering down the tree-trunk to
-go hunting for her supper.</p>
-
-<p>The baby held on tightly while she trotted away
-through the woods. Now and then a leaf rustled
-or a stick cracked under her feet. Sleepy birds were
-twittering in their nests.</p>
-
-<p>The mother pricked her ears and listened, for she
-ate eggs and young birds whenever she could find
-them. She had not tasted an egg this spring, because<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />184<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-she could not climb very nimbly with her pocket
-full of babies.</p>
-
-<p>Soon she came to a swamp, and splash, splash, splash!
-the mud went flying. It spattered the baby’s face
-and made him cough.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 462px;">
-<img src="images/i-190.jpg" width="462" height="340" alt="possum in moonlight" />
-</div>
-
-<p>Then he heard the croakings of dozens of frogs,
-and it frightened him so that he slid back into the
-nursery with his brothers.</p>
-
-<p>The mother was trying to catch a frog to eat. Now
-she jumped this way, and now she jumped that way.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />185<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-Such a jounce as the babies felt when she gave a
-spring for a big green fellow sitting on a log.</p>
-
-<p>She caught him, too, but the jounce almost knocked
-the breath out of the twelve soft bodies in her pocket.</p>
-
-<p>Every day the babies stayed outside the nursery
-for a longer time, though they were always ready
-to hurry back at the mother’s first warning grunt.</p>
-
-<p>They kept growing bigger, too, till one night they
-could not all crowd into the pocket. Then they
-cuddled together on her back, with their tails twisted
-around hers.</p>
-
-<p>In this way they rode through the woods when she
-went hunting. They watched with their bright
-eyes while she turned over rotting logs with her snout
-to catch the grubs underneath.</p>
-
-<p>Sometimes she rooted in the ground for sprouting
-acorns, or nipped off mouthfuls of tender grass. Once
-she caught a young rabbit. Then how excited the
-little opossums were! And how they all squeaked
-and hissed together as they rode trotting home.</p>
-
-<p>By this time they had cut their teeth,—fifty sharp<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />186<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-little teeth in each hungry mouth. Then the mother
-picked some sweet red berries, and taught the hungry
-babies how to eat them. They learned to chew the
-juicy roots that she dug in the field.</p>
-
-<p>The babies were greedy little things. She was a
-good and patient mother. Of course, as long as they
-were small enough to stay in her pocket she carried
-them everywhere with her. Even when they grew as
-large as rats they rode on her back through the woods.
-These twelve fat babies were so heavy that sometimes
-she staggered and stumbled under the load.</p>
-
-<p>One night when all the babies were trotting along
-on their own feet they saw gleaming red eyes in the
-dark bushes before them. Something round and furry
-snarled and sprang at them.</p>
-
-<p>They all ran under their mother as quick as a wink.
-She ruffled her long grayish hair above them. When
-the animal jumped at her she growled, and hissed,
-and scratched, and bit, till he ran limping away.</p>
-
-<p>On another evening a big dog came galloping up
-before they could scramble into a tree. His red tongue<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />187<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-was hanging out of his mouth between his white teeth.
-As soon as he caught sight of the opossums he made
-a dash to catch them. Instantly they all fell down and
-rolled over just as if they were dead.</p>
-
-<p>There they lay, with their eyes shut, their paws
-limber, their tails limp. They seemed to stop breathing.
-The dog smelled them and pushed them with
-his cold nose.</p>
-
-<p>But they kept perfectly still and did not move even
-an eyelash. They were pretending to be dead. It
-was one trick that they all knew without being taught.</p>
-
-<p>The minute the dog walked away they all jumped
-up and scampered into a tree. When the dog turned
-his head and saw them he ran back and leaped up
-to reach them.</p>
-
-<p>But all the opossums were safe enough now. While
-he was jumping and barking below they clung fast
-in the tree with their hand-like feet. They wound
-their tails about the branches above to hold more
-securely.</p>
-
-<p>The little opossums learned to climb all sorts of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />188<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-trees, rough or smooth. It was easier to climb the
-rough trees because they could dig their nails farther
-into the bark.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 461px;">
-<img src="images/i-194.jpg" width="461" height="339" alt="hanging upside down by tail" />
-</div>
-
-<p>The biggest baby could walk along the springiest
-limb, even if it kept teetering up and down in the
-wind. When he felt like it he swung by his tail the
-longest time without getting dizzy.</p>
-
-<p>All summer long the twelve little opossums stayed
-with their mother. During the day they slept cuddled
-in the hollow tree. Every night, after sunset,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />189<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-the mother and her twelve children set off on their
-hunting.</p>
-
-<p>Down through the marsh they trotted. Some
-waded into the mud to catch frogs, while others
-chased mud turtles over the shore. Some hunted
-for berries and others nosed for acorns under the oaks.</p>
-
-<p>It was beautiful there in the woods at night. When
-the stars twinkled overhead and the soft wind rustled
-in the tree-tops the little ones frisked and frolicked.</p>
-
-<p>They hid under the shadowy bushes or jumped
-hither and thither to snap at the fluttering
-moths.</p>
-
-<p>But on stormy evenings they plodded on in the
-rain, their wet fur drooping. With their noses close
-to the ground they hunted till they found a few
-mouthfuls to eat. Then they went back to the cosy
-hollow for a longer nap, after licking their pink hands
-and washing their faces, just as kittens do.</p>
-
-<p>One night, in autumn, the old mother opossum
-felt the nip of frost in the air. Then she knew that
-the persimmons were ready to be eaten. Away<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />190<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-through the woods she hurried, with the young ones
-trotting after her.</p>
-
-<p>She led the way past the marsh and over the
-hill to a thicket of trees tangled with wild grapevines.
-There on the branches the round persimmons
-were shining yellow in the moonlight.</p>
-
-<p>Up the trees eleven of the babies scrambled hungrily,
-and, hanging by their tails, stuffed the fruit into their
-wide mouths. Ah! But wasn’t it delicious! Better
-than anything they had ever tasted before in all their
-short lives.</p>
-
-<p>Then the biggest baby, who had stopped to gobble
-ripe grapes, heard them munching so greedily. One
-look sent him hurrying after the others. He was
-sorry enough that he had wasted any time eating
-wild grapes.</p>
-
-<p>Night after night, till the little persimmons were
-gone, the opossums hurried away to the thicket, and
-ate and ate till they could eat no longer. They grew
-so fat that they puffed and panted when trotting
-home again in the gray light of the frosty dawn.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />191<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>Soon the ground was frozen hard over the juicy
-roots. All the fruit left in the woods hung wrinkled
-and frost-bitten. The worms and toads crawled into
-their holes for the winter. The beetles disappeared,
-and the spiders curled up in their hiding places to
-sleep through the cold weather. Most of the birds
-flew away south.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 461px;">
-<img src="images/i-196.jpg" width="461" height="340" alt="possum on ground at base of tree in forest" />
-</div>
-
-<p>One by one each little opossum wandered off by
-himself, and made a nest in a cosy hole or a hollow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />192<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-stump. There he dozed all day and often slept through
-the night without stirring out.</p>
-
-<p>Now and then one of them caught a mouse or dug
-up a frozen root to nibble. Sometimes they tore
-rotten logs apart to get at the grubs.</p>
-
-<p>In the beginning of the winter the little opossums
-were so fat that they could live three or four weeks
-without eating or drinking. When the cold winds blew,
-and the snow fell, they cuddled down in their warm
-nests and slept the time away. But many a night
-they woke up hungry. And every day their round
-furry bodies were a little thinner, till at last, spring
-melted the snow and ice everywhere.</p>
-
-<p>There was plenty to eat by that time, with all the
-green things growing. There were buds to nibble
-and beetles to catch. There were frogs croaking in
-the marsh, and berries were ripening in the field.</p>
-
-<p>The twelve little opossums were grown up now,
-and knew how to take care of themselves. Their
-mother had another family of babies in her furry
-pocket.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />193<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>Sometimes she met her other children roaming beside
-the marsh to catch frogs. One evening they saw
-a little pointed nose, and two twinkling bright eyes,
-peeping over the edge of her pocket.</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Julia A. Schwartz.</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-  <div class="poetry">
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Will there really be a morning?</div>
-<div class="verse">Is there such a thing as day?</div>
-<div class="verse">Could I see it from the mountains</div>
-<div class="verse">If I were as tall as they?</div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Has it feet like water lilies?</div>
-<div class="verse">Has it feathers like a bird?</div>
-<div class="verse">Is it brought from famous countries</div>
-<div class="verse">Of which I have never heard?</div>
-    </div>
-    <div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Oh, some scholar! Oh, some sailor!</div>
-<div class="verse">Oh, some wise man from the skies!</div>
-<div class="verse">Please to tell a little pilgrim</div>
-<div class="verse">Where the place called morning lies!</div>
-<div class="sig">—<i>Emily Dickinson.</i></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />194<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE EMPEROR AND THE PEASANT</h2>
-
-
-<h3>I</h3>
-
-<p>Once upon a time there was an Emperor of China,
-named Lee Wong. He would have been a very good
-Emperor if he had not been spoiled by kindness.</p>
-
-<p>If he cried when he was a baby, his nurse called
-all the nurses in the palace.</p>
-
-<p>They called the attendants, and the attendants
-called the musicians. The musicians played, the
-attendants danced, and the nurses walked up and
-down wheeling the baby in his carriage until he
-stopped crying. Sometimes this happened many
-times in one day.</p>
-
-<p>When Lee was a boy he had his own way in everything.
-If he played soldier he was always the general.
-If he went to fly kites, he had the ones that would
-fly the highest.</p>
-
-<p>Sometimes he wished to fly his kites when the wind
-did not blow. Then the poor attendants had to blow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />195<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-with a huge bellows to make the kites sail up into the
-air.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 465px;">
-<img src="images/i-201.jpg" width="465" height="343" alt="Child holding up kite, man on ground holding bellows" />
-</div>
-
-<p>If he wished it were summer in the winter-time,
-they filled his playroom with beautiful plants and
-brought canaries and nightingales to sing to him.</p>
-
-<p>In the hot summer days, if he longed for winter,
-they brought evergreen trees to the playroom. They
-covered the branches with cotton sprinkled with
-diamond dust to look like snow. They brought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />196<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-cakes of ice and made a skating rink and jingled sleigh
-bells all day long while he played.</p>
-
-<p>When he was a young man it was still worse. If
-he said anything, like, “This is a sunny morning,”
-or “I think it will rain to-night,” every one cried,
-“How wise!” “How wonderfully wise!”</p>
-
-<p>So you see the Emperor was spoiled, and this was
-very unfortunate.</p>
-
-<p>In China, just as in other places, every one longs
-for spring to come.</p>
-
-<p>One year the Emperor wanted the spring to come
-more than ever. He had had a dull winter in his
-city palace and he wanted to go to his country palace.</p>
-
-<p>“Command my brother, the Sun, to shine to-morrow,”
-he said, to his attendants. “Command
-the spring to come, also. And be ready, all of you,
-to go to the country to-morrow.”</p>
-
-<p>One of the attendants wrote the Emperor’s commands
-on the finest Chinese paper and then burned
-it in the garden. He thought in this way the commands
-might reach the sun.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />197<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>Perhaps they did; for the sun shone beautifully
-the next day, and the Emperor and his attendants
-went to the country palace.</p>
-
-
-<h3>II</h3>
-
-<p>The next morning the Emperor waked up very early.
-A little bird was singing in the garden. It was a
-lovely day.</p>
-
-<p>The Emperor thought he would go out into the
-garden to hear the little bird sing.</p>
-
-<p>He put on his silk dressing-gown, his silver shoes,
-and his gold crown. It was only six o’clock, so no
-one was awake in the palace.</p>
-
-<p>When the Emperor went into the garden the bird
-flew into the forest and sang still more sweetly.</p>
-
-<p>“How stupid I was,” thought the Emperor, “I
-ought to have commanded it to stay here. Now I
-must go into the woods to see it.”</p>
-
-<p>So he opened the gate and went across the field.</p>
-
-<p>At the edge of the woods a peasant was plowing.</p>
-
-<p>“Good morning, peasant,” said the Emperor,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />198<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-“That must be an Emperor bird singing in the forest,
-because it sings so sweetly.”</p>
-
-<p>“No, my lord,” said the peasant, taking off his cap,
-“that is a blackbird.”</p>
-
-<p>“You may call it so,” said the Emperor; “but
-it is an Emperor bird if I say so, because I am always
-right. It is as large as a swan, and its feathers are like
-shining gold.”</p>
-
-<p>“No, my lord,” said the peasant, “it is small and
-black.”</p>
-
-<p>Just then the blackbird lighted on a post in the
-fence and began to sing. It was easy to see that the
-peasant was right.</p>
-
-<p>“There must surely be something wrong,” said the
-Emperor, “because I never make a mistake.”</p>
-
-<p>“But, my lord, the Emperor can make a mistake.
-Every one does that. Your attendants may say
-that you are always right because they wish to please
-you. Perhaps they even praise what you do, when
-it is wrong and foolish.”</p>
-
-<p>“I can never believe that,” said the Emperor.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />199<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>“If you will do as I say,” replied the peasant,
-“I will prove that I have told you the truth.”</p>
-
-
-<h3>III</h3>
-
-<p>The Emperor promised to do this, although he could
-not believe he had been deceived.</p>
-
-<p>Just then all the attendants came running across
-the field, for they had waked up and missed the
-Emperor.</p>
-
-<p>Tears ran down their cheeks. They wished to have
-the Emperor think they were weeping because he was
-gone. He did not know each one had an onion in his
-handkerchief.</p>
-
-<p>“Command them to stop where they are,” the
-peasant whispered.</p>
-
-<p>The Emperor made them stop about twenty feet
-away, right in the middle of a ditch.</p>
-
-<p>“We are weeping because of your absence, beloved
-Emperor,” said the chief attendant. He wiped his
-eyes with his handkerchief, and all the others did
-the same thing.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />200<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>“How do you dare to stand beside the Emperor,
-you peasant,” said the Lord Marshal. “Go back
-to your plow!”</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 463px;">
-<img src="images/i-206.jpg" width="463" height="338" alt="Emperor, peasant and plow" />
-</div>
-
-<p>“Say that I am standing beside my plow,” whispered
-the peasant. He was really standing beside the
-Emperor, and the plow was thirty feet away.</p>
-
-<p>“Do you not see,” said the Emperor, “that he is
-standing beside the plow?”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, yes,” said one, “he is holding the plow with
-one hand.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />201<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>“Yes, yes,” said another, “he is surely driving
-his oxen.”</p>
-
-<p>“Ask them,” whispered the peasant, “if they
-ever saw such white oxen.”</p>
-
-<p>Now the peasant’s oxen were coal black, without a
-single white spot on them.</p>
-
-<p>“Have you ever seen such beautiful white oxen?”
-said the Emperor, pointing to the black ones.</p>
-
-<p>“No, never,” said one, “they are indeed snow
-white.”</p>
-
-<p>“Yes,” said another, “they are whiter than snow.
-It hurts my eyes to look at them, they are so white.”</p>
-
-<p>The Emperor knew now that they were not telling
-the truth, and he decided to punish them.</p>
-
-<p>“Come here,” he called to some peasants who were
-plowing in the next field.</p>
-
-<p>“There is nothing so pleasant as plowing,” he said
-to his attendants.</p>
-
-<p>“It is a great pleasure,” said one.</p>
-
-<p>“I enjoy it more than anything in the world,” said
-another.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />202<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>“I would rather plow than dance,” said a third.</p>
-
-<p>“I am very glad you think so, my lords,” said the
-Emperor. “These peasants will be glad to have you
-plow for them. This is my command. Begin at
-once!”</p>
-
-<p>There was no help for it. The courtiers did not
-dare to disobey, so they took hold of the plows and
-tried to drive the oxen across the long fields.</p>
-
-<p>I do not believe they plowed very well, for they had
-never touched a plow before, and did not know how
-to drive oxen.</p>
-
-<p>But the peasant went to the palace and became the
-Emperor’s chief counsellor.</p>
-
-<p>The Emperor had this story written on a block
-of marble in golden letters, but few people can read
-it because it is written in Chinese, and it is very hard
-to have to read Chinese.</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Anna von Rydingsvärd.</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />203<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>THE CHRISTMAS MONKS</h2>
-
-
-<h3>I—THE GARDEN</h3>
-
-<p>Have you always wondered where the Christmas
-presents come from? Well, I am going to tell you.</p>
-
-<p>Of course, every one knows that Santa Claus brings
-them. He comes in a sleigh, driving eight reindeer,
-and carries the presents down the chimney in a pack
-on his back.</p>
-
-<p>But where does <i>he</i> get them? That is the question.
-And the answer is,—in the garden of the Christmas
-Monks.</p>
-
-<p>This garden is in a beautiful valley far away. But I
-must not tell you the name of the valley, for if I did
-you would all want to go there to live.</p>
-
-<p>The Christmas Monks live in a stone castle covered
-with ivy and evergreen vines. There are holly wreaths
-in every window, and over the door is an arch, with
-“Merry Christmas” in evergreen letters.</p>
-
-<p>The Christmas Monks wear white robes embroidered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />204<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-with gold, and they never go without a Christmas
-wreath on their heads. Every morning they sing a
-Christmas carol, and every evening they ring a
-Christmas chime on the bells.</p>
-
-<p>For dinner every day they have roast goose and
-plum pudding and mince pie, and at night they set
-lighted candles in all of the windows.</p>
-
-<p>But the best place of all is the garden, for that is
-where the Christmas presents grow.</p>
-
-<p>It is a very large garden and is divided into beds,
-just like our vegetable gardens. Every spring the
-Monks go out to plow the ground and plant the Christmas
-present seeds.</p>
-
-<p>There is one big bed for rocking-horses, another
-for drums, and another for sleds. The bed for the
-balls is not so large, and the top bed is quite
-small, because tops do not need much room when
-they are growing.</p>
-
-<p>The rocking-horse seed looks like tiny rocking-horses.
-The Monks drop these seeds quite far apart,
-then they cover them up neatly with earth, and put<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />205<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-up a signpost with “Rocking-horses” on it in evergreen
-letters.</p>
-
-<p>Just so with the penny-trumpet seed, and the toy-furniture
-seed, the sled seed, and all the others.</p>
-
-<p>Perhaps the prettiest part of the garden is the
-wax-doll bed. There are other beds for the rag dolls
-and the china dolls, and the rubber dolls, but, of
-course, wax dolls look much handsomer growing.</p>
-
-<p>Wax dolls have to be planted very early in the
-season. The Monks sow them in rows in April and
-they begin to come up by the middle of May.</p>
-
-<p>First there is a glimmer of gold, or brown, or black
-hair. Then the snowy foreheads appear, and the
-blue eyes and black eyes, and at last all the pretty
-heads are out of the ground and nodding and smiling
-to each other.</p>
-
-<p>With their pink cheeks and bright eyes and curly
-hair, there is nothing so pretty as these little wax-doll
-heads peeping out of the ground.</p>
-
-<p>Slowly the dolls grow taller and taller, and by
-Christmas they are all ready to gather. There they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />206<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-stand, swaying to and fro, their dresses of pink or
-blue or white fluttering in the breeze.</p>
-
-<p>Just about the prettiest sight in the world is the
-bed of wax dolls in the garden of the Christmas Monks
-at Christmas time.</p>
-
-
-<h3>II—PETER AND THE PRINCE</h3>
-
-<p>All the children for miles around knew about this
-garden, of course, but they had never seen it. There
-is a thick hedge of Christmas trees all around it, and
-the gate where Santa Claus drives out is always locked
-with a golden key the moment he goes through.</p>
-
-<p>So you can imagine what excitement there was
-among the boys when this notice was hung out on the
-hedge of Christmas trees:—</p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Wanted:</i>—By the Christmas Monks, two <i>good</i> boys to help in
-garden work. Apply at the garden on April tenth.</p></div>
-
-<p>The notice was hung out about five o’clock in the
-evening, one day in February. By noon the next day
-all the neighborhood had seen it and read it.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />207<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>Oh, what fun it would be to work in the garden of
-the Christmas Monks! There would be the dinner
-of roast goose and plum pudding every day. There
-would be the Christmas bells and the Christmas
-candles every night. And, of course, one could have
-all the toys he wanted, and pick them out himself.</p>
-
-<p>So, from that very minute until the tenth of April,
-the boys were as good,—as good as gold.</p>
-
-<p>Then, on the tenth of April, the big Santa Claus
-gate was opened, and <i>such</i> a crowd poured into the
-garden! The ground was plowed, but the seed had
-not been planted, so they could walk about everywhere.</p>
-
-<p>Two of the Christmas Monks sat on a throne trimmed
-so thick with evergreens that it looked like a bird’s
-nest. They wore Christmas wreaths on their heads,
-and their eyes twinkled merrily.</p>
-
-<p>The little boys stood in a long row before them,
-and the fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, grandmothers,
-and grandfathers looked on.</p>
-
-<p>It was very sad! One boy had taken eggs from a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />208<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-bird’s nest; and another had frightened a cat. One
-boy didn’t help his mother, and another didn’t take
-good care of his little brother.</p>
-
-<p>At last there were only two boys left,—Peter and
-the Prince.</p>
-
-<p>Now Peter was really and truly a good boy, and
-always had been. And of course every one said the
-Prince was a good boy, because a King’s son must
-be good. So the Monks chose Peter and the Prince
-to work in the garden.</p>
-
-<p>The next morning the two boys were dressed in
-white robes and green wreaths like the Monks. Then
-the Prince was sent to plant Noah’s-Ark seed and
-Peter was given picture-book seed.</p>
-
-<p>Up and down they went, scattering the seeds.
-Peter sang a little song to himself, but the Prince
-grumbled because they had not given him gold-watch
-seed.</p>
-
-<p>By noon Peter had planted all his picture books and
-fastened up the card to mark them, but the Prince
-had planted only two rows of Noah’s Arks.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />209<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>“We are going to have trouble with this boy,”
-said the Monks to each other. “We shall have to
-punish him.”</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 465px;">
-<img src="images/i-215.jpg" width="465" height="343" alt="finished planting" />
-</div>
-
-<p>So that day the Prince had no Christmas dinner,
-and the next morning he finished planting the Noah’s-Ark
-seed.</p>
-
-<p>But the very next day he was cross because he had
-to sow harmonicas instead of toy pianos, and had to
-be punished again. And so it was every other day
-through the whole summer.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />210<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>So the Prince was very unhappy and wished he
-could run away, but Peter had never been so happy
-in his life. He worked like a bee all day, and loved
-to watch the Christmas gifts grow and blossom.</p>
-
-<p>“They grow so slowly,” the Prince would say.
-“I thought I should have a bushel of new toys every
-month and not one have I had yet.” Then he would
-cry, and Peter would try to comfort him.</p>
-
-<p>At last one day the Prince found a ladder in the
-tool house. The Monks were in the chapel, singing
-Christmas carols, and Peter was tuning the penny
-trumpets. It was a fine chance to run away. The
-Prince put the ladder against the Santa Claus gate,
-climbed up to the top, and slid down on the outside.</p>
-
-
-<h3>III—THE PRETTIEST DOLL</h3>
-
-<p>It was nearly Christmas now, and most of the toys
-had been gathered. The rocking-horses were still
-growing, and a few of the largest dolls; but the
-tops, balls, guns, blocks, and drums were all packed
-in baskets ready for Santa Claus.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />211<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-<p>One morning Peter was in the wax-doll bed, dusting
-the dolls. All of a sudden he heard a sweet voice
-saying, “Oh, Peter!”</p>
-
-<p>He thought at first it was one of the dolls, but they
-could only say “Papa!” and “Mamma!”</p>
-
-<p>“Here I am, Peter,” said the voice again, and what
-do you suppose Peter saw? It was his own dear little
-lame sister.</p>
-
-<p>She was not any taller than the dolls around her,
-and she looked just like one of them with her pink
-cheeks and yellow hair. She stood there on her
-crutches, poor little thing, smiling lovingly at Peter.</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, you darling,” cried Peter, catching her up
-in his arms. “How did you get in here?”</p>
-
-<p>“I saw one of the Monks going past our house,
-so I ran out and followed him. When he came through
-the gate I came in, too, but he did not see me.”</p>
-
-<p>“Well,” said Peter, “I don’t see what I can do
-with you. I can’t let you out, because the gate is
-locked, and I don’t know what the Monks will say.”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, I know!” cried the little girl. “I’ll stay out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />212<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-here in the garden. I can sleep every night in one of
-those beautiful dolls’ cradles over there, and you can
-bring me something to eat.”</p>
-
-<p>“But the Monks come out every morning to look
-at the Christmas gifts, and they will see you,” said
-her brother.</p>
-
-<p>“No, I’ll hide! Oh, Peter, here is a place where
-there isn’t any doll.”</p>
-
-<p>“Yes, that doll didn’t come up.”</p>
-
-<p>“Well, I’ll tell you what I’ll do! I’ll stand here
-where the doll didn’t come up and try to look like
-one.”</p>
-
-<p>“Perhaps you can do that,” said Peter. He was
-such a good boy that he didn’t want to do anything
-wrong, but he couldn’t help being glad to see his
-dear little sister.</p>
-
-<p>He took food out to her every day, and she helped
-him in the garden. At night he tucked her into one
-of the dolls’ cradles with lace pillows and a quilt of
-rose-colored silk.</p>
-
-<p>So they went on, day after day, and they were just<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />213<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-as happy as they could be. Finally the day came
-for gathering the very last of the Christmas gifts,
-because in six days it would be Christmas, and Santa
-Claus had to start out in a day or two.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 461px;">
-<img src="images/i-219.jpg" width="461" height="344" alt="boy  and lame sister" />
-</div>
-
-<p>So the Monks went into the garden to be sure that
-everything was perfect, and one of them wore his
-spectacles. When he came to the bed where the
-biggest dolls were growing, there stood Peter’s sister,
-smiling and swinging on her crutches.</p>
-
-<p>“Why, what is that!” said the Monk. “I thought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />214<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-that doll didn’t come up. There is a doll there—and
-a doll on crutches, too.”</p>
-
-<p>Then he put out his hand to touch the doll and
-she jumped,—she couldn’t help it. The Monk
-jumped too, and his Christmas wreath fell off his head.</p>
-
-<p>“The doll is alive!” he exclaimed. “I will pick
-her and show her to my brothers.”</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 504px;">
-<img src="images/i-225.jpg" width="504" height="680" alt="Man in white robe iwth laurel crown carrying lame girl amongst children" />
-<div class="caption">THE GOOD FATHER TOOK PETER’S LITTLE SISTER, CRUTCHES AND ALL,
-IN HIS ARMS.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Then the good father put on his Christmas wreath,
-took Peter’s little sister, crutches and all, in his arms,
-and carried her into the chapel.</p>
-
-
-<h3>IV—CHRISTMAS GIFTS</h3>
-
-<p>Soon the Monks came into the chapel to practise
-singing some new Christmas carols. There sat the
-near-sighted Monk, holding the big doll in his arms.</p>
-
-<p>“Behold a miracle,” he said, holding up the doll.
-“Thou wilt remember that there was one doll planted
-which did not come up. Behold, in her place I have
-found this doll on crutches, which is—alive!”</p>
-
-<p>“It is indeed a miracle,” said the Monk who was a
-doctor. He took the child in his arms and looked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />215<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-at the twisted ankle. “I think I can cure this lameness,”
-he said.</p>
-
-<p>“Take her, then,” said the abbot, “and we will
-sing our Christmas carols joyously in her honor.”</p>
-
-<p>Peter, of course, heard the Monks talking about the
-miracle, and he knew what it meant. He was very
-unhappy to think that he was deceiving them. At
-the same time he did not dare to tell them for fear
-the doctor would not try to cure his sister.</p>
-
-<p>He worked hard picking the Christmas presents,
-and getting them ready for Santa Claus.</p>
-
-<p>On Christmas Eve he was called into the chapel.
-The walls were covered with evergreen, and Christmas
-candles shone everywhere. There were Christmas
-wreaths in all the windows, and the Monks were
-singing a Christmas carol.</p>
-
-<p>On a chair covered with green branches sat Peter’s
-little sister, dressed in white, with a wreath of holly
-berries on her head.</p>
-
-<p>When the carol was ended, the Monks formed in
-a line with the abbot at the head. Each one had his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />216<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-hands full of the most beautiful Christmas presents.
-The abbot held a wax doll, the biggest and prettiest
-that grew in the garden.</p>
-
-<p>When he held it out to the little girl, she drew back,
-and said in her sweet little voice, “Please, I’m not a
-miracle; I’m only Peter’s little sister.”</p>
-
-<p>“Peter?” said the abbot; “the Peter who works
-in our garden?”</p>
-
-<p>“Yes,” said the little sister.</p>
-
-<p>The Monks looked at each other in dismay. This
-was not a miracle, it was only Peter’s little sister!</p>
-
-<p>But the abbot of the Christmas Monks spoke to
-them. “This little girl did not come up in the place
-of the wax doll, and she is not a miracle. But she
-is sweet and beautiful, and we all love her.”</p>
-
-<p>“Yes,” said the Christmas Monks, and they laid
-their presents down before her.</p>
-
-<p>Peter was so happy he danced for joy. And when
-he found his little sister was cured of her lameness,
-he did not know what to do.</p>
-
-<p>In the afternoon he took his sister and went home<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />217<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span>
-to see his father and mother. Santa Claus filled his
-sleigh with gifts and drove his reindeer down to the
-cottage.</p>
-
-<p>Oh! it was such a happy day. There was so much
-to tell that they all talked at once. There was so
-much to see that their eyes ached with looking.</p>
-
-<p>But in the palace of the King it was very different.
-The Prince was cross and unhappy. His old toys were
-broken. He was tired of his old games. There was no
-one for him to play with, and he didn’t have one
-single Christmas gift.</p>
-
-<p class="sig">
-—<i>Mary E. Wilkins (abridged and adapted).</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />218<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>PRONOUNCING KEY AND WORD LIST</h2>
-
-
-<p>The words in this list are divided into syllables and marked
-according to Webster’s International Dictionary. The list includes
-all the more difficult words which occur in the text.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
-<img src="images/i-230.jpg" width="500" height="433" alt="page 218" />
-</div>
-
-
-<p class="center">
-The silent letters are printed in italic.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />219<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 520px;">
-<img src="images/i-231.jpg" width="520" height="742" alt="page 219" />
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />220<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 526px;">
-<img src="images/i-232.jpg" width="526" height="748" alt="page 220" />
-</div>
-
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />221<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 520px;">
-<img src="images/i-233.jpg" width="520" height="740" alt="page 221" />
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />222<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 537px;">
-<img src="images/i-234.jpg" width="537" height="736" alt="page 222" />
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />223<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 519px;">
-<img src="images/i-235.jpg" width="519" height="727" alt="page 223" />
-</div>
-
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224"><img src="images/page_deco-l.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" />224<img src="images/page_deco-r.jpg" width="17" height="12" alt="decoration" /></a></span></p>
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 518px;">
-<img src="images/i-236.jpg" width="518" height="322" alt="page 224" />
-</div>
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<pre>
-
-
-
-
-
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author	nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>	2025-02-05 21:14:43 -0800
committer	nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>	2025-02-05 21:14:43 -0800
commit	d25c62f4150618d53476971fb331a4889fa3f64a (patch)
tree	e9cc1580d7aa2916c79cfb397044b1ba1b45d19c
parent	8e7f0326386e32915d3a527d7dede1a04feed834 (diff)