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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOUISA ALCOTT READER: A
+SUPPLEMENTARY READER FOR THE FOURTH YEAR OF SCHOOL ***
+
+
+
+
+THE LOUISA ALCOTT READER
+
+_A Supplementary Reader for the Fourth Year of School_
+
+
+By Louisa M. Alcott
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "Lily rocked and ate till she finished the top of the
+little tree."]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+I. A CHRISTMAS DREAM
+
+II. THE CANDY COUNTRY
+
+III. NAUGHTY JOCKO
+
+IV. THE SKIPPING SHOES
+
+V. COCKYLOO
+
+VI. ROSY'S JOURNEY
+
+VII. HOW THEY RAN AWAY
+
+VIII. THE FAIRY BOX
+
+IX. A HOLE IN THE WALL
+
+X. THE PIGGY GIRL
+
+
+
+[Illustration: She actually stood in "a grove of Christmas trees."]
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+A CHRISTMAS DREAM, AND HOW IT CAME TRUE.
+
+
+"I'm so tired of Christmas I wish there never would be another one!"
+exclaimed a discontented-looking little girl, as she sat idly watching
+her mother arrange a pile of gifts two days before they were to be
+given.
+
+"Why, Effie, what a dreadful thing to say! You are as bad as old
+Scrooge; and I'm afraid something will happen to you, as it did to him,
+if you don't care for dear Christmas," answered mamma, almost dropping
+the silver horn she was filling with delicious candies.
+
+"Who was Scrooge? What happened to him?" asked Effie, with a glimmer of
+interest in her listless face, as she picked out the sourest lemon-drop
+she could find; for nothing sweet suited her just then.
+
+"He was one of Dickens's best people, and you can read the charming
+story some day. He hated Christmas until a strange dream showed him how
+dear and beautiful it was, and made a better man of him."
+
+"I shall read it; for I like dreams, and have a great many curious ones
+myself. But they don't keep me from being tired of Christmas," said
+Effie, poking discontentedly among the sweeties for something worth
+eating.
+
+"Why are you tired of what should be the happiest time of all the year?"
+asked mamma, anxiously.
+
+"Perhaps I shouldn't be if I had something new. But it is always the
+same, and there isn't any more surprise about it. I always find heaps of
+goodies in my stocking. Don't like some of them, and soon get tired of
+those I do like. We always have a great dinner, and I eat too much, and
+feel ill next day. Then there is a Christmas tree somewhere, with a doll
+on top, or a stupid old Santa Claus, and children dancing and screaming
+over bonbons and toys that break, and shiny things that are of no use.
+Really, mamma, I've had so many Christmases all alike that I don't think
+I _can_ bear another one." And Effie laid herself flat on the sofa, as
+if the mere idea was too much for her.
+
+Her mother laughed at her despair, but was sorry to see her little girl
+so discontented, when she had everything to make her happy, and had
+known but ten Christmas days.
+
+"Suppose we don't give you _any_ presents at all,--how would that suit
+you?" asked mamma, anxious to please her spoiled child.
+
+"I should like one large and splendid one, and one dear little one,
+to remember some very nice person by," said Effie, who was a fanciful
+little body, full of odd whims and notions, which her friends loved to
+gratify, regardless of time, trouble, or money; for she was the last of
+three little girls, and very dear to all the family.
+
+"Well, my darling, I will see what I can do to please you, and not say a
+word until all is ready. If I could only get a new idea to start with!"
+And mamma went on tying up her pretty bundles with a thoughtful face,
+while Effie strolled to the window to watch the rain that kept her
+in-doors and made her dismal.
+
+"Seems to me poor children have better times than rich ones. I can't go
+out, and there is a girl about my age splashing along, without any maid
+to fuss about rubbers and cloaks and umbrellas and colds. I wish I was a
+beggar-girl."
+
+"Would you like to be hungry, cold, and ragged, to beg all day, and
+sleep on an ash-heap at night?" asked mamma, wondering what would come
+next.
+
+"Cinderella did, and had a nice time in the end. This girl out here has
+a basket of scraps on her arm, and a big old shawl all round her, and
+doesn't seem to care a bit, though the water runs out of the toes of her
+boots. She goes paddling along, laughing at the rain, and eating a cold
+potato as if it tasted nicer than the chicken and ice-cream I had for
+dinner. Yes, I do think poor children are happier than rich ones."
+
+"So do I, sometimes. At the Orphan Asylum today I saw two dozen merry
+little souls who have no parents, no home, and no hope of Christmas
+beyond a stick of candy or a cake. I wish you had been there to see how
+happy they were, playing with the old toys some richer children had sent
+them."
+
+"You may give them all mine; I'm so tired of them I never want to
+see them again," said Effie, turning from the window to the pretty
+baby-house full of everything a child's heart could desire.
+
+"I will, and let you begin again with something you will not tire of,
+if I can only find it." And mamma knit her brows trying to discover some
+grand surprise for this child who didn't care for Christmas.
+
+Nothing more was said then; and wandering off to the library, Effie
+found "A Christmas Carol," and curling herself up in the sofa corner,
+read it all before tea. Some of it she did not understand; but she
+laughed and cried over many parts of the charming story, and felt better
+without knowing why.
+
+All the evening she thought of poor Tiny Tim, Mrs. Cratchit with the
+pudding, and the stout old gentleman who danced so gayly that "his legs
+twinkled in the air." Presently bedtime arrived.
+
+"Come, now, and toast your feet," said Effie's nurse, "while I do your
+pretty hair and tell stories."
+
+"I'll have a fairy tale to-night, a very interesting one," commanded
+Effie, as she put on her blue silk wrapper and little fur-lined slippers
+to sit before the fire and have her long curls brushed.
+
+So Nursey told her best tales; and when at last the child lay down under
+her lace curtains, her head was full of a curious jumble of Christmas
+elves, poor children, snow-storms, sugarplums, and surprises. So it is
+no wonder that she dreamed all night; and this was the dream, which she
+never quite forgot.
+
+She found herself sitting on a stone, in the middle of a great field,
+all alone. The snow was falling fast, a bitter wind whistled by, and
+night was coming on. She felt hungry, cold, and tired, and did not know
+where to go nor what to do.
+
+"I wanted to be a beggar-girl, and now I am one; but I don't like it,
+and wish somebody would come and take care of me. I don't know who I am,
+and I think I must be lost," thought Effie, with the curious interest
+one takes in one's self in dreams.
+
+But the more she thought about it, the more bewildered she felt. Faster
+fell the snow, colder blew the wind, darker grew the night; and poor
+Effie made up her mind that she was quite forgotten and left to freeze
+alone. The tears were chilled on her cheeks, her feet felt like icicles,
+and her heart died within her, so hungry, frightened, and forlorn was
+she. Laying her head on her knees, she gave herself up for lost, and sat
+there with the great flakes fast turning her to a little white mound,
+when suddenly the sound of music reached her, and starting up, she
+looked and listened with all her eyes and ears.
+
+Far away a dim light shone, and a voice was heard singing. She tried
+to run toward the welcome glimmer, but could not stir, and stood like a
+small statue of expectation while the light drew nearer, and the sweet
+words of the song grew clearer.
+
+    From our happy home
+    Through the world we roam
+  One week in all the year,
+    Making winter spring
+    With the joy we bring,
+  For Christmas-tide is here.
+
+    Now the eastern star
+    Shines from afar
+  To light the poorest home;
+    Hearts warmer grow,
+    Gifts freely flow,
+  For Christmas-tide has come.
+
+    Now gay trees rise
+    Before young eyes,
+  Abloom with tempting cheer;
+    Blithe voices sing,
+    And blithe bells ring,
+  For Christmas-tide is here.
+
+    Oh, happy chime,
+    Oh, blessed time,
+  That draws us all so near!
+    "Welcome, dear day,"
+    All creatures say,
+  For Christmas-tide is here.
+
+A child's voice sang, a child's hand carried the little candle; and in
+the circle of soft light it shed, Effie saw a pretty child coming to her
+through the night and snow. A rosy, smiling creature, wrapped in white
+fur, with a wreath of green and scarlet holly on its shining hair, the
+magic candle in one hand, and the other outstretched as if to shower
+gifts and warmly press all other hands.
+
+Effie forgot to speak as this bright vision came nearer, leaving no
+trace of footsteps in the snow, only lighting the way with its little
+candle, and filling the air with the music of its song.
+
+"Dear child, you are lost, and I have come to find you," said the
+stranger, taking Effie's cold hands in his, with a smile like sunshine,
+while every holly berry glowed like a little fire.
+
+"Do you know me?" asked Effie, feeling no fear, but a great gladness, at
+his coming.
+
+"I know all children, and go to find them; for this is my holiday, and
+I gather them from all parts of the world to be merry with me once a
+year."
+
+"Are you an angel?" asked Effie, looking for the wings.
+
+"No; I am a Christmas spirit, and live with my mates in a pleasant
+place, getting ready for our holiday, when we are let out to roam about
+the world, helping make this a happy time for all who will let us in.
+Will you come and see how we work?"
+
+"I will go anywhere with you. Don't leave me again," cried Effie,
+gladly.
+
+"First I will make you comfortable. That is what we love to do. You are
+cold, and you shall be warm, hungry, and I will feed you; sorrowful, and
+I will make you gay."
+
+With a wave of his candle all three miracles were wrought,--for the
+snow-flakes turned to a white fur cloak and hood on Effie's head and
+shoulders, a bowl of hot soup came sailing to her lips, and vanished
+when she had eagerly drunk the last drop; and suddenly the dismal field
+changed to a new world so full of wonders that all her troubles were
+forgotten in a minute.
+
+Bells were ringing so merrily that it was hard to keep from dancing.
+Green garlands hung on the walls, and every tree was a Christmas tree
+full of toys, and blazing with candles that never went out.
+
+In one place many little spirits sewed like mad on warm clothes, turning
+off work faster than any sewing-machine ever invented, and great piles
+were made ready to be sent to poor people. Other busy creatures packed
+money into purses, and wrote checks which they sent flying away on the
+wind,--a lovely kind of snow-storm to fall into a world below full of
+poverty.
+
+Older and graver spirits were looking over piles of little books, in
+which the records of the past year were kept, telling how different
+people had spent it, and what sort of gifts they deserved. Some got
+peace, some disappointment, some remorse and sorrow, some great joy and
+hope. The rich had generous thoughts sent them; the poor, gratitude and
+contentment. Children had more love and duty to parents; and parents
+renewed patience, wisdom, and satisfaction for and in their children. No
+one was forgotten.
+
+"Please tell me what splendid place this is?" asked Effie, as soon as
+she could collect her wits after the first look at all these astonishing
+things.
+
+"This is the Christmas world; and here we work all the year round, never
+tired of getting ready for the happy day. See, these are the saints
+just setting off; for some have far to go, and the children must not be
+disappointed."
+
+As he spoke the spirit pointed to four gates, out of which four great
+sleighs were just driving, laden with toys, while a jolly old Santa
+Claus sat in the middle of each, drawing on his mittens and tucking up
+his wraps for a long cold drive.
+
+"Why, I thought there was only one Santa Claus, and even he was a
+humbug," cried Effie, astonished at the sight.
+
+"Never give up your faith in the sweet old stones, even after you come
+to see that they are only the pleasant shadow of a lovely truth."
+
+Just then the sleighs went off with a great jingling of bells and
+pattering of reindeer hoofs, while all the spirits gave a cheer that was
+heard in the lower world, where people said, "Hear the stars sing."
+
+"I never will say there isn't any Santa Claus again. Now, show me more."
+
+"You will like to see this place, I think, and may learn something here
+perhaps"
+
+The spirit smiled as he led the way to a little door, through which
+Effie peeped into a world of dolls. Baby-houses were in full blast, with
+dolls of all sorts going on like live people. Waxen ladies sat in their
+parlors elegantly dressed; black dolls cooked in the kitchens; nurses
+walked out with the bits of dollies; and the streets were full of tin
+soldiers marching, wooden horses prancing, express wagons rumbling, and
+little men hurrying to and fro. Shops were there, and tiny people buying
+legs of mutton, pounds of tea, mites of clothes, and everything dolls
+use or wear or want.
+
+But presently she saw that in some ways the dolls improved upon the
+manners and customs of human beings, and she watched eagerly to learn
+why they did these things. A fine Paris doll driving in her carriage
+took up a black worsted Dinah who was hobbling along with a basket of
+clean clothes, and carried her to her journey's end, as if it were
+the proper thing to do. Another interesting china lady took off her
+comfortable red cloak and put it round a poor wooden creature done up in
+a paper shift, and so badly painted that its face would have sent some
+babies into fits.
+
+"Seems to me I once knew a rich girl who didn't give her things to poor
+girls. I wish I could remember who she was, and tell her to be as kind
+as that china doll," said Effie, much touched at the sweet way the
+pretty creature wrapped up the poor fright, and then ran off in her
+little gray gown to buy a shiny fowl stuck on a wooden platter for her
+invalid mother's dinner.
+
+"We recall these things to people's minds by dreams. I think the girl
+you speak of won't forget this one." And the spirit smiled, as if he
+enjoyed some joke which she did not see.
+
+A little bell rang as she looked, and away scampered the children into
+the red-and-green school-house with the roof that lifted up, so one
+could see how nicely they sat at their desks with mites of books, or
+drew on the inch-square blackboards with crumbs of chalk.
+
+"They know their lessons very well, and are as still as mice. We make
+a great racket at our school, and get bad marks every day. I shall tell
+the girls they had better mind what they do, or their dolls will be
+better scholars than they are," said Effie, much impressed, as she
+peeped in and saw no rod in the hand of the little mistress, who looked
+up and shook her head at the intruder, as if begging her to go away
+before the order of the school was disturbed.
+
+Effie retired at once, but could not resist one look in at the window of
+a fine mansion, where the family were at dinner, the children behaved so
+well at table, and never grumbled a bit when their mamma said they could
+not have any more fruit.
+
+"Now, show me something else," she said, as they came again to the low
+door that led out of Doll-land.
+
+"You have seen how we prepare for Christmas; let me show you where we
+love best to send our good and happy gifts," answered the spirit, giving
+her his hand again.
+
+"I know. I've seen ever so many," began Effie, thinking of her own
+Christmases.
+
+"No, you have never seen what I will show you. Come away, and remember
+what you see to-night."
+
+Like a flash that bright world vanished, and Effie found herself in a
+part of the city she had never seen before. It was far away from the
+gayer places, where every store was brilliant with lights and full of
+pretty things, and every house wore a festival air, while people hurried
+to and fro with merry greetings. It was down among the dingy streets
+where the poor lived, and where there was no making ready for Christmas.
+
+Hungry women looked in at the shabby shops, longing to buy meat and
+bread, but empty pockets forbade. Tipsy men drank up their wages in the
+bar-rooms; and in many cold dark chambers little children huddled under
+the thin blankets, trying to forget their misery in sleep.
+
+No nice dinners filled the air with savory smells, no gay trees dropped
+toys and bonbons into eager hands, no little stockings hung in rows
+beside the chimney-piece ready to be filled, no happy sounds of music,
+gay voices, and dancing feet were heard; and there were no signs of
+Christmas anywhere.
+
+"Don't they have any in this place?" asked Effie, shivering, as she held
+fast the spirit's hand, following where he led her.
+
+"We come to bring it. Let me show you our best workers." And the spirit
+pointed to some sweet-faced men and women who came stealing into the
+poor houses, working such beautiful miracles that Effie could only stand
+and watch.
+
+Some slipped money into the empty pockets, and sent the happy mothers
+to buy all the comforts they needed; others led the drunken men out of
+temptation, and took them home to find safer pleasures there. Fires were
+kindled on cold hearths, tables spread as if by magic, and warm clothes
+wrapped round shivering limbs. Flowers suddenly bloomed in the chambers
+of the sick; old people found themselves remembered; sad hearts were
+consoled by a tender word, and wicked ones softened by the story of Him
+who forgave all sin.
+
+But the sweetest work was for the children; and Effie held her breath to
+watch these human fairies hang up and fill the little stockings without
+which a child's Christmas is not perfect, putting in things that once
+she would have thought very humble presents, but which now seemed
+beautiful and precious because these poor babies had nothing.
+
+"That is so beautiful! I wish I could make merry Christmases as these
+good people do, and be loved and thanked as they are," said Effie,
+softly, as she watched the busy men and women do their work and steal
+away without thinking of any reward but their own satisfaction.
+
+"You can if you will. I have shown you the way. Try it, and see how
+happy your own holiday will be hereafter."
+
+As he spoke, the spirit seemed to put his arms about her, and vanished
+with a kiss.
+
+"Oh, stay and show me more!" cried Effie, trying to hold him fast.
+
+"Darling, wake up, and tell me why you are smiling in your sleep," said
+a voice in her ear; and opening her eyes, there was mamma bending over
+her, and morning sunshine streaming into the room.
+
+"Are they all gone? Did you hear the bells? Wasn't it splendid?" she
+asked, rubbing her eyes, and looking about her for the pretty child who
+was so real and sweet.
+
+"You have been dreaming at a great rate,--talking in your sleep,
+laughing, and clapping your hands as if you were cheering some one. Tell
+me what was so splendid," said mamma, smoothing the tumbled hair and
+lifting up the sleepy head.
+
+Then, while she was being dressed, Effie told her dream, and Nursey
+thought it very wonderful; but mamma smiled to see how curiously things
+the child had thought, read, heard, and seen through the day were mixed
+up in her sleep.
+
+"The spirit said I could work lovely miracles if I tried; but I don't
+know how to begin, for I have no magic candle to make feasts appear, and
+light up groves of Christmas trees, as he did," said Effie, sorrowfully.
+
+"Yes, you have. We will do it! we will do it!" And clapping her hands,
+mamma suddenly began to dance all over the room as if she had lost her
+wits.
+
+"How? how? You must tell me, mamma," cried Effie, dancing after her, and
+ready to believe anything possible when she remembered the adventures of
+the past night.
+
+"I've got it! I've got it!--the new idea. A splendid one, if I can only
+carry it out!" And mamma waltzed the little girl round till her curls
+flew wildly in the air, while Nursey laughed as if she would die.
+
+"Tell me! tell me!" shrieked Effie. "No, no; it is a surprise,--a grand
+surprise for Christmas day!" sung mamma, evidently charmed with her
+happy thought. "Now, come to breakfast; for we must work like bees if we
+want to play spirits tomorrow. You and Nursey will go out shopping, and
+get heaps of things, while I arrange matters behind the scenes."
+
+They were running downstairs as mamma spoke, and Effie called out
+breathlessly,--
+
+"It won't be a surprise; for I know you are going to ask some poor
+children here, and have a tree or something. It won't be like my dream;
+for they had ever so many trees, and more children than we can find
+anywhere."
+
+"There will be no tree, no party, no dinner, in this house at all, and
+no presents for you. Won't that be a surprise?" And mamma laughed at
+Effie's bewildered face.
+
+"Do it. I shall like it, I think; and I won't ask any questions, so it
+will all burst upon me when the time comes," she said; and she ate
+her breakfast thoughtfully, for this really would be a new sort of
+Christmas.
+
+All that morning Effie trotted after Nursey in and out of shops,
+buying dozens of barking dogs, woolly lambs, and squeaking birds; tiny
+tea-sets, gay picture-books, mittens and hoods, dolls and candy. Parcel
+after parcel was sent home; but when Effie returned she saw no trace of
+them, though she peeped everywhere. Nursey chuckled, but wouldn't give
+a hint, and went out again in the afternoon with a long list of more
+things to buy; while Effie wandered forlornly about the house, missing
+the usual merry stir that went before the Christmas dinner and the
+evening fun.
+
+As for mamma, she was quite invisible all day, and came in at night so
+tired that she could only lie on the sofa to rest, smiling as if some
+very pleasant thought made her happy in spite of weariness.
+
+"Is the surprise going on all right?" asked Effie, anxiously; for it
+seemed an immense time to wait till another evening came.
+
+"Beautifully! better than I expected; for several of my good friends are
+helping, or I couldn't have done it as I wish. I know you will like it,
+dear, and long remember this new way of making Christmas merry."
+
+Mamma gave her a very tender kiss, and Effie went to bed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next day was a very strange one; for when she woke there was no
+stocking to examine, no pile of gifts under her napkin, no one said
+"Merry Christmas!" to her, and the dinner was just as usual to her.
+Mamma vanished again, and Nursey kept wiping her eyes and saying: "The
+dear things! It's the prettiest idea I ever heard of. No one but your
+blessed ma could have done it."
+
+"Do stop, Nursey, or I shall go crazy because I don't know the secret!"
+cried Effie, more than once; and she kept her eye on the clock, for at
+seven in the evening the surprise was to come off.
+
+The longed-for hour arrived at last, and the child was too excited
+to ask questions when Nurse put on her cloak and hood, led her to the
+carriage, and they drove away, leaving their house the one dark and
+silent one in the row.
+
+"I feel like the girls in the fairy tales who are led off to strange
+places and see fine things," said Effie, in a whisper, as they jingled
+through the gay streets.
+
+"Ah, my deary, it _is_ like a fairy tale, I do assure you, and you
+_will_ see finer things than most children will tonight. Steady, now,
+and do just as I tell you, and don't say one word whatever you see,"
+answered Nursey, quite quivering with excitement as she patted a large
+box in her lap, and nodded and laughed with twinkling eyes.
+
+They drove into a dark yard, and Effie was led through a back door to a
+little room, where Nurse coolly proceeded to take off not only her cloak
+and hood, but her dress and shoes also. Effie stared and bit her lips,
+but kept still until out of the box came a little white fur coat and
+boots, a wreath of holly leaves and berries, and a candle with a frill
+of gold paper round it. A long "Oh!" escaped her then; and when she
+was dressed and saw herself in the glass, she started back, exclaiming,
+"Why, Nursey, I look like the spirit in my dream!"
+
+"So you do; and that's the part you are to play, my pretty! Now whist,
+while I blind your eyes and put you in your place."
+
+"Shall I be afraid?" whispered Effie, full of wonder; for as they went
+out she heard the sound of many voices, the tramp of many feet, and,
+in spite of the bandage, was sure a great light shone upon her when she
+stopped.
+
+"You needn't be; I shall stand close by, and your ma will be there."
+
+After the handkerchief was tied about her eyes, Nurse led Effie up some
+steps, and placed her on a high platform, where something like leaves
+touched her head, and the soft snap of lamps seemed to fill the air.
+
+Music began as soon as Nurse clapped her hands, the voices outside
+sounded nearer, and the tramp was evidently coming up the stairs.
+
+"Now, my precious, look and see how you and your dear ma have made a
+merry Christmas for them that needed it!"
+
+Off went the bandage; and for a minute Effie really did think she was
+asleep again, for she actually stood in "a grove of Christmas trees,"
+all gay and shining as in her vision. Twelve on a side, in two rows
+down the room, stood the little pines, each on its low table; and behind
+Effie a taller one rose to the roof, hung with wreaths of popcorn,
+apples, oranges, horns of candy, and cakes of all sorts, from sugary
+hearts to gingerbread Jumbos. On the smaller trees she saw many of her
+own discarded toys and those Nursey bought, as well as heaps that seemed
+to have rained down straight from that delightful Christmas country
+where she felt as if she was again.
+
+"How splendid! Who is it for? What is that noise? Where is mamma?" cried
+Effie, pale with pleasure and surprise, as she stood looking down the
+brilliant little street from her high place.
+
+Before Nurse could answer, the doors at the lower end flew open, and in
+marched twenty-four little blue-gowned orphan girls, singing sweetly,
+until amazement changed the song to cries of joy and wonder as the
+shining spectacle appeared. While they stood staring with round eyes
+at the wilderness of pretty things about them, mamma stepped up beside
+Effie, and holding her hand fast to give her courage, told the story of
+the dream in a few simple words, ending in this way:--
+
+"So my little girl wanted to be a Christmas spirit too, and make this
+a happy day for those who had not as many pleasures and comforts as she
+has. She likes surprises, and we planned this for you all. She shall
+play the good fairy, and give each of you something from this tree,
+after which every one will find her own name on a small tree, and can
+go to enjoy it in her own way. March by, my dears, and let us fill your
+hands."
+
+Nobody told them to do it, but all the hands were clapped heartily
+before a single child stirred; then one by one they came to look up
+wonderingly at the pretty giver of the feast as she leaned down to offer
+them great yellow oranges, red apples, bunches of grapes, bonbons, and
+cakes, till all were gone, and a double row of smiling faces turned
+toward her as the children filed back to their places in the orderly way
+they had been taught.
+
+Then each was led to her own tree by the good ladies who had helped
+mamma with all their hearts; and the happy hubbub that arose would have
+satisfied even Santa Claus himself,--shrieks of joy, dances of delight,
+laughter and tears (for some tender little things could not bear so much
+pleasure at once, and sobbed with mouths full of candy and hands full
+of toys). How they ran to show one another the new treasures! how they
+peeped and tasted, pulled and pinched, until the air was full of queer
+noises, the floor covered with papers, and the little trees left bare of
+all but candles!
+
+"I don't think heaven can be any gooder than this," sighed one small
+girl, as she looked about her in a blissful maze, holding her full apron
+with one hand, while she luxuriously carried sugar-plums to her mouth
+with the other.
+
+"Is that a truly angel up there?" asked another, fascinated by the
+little white figure with the wreath on its shining hair, who in some
+mysterious way had been the cause of all this merry-making.
+
+"I wish I dared to go and kiss her for this splendid party," said a lame
+child, leaning on her crutch, as she stood near the steps, wondering
+how it seemed to sit in a mother's lap, as Effie was doing, while she
+watched the happy scene before her.
+
+Effie heard her, and remembering Tiny Tim, ran down and put her arms
+about the pale child, kissing the wistful face, as she said sweetly,
+"You may; but mamma deserves the thanks. She did it all; I only dreamed
+about it."
+
+Lame Katy felt as if "a truly angel" was embracing her, and could only
+stammer out her thanks, while the other children ran to see the pretty
+spirit, and touch her soft dress, until she stood in a crowd of blue
+gowns laughing as they held up their gifts for her to see and admire.
+
+Mamma leaned down and whispered one word to the older girls; and
+suddenly they all took hands to dance round Effie, singing as they
+skipped.
+
+It was a pretty sight, and the ladies found it hard to break up the
+happy revel; but it was late for small people, and too much fun is a
+mistake. So the girls fell into line, and marched before Effie and mamma
+again, to say goodnight with such grateful little faces that the eyes of
+those who looked grew dim with tears. Mamma kissed every one; and many
+a hungry childish heart felt as if the touch of those tender lips was
+their best gift. Effie shook so many small hands that her own tingled;
+and when Katy came she pressed a small doll into Effie's hand,
+whispering, "You didn't have a single present, and we had lots. Do keep
+that; it's the prettiest thing I got."
+
+"I will," answered Effie, and held it fast until the last smiling face
+was gone, the surprise all over, and she safe in her own bed, too tired
+and happy for anything but sleep.
+
+"Mamma, it was a beautiful surprise, and I thank you so much! I don't
+see how you did it; but I like it best of all the Christmases I ever
+had, and mean to make one every year. I had my splendid big present, and
+here is the dear little one to keep for love of poor Katy; so even that
+part of my wish came true."
+
+And Effie fell asleep with a happy smile on her lips, her one humble
+gift still in her hand, and a new love for Christmas in her heart that
+never changed through a long life spent in doing good.
+
+
+[Illustration: "Hollo, what do you want?" he asked, staring at her.]
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+THE CANDY COUNTRY.
+
+
+"I shall take mamma's red sun-umbrella, it is so warm, and none of the
+children at school will have one like it," said Lily, one day, as she
+went through the hall.
+
+"The wind is very high; I'm afraid you'll be blown away if you carry
+that big thing," called Nurse from the window, as the red umbrella went
+bobbing down the garden walk with a small girl under it.
+
+"I wish it would; I always wanted to go up in a balloon," answered Lily,
+as she struggled out of the gate.
+
+She got on very well till she came to the bridge and stopped to look
+over the railing at the water running by so fast, and the turtles
+sunning themselves on the rocks. Lily was fond of throwing stones at
+them; it was so funny to watch them tumble, heels over head, splash into
+the water. Now, when she saw three big fellows close by, she stooped for
+a stone, and just at that minute a gale of wind nearly took the
+umbrella out of her hand. She clutched it fast; and away she went like
+a thistle-down, right up in the air, over river and hill, houses and
+trees, faster and faster, till her head spun round, her breath was all
+gone, and she had to let go. The dear red umbrella flew away like a
+leaf; and Lily fell down, down, till she went crash into a tree which
+grew in such a curious place that she forgot her fright as she sat
+looking about her, wondering what part of the world it could be.
+
+The tree looked as if made of glass or colored sugar; for she could see
+through the red cherries, the green leaves, and the brown branches. An
+agreeable smell met her nose; and she said at once, as any child
+would, "I smell candy!" She picked a cherry and ate it. Oh, how good it
+was!--all sugar and no stone. The next discovery was such a delightful
+one that she nearly fell off her perch; for by touching her tongue here
+and there, she found that the whole tree was made of candy. Think what
+fun to sit and break off twigs of barley sugar, candied cherries, and
+leaves that tasted like peppermint and sassafras!
+
+Lily rocked and ate till she finished the top of the little tree;
+then she climbed down and strolled along, making more surprising and
+agreeable discoveries as she went.
+
+What looked like snow under her feet was white sugar; the rocks were
+lumps of chocolate, the flowers of all colors and tastes; and every
+sort of fruit grew on these delightful trees. Little white houses soon
+appeared; and here lived the dainty candy-people, all made of the best
+sugar, and painted to look like real people.
+
+Dear little men and women, looking as if they had stepped off of wedding
+cakes and bonbons, went about in their gay sugar clothes, laughing
+and talking in the sweetest voices. Bits of babies rocked in open-work
+cradles, and sugar boys and girls played with sugar toys in the most
+natural way. Carriages rolled along the jujube streets, drawn by the
+red and yellow barley horses we all love so well; cows fed in the green
+fields, and sugar birds sang in the trees.
+
+Lily listened, and in a moment she understood what the song said,--
+
+  "Sweet! Sweet!
+  Come, come and eat,
+  Dear little girls
+  With yellow curls;
+  For here you'll find
+  Sweets to your mind.
+  On every tree
+  Sugar-plums you'll see;
+  In every dell
+  Grows the caramel.
+  Over every wall
+  Gum-drops fall;
+  Molasses flows
+  Where our river goes
+  Under your feet
+  Lies sugar sweet;
+  Over your head
+  Grow almonds red.
+  Our lily and rose
+  Are not for the nose;
+  Our flowers we pluck
+  To eat or suck
+  And, oh! what bliss
+  When two friends kiss,
+  For they honey sip
+  From lip to lip!
+  And all you meet,
+  In house or street,
+  At work or play,
+  Sweethearts are they.
+  So, little dear,
+  Pray feel no fear;
+  Go where you will;
+  Eat, eat your fill.
+  Here is a feast
+  From west to east;
+  And you can say,
+  Ere you go away,
+  'At last I stand
+  In dear Candy-land,
+  And no more can stuff;
+  For once I've enough.'
+  Sweet! Sweet!
+  Tweet! Tweet!
+  Tweedle-dee!
+  Tweedle-dee!"
+
+"That is the most interesting song I ever heard," said Lily, clapping
+her sticky hands and dancing along toward a fine palace of white cream
+candy, with pillars of striped peppermint stick, and a roof of frosting
+that made it look like the Milan Cathedral.
+
+"I'll live here, and eat candy all day long, with no tiresome school or
+patchwork to spoil my fun," said Lily.
+
+So she ran up the chocolate steps into the pretty rooms, where all the
+chairs and tables were of different colored candies, and the beds
+of spun sugar. A fountain of lemonade supplied drink; and floors
+of ice-cream that never melted kept people and things from sticking
+together, as they would have done had it been warm.
+
+For a long while Lily was quite happy, going about tasting so many
+different kinds of sweeties, talking to the little people, who were very
+amiable, and finding out curious things about them and their country.
+
+The babies were made of plain sugar, but the grown people had different
+flavors. The young ladies were flavored with violet, rose, and orange;
+the gentlemen were apt to have cordials of some sort inside of them, as
+she found when she ate one now and then slyly, and got her tongue
+bitten by the hot, strong taste as a punishment The old people tasted of
+peppermint, clove, and such comfortable things, good for pain; but the
+old maids had lemon, hoarhound, flag-root, and all sorts of sour, bitter
+things in them, and did not get eaten much. Lily soon learned to know
+the characters of her new friends by a single taste, and some she
+never touched but once. The dear babies melted in her mouth, and the
+delicately flavored young ladies she was very fond of. Dr. Ginger was
+called to her more than once when so much candy made her teeth ache, and
+she found him a very hot-tempered little man; but he stopped the pain,
+so she was glad to see him.
+
+A lime-drop boy and a little pink checker-berry girl were her favorite
+playmates; and they had fine times making mud-pies by scraping the
+chocolate rocks and mixing this dust with honey from the wells near by.
+These they could eat; and Lily thought this much better than throwing
+away the pies, as she had to do at home. They had candy-pulls very
+often, and made swings of long loops of molasses candy, and bird's-nests
+with almond eggs, out of which came birds who sang sweetly. They played
+football with big bull's-eyes, sailed in sugar boats on lakes of syrup,
+fished in rivers of molasses, and rode the barley horses all over the
+country.
+
+Lily discovered that it never rained, but snowed white sugar. There was
+no sun, as it would have been too hot; but a large yellow lozenge made a
+nice moon, and red and white comfits were the stars.
+
+The people all lived on sugar, and never quarrelled. No one was ill; and
+if any got broken, as sometimes happened with such brittle creatures,
+they just stuck the parts together and were all right again. The way
+they grew old was to get thinner and thinner till there was danger of
+their vanishing. Then the friends of the old person put him in a neat
+coffin, and carried him to the great golden urn which stood in their
+largest temple, always full of a certain fine syrup; and here he was
+dipped and dipped till he was stout and strong again, and went home to
+enjoy himself for a long time as good as new.
+
+This was very interesting to Lily, and she went to many funerals. But
+the weddings were better still; for the lovely white brides were so
+sweet Lily longed to eat them. The feasts were delicious; and everybody
+went in their best clothes, and danced at the ball till they got so warm
+half-a-dozen would stick together and have to be taken to the ice-cream
+room to cool off. Then the little pair would drive away in a fine
+carriage with white horses to a new palace in some other part of the
+country, and Lily would have another pleasant place to visit.
+
+But by and by, when she had seen everything, and eaten so much sweet
+stuff that at last she longed for plain bread and butter, she began to
+get cross, as children always do when they live on candy; and the little
+people wished she would go away, for they were afraid of her. No wonder,
+when she would catch up a dear sugar baby and eat him, or break some
+respectable old grandmamma all into bits because she reproved her for
+naughty ways. Lily calmly sat down on the biggest church, crushing it
+flat, and even tried to poke the moon out of the sky in a pet one day.
+The king ordered her to go home; but she said, "I won't!" and bit his
+head off, crown and all.
+
+Such a wail went up at this awful deed that she ran away out of the
+city, fearing some one would put poison in her candy, since she had no
+other food.
+
+"I suppose I shall get somewhere if I keep walking; and I can't starve,
+though I hate the sight of this horrid stuff," she said to herself, as
+she hurried over the mountains of Gibraltar Rock that divided the city
+of Saccharissa from the great desert of brown sugar that lay beyond.
+
+Lily marched bravely on for a long time, and saw at last a great smoke
+in the sky, smelt a spicy smell, and felt a hot wind blowing toward her.
+
+"I wonder if there are sugar savages here, roasting and eating some
+poor traveller like me," she said, thinking of Robinson Crusoe and other
+wanderers in strange lands.
+
+She crept carefully along till she saw a settlement of little huts very
+like mushrooms, for they were made of cookies set on lumps of the brown
+sugar; and queer people, looking as if made of gingerbread, were working
+very busily round several stoves which seemed to bake at a great rate.
+
+"I'll creep nearer and see what sort of people they are before I show
+myself," said Lily, going into a grove of spice-trees, and sitting down
+on a stone which proved to be the plummy sort of cake we used to call
+Brighton Rock.
+
+Presently one of the tallest men came striding toward the trees with a
+pan, evidently after spice; and before she could run, he saw Lily.
+
+"Hollo, what do you want?" he asked, staring at her with his black
+currant eyes, while he briskly picked the bark off a cinnamon-tree.
+
+"I'm travelling, and would like to know what place this is, if you
+please," answered Lily, very politely, being a little frightened.
+
+"Cake-land. Where do you come from?" asked the gingerbread man, in a
+crisp tone of voice.
+
+"I was blown into the Candy country, and have been there a long time;
+but I got tired of it, and ran away to find something better."
+
+"Sensible child!" and the man smiled till Lily thought his cheeks would
+crumble. "You'll get on better here with us Brownies than with the lazy
+Bonbons, who never work and are all for show. They won't own us, though
+we are all related through our grandparents Sugar and Molasses. We are
+busy folks; so they turn up their noses and don't speak when we meet at
+parties. Poor creatures, silly and sweet and unsubstantial! I pity 'em."
+
+"Could I make you a visit? I'd like to see how you live, and what you
+do. I'm sure it must be interesting," said Lily, picking herself up
+after a tumble, having eaten nearly all the stone, she was so hungry.
+
+"I know you will. Come on! I can talk while I work." And the funny
+gingerbread man trotted off toward his kitchen, full of pans,
+rolling-pins, and molasses jugs.
+
+"Sit down. I shall be at leisure as soon as this batch is baked. There
+are still some wise people down below who like gingerbread, and I have
+my hands full," he said, dashing about, stirring, rolling out, and
+slapping the brown dough into pans, which he whisked into the oven and
+out again so fast that Lily knew there must be magic about it somewhere.
+
+Every now and then he threw her a delicious cooky warm from the oven.
+She liked the queer fellow, and presently began to talk, being very
+curious about this country.
+
+"What is your name, sir?"
+
+"Ginger Snap."
+
+Lily thought it a good one; for he was very quick, and she fancied he
+could be short and sharp if he liked.
+
+"Where does all this cake go to?" she asked, after watching the other
+kitchens full of workers, who were all of different kinds of cake, and
+each set of cooks made its own sort.
+
+"I'll show you by and by," answered Snap, beginning to pile up the heaps
+of gingerbread on a little car that ran along a track leading to some
+unknown storeroom, Lily thought.
+
+"Don't you get tired of doing this all the time?"
+
+"Yes; but I want to be promoted, and I never shall be till I've done my
+best, and won the prize here."
+
+"Oh, tell me about it! What is the prize, and how are you promoted? Is
+this a cooking-school?"
+
+"Yes; the prize for best gingerbread is a cake of condensed yeast. That
+puts a soul into me, and I begin to rise till I am able to go over the
+hills yonder into the blessed land of bread, and be one of the happy
+creatures who are always wholesome, always needed, and without which the
+world below would be in a bad way."
+
+"Bless me! that is the queerest thing I've heard yet. But I don't wonder
+you want to go; I'm tired of sweets myself, and long for a good piece of
+bread, though I used to want cake and candy at home."
+
+"Ah, my dear, you'll learn a good deal here; and you are lucky not to
+have got into the clutches of Giant Dyspepsia, who always gets people if
+they eat too much of such rubbish and scorn wholesome bread. I leave my
+ginger behind when I go, and get white and round and beautiful, as you
+will see. The Gingerbread family have never been as foolish as some of
+the other cakes. Wedding is the worst; such extravagance in the way of
+wine and spice and fruit I never saw, and such a mess to eat when it's
+done! I don't wonder people get sick; serves 'em right." And Snap flung
+down a pan with such a bang that it made Lily jump.
+
+"Sponge cake isn't bad, is it? Mamma lets me eat it, but I like frosted
+pound better," she said, looking over to the next kitchen, where piles
+of that sort of cake were being iced.
+
+"Poor stuff. No substance. Ladies' fingers will do for babies, but pound
+has too much butter ever to be healthy. Let it alone, and eat cookies or
+seed-cakes, my dear. Now, come along; I'm ready." And Snap trundled away
+his car-load at a great pace.
+
+Lily ran behind to pick up whatever fell, and looked about her as she
+went, for this was certainly a very queer country. Lakes of eggs all
+beaten up, and hot springs of saleratus foamed here and there ready for
+use. The earth was brown sugar or ground spice; and the only fruits
+were raisins, dried currants, citron, and lemon peel. It was a very busy
+place; for every one cooked all the time, and never failed and never
+seemed tired, though they got so hot that they only wore sheets of paper
+for clothes. There were piles of it to put over the cake, so that it
+shouldn't burn; and they made cook's white caps and aprons of it, and
+looked very nice. A large clock made of a flat pancake, with cloves to
+mark the hours and two toothpicks for hands, showed them how long to
+bake things; and in one place an ice wall was built round a lake of
+butter, which they cut in lumps as they wanted it.
+
+"Here we are. Now, stand away while I pitch 'em down," said Snap,
+stopping at last before a hole in the ground where a dumbwaiter hung
+ready, with a name over it.
+
+There were many holes all round, and many waiters, each with its name;
+and Lily was amazed when she read "Weber," "Copeland," "Dooling," and
+others, which she knew very well.
+
+Over Snap's place was the name "Newmarch;" and Lily said, "Why, that's
+where mamma gets her hard gingerbread, and Weber's is where we go for
+ice-cream. Do _you_ make cake for them?"
+
+"Yes, but no one knows it. It's one of the secrets of the trade. We cook
+for all the confectioners, and people think the good things come out of
+the cellars under their saloons. Good joke, isn't it?" And Snap laughed
+till a crack came in his neck and made him cough.
+
+Lily was so surprised she sat down on a warm queen's cake that happened
+to be near, and watched Snap send down load after load of gingerbread
+to be eaten by children, who would have liked it much better if they had
+only known where it came from, as she did.
+
+As she sat, the clatter of many spoons, the smell of many dinners, and
+the sound of many voices calling, "One vanilla, two strawberries, and a
+Charlotte Russe," "Three stews, cup coffee, dry toast," "Roast chicken
+and apple without," came up the next hole, which was marked "Copeland."
+
+"Dear me! it seems as if I was there," said Lily, longing to hop down,
+but afraid of the bump at the other end.
+
+"I'm done. Come along, I'll ride you back," called Snap, tossing the
+last cooky after the dumb-waiter as it went slowly out of sight with its
+spicy load.
+
+"I wish you'd teach me to cook. It looks great fun, and mamma wants me
+to learn; only our cook hates to have me mess round, and is so cross
+that I don't like to try at home," said Lily, as she went trundling
+back.
+
+"Better wait till you get to Bread-land, and learn to make that. It's
+a great art, and worth knowing. Don't waste your time on cake, though
+plain gingerbread isn't bad to have in the house. I'll teach you that in
+a jiffy, if the clock doesn't strike my hour too soon," answered Snap,
+helping her down.
+
+"What hour?"
+
+"Why, of my freedom. I never know when I've done my task till I'm called
+by the chimes and go to get my soul," said Snap, turning his currant
+eyes anxiously to the clock.
+
+"I hope you _will_ have time." And Lily fell to work with all her might,
+after Snap had put on her a paper apron and a cap like his.
+
+It was not hard; for when she was going to make a mistake a spark flew
+out of the fire and burnt her in time to remind her to look at the
+receipt, which was a sheet of gingerbread in a frame of pie-crust hung
+up before her, with the directions written while it was soft and baked
+in. The third sheet she made came out of the oven spicy, light, and
+brown; and Snap, giving it one poke, said, "That's all right. Now you
+know. Here's your reward."
+
+He handed her a receipt-book made of thin sheets of sugar-gingerbread
+held together by a gelatine binding, with her name stamped on the back,
+and each leaf crimped with a cake-cutter in the most elegant manner.
+
+Lily was charmed with it, but had no time to read all it contained; for
+just then the clock began to strike, and a chime of bells to ring,--
+
+  "Gingerbread,
+  Go to the head.
+  Your task is done;
+  A soul is won.
+  Take it and go
+  Where muffins grow,
+  Where sweet loaves rise
+  To the very skies,
+  And biscuits fair
+  Perfume the air.
+  Away, away!
+  Make no delay;
+  In the sea of flour
+  Plunge this hour.
+  Safe in your breast
+  Let the yeast-cake rest,
+  Till you rise in joy,
+  A white bread boy!"
+
+"Ha, ha! I'm free! I'm free!" cried Snap, catching up the silver-covered
+square that seemed to fall from heaven; and running to a great white sea
+of flour, he went in head first, holding the yeast-cake clasped to his
+breast as if his life depended on it.
+
+Lily watched breathlessly, while a curious working and bubbling went on,
+as if Snap was tumbling about down there like a small earthquake. The
+other cake-folk stood round the shore with her; for it was a great
+event, and all were glad that the dear fellow was promoted so soon.
+Suddenly a cry was heard, and up rose a beautiful white figure on the
+farther side of the sea. It moved its hand, as if saying "Good-by," and
+ran over the hills so fast they had only time to see how plump and fair
+he was, with a little knob on the top of his head like a crown.
+
+"He's gone to the happy land, and we shall miss him; but we'll follow
+his example and soon find him again," said a gentle Sponge cake, with
+a sigh, as all went back to their work; while Lily hurried after Snap,
+eager to see the new country, which was the best of all.
+
+A delicious odor of fresh bread blew up from the valley as she stood
+on the hill-top and looked down on the peaceful scene below. Fields of
+yellow grain waved in the breeze; hop-vines grew from tree to tree; and
+many windmills whirled their white sails as they ground the different
+grains into fresh, sweet meal, for the loaves of bread that built the
+houses like bricks and paved the streets, or in many shapes formed
+the people, furniture, and animals. A river of milk flowed through the
+peaceful land, and fountains of yeast rose and fell with a pleasant foam
+and fizz. The ground was a mixture of many meals, and the paths were
+golden Indian, which gave a very gay look to the scene. Buckwheat
+flowers bloomed on their rosy stems, and tall corn-stalks rustled their
+leaves in the warm air that came from the ovens hidden in the hillsides;
+for bread needs a slow fire, and an obliging volcano did the baking
+here.
+
+"What a lovely place!" cried Lily, feeling the charm of the homelike
+landscape, in spite of the funny plump people moving about.
+
+Two of these figures came running to meet her as she slowly walked down
+the yellow path from the hill. One was a golden boy, with a beaming
+face; the other a little girl in a shiny brown cloak, who looked as if
+she would taste very nice. They each put a warm hand into Lily's, and
+the boy said,--
+
+"We are glad to see you. Muffin told us you were coming."
+
+"Thank you. Who is Muffin?" asked Lily, feeling as if she had seen both
+these little people before, and liked them.
+
+"He was Ginger Snap once, but he's a Muffin now. We begin in that way,
+and work up to the perfect loaf by degrees. My name is Johnny Cake, and
+she's Sally Lunn. You know us; so come on and have a race."
+
+Lily burst out laughing at the idea of playing with these old friends of
+hers; and all three ran away as fast as they could tear, down the hill,
+over a bridge, into the middle of the village, where they stopped,
+panting, and sat down on some very soft rolls to rest.
+
+"What do you all do _here_?" asked Lily, when she got her breath again.
+
+"We farm, we study, we bake, we brew, and are as merry as grigs all day
+long. It's school-time now, and we must go; will you come?" said Sally,
+jumping up as if she liked it.
+
+"Our schools are not like yours; we only study two things,--grain and
+yeast. I think you'll like it. We have yeast to-day, and the experiments
+are very jolly," added Johnny, trotting off to a tall brown tower of rye
+and Indian bread, where the school was kept.
+
+Lily never liked to go to school, but she was ashamed to own it; so she
+went along with Sally, and was so amused with all she saw that she was
+glad she came. The brown loaf was hollow, and had no roof; and when
+she asked why they used a ruin, Sally told her to wait and see why they
+chose strong walls and plenty of room overhead. All round was a circle
+of very small biscuits like cushions, and on these the Bread-children
+sat. A square loaf in the middle was the teacher's desk, and on it
+lay an ear of wheat, with several bottles of yeast well corked up. The
+teacher was a pleasant, plump lady from Vienna, very wise, and so famous
+for her good bread that she was a Professor of Grainology.
+
+When all were seated, she began with the wheat ear, and told them all
+about it in such an interesting way that Lily felt as if she had never
+known anything about the bread she ate before. The experiments with
+the yeast were quite exciting,--for Fraulein Pretzel showed them how it
+would work till it blew the cork out, and go fizzing up to the sky if it
+was kept too long; how it would turn sour or flat, and spoil the bread
+if care was not taken to use it just at the right moment; and how too
+much would cause the loaf to rise till there was no substance to it.
+
+The children were very bright; for they were fed on the best kinds of
+oatmeal and Graham bread, with very little white bread or hot cakes to
+spoil their young stomachs. Hearty, happy boys and girls they were, and
+their yeasty souls were very lively in them; for they danced and sung,
+and seemed as bright and gay as if acidity, heaviness, and mould were
+quite unknown.
+
+Lily was very happy with them, and when school was done went home with
+Sally and ate the best bread and milk for dinner that she ever tasted.
+In the afternoon Johnny took her to the cornfield, and showed her how
+they kept the growing ears free from mildew and worms. Then she went
+to the bakehouse; and here she found her old friend Muffin hard at work
+making Parker House rolls, for he was such a good cook he was set to
+work at once on the lighter kinds of bread.
+
+"Well, isn't this better than Candy-land or Saccharissa?" he asked,
+as he rolled and folded his bits of dough with a dab of butter tucked
+inside.
+
+"Ever so much!" cried Lily. "I feel better already, and mean to learn
+all I can. Mamma will be so pleased if I can make good bread when I
+go home. She is rather old-fashioned, and likes me to be a nice
+housekeeper. I didn't think bread interesting then, but I do now; and
+Johnny's mother is going to teach me to make Indian cakes to-morrow."
+
+"Glad to hear it. Learn all you can, and tell other people how to make
+healthy bodies and happy souls by eating good plain food. Not like this,
+though these rolls are better than cake. I have to work my way up to the
+perfect loaf, you know; and then, oh, then, I'm a happy thing."
+
+"What happens then? Do you go on to some other wonderful place?" asked
+Lily, as Muffin paused with a smile on his face.
+
+"Yes; I am eaten by some wise, good human being, and become a part of
+him or her. That is immortality and heaven; for I may nourish a poet and
+help him sing, or feed a good woman who makes the world better for being
+in it, or be crumbed into the golden porringer of a baby prince who
+is to rule a kingdom. Isn't that a noble way to live, and an end worth
+working for?" asked Muffin, in a tone that made Lily feel as if some
+sort of fine yeast had got into her, and was setting her brain to work
+with new thoughts.
+
+"Yes, it is. I suppose all common things are made for that purpose, if
+we only knew it; and people should be glad to do anything to help the
+world along, even making good bread in a kitchen," answered Lily, in a
+sober way that showed that her little mind was already digesting the new
+food it had got.
+
+She stayed in Bread-land a long time, and enjoyed and learned a great
+deal that she never forgot. But at last, when she had made the perfect
+loaf, she wanted to go home, that her mother might see and taste it.
+
+"I've put a good deal of myself into it, and I'd love to think I had
+given her strength or pleasure by my work," she said, as she and Sally
+stood looking at the handsome loaf.
+
+"You can go whenever you like; just take the bread in your hands and
+wish three times, and you'll be wherever you say. I'm sorry to have you
+go, but I don't wonder you want to see your mother. Don't forget what
+you have learned, and you will always be glad you came to us," said
+Sally, kissing her good-by.
+
+"Where is Muffin? I can't go without seeing him, my dear old friend,"
+answered Lily, looking round for him.
+
+"He is here," said Sally, touching the loaf. "He was ready to go, and
+chose to pass into your bread rather than any other; for he said he
+loved you and would be glad to help feed so good a little girl."
+
+"How kind of him! I must be careful to grow wise and excellent, else he
+will be disappointed and have died in vain," said Lily, touched by his
+devotion.
+
+Then, bidding them all farewell, she hugged her loaf close, wished three
+times to be in her own home, and like a flash she was there.
+
+Whether her friends believed the wonderful tale of her adventures I
+cannot tell; but I know that she was a nice little housekeeper from that
+day, and made such good bread that other girls came to learn of her.
+She also grew from a sickly, fretful child into a fine, strong woman,
+because she ate very little cake and candy, except at Christmas time,
+when the oldest and the wisest love to make a short visit to Candy-land.
+
+[Illustration: As soon as he was alone, Jocko ... jumped on his back.]
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+NAUGHTY JOCKO.
+
+
+"A music-man! a music-man! Run quick, and see if he has got a monkey on
+his organ," cried little Neddy, running to the window in a great hurry
+one day.
+
+Yes; there was the monkey in his blue and red suit, with a funny little
+cap, and the long tail trailing behind. But he didn't seem to be a
+lively monkey; for he sat in a bunch, with his sad face turned anxiously
+to his master, who kept pulling the chain to make him dance. The stiff
+collar had made his neck sore; and when the man twitched, the poor thing
+moaned and put up his little hand to hold the chain. He tried to dance,
+but was so weak he could only hop a few steps, and stop panting for
+breath. The cruel man wouldn't let him rest till Neddy called out,--
+
+"Don't hurt him; let him come up here and get this cake, and rest while
+you play. I've got some pennies for you."
+
+So poor Jocko climbed slowly up the trellis, and sat on the window-ledge
+trying to eat; but he was so tired he went to sleep, and when the man
+pulled to wake him up, he slipped and fell, and lay as if he were dead.
+Neddy and his aunt ran down to see if he was killed. The cross man
+scolded and shook him; but he never moved, and the man said,--
+
+"He is dead. I don't want him. I will sell him to some one to stuff."
+
+"No; his heart beats a little. Leave him here a few days, and we will
+take care of him; and if he gets well, perhaps we will buy him," said
+Aunt Jane, who liked to nurse even a sick monkey.
+
+The man said he was going on for a week through the towns near by, and
+would call and see about it when he came back. Then he went away; and
+Neddy and aunty put Jocko in a nice basket, and carried him in. The
+minute the door was shut and he felt safe, the sly fellow peeped out
+with one eye, and seeing only the kind little boy began to chatter and
+kick off the shawl; for he was not much hurt, only tired and hungry, and
+dreadfully afraid of the cruel man who beat and starved him.
+
+Neddy was delighted, and thought it very funny, and helped his aunt take
+off the stiff collar and put some salve on the sore neck. Then they got
+milk and cake; and when he had eaten a good dinner, Jocko curled himself
+up and slept till the next day. He was quite lively in the morning;
+for when Aunt Jane went to call Neddy, Jocko was not in his basket, and
+looking round the room for him, she saw the little black thing lying on
+the boy's pillow, with his arm round Neddy's neck like a queer baby.
+
+"My patience! I can't allow that," said the old lady, and went to pull
+Jocko out. But he slipped away like an eel, and crept chattering and
+burrowing down to the bottom of the bed, holding on to Neddy's toes,
+till he waked up, howling that crabs were nipping him.
+
+Then they had a great frolic; and Jocko climbed all over the bed, up on
+the tall wardrobe, and the shelf over the door, where the image of an
+angel stood. He patted it, and hugged it, and looked so very funny with
+his ugly black face by the pretty white one, that Neddy rolled on the
+floor, and Aunt Jane laughed till her glasses flew off. By and by he
+came down, and had a nice breakfast, and let them tie a red ribbon over
+the bandage on his neck. He liked the gay color, and kept going to look
+in the glass, and grin and chatter at his own image, which he evidently
+admired.
+
+"Now, he shall go to walk with me, and all the children shall see my new
+pet," said Neddy, as he marched off with Jock on his shoulder.
+
+Every one laughed at the funny little fellow with his twinkling eyes,
+brown hands, and long tail, and Neddy felt very grand till they got to
+the store; then troubles began. He put Jocko on a table near the door,
+and told him to stay there while he did his errands. Now, close by was
+the place where the candy was kept, and Jocko loved sweeties like any
+girl; so he hopped along, and began to eat whatever he liked. Some boys
+tried to stop him; and then he got angry at them for pulling his tail,
+and threw handfuls of sugarplums at them. That was great fun; and the
+more they laughed and scrambled and poked at him, the faster he showered
+chocolates, caramels, and peppermints over them, till it looked as if
+it had rained candy. The man was busy with Neddy at the other end of the
+store; but when he heard the noise, both ran to see what was the matter.
+Neither of them could stop naughty Jocko, who liked this game, and ran
+up on the high shelves among the toys. Then down came little tubs and
+dolls' stoves, tin trumpets and cradles, while boxes of leaden soldiers
+and whole villages flew through the air, smash, bang, rattle, bump,
+all over the floor. The man scolded, Neddy cried, the boys shouted, and
+there was a lively time in that shop till a good slapping with a long
+stick made Jock tumble into a tub of water where some curious fishes
+lived, and then they caught him.
+
+Neddy was much ashamed, and told the man his aunt would pay for all the
+broken things. Then he took his naughty pet, and started to go home and
+tie him up, for it was plain this monkey was not to be trusted. But as
+soon as they got out, Jocko ran up a tree and dropped on to a load of
+hay passing underneath. Here he danced and pranced, and had a fine time,
+throwing off the man's coat and rake, and eating some of the dinner tied
+up in a cloth. The crusts of bread and the bones he threw at the horse;
+this new kind of whip frightened the horse, and he ran away down a steep
+hill, and upset the hay and broke the cart. Oh, such a time! It was
+worse than the candy scrape; for the man swore, and the horse was hurt,
+and people said the monkey ought to be shot, he did so much mischief.
+Jocko didn't care a bit; he sat high up in a tree, and chattered and
+scolded, and swung by his tail, and was so droll that people couldn't
+help laughing at him. Poor Neddy cried again, and went home to tell his
+troubles to Aunt Jane, fearing that it would take all the money in his
+bank to pay for the damage the bad monkey had done in one hour.
+
+As soon as he was alone Jocko came skipping along, and jumped on his
+back, and peeped at him, and patted his cheeks, and was so cunning and
+good Neddy couldn't whip him; but he shut him up in a closet to punish
+him.
+
+Jocko was tired; so he went to sleep, and all was quiet till
+dinner-time. They were ready for the pudding, and Neddy had saved a
+place for a good plateful, as he liked snow-pudding, when shrieks were
+heard in the kitchen, and Mary the maid rushed in to say,--
+
+"Oh, ma'am, that horrid beast has spoilt the pudding, and is scaring
+Katy out of her life!"
+
+They all ran; and there sat that naughty monkey on the table, throwing
+the nice white snow all over poor cook, till her face looked as if she
+was ready to be shaved. His own face looked the same, for he had eaten
+all he wanted while the pudding stood cooling in the pantry. He had
+crept out of a window in the closet, and had a fine rummage among the
+sugar-buckets, butter-boxes, and milk-pans.
+
+Kate wailed, and Mary scolded; but Aunt Jane and grandpa laughed, and
+Neddy chased Jock into the garden with the broom. They had to eat bread
+and jelly for dessert, and it took the girls a long time to clear up the
+mess the rascal made.
+
+"We will put his collar and chain on again, and keep him tied up all the
+time till the man comes," said Aunt Jane.
+
+"But I can't catch him," sighed Neddy, watching the little imp whisk
+about in the garden among the currant-bushes, chasing hens and tossing
+green apples round in high glee.
+
+"Sit quietly down somewhere and wait till he is tired; then he will come
+to you, and you can hold him fast," said Aunt Jane.
+
+So Neddy waited; and though he was much worried at his new pet's
+naughtiness, he enjoyed his pranks like a boy.
+
+Grandpa took naps in the afternoon on the piazza, and he was dozing
+comfortably when Jocko swung down from the grape-vine by his long tail,
+and tickled the old gentleman on the nose with a straw. Grandpa sneezed,
+and opened one eye to brush away the fly as he supposed. Then he went to
+sleep again, and Jocko dropped a caterpillar on his bald head; this made
+him open the other eye to see what that soft, creepy thing could be.
+Neddy couldn't help laughing, for he often wanted to do just such
+things, but never dared, because grandpa was a very stern old gentleman,
+and no one took liberties with him. Jocko wasn't afraid, however; and
+presently he crept to the table, stole the glasses lying there, put them
+on, and taking up the paper held it before him, chattering as if he were
+reading it, as he had seen people do. Neddy laughed out loud at this,
+and clapped his hands, Jocko looked so like a little old man, in spite
+of the tail curled up behind. This time grandpa opened both eyes at
+once, and stared as if he saw a hobgoblin before him; then he snatched
+off the spectacles, and caught up his cane, crying angrily,--
+
+"You rascal, how dare you!"
+
+But Jocko tossed the paper in his face, and with one jump lighted on
+the back of old Tom, the big yellow cat, who lay asleep close by. Scared
+half out of his wits, Tom spit and bounced; but Jocko held fast to his
+collar, and had a fine race round the garden, while the girls laughed
+at the funny sight, and Neddy shouted, "It's a circus; and there's the
+monkey and the pony." Even grandpa smiled, especially when puss dashed
+up a tree, and Jock tumbled off. He chased him, and they had a great
+battle; but Tom's claws were sharp, and the monkey got a scratch on the
+nose, and ran crying to Neddy for comfort.
+
+"Now, you naughty fellow, I'll chain you up, and stop these dreadful
+tricks. But you are great fun, and I can't whip you," said the boy; for
+he knew what it was to enjoy a holiday, and poor Jocko had not had one
+for a long time.
+
+Jocko ate some lunch, took a nap in the grass, and then was ready for
+more frolics. Neddy had fastened him to a tree in the garden, so that
+he could enjoy the sun and air, and catch grasshoppers if he liked. But
+Jocko wanted something more; and presently Neddy, who was reading in his
+hammock on the piazza, heard a great cackling among the hens, and looked
+up to see the monkey swinging by his tail from a bough, holding the
+great cock-a-doodle by his splendid tail, while all the twenty hens
+clucked and cackled with wrath and fear at such a dreadful prank.
+
+"Now, that's too bad; I _will_ slap him this time," said Neddy, running
+to save his handsome bird from destruction. But before he got there poor
+cocky had pulled his fine tail-feathers all out in his struggles, and
+when set free was so frightened and mortified that he ran away and hid
+in the bushes, and the hens went to comfort him.
+
+Neddy gave Jocko a good whipping, and left him looking as meek as a
+baby, all cuddled up in a little bunch, with his head in his hands as
+if crying for his naughtiness. But he wasn't sorry. Oh, dear, no! for in
+half an hour he had picked every one of the sweet peas Aunt Jane was so
+fond of, thrown all the tomatoes over the fence, and let the parrot out
+of his cage. The sight of Polly walking into the parlor with a polite
+"How are you, ma'am?" sent Aunt Jane to see what was going on. Neddy was
+fast asleep in the hammock, worn out with his cares; and Jocko, having
+unhooked his chain, was sitting on the chimney-top of a neighbor's
+house, eating corn.
+
+"We shall not live to the end of the week if this sort of thing goes
+on. I don't know what to do with the little beast; he's as bad as an
+elephant to take care of," said the poor lady, in despair, as she saw
+Jocko throw his corncob down on the minister's hat as that stately
+gentleman went by.
+
+As none of them could catch him, Miss Jane let him alone till Neddy
+waked up and could go and find some of the big boys to help him.
+
+Jocko soon left the roof, and skipped in at a window that stood open. It
+was little Nelly Brown's play-room, and she had left her pet doll Maud
+Mabel Rose Matilda very ill in the best bed, while she went down to get
+a poppy leaf to rub the darling's cheeks with, because she had a high
+fever. Jocko took a fancy to the pretty bed, and after turning the
+play-house topsy-turvy, he pulled poor Maud Mabel Rose Matilda out by
+her flaxen hair, and stuffing her into the water-pitcher upside
+down, got into the bed, drew the lace curtains, and prepared to doze
+deliciously under the pink silk bed-cover.
+
+Up came Nelly, and went at once to the dear invalid, saying in her
+motherly little voice,--
+
+"Now, my darling child, lie quite still, and I won't hurt you one bit."
+
+But when she drew the curtain, instead of the lovely yellow-haired doll
+in her ruffled nightcap, she saw an ugly little black face staring at
+her, and a tiny hand holding the sheet fast. Nelly gave one scream, and
+flew downstairs into the parlor where the Sewing-circle was at work,
+frightening twenty-five excellent ladies by her cries, as she clung to
+her mother, wailing,--
+
+"A bogie! a bogie! I saw him, all black; and he snarled at me, and my
+dolly is gone! What shall I do? oh, what shall I do?"
+
+There was great confusion, for all the ladies talked at once; and it
+so happened that none of them knew anything about the monkey, therefore
+they all agreed that Nelly was a foolish child, and had made a fuss
+about nothing. She cried dismally, and kept saying to her mother,--
+
+"Go and see; it's in my dolly's bed,--I found it there, and darling
+Maudie is gone."
+
+"We _will_ go and see," said Mrs. Moses Merryweather,--a stout old lady,
+who kept her six girls in such good order that _they_ would never have
+dared to cry if ten monkeys had popped out at them.
+
+Miss Hetty Bumpus, a tall thin maiden lady, with a sharp eye and pointed
+nose, went with her; but at the door that led to the dining-room
+both stopped short, and after one look came flying back, calling out
+together,--
+
+"Mrs. Brown, your supper is spoilt! a dreadful beast has ruined it all!"
+
+Then twenty-five excited ladies flew across the hall to behold Jocko
+sitting on the great cake in the middle of the table, his feet bathed
+in cream from the overturned pitcher, while all around lay the ruins of
+custards, tarts, biscuits, and sauce, not to mention nice napkins made
+into hay-cocks, spoons, knives, and forks, on the floor, and the best
+silver teapot in the fireplace.
+
+While Nelly told her tale and the ladies questioned and comforted her,
+this bad monkey had skipped downstairs and had a delightful party all
+by himself. He was just scraping the jelly out of a tart when they
+disturbed him; and knowing that more slaps were in store for him if he
+stayed, he at once walked calmly down the ravaged table, and vanished
+out of the window carrying the silver tea-strainer with him to play
+with.
+
+The ladies had no supper that night; and poor Mrs. Brown sent a note to
+Aunt Jane, telling her the sad story, and adding that Nelly was quite
+ill with the fright and the loss of dear Maud Mabel Rose Matilda,
+drowned in the water-pitcher and forever spoilt.
+
+"John shall go after that man to-morrow, and bring him back to carry
+this terrible monkey away. I can't live with him a week; he will cost me
+a fortune, and wear us all out," said Aunt Jane, when Jocko was safely
+shut up in the cellar, after six boys had chased him all over the
+neighborhood before they caught him.
+
+Neddy was quite willing to let him go; but John was saved his journey,
+for in the morning poor Jocko was found dead in a trap, where his
+inquisitive head had been poked to see what the cheese tasted like.
+
+So he was buried by the river, and every one felt much relieved; for the
+man never came back, thinking Jocko dead when he left him. But he
+had not lived in vain; for after this day of trial, mischievous Neddy
+behaved much better, and Aunt Jane could always calm his prankish spirit
+by saying, as her finger pointed to a little collar and chain hanging on
+the wall,--
+
+"If you want to act like naughty Jocko, say so, and I'll tie you up. One
+monkey is enough for this family."
+
+
+[Illustration: Kitty laughed, and began to dance.... Such twirlings and
+skippings as she made.]
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+THE SKIPPING SHOES.
+
+
+Once there was a little girl, named Kitty, who never wanted to do what
+people asked her. She said "I won't" and "I can't," and did not run at
+once pleasantly, as obliging children do.
+
+One day her mother gave her a pair of new shoes; and after a fuss about
+putting them on, Kitty said, as she lay kicking on the floor,--
+
+"I wish these were seven-leagued boots, like Jack the Giant Killer's,
+then it would be easy to run errands all the time. Now, I hate to keep
+trotting, and I don't like new shoes, and I won't stir a step."
+
+Just as she said that, the shoes gave a skip, and set her on her feet
+so suddenly that it scared all the naughtiness out of her. She stood
+looking at these curious shoes; and the bright buttons on them seemed
+to wink at her like eyes, while the heels tapped on the floor a sort of
+tune. Before she dared to stir, her mother called from the next room,--
+
+"Kitty, run and tell the cook to make a pie for dinner; I forgot it."
+
+"I don't want to," began Kitty, with a whine as usual.
+
+But the words were hardly out of her mouth when the shoes gave one jump,
+and took her downstairs, through the hall, and landed her at the kitchen
+door. Her breath was nearly gone; but she gave the message, and turned
+round, trying to see if the shoes would let her walk at all. They went
+nicely till she wanted to turn into the china-closet where the cake was.
+She was forbidden to touch it, but loved to take a bit when she could.
+Now she found that her feet were fixed fast to the floor, and could not
+be moved till her father said, as he passed the window close by,--
+
+"You will have time to go to the post-office before school and get my
+letters."
+
+"I can't," began Kitty; but she found she could, for away went the
+shoes, out of the house at one bound, and trotted down the street so
+fast that the maid who ran after her with her hat could not catch her.
+
+"I can't stop!" cried Kitty; and she did not till the shoes took her
+straight into the office.
+
+"What's the hurry to-day?" asked the man, as he saw her without any hat,
+all rosy and breathless, and her face puckered up as if she did not know
+whether to laugh or to cry.
+
+"I won't tell any one about these dreadful shoes, and I'll take them off
+as soon as I get home. I hope they will go back slowly, or people will
+think I'm crazy," said Kitty to herself, as she took the letters and
+went away.
+
+The shoes walked nicely along till she came to the bridge; and there she
+wanted to stop and watch some boys in a boat, forgetting school and her
+father's letters. But the shoes wouldn't stop, though she tried to make
+them, and held on to the railing as hard as she could. Her feet went on;
+and when she sat down they still dragged her along so steadily that she
+had to go, and she got up feeling that there was something very strange
+about these shoes. The minute she gave up, all went smoothly, and she
+got home in good time.
+
+"I won't wear these horrid things another minute," said Kitty, sitting
+on the doorstep and trying to unbutton the shoes.
+
+But not a button could she stir, though she got red and angry struggling
+to do it.
+
+"Time for school; run away, little girl," called mamma from upstairs, as
+the clock struck nine.
+
+"I won't!" said Kitty, crossly.
+
+But she did; for those magic shoes danced her off, and landed her at her
+desk in five minutes.
+
+"Well, I'm not late; that's one comfort," she thought, wishing she had
+come pleasantly, and not been whisked away without any luncheon.
+
+Her legs were so tired with the long skips that she was glad to sit
+still; and that pleased the teacher, for generally she was fussing about
+all lesson time. But at recess she got into trouble again; for one of
+the children knocked down the house of corn-cobs she had built, and made
+her angry.
+
+"Now, I'll kick yours down, and see how you like it, Dolly."
+
+Up went her foot, but it didn't come down; it stayed in the air, and
+there she stood looking as if she were going to dance. The children
+laughed to see her, and she could do nothing till she said to Dolly in a
+great hurry,--
+
+"Never mind; if you didn't mean to, I'll forgive you."
+
+Then the foot went down, and Kitty felt so glad about it that she tried
+to be pleasant, fearing some new caper of those dreadful shoes. She
+began to see how they worked, and thought she would try if she had any
+power over them. So, when one of the children wanted his ball, which had
+bounced over the hedge, she said kindly,--"Perhaps I can get it for you,
+Willy."
+
+And over she jumped as lightly as if she too were an india-rubber ball.
+
+"How could you do it?" cried the boys, much surprised; for not one of
+them dared try such a high leap.
+
+Kitty laughed, and began to dance, feeling pleased and proud to find
+there was a good side to the shoes after all. Such twirlings and
+skippings as she made, such pretty steps and airy little bounds it was
+pretty to see; for it seemed as if her feet were bewitched, and went of
+themselves. The little girls were charmed, and tried to imitate her,
+but no one could, and they stood in a circle watching her dance till the
+bell rang, then all rushed in to tell about it.
+
+Kitty said it was her new shoes, and never told how queerly they acted,
+hoping to have good times now. But she was mistaken.
+
+On the way home she wanted to stop and see her friend Bell's new doll,
+but at the gate her feet stuck fast, and she had to give up her wishes
+and go straight on, as mamma had told her always to do.
+
+"Run and pick a nice little dish of strawberries for dinner," said her
+sister, as she went in.
+
+"I'm too ti--" There was no time to finish, for the shoes landed her in
+the middle of the strawberry bed at one jump.
+
+"I might as well be a grasshopper if I'm to skip round like this," she
+said, forgetting to feel tired out there in the pleasant garden, with
+the robins picking berries close by, and a cool wind lifting the leaves
+to show here the reddest and ripest ones hid.
+
+The little dish was soon filled, and she wanted to stay and eat a few,
+warm and sweet from the vines; but the bell rang, and away she went,
+over the wood-pile, across the piazza, and into the dining-room before
+the berry in her mouth was half eaten.
+
+"How this child does rush about to-day!" said her mother. "It is so
+delightful to have such a quick little errand-girl that I shall get her
+to carry some bundles to my poor people this afternoon.
+
+"Oh, dear me! I do hate to lug those old clothes and bottles and baskets
+of cold victuals round. Must I do it?" sighed Kitty, dismally, while the
+shoes tapped on the floor under the table, as if to remind her that she
+must, whether she liked it or not.
+
+"It would be right and kind, and would please me very much. But you may
+do as you choose about it. I am very tired, and some one must go;
+for the little Bryan baby is sick and needs what I send," said mamma,
+looking disappointed.
+
+Kitty sat very still and sober for some time, and no one spoke to her.
+She was making up her mind whether she would go pleasantly or be whisked
+about like a grasshopper against her will. When dinner was over, she
+said in a cheerful voice,--
+
+"I'll go, mamma; and when all the errands are done, may I come back
+through Fairyland, as we call the little grove where the tall ferns
+grow?"
+
+"Yes, dear; when you oblige me, I am happy to please you."
+
+"I'm glad I decided to be good; now I shall have a lovely time," said
+Kitty to herself, as she trotted away with a basket in one hand, a
+bundle in the other, and some money in her pocket for a poor old woman
+who needed help.
+
+The shoes went quietly along, and seemed to know just where to stop. The
+sick baby's mother thanked her for the soft little nightgowns; the lame
+girl smiled when she saw the books; the hungry children gathered round
+the basket of food, like young birds eager to be fed; and the old woman
+gave her a beautiful pink shell that her sailor son brought home from
+sea.
+
+When all the errands were done Kitty skipped away to Fairyland, feeling
+very happy, as people always do when they have done kind things. It was
+a lovely place; for the ferns made green arches tall enough for little
+girls to sit under, and the ground was covered with pretty green moss
+and wood-flowers. Birds flew about in the pines, squirrels chattered in
+the oaks, butterflies floated here and there, and from the pond near by
+came the croak of frogs sunning their green backs on the mossy stones.
+
+"I wonder if the shoes will let me stop and rest; it is so cool here,
+and I'm so tired," said Kitty, as she came to a cosey nook at the foot
+of a tree.
+
+The words were hardly out of her mouth when her feet folded under her,
+and there she sat on a cushion of moss, like the queen of the wood on
+her throne. Something lighted with a bump close by her; and looking
+down she saw a large black cricket with a stiff tail, staring at her
+curiously.
+
+"Bless my heart! I thought you were some relation of my cousin
+Grasshopper's. You came down the hill with long leaps just like him; so
+I stopped to say, How d' ye do," said the cricket, in its creaky voice.
+
+"I'm not a grasshopper; but I have on fairy shoes to-day, and so do many
+things that I never did before," answered Kitty, much surprised to be
+able to understand what the cricket said.
+
+"It is midsummer day, and fairies can play whatever pranks they like.
+If you didn't have those shoes on, you couldn't understand what I say.
+Hark, and hear those squirrels talk, and the birds, and the ants down
+here. Make the most of this chance; for at sunset your shoes will stop
+skipping, and the fun all be over."
+
+While the cricket talked Kitty did hear all sorts of little voices,
+singing, laughing, chatting in the gayest way, and understood every word
+they said. The squirrels called to one another as they raced about,--
+
+  "Here's a nut, there's a nut;
+    Hide it quick away,
+  In a hole, under leaves,
+    To eat some winter day.
+  Acorns sweet are plenty,
+    We will have them all:
+  Skip and scamper lively
+    Till the last ones fall."
+
+The birds were singing softly,--
+
+  "Rock a bye, babies,
+    Your cradle hangs high;
+  Soft down your pillow,
+    Your curtain the sky.
+  Father will feed you,
+    While mother will sing,
+  And shelter our darlings
+    With her warm wing."
+
+And the ants were saying to one another as they hurried in and out of
+their little houses,--
+
+  "Work, neighbor, work!
+    Do not stop to play;
+  Wander far and wide,
+    Gather all you may.
+
+  We are never like
+    Idle butterflies,
+  But like the busy bees,
+    Industrious and wise."
+
+"Ants always were dreadfully good, but butterflies are ever so much
+prettier," said Kitty, listening to the little voices with wonder and
+pleasure.
+
+  "Hello! hello!
+  Come down below,--  It's lovely and cool
+  Out here in the pool;
+  On a lily-pad float
+  For a nice green boat.
+  Here we sit and sing
+  In a pleasant ring;
+  Or leap frog play,
+  In the jolliest way.
+  Our games have begun,
+  Come join in the fun."
+
+"Dear me! what could I do over there in the mud with the queer green
+frogs?" laughed Kitty, as this song was croaked at her.
+
+  "No, no, come and fly
+  Through the sunny sky,
+  Or honey sip
+  From the rose's lip,
+  Or dance in the air,
+  Like spirits fair.
+  Come away, come away;
+  'Tis our holiday."
+
+A cloud of lovely yellow butterflies flew up from a wild-rose bush, and
+went dancing away higher and higher, till they vanished in the light
+beyond the wood.
+
+"That is better than leap-frog. I wish my skipping shoes would let me
+fly up somewhere, instead of carrying me on errands and where I ought to
+go all the time," said Kitty, watching the pretty things glitter as they
+flew.
+
+Just at that minute a clock struck, and away went the shoes over the
+pool, the hill, the road, till they pranced in at the gate as the
+tea-bell rang. Kitty amused the family by telling what she had done
+and seen; but no one believed the Fairyland part, and her father said,
+laughing,--
+
+"Go on, my dear, making up little stories, and by and by you may be as
+famous as Hans Christian Andersen, whose books you like so well."
+
+"The sun will soon set, and then my fun will be over; so I must skip
+while I can," thought Kitty, and went waltzing round the lawn so
+prettily that all the family came to see her.
+
+"She dances so well that she shall go to dancing-school," said her
+mother, pleased with the pretty antics of her little girl.
+
+Kitty was delighted to hear that; for she had longed to go, and went on
+skipping as hard as she could, that she might learn some of the graceful
+steps the shoes took before the day was done.
+
+"Come, dear, stop now, and run up to your bath and bed. It has been a
+long hot day, and you are tired; so get to sleep early, for Nursey wants
+to go out," said her mother, as the sun went down behind the hills with
+a last bright glimmer, like the wink of a great sleepy eye.
+
+"Oh, please, a few minutes more," began Kitty, but was off like a flash;
+for the shoes trotted her upstairs so fast that she ran against old
+Nursey, and down she went, splashing the water all over the floor, and
+scolding in such a funny way that it made Kitty laugh so that she could
+hardly pick her up again.
+
+By the time she was ready to undress the sun was quite gone, and the
+shoes she took off were common ones again, for midsummer day was over.
+But Kitty never forgot the little lessons she had learned: she tried to
+run willingly when spoken to; she remembered the pretty steps and
+danced like a fairy; and best of all, she always loved the innocent and
+interesting little creatures in the woods and fields, and whenever she
+was told she might go to play with them, she hurried away almost as
+quickly as if she still wore the skipping shoes.
+
+
+[Illustration: So Cocky was brought in, and petted.]
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+COCKYLOO.
+
+
+In the barnyard a gray hen sat on her nest, feeling very happy because
+it was time for her eggs to hatch, and she hoped to have a fine brood of
+chickens. Presently crack, crack, went the shells, "Peep, peep!" cried
+the chicks; "Cluck, cluck!" called the hen; and out came ten downy
+little things one after the other, all ready to run and eat and
+scratch,--for chickens are not like babies, and don't have to be tended
+at all.
+
+There were eight little hens and two little cockerels, one black and one
+as white as snow, with yellow legs, bright eyes, and a tiny red comb on
+his head. This was Cockyloo, the good chick; but the black one was named
+Peck, and was a quarrelsome bad fowl, as we shall see.
+
+Mrs. Partlet, the mamma, was very proud of her fine family; for the
+eight little daughters were all white and very pretty. She led them out
+into the farmyard, clucking and scratching busily; for all were hungry,
+and ran chirping round her to pick up the worms and seeds she found for
+them. Cocky soon began to help take care of his sisters; and when a nice
+corn or a fat bug was found, he would step back and let little Downy or
+Snowball have it. But Peck would run and push them away, and gobble up
+the food greedily. He chased them away from the pan where the meal was,
+and picked the down off their necks if they tried to get their share.
+His mother scolded him when the little ones ran to hide under her wings;
+but he didn't care, and was very naughty. Cocky began to crow when he
+was very young, and had such a fine voice that people liked to hear
+his loud, clear "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" early in the morning; for he woke
+before the sun was up, and began his song. Peck used to grumble at being
+roused at dawn, for he was lazy; but the hens bustled up, and were glad
+to get out of the hen-house.
+
+The father cock had been killed by a dog; so they made Cocky king of the
+farmyard, and Peck was very jealous of him.
+
+"I came out of the shell first, and I am the oldest; so I ought to be
+king," he said.
+
+"But we don't like you, because you are selfish, cross, and lazy. We
+want Cocky; he is so lively, kind, and brave. He will make a splendid
+bird, and _he_ must be our king," answered the hens; and Peck had to
+mind, or they would have pulled every feather out of his little tail.
+
+He resolved to do some harm to his good brother, and plagued him all he
+could. One day, when Cocky was swinging with three of his sisters on a
+bush that hung over the brook, Peck asked a stupid donkey feeding near
+to come and put his heavy foot on the bush. He did it, and crack went
+the branch, splash went the poor chicks into the water, and all were
+drowned but Cocky, who flew across and was saved. Poor little Hop,
+Chirp, and Downy went floating down the brook like balls of white foam,
+and were never seen again. All the hens mourned for them, and put a
+black feather in their heads to show how sorry they were. Mamma Partlet
+was heart-broken to lose three darlings at once; but Cocky comforted
+her, and never told how it happened, because he was ashamed to have
+people know what a bad bird Peck was.
+
+A butterfly saw it all, and he told Granny Cockletop about it; and the
+hens were so angry that they turned Peck out of the barnyard, and he had
+to go and live in the woods alone. He said he didn't care; but he did,
+and was very unhappy, and used to go and peep into the pleasant field
+where the fowls scratched and talked together. He dared not show
+himself, for they would have driven him out. But kind Cocky saw him, and
+would run with some nice bit and creep through the fence into the wood,
+saying,--"Poor brother, I'm sorry for you, and I'll come and play with
+you, and tell you the news."
+
+Now in this wood lived a fox, and he had been planning to eat Peck as
+soon as he was fat; for he missed the good corn and meal he used to
+have, and grew very thin living on grasshoppers and berries. While he
+waited the sly fellow made friends with Peck, though the bird knew that
+foxes ate hens.
+
+"I'm not afraid, and I don't believe old Granny Cockletop's tales. I
+can take care of myself, I guess," he said, and went on playing with
+the fox, who got him to tell all about the hen-house,--how the door was
+fastened, and where the plump chickens roosted, and what time they went
+to bed,--so that he could creep in and steal a good supper by and by.
+Silly Peck never guessed what harm he was doing, and only laughed when
+Cocky said,--
+
+"You will be sorry if you play with the fox. He is a bad fellow; so be
+careful and sleep on a high branch, and keep out of his way, as I do."
+
+Cocky was fat and large, and the fox longed to eat him, but never could,
+because he wisely ran home whenever he saw the rogue hiding in the wood.
+This made Peck angry, for he wanted his brother to stay and play; and
+so one day, when Cocky ran off in the midst of a nice game, Peck said to
+the fox,--
+
+"See here, if you want to catch that fellow, I'll tell you how to do it.
+He has promised to bring me some food to-night, when all the rest are
+at roost. He will hide and not get shut up; then, when those cross old
+biddies are asleep, he will cluck softly, and I am to go in and eat all
+I want out of the pan. You hide on the top of the hen-house; and while
+he talks to me, you can pounce on him. Then I shall be the only cock
+here, and they will have to make me king."
+
+"All right," said the fox, much pleased with the plan, and very glad
+that Peck had a chance to get fatter.
+
+So when it was night, Peck crept through the broken paling and waited
+till he heard the signal. Now, good Cocky had saved up nice bits from
+his own dinner, and put them in a paper hidden under a bush. He spread
+them all out in the barnyard and called; and Peck came in a great hurry
+to eat them, never stopping to say, "Thank you."
+
+Cocky stood by talking pleasantly till a little shower came up.
+
+"Peck, dear, put this nice thick paper over you; then you will be dry,
+and can go on eating. I'll step under that burdock leaf and wait till
+you are done," said Cocky; and Peck was too busy gobbling up the food to
+remember anything else.
+
+Now the fox had just crept up on the hen-house roof; and when he peeped
+down, there was just light enough to see a white thing bobbing about.
+
+"Ah, ha! that's Cockyloo; now for a good supper!" And with a jump he
+seized Peck by the head before he could explain the mistake.
+
+One squawk, and the naughty bird was dead; but though the paper fell
+off, and the fox saw what he had done, it was too late, and he began to
+eat Peck up, while Cocky flew into a tree and crowed so loud that the
+farmer ran with his gun and shot the fox before he could squeeze through
+the hole in the fence with the fowl in his mouth.
+
+After that the hens felt safe, for there were no more foxes; and when
+they heard about Peck they did not mourn at all, but liked Cocky better
+than ever, and lived happily together, with nothing to trouble them.
+
+King Cockyloo grew to be a splendid bird,--pure white, with a tall red
+comb on his head, long spurs on his yellow legs, many fine feathers in
+his tail, and eyes that shone like diamonds. His crow was so loud that
+it could be heard all over the neighborhood, and people used to say,
+"Hark! hear Farmer Hunt's cock crow. Isn't it a sweet sound to wake us
+in the dawn?" All the other cocks used to answer him, and there was a
+fine matinee concert every day.
+
+He was a good brother, and led his five little sisters all about the
+field, feeding, guarding, and amusing them; for mamma was lame now, and
+could not stir far from the yard. It was a pretty sight to see Cocky run
+home with a worm in his bill or a nice berry, and give it to his mother,
+who was very proud of her handsome son. Even old Granny Cockletop, who
+scolded about everything, liked him; and often said, as the hens sat
+scuffling in the dust,--
+
+"A fine bird, my dears, a very fine bird, and I know he will do
+something remarkable before he dies."
+
+She was right for once; and this is what he did.
+
+One day the farmer had to go away and stay all night, leaving the old
+lady alone with two boys. They were not afraid; for they had a gun, and
+quite longed for a chance to fire it. Now it happened that the farmer
+had a good deal of money in the house, and some bad men knew it; so they
+waited for him to go away that they might steal it. Cocky was picking
+about in the field when he heard voices behind the wall, and peeping
+through a hole saw two shabby men hiding there.
+
+"At twelve, to-night, when all are asleep, we will creep in at the
+kitchen window and steal the money. You shall watch on the outside and
+whistle if any one comes along while I'm looking for the box where the
+farmer keeps it," said one man.
+
+"You needn't be afraid; there is no dog, and no one to wake the family,
+so we are quite safe," said the other man; and then they both went to
+sleep till night came.
+
+Cocky was much troubled, and didn't know what to do. He could not tell
+the old lady about it; for he could only cackle and crow, and she would
+not understand that language. So he went about all day looking very
+sober, and would not chase grasshoppers, play hide-and-seek under the
+big burdock leaves, or hunt the cricket with his sisters. At sunset he
+did not go into the hen-house with the rest, but flew up to the shed
+roof over the kitchen, and sat there in the cold ready to scare the
+robbers with a loud crow, as he could do nothing else.
+
+At midnight the men came creeping along; one stopped outside, and the
+other went in. Presently he handed a basket of silver out, and went back
+for the money. Just as he came creeping along with the box, Cocky gave a
+loud, long crow, that frightened the robbers and woke the boys. The man
+with the basket ran away in such a hurry that he tumbled into a well;
+the other was going to get out of the window, when Cocky flew down and
+picked at his eyes and flapped his wings in his face, so that he turned
+to run some other way, and met the boys, who fired at him and shot him
+in the legs. The old lady popped her head out of the upper window and
+rang the dinner-bell, and called "Fire! fire!" so loud that it roused
+the neighbors, who came running to see what the trouble could be.
+
+They fished one man out of the well and picked up the wounded one, and
+carried them both off to prison.
+
+"Who caught them?" asked the people.
+
+"We did," cried the boys, very proud of what they had done; "but we
+shouldn't have waked if our good Cocky had not crowed, and scared the
+rascals. He deserves half the praise, for this is the second time he has
+caught a thief."
+
+So Cocky was brought in, and petted, and called a fine fellow; and his
+family were so proud of him they clucked about it for weeks afterward.
+
+When the robbers were tried, it was found that they were the men who had
+robbed the bank, and taken a great deal of money; so every one was glad
+to have them shut up for twenty years. It made a great stir, and people
+would go to see Cocky and tell how he helped catch the men; and he was
+so brave and handsome, they said at last,--
+
+"We want a new weather-cock on our court-house, and instead of an arrow
+let us have a cock; and he shall look like this fine fellow."
+
+"Yes, yes," cried the young folks, much pleased; for they thought Cocky
+ought to be remembered in some way.
+
+So a picture was taken, and Cocky stood very still, with his bright eye
+on the man; then one like it was made of brass, and put high up on the
+court-house, where all could see the splendid bird shining like gold,
+and twirling about to tell which way the wind was. The children were
+never tired of admiring him; and all the hens and chickens went in a
+procession one moonlight night to see it,--yes, even Mamma Partlet and
+Granny Cockletop, though one was lame and the other very old, so full of
+pride were they in the great honor done King Cockyloo.
+
+This was not the end of his good deeds; and the last was the best of
+all, though it cost him his life. He ruled for some years, and kept his
+kingdom in good order; for no one would kill him, when many of the other
+fowls were taken for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. But he did die
+at last; and even then he was good and brave, as you shall hear.
+
+One of the boys wanted to smoke a pipe, and went behind the hen-house,
+so nobody should see him do such a silly thing. He thought he heard
+his father coming, and hid the pipe under the house. Some straw and dry
+leaves lay about, and took fire, setting the place in a blaze; for the
+boy ran away when he saw the mischief he had done, and the fire got to
+burning nicely before the cries of the poor hens called people to help.
+The door was locked, and could not be opened, because the key was in the
+pocket of the naughty boy; so the farmer got an axe and chopped down the
+wall, letting the poor biddies fly out, squawking and smoking.
+
+"Where is Cocky?" cried the other boy, as he counted the hens and missed
+the king of the farmyard.
+
+"Burnt up, I'm afraid," said the farmer, who was throwing water on the
+flames.
+
+Alas! yes, he was: for when the fire was out they found good old Cocky
+sitting on a nest, with his wide wings spread over some little chicks
+whose mother had left them. They were too small to run away, and sat
+chirping sadly till Cocky covered and kept them safe, though the smoke
+choked _him_ to death.
+
+Every one was very sorry; and the children gave the good bird a fine
+funeral, and buried him in the middle of the field, with a green mound
+over him, and a white stone, on which was written,--
+
+  Here lies the bravest cock that ever crew:
+  We mourn for him with sorrow true.
+  Now nevermore at dawn his music shall we hear,
+  Waking the world like trumpet shrill and clear.
+  The hens all hang their heads, the chickens sadly peep;
+  The boys look sober, and the girls all weep.
+  Good-by, dear Cocky: sleep and rest,
+  With grass and daisies on your faithful breast;
+  And when you wake, brave bird, so good and true,
+  Clap your white wings and crow, "Cock-a-doodle-doo."
+
+
+[Illustration: The lion walked awhile to rest himself.]
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+ROSY'S JOURNEY.
+
+
+Rosy was a nice little girl who lived with her mother in a small house
+in the woods. They were very poor, for the father had gone away to dig
+gold, and did not come back; so they had to work hard to get food to eat
+and clothes to wear. The mother spun yarn when she was able, for she was
+often sick, and Rosy did all she could to help. She milked the red cow
+and fed the hens; dug the garden, and went to town to sell the yarn and
+the eggs.
+
+She was very good and sweet, and every one loved her; but the neighbors
+were all poor, and could do little to help the child. So, when at last
+the mother died, the cow and hens and house had to be sold to pay the
+doctor and the debts. Then Rosy was left all alone, with no mother, no
+home, and no money to buy clothes and dinners with.
+
+"What will you do?" said the people, who were very sorry for her.
+
+"I will go and find my father," answered Rosy, bravely.
+
+"But he is far away, and you don't know just where he is, up among the
+mountains. Stay with us and spin on your little wheel, and we will buy
+the yarn, and take care of you, dear little girl," said the kind people.
+
+"No, I must go; for mother told me to, and my father will be glad
+to have me. I'm not afraid, for every one is good to me," said Rosy,
+gratefully.
+
+Then the people gave her a warm red cloak, and a basket with a little
+loaf and bottle of milk in it, and some pennies to buy more to eat when
+the bread was gone. They all kissed her, and wished her good luck; and
+she trotted away through the wood to find her father.
+
+For some days she got on very well; for the wood-cutters were kind, and
+let her sleep in their huts, and gave her things to eat. But by and by
+she came to lonely places, where there were no houses; and then she
+was afraid, and used to climb up in the trees to sleep, and had to eat
+berries and leaves, like the Children in the Wood.
+
+She made a fire at night, so wild beasts would not come near her; and if
+she met other travellers, she was so young and innocent no one had the
+heart to hurt her. She was kind to everything she met; so all little
+creatures were friends to her, as we shall see.
+
+One day, as she was resting by a river, she saw a tiny fish on the bank,
+nearly dead for want of water.
+
+"Poor thing! go and be happy again," she said, softly taking him up, and
+dropping him into the nice cool river.
+
+"Thank you, dear child; I'll not forget, but will help you some day,"
+said the fish, when he had taken a good drink, and felt better.
+
+"Why, how can a tiny fish help such a great girl as I am?" laughed Rosy.
+
+"Wait and see," answered the fish, as he swam away with a flap of his
+little tail.
+
+Rosy went on her way, and forgot all about it. But she never forgot
+to be kind; and soon after, as she was looking in the grass for
+strawberries, she found a field-mouse with a broken leg.
+
+"Help me to my nest, or my babies will starve," cried the poor thing.
+
+"Yes, I will; and bring these berries so that you can keep still till
+your leg is better, and have something to eat."
+
+Rosy took the mouse carefully in her little hand, and tied up the broken
+leg with a leaf of spearmint and a blade of grass. Then she carried her
+to the nest under the roots of an old tree, where four baby mice were
+squeaking sadly for their mother. She made a bed of thistledown for the
+sick mouse, and put close within reach all the berries and seeds she
+could find, and brought an acorn-cup of water from the spring, so they
+could be comfortable.
+
+"Good little Rosy, I shall pay you for all this kindness some day," said
+the mouse, when she was done.
+
+"I'm afraid you are not big enough to do much," answered Rosy, as she
+ran off to go on her journey.
+
+"Wait and see," called the mouse; and all the little ones squeaked, as
+if they said the same.
+
+Some time after, as Rosy lay up in a tree, waiting for the sun to rise,
+she heard a great buzzing close by, and saw a fly caught in a cobweb
+that went from one twig to another. The big spider was trying to spin
+him all up, and the poor fly was struggling to get away before his legs
+and wings were helpless.
+
+Rosy put up her finger and pulled down the web, and the spider ran away
+at once to hide under the leaves. But the happy fly sat on Rosy's hand,
+cleaning his wings, and buzzing so loud for joy that it sounded like a
+little trumpet.
+
+"You've saved my life, and I'll save yours, if I can," said the fly,
+twinkling his bright eye at Rosy.
+
+"You silly thing, you can't help me," answered Rosy, climbing down,
+while the fly buzzed away, saying, like the mouse and fish,--
+
+"Wait and see; wait and see."
+
+Rosy trudged on and on, till at last she came to the sea. The mountains
+were on the other side; but how should she get over the wide water? No
+ships were there, and she had no money to hire one if there had been
+any; so she sat on the shore, very tired and sad, and cried a few big
+tears as salt as the sea.
+
+"Hullo!" called a bubbly sort of voice close by; and the fish popped up
+his head. Rosy ran to see what he wanted.
+
+"I've come to help you over the water," said the fish.
+
+"How can you, when I want a ship, and some one to show me the way?"
+answered Rosy.
+
+"I shall just call my friend the whale, and he will take you over better
+than a ship, because he won't get wrecked. Don't mind if he spouts
+and flounces about a good deal, he is only playing; so you needn't be
+frightened."
+
+Down dived the little fish, and Rosy waited to see what would happen;
+for she didn't believe such a tiny thing could really bring a whale to
+help her.
+
+Presently what looked like a small island came floating through the sea;
+and turning round, so that its tail touched the shore, the whale said,
+in a roaring voice that made her jump,--
+
+"Come aboard, little girl, and hold on tight. I'll carry you wherever
+you like."
+
+It was rather a slippery bridge, and Rosy was rather scared at this big,
+strange boat; but she got safely over, and held on fast; then, with a
+roll and a plunge, off went the whale, spouting two fountains, while his
+tail steered him like the rudder of a ship.
+
+Rosy liked it, and looked down into the deep sea, where all sorts of
+queer and lovely things were to be seen. Great fishes came and looked at
+her; dolphins played near to amuse her; the pretty nautilus sailed by
+in its transparent boat; and porpoises made her laugh with their rough
+play. Mermaids brought her pearls and red coral to wear, sea-apples to
+eat, and at night sung her to sleep with their sweet lullabies.
+
+So she had a very pleasant voyage, and ran on shore with many thanks to
+the good whale, who gave a splendid spout, and swam away.
+
+Then Rosy travelled along till she came to a desert. Hundreds of miles
+of hot sand, with no trees or brooks or houses.
+
+"I never can go that way," she said; "I should starve, and soon be worn
+out walking in that hot sand. What _shall_ I do?"
+
+  "Quee, quee!
+  Wait and see:
+  You were good to me;
+  So here I come,
+  From my little home,
+  To help you willingly,"
+
+said a friendly voice; and there was the mouse, looking at her with its
+bright eyes full of gratitude.
+
+"Why, you dear little thing, I'm very glad to see you; but I'm sure you
+can't help me across this desert," said Rosy, stroking its soft back.
+
+"That's easy enough," answered the mouse, rubbing its paws briskly.
+"I'll just call my friend the lion; he lives here, and he'll take you
+across with pleasure."
+
+"Oh, I'm afraid he'd rather eat me. How dare you call that fierce
+beast?" cried Rosy, much surprised.
+
+"I gnawed him out of a net once, and he promised to help me. He is a
+noble animal, and he will keep his word."
+
+Then the mouse sang, in its shrill little voice,--
+
+    "O lion, grand,
+    Come over the sand,
+  And help me now, I pray!
+    Here's a little lass,
+    Who wants to pass;
+  Please carry her on her way."
+
+In a moment a loud roar was heard, and a splendid yellow lion, with
+fiery eyes and a long mane, came bounding over the sand to meet them.
+
+"What can I do for you, tiny friend?" he said, looking at the mouse, who
+was not a bit frightened, though Rosy hid behind a rock, expecting every
+moment to be eaten.
+
+Mousie told him, and the good lion said pleasantly,--
+
+"I'll take the child along. Come on, my dear; sit on my back and hold
+fast to my mane, for I'm a swift horse, and you might fall off."
+
+Then he crouched down like a great cat, and Rosy climbed up, for he was
+so kind she could not fear him; and away they went, racing over the sand
+till her hair whistled in the wind. As soon as she got her breath, she
+thought it great fun to go flying along, while other lions and tigers
+rolled their fierce eyes at her, but dared not touch her; for this lion
+was king of all, and she was quite safe. They met a train of camels with
+loads on their backs; and the people travelling with them wondered
+what queer thing was riding that fine lion. It looked like a very large
+monkey in a red cloak, but went so fast they never saw that it was a
+little girl.
+
+"How glad I am that I was kind to the mouse; for if the good little
+creature had not helped me, I never could have crossed this desert,"
+said Rosy, as the lion walked awhile to rest himself.
+
+"And if the mouse had not gnawed me out of the net I never should have
+come at her call. You see, little people can conquer big ones, and make
+them gentle and friendly by kindness," answered the lion.
+
+Then away they went again, faster than ever, till they came to the green
+country. Rosy thanked the good beast, and he ran back, for if any one
+saw him, they would try to catch him.
+
+"Now I have only to climb up these mountains and find father," thought
+Rosy, as she saw the great hills before her, with many steep roads
+winding up to the top, and far, far away rose the smoke from the huts
+where the men lived and dug for gold. She started off bravely, but took
+the wrong road, and after climbing a long while found the path ended in
+rocks over which she could not go. She was very tired and hungry; for
+her food was gone, and there were no houses in this wild place. Night
+was coming on, and it was so cold she was afraid she would freeze before
+morning, but dared not go on lest she should fall down some steep hole
+and be killed. Much discouraged, she lay down on the moss and cried a
+little; then she tried to sleep, but something kept buzzing in her ear,
+and looking carefully she saw a fly prancing about on the moss, as if
+anxious to make her listen to his song,--
+
+    "Rosy, my dear,
+    Don't cry,--I'm here
+  To help you all I can.
+    I'm only a fly,
+    But you'll see that I
+  Will keep my word like a man."
+
+Rosy couldn't help laughing to hear the brisk little fellow talk as if
+he could do great things; but she was very glad to see him and hear his
+cheerful song, so she held out her finger, and while he sat there told
+him all her troubles.
+
+"Bless your heart! my friend the eagle will carry you right up the
+mountains and leave you at your father's door," cried the fly; and he
+was off with a flirt of his gauzy wings, for he meant what he said.
+
+Rosy was ready for her new horse, and not at all afraid after the whale
+and the lion; so when a great eagle swooped down and alighted near her,
+she just looked at his sharp claws, big eyes, and crooked beak as coolly
+as if he had been a cock-robin.
+
+He liked her courage, and said kindly in his rough voice,--
+
+"Hop up, little girl, and sit among my feathers. Hold me fast round the
+neck, or you may grow dizzy and get a fall."
+
+Rosy nestled down among the thick gray feathers, and put both arms round
+his neck; and whiz they went, up, up, up, higher and higher, till the
+trees looked like grass, they were so far below. At first it was very
+cold, and Rosy cuddled deeper into her feather bed; then, as they came
+nearer to the sun, it grew warm, and she peeped out to see the huts
+standing in a green spot on the top of the mountain.
+
+"Here we are. You'll find all the men are down in the mine at this
+time. They won't come up till morning; so you will have to wait for your
+father. Good-by; good luck, my dear." And the eagle soared away, higher
+still, to his nest among the clouds.
+
+It was night now, but fires were burning in all the houses; so Rosy went
+from hut to hut trying to find her father's, that she might rest while
+she waited: at last in one the picture of a pretty little girl hung on
+the wall, and under it was written, "My Rosy." Then she knew that this
+was the right place; and she ate some supper, put on more wood, and went
+to bed, for she wanted to be fresh when her father came in the morning.
+
+While she slept a storm came on,--thunder rolled and lightning flashed,
+the wind blew a gale, and rain poured,--but Rosy never waked till dawn,
+when she heard men shouting outside,--
+
+"Run, run! The river is rising! We shall all be drowned!"
+
+Rosy ran out to see what was the matter, though the wind nearly blew her
+away; she found that so much rain had made the river overflow till it
+began to wash the banks away.
+
+"What shall I do? what shall I do?" cried Rosy, watching the men rush
+about like ants, getting their bags of gold ready to carry off before
+the water swept them away, if it became a flood.
+
+As if in answer to her cry, Rosy heard a voice say close by,--
+
+    "Splash, dash!
+    Rumble and crash!
+  Here come the beavers gay;
+    See what they do,
+    Rosy, for you,
+  Because you helped _me_ one day."
+
+And there in the water was the little fish swimming about, while an army
+of beavers began to pile up earth and stones in a high bank to keep the
+river back. How they worked, digging and heaping with teeth and claws,
+and beating the earth hard with their queer tails like shovels! Rosy and
+the men watched them work, glad to be safe, while the storm cleared up;
+and by the time the dam was made, all danger was over. Rosy looked into
+the faces of the rough men, hoping her father was there, and was just
+going to ask about him, when a great shouting rose again, and all began
+to run to the pit hole, saying,--
+
+"The sand has fallen in! The poor fellows will be smothered! How can we
+get them out? how can we get them out?"
+
+Rosy ran too, feeling as if her heart would break; for her father was
+down in the mine, and would die soon if air did not come to him. The men
+dug as hard as they could; but it was a long job, and they feared they
+would not be in time.
+
+Suddenly hundreds of moles came scampering along, and began to burrow
+down through the earth, making many holes for air to go in; for they
+know how to build galleries through the ground better than men can.
+Every one was so surprised they stopped to look on; for the dirt flew
+like rain as the busy little fellows scratched and bored as if making an
+underground railway.
+
+"What does it mean?" said the men. "They work faster than we can, and
+better; but who sent them? Is this strange little girl a fairy?"
+
+Before Rosy could speak, all heard a shrill, small voice singing,--
+
+    "They come at my call;
+    And though they are small,
+  They'll dig the passage clear:
+    I never forget;
+    We'll save them yet,
+  For love of Rosy dear."
+
+Then all saw a little gray mouse sitting on a stone, waving her tail
+about, and pointing with her tiny paw to show the moles where to dig.
+
+The men laughed; and Rosy was telling them who she was, when a cry came
+from the pit, and they saw that the way was clear so they could pull the
+buried men up. In a minute they got ropes, and soon had ten poor fellows
+safe on the ground; pale and dirty, but all alive, and all shouting as
+if they were crazy,--
+
+"Tom's got it! Tom's got it! Hooray for Tom!"
+
+"What is it?" cried the others; and then they saw Tom come up with the
+biggest lump of gold ever found in the mountains.
+
+Every one was glad of Tom's luck; for he was a good man, and had worked
+a long time, and been sick, and couldn't go back to his wife and child.
+When he saw Rosy, he dropped the lump, and caught her up, saying,--
+
+"My little girl! she's better than a million pounds of gold."
+
+Then Rosy was very happy, and went back to the hut, and had a lovely
+time telling her father all about her troubles and her travels. He cried
+when he heard that the poor mother was dead before she could have any of
+the good things the gold would buy them.
+
+"We will go away and be happy together in the pleasantest home I can
+find, and never part any more, my darling," said the father, kissing
+Rosy as she sat on his knee with her arms round his neck.
+
+She was just going to say something very sweet to comfort him, when a
+fly lit on her arm and buzzed very loud,--
+
+    "Don't drive me away,
+    But hear what I say:
+  Bad men want the gold;
+    They will steal it to-night,
+    And you must take flight;
+  So be quiet and busy and bold."
+
+"I was afraid some one would take my lump away. I'll pack up at once,
+and we will creep off while the men are busy at work; though I'm afraid
+we can't go fast enough to be safe, if they miss us and come after,"
+said Tom, bundling his gold into a bag and looking very sober; for some
+of the miners were wild fellows, and might kill him for the sake of that
+great lump.
+
+But the fly sang again,--
+
+    "Slip away with me,
+    And you will see
+  What a wise little thing am I;
+    For the road I show
+    No man can know,
+  Since it's up in the pathless sky."
+
+Then they followed Buzz to a quiet nook in the wood; and there were the
+eagle and his mate waiting to fly away with them so fast and so far that
+no one could follow. Rosy and the bag of gold were put on the mother
+eagle; Tom sat astride the king bird; and away they flew to a great
+city, where the little girl and her father lived happily together all
+their lives.
+
+
+[Illustration: Poor Billy dangling from a bough, high above the ground.]
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+HOW THEY RAN AWAY.
+
+
+Two little boys sat on the fence whittling arrows one fine day. Said one
+little boy to the other little boy,--
+
+"Let's do something jolly."
+
+"All right. What will we do?"
+
+"Run off to the woods and be hunters."
+
+"What can we hunt?"
+
+"Bears and foxes."
+
+"Mullin says there ain't any round here."
+
+"Well, we can shoot squirrels and snare wood-chucks."
+
+"Haven't got any guns and trap."
+
+"We've got our bows, and I found an old trap behind the barn."
+
+"What will we eat?"
+
+"Here's our lunch; and when that's gone we can roast the squirrels and
+cook the fish on a stick. I know how."
+
+"Where will you get the fire?"
+
+"Got matches in my pocket."
+
+"I've got a lot of things we could use. Let's see."
+
+And as if satisfied at last, cautious Billy displayed his treasures,
+while bold Tommy did the same.
+
+Besides the two knives there were strings, nails, matches, a piece of
+putty, fish-hooks, and two very dirty handkerchiefs.
+
+"There, sir, that's a first-rate fit-out for hunters; and with the jolly
+basket of lunch Mrs. Mullin gave us, we can get on tip-top for two or
+three days," said Tommy, eager to be off.
+
+"Where shall we sleep?" asked Billy, who liked to be comfortable both
+night and day.
+
+"Oh, up in trees or on beds of leaves, like the fellows in our books. If
+you are afraid, stay at home; I'm going to have no end of a good time."
+And Tommy crammed the things back into his pockets as if there were no
+time to lose.
+
+"Pooh! I ain't afraid. Come on!" And jumping down Billy caught up his
+rod, rather ashamed of his many questions.
+
+No one was looking at them, and they might have walked quietly off; but
+that the "running away" might be all right, both raced down the road,
+tumbled over a wall, and dashed into the woods as if a whole tribe of
+wild Indians were after them.
+
+"Do you know the way?" panted Billy, when at last they stopped for
+breath.
+
+"Yes, it winds right up the mountain; but we'd better not keep to it, or
+some one will see us and take us back. We are going to be _real_ hunters
+and have adventures; so we must get lost, and find our way by the sun
+and the stars," answered Tommy, who had read so many Boys' Books his
+little head was a jumble of Texan Rangers, African Explorers, and
+Buffalo Bills; and he burned to outdo them all.
+
+"What will our mothers say if we really get lost?" asked Billy, always
+ready with a question.
+
+"Mine won't fuss. She lets me do what I like."
+
+That was true; for Tommy's poor mamma was tired of trying to keep the
+lively little fellow in order, and had got used to seeing him come out
+of all his scrapes without much harm.
+
+"Mine will be scared; she's always afraid I'm going to get hurt, so I'm
+careful. But I guess I'll risk it, and have some fun to tell about when
+we go home," said Billy, trudging after Captain Tommy, who always took
+the lead.
+
+These eleven-year-old boys were staying with their mothers at a
+farm-house up among the mountains; and having got tired of the tame
+bears, the big barn, the trout brook, the thirty colts at pasture, and
+the society of the few little girls and younger boys at the hotel near
+by, these fine fellows longed to break loose and "rough it in the bush,"
+as the hunters did in their favorite stories.
+
+Away they went, deeper and deeper into the great forest that covered the
+side of the mountain. A pleasant place that August day; for it was cool
+and green, with many brooks splashing over the rocks, or lying in brown
+pools under the ferns. Squirrels chattered and raced in the tall pines;
+now and then a gray rabbit skipped out of sight among the brakes, or
+a strange bird flew by. Here and there blackberries grew in the open
+places, sassafras bushes were plentiful, and black-birch bark was ready
+for chewing.
+
+"Don't you call this nice?" asked Tommy, pausing at last in a little
+dell where a noisy brook came tumbling down the mountain side, and the
+pines sung overhead.
+
+"Yes; but I'm awful hungry. Let's rest and eat our lunch," said Billy,
+sitting down on a cushion of moss.
+
+"You always want to be stuffing and resting," answered sturdy Tommy, who
+liked to be moving all the time.
+
+He took the fishing-basket, which hung over his shoulder by a strap,
+and opened it carefully; for good Mrs. Mullin had packed a nice lunch of
+bread and butter, cake and peaches, with a bottle of milk, and two large
+pickles slipped in on the sly to please the boys.
+
+Tommy's face grew very sober as he looked in, for all he saw was a box
+of worms for bait and an old jacket.
+
+"By George! we've got the wrong basket. This is Mullin's, and he's gone
+off with our prog. Won't he be mad?"
+
+"Not as mad as I am. Why didn't you look? You are always in such a hurry
+to start. What _shall_ we do now without anything to eat?" whined Billy;
+for losing his lunch was a dreadful blow to him.
+
+"We shall have to catch some fish and eat blackberries. Which will you
+do, old cry-baby?" said Tommy, laughing at the other boy's dismal face.
+
+"I'll fish; I'm so tired I can't go scratching round after berries. I
+don't love 'em, either." And Billy began to fix his line and bait his
+hook.
+
+"Lucky we got the worms; you can eat 'em if you can't wait for fish,"
+said Tommy, bustling about to empty the basket and pile up their few
+possessions in a heap. "There's a quiet pool below here, you go and fish
+there. I'll pick the berries, and then show you how to get dinner in the
+woods. This is our camp; so fly round and do your best."
+
+Then Tommy ran off to a place near by where he had seen the berries,
+while Billy found a comfortable nook by the pool, and sat scowling at
+the water so crossly, it was a wonder any trout came to his hook. But
+the fat worms tempted several small ones, and he cheered up at the
+prospect of food. Tommy whistled while he picked, and in half an hour
+came back with two quarts of nice berries and an armful of dry sticks
+for the fire.
+
+"We'll have a jolly dinner, after all," he said, as the flames went
+crackling up, and the dry leaves made a pleasant smell.
+
+"Got four, but don't see how we'll ever cook 'em; no frying-pan,"
+grumbled Billy, throwing down the four little trout, which he had half
+cleaned.
+
+"Don't want any. Broil 'em on the coals, or toast 'em on a forked stick.
+I'll show you how," said cheerful Tommy, whittling away, and feeding his
+fire as much like a real hunter as a small boy could be.
+
+While he worked, Billy ate berries and sighed for bread and butter. At
+last, after much trouble, two of the trout were half cooked and eagerly
+eaten by the hungry boys. But they were very different from the nice
+brown ones Mrs. Mullin gave them; for in spite of Tommy's struggles they
+would fall in the ashes, and there was no salt to eat with them. By the
+time the last were toasted, the young hunters were so hungry they could
+have eaten anything, and not a berry was left.
+
+"I set the trap down there, for I saw a hole among the vines, and I
+shouldn't wonder if we got a rabbit or something," said Tommy, when the
+last bone was polished. "You go and catch some more fish, and I'll see
+if I have caught any old chap as he went home to dinner."
+
+Off ran Tommy; and the other boy went slowly back to the brook, wishing
+with all his might he was at home eating sweet corn and berry pie.
+
+The trout had evidently gone to their dinners, for not one bite did poor
+Billy get; and he was just falling asleep when a loud shout gave him
+such a fright that he tumbled into the brook up to his knees.
+
+"I've got him! Come and see! He's a bouncer," roared Tommy, from the
+berry bushes some way off.
+
+Billy scrambled out, and went as fast as his wet boots would let him, to
+see what the prize was. He found Tommy dancing wildly round a fat gray
+animal, who was fighting to get his paws out of the trap, and making a
+queer noise as he struggled about.
+
+"What is it?" asked Billy, getting behind a tree as fast as possible,
+for the thing looked fierce, and he was very timid.
+
+"A raccoon, I guess, or a big woodchuck. Won't his fur make a fine cap?
+I guess the other fellows will wish they'd come with us." said Tommy,
+prancing to and fro, without the least idea what to do with the
+creature.
+
+"He'll bite. We'd better run away and wait till he's dead," said Billy.
+
+"Wish he'd got his head in, then I could carry him off; but he does
+look savage, so we'll have to leave him awhile, and get him when we come
+back. But he's a real beauty." And Tommy looked proudly at the bunch of
+gray fur scuffling in the sand.
+
+"Can we ever eat him?" asked hungry Billy, ready for a fried crocodile
+if he could get it.
+
+"If he's a raccoon, we can; but I don't know about woodchucks. The
+fellows in my books don't seem to have caught any. He's nice and fat; we
+might try him when he's dead," said Tommy, who cared more for the skin
+to show than the best meal ever cooked.
+
+The sound of a gun echoing through the wood gave Tommy a good idea,--
+
+"Let's find the man and get him to shoot this chap; then we needn't
+wait, but skin him right away, and eat him too."
+
+Off they went to the camp; and catching up their things, the two hunters
+hurried away in the direction of the sound, feeling glad to know that
+some one was near them, for two or three hours of wood life made them a
+little homesick.
+
+They ran and scrambled, and listened and called; but not until they had
+gone a long way up the mountain did they find the man, resting in an old
+hut left by the lumbermen. The remains of his dinner were spread on the
+floor, and he lay smoking, and reading a newspaper, while his dog dozed
+at his feet, close to a well-filled game-bag.
+
+He looked surprised when two dirty, wet little boys suddenly appeared
+before him,--one grinning cheerfully, the other looking very dismal
+and scared as the dog growled and glared at them as if they were two
+rabbits.
+
+"Hollo!" said the man
+
+"Hollo!" answered Tommy.
+
+"Who are you?" asked the man.
+
+"Hunters," said Tommy.
+
+"Had good luck?" And the man laughed.
+
+"First-rate. Got a raccoon in our trap, and we want you to come and
+shoot him," answered Tommy, proudly.
+
+"Sure?" said the man, looking interested as well as amused.
+
+"No, but I think so."
+
+"What's he like?"
+
+Tommy described him, and was much disappointed when the man lay down
+again, saying, with another laugh,--
+
+"It's a woodchuck; he's no good."
+
+"But I want the skin."
+
+"Then don't shoot him, let him die; that's better for the skin," said
+the man, who was tired and didn't want to stop for such poor game.
+
+All this time Billy had been staring hard at the sandwiches and bread
+and cheese on the floor, and sniffing at them, as the dog sniffed at
+him.
+
+"Want some grub?" asked the man, seeing the hungry look.
+
+"I just do! We left our lunch, and I've only had two little trout and
+some old berries since breakfast," answered Billy, with tears in his
+eyes and a hand on his stomach.
+
+"Eat away then; I'm done, and don't want the stuff." And the man took up
+his paper as if glad to be let alone.
+
+It was lucky that the dog had been fed, for in ten minutes nothing
+was left but the napkin; and the boys sat picking up the crumbs, much
+refreshed, but ready for more.
+
+"Better be going home, my lads; it's pretty cold on the mountain after
+sunset, and you are a long way from town," said the man, who had peeped
+at them over his paper now and then, and saw, in spite of the dirt and
+rips, that they were not farmer boys.
+
+"We don't live in town; we are at Mullin's, in the valley. No hurry;
+we know the way, and we want to have some sport first. You seem to
+have done well," answered Tommy, looking enviously from the gun to the
+game-bag, out of which hung a rabbit's head and a squirrel's tail.
+
+"Pretty fair; but I want a shot at the bear. People tell me there is one
+up here, and I'm after him; for he kills the sheep, and might hurt some
+of the young folks round here," said the man, loading his gun with a
+very sober air; for he wanted to get rid of the boys and send them home.
+
+Billy looked alarmed; but Tommy's brown face beamed with joy as he said
+eagerly,--
+
+"I hope you'll get him. I'd rather shoot a bear than any other animal
+but a lion. We don't have those here, and bears are scarce. Mullin said
+he hadn't heard of one for a long time; so this must be a young one, for
+they killed the big one two years ago."
+
+That was true, and the man knew it. He did not really expect or want to
+meet a bear, but thought the idea of one would send the little fellows
+home at once. Finding one of them was unscared, he laughed, and said
+with a nod to Tommy,--
+
+"If I had time I'd take _you_ along, and show you how to hunt; but this
+fat friend of yours couldn't rough it with us, and we can't leave him
+alone; so go ahead your own way. Only I wouldn't climb any higher, for
+among the rocks you are sure to get hurt or lost."
+
+"Oh, I say, let's go! Such fun, Billy! I know you'll like it. A real gun
+and dog and hunter! Come on, and don't be a molly-coddle," cried Tommy,
+wild to go.
+
+"I won't! I'm tired, and I'm going home; you can go after your old bears
+if you want to. I don't think much of hunting anyway, and wish I hadn't
+come," growled Billy, very cross at being left out, yet with no desire
+to scramble any more.
+
+"Can't stop. Good-by. Get along home, and some day I'll come and take
+you out with me, little Leatherstocking," said the man, striding off
+with the dear gun and dog and bag, leaving Billy to wonder what he meant
+by that queer name, and Tommy to console himself with the promise made
+him.
+
+"Let's go and see how old Chucky gets on," he said good-naturedly, when
+the man vanished.
+
+"Not till I'm rested. I can get a good nap on this pile of hay; then
+we'll go home before it's late," answered lazy Billy, settling himself
+on the rough bed the lumbermen had used.
+
+"I just wish I had a boy with some go in him; you ain't much better than
+a girl," sighed Tommy, walking off to a pine-tree where some squirrels
+seemed to be having a party, they chattered and raced up and down at
+such a rate.
+
+He tried his bow and shot all his arrows many times in vain, for the
+lively creatures gave him no chance. He had better luck with a brown
+bird who sat in a bush and was hit full in the breast with the sharpest
+arrow. The poor thing fluttered and fell, and its blood wet the green
+leaves as it lay dying on the grass. Tommy was much pleased at first;
+but as he stood watching its bright eye grow dim and its pretty brown
+wings stop fluttering, he felt sorry that its happy little life was so
+cruelly ended, and ashamed that his thoughtless fun had given so much
+pain.
+
+"I'll never shoot another bird except hawks after chickens, and I won't
+brag about this one. It was so tame, and trusted me, I was very mean to
+kill it."
+
+As he thought this, Tommy smoothed the ruffled feathers of the dead
+thrush, and, making a little grave under the pine, buried it wrapped in
+green leaves, and left it there where its mate could sing over it, and
+no rude hands disturb its rest.
+
+"I'll tell mamma and she will understand: but I _won't_ tell Billy. He
+is such a greedy old chap he'll say I ought to have kept the poor bird
+to eat," thought Tommy, as he went back to the hut, and sat there,
+restringing his bow, till Billy woke up, much more amiable for his
+sleep.
+
+They tried to find the woodchuck, but lost their way, and wandered
+deeper into the great forest till they came to a rocky place and could
+go no farther. They climbed up and tumbled down, turned back and went
+round, looked at the sun and knew it was late, chewed sassafras bark and
+checkerberry leaves for supper, and grew more and more worried and tired
+as hour after hour went by and they saw no end to woods and rocks. Once
+or twice they heard the hunter's gun far away, and called and tried to
+find him.
+
+Tommy scolded Billy for not going with the man, who knew his way and was
+probably safe in the valley when the last faint shot came up to them.
+Billy cried, and reproached Tommy for proposing to run away; and both
+felt very homesick for their mothers and their good safe beds at Farmer
+Mullin's.
+
+The sun set, and found them in a dreary place full of rocks and blasted
+trees half-way up the mountain. They were so tired they could hardly
+walk, and longed to lie down anywhere to sleep; but, remembering the
+hunter's story of the bear, they were afraid to do it, till Tommy
+suggested climbing a tree, after making a fire at the foot of it to
+scare away the bear, lest he climb too and get them.
+
+But, alas! the matches were left in their first camp; so they decided to
+take turns to sleep and watch, since it was plain that they must spend
+the night there. Billy went up first, and creeping into a good notch of
+the bare tree tried to sleep, while brave Tommy, armed with a big stick,
+marched to and fro below. Every few minutes a trembling voice would call
+from above, "Is anything coming?" and an anxious voice would answer from
+below, "Not yet. Hurry up and go to sleep! I want my turn."
+
+At last Billy began to snore, and then Tommy felt so lonely he couldn't
+bear it; so he climbed to a lower branch, and sat nodding and trying
+to keep watch, till he too fell fast asleep, and the early moon saw the
+poor boys roosting there like two little owls.
+
+A loud cry, a scrambling overhead, and then a great shaking and howling
+waked Tommy so suddenly that he lost his wits for a moment and did not
+know where he was.
+
+"The bear! the bear! don't let him get me! Tommy, Tommy, come and make
+him let go," cried Billy, filling the quiet night with dismal howls.
+
+Tommy looked up, expecting to behold a large bear eating his unhappy
+friend; but the moonlight showed him nothing but poor Billy dangling
+from a bough, high above the ground, caught by his belt when he fell. He
+had been dreaming of bears, and rolled off his perch; so there he hung,
+kicking and wailing, half awake, and so scared it was long before Tommy
+could make him believe that he was quite safe.
+
+How to get him down was the next question. The branch was not strong
+enough to bear Tommy, though he climbed up and tried to unhook poor
+Billy. The belt was firmly twisted at the back, and Billy could not
+reach to undo it, nor could he get his legs round the branch to pull
+himself up. There seemed no way but to unbuckle the belt and drop. That
+he was afraid to try; for the ground was hard, and the fall a high one.
+Fortunately both belt and buckle were strong; so he hung safely, though
+very uncomfortably, while Tommy racked his boyish brain to find a way to
+help him.
+
+Billy had just declared that he should be cut in two very soon if
+something was not done for him, and Tommy was in despair, when they
+thought they heard a far-off shout, and both answered it till their
+throats were nearly split with screaming.
+
+"I seem to see a light moving round down that way," cried Billy from his
+hook, pointing toward the valley.
+
+"They are looking for us, but they won't hear us. I'll run and holler
+louder, and bring 'em up here," answered Tommy, glad to do anything that
+would put an end to this dreadful state of things.
+
+"Don't leave me! I may fall and be killed! The bear might come! Don't
+go! don't go!" wailed Billy, longing to drop, but afraid.
+
+"I won't go far, and I'll come back as quick as I can. You are safe up
+there. Hold on, and we'll soon get you down," answered Tommy, rushing
+away helter-skelter, never minding where he went, and too much excited
+to care for any damage.
+
+The moon was bright on the blasted trees; but when he came down among
+the green pines, it grew dark, and he often stumbled and fell. Never
+minding bumps and bruises, he scrambled over rocks, leaped fallen
+trunks, floundered through brooks, and climbed down steep places, till,
+with a reckless jump, he went heels over head into a deep hole, and lay
+there for a moment stunned by the fall. It was an old bear-trap, long
+unused, and fortunately well carpeted with dead leaves, or poor Tommy
+would have broken his bones.
+
+When he came to himself he was so used up that he lay still for some
+time in a sort of daze, too tired to know or care about anything, only
+dimly conscious that somebody was lost in a tree or a well, and that, on
+the whole, running away was not all fun.
+
+By and by the sound of a gun roused him; and remembering poor Billy, he
+tried to get out of the pit,--for the moon showed him where he was. But
+it was too deep, and he was too stiff with weariness and the fall to be
+very nimble. So he shouted, and whistled, and raged about very like a
+little bear caught in the pit.
+
+It is very difficult to find a lost person on these great mountains, and
+many wander for hours not far from help, bewildered by the thick woods,
+the deep ravines, and precipices which shut them in. Some have lost
+their lives; and as Tommy lay on the leaves used up by his various
+struggles, he thought of all the stories he had lately heard at the
+farm, and began to wonder how it would feel to starve to death down
+there, and to wish poor Billy could come to share his prison, that they
+might die together, like the Babes in the Wood, or better still the Boy
+Scouts lost on the prairies in that thrilling story, "Bill Boomerang,
+the Wild Hunter of the West."
+
+"I guess mother is worried this time, because I never stayed out all
+night before, and I never will again without leave. It's rather good
+fun, though, if they only find me. I ain't afraid, and it isn't very
+cold. I always wanted to sleep out, and now I'm doing it. Wish poor
+Billy was safely down and in this good bed with me. Won't he be scared
+all alone there? Maybe the belt will break and he get hurt bumping down.
+Sorry now I left him, he's such a 'fraid-cat. There's the gun again!
+Guess it's that man after us. Hi! hollo! Here I am! Whoop! Hurrah! Hi!
+hi! hi!"
+
+Tommy's meditations ended in a series of yells as loud as his shrill
+little voice could make them, and he thought some one answered. But it
+must have been an echo, for no one came; and after another rampage round
+his prison, the poor boy nestled down among the leaves, and went fast
+asleep because there was nothing else to do.
+
+So there they were, the two young hunters, lost at midnight on the
+mountain,--one hanging like an apple on the old tree, and the other
+sound asleep in a bear-pit. Their distracted mothers meantime were
+weeping and wringing their hands at the farm, while all the men in
+the neighborhood were out looking for the lost boys. The hunter on his
+return to the hotel had reported meeting the runaways and his effort to
+send them home in good season; so people knew where to look, and, led by
+the man and dog, up the mountain went Mr. Mullin with his troop. It was
+a mild night, and the moon shone high and clear; so the hunt was, on the
+whole, rather easy and pleasant at first, and lanterns flashed through
+the dark forest like fireflies, the lonely cliffs seemed alive with men,
+and voices echoed in places where usually only the brooks babbled
+and the hawks screamed. But as time went on, and no sign of the boys
+appeared, the men grew anxious, and began to fear some serious harm had
+come to the runaways.
+
+"I can't go home without them little shavers no way, 'specially Tommy,"
+said Mr. Mullin, as they stopped to rest after a hard climb through the
+blasted grove. "He's a boy after my own heart, spry as a chipmunk,
+smart as a young cockerel, and as full of mischief as a monkey. He ain't
+afraid of anything, and I shouldn't be a mite surprised to find him
+enjoyin' himself first-rate, and as cool as a coocumber."
+
+"The fat boy won't take it so easily, I fancy. If it hadn't been for
+him I'd have kept the lively fellow with me, and shown him how to hunt.
+Sorry now I didn't take them both home," said the man with the gun,
+seeing his mistake too late, as people often do.
+
+"Maybe they've fell down a precipice and got killed, like Moses Warner,
+when he was lost," suggested a tall fellow, who had shouted himself
+hoarse.
+
+"Hush up, and come on! The dog is barkin' yonder, and he may have found
+'em," said the farmer, hurrying toward the place where the hound was
+baying at something in a tree.
+
+It was poor Billy, hanging there still, half unconscious with weariness
+and fear. The belt had slipped up under his arms, so he could breathe
+easily; and there he was, looking like a queer sort of cone on the
+blasted pine.
+
+"Wal, I never!" exclaimed the farmer, as the tall lad climbed up, and,
+unhooking Billy, handed him down like a young bird, into the arms held
+up to catch him.
+
+"He's all right, only scared out of his wits. Come along and look for
+the other one. I'll warrant he went for help, and may be half-way home
+by this time," said the hunter, who didn't take much interest in the fat
+boy.
+
+Tommy's hat lay on the ground; and showing it to the dog, his master
+told him to find the boy. The good hound sniffed about, and then set off
+with his nose to the ground, following the zigzag track Tommy had taken
+in his hurry. The hunter and several of the men went after him, leaving
+the farmer with the others to take care of Billy.
+
+Presently the dog came to the bear-pit, and began to bark again.
+
+"He's got him!" cried the men, much relieved; and rushing on soon saw
+the good beast looking down at a little white object in one corner of
+the dark hole.
+
+It was Tommy's face in the moonlight, for the rest of him was covered up
+with leaves. The little round face seemed very quiet; and for a moment
+the men stood quite still, fearing that the fall might have done the
+boy some harm. Then the hunter leaped down, and gently touched the brown
+cheek. It was warm, and a soft snore from the pug nose made the man call
+out, much relieved,--
+
+"He's all right. Wake up here, little chap; you are wanted at home. Had
+hunting enough for this time?"
+
+As he spoke, Tommy opened his eyes, gave a stretch, and said, "Hollo,
+Billy," as calmly as if in his own bed at home. Then the rustle of the
+leaves, the moonlight in his face, and the sight of several men staring
+down at him startled him wide awake.
+
+"Did you shoot the big bear?" he asked, looking up at the hunter with a
+grin.
+
+"No; but I caught a little one, and here he is," answered the man,
+giving Tommy a roll in the leaves, much pleased because he did not whine
+or make a fuss.
+
+"Got lost, didn't we? Oh, I say, where's Billy? I left him up a tree
+like a coon, and he wouldn't come down," laughed Tommy, kicking off his
+brown bed-clothes, and quite ready to get up now.
+
+They all laughed with him; and presently, when the story was told, they
+pulled the boy out of the pit, and went back to join the other wanderer,
+who was now sitting up eating the bread and butter Mrs. Mullin sent for
+their very late supper.
+
+The men roared again, as the two boys told their various tribulations;
+and when they had been refreshed, the party started for home, blowing
+the tin horns, and firing shot after shot to let the scattered searchers
+know that the lost children were found. Billy was very quiet, and gladly
+rode on the various broad backs offered for his use, but Tommy stoutly
+refused to be carried, and with an occasional "boost" over a very rough
+place, walked all the way down on his own sturdy legs. He was the hero
+of the adventure, and was never tired of relating how he caught the
+woodchuck, cooked the fish, slid down the big rock, and went to bed in
+the old bear-pit. But in his own little mind he resolved to wait till he
+was older before he tried to be a hunter; and though he caught several
+wood-chucks that summer, he never shot another harmless little bird.
+
+
+[Illustration: A wasp flew out and stung her lips.]
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+THE FAIRY BOX.
+
+
+"I wish I had a magic bracelet like Rosamond's, that would prick me when
+I was going to do wrong," said little May, as she put down the story she
+had been reading.
+
+There was no one else in the room, but she heard a sweet voice sing
+these words close to her ear:--
+
+  "Now hark, little May,
+    If you want to do right,
+  Under your pillow
+    Just look every night.
+  If you have been good
+    All through the day,
+  A gift you will find,
+    Useful or gay;
+  But if you have been
+    Cross, selfish, or wild,
+  A bad thing will come
+    For the naughty child.
+  So try, little dear,
+    And soon you will see
+  How easy and sweet
+    To grow good it will be."
+
+May was very much surprised at this, and looked everywhere to see who
+spoke, but could find no one.
+
+"I guess I dreamed it; but my eyes are wide open, and I can't make up
+poetry, asleep or awake."
+
+As she said that, some one laughed; and the same voice sang again,--
+
+  "Ha, ha, you can't see,
+    Although I am here;
+  But listen to what
+    I say in your ear.
+  Tell no one of this.
+    Because, if you do,
+  My fun will be spoilt,
+    And so will yours too.
+  But if you are good,
+    And patient, and gay,
+  A real fairy will come
+    To see little May."
+
+"Oh, how splendid that will be! I'll try hard, and be as good as an
+angel if I can only get one peep at a live fairy. I always said there
+were such people, and now I shall know how they look," cried the little
+girl, so pleased that she danced all about the room, clapping her hands.
+
+Something bright darted out of the window from among the flowers that
+stood there, and no more songs were heard; so May knew that the elf had
+gone.
+
+"I've got a fine secret all to myself, and I'll keep it carefully. I
+wonder what present will come to-night," she said, thinking this a very
+interesting play.
+
+She was very good all day, and made no fuss about going to bed, though
+usually she fretted, and wanted to play, and called for water, and
+plagued poor Nursey in many ways. She got safely into her little nest,
+and then was in such a hurry to see what was under her pillow that she
+forgot, and called out crossly,--
+
+"Do hurry and go away. Don't wait to hang up my clothes, you slow old
+thing! Go, go!"
+
+That hurt Nurse's feelings, and she went away without her good-night
+kiss. But May didn't care, and felt under her pillow the minute the door
+was shut. A lamp was always left burning; so she could see the little
+gold box she drew out.
+
+"How pretty! I hope there is some candy in it," she said, opening it
+very carefully.
+
+Oh, dear! what _do_ you think happened? A wasp flew out and stung her
+lips; then both wasp and box vanished, and May was left to cry alone,
+with a sharp pain in the lips that said the unkind words.
+
+"What a dreadful present! I don't like that spiteful fairy who sends
+such horrid things," she sobbed.
+
+Then she lay still and thought about it; for she dared not call any one,
+because nobody must guess the secret. She knew in her own little heart
+that the cross words hurt Nursey as the sting did her lips, and she felt
+sorry. At once the smart got better, and by the time she had resolved to
+ask the good old woman to forgive her, it was all gone.
+
+Next morning she kissed Nursey and begged pardon, and tried hard to be
+good till tea-time; then she ran to see what nice things they were
+going to have to eat, though she had often been told not to go into
+the dining-room. No one was there; and on the table stood a dish of
+delicious little cakes, all white like snowballs.
+
+"I must have just a taste, and I'll tell mamma afterward," she said; and
+before she knew it one little cake was eaten all up.
+
+"Nobody will miss it, and I can have another at tea. Now, a lump of
+sugar and a sip of cream before mamma comes, I so like to pick round."
+
+Having done one wrong thing, May felt like going on; so she nibbled and
+meddled with all sorts of forbidden things till she heard a step, then
+she ran away; and by and by, when the bell rang, came in with the rest
+as prim and proper as if she did not know how to play pranks. No one
+missed the cake, and her mother gave her another, saying,--
+
+"There, dear, is a nice plummy one for my good child."
+
+May turned red, and wanted to tell what she had done, but was ashamed
+because there was company; and people thought she blushed like a modest
+little girl at being praised.
+
+But when she went to bed she was almost afraid to look under the pillow,
+knowing that she had done wrong. At last she slowly drew out the box,
+and slowly opened it, expecting something to fly at her. All she saw
+was a tiny black bag, that began at once to grow larger, till it was
+big enough to hold her two hands. Then it tied itself tight round her
+wrists, as if to keep these meddlesome hands out of mischief.
+
+"Well, this is very queer, but not so dreadful as the wasp. I hope
+no one will see it when I'm asleep. I do wish I'd let those cakes and
+things alone," sighed May, looking at the black bag, and vainly trying
+to get her hands free.
+
+She cried herself to sleep, and when she woke the bag was gone. No one
+had seen it; but she told her mamma about the cake, and promised not to
+do so any more.
+
+"Now this shall be a _truly_ good day, every bit of it," she said, as
+she skipped away, feeling as light as a feather after she had confessed
+her little sins.
+
+But, alas! it is so easy to forget and do wrong, that May spoilt her day
+before dinner by going to the river and playing with the boats, in spite
+of many orders not to do it. She did not tell of it, and went to a
+party in the afternoon, where she was so merry she never remembered the
+naughty thing till she was in bed and opened the fairy box. A little
+chain appeared, which in a flash grew long and large, and fastened round
+her ankles as if she were a prisoner. May liked to tumble about, and was
+much disgusted to be chained in this way; but there was no help for it,
+so she lay very still and had plenty of time to be sorry.
+
+"It is a good punishment for me, and I deserve it. I won't cry, but I
+will--I _will_ remember." And May said her prayers very soberly, really
+meaning to keep her word this time.
+
+All the next day she was very careful to keep her lips from cross words,
+her hands from forbidden things, and her feet from going wrong. Nothing
+spoilt this day, she watched so well; and when mamma gave the good-night
+kiss, she said,--
+
+"What shall I give my good little daughter, who has been gentle,
+obedient, and busy all day?"
+
+"I want a white kitty, with blue eyes, and a pink ribbon on its neck,"
+answered May.
+
+"I'll try and find one. Now go to bed, deary, and happy dreams!" said
+mamma, with many kisses on the rosy cheeks, and the smile that was a
+reward.
+
+May was so busy thinking about the kitty and the good day that she
+forgot the box till she heard a little "Mew, mew!" under her pillow.
+
+"Mercy me! what's that?" And she popped up her head to see.
+
+Out came the box; off flew the lid, and there, on a red cushion, lay a
+white kit about two inches long. May couldn't believe that it was alive
+till it jumped out of its nest, stretched itself, and grew all at once
+just the right size to play with and be pretty. Its eyes were blue, its
+tail like a white plume, and a sweet pink bow was on its neck. It danced
+all over the bed, ran up the curtains, hid under the clothes, nipped
+May's toes, licked her face, patted her nose with its soft paw, and
+winked at her in such a funny way that she laughed for joy at having
+such a dear kitty. Presently, as if it knew that bed was the place to
+lie quiet in, puss cuddled down in a little bunch and purred May to
+sleep.
+
+"I suppose that darling kit will be gone like all the other things,"
+said May, as she waked up and looked round for her first pretty gift.
+
+No; there was the lovely thing sitting in the sun among the flower-pots,
+washing her face and getting ready for play. What a fine frolic they
+had; and how surprised every one was to see just the pussy May wanted!
+They supposed it came as kitties often come; and May never told them it
+was a fairy present, because she had promised not to. She was so happy
+with little puss that she was good all day; and when she went to bed she
+thought,--
+
+"I wish I had a dog to play with darling Snowdrop, and run with me when
+I go to walk."
+
+"Bow, wow, wow!" came from under the pillow; and out of the box trotted
+a curly black dog, with long ears, a silver collar, and such bright,
+kind eyes May was not a bit afraid of him, but loved him at once, and
+named him Floss, he was so soft and silky. Pussy liked him too; and when
+May was sleepy they both snuggled down in the same basket like two good
+babies, and went to by-low.
+
+"Well, I never! What shall we find next?" said Nurse, when she saw the
+dog in the morning.
+
+"Perhaps it will be an elephant, to fill the whole house, and scare you
+out of your wits," laughed May, dancing about with Snowdrop chasing her
+bare toes, while Floss shook and growled over her shoes as if they were
+rats.
+
+"If your cousin John wants to give you any more animals, I wish he'd
+send a pony to take you to school, and save my old legs the pain of
+trotting after you," said Nurse; for May did have a rich cousin who was
+very fond of her, and often gave her nice things.
+
+"Perhaps he will," laughed May, much tickled with the idea that it was
+a fairy, and not Cousin John, who sent the cunning little creatures to
+her.
+
+But she didn't get the pony that night; for in the afternoon her mother
+told her not to sit on the lawn, because it was damp, and May did not
+mind, being busy with a nice story. So when she took up her box, a loud
+sneeze seemed to blow the lid off, and all she saw was a bit of red
+flannel.
+
+"What is this for?" she asked, much disappointed; and as if to answer,
+the strip of flannel wrapped itself round her neck.
+
+"There! my throat _is_ sore, and I _am_ hoarse. I wonder how that fairy
+knew I sat on the damp grass. I'm so sorry; for I did want a pony, and
+might have had it if I'd only minded," said May, angry with herself for
+spoiling all her fun.
+
+It _was_ spoilt; for she had such a cold next day she couldn't go out
+at all, but had to take medicine and keep by the fire, while the other
+children had a lovely picnic.
+
+"I won't wish for anything to-night; I don't deserve a present, I was
+so disobedient. But I _have_ tried to be patient," said May, feeling for
+the box.
+
+The fairy had not forgotten her, and there was a beautiful picture-book,
+full of new, nice stories printed in colored ink.
+
+"How splendid to read to-morrow while I'm shut up!" she said, and went
+to sleep very happily.
+
+All the next day she enjoyed the pretty pictures and funny tales, and
+never complained or fretted at all, but was so much better the doctor
+said she could go out to-morrow, if it was fine.
+
+"Now I will wish for the pony," said May, in her bed. But there was
+nothing in the box except a little red-silk rope, like a halter. She did
+not know what to do with it that night, but she did the next morning;
+for just as she was dressed her brother called from the garden,--
+
+"May, look out and see what we found in the stable. None of us can catch
+him, so do come and see if you can; your name is on the card tied to his
+mane."
+
+May looked, and there was a snow-white pony racing about the yard as if
+he was having a fine frolic. Then she knew the halter was for him, and
+ran down to catch him. The minute she appeared, the pony went to her and
+put his nose in her hand, neighing, as if he said,--
+
+"This is my little mistress; I will mind her and serve her well."
+
+May was delighted, and very proud when the pony let her put on the
+saddle and bridle that lay in the barn all ready to use. She jumped up
+and rode gayly down the road; and Will and mamma and all the maids and
+Floss and Snowdrop ran to see the pretty sight. The children at school
+were much excited when she came trotting up, and all wanted to ride
+Prince. He was very gentle, and every one had a ride; but May had the
+best fun, for she could go every day for long trots by the carriage when
+mamma and Will drove out. A blue habit and a hat with a long feather
+were bought that afternoon; and May was so happy and contented at night
+that she said to herself as she lay in bed,--
+
+"I'll wish for something for Will now, and see if I get it. I don't want
+any more presents yet; I've had my share, and I'd love to give away to
+other people who have no fairy box."
+
+So she wished for a nice boat, and in the box lay a key with the name
+"Water Lily" on it. She guessed what it meant, and in the morning told
+her brother to come to the river and see what she had for him. There lay
+a pretty green and white boat, with cushioned seats, a sail all spread,
+and at the mast-head a little flag flying in the wind, with the words
+"Water Lily" on it in gold letters.
+
+Will was so surprised and pleased to find that it was his, he turned
+heels over head on the grass, kissed May, and skipped into his boat,
+crying, "All aboard!" as if eager to try it at once.
+
+May followed, and they sailed away down the lovely river, white with
+real lilies, while the blackbirds sang in the green meadows on either
+side, and boys and girls stopped on the bridges to see them pass.
+
+After that May kept on trying to be good, and wishing for things for
+herself and other people, till she forgot how to be naughty, and was the
+sweetest little girl in the world. Then there was no need of fairies to
+help her; and one night the box was not under the pillow.
+
+"Well, I've had my share of pretty things, and must learn to do without.
+I'm glad I tried; for now it is easy to be good, and I don't need to
+be rewarded," said May, as she fell asleep, quite happy and contented,
+though she did wish she could have seen the fairy just once.
+
+Next morning the first thing she saw was a beautiful bracelet, shining
+on the table; and while she stood admiring it, she heard the little
+voice sing,--
+
+  "Here is the bracelet
+    For good little May
+  To wear on her arm
+    By night and by day.
+  When it shines like the sun,
+    All's going well;
+  But when you are bad,
+    A sharp prick will tell.
+  Farewell, little girl,
+    For now we must part.
+  Make a fairy-box, dear,
+    Of your own happy heart;
+  And take out for all
+    Sweet gifts every day,
+  Till all the year round
+    Is like beautiful May."
+
+As the last words were sung, right before her eyes she saw a tiny
+creature swinging on the rose that stood there in a vase,--a lovely elf,
+with wings like a butterfly, a gauzy dress, and a star on her forehead.
+She smiled, and waved her hand as she slowly rose and fluttered away
+into the sunshine, till she vanished from sight, leaving May with the
+magic bracelet on her arm, and the happy thought that at last she had
+_really_ seen a fairy.
+
+
+[Illustration: Johnny leaned forward to enjoy the long-desired "peek."]
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+A HOLE IN THE WALL.
+
+PART I.
+
+
+If any one had asked Johnny Morris who were his best friends, he would
+have answered,--
+
+"The sun and the wind, next to mother."
+
+Johnny lived in a little court that led off from one of the busiest
+streets in the city,--a noisy street, where horse-car bells tinkled
+and omnibuses rumbled all day long, going and coming from several great
+depots near by. The court was a dull place, with only two or three
+shabby houses in it, and a high blank wall at the end.
+
+The people who hurried by were too busy to do more than to glance at
+the lame boy who sat in the sunshine against the wall, or to guess that
+there was a picture-gallery and a circulating-library in the court. But
+Johnny had both, and took such comfort in them that he never could be
+grateful enough to the wind that brought him his books and pictures, nor
+to the sun that made it possible for him to enjoy them in the open air,
+far more than richer folk enjoy their fine galleries and libraries.
+
+A bad fall, some months before the time this story begins, did something
+to Johnny's back which made his poor legs nearly useless, and changed
+the lively, rosy boy into a pale cripple. His mother took in fine
+washing, and worked hard to pay doctors' bills and feed and clothe her
+boy, who could no longer run errands, help with the heavy tubs, or go to
+school. He could only pick out laces for her to iron, lie on his bed in
+pain for hours, and, each fair day, hobble out to sit in a little old
+chair between the water-butt and the leaky tin boiler in which he kept
+his library.
+
+But he was a happy boy, in spite of poverty and pain; and the day a
+great gust came blowing fragments of a gay placard and a dusty newspaper
+down the court to his feet, was the beginning of good fortune for
+patient Johnny. There was a theatre in the street beyond, and other
+pictured bits found their way to him; for the frolicsome wind liked to
+whisk the papers around the corner, and chase them here and there till
+they settled under the chair or flew wildly over the wall.
+
+Faces, animals, people, and big letters, all came to cheer the boy, who
+was never tired of collecting these waifs and strays; cutting out the
+big pictures to paste on the wall with the leavings of mother's starch,
+and the smaller in the scrap-book he made out of stout brown wrappers
+or newspapers, when he had read the latter carefully. Soon it was a
+very gay wall; for mother helped, standing on a chair, to put the large
+pictures up, when Johnny had covered all the space he could reach.
+The books were laid carefully away in the boiler, after being smoothly
+ironed out and named to suit Johnny's fancy by pasting letters on the
+back. This was the circulating library; for not only did the papers
+whisk about the court to begin with, but the books they afterward made
+went the rounds among the neighbors till they were worn out.
+
+The old cobbler next door enjoyed reading the anecdotes on Sunday when
+he could not work; the pale seamstress upstairs liked to look over
+advertisements of the fine things which she longed for; and Patsey
+Flynn, the newsboy, who went by each day to sell his papers at the
+station, often paused to look at the play-bills,--for he adored the
+theatre, and entertained Johnny with descriptions of the splendors there
+to be beheld, till he felt as if he had really been, and had known all
+the famous actors, from Humpty Dumpty to the great Salvini.
+
+Now and then a flock of dirty children would stray into the court and
+ask to see the "pretty picters." Then Johnny was a proud and happy
+boy; for, armed with a clothes-pole, he pointed out and explained the
+beauties of his gallery, feeling that he was a public benefactor when
+the poor babies thanked him warmly, and promised to come again and bring
+all the nice papers they could pick up.
+
+These were Johnny's pleasures: but he had two sorrows,--one, a very real
+one, his aching back; and the other, a boyish longing to climb the wall
+and see what was on the other side, for it seemed a most wonderful and
+delightful place to the poor child, shut up in that dismal court, with
+no playmates and few comforts.
+
+He amused himself with imagining how it looked over there, and nearly
+every night added some new charm to this unseen country, when his mother
+told him fairy tales to get him to sleep. He peopled it with the dear
+old characters all children know and love. The white cat that sat on
+the wall was Puss in Boots to him, or Whittington's good friend.
+Blue-beard's wives were hidden in the house of whose upper windows the
+boy could just catch glimpses. Red Riding-hood met the wolf in the grove
+of chestnuts that rustled over there; and Jack's Beanstalk grew up just
+such a wall as that, he was sure.
+
+But the story he liked best was the "Sleeping Beauty in the Wood;" for
+he was sure some lovely creature lived in that garden, and he longed to
+get in to find and play with her. He actually planted a bean in a bit of
+damp earth behind the water-barrel, and watched it grow, hoping for as
+strong a ladder as Jack's. But the vine grew very slowly, and Johnny
+was so impatient that he promised Patsey his best book "for his
+ownty-donty," if he would climb up and report what was to be seen in
+that enchanted garden.
+
+"Faix, and I will, thin." And up went good-natured Pat, after laying an
+old board over the hogshead to stand on; for there were spikes all along
+the top of the wall, and only cats and sparrows could walk there.
+
+Alas for Johnny's eager hopes, and alas for Pat's Sunday best! The board
+broke, and splash went the climber, with a wild Irish howl that startled
+Johnny half out of his wits and brought both Mrs. Morris and the cobbler
+to the rescue.
+
+After this sad event Pat kept away for a time in high dudgeon, and
+Johnny was more lonely than ever. But he was a cheery little soul, so he
+was grateful for what joys he had, and worked away at his wall,--for the
+March winds had brought him many treasures, and after April rains were
+over, May sunshine made the court warm enough for him to be out nearly
+all day.
+
+"I'm so sorry Pat is mad, 'cause he saw this piece and told me about it,
+and he'd like to help me put up these pictures," said Johnny to himself,
+one breezy morning, as he sat examining a big poster which the wind had
+sent flying into his lap a few minutes before.
+
+The play was "Monte Cristo," and the pictures represented the hero
+getting out of prison by making holes in the wall, among other
+remarkable performances.
+
+"This is a jolly red one! Now, where will I put it to show best and not
+spoil the other beauties?"
+
+As he spoke, Johnny turned his chair around and surveyed his gallery
+with as much pride and satisfaction as if it held all the wonders of
+art.
+
+It really _was_ quite splendid; for every sort of picture shone in the
+sun,--simpering ladies, tragic scenes, circus parades, labels from
+tin cans, rosy tomatoes, yellow peaches, and purple plums, funny
+advertisements, and gay bills of all kinds. None were perfect, but they
+were arranged with care; and the effect was very fine, Johnny thought.
+
+Presently his eyes wandered from these treasures to the budding bushes
+that nodded so tantalizingly over the wall. A grape-vine ran along the
+top, trying to hide the sharp spikes; lilacs tossed their purple plumes
+above it, and several tall chestnuts rose over all, making green tents
+with their broad leaves, where spires of blossom began to show like
+candles on a mammoth Christmas tree. Sparrows were chirping gayly
+everywhere; the white cat, with a fresh blue bow, basked on the coping
+of the wall, and from the depths of the enchanted garden came a sweet
+voice singing,--
+
+  "And she bids you to come in,
+    With a dimple in your chin,
+     Billy boy, Billy boy."
+
+Johnny smiled as he listened, and put his finger to the little dent in
+his own chin, wishing the singer would finish this pleasing song. But
+she never did, though he often heard that, as well as other childish
+ditties, sung in the same gay voice, with bursts of laughter and the
+sound of lively feet tripping up and down the boarded walks. Johnny
+longed intensely to know who the singer was; for her music cheered his
+solitude, and the mysterious sounds he heard in the garden increased his
+wonder and his longing day by day.
+
+Sometimes a man's voice called, "Fay, where are you?" and Johnny was
+sure "Fay" was short for Fairy. Another voice was often heard talking
+in a strange, soft language, full of exclamations and pretty sounds. A
+little dog barked, and answered to the name Pippo. Canaries carolled,
+and some elfish bird scolded, screamed, and laughed so like a human
+being, that Johnny felt sure that magic of some sort was at work next
+door.
+
+A delicious fragrance was now wafted over the wall as of flowers, and
+the poor boy imagined untold loveliness behind that cruel wall, as he
+tended the dandelions his mother brought him from the Common, when she
+had time to stop and gather them; for he loved flowers dearly, and tried
+to make them out of colored paper, since he could have no sweeter sort.
+
+Now and then a soft, rushing sound excited his curiosity to such a pitch
+that once he hobbled painfully up the court till he could see into the
+trees; and once his eager eyes caught glimpses of a little creature, all
+blue and white and gold, who peeped out from the green fans, and nodded,
+and tried to toss him a cluster of the chestnut flowers. He stretched
+his hands to her with speechless delight, forgetting his crutches, and
+would have fallen if he had not caught by the shutter of a window so
+quickly that he gave the poor back a sad wrench; and when he could look
+up again, the fairy had vanished, and nothing was to be seen but the
+leaves dancing in the wind.
+
+Johnny dared not try this again for fear of a fall, and every step cost
+him a pang; but he never forgot it, and was thinking of it as he sat
+staring at the wall on that memorable May day.
+
+"How I _should_ like to peek in and see just how it all really looks!
+It sounds and smells so summery and nice in there. I know it must be
+splendid. I say, Pussy, can't you tell a feller what you see?"
+
+Johnny laughed as he spoke, and the white cat purred politely; for she
+liked the boy who never threw stones at her, nor disturbed her naps. But
+Puss could not describe the beauties of the happy hunting-ground below;
+and, to console himself for the disappointment, Johnny went back to his
+new picture.
+
+"Now, if this man in the play dug his way out through a wall ten feet
+thick with a rusty nail and a broken knife, I don't see why I couldn't
+pick away one brick and get a peek. It's all quiet in there now; here's
+a good place, and nobody will know, if I stick a picture over the hole.
+And I'll try it, I declare I will!"
+
+Fired with the idea of acting Monte Cristo on a small scale, Johnny
+caught up the old scissors in his lap, and began to dig out the mortar
+around a brick already loose, and crumbling at the corners. His mother
+smiled at his energy, then sighed and said, as she clapped her laces
+with a heavy heart,--
+
+"Ah, poor dear, if he only had his health he'd make his way in the
+world. But now he's like to find a blank wall before him while he lives,
+and none to help him over."
+
+Puss, in her white boots, sat aloft and looked on, wise as the cat
+in the story, but offered no advice. The toad who lived behind the
+water-barrel hopped under the few leaves of the struggling bean, like
+Jack waiting to climb; and just then the noon bells began to ring as if
+they sang clear and loud,--
+
+"Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London."
+
+So, cheered by his friends, Johnny scraped and dug vigorously till the
+old brick fell out, showing another behind it. Only pausing to take
+breath, he caught up his crutch and gave two or three hearty pokes,
+which soon cleared the way and let the sunshine stream through, while
+the wind tossed the lilacs like triumphal banners, and the jolly
+sparrows chirped,--
+
+"Hail, the conquering hero comes!"
+
+Rather scared by his unexpected success, the boy sat silent for a moment
+to see what would happen. But all was still; and presently, with a
+beating heart, Johnny leaned forward to enjoy the long-desired "peek."
+He could not see much; but that little increased his curiosity and
+delight, for it seemed like looking into fairy-land, after the dust and
+noise and dingy houses of the court.
+
+A bed of splendid tulips tossed their gay garments in the middle of a
+grass-plot; a strange and brilliant bird sat dressing its feathers on
+a golden cage; a little white dog dozed in the sun; and on a red carpet
+under the trees lay the Princess, fast asleep.
+
+"It's all right," said Johnny, with a long sigh of pleasure; "that's the
+Sleeping Beauty, sure enough. There's the blue gown, the white fur-cloak
+sweeping round, the pretty hair, and--yes--there's the old nurse,
+spinning and nodding, just as she did in the picture-book mother got me
+when I cried because I couldn't go to see the play."
+
+This last discovery really did bewilder Johnny, and make him believe
+that fairy tales _might_ be true, after all, for how could he know that
+the strange woman was an Italian servant, in her native dress, with a
+distaff in her hand? After pausing a moment, to rub his eyes, he took
+another look, and made fresh discoveries by twisting his head about. A
+basket of oranges stood near the Princess, a striped curtain hung from a
+limb of the tree to keep the wind off, and several books fluttered their
+pictured leaves temptingly before Johnny's longing eyes.
+
+"Oh, if I could only go in and eat 'em and read 'em and speak to 'em and
+see all the splendid things!" thought the poor boy, as he looked from
+one delight to another, and felt shut out from all. "I can't go and wake
+her like the Prince did, but I do wish she'd get up and do something,
+now I _can_ see. I daren't throw a stone, it might hit some one, or
+holler, it might scare her. Pussy won't help, and the sparrows are too
+busy scolding one another. I know! I'll fly a kite over, and that will
+please her any way. Don't believe she has kites; girls never do."
+
+Eager to carry out his plan, Johnny tied a long string to his gayest
+poster, and then fastening it to the pole with which he sometimes fished
+in the water-cask, held it up to catch the fresh breezes blowing down
+the court. His good friend, the wind, soon caught the idea, and with
+a strong breath sent the red paper whisking over the wall, to hang a
+moment on the trees and then drop among the tulips, where its frantic
+struggles to escape waked the dog, and set him to racing and barking, as
+Johnny hurriedly let the string go, and put his eye to his peep-hole.
+
+The eyes of the Princess were wide open now, and she clapped her hands
+when Pippo brought the gay picture for her to see; while the old woman,
+with a long yawn, went away, carrying her distaff, like a gun, over her
+shoulder.
+
+"She likes it! I'm so glad. Wish I had some more to send over. This will
+come off, I'll poke it through, and maybe she will see it."
+
+Very much excited, Johnny recklessly tore from the wall his most
+cherished picture, a gay flower-piece, just put up; and folding it, he
+thrust it through the hole and waited to see what followed.
+
+Nothing but a rustle, a bark, and a queer croak from the splendid bird,
+which set the canaries to trilling sweetly.
+
+"She don't see, maybe she will hear," said Johnny. And he began to
+whistle like a mocking-bird; for this was his one accomplishment, and he
+was proud of it.
+
+Presently he heard a funny burst of laughter from the parrot, and then
+the voice said,--
+
+"No, Polly, you can't sing like that bird. I wonder where he is? Among
+the bushes over there, I think. Come, Pippo, let us go and find him."
+
+"Now she's coming!" And Johnny grew red in the face trying to give his
+best trills and chirrups.
+
+Nearer and nearer came the steps, the lilacs rustled as if shaken, and
+presently the roll of paper vanished. A pause, and then the little voice
+exclaimed, in a tone of great surprise,--
+
+"Why, there's a hole! I never saw it before. Oh! I can see the street.
+How nice! how nice!"
+
+"She likes the hole! I wonder if she will like me?" And, emboldened by
+these various successes, Johnny took another peep. This was the most
+delicious one of all; for he looked right into a great blue eye, with
+glimpses of golden hair above, a little round nose in the middle, and
+red lips below. It was like a flash of sunshine, and Johnny winked, as
+if dazzled; for the eye sparkled, the nose sniffed daintily, and the
+pretty mouth broke into a laugh as the voice cried out delightedly,--
+
+"I see some one! Who are you? Come and tell me!"
+
+"I'm Johnny Morris," answered the boy, quite trembling with pleasure.
+
+"Did you make this nice hole?"
+
+"I just poked a brick, and it fell out."
+
+"Papa won't mind. Is that your bird?"
+
+"No; it's me. I whistled."
+
+"It's very pretty. Do it again," commanded the voice, as if used to give
+orders.
+
+Johnny obeyed; and when he paused, out of breath, a small hand came
+through the hole, grasping as many lilies of the valley as it could
+hold, and the Princess graciously expressed her pleasure by saying,--
+
+"I like it; you shall do it again, by and by. Here are some flowers for
+you. Now we will talk. Are you a nice boy?"
+
+This was a poser; and Johnny answered meekly, with his nose luxuriously
+buried in the lovely flowers,--
+
+"Not very,--I'm lame; I can't play like other fellers."
+
+"_Porverino_!" sighed the little voice, full of pity; and, in a moment,
+three red-and-yellow tulips fell at Johnny's feet, making him feel as if
+he really had slipped into fairy-land through that delightful hole.
+
+"Oh, thank you! Aren't they just elegant? I never see such beauties,"
+stammered the poor boy, grasping his treasures as if he feared they
+might vanish away.
+
+"You shall have as many as you like. Nanna will scold, but papa won't
+mind. Tell me more. What do you do over there?" asked the child,
+eagerly.
+
+"Nothing but paste pictures and make books, when I don't ache too bad. I
+used to help mother; but I got hurt, and I can't do much now," answered
+the boy, ashamed to mention how many laces he patiently picked or
+clapped, since it was all he could do to help.
+
+"If you like pictures, you shall come and see mine some day. I do a
+great many. Papa shows me how. His are splendid. Do you draw or paint
+yours?"
+
+"I only cut 'em out of papers, and stick 'em on this wall or put 'em
+in scrap-books. I can't draw, and I haven't got no paints," answered
+Johnny.
+
+"You should say 'haven't any paints.' I will come and see you some day;
+and if I like you, I will let you have my old paint-box. Do you want
+it?"
+
+"Guess I do!"
+
+"I think I _shall_ like you; so I'll bring it when I come. Do you ache
+much?"
+
+"Awfully, sometimes. Have to lay down all day, and can't do a thing."
+
+"Do you cry?"
+
+"No! I'm too big for that. I whistle."
+
+"I _know_ I shall like you, because you are brave!" cried the impetuous
+voice, with its pretty accent; and then an orange came tumbling through
+the hole, as if the new acquaintance longed to do something to help the
+"ache."
+
+"Isn't that a rouser! I do love 'em, but mother can't afford 'em often."
+And Johnny took one delicious taste on the spot.
+
+"Then I shall give you many. We have loads at home, much finer than
+these. Ah, you should see our garden there!"
+
+"Where do you live?" Johnny ventured to ask; for there was a homesick
+sound to the voice as it said those last words.
+
+"In Rome. Here we only stay a year, while papa arranges his affairs;
+then we go back, and I am happy."
+
+"I should think you'd be happy in there. It looks real splendid to me,
+and I've been longing to see it ever since I could come out."
+
+"It's a dull place to me. I like better to be where it's always warm,
+and people are more beautiful than here. Are _you_ beautiful?"
+
+"What queer questions she does ask!" And poor Johnny was so perplexed he
+could only stammer, with a laugh,--
+
+"I guess not. Boys don't care for looks."
+
+"Peep, and let me see. I like pretty persons," commanded the voice.
+
+"Don't she order round?" thought Johnny, as he obeyed. But he liked it,
+and showed such a smiling face at the peep-hole, that Princess Fay was
+pleased to say, after a long look at him,--
+
+"No, you are not beautiful; but your eyes are bright, and you look
+pleasant, so I don't mind the freckles on your nose and the whiteness
+of your face. I think you are good. I am sorry for you, and I shall lend
+you a book to read when the pain comes."
+
+"I couldn't wait for that if I had a book. I do _love_ so to read!" And
+Johnny laughed out from sheer delight at the thought of a new book; for
+he seldom got one, being too poor to buy them, and too helpless to enjoy
+the free libraries of the city.
+
+"Then you shall have it _now_." And there was another quick rush in the
+garden, followed by the appearance of a fat little book, slowly pushed
+through the hole in the wall.
+
+"This is the only one that will pass. You will like Hans Andersen's
+fairy tales, I know. Keep it as long as you please. I have many more."
+
+"You're so good! I wish I had something for you," said the boy, quite
+overcome by this sweet friendliness.
+
+"Let me see one of _your_ books. They will be new to me. I'm tired of
+all mine."
+
+Quick as a flash, off went the cover of the old boiler, and out came
+half-a-dozen of Johnny's best works, to be crammed through the wall,
+with the earnest request,--
+
+"Keep 'em all; they're not good for much, but they're the best I've got.
+I'll do some prettier ones as soon as I can find more nice pictures and
+pieces."
+
+"They look very interesting. I thank you. I shall go and read them now,
+and then come and talk again. Addio, Giovanni."
+
+"Good-by, Miss."
+
+Thus ended the first interview of little Pyramus and Thisbe through the
+hole in the wall, while puss sat up above and played moonshine with her
+yellow eyes.
+
+
+
+
+PART II.
+
+
+After that day a new life began for Johnny, and he flourished like a
+poor little plant that has struggled out of some dark corner into the
+sunshine. All sorts of delightful things happened, and good times
+really seemed to have come. The mysterious papa made no objection to the
+liberties taken with his wall, being busy with his own affairs, and glad
+to have his little girl happy. Old Nanna, being more careful, came to
+see the new neighbors, and was disarmed at once by the affliction of the
+boy and the gentle manners of the mother. She brought all the curtains
+of the house for Mrs. Morris to do up, and in her pretty broken English
+praised Johnny's gallery and library, promising to bring Fay to see him
+some day.
+
+Meantime the little people prattled daily together, and all manner of
+things came and went between them. Flowers, fruit, books, and bonbons
+kept Johnny in a state of bliss, and inspired him with such brilliant
+inventions that the Princess never knew what agreeable surprise would
+come next. Astonishing kites flew over the wall, and tissue balloons
+exploded in the flower-beds. All the birds of the air seemed to live in
+that court; for the boy whistled and piped till he was hoarse, because
+she liked it. The last of the long-hoarded cents came out of his tin
+bank to buy paper and pictures for the gay little books he made for her.
+His side of the wall was ravaged that hers might be adorned; and, as the
+last offering his grateful heart could give, he poked the toad through
+the hole, to live among the lilies and eat the flies that began to
+buzz about her Highness when she came to give her orders to her devoted
+subjects.
+
+She always called the lad Giovanni, because she thought it a prettier
+name than John; and she was never tired of telling stories, asking
+questions, and making plans. The favorite one was what they would do
+when Johnny came to see her, as she had been promised he should when
+papa was not too busy to let them enjoy the charms of the studio;
+for Fay was a true artist's child, and thought nothing so lovely as
+pictures. Johnny thought so, too, and dreamed of the happy day when he
+should go and see the wonders his little friend described so well.
+
+"I think it will be to-morrow; for papa has a lazy fit coming on, and
+then he always plays with me and lets me rummage where I like, while he
+goes out or smokes in the garden. So be ready; and if he says you can
+come, I will have the flag up early and you can hurry."
+
+These agreeable remarks were breathed into Johnny's willing ear about
+a fortnight after the acquaintance began; and he hastened to promise,
+adding soberly, a minute after,--
+
+"Mother says she's afraid it will be too much for me to go around and
+up steps, and see new things; for I get tired so easy, and then the
+pain comes on. But I don't care how I ache if I can only see the
+pictures--and you."
+
+"Won't you ever be any better? Nanna thinks you might."
+
+"So does mother, if we had money to go away in the country, and eat nice
+things; and have doctors. But we can't; so it's no use worrying." And
+Johnny gave a great sigh.
+
+"I wish papa was rich, then he would give you money. He works hard to
+make enough to go back to Italy, so I cannot ask him; but perhaps I can
+sell _my_ pictures also, and get a little. Papa's friends often offer me
+sweets for kisses; I will have money instead, and that will help. Yes, I
+shall do it." And Fay clapped her hands decidedly.
+
+"Don't you mind about it. I'm going to learn to mend shoes. Mr. Pegget
+says he'll teach me. That doesn't need legs, and he gets enough to live
+on very well."
+
+"It isn't pretty work. Nanna can teach you to braid straw as she did at
+home; that is easy and nice, and the baskets sell very well, she says. I
+shall speak to her about it, and you can try to-morrow when you come."
+
+"I will. Do you really think I _can_ come, then?" And Johnny stood up to
+try his legs; for he dreaded the long walk, as it seemed to him.
+
+"I will go at once and ask papa."
+
+Away flew Fay, and soon came back with a glad "Yes!" that sent Johnny
+hobbling in to tell his mother, and beg her to mend the elbows of his
+only jacket; for, suddenly, his old clothes looked so shabby he feared
+to show himself to the neighbors he so longed to see.
+
+"Hurrah! I'm really going to-morrow. And you, too, mammy dear," cried
+the boy, waving his crutch so vigorously that he slipped and fell.
+
+"Never mind; I'm used to it. Pull me up, and I'll rest while we talk
+about it," he said cheerily, as his mother helped him to the bed, where
+he forgot his pain in thinking of the delights in store for him.
+
+Next day, the flag was flying from the wall, and Fay early at the
+hole, but no Johnny came; and when Nanna went to see what kept him, she
+returned with the sad news that the poor boy was suffering much, and
+would not be able to stir for some days.
+
+"Let me go and see him," begged Fay, imploringly.
+
+"Cara mia, it is no place for you. So dark, so damp, so poor, it is
+enough to break the heart," said Nanna, decidedly.
+
+"If papa was here, he would let me go. I shall not play; I shall sit
+here and make some plans for my poor boy."
+
+Nanna left her indignant little mistress, and went to cook a nice bowl
+of soup for Johnny; while Fay concocted a fine plan, and, what was more
+remarkable, carried it out.
+
+For a week it rained, for a week Johnny lay in pain, and for a week Fay
+worked quietly at her little easel in the corner of the studio, while
+her father put the last touches to his fine picture, too busy to take
+much notice of the child. On Saturday the sun shone, Johnny was better,
+and the great picture was done. So were the small ones; for as her
+father sat resting after his work, Fay went to him, with a tired but
+happy face, and, putting several drawings into his hand, told her
+cherished plan.
+
+"Papa, you said you would pay me a dollar for every good copy I made of
+the cast you gave me. I tried very hard, and here are three. I want some
+money very, very much. Could you pay for these?"
+
+"They are excellent," said the artist, after carefully looking at them.
+"You _have_ tried, my good child, and here are your well-earned dollars.
+What do you want them for?"
+
+"To help my boy. I want him to come in here and see the pictures, and
+let Nanna teach him to plait baskets; and he can rest, and you will
+like him, and he might get well if he had some money, and I have three
+quarters the friends gave me instead of bonbons. Would that be enough to
+send poor Giovanni into the country and have doctors?"
+
+No wonder Fay's papa was bewildered by this queer jumble, because, being
+absorbed in his work, he had never heard half the child had told him,
+and had forgotten all about Johnny. Now he listened with half an ear,
+studying the effect of sunshine upon his picture meantime, while Fay
+told him the little story, and begged to know how much money it would
+take to make Johnny's back well.
+
+"Bless your sweet soul, my darling, it would need more than I can spare
+or you earn in a year. By and by, when I am at leisure, we will see what
+can be done," answered papa, smoking comfortably, as he lay on the sofa
+in the large studio at the top of the house.
+
+"You say that about a great many things, papa. 'By and by' won't be long
+enough to do all you promise then. I like _now_ much better, and poor
+Giovanni needs the country more than you need cigars or I new frocks,"
+said Fay, stroking her father's tired forehead and looking at him with
+an imploring face.
+
+"My dear, I cannot give up my cigar, for in this soothing smoke I find
+inspiration, and though you are a little angel, you must be clothed; so
+wait a bit, and we will attend to the boy--later." He was going to say
+"by and by" again, but paused just in time, with a laugh.
+
+"Then _I_ shall take him to the country all myself. I cannot wait for
+this hateful 'by and by.' I know how I shall do it, and at once. Now,
+now!" cried Fay, losing patience; and with an indignant glance at the
+lazy papa, who seemed going to sleep, she dashed out of the room, down
+many stairs, through the kitchen, startling Nanna and scattering the
+salad as if a whirlwind had gone by, and never paused for breath till
+she stood before the garden wall with a little hatchet in her hand.
+
+"This shall be the country for him till I get enough money to send him
+away. I will show what _I_ can do. He pulled out two bricks. _I_ will
+beat down the wall, and he _shall_ come in at once," panted Fay; and
+she gave a great blow at the bricks, bent on having her will without
+delay,--for she was an impetuous little creature, full of love and pity
+for the poor boy pining for the fresh air and sunshine, of which she had
+so much.
+
+Bang, bang, went the little hatchet, and down came one brick after
+another, till the hole was large enough for Fay to thrust her head
+through; and being breathless by that time, she paused to rest and take
+a look at Johnny's court.
+
+Meanwhile Nanna, having collected her lettuce leaves and her wits, went
+to see what the child was about; and finding her at work like a little
+fury, the old woman hurried up to tell "the Signor," Fay's papa, that
+his little daughter was about to destroy the garden and bury herself
+under the ruins of the wall. This report, delivered with groans and
+wringing of the hands, roused the artist and sent him to the rescue,
+as he well knew that his angel was a very energetic one, and capable of
+great destruction.
+
+When he arrived, he beheld a cloud of dust, a pile of bricks among the
+lilies, and the feet of his child sticking out of a large hole in the
+wall, while her head and shoulders were on the other side. Much amused,
+yet fearful that the stone coping might come down on her, he pulled
+her back with the assurance that he would listen and help her now
+immediately, if there was such need of haste.
+
+But he grew sober when he saw Fay's face; for it was bathed in tears,
+her hands were bleeding, and dust covered her from head to foot.
+
+"My darling, what afflicts you? Tell papa, and he will do anything you
+wish."
+
+"No, you will forget, you will say 'Wait;' and now that I have seen
+it all, I cannot stop till I get him out of that dreadful place. Look,
+look, and see if it is not sad to live there all in pain and darkness,
+and so poor."
+
+As she spoke, Fay urged her father toward the hole; and to please her he
+looked, seeing the dull court, the noisy street beyond, and close by
+the low room, where Johnny's mother worked all day, while the poor boy's
+pale face was dimly seen as he lay on his bed waiting for deliverance.
+
+"Well, well, it _is_ a pitiful case; and easily mended, since Fay is so
+eager about it. Hope the lad is all she says, and nothing catching about
+his illness. Nanna can tell me."
+
+Then he drew back his head, and leading Fay to the seat, took her on his
+knee, all flushed, dirty, and tearful as she was, soothing her by saying
+tenderly,--
+
+"Now let me hear all about it, and be sure I'll not forget. What shall I
+do to please you, dear, before you pull down the house about my ears?"
+
+Then Fay told her tale all over again; and being no longer busy, her
+father found it very touching, with the dear, grimy little face looking
+into his, and the wounded hands clasped beseechingly as she pleaded for
+poor Johnny.
+
+"God bless your tender heart, child; you shall have him in here
+to-morrow, and we will see what can be done for those pathetic legs of
+his. But listen, Fay, I have an easier way to do it than yours, and a
+grand surprise for the boy. Time is short, but it can be done; and to
+show you that I am in earnest, I will go this instant and begin the
+work. Come and wash your face while I get on my boots, and then we will
+go together."
+
+At these words Fay threw her arms about papa's neck and gave him many
+grateful kisses, stopping in the midst to ask,--
+
+"Truly, _now_?"
+
+"See if it is not so." And putting her down, papa went off with great
+strides, while she ran laughing after him, all her doubts set at rest by
+this agreeable energy on his part.
+
+If Johnny had not been asleep in the back room, he would have seen
+strange and pleasant sights that afternoon and evening; for something
+went on in the court that delighted his mother, amused the artist, and
+made Fay the happiest child in Boston. No one was to tell till the next
+day, that Johnny's surprise might be quite perfect, and Mrs. Morris sat
+up till eleven to get his old clothes in order; for Fay's papa had been
+to see her, and became interested in the boy, as no one could help being
+when they saw his patient little face.
+
+So hammers rang, trowels scraped, shovels dug, and wonderful changes
+were made, while Fay danced about in the moonlight, like Puck intent
+upon some pretty prank, and papa quoted _Snout_, [Footnote: A character
+in Shakspeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream."] the tinker's parting words,
+as appropriate to the hour,--
+
+  "Thus have I, wall, my part dischargèd so;
+  And, being done, thus wall away doth go."
+
+
+
+
+PART III.
+
+
+A lovely Sunday morning dawned without a cloud; and even in the dingy
+court the May sunshine shone warmly, and the spring breezes blew freshly
+from green fields far away. Johnny begged to go out; and being much
+better, his mother consented, helping him to dress with such a bright
+face and eager hands that the boy said innocently,--
+
+"How glad you are when I get over a bad turn! I don't know what you'd do
+if I ever got well."
+
+"My poor dear, I begin to think you _will_ pick up, now the good weather
+has come and you have got a little friend to play with. God bless her!"
+
+Why his mother should suddenly hug him tight, and then brush his hair
+so carefully, with tears in her eyes, he did not understand; but was in
+such a hurry to get out, he could only give her a good kiss, and hobble
+away to see how his gallery fared after the rain, and to take a joyful
+"peek" at the enchanted garden.
+
+Mrs. Morris kept close behind him, and it was well she did; for he
+nearly tumbled down, so great was his surprise when he beheld the old
+familiar wall after the good fairies Love and Pity had worked their
+pretty miracle in the moonlight.
+
+The ragged hole had changed to a little arched door, painted red. On
+either side stood a green tub, with a tall oleander in full bloom;
+from the arch above hung a great bunch of gay flowers; and before
+the threshold lay a letter directed to "Signor Giovanni Morris," in a
+childish hand. As soon as he recovered from the agreeable shock of this
+splendid transformation scene, Johnny sank into his chair, where a soft
+cushion had been placed, and read his note, with little sighs of rapture
+at the charming prospect opening before him.
+
+    DEAR GIOVANNI,--Papa has made this nice gate, so you can come
+    in when you like and not be tired. We are to have two keys, and no one
+    else can open it. A little bell is to ring when we pull the cord, and
+    we can run and see what we want. The paint is wet. Papa did it,
+    and the men put up the door last night. I helped them, and did not go
+    in my bed till ten. It was very nice to do it so. I hope you will like
+    it. Come in as soon as you can; I am all ready.
+
+    Your friend,
+
+    FAY.
+
+"Mother, she must be a real fairy to do all that, mustn't she?" said
+Johnny, leaning back to look at the dear door behind which lay such
+happiness for him.
+
+"Yes, my sonny, she is the right sort of good fairy, and I just wish
+I could do her washing for love the rest of her blessed little life,"
+answered Mrs. Morris, in a burst of grateful ardor.
+
+"You shall! you shall! Do come in! I cannot wait another minute!" cried
+an eager little voice as the red door flew open; and there stood Fay,
+looking very like a happy elf in her fresh white frock, a wreath of
+spring flowers on her pretty hair, and a tall green wand in her hand,
+while the brilliant bird sat on her shoulder, and the little white dog
+danced about her feet.
+
+  "So she bids you to come in,
+   With a dimple in your chin,
+     Billy boy, Billy boy,"
+
+sung the child, remembering how Johnny liked that song; and waving her
+wand, she went slowly backward as the boy, with a shining face, passed
+under the blooming arch into a new world, full of sunshine, liberty, and
+sweet companionship.
+
+Neither Johnny nor his mother ever forgot that happy day, for it was the
+beginning of help and hope to both just when life seemed hardest and the
+future looked darkest.
+
+Papa kept out of sight, but enjoyed peeps at the little party as they
+sat under the chestnuts, Nanna and Fay doing the honors of the garden to
+their guests with Italian grace and skill, while the poor mother folded
+her tired hands with unutterable content, and the boy looked like a
+happy soul in heaven.
+
+Sabbath silence, broken only by the chime of bells and the feet of
+church-goers, brooded over the city; sunshine made golden shadows on
+the grass; the sweet wind brought spring odors from the woods; and every
+flower seemed to nod and beckon, as if welcoming the new playmate to
+their lovely home.
+
+While the women talked together, Fay led Johnny up and down her little
+world, showing all her favorite nooks, making him rest often on the
+seats that stood all about, and amusing him immensely by relating the
+various fanciful plays with which she beguiled her loneliness.
+
+"Now we can have much nicer ones; for you will tell me yours, and we
+can do great things," she said, when she had displayed her big
+rocking-horse, her grotto full of ferns, her mimic sea, where a fleet of
+toy boats lay at anchor in the basin of an old fountain, her fairy-land
+under the lilacs, with paper elves sitting among the leaves, her swing,
+that tossed one high up among the green boughs, and the basket of white
+kittens, where Topaz, the yellow-eyed cat, now purred with maternal
+pride. Books were piled on the rustic table, and all the pictures Fay
+thought worthy to be seen.
+
+Here also appeared a nice lunch, before the visitors could remember it
+was noon and tear themselves away. Such enchanted grapes and oranges
+Johnny never ate before; such delightful little tarts and Italian messes
+of various sorts; even the bread and butter seemed glorified because
+served in a plate trimmed with leaves and cut in dainty bits. Coffee
+that perfumed the air put heart into poor Mrs. Morris, who half starved
+herself that the boy might be fed; and he drank milk till Nanna said,
+laughing, as she refilled the pitcher,--
+
+"He takes more than both the blessed lambs we used to feed for Saint
+Agnes in the convent at home. And he is truly welcome, the dear child,
+to the best we have; for he is as innocent and helpless as they."
+
+"What does she mean?" whispered Johnny to Fay, rather abashed at having
+forgotten his manners in the satisfaction which three mugfuls of good
+milk had given him.
+
+So, sitting in the big rustic chair beside him, Fay told the pretty
+story of the lambs who are dedicated to Saint Agnes, with ribbons tied
+to their snowy wool, and then raised with care till their fleeces are
+shorn to make garments for the Pope. A fit tale for the day, the child
+thought, and went on to tell about the wonders of Rome till Johnny's
+head was filled with a splendid confusion of new ideas, in which Saint
+Peter's and apple-tarts, holy lambs and red doors, ancient images and
+dear little girls, were delightfully mixed. It all seemed like a
+fairy tale, and nothing was too wonderful or lovely to happen on that
+memorable day.
+
+So when Fay's papa at last appeared, finding it impossible to keep away
+from the happy little party any longer, Johnny decided at once that the
+handsome man in the velvet coat was the king of the enchanted land, and
+gazed at him with reverence and awe. A most gracious king he proved
+to be; for after talking pleasantly to Mrs. Morris, and joking Fay on
+storming the walls, he proposed to carry Johnny off, and catching him
+up, strode away with the astonished boy on his shoulder, while the
+little girl danced before to open doors and clear the way.
+
+Johnny thought he couldn't be surprised any more; but when he had
+mounted many stairs and found himself in a great room with a glass
+roof, full of rich curtains, strange armor, pretty things, and pictures
+everywhere, he just sat in the big chair where he was placed, and stared
+in silent delight.
+
+"This is papa's studio, and that the famous picture, and here is where
+I work; and isn't it pleasant? and aren't you glad to see it?" said Fay,
+skipping about to do the honors of the place.
+
+"I don't believe heaven is beautifuller," answered Johnny, in a low
+tone, as his eyes went from the green tree-tops peeping in at the
+windows to the great sunny picture of a Roman garden, with pretty
+children at play among the crumbling statues and fountains.
+
+"I'm glad you like it, for we mean to have you come here a great deal. I
+sit to papa very often, and get _so_ tired; and you can talk to me, and
+then you can see me draw and model in clay, and then we'll go in the
+garden, and Nanna will show you how to make baskets, and _then_ we'll
+play."
+
+Johnny nodded and beamed at this charming prospect, and for an hour
+explored the mysteries of the studio, with Fay for a guide and papa for
+an amused spectator. He liked the boy more and more, and was glad Fay
+had so harmless a playmate to expend her energies and compassion upon.
+He assented to every plan proposed, and really hoped to be able to help
+these poor neighbors; for he had a kind heart, and loved his little
+daughter even more than his art.
+
+When at last Mrs. Morris found courage to call Johnny away, he went
+without a word, and lay down in the dingy room, his face still shining
+with the happy thoughts that filled his mind, hungry for just such
+pleasures, and never fed before.
+
+After that day everything went smoothly, and both children blossomed
+like the flowers in that pleasant garden, where the magic of love and
+pity, fresh air and sunshine, soon worked miracles. Fay learned patience
+and gentleness from Johnny; he grew daily stronger on the better food
+Nanna gave him, and the exercise he was tempted to take; and both spent
+very happy days working and playing, sometimes under the trees, where
+the pretty baskets were made, or in the studio, where both pairs of
+small hands modelled graceful things in clay, or daubed amazing pictures
+with the artist's old brushes and discarded canvases.
+
+Mrs. Morris washed everything washable in the house, and did up Fay's
+frocks so daintily that she looked more like an elf than ever when her
+head shone out from the fluted frills, like the yellow middle of a daisy
+with its white petals all spread.
+
+As he watched the children playing together, the artist, having no great
+work in hand, made several pretty sketches of them, and then had a fine
+idea of painting the garden scene where Fay first talked to Johnny. It
+pleased his fancy, and the little people sat for him nicely; so he made
+a charming thing of it, putting in the cat, dog, bird, and toad as the
+various characters in Shakspeare's lovely play, while the flowers were
+the elves, peeping and listening in all manner of merry, pretty ways.
+
+He called it "Little Pyramus and Thisbe," and it so pleased a certain
+rich lady that she paid a large price for it; and then, discovering that
+it told a true story, she generously added enough to send Johnny and his
+mother to the country, when Fay and her father were ready to go.
+
+But it was to a lovelier land than the boy had ever read of in his fairy
+books, and to a happier life than mending shoes in the dingy court. In
+the autumn they all sailed gayly away together, to live for years in
+sunny Italy, where Johnny grew tall and strong, and learned to paint
+with a kind master and a faithful young friend, who always rejoiced that
+she found and delivered him, thanks to the wonderful hole in the wall.
+
+
+[Illustration: She got too lazy to care for anything but sleeping and
+eating.]
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+THE PIGGY GIRL.
+
+
+"I won't be washed! I won't be washed!" screamed little Betty, kicking
+and slapping the maid who undressed her one night.
+
+"You'd better go and live with the pigs, dirty child," said Maria,
+scrubbing away at two very grubby hands.
+
+"I wish I could! I love to be dirty,--I _will_ be dirty!" roared Betty,
+throwing the sponge out of the window and the soap under the table.
+
+Maria could do nothing with her; so she bundled her into bed half wiped,
+telling her to go to sleep right away.
+
+"I won't! I'll go and live with Mrs. Gleason's pigs, and have nothing to
+do but eat and sleep, and roll in the dirt, and never, never be washed
+any more," said Betty to herself.
+
+She lay thinking about it and blinking at the moon for a while; then she
+got up very softly, and crept down the back stairs, through the garden,
+to the sty where two nice little pigs were fast asleep among the straw
+in their small house. They only grunted when Betty crept into a corner,
+laughing at the fun it would be to play piggy and live here with no
+Maria to wash her and no careful mamma to keep saying,--
+
+"Put on a clean apron, dear!"
+
+Next morning she was waked up by hearing Mrs. Gleason pour milk into the
+trough. She lay very still till the woman was gone; then she crept out
+and drank all she wanted, and took the best bits of cold potato and
+bread for her breakfast, and the lazy pigs did not get up till she was
+done. While they ate and rooted in the dirt, Betty slept as long as she
+liked, with no school, no errands, no patchwork to do. She liked it, and
+kept hidden till night; then she went home, and opened the little window
+in the store closet, and got in and took as many good things to eat and
+carry away as she liked. She had a fine walk in her nightgown, and
+saw the flowers asleep, heard the little birds chirp in the nest, and
+watched the fireflies and moths at their pretty play. No one saw her
+but the cats; and they played with her, and hopped at her toes, in the
+moonlight, and had great fun.
+
+When she was tired she went to sleep with the pigs, and dozed all the
+next day, only coming out to eat and drink when the milk was brought
+and the cold bits; for Mrs. Gleason took good care of her pigs, and gave
+them clean straw often, and kept them as nice as she could.
+
+Betty lived in this queer way a long time, and soon looked more like a
+pig than a little girl; for her nightgown got dirty, her hair was never
+combed, her face was never washed, and she loved to dig in the mud till
+her hands looked like paws. She never talked, but began to grunt as the
+pigs did, and burrowed into the straw to sleep, and squealed when they
+crowded her, and quarrelled over the food, eating with her nose in the
+trough like a real pig. At first she used to play about at night, and
+steal things to eat; and people set traps to catch the thief in their
+gardens, and the cook in her own house scolded about the rats that
+carried off the cake and pies out of her pantry. But by and by she got
+too lazy and fat to care for anything but sleeping and eating, and never
+left the sty. She went on her hands and knees now, and began to wonder
+if a little tail wouldn't grow and her nose change to a snout.
+
+All summer she played be a pig, and thought it good fun; but when
+the autumn came it was cold, and she longed for her nice warm flannel
+nightgown, and got tired of cold victuals, and began to wish she had a
+fire to sit by and good buckwheat cakes to eat. She was ashamed to go
+home, and wondered what she should do after this silly frolic. She asked
+the pigs how they managed in winter; but they only grunted, and she
+could not remember what became of them, for the sty was always empty in
+cold weather.
+
+One dreadful night she found out. She was smuggled down between the
+great fat piggies to keep warm; but her toes were cold, and she was
+trying to pull the straw over them when she heard Mr. Gleason say to his
+boy,--
+
+"We must kill those pigs to-morrow. They are fat enough; so come and
+help me sharpen the big knife."
+
+"Oh, dear, what will become of _me_?" thought Betty, as she heard the
+grindstone go round and round as the knife got sharper and sharper. "I
+look so like a pig they will kill me too, and make me into sausages if
+I don't run away. I'm tired of playing piggy, and I'd rather be washed a
+hundred times a day than be put in a pork barrel."
+
+So she lay trembling till morning; then she ran through the garden and
+found the back door open. It was very early, and no one saw her, for
+the cook was in the shed getting wood to make her fire; so Betty slipped
+upstairs to the nursery and was going to whisk into bed, when she saw in
+the glass an ugly black creature, all rags and dirt, with rumpled hair,
+and a little round nose covered with mud.
+
+"Can it be me?" she said. "How horrid I am!" And she could not spoil her
+nice white bed, but hopped into the bathtub and had a good scrubbing.
+Next she got a clean nightgown, and brushed her hair, and cut her long
+nails, and looked like a tidy little girl again.
+
+Then she lay down in her cosey crib with the pink cover and the
+lace curtains, and fell fast asleep, glad to have clean sheets, soft
+blankets, and her own little pillow once more.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Come, darling, wake up and see the new frock I have got for you, and
+the nice ruffled apron. It's Thanksgiving day, and all the cousins are
+coming to dinner," said her mamma, with a soft kiss on the rosy cheek.
+
+Betty started up, screaming,--
+
+"Don't kill me! Oh, please don't! I'm not a truly pig, I'm a little
+girl; and if you'll let me run home, I'll never fret when I'm washed
+again."
+
+"What is the dear child afraid of?" said mamma, cuddling her close, and
+laughing to see Betty stare wildly about for the fat pigs and the stuffy
+sty.
+
+She told her mother all about the queer time she had had, and was much
+surprised to hear mamma say,--
+
+"It was all a dream, dear; you have been safely asleep in your little
+bed ever since you slapped poor Maria last night."
+
+"Well, I'm glad I dreamed it, for it has made me love to be clean. Come,
+Maria, soap and scrub as much as you like, I won't kick and scream ever
+any more," cried Betty, skipping about, glad to be safe in her pleasant
+home and no longer a dirty, lazy piggy girl.
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOUISA ALCOTT READER: A
+SUPPLEMENTARY READER FOR THE FOURTH YEAR OF SCHOOL ***
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