The Project Gutenberg eBook of The fairy babies, by Laura Rountree Smith.

Produced by: Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

The Fairy Ink-Bottle Babies sat in a row. They looked as though they would roll off the top of the desks at any minute.

“You are almost as bad about rolling over as the Roly-Poly children,” said the teacher.

Sure enough, thump! bump! thump! she went. She fell off the desk to the floor, leaving the marks of her little black feet behind her.

“Oh! oh! oh!” cried all the Ink-Bottle Babies together, “somebody pick her up! Somebody pick her up!”

The Fairy Ink-Bottle Mamma came down from the window sill and picked up her baby!

She said, “You are too little to go to school; you had better come with me.”

Then the other Ink-Bottle Babies set up a cry, “May we come, too, Ma? May we come, too?”

The Ink-Bottle Mamma said, “Creep down quietly from the desks and you may all come.”

Then all the Ink-Bottle Babies crept down and followed their Mamma out of the door. They walked a little way until they came to their home in the woods.

Then all but one of the twenty-five Ink-Bottle Babies said, “I am so sleepy!”

One Ink-Bottle Baby said, “I am not sleepy at all. I rolled off the desk and I feel wide-awake!”

This little Baby’s name was Molly. The Ink-Bottle Mamma put all of her babies to bed except Molly, and Molly said,

The Ink-Bottle Mamma was so sleepy herself that she did not know what to do. Pretty soon she said, “Listen, Molly, and I will tell you a fairy tale.”

Then Molly cried, “I must wake Polly up to hear the fairy tale.” Polly was Molly’s twin sister.

Will you believe it? Before the Ink-Bottle Mamma could say “No!” Molly had gone upstairs and had waked all the Babies up before she found Polly!

All the Ink-Bottle Babies woke up and cried,[10] “We want to hear the fairy tale, Ma! Please tell us all a fairy tale!”

Then the Ink-Bottle Mamma said, “Get back into bed, every one of you, and I will tell you a story.”

Then the Babies all crept back into bed and their Mamma told them the story of the Magic Pitcher.

Once there was a little dwarf who lived alone in the woods. He lived in a little blue house with a red chimney. He was very proud of his red chimney. He painted the chimney every spring.

The little dwarf was very good-natured except when he started to cook. He could not cook a decent meal to save his life. He went about all day humming a little song:

Then the little dwarf stooped down and began to pick the pebbles out of the brook.

At last, only one large stone remained. He pulled and tugged with all his might, and at last the brook ran merrily along, for he got the big stone up on the bank.

The little dwarf looked down into the brook, and sure enough, there was a magic pitcher all blue and gold. The water ran deeper now, in the little brook, so the little dwarf had to dive down after the pitcher.

He came out choking and sputtering, but he had the magic pitcher in his hand. Then he ran homeward singing and whistling all the way. He sang:

He got some bread and cheese out of a cupboard and drew the pitcher full of water, and sat down to his lonely meal.

He started to pour out a glass of water, and as he poured it from the magic pitcher, it turned into fine, rich milk. He poured once more, and this time it was honey that came out of the magic pitcher.

He tried again and out came tea! So it went on. Every time he poured from the magic pitcher, out came something delicious to drink.

The little dwarf grew so happy and healthy that when he went into the woods to chop down trees he could chop six trees while the other little dwarfs could only chop down one.

He never sang any more about wanting a cook, and he seemed so happy that the other little dwarfs were jealous of him, and they said, “We will find out his secret.”

So, one evening when it was late, they all crept to the house where the little dwarf lived, and they all peeped in at the window.

There sat the little dwarf by the table pouring from his magic pitcher. He poured out coffee, and cream, and molasses!

My! the other little dwarfs turned green with envy. They said, “We will have that pitcher.”

They opened the door, ran into the house, seized[13] the pitcher, and ran away, away, away, into the deep woods.

“I will fix them,” said the little brook. “You were so good to take all my stones away, you shall soon have the pitcher back again; never fear.”

Now the dwarfs had carried the pitcher away with them, and when they had run for a long time, they saw a little brook, winding in and out among the trees, and they said, “We will fill the pitcher with water.”

So the first little dwarf ran and filled the pitcher with water. Then he ran back to his companions who sat in a circle, and began to fill their glasses. They all set up a shout, for out of the pitcher came only thick mud!

“It is pure water,” he said, but when he went[14] to pour from the pitcher, lo! and behold! out came vinegar!

Then the third little dwarf said, “Let me try,” and the next said, “Let me try,” but each time there came out of the pitcher something quite unfit to drink.

Then the dwarfs said, “This pitcher is of no account after all; we will throw it into the brook.”

They said, “If the little dwarf finds it again, he is welcome to drink all the mud and vinegar he wants.”

Then they threw the pitcher back into the brook, and the brook carried it safely back to the place in the woods where the little dwarf passed every day. Pretty soon the little dwarf came along. He sang,

He filled the pitcher with water and soon poured out a fine drink of buttermilk.

He ran home as fast as his legs could carry him, and he hid his pitcher safely away.

He worked at home very busily all that day. He made shades for his window, so no one could[15] look in. He put a lock on his door, and he made a little key to fit the lock.

“Now, no one can see what I pour from my pitcher,” he said, “and no one can come in, unless I invite him.”

He went to bed and slept well. Late that night a most remarkable thing happened. Five and twenty little men came to his door and they rapped and they tapped, and he would not let them in!

Then they laid down five and twenty little parcels on his doorstep and they crept away. Next morning the little dwarf went to his door and saw the five and twenty little parcels. They were all from the grocery store.

On each parcel was written, “Compliments from the little dwarfs, with thanks for the borrowed pitcher.”

The little dwarf went to the brook and asked what all this meant. When the brook told him he laughed until he cried.

The little dwarf may still live in the woods, for all I know, and he may still be drinking out of his magic pitcher.

The Ink-Bottle Babies woke up cross. Every one of them got up out of the wrong side of the bed!

The Ink-Bottle Mamma called, “Hurry, hurry, or you will all be late to school!”

Then Molly called, “I can’t find my shoes,” and Polly called, “I can’t find my dress,” and all the Ink-Bottle Babies set up such a wail that the Ink-Bottle Mamma had to come upstairs and help them dress.

When they sat down at the table, Molly said, “I don’t want this oatmeal,” and Polly said, “I don’t want any either.”

They laid down their twenty-five little spoons. And will you believe it? Not one of the Babies would eat any breakfast!

Then the Ink-Bottle Mamma said, “Get down from your chairs, every one of you.”

The Ink-Bottle Babies got down from their chairs, pouting and scolding. Then the Ink-Bottle Mamma put on their caps and sent them right off to school.

They had not gone far when the first Ink-Bottle Baby said, “I will not go another step!”

Then what do you suppose happened next? They all sat down in a row and they cried and they screamed and they howled!

When he saw all the Ink-Bottle Babies in a row, he said, “Bless my heart! What funny little babies! What are you all doing here?”

Then Molly and Polly cried, “Give us a ride, please! We don’t care which way we go!”

Then the farmer got down and helped all the Babies into his wagon and they rode merrily away!

They laughed and talked and said, “Oh!” and “Ah!” and “What a fine ride!”

When they rode by the school they kept very still, and they all crept down in the bottom of the wagon.

On and on they rode, through the woods and into a town and away off to a little red house on a farm.

The Ink-Bottle Babies cried, “We will! We will!” And they jumped up and down with joy. They had a fine time all day. They saw the sheep and pigs and cows, and they took turns riding on a little pony.

The farmer’s wife was very deaf, but she saw that all the Ink-Bottle Babies were crying at once, so she gave each one a cookie. The cookies had red sugar on them. They had raisins in them. The Ink-Bottle Babies cried and would not eat their cookies.

Then the farmer’s wife took Polly on the right arm of her chair, and she took Molly on the left arm of her chair. Then she let all the rest of the Ink-Bottle Babies crowd around her.

Next, the farmer’s wife put on her spectacles and opened a great red book. Then all the Ink-Bottle Babies clapped their hands and set up a shout, for they could see the name of the book.

The farmer’s wife smiled at the Babies and began to read slowly. She skipped the hard words and stumbled over the easy ones!

If you do not like to listen to her read, you will have to read for yourself the story of Goldy and Brownie, or The Fortune Teller. Here is the story:

Once upon a time there were two sisters. They were as different as they could be.

One day Goldy said, “I am going down into the valley to see the Fortune Teller. I am going to have my fortune told.”

Brownie said, “You shall not go. I am afraid you will have a better fortune than mine if you go first.”

Then Brownie tied Goldy into a chair and she went out of the house and locked the door.

She went into the valley where an old Gypsy lived. She knocked at the door and the Gypsy called out,

Brownie was a little afraid to pull the latch at first, but as the Gypsy did not speak again she knew she must do something, so she pulled the latch. The door opened, and she went into the house.

Brownie was so angry she stamped her foot and said the first thing that came into her mind.

Then the Gypsy touched her with her cane, and her dress turned into a fur coat, and Brownie herself turned into a caterpillar!

“There!” said the Gypsy, “I guess you have a fur coat to wear all the time.”

The Gypsy forgot one thing. She forgot to take away Brownie’s voice, so she could talk as well as ever.

Then Brownie sighed, for she remembered that she had tied Goldy into her chair, and that she could not get away if she wanted to.

Then he tiptoed to the window so softly his feet never made a sound, and sure enough, there he saw Goldy sitting in the chair—tied in, fast asleep.

The prince tried to get into the house. He tried the front door, and the back door, and the side door, and all the windows. At last he found a window that would open. He sat on the window sill and cried,

Then Goldy woke up. She had read about princes, but she had never seen one before. She was so surprised she only nodded her head.

They were about to sit down and enjoy the tea when a dove flew in at the window. It had a message[24] tied round its neck. The message was for the prince. It said, “Come home at once. Your father is ill.”

So the prince took off his cap with the big feather in it, and made a bow. Then he went out of the window as suddenly as he had come.

Goldy said to herself, “I will go to the Gypsy and have my fortune told. Perhaps I shall meet the prince again.”

So she put on her blue dress and sunbonnet, and went to the house where the Gypsy lived, and knocked at the door.

The Gypsy liked Goldy, but to save her life she did not know how to tell a very good fortune, so she said,

Goldy was wishing in her heart that she could see the prince, so she said at once, “I wish I could fly.”

Then the Gypsy touched her with her cane and her blue dress turned into a shining pair of wings. She became a beautiful blue butterfly, and sailed away and away in the sunshine. By and by she sailed into the king’s garden.

Then Goldy told him what had happened and she said, “Go to the Gypsy and see how I can be changed back again.”

Then the prince went in a hurry to the Gypsy, you may believe. When the Gypsy heard him knock she cried as before,

The prince opened the door and made his very[26] best bow and said, “I wish Goldy were changed back into a beautiful girl and standing here beside me.”

The Gypsy nodded her head and soon a blue butterfly came floating in through the window. The Gypsy said a magic verse, and changed the butterfly back into the girl Goldy.

Then Goldy and the prince thanked the Gypsy. They were married at once, and they went to live in the king’s palace. They were not so happy as they had expected to be for Goldy cried all day, “I miss my sister Brownie. Go and find my ugly little sister.”

The prince went out to look for Brownie. He traveled high and low but he could not find her.

Then Goldy went out to look for her sister. She went to her old home and she heard a voice say,

Then Brownie told about her being changed into an ugly caterpillar, and they went together to the Gypsy.

The Gypsy was sitting on her doorstep and Goldy[27] cried out, “See, I will give you this golden dish if you will change the caterpillar into my little sister.”

The Gypsy liked the dish and she said a few magic words and changed the caterpillar into the girl Brownie.

Brownie was now so happy that she was good-looking. Many a young prince came and fell in love with her but Brownie was so happy to live with her sister and the prince, that she sang a very merry song:

One day there came to the palace a little lame prince. He was as ugly as a barb-wire fence, but Brownie let him in. She gave him a cup of tea and said:

The little lame prince said, “I am ugly and no one loves me. Will you marry me?”

Brownie said, “I will marry you.” And they were married in the rose garden, and they grew better looking and happier every day.

Whenever they saw sick caterpillars or butterflies with broken wings, they took care of them.

Brownie and Goldy each had a home near the king’s palace, and they were happy all their lives.

The Ink-Bottle Babies cried, “Is that all? Tell it again! Tell it again! Please do! Read it or tell it! It is a lovely story!”

The farmer’s wife said, “It must be bedtime.” They looked at the great clock that stood in the hall, and the clock said it was ten o’clock!

“We, too,” cried all the Ink-Bottle Babies. “We are all going to learn to read that story.”

Just as they were about to go to sleep, Molly said, “It is awful to have to spell out the words like the farmer’s wife does.”

Next day the farmer hitched up his horses and took all the Ink-Bottle Babies home.

They said, “Oh Ma, we want to learn to read. Oh Ma, we will go to school every day!”

They wanted so much to learn to read fairy tales that they never missed a day of school, from the 16th of October to Thanksgiving.

The day before Thanksgiving Molly began to cry on the way home from school. Then Polly began to cry! Pretty soon all the Ink-Bottle Babies took out their twenty-five little pocket handkerchiefs and began to cry!

Molly said, “I am crying because we have no grandma and grandpa to go to see on Thanksgiving Day.”

Then all the Ink-Bottle Babies said, “We want a grandma and grandpa, boo-hoo!”

Then the Ink-Bottle Babies dried their eyes and Mamma said, “Suppose we go and spend Thanksgiving Day with the farmer and his wife!”

When they had stopped their noise, Mamma said each Baby should take a pie in a little basket to the farmer and his wife.

Then she took the Babies to the pantry and showed them twenty-five little pies all in a row.

The Ink-Bottle Babies were so anxious to start that they said, “To-morrow will never come!”

The Ink-Bottle Mamma knew a few things to make the time pass, so she said, “Who will sweep my floor? Who will dust my chairs? Who will wipe my dishes?”

Then the Ink-Bottle Babies all set to work at once, and they swept the floor and dusted the furniture, and they wiped the dishes, and soon the work was all done.

At bedtime the Babies said, “Three cheers for the farm. Hurrah for the farmer and his wife! Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!”

Early next morning the Ink-Bottle Babies were all ready to start. Each one carried a basket. The Ink-Bottle Mamma locked the house and put the key under the doormat. Then they were all ready to go.

They walked a long way, and were getting quite tired, when a man came along in his automobile.

Then the Babies shouted, “We are going to the farm. We are going to see the farmer and his wife, and we are taking them some pumpkin pies!”

The man said, “I will take you to the farm if you will give me one or two of your pies!”

The Ink-Bottle Babies wept to think of a man not tasting a pie for so many years, and they all crowded around the automobile and cried, “Take mine! Please take mine!”

Then the Ink-Bottle Mamma stepped up and said, “Please Sir, we need all these pies to-day, but if you care to give us a ride and then will call at my house to-morrow you may have all the pies you can carry.”

The man was delighted, you may be sure. He helped the Ink-Bottle Mamma right into the automobile and called to the Babies, “Pile in, one and all!”

The man allowed Polly and Molly to blow the horn and they rode right into the farmer’s yard and right up to his front door.

The farmer’s wife came out and cried, “Bless my soul! What a fine automobile! And bless my soul! Here are the Ink-Bottle Babies again!”

Then the farmer heard the noise and came out and said, “Bless my buttons! Let me count the[34] Babies! Yes, they are here, every last one of them!”

Then he caught sight of the Ink-Bottle Mamma, and he bowed to her politely and helped her out.

The man who owned the automobile looked at the farmer and said, “Will you have a ride, good people?”

The Ink-Bottle Mamma said, “Go right along; don’t mind us; we will get the dinner!”

The farmer said, “Wait till I get some turkeys and ducks ready for dinner,” and the farmer’s wife said, “Wait till I make a few dozen pies!”

At the word “pies,” the Ink-Bottle Babies set up a shout, and each one made a low bow and presented the farmer’s wife with a little pie. She was so surprised that she hardly knew what to say.

The farmer called, “Put on your old gray bonnet!” Then the Babies began to sing,

Soon the farmer and his wife were ready, and they went whizzing away in the automobile. Then the Ink-Bottle Mamma began to cook the turkeys and many other things, and the Ink-Bottle Babies had the table all set by the time the farmer and his wife returned.

Did they have a big dinner? Well, I guess they did. They had turkey and duck, and sweet-potatoes and white potatoes, and squash, and carrots, and rice, and jelly, and pickles, and pudding, and cranberry sauce, and cake, and ice cream, and pumpkin pies!

The farmer and his wife said, “We never had such a happy Thanksgiving before!”

The Ink-Bottle Babies cried, “Hurrah for the turkey! Hurrah for the pumpkin pies!”

After dinner the Babies begged for a story. They said, “Read us a fairy tale; please read us a fairy tale!”

The farmer’s wife said, “I have broken my glasses and I cannot see to read, but Pa will tell you a story!”

Then the farmer grew quite red in the face and said, “I don’t know any fairy stories; honestly I don’t!”

Then the Babies climbed up on his chair and on his knees and there was no way out of it; he had to begin:

“Go on! Go on!” shouted all the Babies. “Tell about the fox. Please tell us some more.” Then the farmer said:

Then the farmer stopped. The Babies begged him to go on but he said, “Honestly that is all I know.”

“I don’t know,” said the farmer. “How can I tell about such things? I only went to school one year in all my life.”

“Oh,” said the Ink-Bottle Babies, “we intend to go to school for seventeen years!”

“That is right,” said the farmer; “then you will learn all about the fox and the crow.”

Just at this minute, the farmer’s wife set up a cry. “Oh see the cunning little baskets! See the twenty-five little baskets! We must not send them home empty!”

Then she whispered something in Molly’s ear, and she whispered something in Polly’s ear, and each Ink-Bottle Baby whispered to the next one.

Then they carried their twenty-five little baskets with them and they all scampered down to the cellar. The farmer’s wife went with them and showed them five barrels of apples.

What fun they had, picking apples first out of one barrel and then out of another!

They were all ready to start home at last, when the farmer said, “Where are the apples for the Ink-Bottle Mamma?”

The farmer hitched up his horses to the wagon, and the Ink-Bottle Mamma and the Ink-Bottle Babies all piled in.

“Crack!” went the whip, and they were off and away singing and whistling as they went.

The Ink-Bottle Mamma said to the farmer, “It is very kind in you to take us home in your wagon!”

The farmer said, “I never had twenty-five grandchildren, and I love every one of your babies.”

The Ink-Bottle Babies began to get sleepy. They tried to remember the story the farmer had told and they said,

Then they tried it again, and they said, “There once was a farmer’s field of corn.”

The farmer had to tell the story again, and the Babies repeated it after him in a singsong way:

The Ink-Bottle Babies said, “May we hang up our stockings now? May we hang all our stockings in a row?”

The Ink-Bottle Babies all talked at once. They made such a noise that the postman had to rap five times before he could be heard.

Polly went dancing to the door and came back with a letter in her hand. The letter was addressed to the Ink-Bottle Mamma.

She opened it and said, “The farmer and his wife want us to go and spend Christmas day with them! They say, ‘Tell the Babies to bring their stockings.’”

They clapped their hands and shouted, “May we go, Ma? Say yes, Ma. Please let us go!”

The days passed very fast after that, and it was almost Christmas time; and all would have gone well, I am sure, but two days before Christmas Molly was taken sick, and Polly said, “I don’t feel well either.”

Then what do you suppose happened? All the Ink-Bottle Babies came down with the measles.

They cried and they howled, “We can’t go away on Christmas Day! Oh dear! Oh dear!”

When they had stopped their noise the Ink-Bottle Mamma said, “Never mind, Santa Claus will not forget you.”

Then the Ink-Bottle[41] Babies dried their eyes. They began to think about Santa Claus.

Toward evening a package was left at the door. It said, “For the measley Babies from the farmer’s wife.”

When the Ink-Bottle Mamma brought the parcel upstairs the Babies cried, “Untie it quickly; please do, and let us all see what is inside!”

Then the Ink-Bottle Mamma untied the parcel, and took out a big red book! The book was called “Tip-Top Fairy Tales.”

The Ink-Bottle Babies were so happy they forgot all about the measles, and they cried, “Please read us a fairy tale.”

The Ink-Bottle Mamma laughed and sat down and read to them. And here is the story she read:

There was once a little dwarf who lived all alone in the deep woods. He was so cross that no one would live with him. One evening as he sat alone by his fire he heard the tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, of sleigh bells.

“Santa Claus, maybe,” he said, “but what do I know about Santa Claus? I never hung up my stockings in all my life.”

Nearer and nearer came the sound of sleigh bells. Then there was a great shout, and the[42] little dwarf went out to see what had happened.

Santa Claus had driven into a snowdrift and he could not get out. His sleigh had tipped over and his toys had spilled upon the snow.

Santa Claus was half buried in the snow when the little dwarf ran out and cried, “Hello, old Santa Claus! Can’t you get out?”

The little dwarf pulled and tugged at the reindeer, and he pulled and tugged at Santa Claus. Then he went for a snow-shovel, saying, “You are so big I will have to dig you out!”

He dug Santa Claus out of the snow. Then he and Santa picked up the toys, and put them all safely back into the sleigh.

Then the little dwarf whisked into the house and[43] came back with a tiny broom and brushed Santa Claus all over, and helped him shake off the snow.

Poor old Santa Claus was so wet and cold he began to sneeze, “A-kit-chew! a-kit-chew!”

The little dwarf stamped his foot and said, “This will never do! Come in and get warm! Come in and dry your whiskers!”

Then Santa Claus laughed until he shook all over, but he was very glad to follow the little dwarf into the house, though he had to stoop to get in at the doorway. He said,

Then the little dwarf was gone for a long time and Santa Claus almost fell asleep. He shook himself to keep awake.

Then he said, “I wish the dwarf would hurry. I wish he would get me some tea.”

All the time Santa Claus was singing, the cross little dwarf worked away in the kitchen.

He rapped and he tapped and he mixed and he stirred, and after awhile he came in and said,

Then Santa Claus laughed until he cried, for sure enough, there was the soup in the little dwarf’s dish-pan, and the tea was served in a bucket!

Santa Claus was so very hungry that he ate and drank all the food that was before him.

Then he rolled his eyes and said in a half whisper, “Did you ever hang up your stocking?”

“All right,” said Santa Claus, “I must be going. If you change your mind about the stocking, it will be all right.”

Then Santa Claus put on his great fur cap and his great fur coat, and the little dwarf stood before him and he stamped his foot and cried,

The little dwarf ran out into his barn and got a great armful of hay. It was all he could do to carry such an armful. He fed Santa’s reindeer.

Then Santa Claus gave a whistle and shout and his reindeer bounded over the snow.

“I will not hang my stocking up!” roared the little dwarf, and he stamped his foot in the snow.

Soon Santa Claus was out of sight. Then the little dwarf went back into his house.

When he got into the house, he winked and he blinked his eyes, and he was so surprised that he forgot to scold, for by the fireplace hung a little red stocking!

“I did not hang that up!” shouted the little dwarf. “I did not hang that up!”

He took a peep into the stocking, and what do you suppose he saw? There in the stocking was a little gold cane, just the right size for a little dwarf.

“Well,” said the dwarf, “that is a pretty nice cane, but mind you, I did not hang that stocking up!”

By and by he went into the kitchen to wash his dishes, and imagine his surprise to see all his dishes dry and hanging in their right places.

Then he lifted a plate from the shelf, and under it he saw a new penny. Then he took a spoon from the drawer and out rolled another penny, so it went on, until he got down the dish-pan to wash his dishes, and a whole bag full of pennies rolled down and nearly choked him!

“I can never count them all,” he said. He put all the pennies in little piles.

“I shall be quite rich,” he cried. “I wish Santa Claus would call again.”

Then the little dwarf went back and looked at his gold cane. He walked up and down the room with his cane in his hand.

“I wish Santa Claus had left another red stocking,” he[48] said. “I would like to wear fine red stockings!”

Then he tripped on the edge of the rug and he rolled the rug up and saw another red stocking and a red cap and a pair of red mittens!

He put on his red cap and his red stockings and his red mittens, and he just curled up on the rug and went to sleep!

The Ink-Bottle Babies fell asleep long before the end of the story was reached, but the Ink-Bottle Mamma liked the story so well that she read it on to the end to herself.

Did Santa Claus remember the Ink-Bottle Babies, and did he fill all their stockings full?

Well, I guess he did! and the Ink-Bottle Babies all woke up early and cried, “Oh Ma! please bring us our stockings,” and the Ink-Bottle Mamma[49] brought in twenty-five stockings full of apples and nuts and toys.

But the great joy of the day was still to come. Molly and Polly had their beds near the window and they cried, “Oh Ma, here comes a farmer’s wagon!”

Sure enough the wagon came and stopped right at their door. Out jumped the farmer and his wife!

The twenty-five Ink-Bottle Babies cried, “Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!” and the farmer and his wife called,

Then the farmer and his wife made a bow and the Ink-Bottle Babies clapped their hands and shouted, “Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!”

One Saturday in January it began to snow, and down came the flakes bigger and bigger.

By noon the Ink-Bottle Mamma said, “There is enough snow now to make a snow-man!”

The Ink-Bottle Mamma shook her head. She said, “I am too stiff and old to make a snow-man.”

Then the Ink-Bottle Babies all began to talk at once and they said, “Will no one show us how to make a snow-man?”

Then the twenty-five little Babies were very still. They flattened their little noses against the windowpanes, and looked out into the great white world.

Nearer, nearer, nearer, came the tinkle of sleigh bells, and very soon a cunning little sleigh came in sight.

They ran to the door and asked, “Can you tell us if we are on the right road?”

The Ink-Bottle Mamma bowed and said, “It all depends on where you are going, gentlemen!”

The second little dwarf said, “We are not gentlemen at all, we are only dwarfs!”

Just at that minute, the first little dwarf caught[52] sight of the twenty-five Babies with their noses still flattened against the windowpanes, and he cried, “Excuse me, but I must have one of those Babies.”

“Oh! oh! oh!” cried the Ink-Bottle Mamma. “They are not for sale. You cannot have one of my Babies.”

Then she shut the door quickly and left the two little dwarfs standing on the doorstep.

The second little dwarf took him by the arm and led him down the walk back to their little sleigh.

The Ink-Bottle Mamma pretended that she did not hear the clock’s song, and she said, “Hurry, hurry into your caps and mittens and I will tell you how to make a snow-man!”

Then the twenty-five Ink-Bottle Babies put on their caps and mittens, and went out doors.

Mamma called to them to roll the snow over and over. Each Baby rolled a snow-man.

They made a whole row of snow-men, and they worked so late that the stars came out and began to twinkle.

Then twenty-three of the Babies said, “We are[54] cold and hungry. We are going into the house.”

So the twenty-three Babies ran in and found Mamma making gingersnaps in the kitchen.

Just at that minute a tiny sleigh drew up at the door. It was the same sleigh that had been there before.

In the sleigh sat the two little dwarfs. They sat very still. They had hidden their sleigh bells.

The first little dwarf jumped out of the sleigh and whispered to Molly and Polly, “Have a sleigh ride? We will bring you home again safe and sound!”

So Molly and Polly got into the sleigh and they bounded away, away, away over the snow.

Why didn’t the Ink-Bottle Mamma come out and stop them? She was busy making gingersnaps!

When they woke up they found themselves in the cutest little house in the world. They were in the house of the two little dwarfs!

The little dwarfs capered and danced about them and said, “You are the cutest Babies in the world. Come and see grandpa!”

They went into the next room and there sat a very old dwarf. He stared at the Babies and said,

“Say you are two hundred,” said the first little dwarf, stamping his foot at grandpa.

Grandpa shook his head and said, “I have always been two thousand years old as long as I can remember.”

Then he took a large gold clock out of his pocket. “I always carry a clock,” he said. “I don’t believe in watches. They run fast or slow.”

Then he turned to the little dwarfs, and said, “Speaking of time, is supper ready?”

Just then the two little dwarfs said, “Come into the candy room,” and they all skipped into the next room.

“Oh! oh! oh!” cried Molly and Polly, “we must not eat up your furniture, but it does look good.”

He was hobbling along leaning on a very pretty cane made of striped candy! He made a funny appearance, indeed.

Then the two little dwarfs offered grandpa a candy rocking-chair, and they ran and got on the cutest little aprons you ever saw.

They went to the kitchen stove and began to fry and bake and stew, and by and by they called, “Supper is ready; soup is served.”

They had a nice supper and grandpa was so hungry he ate with a fork and spoon at the same time!

Then he pulled the clock out of his pocket and said, “Tell the time, please.”

Molly and Polly said, “We are sorry but we do not know how to tell the time.”

“That is too bad,” said grandpa. “If you want to enjoy life, you must learn to tell the time.”

Just then one of the little dwarfs began to pour out a glass of milk from a very strange-looking pitcher.

He was so surprised that he dropped the pitcher and it broke into one hundred pieces.

“You poor dears!” she said. “Are you almost frozen? You have been asleep in the snow!”

They rubbed their eyes again and cried, “Where are the little dwarfs? Where is the old grandpa? Where is the magic pitcher?”

Then all the Ink-Bottle Babies set up a shout, “You have been asleep! You fell asleep playing in the snow!”

Molly and Polly could not believe they had been dreaming. They said, “We went riding in a sleigh!”

Then the Ink-Bottle Mamma put dry clothes on them and said, “Sit and toast yourselves by the fire, while I get you some gingersnaps!”

When they had finished talking the Ink-Bottle[60] Mamma said, “Can’t you really tell the time, my dears?”

The Ink-Bottle Babies all shook their heads. Then the Ink-Bottle Mamma gave them twenty-five little circles of pasteboard, and she gave them some little pieces for hands of each clock.

So they wrote twelve at the top of the circle, and six at the bottom; they wrote three at the right and nine at the left; then they put the other numbers between.

The Mamma said, “Put the long hand at twelve, and the little hand at nine; now tell the time!”

Then the Ink-Bottle Babies clapped their hands and said, “It is nine o’clock!”

Then they looked up at the big clock on the mantle-piece, and just then they cried, “The big clock is nine o’clock, too.”

Just then there was heard a gentle tap at the door. The door opened and in walked an Ink-Bottle Baby. She wore a red dress and a red sunbonnet.

The new Ink-Bottle Baby shook her head and said, “I have been walking over maps all day. The children want a red line here, and a red dot there, and I am very tired.”

“Did you meet the little dwarfs in the woods?” asked Molly and Polly together.

“Who are the little dwarfs?” asked the new Ink-Bottle Baby, and Molly and Polly said,

At the words “magic pitcher,” the new Ink-Bottle Baby sprang from her chair, and ran out of the house as fast as her legs could carry her.

They shouted, “There really must be a magic pitcher! There truly must be a magic pitcher!”

Then they looked out of the window and saw the snow-men they had made. The snow-men looked very real in the moonlight.

One Saturday morning it began to storm and it snowed and the wind blew harder and harder.

Then the twenty-three other Ink-Bottle Babies set up a shout. They cried, “Valentines! Valentines!”

The Ink-Bottle Mamma said, “You have guessed right; we are going to make valentines.”

The Ink-Bottle Mamma brought paper and some pictures, and she said, “You may cut out some hearts.”

Then the Ink-Bottle Babies went to work. They got paste on the table and on their hands and faces.

Then suddenly Polly set up a cry, and soon all the Ink-Bottle Babies shouted, “Oh Ma! Polly has cut her finger! Oh Ma! Come quickly!”

The Ink-Bottle Mamma came and tied it up and said, “Every one of you wash your hands. I can’t have all my Babies cut their fingers!”

So the Ink-Bottle Babies got out twenty-five little basins and filled them with water, and they washed their hands.

Then the little dwarf sat down by the table. He had a great yellow bowl, and a silver spoon in front of him.

He stirred some flour around in the bowl, and what do you suppose he took out of the bowl? He took out a beautiful gold necklace!

Then he stirred again, and he took out a blue necklace; then he stirred again, and he took out a red one.

The little dwarf was so surprised to hear the spoon speak that he stopped stirring the flour in the bowl, and just at that very minute there was heard a rap at the door.

The little dwarf hid the spoon and went to the door. There stood a very ugly old dwarf. His name was Cross-Patch. All the dwarfs in the wood were afraid of him.

He went off muttering to himself, and shaking his cross old head as he went away.

Now the little dwarf was not at all afraid. He said, “I will hide my spoon in a safe place.”

Then he put on the red necklace and the blue necklace and the gold necklace, and he said, “When I meet the Fairy Queen I will give her a new necklace every day.”

Just then the little dwarf heard a great flapping of wings. He looked out and he saw one hundred crows.

Then old Cross-Patch shook his fist at the little dwarf and ran down the road. “I have spoiled[69] your corn,” he called back, but this time the little dwarf did not answer him.

The next night there was a great noise, and five and twenty little dwarfs came and blew so much soot down the chimney that everything in the little dwarf’s house was ruined.

I should say everything except one was ruined. The box in which the little dwarf kept the spoon and necklaces was safe because it was under his pillow.

Old Cross-Patch went away scolding and grumbling as before. Late that night there was a great noise, and the bricks from the chimney began to fall. The little dwarf had just time to grab his box and run out at the door.

All the bricks from the house fell one upon[70] another, and soon the little house was all gone; only a pile of bricks remained!

The little dwarf had lovely golden curls. Now the spoon was so angry at Cross-Patch that he could stand it no longer.

Then old Cross-Patch saw there was no way out of it, so he had to go and pile one brick on another, and if he did not work fast enough the spoon would slap him on the back.

The five and twenty dwarfs who had sent soot down the chimney came, and they were sorry for Cross-Patch, and went to work to help him rebuild the house.

Then Cross-Patch and the little dwarfs worked all night. They planted corn in the little garden. The spoon got so angry it beat them all until they were black and blue; then finally it chased old Cross-Patch away, and away, and away, out into the Land of Nowhere.

The five and twenty little men saw that the corn they had planted was already beginning to grow, so they laid down and went to sleep.

Then the little dwarf helped the Fairy Queen down from the tree and they went into the house.

The spoon went in, too, and it began to stir at a terrible rate, all by itself in a great big bowl, and pretty soon there came out of the bowl the finest gold necklace in the land.

The Fairy Queen clapped her hands and cried to the dwarf and the spoon, “You will always be welcome in my palace.”

Then the spoon jumped up into the box on the shelf. The five and twenty little dwarfs woke up and tapped politely at the door, and asked for breakfast, but the spoon called out from its hiding place,

Then the five and twenty little dwarfs ran away as fast as their legs could carry them.

The little dwarf forgot what the spoon had said and he went about his work singing,

Now the magic spoon was so upset to think the little dwarf could not keep still that he sprang down from the shelf and cried,

Then he beat the little dwarf all the way to the palace of the Fairy Queen, where he became a servant and he never dared to return to his home.

Then the other Babies laughed so hard that they rolled over and over on the floor, and at last they said, “Some day we will go in search of the magic spoon and the magic pitcher. May we go, Ma?”

The Ink-Bottle Mamma laughed and said, “It is time for you funny little Babies to go to bed.”

Just then some one tapped on the door. It was the Ink-Bottle Papa. He had been away for his health for a year and a day!

She said, “Hush, my dear, we may wake the Babies.” But she was not quick enough, for all the Babies woke up and began to come downstairs by twos and threes to see who had come to their house.

They hugged their dear Papa until he cried out, “Look in my pockets and see a surprise!”

Then the Ink-Bottle Babies looked in his pockets and drew out twenty-five little silver spoons.

They all looked exactly alike, and the Babies cried, “Thank you, Papa, we will call them our magic spoons.”

One day in the merry month of March, the Ink-Bottle Papa said, “I have a half-holiday. What shall we do?”

Then the twenty-five little Ink-Bottle Babies clapped their hands and cried, “Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!”

“Shall we do the family washing?” asked the Ink-Bottle Papa with a twinkle in his eye.

The Ink-Bottle Papa laughed and he said, “Then shall we sweep the house all over, from top to bottom?”

Then the Ink-Bottle Papa clapped his hands and said, “Shall we mow our lawn, front and back?”

Then the Ink-Bottle Papa stopped fooling, and he said, “There is a fine wind for flying kites; we will all make kites to-day; then we will go out and fly them.”

“Hurrah! Hurrah!” cried the Babies. “We will all make kites. We will make big kites, little kites, and middle-sized kites!”

Then the Ink-Bottle Babies got into two rows and they followed the Ink-Bottle Papa over to the meadow.

The Ink-Bottle Papa said, “It is the merry March wind pulling at the kites!”

Then they laughed and danced and played in the sunshine, and by and by Papa said, “Come, sit down and rest and I will tell you a story.”

The Ink-Bottle Babies all sat down. They still held on to the strings of their kites.

Once upon a time a little boy made a kite. He made the kite of paper and string.

The little boy looked around, and there sat the funniest little dwarf. The dwarf sat cross-legged on an old tree-stump.

“Ever think much about flying?” he said, and he screwed his face up into a thousand wrinkles.

Then the dwarf took the little boy’s kite and[82] he blew on it until it became bigger and stronger and it was indeed very hard to hold.

The little dwarf then took hold of the string and the kite pulled harder and harder and harder, and soon it lifted the little dwarf off of his feet. He did not let go of the string.

The little dwarf went up, up, up among the clouds. Soon the little boy could see only a speck among the clouds. He was beginning to be sorry he had loaned the dwarf his kite, for he was afraid he would never see it again.

The little boy lost no time, you may be sure, in taking hold of the kite string. He took hold of the string and the kite began to pull.

Then the little boy went up, up, up, over the tree-tops, and over the houses until he came to[83] the stars! My, but he was away up high in the sky!

The stars were so bright he winked and blinked his eyes, and suddenly he forgot to keep hold of the string, and down, down, down he fell to earth again, and his kite flew away and he never saw it again!

The Ink-Bottle Papa said, “The boy was not hurt at all, for he fell on his mother’s feather bed that she had out on the porch airing!”

“Oh my!” cried all the Babies at once. “What[84] fun it would be to fall on a feather bed! We wish we could fly and fall in soft places, too!”

They felt their kites pulling so hard that they began to go up, up, up. Before the Ink-Bottle Papa could stop them they had sailed out of sight!

The Ink-Bottle Babies said to the Papa, “We will go home and ask Mamma what to do. She always tells us what to do!”

Molly and Polly went up, and up, and up, and then just as suddenly they began to go down, and down, and down.

Did they come down on a feather bed? Oh no, they came down to a hole in the ground, and they went down in the hole, down, down, and they still held their kite strings, and they cried, “What a jolly ride, up and down, up and down.”

They were so pleased to see the strawberries, that they forgot about their kites for the first time and let go of the strings. They began to pick berries and eat them as fast as they could.

“We hope it does not annoy you to have us eat strawberries. You have so many of them, and we rode here all the way with our kites!”

Then the little old woman looked out of the window and saw the kites floating away.

Then she took Molly and Polly by the hand and led them into a room full of toys.

Molly said, “May I get on the rocking-horse?” And Polly said, “May I ride in that funny little carriage?”

Then she showed them a room full of caps and coats and all kinds of clothing, and she said with a wave of her hand, “Careless children lost them all! Come now, help me count and sort out the clothes.”

Then Molly and Polly went to work to sort the caps. There were red caps, and blue caps, and yellow caps, and all kinds of caps. Then they went to work and sorted the neckties, and they worked all day, and still there were more caps and more neckties than you ever dreamed of.

The room they were in led into a hall and the hall, too, was full of lost things.

Suddenly Molly and Polly wanted to go home. They stopped work and said, “We want to go home right away!”

Then the little old woman went down the hall[88] and locked the door and left Molly and Polly alone.

They looked around, and sure enough, right in the middle of the room was a tree-trunk! Its roots came down to the floor. In the lower part of the tree-trunk there was a door and the door was locked.

“Where shall we look for the magic key?” asked Molly and Polly. And the tree fairy said,

They looked under the piles of clothing and they looked under the furniture. Just then a canary began to sing,

Now Molly saw a little pitcher of water on the window sill, and Polly saw a little package of birdseed on a chair; so they gave the canary some food and drink.

As they peeped into the bird-cage, they saw on the floor of the cage a tiny key! The key was tied with blue ribbon. “Oh, the key! the key!” they cried, but the Tree Fairy said,

Then Molly and Polly went to the tree-trunk on tiptoe, and they put the key in the lock. Click! went the lock, and the door opened.

And it was well that Molly and Polly lost no time, for just as they had gotten inside the tree the little old woman came back.

“What is your wish?” asked Molly and Polly, and the Fairy said, “Two white sheets, nice and neat. Then I’ll use the key and set you free!”

Molly and Polly laughed and each one of them took out a neatly folded pocket-handkerchief, and they presented them to the Fairy!

The handkerchiefs were just the right size for fairy sheets and the Fairy was delighted.

He put the key in the lock; click, click, the door opened, and out stepped the Ink-Bottle Babies in their own park at home.

They were in such a hurry to get home they forgot to say, “Thank you,” and they did not even stop to see which tree they had stepped out of. They have been looking for the tree ever since.

The Ink-Bottle Babies were so pleased to see Molly and Polly, that they hugged them nearly to death.

Then the Ink-Bottle Mamma gave them each a cup of hot chocolate and put them to bed.

When the Ink-Bottle Babies woke up next morning they cried, “Oh Ma! Oh Pa! It is raining!”

Sure enough, the rain came splash, not a gentle patter, but splash! splash! splash!

“Oh! oh! oh!” cried all the Ink-Bottle Babies. “How can we get to school in the rain?”

Then the Ink-Bottle Babies said, “Hurrah for rubbers and umbrellas! Hurrah for a rainy day!”

How funny they looked going along the street with their twenty-five little umbrellas bobbing up and down.

The Babies looked down and there stood a little dwarf. He had a long white beard that came to the ground. He bobbed in and out among the[93] Babies and skipped first under this umbrella, and then under that umbrella, and it kept the Babies quite busy looking for him.

The little dwarf called “Halt!” and every one of the Ink-Bottle Babies stood still in the pouring rain.

Then Polly said, “I believe you do not know anything about the magic pitcher; you are only guessing!”

“Isn’t guessing allowed?” asked the dwarf. Then he shouted, “Forward! march!” and they[94] all went on to school. When they came to school the dwarf said,

Then the Ink Bottle Babies suggested various places for the little dwarf to hide in, but none of the places pleased him, so he said,

The teacher was so surprised to see all the Ink-Bottle Babies on such a rainy day that she let them sit wherever they pleased. They went to the blackboard and did neat little sums, and they all got their answers right.

At noon the teacher went home for dinner, and the Babies took out their twenty-five little dinner pails, and began to eat their lunch.

The rain came down harder and harder, and the Babies said, “We wonder if the little dwarf got drowned?”

Then the Ink-Bottle Babies ran and opened the window and let the little dwarf in.

Such a sputtering and fussing you never heard! He shook the rain from his coat and said,

Then he climbed up on the window sill and said, “What shall we play, ‘I-Spy’?”

The Ink-Bottle Babies said, “There really is no place to hide. Please tell us a story instead!”

The little dwarf waited until the Babies were still; then he began the tale of The Magic Rocking-Chair! Here is the story he told:

Once upon a time there was a little boy who lived with his grandparents in the woods.

The grandparents were so old and feeble that the little boy had all the wood to cut and the water to bring in. He was kept busy working from morning till night.

One evening, as his grandparents fell asleep by the fire, the little boy said, “I wish I had some one to play with me. I do wish I could have some fun once in a while!”

There stood the little dwarf in the doorway. He carried a beautiful red rocking-chair. The chair was so heavy and large for the dwarf it was all he could possibly carry.

Then in the twinkling of an eye the little dwarf was gone. The little boy lost no time trying the chair, you may be sure.

He said, “I think I would like to go to China.”[98] And he began to rock to and fro. He rocked so hard that he rocked right out of the house. Then the chair sailed away up over the tree-tops, and he kept rocking all the way until they arrived in China.

Then the little boy went into the house and the Chinamen were very polite to him. They taught him to eat with chopsticks, and they gave him a pound of tea to take home with him. They tied the tea up in a fine silk handkerchief.

A great clock struck twelve and the little boy remembered that the chair did not want to wait later than twelve, so he bade his new friends good-bye and went outside.

He stepped into the chair and said, “Home again, home again,” and they rode along homeward.

The chair said, “I know one little verse the dwarf keeps whispering to himself when he uses this magic chair. It is this,

“Thank you, I will remember that,” said the[99] little boy, and whizzing along they went on home.

The little boy took his tea and his silk handkerchief with him to his own room and he soon fell asleep.

His work seemed easy to him next day. He said, “I wonder where I shall go to-night. I believe I will go to Holland if the chair comes around.”

Next evening the old people fell asleep as before and there was a gentle tap at the door. The little dwarf had brought the chair again, but he wanted a present this time.

He begged so hard for a present that at last the little boy gave him the red silk handkerchief. The little dwarf tied the handkerchief about him as a sash and went off singing in the moonlight.

The people in Holland gave him a cheese and a pair of wooden shoes to take home.

Night after night the little boy rode away in the rocking-chair, and all went well until the night he went to the circus.

The clown said so many funny things he forgot about the time. It struck twelve o’clock, and one o’clock, and then the circus was over.

The little boy stepped out of the tent and his chair was nowhere to be seen, so he had to walk all the way home.

The next evening the little dwarf came without the chair. He looked very sad and he said,

Then the dwarf explained that the chair would rock no longer because the little boy overstayed his time. He said with tears in his eyes that the chair now would not rock across the room.

He took the little dwarf by the hand and they ran to the house of the crossest giant in the land. They persuaded the giant to come and look at the rocking-chair and mend it, for he was very clever about such things.

The giant made the chair as good as new; then he turned to the little boy and said fiercely, “I have not had a good meal to-day. I will just eat you up!”

Then the chair grew very angry. It grew so large suddenly that the giant could sit in it, and it said,

The giant forgot how hungry he was and he sat down in the chair. The chair rocked him down to the river and threw him in.

He was not drowned, of course, but he was awfully scared, and the chair rocked back to the little dwarf.

The little boy had many rides in the chair after that, but he took the little dwarf with him, so that they would be sure to remember the time, and not stay out after midnight.

The Ink-Bottle Babies cried, “Is that the end?[102] Surely that is not the end. There must be more.”

The little dwarf did not want to answer, so he said, “It is raining so hard the teacher may not come back to school.”

Then the little dwarf cried, “What! ho! Here comes the farmer to take you home!”

Sure enough, there was the farmer in his big wagon. He had come to take the Ink-Bottle Babies home.

“Oh! oh! oh!” cried the Ink-Bottle Babies clapping their hands. “Do you own the magic rocking-chair? Will you please take us to ride?”

How were the Ink-Bottle Babies to guess whether he owned the rocking-chair or not?

“Oh! oh! oh!” cried the Ink-Bottle Babies. “It is May-Day! hurrah! hurrah!”

Then they all got up and dressed in a hurry and said, “Oh Ma! may we go to the woods? Oh Pa! may we all go to the woods together?”

Then Mamma and Papa said they might all go to the woods if they would be very careful not to get lost.

The Ink-Bottle Babies each took a cute little basket, and they all went to look for flowers and berries in the woods.

At that very minute the Ink-Bottle Babies stood still for they heard a voice cry,

All the Ink-Bottle Babies bowed politely and said, “If you please, Sir, may we gather a few violets and buttercups?”

Then Molly and Polly said, “If we each give you a cookie, would you let us gather a few flowers?”

Then the little dwarf came and peeked into each one of the baskets and saw, sure enough, that each Baby had a cookie in the basket.

Then the Ink-Bottle Babies all put their cookies on a large, flat stone, and the little dwarf filled his pockets and his cap full of them.

They found violets, daisies, and buttercups, and before they could believe it, it was sundown.

They said, “We do not care what the little dwarf said, we will not hurry home.”

Then they sat down and ate the sandwiches and apples they had brought with them.

Just as the sun was setting Molly cried, “Oh, oh, oh,” and Polly cried, “Oh, oh, oh,” and all the Ink-Bottle Babies cried, “Oh, oh, oh.” What do you suppose was the matter? They all began[106] to sink down, down, down, and it became quite dark!

They sank down until they came to the top of the magic tower, which was built under the sea!

They saw the fishes swim past them and they cried, “Oh, oh, oh, where are we going?”

The roof of the magic tower opened and down the Ink-Bottle Babies went to the very bottom of the tower. They were just beginning to get their breath when the most beautiful princess in the world came and stood before them.

She saw only Molly at first; then Polly and all the rest of the Babies came tumbling down the staircase.

The Babies patted the princess’ dress; it was soft and silky. Then they all begged to braid her hair. They had to work days and days to braid all her hair, it was so long and heavy.

And the princess began, “Once upon a time I went into the woods to gather flowers!”

“I was going along humming a little tune, when I saw a fierce little dwarf,” continued the princess.

“The dwarf talked in rhyme,” said the princess. Then all the Babies nodded their heads.

The princess said, “The dwarf would not let me have any flowers unless I gave him a cookie, and when I did give him a cookie, he said,

Then the Ink-Bottle Babies set up a shout, for those were the very words the little dwarf had said to them.

The princess said, “I was so happy gathering flowers that I forgot what the little dwarf said, and after sundown I began to sink, down and down, until I came to this magic tower.”

The princess shook her head and said, “All the doors and windows are fastened. Besides, we are under the sea.”

The Ink-Bottle Babies looked out of the window, and sure enough, fishes were swimming past.

Suddenly the princess said, “Hush, the little dwarf is coming. Run Babies, and hide, every one of you!”

Click, click, went the key in the door, and the door opened and the little dwarf came in stamping and scolding.

The princess went to her spinning wheel, and showed the dwarf that she had spun two skeins of thread.

Then he looked very cunning indeed, and he[110] opened the door to his storeroom. “There are one thousand bundles of flax,” said he. “You must spin all of this.”

The little dwarf was so surprised at this answer that he looked cross-eyed, but he did not answer the princess.

Next he drew from his pocket a pitcher and a spoon. Then he went and got a rocking-chair that he had brought with him, and he said,

The Ink-Bottle Babies came in dancing and singing for they had heard every word that had been said.

The Ink-Bottle Babies looked in the garret and they found twenty-five little spinning wheels. They all sat down and began to spin as hard as they could.

Suddenly Molly stopped spinning and Polly stopped spinning and then all the Babies stopped spinning, and they ran to the place where the chair and spoon and pitcher were.

In a short time the magic spoon had all the flax spun into thread; then they grew tired and sleepy and went to bed. The next day they had no work to do as the spinning was all done, so they looked all over the tower and peeped into every closet and corner.

At last it was sundown and the little dwarf came as before and found the princess sitting alone by her spinning wheel.

Then the princess showed him all the thread, and the dwarf was so surprised that he hardly knew what to say. He began to gather up the thread to take away with him, and he said,

Then the magic spoon came in and beat him, and the magic pitcher stood in front of him and poured water on him. Then the magic chair came up behind him and he fell right into it. The chair rocked him out of the window into the deep sea, and he never troubled the princess any more.

Then the chair came back and said, “Get in, every one of you, and I will give you a ride.”

Then they all got in, the magic pitcher and spoon, too, and they rode away, away, away, to the palace where the princess lived. They let the princess out; and then they rode to the home of the Ink-Bottle Babies, and let all the Babies out. The magic chair then rocked away, taking the magic spoon and pitcher with it.

“Hurrah!” cried the Ink-Bottle Babies, “hurrah! hurrah! it is glad vacation time!”

So the Babies were busy packing their twenty-five little dinner pails and they packed a basket of lunch for Ma and Pa.

They all started merrily toward the woods. Molly said, “Do you suppose we will find the house where the little dwarfs live?”

Then the Ink-Bottle Babies all clapped their hands and shouted, “Oh Ma! oh Pa! do help us find the little dwarfs!”

Then Mamma took out a red and white table cloth and spread it on the grass, and all the Ink-Bottle Babies began to unpack their dinner pails, and soon they had a fine dinner ready.

They filled their glasses with water from a spring, and just as they were going to sit down a little dwarf ran past them and called,

Then the little dwarf took the magic spoon and dipped it into every glass of water, and the water turned at once into lemonade.

Then the Ink-Bottle Babies cried, “We must find the house where the little dwarfs live!”

After a while the Ink-Bottle Mamma and Papa got tired and went home. They left the Babies in the woods for a while.

The Babies were so sleepy they took quite a nap, and when they woke up they said, “Let us look for the home of the little dwarfs.” They spoke in whispers; they were almost afraid to speak out loud.

They picked up their dinner pails and walked a long way. Suddenly they saw a light twinkling in the distance. The light came from a little wee house in the woods. One of the Babies rapped at the door and a little dwarf came out and said,

The Ink-Bottle Babies stepped inside, and they saw five and twenty little dwarfs sitting at a table, eating soup with their five and twenty little spoons. The little dwarfs got up politely and offered their seats to the Babies and they sang,

Then the Ink-Bottle Babies started to eat some soup, but one little dwarf ran around and poured something into each soup dish out of the magic pitcher. One plate of soup was changed to jelly and one plate was changed to ice cream and so it went all round the table!

The Babies shouted, “Hurrah! for the magic pitcher,” and they laughed until they cried!

Then they all sat down in a circle and they told stories and one little dwarf cried,

The little dwarfs all shook their heads sadly. Then what do you suppose happened? The Ink-Bottle Babies all rose and began to dance and cry,

Then all the dwarfs put on their fuzzy coats and their fuzzy caps, and they said,

Then the dwarfs went out of the door, two and two, and the Ink-Bottle Babies did not know what else to do, so they followed them.

Then their leader called, “Hark! Listen! Hark!” They looked down in a valley and they saw a little dwarf, dancing and singing.

Then the little dwarfs rushed at him from one side, and the Babies rushed at him from the other side, and the magic spoon began to beat everybody, and at last they all ran back to the home of the little dwarfs. Where the magic spoon went nobody knew.

The magic spoon was so pleased then that it began to stir the river that flowed by the little dwarfs’ home, and the river became solid gold!

Then they ran and got five and twenty little bags, and they began to break up the gold in the river and fill their bags. Still there was more gold than the little dwarfs could carry away.

At last the little dwarfs were done working and the Ink-Bottle Babies were tired and sleepy and they said, “Tell us a story, please.”

The rocking-chair was a pretty one; it had golden rockers and golden arms. It was a very comfortable rocking-chair! One day a dwarf got into the chair. He was a very naughty dwarf. He would not say, “Thank you,” and “If you please.”

Then the dwarf began to laugh and cry and shout, for he was stuck fast in the rocking-chair, and he could not get out!

Now the chair was in earnest and it rocked as fast as it could down to a river and the dwarf cried,

Splash! the chair went right into the water. It came up by and by and the little dwarf shouted,

Now as soon as the dwarf was free he would not say “Thank you,” again, and the chair said, “I will teach him a lesson this time.”

So the chair asked the little dwarf to take another ride, and he rocked him away, away, away up north to the land where the polar bear lives. Then he rocked him right into a snowdrift. The little dwarf nearly froze his toes and fingers, and the chair said,

The dwarf was so scared at the idea of being left alone in the snowdrift that he said,

Then the chair rocked the little dwarf safely home, and ever after he was so polite that if he even met a squirrel in the woods he would stop and say, “Excuse me, sir, am I disturbing you? Thank you, sir, I will come this way again, if you please!”

This was the end of the story and the Ink-Bottle Babies set up a shout as usual.

Then they clapped their hands softly, for they saw something rocking toward them!

Then the Ink-Bottle Babies all climbed into the rocking-chair, and they shouted as they waved their twenty-five little pocket handkerchiefs,

The magic chair began to rock, and it rocked the Ink-Bottle Babies away, away, away, into the Land of Story Books.

Did they ever come out of the books? Did they ever come home again? I did not remember[124] to ask them any questions. Perhaps you will meet them in school.

Fairy Tales of Long Ago

By Julia Darrow Cowles

Grades 3-4	Cloth Binding
128 Pages	Colored Illustrations

Price, 60 Cents a Copy, Postpaid

Train a child’s imagination by feeding it with the fancies of great story-tellers, is a truism familiar to all teachers. There is nothing like the old fairy tales for nourishing young imaginations. This group of tales Mrs. Cowles has gathered from many sources and retold in charming fashion. That they have gained, rather than lost, by the retelling, will soon become apparent to teachers; for only the simplest words and phrases are used, and the narrative is so handled as to emphasize the homely lesson in manners or morals concealed in the story.

These tales are full of action and delicious nonsense which accord with the child’s mode of living and thinking. Besides teaching the children to read, and furnishing them with much fine entertainment, these stories inculcate lessons in good-fellowship, usefulness, politeness, and agreeable wholesome living.

The volume comprises fifteen stories, five of which are dramatized for schoolroom use.

CONTENTS

The Nightingale
The Six Swans
Bruno’s Picnic
Ole Shut-Eyes
Inger’s Loaf
Southwest Wind Esquire
The Three Lemons
The Twelve Months
A Mad Tea Party
The Enchanted Mead
The White Cat
The Ugly Duckling
The Miller’s Daughter
Professor Frog’s Lecture
The Spring in the Valley

A. FLANAGAN COMPANY—CHICAGO

The Children of Mother Goose

By JULIA DARROW COWLES

For Grades Two and Three

Illustrations in Colors

128 Pages Cloth Binding

Price, 60 Cents a Copy, Postpaid

THE CHILDREN OF MOTHER GOOSE

“I wonder which goose gave it to me”

“Oh, Mother Goose,” they all cried, “your goose has laid a golden egg!”

“Why, sure enough,” said Mother Goose. “That must be my Easter present. I wonder which goose gave it to me!”

Then Simple Simon waved his hand just as though he were in school, and said, “It was Jack-A-Dandy. I saw him put it in the nest!”

Specimen Page

Many a young reader longs to know more about his favorite characters in Mother Goose—more than the short rhyme about each is able to tell him. In this collection of miniature stories, he has his wish gratified. Here he gets intimate glimpses of the home and community life of many old friends: Mistress Mary, Boy Blue, Peter Piper, Curly Locks, Crosspatch, Simple Simon, Jack and Jill, Tommy Tinker, Bobby Shaftoe, and a host of others.

It appears that the Mother Goose children are a healthy, fun-loving, workaday lot of youngsters, exactly like the boys and girls who read about them. They attend Dame Trot’s school. They give tea parties and Valentine parties. They take care of the babies of the Old Woman Who Lives in a Shoe. They help the Crooked Man build himself a new chimney. Dr. Foster takes them walking in the woods and teaches them things about insects and spiders which every child is simply aching to know. Mother Goose herself presides delightfully over their revels.

Teachers will find these stories valuable for inculcating a love of reading in the child; first, because they are intrinsically fascinating, and second, because they quicken his mental powers by a shrewd application of some lesson in daily living.

A. FLANAGAN COMPANY—CHICAGO

The Circus Cotton-Tails

By
LAURA ROUNTREE SMITH

Illustrated by Fred Stearns

“Please tell us a laughing story,” pleaded a group of tenement children at the Settlement story hour.

All children laugh when they read “The Circus Cotton-Tails” and how the merry little bunnies diligently practice their circus tricks while mischievous Bushy-Tail plays his tricks—whirling them off the merry-go-round, and stealing Susan Cotton-Tail’s cookies. How the cookies become alive and punish Bushy-Tail satisfies the little folk’s sense of justice. And they delight in the description of the big circus parade, and in the colored frontispiece and end sheets, to say nothing of the many fascinating black and white illustrations.

128 pages. Cloth, 60 cents

A. FLANAGAN COMPANY
CHICAGO

JUST STORIES

BY
ANNIE KLINGENSMITH

Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Gary, Indiana

AUTHOR OF
“Household Stories” and “Norse Gods and Heroes”

In “Just Stories” Miss Klingensmith has selected and adapted from the best in children’s literature more than thirty of the stories she considers especially needed in work with children in the third and fourth grades. They were originally printed as leaflets by Gary pupils and aroused an enthusiasm that demanded their continued existence. The illustrations are exceptionally good, and with the large, clear type, good paper, and durable binding, “Just Stories” is an unusually attractive book.

128 Pages—Illustrated
Cloth—60 Cents

“‘WHAT HAVE YOU TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?’ SAID THE LION”

(Illustration from “Benjy in Beastland”—one of the stories.)

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	Page
Chapter I
The Magic Pitcher	7
Chapter II
The Fortune Teller	16
Chapter III
Thanksgiving Dinner	29
Chapter IV
The Little Dwarf’s Christmas	39
Chapter V
A Wonderful Dream	50
Chapter VI
The Magic Spoon	64
Chapter VII
The Magic Kites	77
Chapter VIII
The Magic Rocking-Chair	91
Chapter IX
May-Day	103
Chapter X
Vacation Time	114

CONTENTS

THE FAIRY BABIES

CHAPTER I
THE MAGIC PITCHER

CHAPTER II
THE FORTUNE TELLER

CHAPTER III
THANKSGIVING DINNER

CHAPTER IV
THE LITTLE DWARF’S CHRISTMAS

CHAPTER V
A WONDERFUL DREAM

CHAPTER VI
THE MAGIC SPOON

CHAPTER VII
THE MAGIC KITES

CHAPTER VIII
THE MAGIC ROCKING-CHAIR

CHAPTER IX
MAY-DAY

CHAPTER X
VACATION TIME

CONTENTS

THE FAIRY BABIES

CHAPTER I THE MAGIC PITCHER

CHAPTER II THE FORTUNE TELLER

CHAPTER III THANKSGIVING DINNER

CHAPTER IV THE LITTLE DWARF’S CHRISTMAS

CHAPTER V A WONDERFUL DREAM

CHAPTER VI THE MAGIC SPOON

CHAPTER VII THE MAGIC KITES

CHAPTER VIII THE MAGIC ROCKING-CHAIR

CHAPTER IX MAY-DAY

CHAPTER X VACATION TIME

CHAPTER I
THE MAGIC PITCHER

CHAPTER II
THE FORTUNE TELLER

CHAPTER III
THANKSGIVING DINNER

CHAPTER IV
THE LITTLE DWARF’S CHRISTMAS

CHAPTER V
A WONDERFUL DREAM

CHAPTER VI
THE MAGIC SPOON

CHAPTER VII
THE MAGIC KITES

CHAPTER VIII
THE MAGIC ROCKING-CHAIR

CHAPTER IX
MAY-DAY

CHAPTER X
VACATION TIME