W/TH /Lli/STRAT,
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES

 
 
 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE OX HIS JOURNEY.
 
 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE'S 
 NEW STORY BOOK. 
 
 The Dragon all covered with Spikes, 
 
 The Long-Tailed. Nag, 
 
 The Three One-Legged Men, 
 
 The Old Fly and the 
 Young Fly, 
 
 Tom and the Ogre, 
 
 AND OTHER TALES. 
 
 Bv J. TEMPLETON LUCAS. 
 
 15ARNES, BRUNTON, BARNARD, CONCANEN, W. LUCAS, MATT. MORGAN, PHI/, 
 J. E. SODEN, GORDON THOMSON, AND THE AUTHOR. 
 
 LONDON: 
 FREDERICK WARNE AND CO, 
 
 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND.
 
 ! At I.ANTVNE, HANSON AND CCX 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON
 
 TZS 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Tage 
 
 THE PERSEVERANCE OF PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE . .18 
 
 THE OLD FLY AND THE YOUNG FLY . . . .84 
 
 BLANCHE OF CRAIGHENHAME . . . .89 
 
 THE COBBLER'S SON . . . . .44 
 
 THE TWO FRIENDS . . . . . .59 
 
 THE KING OF THE BEASTS . . . . .66 
 
 THE BLACK-BEETLES . . . . . .71 
 
 THE GREAT GENERAL . . . . .75 
 
 LILA THE LOVELY . . . . . .80 
 
 CITRUS THE CRUEL MAN . . . . .91 
 
 THE FIGURE PUZZLE . . . . .95 
 
 THE PRIZE ... 98 
 
 74.371.?
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 THE SIX GOBLIN EGGS ..... 103 
 
 THE DRAGON ALL COVERED WITH SPIKES . . .112 
 
 THE LONG-TAILED NAG . . . . .125 
 
 TOM AND THE OGRE ..... 181 
 
 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN . . . .141 
 
 THE PIMPLE ON A NOSE . . . . .161 
 
 THE QUARRELSOME CHICKEN . . . .167 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN THE SON OF JACK THE UIANT 
 
 KILLER ...... 171
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Subject. 
 
 THE PERSEVERANCE OF PRINCE UBBELY 
 BUBBLE ..... 
 
 BLANCHE OF CRAIGHENHAME . 
 
 THE COBBLER'S SON .... 
 
 THE TWO FRIENDS .... 
 
 THE BLACK-BEETLES .... 
 
 THE GREAT GENERAL .... 
 
 CITRUS THE CRUEL MAN 
 
 THE SIX GOBLIN EGGS 
 
 THE DRAGON ALL COVERED WITH SFIKES 
 
 THE LONG-TAILED NAG 
 
 No of 
 Iiuistiations 
 
 Artists. 
 
 2 1'his & J. T. 1 
 
 i 
 
 IF. 
 
 Luca*. 
 
 i 
 
 Thomson. 
 
 i 
 
 F. 
 
 Barnard. 
 
 i 
 
 J. 
 
 T. Lucas. 
 
 2 
 
 J. 
 
 E. Soden. 
 
 I 
 
 W. 
 
 Lucas. 
 
 I 
 
 J. 
 
 T. Lucas. 
 
 I 
 
 Bninton. 
 
 I 
 
 J. 
 
 T. Lucas.
 
 Vlll LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 No of 
 
 Subject. Illustration*. Artiste. 
 
 TOM AND THE OGRE .... I Barncx. 
 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN . . 2 ConCUtun . 
 
 THE PIMPLE ON A NOSE ... 1 Matt. 
 
 THL: QUARRELSOME CHICKEN . . i J.T.I.,
 
 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE'S 
 NEW STORY BOOK. 
 
 THE PERSEVERANCE OF PRINCE UBBELY 
 BUBBLE; OR, EARTH, AIR, FIRE, AND 
 WATER. 
 
 UPON A TIME,, there lived a good King and 
 Queen who had but one son, called Prince 
 Ubbely Bubble ; beloved by all the nation because 
 he was kind and good-natured to every one. 
 
 Whenever Prince Ubbely Bubble rode out, 
 people bowed and smiled to him, and the little boys 
 took off their hats and hurraed ; if they had no hats 
 to put on, of course they could not take them off, 
 so they hurra'ed twice as loudly as those who had, 
 and the Prince bowed and smiled at them all in 
 return. Some folks would say how nice to be a 
 Prince, and so polite; little thinking what hard work 
 it is to bow nine hundred and ninety-nine times in 
 
 i
 
 14 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. 
 
 every hour of the day : but the Prince bowed all 
 the same it was the only way of showing that he 
 liked to see people ; for if he had asked to dinner 
 every one who bowed to him, no room in the Palace 
 would have been large enough. 
 
 The people were all very fond of doing just as 
 the Prince did: when he parted his hair in the 
 middle, they did just the same; and any one who 
 parted his on one side was looked upon as a very 
 vulgar person indeed, it was considered worse to 
 do so than to have no parting at all. The Prince 
 himself was the only one who thought nothing at 
 all about such a trifle, for in truth he had much 
 more important affairs to occupy him. 
 
 He knew that as soon as he reached the twenty- 
 first year of his age he would have to start on a 
 journey in search of the Princess who was to be his 
 wife, and the time was not far off. This journey 
 he knew was to be a trouble to him, because he had 
 been told by the King his father, that for one week 
 his bad Genius would share power over him equally 
 with his good Genius, and that there would be strife 
 between the two. The King had learnt all this
 
 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. jr 
 
 from a very wise man, who knew all about what 
 would take place in the future. 
 
 There were very grand doings at the Palace 
 when the Prince came of age ; the doors were 
 thrown open, and people flocked from all parts of 
 the country to share in the rejoicings. There was 
 music, dancing, eating, drinking, playing, laughing, 
 talking and at night-time a good deal of crying, 
 because on the next day the Prince would have to 
 start on his lonely journey. 
 
 When the morrow came, the Prince rose early in 
 the morning, and went to take leave of his father 
 and mother, to receive their blessing and instruc- 
 tions for the journey. The King said to him, 
 
 " Ubbely Bubble, my child, you are to go to the 
 point where the sun goes down, to turn neither 
 to the right nor to the left, but to go on in a 
 straight line. I know not whither it will lead 
 you, but the Princess whom the Genii have given 
 you will be found at the end of your road. You 
 have but this one thing to remember, that you 
 are to keep the straight road." 
 
 The King and Queen then, with tears in their
 
 16 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. 
 
 eyes, embraced him; and Ubbely Bubble, with a long 
 staff in his hand, a bag for provisions at his side, a 
 cloak to wear at night-time, and a pair of new boots 
 with bright nails in the soles, started off with such 
 good will, that by evening he had walked more 
 than fifty miles. 
 
 He stopped in the middle of a beautiful level 
 plain of country, covered with fields of golden corn, 
 which seemed to extend for miles and miles, as far 
 as one could see. The Prince seated himself on a 
 mossy bank, ate his supper, and then waited to see 
 the sun go down, to mark the point where it was 
 last visible. Then he placed his staff on the ground, 
 so that it pointed straight to the west, wrappi-d 
 his cloak round him, and lay down to sleep. 
 
 Ubbely Bubble was so tired by his long walk that 
 he slept more soundly than ever he had done before, 
 till the light of the breaking day awoke him. Up 
 he jumped as fresh as a lark, and ready to proceed 
 on his journey; but presently he rubbed his eyes 
 and pinched himself to try if he was awake; for 
 the whole face of the country was changed, and 
 the beautiful level plain of golden corn was rising
 
 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. jy 
 
 and falling like the waves of the sea, with a motion 
 that became greater every minute. 
 
 The poor Prince trembled ; for he knew that his 
 bad Genius was at work, and that unless some other 
 power came to his assistance he would never reach 
 his journey's end. So he fell on his knees, and called 
 aloud, " my good Genius, what shall I do ? my 
 staff points to the west, but I cannot walk while 
 the earth is rising and falling." Then the Prince 
 heard a loud voice, which seemed to come from a 
 great distance, saying these words: "Foolish Prince, 
 look around you ; the road to the right is not mov- 
 ing. Continue your journey, and all will be well." 
 
 The Prince knew not what to think, for he remem- 
 bered his father's instructions; so once more he 
 called out, " good Genius, I must not take the road 
 to the right ; for the sun does not go down in that 
 direction. Help me, good Genius, or I shall never 
 find my Princess." Then the voice came again 
 from the distance: "Foolish Prince, there is another 
 road lying on your left hand ; it is better even than 
 that upon your right : proceed by it, and you will 
 prosper."
 
 !8 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. 
 
 The Prince was troubled by this answer, and was 
 inclined to take the road to the left ; but he remem- 
 bered his father's instructions : so once again he 
 called aloud, " good Geiiius, the sun goes down 
 straight in front of me, not on the left, nor on the 
 right : what shall I gain if I take either of these 
 other roads ? for my Princess lives where the sun 
 goes down." 
 
 Then there came another loud voice from high 
 in the air, and these are the words that it uttered : 
 
 " Wise young Prince. For one day, you are 
 safe, and for one day I can help you. It is y tin- 
 bad Genius that has been speaking to you; and had 
 you gone to the right or to the left, you would 
 have perished. Your enemy cannot injure you 
 himself, neither can I myself assist you; but we 
 can both call once upon each of the Elements to 
 act for your good or your harm. Your bad Genius 
 has appealed to Earth for your injury ; I cannot 
 stop the moving of the earthquake, but I will call 
 upon Water to help you." 
 
 As the Genius spoke, Water came rushing in 
 from all sides, and soon the country before the
 
 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. ig 
 
 Prince was one vast lake of still blue water. 
 Then he heard the voice of his good Genius : 
 
 "Ubbely Bubble, spread your cloak upon the 
 water, and stand upon it ; push with your staff, and 
 you will glide on. Farewell, for this day nothing 
 can injure you." 
 
 The Prince was rejoiced to be once more on his 
 road, and found that the cloak carried him beauti- 
 fully ; the pushing with the staff was rather hard 
 work for his arms, but it was a good rest for his 
 legs ; and by night-time he had gone at least ano- 
 ther fifty miles on his road to the place where the 
 sun goes down : so he thought it best to lie down 
 on his cloak, and go to sleep. This he did, after 
 taking his supper and carefully placing his staff so 
 that it pointed to the west. 
 
 In the morning the Prince awoke quite cold and 
 numbed, so much so that he could scarcely move or 
 open his eyes. "Ah !" thought he, "this comes from 
 sleeping in the open air without my cloak wrapped 
 around me. I must be up and moving ;" so he arose 
 as briskly as he could, seized hold of his staff, and 
 pushed as hard as possible ; but the cloak would
 
 2Q PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. 
 
 not move, for the simple reason that all the water 
 was frozen into ice. " Well," thought the Prince, 
 "this is the work of the evil Genius; but I won't be 
 beaten if I can help it. I will walk if I cannot ride 
 on my cloak ; " and picking up his staff, he stepped 
 on to the ice; but it was so very slippery, and the 
 nails on his boots were so smooth and polished, 
 that he was unable to stand, and was forced to 
 crawl just like a cat or a dog. He tried to take 
 off his boots, and walk in his stockings ; but his 
 fingers were too numbed by the cold to untie the 
 fastenings. "Never mind," said Ubbely Bubble 
 to himself, "I won't be beaten; the Genii help 
 those who help themselves." So he crawled on 
 quite contentedly for several miles, when his knees 
 became so tender and blistered that he could go 
 no farther, but was obliged to sit still on the cold 
 ice. 
 
 The good Genius then took pity upon him, and 
 called out from the distance, 
 
 " Courage, Ubbely Bubble ! my enemy and yours 
 has called upon the Air to freeze the Water, and I 
 will call upon Earth to help you. Presently you shall
 
 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. 21 
 
 continue your journey in safety for one day more. 
 Farewell." 
 
 As the Genius ceased speaking, a cloud of fine 
 sand came sailing along, and fell gently on the ice, 
 covering it to the thickness of an inch ; and Ubbely 
 Bubble was able to walk upon it as comfortably as 
 if it had been a Turkey carpet. By evening he 
 had gone another fifty miles, and having eaten his 
 supper, lay down upon the sand to sleep, with his 
 staff pointing to the west. 
 
 Morning came, and the Prince awoke to find that 
 he was no longer upon ice, and that the water had 
 all disappeared ; but he could scarcely breathe, and 
 could not see at all, while he felt as hot as if he 
 were in an oven. 
 
 "This is some new trick of my evil Genius," 
 thought the Prince; " but I will do my best to con- 
 tinue my journey. The good Genius helped me yes- 
 terday, and perhaps he may do the same to day." So 
 he groped about until he touched his staff, which lay 
 beside him, pointing to the west, and carefully hold- 
 ing it in a straight line, walked on ; but he was so 
 weak and tired that he had not gone more than a
 
 22 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. 
 
 mile in the first hour, when once more the voice of 
 his good Genius thus encouraged him : 
 
 " Ubbely Bubble, our enemy has called upon 
 Fire to raise a smoke, so that you cannot see your 
 road; I will call upon Air to blow it away, and you 
 will be safe for another day. Farewell." 
 
 As the Genius spoke, so it happened. The cool 
 fresh air soon revived the Prince, and by evening 
 he had gone another fifty miles of the road to the 
 place where the sun goes down. He ate his supper, 
 pointed his staff to the west, and was soon fast 
 asleep. 
 
 When the Prince awoke the next morning, the 
 air was thick with mist, which wetted him to the 
 skin, and made his eyes smart so that he could not 
 keep them open. He dared not move, for only a 
 blind man could have found his way without seeing ; 
 so he called his good Genius to help him once 
 more. 
 
 Said the Genius, " Ubbely Bubble, the salt-mist, 
 which our enemy has called upon Water to raise 
 from the sea, shall now be dispelled, if Fire will 
 answer my call. Then go on your journey, safe
 
 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. 2 \ 
 
 for another day, and free of the Elements for your 
 life. Henceforth Earth, Air, Fire, and Water will 
 never harm you." 
 
 When the Genius ceased, the mist gradually 
 melted away; and the Prince, picking up his staff, 
 continued his road to the place where the sun goes 
 down, pointed his staff to the west, and was soon 
 fast asleep. 
 
 When he awoke, it was darker than ever in fact, 
 as dark as night and he found himself lying in a 
 most uncomfortable position, with something large 
 wrapped around him, covering him up entirely. 
 He was terribly alarmed to hear the voice of the 
 bad Genius calling from the distance, " Now I defy 
 you, my enemy. I have called upon Things Large 
 to aid me, and to stop your Prince's journey ; he 
 is tied safely in Monolog's handkerchief. There is 
 no bigger giant than he, and no one else is strong 
 enough to untie the knot." 
 
 "True," answered the good Genius, "I cannot 
 find a giant greater than Monolog; but I will call 
 upon Things Small to help the Prince, who shall 
 soon be on his journey again."
 
 24 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. 
 
 " Monolog fears no living thing," said the evil 
 Genius. " He has an armour of proof, and a club 
 of iron." 
 
 ATCIIEW! A TICIIEW! TCIIEW! 
 
 It was the giant sneezing, and Ubbely Bubble 
 trembled as he heard it; for he* thought, "If the 
 giant wishes to use his pocket-handkerchief, what 
 will become of me ? " 
 
 ATCHEW! A TICHEW! TCIIEW! 
 
 The giant sneezing again. The good Genius had 
 caused a small gnat to sting the giant's nose. 
 
 ATCHEW! A TICIIEW! TCIIEW! 
 
 This time the giant could stand it no longer, so 
 he untied the knot in the handkerchief, put Ubbely 
 Bubble on the ground, and blew his nose so loudly 
 that the eartli shook with the noise. 
 
 " HUM! " said Monolog ; that was his way of ex- 
 pressing satisfaction. He was all right again, and 
 looked at Ubbely Bubble as if he had half a mind 
 to put him back in the handkerchief.
 
 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. 25 
 
 "Hither come Things Small to do you battle," 
 cried the voice of the good Genius. " Monolog, 
 prepare to die." 
 
 "HUM !" said the giant, signifying that he did 
 not intend to do so. 
 
 Ubbely Bubble looked, and beheld an army of 
 frogs, hopping six abreast, and coming straight to 
 the giant; each frog was in full armour, and the 
 frog in command rode on a white rat. 
 
 " Halt ! " cried the officer, " Stand on your hind 
 legs;" and all the frogs did so. " Stand on your front 
 legs ;" and all the frogs did so. " Stand on one hind 
 leg Stand on one front leg," which all the frogs had 
 no sooner done, than out came the order, u Stand on 
 one hind and one front leg." As soon as they had 
 done this, the officer made them do it all over again, 
 and then they were quite ready to begin the battle. 
 
 IIA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! 
 HA! HA! HA! 
 
 The giant was laughing at the idea of having to 
 fight an army of frogs ; and stooping down his face 
 to the earth, he blew with his mouth, and so sent
 
 26 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. 
 
 hundreds of them flying. But the commander frog, 
 on his white rat, leaped at the giant's face, and struck 
 him in the eye with his sword ; which so enraged 
 Monolog, that he seized the poor little warrior, 
 opened his mouth, and swallowed him whole. The 
 army of frogs fled as fast as they could hop, and 
 the giant began to turn and twist about, coughing 
 and spluttering in a most extraordinary manner. A 
 stream of blood came from his mouth, and after a 
 few straggles he fell on his back, kicked his legs 
 convulsively, said, 
 
 HUM ! " 
 
 and died. The steel spurs of the poor commanding 
 frog had pricked a vein in the giant's throat, and so 
 Things Small conquered Things Large. 
 
 Ubbely Bubble saw all this as he sat on the 
 ground. He waited a few moments to make quite 
 sure that Monolog was dead, and then jumped up 
 to continue his journey ; but before he went on he 
 just climbed on to the giant's face, and looked into 
 his mouth, because he fancied that he heard a faint 
 voice calling him, and it seemed to come from that
 
 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. 2J 
 
 quarter. He looked down the giant's throat, and 
 saw the bright eyes of the commander frog twink- 
 ling and shining. 
 
 " So you are not dead, little frog," said the Prince. 
 
 "No, my Prince, lam not dead; but I can't get 
 out of the giant's throat, for my spurs are stuck 
 fast ; please to pull me out, or I shall die." 
 
 Ubbely Bubble did as the frog wished, shook hands 
 with him, and started off on his road as fast as 
 he could go. He went fifty miles, and at night time 
 lay down to sleep as before, with his staff pointing 
 to the west. 
 
 On the morning of the last day of the week, 
 when Ubbely Bubble awoke, his good Genius was 
 standing by his side in the form of an old man of 
 benevolent countenance, dressed in flowing white 
 robes, which shone in the sun. He smiled upon the 
 Prince, and said, 
 
 " Ubbely Bubble, my Prince, I have not feared 
 for you until to-day, and even now I hope that all 
 will be well, and that to-morrow you will see your 
 Princess, and take her back to your father's country. 
 Your evil Genius is now preparing for our last
 
 28 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. 
 
 trial of skill, and I know not what form it will 
 take." 
 
 " That you shall know at once," called out a voice 
 behind the Prince, who turned and beheld his evil 
 Genius, clothed in garments as black as his own 
 horrible face. " That you shall know at once. You 
 shall answer my riddles, and I will answer yours 
 the first who fails to give an answer within the time 
 that the Prince counts ten, shall acknowledge him- 
 self beaten. If I fail, the Prince wins his Princess ; 
 if you fail, he loses her." 
 
 "Begin at once," said the good Genius. 
 
 Then said the evil Genius, 
 
 " What living thing is that, which grows with a 
 root, but has no trunk, branches, or leaves ?" 
 
 The good Genius waited a moment or two, and 
 Ubbely Bubble began slowly to count, one two 
 three -four jive, as slowly as he could : then the 
 Genius gave the answer A HAIR. 
 
 The Prince clapped his hands, and shouted, 
 " Huzza ! one to us. Now, good Genius, for your 
 first riddle let it be a hard one, I pray you." 
 
 " What is that which once filled can never be
 
 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. 2Q 
 
 emptied, though all the world may take all that it 
 contains?" 
 
 Ubbely Bubble began to count as fast as possible, 
 one-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight-nine, but before 
 he could say ten the evil Genius was ready with the 
 answer A BOOK. 
 
 Ubbely Bubble looked sad, and waited to hear 
 the next question from, his enemy: 
 
 " What is that which one person cannot make 
 perfect, and ceases to exist as soon as it is complete?" 
 
 One two three four jive six seven eight 
 nine, and out came the answer just in time A 
 KISS. 
 
 "Now, good Genius, for a good riddle; I'm sure 
 you'll win," said poor Ubbely Bubble. 
 
 After a little thought the good Genius said, 
 
 " Answer, my enemy, which of us two will win 
 the trial?" 
 
 One-two-three- four-five-six-seven-eight-nine-T^VN, as 
 fast as possible, and Ubbely Bubble was safe. 
 
 The evil Genius hung his head, and vanished. 
 
 Ubbely Bubble, thanking his good Genius, who 
 smiled upon him, started off as fast as he could go
 
 30 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. 
 
 in a straight line for the place where the sun goes 
 down travelled his usual distance, and went to 
 sleep. 
 
 In the morning he was awakened by hearing 
 sweet voices singing, 
 
 " Alley-boo, Alley-boo, 
 
 What shall wo do ? 
 The Prince is sleeping, although it is light : 
 
 If singing won't wake him, 
 
 We'll take him and shake him, 
 And then we shall make him wake up in a fright. 
 
 There's nothing but trouble, 
 
 For Ubbely Bubble, 
 Nothing but trouble, from morning till night." 
 
 Ubbely Bubble did not require calling twice, but 
 opened his eyes wide, and saw a number of lovely 
 young women, who beckoned to him, and pointed 
 to a beautiful gate of white marble with four 
 divisions. On the first was written, 
 
 " If Earth you do not fear, 
 You soon shall enter here." 
 
 On the second were these words,
 
 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. 3 1 
 
 "Let no other dare, 
 Than he who fears not Air." 
 
 On the third was written, 
 
 " Beware my dreadful ire, 
 If you're afraid of Fire." 
 
 And on the fourth these words appeared, 
 
 " He takes the King's own daughter, 
 Who has no dread of Water." 
 
 " Well, I am free of the Elements, so I have 
 nothing to fear ! " So saying, the Prince pushed at 
 the gate, which opened, and admitted him to a 
 garden full of the most exquisite flowers, which 
 scented the air with various sweet odours. The 
 young maidens tripped on before him, and led the 
 way to a golden grotto in the centre of the garden, 
 the entrance to which was stopped by a wicket 
 fast locked. The Prince examined the lock, and 
 saw these words written upon it, 
 
 " Monolog, Monolog, almost dumb., 
 Say one word, and in you come ! "
 
 32 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. 
 
 " Oh ! " thought the Prince, " that means Hum !" 
 
 So he said " Hum !" and the wicket was opened 
 by whom do you think ? Why, by the Princess 
 Alley-boo herself, who walked straight up to him 
 and gave him a kiss. The Prince gave her another, 
 and was delighted to see that Alley-boo was hand- 
 some and good-tempered. lie told her all about 
 his journey, and the wonderful adventures he had 
 had, which interested her very much. She told 
 him how the good Genius had taken care of her 
 ever since she had been a child, and had promised 
 her a handsome young Prince for a husband. 
 
 You may be sure they had a good deal to talk about, 
 but they lost no time in starting for the country 
 where the Prince's father was king. They rode 
 back in fine style, each on a grand horse with velvet 
 trappings, while the lovely maidens followed behind; 
 and the marriage was arranged for the day after 
 their return. 
 
 The King and Queen were very pleased with 
 their new daughter Alley-boo, and invited all the 
 world to the wedding. Earth, Air, Fire, and 
 AVater were there, and so was the commanding frog
 
 PRINCE UBBELY BUBBLE. 33 
 
 on his white rat. The good Genius gave away the 
 bride, who looked more charming than red and 
 white roses, so the people said ; and all the nation 
 rejoiced because Ubbely Bubble had found so good 
 a wife.
 
 THE OLD FLY AND THE YOUNG FLY. 
 
 UPON A TIME, there was an old fly of great 
 wisdom and experience, who had lived so long 
 that he had quite forgotten when he was born. This 
 old fly had been well educated by his parents, (a 
 highly respectable couple of old blue-bottles, who 
 had been dead some time previous to the date of 
 my story,) an/1 as he had spent all his life in the 
 pursuit of knowledge he was very much looked up 
 to by other flies. Any one may learn a great deal 
 that is useful in a single lifetime ; but this old fly of 
 whom 1 am speaking, had lived through two whole 
 summers. The gentleman in whose house he lived, 
 had kept very warm fires burning all through the 
 days and some of the nights of winter, and the 
 consequence was, that the fly, who would have died 
 if he had felt the cold, woke up one fine morning
 
 THE OLD FLY AND THE YOUNG FLY. 35 
 
 in spring, after a sleep of nearly five months, as 
 strong and healthy as ever. It is true that at first 
 he felt so drowsy and foolish that he nearly tum- 
 bled off the edge of the red curtain in which he had 
 been snugly tucked up ; but as soon as the stiffness 
 in the joints of his wings and legs had gone off, he 
 was really as well as before his long sleep. When 
 the days became warmer, and the sun shone more 
 brightly, other little flies began to appear ; and as 
 these poor things were young and inexperienced in 
 the ways of the world, the old fly would often 
 teach them how to escape the many dangers they 
 were likely to meet with. Many a young fly soon 
 knew all the horrors connected with a jug of milk, 
 and learnt to avoid sipping cream as a good boy 
 avoids doing wrong, remembering the dreadful tales 
 the old fly used to tell, of whole families being 
 destroyed in a single hour by one bowl of new 
 milk in the dairy. Who knew better than the old fly 
 where the fiercest and ugliest spiders dwelt ? and 
 who had had more narrow escapes than the old fly 
 himself ? So no one's opinion was better worth hav- 
 ing than his, especially on the subject of spiders.
 
 30 THE OLD FLY AN1> Till: YUUXG I'LY. 
 
 But I am sorry to say tliat some of the younger 
 flies v.ere very thomjhtless, and would go near the 
 webs ; so it is not to be -wondered at, that .some- 
 times when they \vcre chasing each other about 1 1n- 
 comers of the room, one or two of tln-m li-ll victims 
 to their carelessness, and were caught by llic spider-;. 
 
 One morning tlic old fly was resting on the - 
 of a window i'raine, \\hcn a young lly came to him 
 and said, 
 
 "Good day to you, Blue -Bottle! thi- room is | 
 small and very hot; let us fly out into the open air, 
 and see what we shall sec." 
 
 "Why, you looli-h young fly," said the old one, 
 "how are we to get through thisgluss window? ami 
 how should we find our way back again, if we could 
 go?" 
 
 " All !" said the young one, "you call me fnoli-h, 
 but you evidently don't understand what I mean. 
 I know as well as you do, that we can't get through 
 the ;dass window, l>ut we can go thr< nh the beauti- 
 ful golden door, and flyover that green field, p :) t 
 tin: "Id man and woman talking outside the cottage, 
 And so on to the blue mountains in the distance."
 
 THE OLD FLY AND THE YOUNG FLY. 37 
 
 " Sir," said the old fly, in a severe tone of voice, 
 for he was really angry with the young fly, " learn 
 to respect your elders know that that which you 
 call a golden doorway, I call a picture frame, and 
 the mountains are only blue paint." 
 
 " Oh ! indeed, that's very likely : a mountain 
 must be a mountain, and can't be anything else ; 
 perhaps you will say the old woman and man talk- 
 ing together are paint as well." 
 
 " Yes, my young friend, the gentleman in whose 
 house we live is a painter, and that is one of his 
 pictures. The mountains, the man and woman, 
 the green field, and the cottage, are all paint." 
 
 "Now I know you are not speaking the truth," 
 said the young fly; "for I can see smoke coming out 
 of the cottage chimney. You are only trying to 
 frighten me, and I shall be off to the mountains." 
 
 So saying, the young fly just rubbed his eyes and 
 wings two or three times with his front legs, as you 
 have often seen flies do, jumped off the window 
 frame, and flew straight for the blue mountains. 
 Alas ! alas ! that I should have to tell it, two of his 
 legs and one wing were caught in the wet paint, and
 
 38 THE OLD FLY AND THE YOUNG FLY. 
 
 there he remained till the painter returned to look 
 at his picture, who, taking him off with his palette 
 knife, soon put an end to his misery. As for the 
 old fly, he cried all night, and ate scarcely any food 
 for several days after.
 
 Till: KNIGHT AND THE DAMK.
 
 BLANCHE OF CRAIGENHAME. 
 
 UPON A TIME, the young knight Sir Ralph, 
 tired with hunting, sat down to rest beside a 
 running stream ; his dog Roy was as fatigued as his 
 master, and lay beside him wagging his tail, partly 
 to show how pleased he was, and partly to frighten 
 away the flies. They were just dozing off to sleep 
 the pair of them when an old woman, with long 
 white hair which almost hid her face, came to the 
 stream to fill her pitcher ; but the banks were steep, 
 and she could not reach the water. Sir Ralph 
 jumped up and helped her, for which she was very 
 thankful, and asked the young knight if he had a 
 wife. 
 
 '' If you are not married," she said, " I think I can 
 tell you of a nice young lady with plenty of money, 
 who would very likely have you."
 
 4O BLANCHE OF CRA IGHENHA ME. 
 
 " Thank } r ou," replied the knight ; " but money 
 goes for nothing unless she is beautiful." 
 
 " Oh, she is beautiful, I am told, and so I believe, 
 although I have never seen her myself." 
 
 " So she is young, rich, and beautiful. But is she 
 good ? " asked Sir Ralph. 
 
 " Folks do say she is, and I know that she wishes 
 to find a good husband, for to-night she holds high 
 festival at Castle Craighenhame ; and knights of all 
 degrees will be there to try and win her love. Do 
 you please go there, put on a bold face, and woo the 
 Lady Blanche with the best of them." 
 
 " I will go to see the festival," said Sir Ralph; " but 
 I will not promise to woo or to wed." 
 
 The woman left the river, and Sir Ralph and his 
 dog dozed off to sleep for the rest of the afternoon. 
 
 In the evening-time, Sir Ralph, true to his pro- 
 mise, went to the castle, and joined a crowd of 
 knights who were going the same road. As they 
 reached the outer walls they beheld the old woman 
 with the pitcher seated near the gate, asking for 
 charity. Sir Ralph gave her a golden coin from 
 his purse, but the others passed her by with a care-
 
 BLANCHE' OF C R A I G H E NHA ME . 4 1 
 
 less glance as they marched into the great hall of 
 the castle, where stood the golden chair of the Lady 
 Blanche. 
 
 For some time the gentlemen waited, and were 
 getting almost tired of standing; but when at last 
 the Lady Blanche took her place on the golden 
 chair, there was a shout of admiration from all. 
 The lady bowed, and bidding them welcome, said 
 that she would hear their suits one by one, and that 
 the bravest knight should first be heard. 
 
 No sooner had she spoken the words, than such 
 a clamour of tongues arose that not one voice could 
 be heard; for each knight thought himself the 
 bravest. 
 
 " Gentlemen, gentlemen," called out the Lady 
 Blanche, " you are all so brave that I know not how 
 to choose ; but if you will wait a while, I will send 
 hither an ancient friend of mine, who will judge for 
 me." 
 
 Saying this, she left her seat, and went from the 
 hall. Soon there entered the old woman who had 
 been begging at the gate, and she seated herself on 
 the golden chair.
 
 4 2 BLANCHE OF CRA IGHENHA ME. 
 
 " Sir Knight of the golden coin," exclaimed the 
 ancient dame, "you shall have the Lady Blanche 
 you, and no other. Come to the front, and stand 
 beside this chair." 
 
 No one moved, and some one cried out, " There 
 is no Knight of the golden coin." 
 
 "Oh, but there is," said the old woman. "The 
 knight who gave me the golden coin as you all 
 entered to the castle, he is the one." 
 
 Sir Ralph knew that he was the one selected, 
 and stepped to the front, but did not stand beside 
 the chair. Said he to the old woman, 
 
 " I would wed the Lady Blanche ; but first I 
 must win her, and I am afraid she may not care 
 to have me." 
 
 Then the old woman raised the thick white hair 
 that hung about her face, and looking at the knights, 
 spoke thus, 
 
 " Should any knight 
 
 Dispute my right 
 
 To judge as I have done, 
 
 To him I state 
 
 That the dame at the gate, 
 
 And the Lady Blanche, are one."
 
 BLANCHE OF CRA IGHENH A ME . 43 
 
 Hereupon she threw off her ragged attire and 
 her false white hair, and the Lady Blanche stood 
 before them in her beautiful dress. Then turning 
 to Sir Ralph, she took him by the hand with these 
 
 words, 
 
 " Good deeds are like good seeds, 
 
 All planted in the ground : 
 Keep them only clear of weeds, 
 A harvest will be found." 
 
 " Sir Ralph of the golden coin, you have wooed 
 and won me ; if you will have me, I am yours for 
 life." 
 
 It is almost needless to add, that the young 
 people were married, and lived very happily 
 together. Sir Ralph's dog Roy was so pleased on 
 the wedding day that he wagged his tail right off.
 
 THE COBBLER'S SON. 
 
 UPON A TIME, there was a poor cobbler who 
 worked from morning till night, and yet could 
 never earn money enough to put by anything to 
 provide for his old age. There was plenty to do, 
 and so there had been for years, but still he was as 
 poor as on the day he started to work for himself. 
 Then he was upright and strong in the legs ; now 
 his back was bent from always leaning over his 
 lapstone, and he was too tired with stitching and 
 hammering to care for walking when evening came. 
 Thus it was that he sat and grumbled at his hard 
 lot, till his wife and his son Oscar were tired of 
 listening to him. 
 
 One evening the boy said to his father, "To- 
 morrow, you know, is my birth-day ; you say I 
 shall be twelve years old, father, and then I may 
 help you to work."
 
 THE COBBLER'S SON. 45 
 
 " Yes, my boy, you shall learn to help me to 
 work. I'll teach you first of all how to close two 
 pieces of leather between the clams, and I'll show 
 you how to make a thread, and fix the bristles." 
 
 "Oh, dear me, father, I'd rather not do that; I 
 don't want to work with my hands, I'd rather work 
 with my head ; that is sure to pay the best." 
 
 " Pooh ! pooh ! Nonsense, boy," said his father ; 
 " how can a cobbler work with his head ? You 
 can't mend shoes by looking at them." 
 
 " No, father, that's true enough ; but you can 
 earn money in other ways besides patching those 
 old worn-out things ; and you'd have earned more 
 money at that, if you had thought a little more, and 
 worked a little less." 
 
 " Well, wife," said the cobbler, " here's a pretty 
 state of things. My own son tells me what I ought 
 to do. This comes of sending the lad to school. 
 His learning has made him too proud to follow his 
 father's trade." 
 
 "Hear the lad out," his wife quietly answered; 
 " there's no denying that learning is a wonderful 
 thing."
 
 40 THE COBBLER'S SON. 
 
 "Well, well, wife, there's no harm in hearing 
 what the young whipper-snapper has to say. Now, 
 my lad, how am I to work less, and yet earn more 
 money ? " 
 
 " By doing just what I shall tell you ; and if 
 you'll only trust to me, father, we'll have a fine 
 shop by this day month, and you shall be able to 
 take a week's holiday whenever you please. Now, 
 mother and father, good night, for we must all be 
 up betimes to-morrow." 
 
 In the morning, Oscar said to his father, " How 
 much money have you in the house?" 
 
 " Only one silver coin, and that's to buy leather." 
 
 "But, father, you have two gold coins ; I saw 
 them yesterday." 
 
 "Ay, lad; but they are to pay the rent next 
 week. You know the three m6nths' rent must be 
 paid, or we shall all have to turn out." 
 
 " Oh, never mind the rent, father ; give the gold 
 coins to me. You shall have money enough next 
 week. Give me the silver coin as well." 
 
 " What would you do with the money, lad, if I 
 were to give it to you ? Not that it's likely."
 
 THE COBBLER'S SON. 47 
 
 "Buy leather with it," said Oscar, " leather with 
 the two gold coins, and with the silver coin I would 
 pay Gruff to bring it home in his cart." 
 
 "There's an extravagant young rascal for you I" 
 said the cobbler to his wife. " He'd ruin us in a 
 week. Why, I've carried my own leather all my 
 life, and the very first day this boy wants to hire a 
 horse and cart ! " 
 
 " Not because I'm too lazy to carry the leather 
 myself, father, but because I like to work with my 
 head whenever it pays. better than working with the 
 hands. You trust me, father; the silver coin won't 
 be wasted. Gruff will do the work he's paid for, 
 and other work besides." 
 
 " Yes ; old Gruff will do the work he's paid for, 
 but nothing else, except talking, of which, I confess, 
 he is never tired." 
 
 " Husband," said the cobbler's wife, " let us try 
 what the boy can do ; we shall have the leather for 
 our money, at any rate, so it will not be all loss." 
 
 "That's true, wife; I should have seen that if I 
 had thought a bit." 
 
 So the end of all this talk was that the gold and
 
 4 THE COBBLER'S SON. 
 
 silver coins were handed over to Oscar, who at once 
 went in search of old Gruff, and engaged him to go 
 to the next town to carry home the leather in his 
 cart. 
 
 On the road home, young Oscar said to Gruff, 
 "I suppose you have not heard that father has 
 taken me to learn the trade." 
 
 "No, I haven't," said Gruff, " and it isn't such a 
 wonderful piece of news, after all. Haven't you 
 something better than that to tell ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, if you care to hear it about all this 
 leather we just bought." 
 
 "Well," replied Gruff, " I wondered what your 
 father is going to do with all that leather." 
 
 " Why, Gruff, it is all to make one pair of boots." 
 
 " Well ! now I am surprised, for I always thought 
 you spoke the truth." 
 
 " And so I do, Gruff. All the leather will be 
 used for one pair of boots. Of course they will be 
 a large pair. I shall help to make them ; and 
 while I think of it, please don't tell every one what 
 we are going to do. Any particular friend you 
 may tell, of course."
 
 THE COBBLER'S SON. 49 
 
 " Why, the boots will be large enough for a 
 giant." 
 
 " That's just the truth," said Oscar ; " but please 
 don't tell every one." 
 
 " All right," said Gruff ; "here we are at home. 
 Your father's at work, I see. Good-bye, and thank 
 you for the job." 
 
 So Gruff departed, and soon spread all over the 
 village that the cobbler was going to make a pair of 
 boots for a giant, and that it was a great secret, 
 which no one was to know. This being the case, 
 every one ran about to tell every one else, and by 
 the next evening it was known for fifty miles round. 
 Oscar asked his father to begin at once on the large 
 pair of boots, and as he had promised his wife to do 
 as the boy wished, they soon made a beginning. 
 They had not been at work many hours when there 
 was a knock at the door. 
 
 " There," said Oscar, " that's the silver coin ; it's 
 come back with two or three more in its company." 
 
 He opened the door, and let in the village barber, 
 who brought a pair of boots to be mended. 
 
 " Why, neighbour," said the cobbler, " you never
 
 5O THE COBBLER'S SON, 
 
 gave me a job before. I thought you always sent 
 your boots to the town to be mended." 
 
 "Yes, neighbour; but you see I didn't come al- 
 together about the boots, but to hear of this large 
 pair you are making for the giant; I want to know 
 all about it." 
 
 "All I can tell you, neighbour, is that the boots 
 are to be made, and will fit a giant. You see this 
 <;halk line on the floor, that's the measure." 
 
 " Well, but when shall I be able to see the boots ? " 
 asked the barber. 
 
 "Oh, in about a week," said Oscar; "but please 
 don't tell every one about what you have heard." 
 
 "Very well," said the barber; who went away 
 and told all his customers that it must be true about 
 the giant's boots, as he had seen the measure of his 
 foot. 
 
 Soon after the barber had left, there was another 
 knock at the door, and the village tailor brought a 
 pair of boots to be mended. 
 
 " I hear," said he, " that you are making a pair 
 of boots for a giant, and I see it's true, if that is the 
 sole."
 
 THE COBBLER'S SON. 5 l 
 
 " That is the sole of one of the large boots which 
 I am making, and I hope they will be a good pair ; 
 but please don't tell every one what you have 
 
 seen." 
 
 " Good day," said the tailor; " I only wish you 
 would recommend me to make coats for him." 
 
 Oscar and his father had scarcely gone to work 
 again, when there was another knock at the door. 
 This time the baker came with a pair of shoes to be 
 mended, and to hear all about the giant's boots. He 
 asked the cobbler to recommend the giant to buy 
 bread at his shop, and went away; but he had 
 hardly left the room, when the doctor called with a 
 pair of riding boots, and as many questions as any 
 of the others : in short, before evening, people came 
 from all parts, and the cobbler had more boots and 
 shoes to mend than he could do in a year. Still he 
 grumbled as he sat over the fire, and said to Oscar, 
 " Well, you certainly have brought the work, lad ; 
 but, as I said before, you can't mend boots and 
 shoes by looking at them." 
 
 " All right, father ; you can be master, and twenty 
 men will soon get through the work for you."
 
 52 THE COBBLER'S SON. 
 
 " Yes, but who's to pay the twenty men ? And 
 why should I let other men get the benefit of my 
 customers ? " 
 
 "Well, father, you can't mend all the boots your- 
 self, and you know that you can make a profit on 
 the men's work. You need not pay till the jobs are 
 finished; when you will get the money. Besides, 
 you forget the giant's boots they must be finished, 
 and they will be quite enough for us to do." 
 
 It was quickly known to the cobblers of other vil- 
 lages that there was plenty of work to be had at 
 the shop of Oscar's father, and soon he had twenty 
 men working for him, and had earned a great deal 
 of money without much labour, which enabled him 
 to give all his time to the giant's boots. Folks came 
 from all parts to see this wonderful pair of boots, 
 and at last the King of the Country sent a man all 
 covered with gold lace and diamonds, to say that he 
 wished to see the cobbler. 
 
 Oscar's father was in a great fright, not only be- 
 cause he feared to speak to a king, but in case His 
 Majesty should ask too many questions about the 
 giant.
 
 THE GIANT BOOTS. 
 
 \Page 52.
 
 THE COBBLER'S SON. 53 
 
 " I'll go, father; never fear: I'll explain every- 
 thing to the King." So said Oscar, and so did Oscar. 
 
 The King told our young workman to confess 
 the truth ; " For," said he, "I cannot think there 
 is a giant among my subjects without my know- 
 ledge ; no man would dare to be a giant without my 
 permission." 
 
 " So please your Majesty," replied Oscar, " this 
 giant, for whom I am making the boots, is as great 
 a giant, and as substantial a giant as any that ever 
 lived." 
 
 " And where does he live ?" demanded the King. 
 
 " In Gruff 's head," said Oscar. 
 
 The King, who liked a clever answer, laughed 
 and patted Oscar on the shoulder. Then he said, 
 " Oscar, this giant who lives in Gruff's head may be 
 useful to me, as he has been to you. I appoint you 
 ' Cobbler to the Royal Family,' (Oscar bowed low,) 
 and, as I have no old boots or shoes to mend, I 
 order you to make me a hundred pairs of boots as 
 large as those you have made for Gruff's giant ; if 
 they are complete in a month's time, you shall be 
 paid a thousand golden coins for them. When you
 
 54 THE COBBLER'S SON. 
 
 send them home, you shall hear what they are 
 wanted for." 
 
 You may imagine the delight of Oscar's father 
 and mother when they heard of the King's com- 
 mand. They knew that their money was safe to be 
 paid them, and cried out, "We are the happiest 
 cobbler's family in the world ; " and of a truth they 
 were not far wrong, for no cobbler ever before had 
 such an order. More workmen were engaged, a 
 large workshop was built, and leather became al- 
 most as precious as gold ; but the grand thing of all 
 was that the boots were completed by the end of 
 the month, and ready to be sent to the King's 
 palace. 
 
 When Oscar called and informed His Majesty 
 the King of the Country, he was paid the money 
 promised, and was then told that the King wished 
 the boots for his new body guard, who were to pro- 
 tect him from the extortion of King Brassymug, 
 who came once a year to borrow a large sum of 
 money, which was never returned. " He has so 
 many soldiers," said the King of the Country, " that 
 I dare not refuse to lend it to him ; but now I have
 
 THE COBBLER'S SON. 55 
 
 my new body guard, I don't think he will dare to 
 ask me. As you know for whom the boots are 
 made, you, Oscar, shall be my Messenger of State, 
 and you can say how large the boots are." 
 
 In a short time news arrived that King Brassy- 
 mug and his soldiers were coming, and Oscar was 
 sent to meet them, dressed as the Messenger of 
 State. Before starting he left certain orders with 
 men who were paid by the King of the Country to 
 do whatever they were told, and felt nearly sure 
 that if his instructions were carried out, they 
 would frighten King Brassynrug. 
 
 Oscar, as Messenger of State, had to wait upon 
 the royal visitor, and as he represented the King of 
 the Country for the time, he could say whatever he 
 pleased. He knew what his royal master most 
 desired, so he commenced by asking Brassymug, as 
 they rode together, if he had heard of the King's 
 new body guard, the giants with red-hot heads. 
 Brassymug had not heard of them, but said he 
 should like to see them. 
 
 " It would be a sad thing for your Majesty if you 
 Avere to catch sight of even one of them," said
 
 5^ THE COBBLER'S SON. 
 
 Oscar; "for any one who sees them is immediately 
 blinded, his eyes are scorched out of his head; 
 and I know that they are so large you cannot help 
 seeing them if you look at them." 
 
 " Then how is it," asked King Brassy mug, " that 
 you are not blinded ? to know they are so large, 
 you must have seen them." 
 
 " Oh, no, your Majesty, I have never seen them, 
 or I should be blind," replied Oscar ; " but I have 
 seen their boots, and can therefore guess their size." 
 
 "And when I see their boots," said King Brassy- 
 mug, " I shall know their size ; till then you will 
 excuse me for doubting your word." 
 
 " Certainly, your Majesty," said Oscar, who 
 laughed in his sleeve, as he saw thick smoke rising 
 from different parts of the woods around the palace 
 of the King of the Country, near to which they were 
 approaching. Why he laughed in his sleeve you 
 will very shortly hear. King Brassymug and his 
 soldiers, attended by Oscar, drew nearer and nearer 
 to the woods. 
 
 " What means all the smoke rising up ? " asked 
 Brassymug; "are the woods on fire ?"
 
 THE COBBLER'S SON. 57 
 
 " It certainly looks as if it were so," said Oscar, 
 and rode on in silence for some minutes ; then turn- 
 ing to the King, he said, 
 
 " I think if your Majesty will look between the 
 branches of the trees, you will guess the cause of 
 the smoke. All those boots sticking out between the 
 stems of the firs belong to the body guard, and 
 their red-hot heads have no doubt set fire to the 
 brushwood. They must be lying down to sleep, or 
 else we should see them towering above the trees. 
 I must really be excused from attending your 
 Majesty any farther ; for if the giants wake, and I 
 see them rise up, I shall be blinded." 
 
 Brassymug called to his soldiers to stop where 
 they were, and look behind them, for fear they 
 should catch sight of the giants' heads ; then turn- 
 ing to Oscar, he said, "Tell your royal master 
 that I do not feel well enough to visit him to-day, 
 and beg his acceptance of this diamond ring as a 
 token of my respect. Thanks for your attendance. 
 1 must lose no time in going back to my own 
 country. I really am not well." 
 
 Brassymug was as good as his word ; for he left
 
 5 THE COBBLER'S SON. 
 
 the country at once,, which so delighted the good 
 King, that he presented Oscar with the diamond 
 ring and a thousand golden coins. 
 
 All that Oscar said to his father was, 
 
 " It is sometimes better to work with the brains 
 rather than with the hands." 
 
 " True," replied his father, " and we will all have 
 a week's holiday, commencing from to-morrow." 
 
 " So we will, father ; and now confess the silver 
 coin was not wasted, for without GrufTs tongue we 
 should have done nothing." 
 
 Of course you have found out that the smoke in 
 the woods came from bonfires lighted by the men 
 paid to do as they were told, and that the boots 
 were placed there by them also.
 
 THE TWO FRIENDS. 
 
 UPON A TIME, there were two friends who 
 vowed to be true to each other, and always to 
 think alike and act alike. They were farmers, and 
 well-to-do in the world. Ben had his farm on the 
 right-hand side of the road, and Stephen had his 
 on the left. 
 
 One evening, the day's work being over, they 
 went for a stroll in the fields together. Said Ben 
 to his friend, 
 
 "Did you remark, Stephen, how red the sun 
 looked to-night as it went down to the right of the 
 church? we shall have a fine day to-morrow." 
 
 " Like enough," said Stephen ; " the sun was red, 
 in truth ; but it went down to the left of the church, 
 not to the right." 
 
 "There you are wrong, Stephen," replied Ben.
 
 6O THE TWO FRIENDS. 
 
 "I am sorry to differ from you, but on such a point 
 as that I must believe my own eyes." 
 
 " Yes, but, Ben, you forget that I have eyes also ; 
 and I distinctly saw the sun go down to the left of 
 the church." 
 
 " Well," said Ben, in reply, " your word is as good 
 as mine; and as we can't both be right and both 
 wrong, we will wait until to-morrow night to decide 
 the question." 
 
 The morrow came, and in the evening the friends 
 met again for their moonlight walk, and both ex- 
 claimed at once, " So you see I was right about the 
 sun." 
 
 This puzzled them very much, and they agreed 
 to go and ask the wise man of the woods which of 
 the two was right. They started at once, and on. 
 the road they met a poor man, weary and footsore. 
 
 " Can you tell us," said Ben, " how far it is to the 
 place where the wise man of the woods lives ?" 
 
 "About an hour's journey," said the poor traveller. 
 
 "And what sort of a man is he ? " asked Ben. 
 
 "Oh 1" answered the poor traveller, "a decent, 
 well-to-do sort of man, in the prime of life, about my
 
 THE TWO FRIENDS. 6l 
 
 own age that is; he is chiefly remarkable for his 
 hospitality and great wisdom." 
 
 " Thank you," said the two friends, and continued 
 their journey; but they had scarcely walked a hun- 
 dred yards, when they met another traveller riding 
 a spirited horse at full gallop. " Let us ask him," said 
 Ben; "perhaps the poor traveller has deceived us." 
 
 " Stop, Sir ! " cried Stephen. " Can you tell us how 
 far it is to the cave of the wise man of the woods?" 
 
 "About a quarter of an hour's journey," said the 
 gay young -traveller, "and I hope you'll think better 
 of him than I do ; for my opinion is that he is a very 
 wretched untidy old man, chiefly remarkable for 
 the length of his beard and his great wisdom." 
 
 So saying, the gay young traveller clapped spurs 
 to his steed, and rode on. 
 
 " Well, well," quoth Ben, " now we are worse off 
 than ever ; one says he is old and wretched, and the 
 other says he is middle-aged and comfortable. But 
 look, how lucky we are ! here comes another tra- 
 veller; we will ask him, and then we shall see whom 
 to believe." 
 
 This time it was a very aged man, apparently of 
 
 4
 
 62 THE TWO FRIENDS. 
 
 great wealth, for his garments were of rich silks 
 embroidered with gold. 
 
 "Reverend Sir," said Stephen, "we wish you to 
 decide two questions for us, the first one being; 
 How far is it to the place where dwells the AVISO 
 man of the woods ?" 
 
 "That is soon answered," said the aged traveller, 
 "sooner than you will reach there, for it is a good 
 two hours' journey ; and now what is your next 
 question ?" 
 
 " \Ve wish to know what sort of a man he is." 
 
 " Well, my sons," replied the aged traveller, " he is 
 quite a young man, chiefly remarkable for his poverty 
 and wisdom." 
 
 "Thank you, Sir," said the farmers, and they 
 travelled onward more puzzled than ever. 
 
 AVlicn they reached the cave, they were received 
 by the wise man, who politely asked them to be 
 seated on the log of a tree which served for a bench, 
 and offered them some coarse bread and a cup of 
 water. 
 
 " Well," thought the two friends, " either of the 
 travellers may be right: his beard and hair are so
 
 THE TWO FRIENDS AND THE WISE MAN OF THE WOODS. 
 
 [Page 62.
 
 THE TWO FRIENDS. 63 
 
 thick and long that it is impossible to judge of his 
 age. He certainly is hospitable, and he must be 
 poor, or he would offer something better than bread 
 and water." 
 
 After they had partaken of the homely meal, the 
 wise man said, " What is your wish, friends ? " 
 
 Ben then said, " AVe wish to know which of us is 
 right. I say the sun goes down to the right of the 
 church, and Stephen says it goes down to the left." 
 
 " Friends," said the wise man, " go you to your 
 homes for this night, and to-morrow you shall 
 know ; but you must then answer me this question : 
 Wliat thing is the most precious in this world ? " 
 
 The friends departed, and had not gone far on 
 their road home, when they met the poor traveller 
 returning, and agreed to ask him the question. 
 
 He did not hesitate a moment when he heard it ; 
 but replied at once, 
 
 " Gold is the most precious thing in this world ; 
 for without it you can do nothing." 
 
 Ben and Stephen agreed that he must be right , 
 and had scarcely gone a hundred yards or so, when 
 the gay young traveller rode towards them, and they
 
 t>4 THE TWO FRIENDS. 
 
 determined to put the same question to him, as they 
 thought two opinions would be better than one. 
 lie considered for a moment, and then answered, 
 
 " Love, I take it, is the most precious ; for without 
 it the world is a desert." 
 
 "True," replied Ben and Stephen, "love is certainly 
 the most precious, and will do wonders without gold." 
 
 They went on, and soon saw the aged traveller, to 
 whom they put the same question. 
 
 " There is but one answer to that," said the old 
 man. " Life is the most precious ; for without it you 
 are nothing." 
 
 " The old man is right, and so we will answer 
 the wise man to-morrow." So saying, the two friends 
 bhook hands, and parted for the night. 
 
 On the next evening they started off for the cave 
 of the wise man, who offered them bread and water 
 as before, and then asked them for the answer to his 
 question. 
 
 " Life," said the two friends, with one voice, " is 
 the most precious in this world." 
 
 "Nay, my friends; for what is life without 
 health ? "
 
 THE TWO FRIENDS. 65 
 
 " Then it must be love," exclaimed the friends. 
 
 " Nor love," returned the wise man ; " for what is 
 love without hope ? " 
 
 "Then it certainly is gold, as we thought at first." 
 
 " Neit-her is it gold ; for what is gold without 
 happiness ? You have not answered my question, so 
 I must teach you. Content is most precious in this 
 world. He wants for nothing, who has content. And 
 now your own question shall not go unanswered. 
 The sun goes down neither to the right of the 
 church, nor to the left of it, but straight behind it. 
 To those who live on the right-hand side of the road, 
 it seems to go down on the right, and to those on 
 the left, it seems to go down on the left. Be therefore 
 content to let the sun go down as it pleaseth."
 
 THE KING OF THE BEASTS. 
 
 UPON A TIME, years and years ago, th< 
 spirit of the great palm tree, \vh<> dwelt in the 
 middle of the jungle of the East, and who ruled the 
 living things of the country, called together all the 
 beasts, and thus addressed them: 
 
 " It is fit that one of you should be king over all 
 others. lean no longer govern you myself; I'm- 
 the trees, the plants, and the flowers occupy all my 
 time. I wish that he who is most suited for the posi - 
 tion shall be king; and to arrive at a decision I 
 hear your separate claims to the throne. 
 and I will listen patiently. 
 
 The monkey first spoke thus, 
 
 "I am fittest to be king, as I can walk upon two 
 legs, and have hands to hold the sceptre; I am also 
 n shape nearer to man than any other animal."
 
 THE KING OF THE BEASTS. 67 
 
 Said the elephant, 
 
 " I opine that I should be elected king, because, 
 from my wisdom and gigantic size, I can best up- 
 hold the dignity of the throne." 
 
 Then spoke the horse, 
 
 " I am bright of eye, swift of foot, true of cou- 
 rage. Who fitter to be king ? " 
 
 After the horse the dog put in his claim, 
 
 " I am patient, forgiving, affectionate, brave, and 
 true-hearted; what more can you wish in your 
 king ? " 
 
 Then the tiger growled, gnashed his teeth, and 
 howled, and said, 
 
 " I am fittest to be king ; all the other beasts fear 
 mo, and will obey my rule." 
 
 Then grunted the rhinoceros, 
 
 "I for one dispute your right to the throne; for 
 my hide is so thick that I should never fear you, or 
 any other traitor : so I am the best fitted to be king." 
 
 After him spoke the beaver, 
 
 " I build, I navigate, and change the course of 
 rivers. In the summer I think of the winter; and 
 with me for the king all would go well."
 
 68 THE KING OF THE BEASTS. 
 
 Then the wolf thus asserted his right, 
 
 " I am always on my guard. I can smell my 
 
 way in the dark. I never tire in my pursuit. I 
 
 should be king." 
 
 Then the little mouse squeaked out, 
 
 "If you will only make me king, I shall cost very 
 
 little to ki vj>. not above a penny a-week, a-week, 
 
 a-week, a-week." 
 
 After the mouse the giraffe, coming forward, 
 
 spoke thus, 
 
 " My figure fits me best for the throne ; nature 
 
 made me tall, that I might be able to see over all 
 
 other beasts." 
 
 The camel followed the giraffe with these words, 
 " I think I should be king, because I can endure 
 
 thirst and hunger better than other beasts, and in 
 
 times of famine and drought there would be little 
 
 danger of the state being left without a ruler." 
 The ass kicked up his heels, brayed, and said, 
 " Look at my ears, and listen to my voice, arc 
 
 they not both of the finest? no other animal can 
 
 compare to me in these respects. I certainly ought 
 
 to be king."
 
 THE KING OF THE BEASTS. 9 
 
 The leopard spoke after the ass, 
 
 " My claim to the throne is that I have all the 
 good qualities of the tiger, but am not so headstrong 
 as he." 
 
 Reynard the fox next came to the front: 
 
 " If I am chosen king," he said, "I will be bound 
 to govern well, as my knowledge of all sorts of 
 artful tricks will enable me to judge fairly in all dis- 
 puted cases ; but I don't care much for the throne." 
 
 Then there was heard a loud roaring, and the 
 lion, who had been standing in dignified silence, 
 walked to the feet of the spirit of the palm tree, 
 and said, "I will be king; I am fittest to be king, 
 because I will be king." 
 
 " Silence all," said the spirit of the palm tree. 
 " Three days of trial shall decide your claims. 
 None of you shall eat or drink for three days ; after 
 that time has passed, I will appear to you again." 
 
 So saying, the spirit vanished, and the beasts 
 could not leave the places in which they stood, for 
 a spell was put upon them. 
 
 For three long days the beasts waited in hunger 
 and thirst, and by the promised time the spirit ap-
 
 7 THE KING OF THE BEASTS. 
 
 peared to them, bearing in his arms food of all 
 kinds, which he placed upon the earth, and bade 
 them eat quietly. The beasts, almost perishing of 
 hunger, rushed to the feast, and at once eagerly 
 devoured what was provided for them; all but the 
 lion, who walked in a stately manner, took his shaiv, 
 and ate it quietly and calmly. 
 
 The spirit of the palm tree called the beasts 
 together once more, and said, 
 
 " The lion shall be the king of the beasts. He 
 is best fitted to govern others, who can best govern 
 himself." 
 
 So the lion was made king, arid has been king 
 ever since.
 
 THE BLACK-BEETLES. 
 
 UPON A TIME, a certain lady's house was 
 overrun by a colony of black-beetles, big and 
 little, but all possessing large appetites for bread 
 and cheese. So much did they eat, that it became 
 necessary to take steps for decreasing their num- 
 ber, and the lady scon made up her mind as to 
 the course she would pursue. Waiting till night- 
 time, when the black-beetles were just thinking of 
 attacking her larder, she took her largest pie- dish, 
 filled it with beer and water sweetened to make 
 it nice, and placed it on the floor, with some little 
 pieces of stick leaning against the edge, like 
 ladders against the side of a house. Now, when 
 the black-beetles smelt the beer, they said to one 
 another, " Here is just what we want a fine feast 
 of something delicious." So five or six dozen of
 
 72 THE BLACK-BEETLES. 
 
 them at once climbed up the little sticks in such a 
 hurry to reach the edge of the dish, that at least 
 thirty of them were pushed into the beer. There 
 they began to sing funny songs as they swam about, 
 never thinking at all of how they should get out 
 again; and they seemed so happy, and praisi-d the 
 sweetness of the beer so much, that a number of 
 the others jumped in with them, and by the iu-\t 
 morning more than a hundred of them were 
 drowned 
 
 There was a great uproar among the colony ot 
 black-beetles; they held a public meeting under tlu- 
 fire-grate, and formed a sort of society, each of them 
 agreeing not to go near the dangerous pie-dish, and 
 for a few nights no more of them were killed. But 
 one of the number, who was old enough to have 
 known better, determined to just go and look at the 
 pie-dish; "For," said he to himself, '-'after all there 
 can be no harm in looking at anything." So he told 
 his wife that he was going to attend a meeting of the 
 anti-pie-dish society under the fire-grate, but went 
 straight to the pie-dish instead, lie climbed up one 
 of the sticks, and stood for some time sniffing the
 
 THE BLACK-BEETLES. 73 
 
 delicious fames ; presently he thought of what his 
 dead friends had said in praise of the beer, and he 
 resolved to taste it. He leant over gently, hanging 
 by one of his hind legs, by which means he could 
 just reach the liquid with his mouth; he took one 
 long sip, then another and another, till he began 
 to feel rather unsteady. Just as he was thinking 
 about one more sip, he remembered his promise not 
 to go to the pie-dish, and pulling himself up by his 
 legs, he managed to roll home to his lodgings under 
 the pantry floor, where he slept very soundly till 
 morning. Next evening, remembering the beer, he 
 thought, "It was very good of me to come away so 
 soon last night ; it shows I have great self-command. 
 I think I ought to go again, if only to prove to my- 
 self that I can do twice, what I have done once. 
 Nothing in moderation can hurt one." 
 
 For several nights the miserable black-beetle con- 
 tinued to visit the pie-dish on the sly, without say- 
 ing anything about it to his wife ; and one night he 
 had quite made up his mind that that visit should 
 be his last, so he took a good long drink lost his 
 balance tumbled into the beer and was drowned.
 
 74 THE BLACK-BEETLES. 
 
 The next morning his wife, finding he did not re- 
 turn, and fearing for the worst, went to seek him at 
 the pie-dish. When she learnt the sad truth, she 
 jumped in after her unworthy husband, and died a 
 victim to cxccati of ailcctiuii and beer.
 
 THE GREAT GENERAL. 
 
 UPON A TIME, the people of a certain nation 
 were very much troubled by wars with other 
 countries ; all their spare money was spent in buy- 
 ing guns and swords, clothes and food, for the army 
 of soldiers who fought for them. Things could not 
 continue in this state for long, without causing a 
 great deal of distress among the poorer class of 
 people, who would much rather have had peace 
 and quiet, especially as it would cost nothing ; they 
 therefore petitioned the Prince of the nation to put 
 a stop to the wars as soon as possible. 
 
 " Very well, my good people," replied the Prince; 
 "but who is to do it?" 
 
 u General Macwiddlewaddle" cried out the people, 
 with one voice. " He is the man to fight for this 
 nation."
 
 76 THE GREAT GENERAL. 
 
 So the general was sent for, and ordered to fight a 
 few successful battles as soon as he could. The 
 general was glad of the chance of showing how well 
 he could lead the army ; and as the soldiers certainly 
 fought better when he was at their head, the nation 
 v, as soon at peace. 
 
 " The general must certainly have a statue erected 
 to him," said the Prince of the country, and j>o >ai<I 
 the people; but the statue was never erected, and 
 no one thought any more about it. 
 
 Years and years afterwards, when the general 
 was getting to be quite an old man, fresh wars broke 
 out, and no one could lead the soldiers to battle 
 without being beaten. Some one thought of the 
 great General Macwiddlewaddle ; and after a little 
 trouble he was found living in a small room over a 
 stable, with scarcely enough food to keep him alive. 
 
 "Will you fight our battles for us, General?" 
 said the people. 
 
 " What will you give me if I do ?" said the old 
 soldier. 
 
 "We will certainly give you a statue in the 
 market-place this time, or anything you wish for."
 
 THE GREAT GENERAL. 
 
 [Page 76.
 
 THE GREAT GENERAL. 77 
 
 " I wish for no statue, good people. If you pro- 
 mise to see that I have plenty to eat and drink, as 
 long as I live, and that you will have no other- 
 general but me, I will fight your battles for you, 
 and ask nothing more." 
 
 " Agreed ! agreed ! Macwiddlewaddle for ever ! " 
 cried out the delighted people. 
 
 The general, as I have said, was becoming an old 
 man; in fact, he was quite bent forward with age, 
 but he could still give out the word of command; 
 and soon after he had put on his cocked hat, the 
 wars were at an end, and the country was at peace 
 once more. 
 
 Years passed on ; the general's hair was very thin 
 on his head, just about as many locks as would go 
 to make a good-sized moustache for a young general, 
 but still he was at the head of the army, and still 
 he gave the word of command whenever there was 
 a war.
 
 78 THE GREAT GENERAL. 
 
 More years passed on ; the general's head was 
 quite bald, and he had to be propped up on 
 crutches as he went to battle. Still he was always 
 victorious, because even when he was beaten he 
 never knew it, and would not give in. 
 
 A few more years went by, and the general was 
 not only bald, but also quite blind; he could neither 
 walk upon crutches nor ride his horse, but had to 
 be wheeled about on a wooden stand, with sticks 
 and props tied to his limbs to keep him from tum- 
 bling to pieces. Every day he was sprinkled with 
 strong beef-tea to nourish him, and several servants 
 had nothing else to do besides waiting upon him. 
 Still he gave the word of command in battle. 
 
 "This is better than the statue," thought the 
 general, whenever the serving woman brought the 
 beef- tea pot. 
 
 Anotner year went by, and the general's voice be- 
 came feeble. He could no longer give the word of
 
 THE GREAT GENERAL GOING TO THE WARS. [Page 78.
 
 THE GREAT GENERAL. 79 
 
 command in battle, so he called all his soldiers to- 
 gether, and took leave of them, after which he was 
 wheeled into his tent for the night. When the woman 
 with the beef-tea went as usual at supper-time, the 
 general said to her, 
 
 " Take away the beef-tea pot ; I have no more 
 need for it. Leave me alone." 
 
 In the morning, the colonel of the army entering 
 the tent, saw only a few sticks, a little dust, and a 
 heap of clothes with a cocked hat on the top. Call- 
 ing one of the servants, he said, 
 
 "Please to bring a broom, and sweep away Gene- 
 ral Macwiddlewaddle ; but you can leave his cocked 
 hat, for I think it will fit me." 
 
 The servant said, " Sweep away General Mac- 
 widdlewaddle, Sir ? Yes, Sir I " 
 
 So there was an end of him.
 
 LTLA THE LOVELY. 
 
 UPON A TIME, there lived a poor widow, 
 whose only way of earning her living was to sit 
 spinning yarn from morning till night. She kept a 
 few hives of bees in her garden, and sold the honey 
 they produced for money to pay her rent. The bees 
 made honey from the beautiful flowers which grew 
 iu the garden; and when they had taken from them as 
 much as could be gathered, they would fly for great 
 distances in all directions to the neighbouring gar- 
 dens, and return laden with honey and wax. Every 
 morning before she began her spinning, the widow 
 would go for a short walk in her garden, to get a 
 breath of fresh air and to speak kindly to the bees, 
 who knew her perfectly well, and would allow her 
 to come close to the hives without attempting to 
 sting her.
 
 LILA THE LOVELY. 8l 
 
 At the time of which I am speaking there were 
 many flowers, and the bees were very busy; but 
 when the old woman came out at night to lift the 
 hives while the bees were sleeping, she found that 
 instead of becoming heavier they were getting 
 lighter every day. She was vexed at this, for she 
 had hoped to have been able to save a little money it 
 the hives had yielded well, and now it seemed likely 
 that the rent would not be paid. What could be 
 the cause of the waste ? The bees could not eat 
 it, for they always lay by a store for the winter. 
 The woman determined to watch the hives, and for 
 a whole day she sat looking hard at them, and saw 
 nothing to account for the loss ; but the next morn- 
 ing they were lighter by two or three pounds. So 
 she took a lanthorn, and watched by night, and then 
 indeed she saw something that astonished her. A 
 large, very large snail-shell came from among the 
 lilies, and, to her surprise, she saw inside it, not a 
 snail, but a lovely little girl, crawling on all-fours, 
 and going straight to the bee- hives to help herself 
 to the honey. The bees did not sting her, and 
 after she had had her meal of honey, the little girl
 
 82 LILA THE LOVELY. 
 
 was crawling back to her lilies ; but the widow 
 stood before her with the lanthorn. 
 
 " Who is this that steals my honey ? " she called 
 out. 
 
 The child only smiled at the old woman, for it 
 was too young to speak, and the smile was so swcvt, 
 so innocent and trusting, that the poor widow's 
 tender heart was melted. She took the little thing 
 in her arms, and carrying her within doors, removed 
 the shell from her back, and was delighted to see 
 that the little girl was well formed and nicely 
 enough dressed. 
 
 " You came from the bed of lilies, so I will call 
 you Lila, my sweet little girl. You shall be my 
 child while my own boy is away, and I will work 
 for you and love you as my own. What if I have 
 to spin for an hour longer every day? your smile and 
 your prattle when you learn to talk will repay me 
 for that." 
 
 The child smiled, and jumped towards the old 
 woman's face, as though to kiss her, and frcm that 
 time Lila was the constant care of her new pro- 
 tectress.
 
 LILA THE LOVELY. 83 
 
 Years passed on, and Lila grew to be a beautiful 
 girl, graceful, clever, and good ; her voice was most 
 sweet in its tone, and she could sing as well as any 
 skylark. The widow found that instead of the 
 little wanderer who stole the honey being a trouble 
 and an expense to her, she was a great help ; 
 for Lila could spin finer than the widow, and her 
 fingers were so nimble that she got through an im- 
 mense quantity of work every day, besides singing 
 so beautifully, which made work twice as pleasant. 
 The widow almost forgot her troubles, even the ab- 
 sence of her only boy. He had gone for a sailor 
 about a year before Lila was found in the snail-shell, 
 and from, that time the widow had never heard of 
 him. She seldom talked of him, even to Lila, and 
 when she did it was always a sad day for them. 
 Lila and the widow lived from day to day a quiet 
 peaceful life, waiting in the firm belief that one day 
 Robin the sailor would return to the cottage ; and 
 after years of waiting he did return, a fine, strong 
 young man, as brown as a berry from being exposed 
 to the hot sun. He and his mother knew each 
 other at once, and after the first kissing and crying
 
 84 LILA THE LOVELY. 
 
 was over, the widow laughed at his strong manly 
 voice; it was, she said, the only thing changed since 
 she parted from him. It was a kind voice, for all 
 that it was a strong one, and so thought Lila as she 
 heard him talking to his mother ; she thought him 
 handsome and brave-looking, and I may as well tell 
 you at once, that she was quite prepared to fall in 
 love with him on the moment. Robin was charmed 
 with Lila; and when she sang in the evening, he 
 said he had never heard anything half so sweet. 
 
 After a month or so, it was time for Robin to go 
 to sea again ; but when he tried to fix a day for his 
 starting to seek a ship, he could not bear the idea 
 of leaving Lila, and it was settled that he should 
 on land, and work at a farm to earn his living. 
 Lila promised to be his wife when he could afford 
 to keep her, and, as Robin was strong and willing, 
 he soon found employment, and got on wonderfully 
 well; so well indeed, that in a year's time he was 
 ready to marry, and was as gay and blithe as a full- 
 blown poppy when the sun shines. 
 
 But now came the sadness again to tne 
 widow and her son ; for Lila disappeared from
 
 L1LA THE LOVELY. 85 
 
 the house about a week before the day fixed for 
 the wedding. No one knew how or where she 
 had gone, and poor Kobin was half worn out with 
 wandering in search of her. One more day, and 
 he would give up the search, for a while at any rate. 
 Through the wood he went, looking for his lost 
 love, and half hoping to see her lying or sitting at 
 the foot of some tree; but no, he wandered all 
 day without finding a trace of her, and by sunset 
 he turned to go homewards. The moon arose, 
 casting a bright light on all the upper branches of 
 the trees, stealing between the trunks and stems, 
 gliding up the avenues, and making the flat open 
 places look like sheets of silver water. 
 
 Robin took good care to keep his eyes open, and 
 walk carefully ; for on such a night the fairies were 
 sure to be out and up to their pranks. But all his 
 care was of no use ; for before he knew it he stepped 
 into a fairy ring, and in an instant he was spell- 
 bound. Elves and fairies, imps and goblins, in that 
 moment, all became visible to his e) r es ; their shouts 
 and laughter, their songs, and the pattering of 
 their tiny feet, made together a curious mixture of
 
 &6 LILA THE LOVELY. 
 
 sounds, not very loud, but still each one distinct. 
 The fairies were climbing to the tops of the fox- 
 gloves, and swinging up and down, chasing each 
 other in sport, tumbling from the highest flowers on 
 to the soft mosses, crawling through the little holes 
 which dropping water had made in the stones, 
 chasing the moths and beetles and bats; all was life 
 and movement. Robin saw all this in less time 
 than it has taken me to tell you, and he saw also a 
 very grand procession of fairies, with the King ot 
 fairy-land at the head, coming towards him down 
 the glade. Hundreds of fireflies flew around them, 
 making it almost as light as day, and the birds in 
 their nests each gave a short song as the troop 
 passed on. Round about him they ran, joining 
 hands, and whirling as fast as a catharinc-wheel. 
 The King seated himself on a toadstool, with his 
 courtiers bowing before him, and mightily he seemed 
 to enjoy the fun his elves were having. He smiled at 
 Robin's puzzled look, and after a little time, rui>iiiL r 
 his sceptre as a signal for the sports to cease, he 
 beckoned Robin to advance, which rather doubt- 
 in gly he did.
 
 LILA THE LOVELY. 8j 
 
 " Mortal," said the fairy King, " you have dared 
 to enter our royal wood ; say wherefore your life 
 should not be sacrificed as the penalty of your 
 rashness ! " 
 
 " Take my life, and welcome to it, your Majesty, 
 if you will. I cannot be more wretched than I am 
 already." 
 
 " Plow is that ? " asked the King. 
 
 "I am in love, your Majesty, with one of the most 
 beautiful women on earth." 
 
 " That should not make you miserable," inter- 
 rupted the King; " at least I find that love makes 
 me quite the reverse." 
 
 "But please your Majesty, I have lost my 
 love; she is gone I know not where. It was 
 through seeking for her that I am in this wood 
 to-night." 
 
 " Well, well, mortal," said his Majesty, " I will 
 spare your life if you will give up all thoughts of 
 your love ; otherwise I am afraid I must put you to 
 sleep for at least a hundred years." 
 
 " Pray do so at once, and I shall thank you ; for 
 I cannot be happy without Lila."
 
 LI LA THE LOVELY. 
 
 When Robin had thus answered, the fairy King 
 seemed pleased, and said, 
 
 " Robin, you are true to your love : you shall be 
 free ; for fairies never harm the true and good, al- 
 though we sometimes ten~c them a little. Accept 
 this amulet, which will answer three questions; one 
 of the past, one of the present, and one of the 
 future. Cup-bearer ! bring hither some of the 
 choicest honey-drink, and give to the mortal." 
 
 Atinypage with moth's wings flew up to Robin's 
 mouth, holding an acorn cup containing a ii-\v drops 
 of liquid, which he sipped, and at once felt as light- 
 hearted and gay as before Lila was missing. The 
 fairy King and court then saluted Robin, who bowed 
 in return, and hastened home, bearing with him the 
 fairy's gift. On entering his cottage, the first thing 
 he did was to take a*seat in front of the fire, and 
 examine the amulet. It was a beautiful ruby ring, 
 and Robin sat looking at it a long time before he 
 dared to speak, then he asked the question of the 
 past. 
 
 " Tell me, Amulet, how came Lila in the snail- 
 shell ? "
 
 LILA THE LOVELY. 89 
 
 The ruby in the ring twinkled and glittered in 
 the firelight, while a small voice answered, 
 
 " Lila came in the snail-shell crawling on hands 
 and feet." 
 
 "I could have told you that," thought Robin, but 
 he said nothing for some little time ; then he asked, 
 
 "Where is Lila at this time, O Amulet ? " 
 
 The voice of the ring answered, 
 
 " Where Lila's clothes are, there is Lila." 
 
 " That I could have told also without your help," 
 thought Robin ; but still he was polite to the ring, 
 and asked his last question in a civil tone of voice : 
 
 " When shall I see Lila again ? " 
 
 " When you turn your head," said the amulet. 
 
 Robin looked behind him, and there stood Lila ! 
 She was clothed in rich attire, with a stem of lilies 
 in her hand. 
 
 Poor Robin ! he knew not whether to laugh or to 
 cry. It was certainly Lila, and on that account he 
 might equally do either; but it was Lila the lovely 
 more lovely than ever, and in such a splendid dres?, 
 that he could hardly hope she would care to speak 
 to him, much less to be his wife; therefore it seemed
 
 9 LILA THE LOVELY. 
 
 a fitting occasion to cry. However, before he could 
 do anything of the sort, Lila advanced, placed the 
 stem of lilies in his hand, and said, " Robin, I am 
 yours; the lilies allow it, the fairies forbid it not, so 
 who shall say nay ? From this day I am a woman, 
 as this day, for your sake, I have thrown off all my 
 fairy nature. To-morrow shall be our wedding d:iy." 
 The wedding cake was ready, and had been for 
 some time. Robin, Robin's mother, and Lila, wi-iv 
 all agreed that the marriage should take place, and 
 on the morrow it did take place accordingly. A 
 large slice of cake was sent to the fairy King, and 
 let us hope that he enjoyed it.
 
 CITRUS THE CRUEL MAN. 
 
 UPON A TIME, there was a cruel man named 
 Citrus, whose eyes shone like green diamonds. 
 He was of such a bad nature that he was never 
 happy unless he was ill-treating something or other. 
 He was so very cruel that the Queen of the fairies 
 heard of his doings, and determined to try to make 
 him better natured ; so she dressed herself like an 
 old woman, and went to see cruel old Citrus, taking 
 with her a little puppy. 
 
 " Good morning, Mr. Citrus," said the Queen of 
 the fairies ; " I have heard of you, and have come to 
 see you, and have brought my little dog with me 
 as a present for you; only you must be very kind 
 to him." 
 
 li Oh ! thank you, ma'am," said Citrus. " I'll take 
 such great care of him, I promise you. I am very 
 glad to have such a nice little dog;" and so he
 
 9 2 CITRUS THE CRUEL MAN. 
 
 was, but he meant to be cruel to it that is why 
 he was pleased. 
 
 " Very well then," said the Queen ; " you must 
 keep him nice and warm, and give him plenty to eat 
 every day ; if you do, I will reward you when I 
 come to see you again ; but now, good-bye." 
 
 So saying, she returned to fairy-land. 
 
 " Now, you little wretch," said Citrus, as soon as 
 the fairy had gone, " I promised to keep you warm, 
 so here's the blanket to begin with (showing the 
 puppy a stick) ; this will warm you nicely ; " and the 
 cruel man hit him as hard as he could, again and 
 again. "Now you must have your dinner, little 
 puppy; and I hope you will enjoy it, for you must be 
 hungry after your long walk with the old woman 
 who brought you here. Let me see, I promised to 
 give you more than you can eat, and here it is. 
 This beautiful hard bone without any meat upon 
 it is more than you can eat, so take it ; and now I 
 have kept my word. Your mistress will find that 
 I take great care of you. To-morrow you shall have 
 another nice dinner and another good warming." 
 
 Very early the next morning Citrus went with
 
 CITIU'S AND Till. FAIRY'S DOG.
 
 CITRUS THE CRUEL MAN. 93 
 
 the stick in his hand, and was surprised to see how 
 much bigger the dog had grown during the night ; 
 Citrus did not know that the fairy Queen had given 
 it plenty of food after he had gone inside his house. 
 He was very pleased, and said, 
 
 " So, so, little puppy, you seem to grow wonder- 
 fully. I must really give you twice as much beat- 
 ing to-day, and only half a bone ; perhaps soon I 
 shall be able to beat you all day long, and then 
 I shall be quite happy." 
 
 You see what a cruel man he was. Well, every 
 day for a long time Citrus beat the dog, which 
 grew bigger and bigger, till a year had passed by, 
 and every night the fairy Queen came and fed the 
 poor animal. On the very last day of the year, 
 the cruel old man went in the morning as usual to 
 beat the dog ; but at the first stroke of his stick the 
 animal flew at him, seized him by the throat, and 
 would have very quickly killed him, (for Citrus 
 was too frightened to help himself,) if the Queen 
 of the fairies had not come sailing along just in time 
 to save him. 
 
 " Cruel man ! " said the Queen, "you have ill- 
 
 6
 
 94 CITRUS THE CRUEL MAN. 
 
 treated my dog; it is only right that you should lu> 
 punished for it. For a year and a day you shall 
 hourly suffer as many strokes from the stick as you 
 have given, and you shall never again have enough 
 to eat.'' 
 
 Citrus "was punished by the fairies as the Queen 
 hud commanded ; and although he is not a nice man 
 even now, he never ill-uses any animal, for fear he 
 should have to suffer in the same way. 
 
 I only hope you, my young ivudcT>, will never 
 hurt a poor helpless puppy.
 
 THE FIGURE PUZZLE. 
 
 UPON A TIME, there was a very clever old 
 gentleman, who had a number of little boys 
 locked up in a room together, and every day he 
 would tease them with puzzling questions, of which 
 he had a great number. 
 
 As soon as one was answered, out came another 
 twice as difficult. It was no use saying you didn't 
 know, for then he would give you a book which 
 had a thick cover and a brass lock and key to keep 
 quite safe all the wonderful things inside it, telling 
 you to read and find out for yourself. 
 
 So the little boys who at first knew scarcely any- 
 thing at all, read and read all day long, and learned 
 to answer a great many questions ; but they did not 
 like it. and were not very fond of the clever old
 
 THE FIGURE PUZZLE. 
 
 gentleman, I can tell you. One quest ion he put to 
 them was this. 
 
 HOW MUCH JS 
 
 THREE MORE THAW TWICE 
 
 HALF THIRTEEN AND 
 
 THREE QUARTERS? 
 
 As all the little 1>"Y> were to be kept on bread and 
 water until it was answered, they were in a terrible 
 fright for fear it should not be in the book ; and in 
 trying to find it out they learnt a great number of 
 useful things, and became so clever that when they 
 grew up to be men, all the words they spoke 
 were properly pronounced, and their letters were all 
 very well written, without any blots or mistakes in 
 spelling. Tliis is all I can tell you just at present
 
 THE FIGURE PUZZLE. ^ 
 
 about the little boys, but I daresay you wish to 
 know the answer to the question which was so 
 difficult. This is the secret. Twice half thirteen 
 and three-quarters is the same as once thirteen and 
 three-quarters, and three more than that make 
 sixteen and three-quarters. If the little boys had 
 known this, they would have saved themselves a 
 great deal of trouble, but they would have missed 
 learning all the useful things which they found out 
 while they were seeking for this question, which of 
 course they answered at last.
 
 THE PRIZE. 
 
 UPON A TIME, the Queen of the fairies carno 
 on a visit to the school where the wise old 
 gentleman made the little boys look for answers to 
 his hard questions, and oiTered a prize to the boy 
 who should behave best for one day. It was early in 
 the morning when she called, and for that dav there 
 
 V 
 
 was to be no learning lessons or answering hard 
 questions, but there was to be a whole holiday, and 
 the boys might do just as they pleased. The QIUVM 
 promised to call in the evening, and give the prize 
 herself, but no boy was to touch it in the mean- 
 time, although all might look at it as long as they 
 pleased. The box containing the gift was opened, 
 and, behold, it was a most magnificent cake, with 
 plums and currants as thick together as bees in a 
 hive. A list of the boys' names was written on a
 
 THE PRIZE. 99 
 
 slate, which was placed in front of the cake in the 
 great schoolroom. 
 
 The day passed quickly, as holidays always do, 
 and by evening-time all the boys assembled, each 
 one hoping to receive the prize. 
 
 The Queen of the fairies kept her word ; and as 
 soon as the boys were seated on the forms, she took 
 the slate in her hand, and held it for them to see. 
 
 " Look," said she ; " there were more than two 
 hundred names on the slate this morning, now there 
 are only live. Every boy who has touched the cake 
 has rubbed out his own name, although he does not 
 know it the slate is a magic tablet ; and as there 
 are still five names visible, let the five boys come to 
 the front they shall each have a taste of the cake 
 for their obedience, but only one boy shall, have the 
 richest plum of all." 
 
 The boys took their seats as requested, and the 
 Queen then raised her wand once or twice, uttered 
 a few words, and immediately the five boys stood 
 up. 
 
 " Empty your pockets," said she to Tommy Tid- 
 dler, who was the nearest. His pockets were full
 
 JOO THE PRIZE. 
 
 of apples. " You have been stealing the farmer's 
 apples," said the Queen, " so you may go behind ; 
 Tommy Tiddler, there is no prize for you. Now 
 the next boy.' 
 
 " Ah, Master Muffett, how is your sister ? Does 
 she still sit on a tuffet ? And tell me, what have 
 you been doing all day ? " 
 
 Master MufFett immediately stood on his head, 
 and whistled, saying, " This is what I have been 
 doing, ma'am." 
 
 " And is that all you have done ? " asked the 
 Queen. 
 
 "Yes, ma'am," said Master Muffett. "I did it 
 because it is so very difficult that it must be good." 
 
 " That doesn't follow," replied the Queen. " Take 
 your slice of cake, and sit down. No prize for 
 you." 
 
 Little Jack Horner was the next ; and when he 
 was asked what he had done, he replied, 
 
 " I have starved myself all day long, and, please 
 ma'am, I'm so hungry." 
 
 " Then take your slice of cake, and go to the 
 back form ; there is no prize for you. I can see
 
 THE PRIZE. IOI 
 
 that you are usually a very greedy boy, and that 
 you know it, because you have eaten nothing to-day, 
 when you wish to be good. If you try very hard, 
 you will soon be a better boy." 
 
 " Why, I declare, here is Jack the Giant Killer. 
 I hope you have behaved yourself, Jack, for I am 
 very fond of you." Then the Queen smiled at Jack, 
 and asked what he had been doing. 
 
 11 If you please, ma'am, I've been fast asleep, and 
 dreaming about giants." 
 
 " Then I'm afraid I can't give you the prize, Jack ; 
 but there is a large slice of the cake for you. And 
 now Fortunatus is the last boy; let us hear what he 
 has been doing." 
 
 " I'm very sorry, ma'am," said Fortunatus ; " I 
 quite meant to do something very good to win the 
 prize, but I had no time, for I have been helping 
 Dame Durden to dig her potatoes. All her serving 
 men and serving maids have left her now that she 
 is old and poor, so I was forced to help her, and 
 lose my chance of the prize." 
 
 " Fortunatus is the lucky one," said the Queen of 
 the fairies; "he has done a charitable act without
 
 IO2 THE PRIZE. 
 
 any hope for the reward, so the prize i> his. All 
 the boys knew that Dame Durdcn wants help, but 
 no one except Fortunatus thought of her to-day." 
 
 AVith tlu-.se words, the Queen produced a beau- 
 tiful velvet cap, which she gave to Fortunatus, 
 saying, 
 
 "Take this cap ; whenever you wear it you will 
 be invisible. Use it well, and prosperity attend 
 you. Fare- well, boys." 
 
 You all know the adventures which Fortunatus 
 had with his wonderful cap. Those who do not 
 had better read all about it as soon as possible, if 
 they wish tu be amused.
 
 THE SIX GOBLIN EGGS. 
 
 UPON A TIME (or very soon afterwards), as 
 Rudolph the woodcutter was walking in the 
 forest, he lost his way, and came to a part of the 
 world which he had never before reached. Right 
 in front of him he saw large mountains of black 
 marble, and he felt curious to know how it was, that 
 as they were so very large and so very black, he 
 had never seen them from his own cottage. 
 
 The truth is, that he had strayed by accident into 
 the boundaries of that part of the world which 
 belongs to demons and goblins ; and, as every one 
 knows, nobody can see that from our part of the 
 world. But Rudolph did not know where he was ; 
 so on he went, walking as boldly as a soldier going 
 to the wars. The trees were very thick and close 
 together, with branches twisted into all sorts of ugly
 
 104 THE SIX GOBLIN EGGS. 
 
 shapes, and knots in the bark like great laughing 
 faces. Everything was black the sky, the trees, 
 the rocks and stones, the water in the rivers and 
 springs in fact, everything in this strange country, 
 down to the little mosses which grew between the 
 stones; everything was black as night, and yet 
 Rudolph could see all things distinctly. Not a 
 sound was to be heard, not even his own footfall 
 on the ground ; and once, when he spoke to himself 
 in wonder at the sights he saw, no sound came from 
 his lips ; but everything was so silent that he almost 
 seemed to hear the strange and wonderful stillness. 
 
 As Rudolph walked on, the rocks and stones 
 which stood in his way rolled on one side or the 
 other, and the trees glided out of his path, so as to 
 allow him to pass. Then he looked behind him, 
 for he began to be rather frightened, and thought 
 he had better go back ; but the trees he had just 
 passed all stood close together, and the ugly faces 
 frowned upon him, while the rocks and stones piled 
 themselves up in a great heap, right in the way he 
 would have taken ; so he was forced to put a bold 
 front upon it, and go onwards. After he had walked
 
 THE SIX GOBLIN EGGS. 105 
 
 for a long time, lie came to the top of the black moun- 
 tain, where the air was colder than ice and snow 
 mixed together. Here was one large tree growing, 
 more twisted and ugly than any he had met with ; 
 and as he stood at the foot of it, he saw a hole in 
 the ground, not very large nor very deep, nicely 
 rounded, and shaped quite smoothly. Inside the 
 hole lay six large eggs as white as white is, and 
 seeming to be much whiter, because everything else 
 was so black. He at once made up his mind to 
 take them home with him to hatch, and hoped he 
 would then have some chickens to lay other eggs to 
 sell for money ; so he tied them up in his handker- 
 chief, and took them away with him. He found 
 them very heavy, and now that he had them to 
 carry he did not get on halt so quickly as before ; 
 but he thought of the fine chickens to lay big eggs, 
 and he didn't much mind being tired, so he trudged 
 on without grumbling ; " For," thought he, " as the 
 trees and stones will not let me go back, I must either 
 walk on or stop here for ever." On then he went, 
 and was soon at the foot of the mountain. Every- 
 thing moved out of his way as before ; but if he
 
 IO6 THE SIX GOBLIN EGGS. 
 
 attempted to go back, or even to look behind him, 
 hills, rocks, and trees closed in again. 
 
 He walked on, and on, and on, till suddenly he 
 came to the place from which he started when he 
 lost his way in the morning, and by going straight 
 1 >r \vard he had reached his home again before the 
 clock struck twelve. He at once placed the eggs to 
 hatch in front of the stove, put on plenty of fuel to 
 keep the fire burning, and then went to sleep. As 
 soon as the day broke he was awake and up; and 
 going at once to the stove to see how the eggs were 
 getting on, he found, to his great delight, that they 
 were all cracking, and that something was moving 
 inside each of them. But he was more frightened 
 than pleased, when presently he saw a little leg, the 
 shape of a wee man's, sticking out of one shell, 
 and an arm and a big nose out of another. How- 
 ever, he still stood watching the eggs as they hatched 
 one after another, and did not run away, as I should 
 have done had I been there. Soon another leg 
 came out of the first shell ; and then, to see the eggs 
 jumping about on two legs, must have been good 
 fun.
 
 THE SIX GOBLIN EGGS. 
 
 After a time all the eggs were hatched, and 
 Rudolph then found, that instead of chickens, the 
 eggs had hatched into little goblins, six little goblins. 
 I won't attempt to describe them, but you will see 
 their portraits on another page. 
 
 " Well," thought Rudolph, " here's a fine piece of 
 work! I suppose I shall have nice trouble to keep 
 them in order ; but if I can, I'll make them work 
 lor me and, dear me ! I wonder what they eat. 
 He tried them first with black pudding, then with 
 wine and bread, and afterwards with beer and 
 bacon, in fact, with everything he had in the 
 cottage ; but they would neither eat nor drink 
 anything that was offered to them. They seemed 
 to be very quiet, good little goblins ; and, after the 
 few capers when they first came out of the shells, 
 they all went and sat quietly round the stove, 
 warming their hands and feet, and the tips of their 
 tails, staring very hard at the fire all the time. 
 Rudolph was very pleased to find that they were 
 such nice goblins, and that they did not seem to be 
 at all hungry, and he quite longed for the time 
 when they would be able to help him in the forest.
 
 IO8 THE SIX GOBLIN EGGS. 
 
 Every day they grew stronger and bigger also 
 older, and were very fond of Rudolph, who was 
 kind to them at first. They were so clever in using 
 the axe, and so willing to tie the wood in bundles, 
 that they soon learned to do it faster than tlu-ir 
 master, who, after a day's work, would go home 
 with as much wood as he could sell in a week. 
 Then, they never required any food ; but at night, 
 while Rudolph was in bed, they used to fix them- 
 selves by their tails to the bacon hooks in the 
 kitchen, swing themselves backwards and forwards, 
 and so go to sleep very comfortably, hanging all in 
 a row. If, however, there was a candle or a lamp 
 in the kitchen, they could not get to sleep at all, 
 but would stare at it for hours, with all their great 
 eyes; and it was no use taking it out of the room, 
 for they were after it in an instant, staring and 
 staring at it. They would not do the least bit of 
 work of any sort while they could see a flame, and 
 the only way to stop their staring was to blow out 
 the light at once. Rudolph could teach them to do 
 a great many things by daylight, but he never could 
 teach them to leave off staring at a flame, whether
 
 THE SIX GOBLIN .EGGS. IOQ 
 
 of lamp, candle, or blazing log. If they were in 
 the woods and he lit his pipe, they would stop and 
 stare at the burning match, but as soon as it was 
 out they would go on again with their work. They 
 were never idle at other times ; indeed, they were 
 so industrious that very soon Rudloph became rich 
 enough to buy a horse and cart, to carry his w.ood 
 from the forest to the town where he sold it. They 
 could then go to work in grand style, Rudolph in 
 the cart, and his goblins running three on one side 
 of it and three on the other ; while at night, as they 
 went home, Rudolph would walk with the horse, 
 and the goblins would sit in the cart, all in a row 
 on the top of the bundles of wood. The woodman 
 made so much money that he scarcely knew what 
 to do with it, so he placed it all in a box, where he 
 had hidden all the money he had saved in all his 
 life ; but the more he earned, the more he wanted, 
 and the poor little goblins had scarcely a minute's 
 rest. They would have had to work at night as 
 well as by day, if it had not been too dark in the 
 forest to see without a light. 
 
 Soon, Rudolph began to take with him every 
 
 7
 
 IIO THE SIX GOBLIN EGGS. 
 
 day six whips which he had bought, and he lashed 
 the poor goblins whenever they rested for a single 
 moment. He took six whips, one for each goblin, 
 because he whipped them so often that one would 
 soon have worn out ; and the goblins found that the 
 harder they worked, the more they were expected 
 to do. 
 
 At last they could not bear to be so ill-treated 
 any longer, and determined to do something to 
 it. So one fine morning they tied each 
 other's hands tightly behind their backs, and 
 Kudolph could neither undo the knots nor cut tho 
 strings, although he tried very hard to do so. Of 
 course he could not make them work now, and lie 
 ju-t left them hanging on the bacon hooks until he 
 could think of some way to get rid of them. II 
 smoked his pipe, and sat thinking for two or three 
 days, till at last he invented this capital plan. II,- 
 waited until night-time, and then he lit a large Ian- 
 thorn, which he took into the kitchen, where the 
 goblins were still hanging. They all stared at the 
 liirht as he held it for them to see, and then he 
 
 O ' 
 
 walked out of the room, taking the light with him.
 
 THE SIX GOBLIN EGGS. IU 
 
 In a moment they dropped down off the bacon hooks, 
 one after the other, to follow the light, staring all 
 the way as they went. 
 
 Rudolph knew that so long as he held the light 
 for them to see, so long would they follow it, and 
 off he started for the demon forest, the goblins fol- 
 lowing him, staring as hard as ever. They soon 
 reached the top of the mountain, where the tree 
 grew which had the ugliest faces on it, and where 
 the six eggs had been found. Rudolph hung up the 
 lanthorn to one of the branches, meaning to run 
 away and leave the goblins to stare at the light. 
 But, as soon as the lanthorn was fixed to the tree, 
 Rudolph was fixed also, and do what he would he 
 could not help staring at the light as hard as any of 
 them ; he could not move hand or foot, arid so could 
 not run away, or crawl away either. 
 
 They are all of them there to this day, staring 
 away at the lanthorn, and so they will continue till 
 the candle goes out, and then I'm sure I don't 
 know what will become of them.
 
 THE DRAGON ALL COVERED WITH SPIKES. 
 
 UPON A TIME, there was a beautiful country 
 where the people lived as happily as so many 
 birds in a nest; they never quarrelled among them- 
 selves, and never went to war with other nations. 
 The land in this beautiful country was so fertile that 
 it required no tilling, and the rain came down just 
 whenever it was wunto.l, to moisten the ground and 
 make the seeds grow. One little grain of corn, put 
 into the earth, came up a large plant with a pound's 
 weight of seeds. Great rosy apples, pears, and 
 cherries grew in the hedges, and the blackberries 
 were so plentiful that nobody cared to gather them. 
 There was no such season as winter in this beautiful 
 country; consequently, green-peas, water-cresses, and 
 other luxuries of that kind could be had all the 
 year round.
 
 THE DRAGON ALL COVERED WITH SPIKES. I 13 
 
 The King of the country, from having nothing 
 much to do, except fishing for his amusement, became 
 very idle and careless ; he was at last almost too lazy 
 to eat his dinner. He had been king for several 
 years at the time of which I am speaking, and I 
 must not omit to tell you of what happened on the 
 night of the day on which he wascrowned. 
 
 He was just going off to sleep as comfortably as 
 possible, when the window of the room opened of 
 its own accord, and an old woman came sailing in, 
 seated in a basket of burning wood. 
 
 "O King!" she said, "your country will be pros- 
 perous and happy, so long as you keep the weeds 
 from growing around the back entrance to your 
 palace." 
 
 After these words she twirled her basket three 
 times round, and sailed away in it right through the 
 window. Now the King was rather frightened by 
 what the old woman said, so for a few months he 
 went every morning to see that no weeds were al- 
 lowed to grow; but after a time he trusted the task 
 to his Prime Minister, who was very particular, and 
 went at least once in two days to examine the gar-
 
 I 14 THE DRAGON ALL COVERED U7 . // SPIKES. 
 
 den gate. Soon, he too became careless, and told 
 the head gardener to attend to the busine--, -who in 
 his turn trusted to a young man in his employ. 
 This young fellow, whose name was Bert rand, pro- 
 mised to keep the garden in order, and for sonic years 
 he did so very faithfully; but one day he fell into a 
 trance, and lay in his bed as still as if he were 
 dead. The head gardener, who left his business to 
 other people, because he had so little to do to make 
 the flowers and plants grow, never heard of Ber- 
 t rand's strange sleep, and none of his men thought 
 it worth while to tell him. Of course he fancied the 
 ir.-mleii was neat and orderly, so also did the Prime 
 .Minister and the King: while all the time, numbers 
 of weeds were growing. At first, two or three 
 small leaves came through the crevices between the 
 stones; these by degrees increased in number, and 
 became enormous in size, till at length the road to 
 the palace was completely choked up by a large 
 forest of strange trees and unknown shrubs. 
 
 When the King at last heard of the extraordinary 
 growth of the plants behind his palace, he was very 
 much alarmed for the safety of his kingdom : so he
 
 THE DRAGON ALL COVERED WITH SPIKES. I 15 
 
 took a hundred men, with spades to dig up the trees 
 and plants, and axes and saws to cut them down ; 
 but it was all to no purpose, for when they lopped 
 off a branch, it took root in the earth, and at once 
 became a large tree before their eyes. While the 
 men were at work, great spiders came and spun 
 threads as strong as steel, fastening their spades, saws, 
 and axes to the trees; numbers of owls and bats 
 flew in their faces, and would very soon have blinded 
 them if they had tried to go on with their work. 
 They were obliged to give it up as a bad job; and 
 as they turned to go home, they heard the voice of 
 the old woman calling to them, as she floated about 
 in her flaming basket : 
 
 " In a year and a day, the King shall be either 
 dead or alive." 
 
 Now there was nothing very improbable in this 
 remark, nor was it very alarming ; but the King 
 was scarcely able to speak for fear: he did at last 
 manage to ask the old woman for the meaning of 
 her words, whereupon she said, 
 
 " There is a dragon, my master, who lives in this 
 wood. I am his slave till I die. I shall die to-
 
 I 1 6 THE DRAGOX ALL COVERED WITH SPIKES. 
 
 morrow at daybreak, and he will be hungry, with 
 no one to hunt food for him. He will be a curse 
 or a blessing to this kingdom." So saying, she 
 twirled her basket three times round, and flew away 
 hi it as before. 
 
 At about tlu- middle of the next day, there w;i- 
 heard a noise like thunder, followed by a rumbling 
 of the earth and a shaking of the trees in the forest, 
 while llaine and clouds of smoke filled the' air. 
 
 " THE DRAGON IS COMING ! " shouted every 
 one. " We are lost 1 we are lost I" 
 
 It was too true, the dragon was hungry ; his 
 breakfast had not been provided for him as it 
 usually was by the old woman, and he had come to 
 provide for himself. He was a monster terrible to 
 look upon, and, to judge by the size of his mouth, 
 likely to have a good appetite; his body was two 
 hundred feet long, and not unlike that of a serpent, 
 except that it was thicker near the head, and was 
 covered with long, straight, sharp spik 
 
 The King fell upon his knees, and all the people 
 stood round about with their knees knocking to- 
 gether, and their hair standing on end.
 
 I L
 
 THE DRAGON ALL COVERED WITH SPIKES. I I? 
 
 "I require one hundred dozens of oxen," said the 
 dragon. 
 
 These were immediately provided for him, and 
 were at once swallowed up like so many oysters, 
 after which the monster returned to his home in the 
 woods. On the following day, four hundred dozens 
 of sheep went in the same way; and for many 
 weeks the dragon continued his twelve-o'clock 
 demand for something to eat. At first the King, 
 who was very rich, did not so much mind, and 
 he said to his minister, "Just give the dragon a 
 hundred dozens of oxen, or four hundred dozens of 
 sheep ; and see that he has something every day." 
 But after several months the King found that he 
 was getting poorer, and could not afford to buy 
 any more oxen or sheep; so he made dragon taxes, 
 and every one who lived in his country had to pay 
 each week as much as he could afford. The time 
 came when no one had any more money, or oxen, 
 or sheep to spare, and the King told the Prime 
 Minister to ask the Lead-Pencil-in-waiting to write 
 to the dragon, telling him that there was nothing 
 more for him, so that he had better go to some
 
 n8 
 
 THE DRAGON ALL COVERED WITH SPIKES. 
 
 other country to get his living. But the dragon 
 replied, that he was very comfortable, and that 
 he should not think of going anywhere else; and 
 that they were not to be troubled about the oxen and 
 sheep, as he thought he would like to try a few 
 men and women for a change. 
 
 Terrible to relate, at twelve o'clock the next day 
 he seized upon two hundred poor people, and swal- 
 lowed them whole. Two hundred were eaten by 
 him the following day, and two hundred every day 
 for a long while, till at last the King began to think, 
 " If this goes on much longer, I shall have nobody 
 left to rule over, and perhaps the dragon will even 
 kill me for dinner. 1 ' So he had it proclaimed 
 
 * 
 
 Whoever will kill tho 
 Dragon shall select SOMETHING 
 for a reward, and I will give him 
 whatever he asks for, or forfeit 
 my right to tho crown.
 
 THE DRAGON ALL COVERED WITH SPIKES. HQ 
 
 Every one would have liked the reward, but 
 nobody tried to kill the dragon, although they all 
 knew that before long their turn to be eaten would 
 come in the natural course of events. At last the 
 King became furious because nobody offered to kill 
 the dragon, so he sent for his Prime Minister, and 
 said, 
 
 "It was you who caused this misfortune to me and 
 my country, by not attending to my orders about the 
 garden. It is only fair that you should be punished 
 for it. To-morrow you shall be given to the dragon." 
 
 "Alas! Mighty Sovereign," said the Minister, "1 
 know that I am in fault, but not alone ; if the head 
 gardener had done as I commanded, there would 
 have been nothing wrong." 
 
 " Then he too shall suffer," said the King. 
 
 The head gardener cried out that he had trusted 
 Bertrand. 
 
 "Then send for Bertrand; he shall go to the 
 dragon also," commanded the King; and Bertrand 
 was brought to the palace, still in his slumber. As 
 soon as the King saw him he asked why they did not 
 awake him, and he was answered that they could
 
 I2O THE DRAGON ALL COVERED WITH SPIKES. 
 
 not, for he had slept many many months without 
 waking, and that it was his sleep which had caused 
 the misfortune to the kingdom. 
 
 " Then," said the King, " let him be burnt, just as 
 he is." 
 
 So a large fire was prepared, and Bertrand's b > ly 
 was placed upon the top of it ; but he was not burnt : 
 for so soon as the flames touched him lie awoke, to 
 the surprise of every one. He looked around him, 
 and cried out, " Bring me my spade, and bring me 
 a thousand stonemasons, and a thousand carpenters ! " 
 
 The King asked, "Why?" 
 
 " To kill the dragon," said Bertrand. " I know all 
 about him; for although I have slept for so long, I 
 have been able to hear all that has been said, and I 
 know all that has taken place." 
 
 So the King ordered a thousand stonemasons and 
 a thousand carpenters to be brought, and told them 
 to obey Bertrand as their master. The young gar- 
 dener, taking his spade in his hand, went to the 
 back entrance of the palace garden (through which 
 the dragon always came for his dinner), and dug a 
 large hole right in front of the pathway. He then
 
 THE DRAGON ALL COVERED WITH SPIKES. 121 
 
 ordered the thousand stonemasons each to cut a large 
 stone with a round hole in the centre, and the 
 thousand carpenters each to make the step of a 
 staircase with a round hole in it. When every man 
 had prepared his work, Bertrand told them to build 
 a high tower, with a winding staircase ; and when 
 they had used up all their materials, and could not 
 build any higher, he made a trap-door of solid 
 lead, and fixed it at the top of the stairs. 
 
 The next morning everything was ready, and 
 Bertrand went up to the top of the high tower, all 
 alone. He had not been long up there before he 
 saw the dragon crawling along through the forest, 
 coming for his dinner, and every now and then 
 stopping to polish and sharpen his long spikes. 
 Soon he reached the foot of the tower, and then 
 Bertrand laughed at him, which irritated the 
 dragon so much that he turned from his green 
 colour to a bright red. Bertrand went on laugh- 
 ing so long and so loudly that the dragon could 
 stand it no longer, but crawled up the tower steps, 
 roaring and bawling with a noise as loud as thun- 
 der. When he had reached the top, and just as he
 
 122 THE DRAGON ALL COVERED WITH SPIKES. 
 
 thought he should catch Bertram!, the leaden trap- 
 door was shut in his face; and then it wa.< that the 
 long spikes proved his ruin, for they stuck in the 
 holes of the walls and the stairs, and he wa< caught 
 like a rat hi a trap. Perhaps you think that IVr- 
 trand was caught too, but he was not; for the 
 dragon's spikes stuck out so far through the holes 
 in the walls of the tower, that he climbed down !>y 
 thun to the ground, just as the bear at the Zoologi- 
 cal Gardens gets down his high pole when he has 
 had as many buns as he can eat. Bc-itr.md 
 chopped off the dragon's tail with his spade; and 
 as it fell away from the body, there was heard a 
 yell more shrill than a hundred railway whi-tlcs, 
 and the dragon vanished like a puff of smoke; 
 and so did the forest, the spiders' webs, the owls, 
 and the bats. They all went off bang, and in 
 their place stood all the oxen, all the sheep, 
 and all the people that had been eaten by the 
 dragon. 
 
 "When the King saw what had taken place, he 
 remembered his promise to reward the person who 
 had saved the country; and calling Bertrand to
 
 THE DRAGON ALL COVERED WITH SPIKES. 123 
 
 the palace, lie asked him what thing he would 
 select. 
 
 " I select for my reward nothing; give it to me, 
 or forfeit your right to the crown." 
 
 When the King heard this, he consulted in a 
 whisper with his Prime Minister as to what was to 
 be done, and the Prime Minister's opinion was this : 
 
 "If your Majesty give him nothing, you will not 
 have given him something for a reward, as you pro- 
 mised ; and if you give him something, you will not 
 have given him nothing, which is what he selects: 
 so either way it seems to me that your Majesty 
 will forfeit your right to the crown." 
 
 The King scratched his chin, just like any other 
 person would do if he were puzzled, and said, 
 
 " I think I had better chop off his head ; that 
 will be the simplest way to settle the question." 
 
 " But suppose another dragon were to come," 
 whispered the Prime Minister. 
 
 "True," said the King, "that would be rather 
 awkward. Suppose I create him Knight of the 
 Green Dragon, and pay him a bag of gold every 
 year for keeping the garden free from weeds."
 
 124 THE DRAGON ALL COVERED WITH SPIKES. 
 
 " I accept those terras," said Bertrand, who had 
 heard the last part of the speech. 
 
 The whole country flourished better than ever, 
 and every one attended to his business for fear that 
 another dragon should come.
 
 THE LONG-TAILED NAG. 
 
 UPON A TIME, the King of the Nova No- 
 where Islands was very ill indeed with an attack 
 of the Rosynoseyalia, and this is how it happened. 
 His Majesty had been holding a court where all the 
 great Nova Nowherelanders had assembled to kiss 
 his hand, and everything had taken place just as 
 it should, till towards the end of the day, when a 
 most unfortunate thing happened. Owing to the 
 carelessness of one of the court pages, whose busi- 
 ness it was to guard the great window on the stair- 
 case, a large blue-bottle fly entered the audience 
 chamber, and after buzzing round the room, settled 
 at last on the King's nose. Every one was aston- 
 ished at the boldness of the fly ; but no one dared 
 to look as if he saw it. Now, it was not etiquette 
 for the King to scratch his nose while the court
 
 126 
 
 THE LONG-T AILED NAG. 
 
 was assembled; so he could only shake his head, 
 and screw up his face, of which the blue-bottle 
 took not the slightest notice. 
 
 " Where is the royal fly catcher ? " cried out the 
 King, in a great rage. "He is never in the wax- 
 when he is wanted ! ''' 
 
 Servants were sent to all parts of the palace 
 to find the royal fly catcher, but he was not to be 
 found, and at last it came out that he had gone to 
 hi3 country house, which was ten miles away from 
 the palace. Then the King ordered a trusty 
 messenger to be sent at once on the swiftest horse 
 in the royal stables to fetch the royal fly catcher, 
 with strict orders that Ii3 should bring his fly-traps 
 with him. 
 
 The Master of the Horse was a little time before 
 he could remember which was the swiftest horse in 
 the stables, and kept the messenger waiting nearly 
 half an hour, while he tried the speed of the horses 
 one against the other. At length there was no 
 doubt that the black nag Birdie with the long tail 
 could go faster than all the others ; so the messenger 
 started with whip and spur on the road to the
 
 THE LONG-TAILED NAG. 
 
 country house. Scarce had horse and rider gone 
 half a mile, when the messenger's brother, who 
 lived in a house by the roadside, called on him to 
 stop for a minute, and asked him to carry with 
 him a basket of grapes as a present to the royal 
 fly catcher's wife. Who could refuse such a little 
 favour ? so Birdie was soon on the road again, with 
 grapes on his back, as well as the rider. 
 
 Gallantly they went for another half-mile or so ; 
 then the messenger stopped for a moment at the 
 house of his sister, who was very glad to see him, 
 and gave him a bag of oranges to take home for 
 the children a good large bag, and plenty of fruit 
 in it, but not so very heavy for such a nag as Birdie 
 to carry. On again they went till they arrived at 
 the house of the messenger's father, who was sitting 
 enjoying the sun at his garden gate. Up jumped 
 the old man, and called to his wife, 
 
 "Here is son on a long-tailed nag. Fetch the 
 empty wine pitchers ; he will take them on to the 
 village to fill, and leave them here as he comes 
 back." 
 
 Poor messenger, he could not neglect his father's
 
 128 THE LONG-TAILED NAG. 
 
 request; so Birdie was loaded with the three wine 
 pitchers, and trotted on pretty briskly, considering 
 the weight of everything there was to carry. 
 
 Things might have turned out well, in spite of the 
 delays; but, unfortunately for the messenger, there 
 lived at a house a little distance farther on the road 
 a man to whom he owed a sum of money which he 
 could not pay. As soon as the creditor saw him 
 coming on the long-tailed nag. he called upon him 
 to stop, and said, 
 
 " My wife and children are going to the village ; 
 you must please to help them on the road." 
 
 "But," said the messenger, "my nag is so loaded 
 that I cannot." 
 
 Then replied the hard-dealing man, " You must 
 let them hang on to the nag's tail behind : if not, 
 you shall pay me the money you owe." 
 
 There was no help for it ; so the creditor's fat wife 
 and children all hung on behind, and poor Birdie had 
 hard work to move at all. Thus they went on for a 
 mile, when the rider found that his nag was becom- 
 ing tired; so he threw away first the basket of 
 grapes, then the bag of oranges, and lastly the empty
 
 THE LONG-TAILED NAG. 
 
 wine bottles, to lessen the weight. But the creditor's ; 
 fat wife and the children dragged so heavily that 
 the nag stood still, and would not move. Then the 
 messenger spurred the horse, which made him kick 
 them off; and on again went Birdie like the wind, 
 arriving at the fly catcher's house just as he was 
 sitting down to dinner. The fly-traps were soon 
 baited with sugar, and packed up for the journey, 
 and. by the time they reached the palace the King's 
 nose was as red as a rose ; for the blue-bottle was 
 still walking about on it. The fly-traps were placed 
 in different parts of the audience chamber, and 
 every one waited to see if the blue-bottle would be 
 caught. The smell of the sugar seemed only to make 
 him more lively ; for he crawled about the King's 
 nose more quickly than ever, till at last His Majesty, 
 losing all patience, raised his hand, and knocked my 
 gentleman fly on the floor. Thus it was that the 
 King of the Nova Nowhere Islands became ill with 
 the Rosynoseyalia. 
 
 If the long-tailed nag had not been so overloaded, 
 the fly catcher would have been fetched sooner; 
 and if the page who guarded the staircase window
 
 I3O THE LONG-TAILED NAG. 
 
 had attended to his business, the blue-bottle would 
 r have entered the palace, in which case the 
 King's nose would not have been tickled, and I 
 should never have written this story for you to 
 read.
 
 TOM AND THE OGRE. 
 
 UPON A TIME, there was a little boy called 
 Torn, who was very fond of sugar ; he liked it 
 indeed so much that he never could keep his hands 
 out of the sugar basin. Tom's father was a pastry- 
 cook, and did not object to his having a moderate 
 number of cakes or tarts, which would have satis- 
 fied any but a greedy boy. As a rule, Tom was a 
 very good boy; but his one fault cost him many 
 an illness, and the doctor was constantly in the 
 house to make him well again. He never took 
 warning from experience; but even while he was 
 lying unwell in his bed he could think of nothing 
 but sugar, and would sigh, and say, "Oh, how 
 happy I should be if I could live upon nothing 
 but sugar all my life 1 Only wait till I grow up, and 
 see how much I will eat." Tom's mother and father
 
 J 3 2 TOM AND THE OGRE. 
 
 ordered the doctor to give him the nastiest medicine 
 he could afford for the money ; but it was of no use, 
 for no sooner did he get well than he made an 
 attack upon the sugar basin, and of course was 
 taken ill again. One day, Tom (having just reco- 
 vered from a long sickness, the n-ult ot'liis greedi- 
 ness) was walking in Longstep Lane, catching the 
 bees, to rob them of their honey, as he could not 
 find sugar to >tcal, when he was rather frightem-d 
 by seeing a very large and ugly man, who a>ked him 
 what he was doing. 
 
 Tom told him, and the man called him a foolish 
 
 boy, and promised him sugar every day, as much 
 
 as he could cat, if he would go with him to his 
 
 > at the end of the lane. Tom did not much 
 
 like the look of the man, but his love of sugar 
 
 rcame his dislike, and he went with him. 
 
 The castle was surrounded by a high wall and 
 a broad ditch full of stagnant water, in which grew 
 numbers of long reeds ; there was but one door, to 
 roach which they had to pa<s across a large wooden 
 bridge, and this the ugly man pulled on to the 
 bank when they had cros-ed over.
 
 TOM AND THE OGRE. 133 
 
 " Now, boy, I've got you safe," said the Ogre, 
 for such the ugly man was. 
 
 Then he seized Tom by the skirt of his dress, 
 put him under his arm like a bundle of clothes, 
 and walked into the castle, closing the door after 
 him. Tom was too frightened to kick, and quite 
 shivered with fear when he saw in the room which 
 the Ogre entered, a large gridiron, and a stewpan 
 capable of holding an entire ox ; however he had 
 nothing to fear for the present, as the Ogre simply 
 opened the door of a large empty room, and shut 
 Tom in. He, poor fellow, looked rouul, and saw 
 three or four dozen little boys and girls who 
 appeared to be very miserable and unhappy, 
 although there was a large heap of sugar in the 
 middle of the floor. One of the oldest of the boys 
 came up to Tom, and asked him how long he had 
 been caught. 
 
 " Only just now," said Tom; "and I wish I had 
 never tasted sugar, because then I should not have 
 come with the old man." 
 
 " Ah ! replied the little boy George, " sugar has 
 been the ruin of all of us, and now we get nothing
 
 134 TOM AND THE OGRE. 
 
 else to eat. I wish I had never tasted the nasty stuff." 
 
 "Xasty 1" said Tom ; " you surely don't call sugar 
 nasty." 
 
 " Yes I do," answered George, " and so do all of 
 us, and so will you after you have been here a 
 month or two, with nothing else to eat." 
 
 " But why does the old man give you nothing 
 else to eat ? " asked Tom. 
 
 "Because we shall be all the sweeter when he 
 eats us." 
 
 " Oh dear ! oh dear ! shall we be eaten ? " 
 
 "Yes, Tin afraid so, and the sooner the better; for 
 I'm so tired of eating nothing but sugar, that I don't 
 much care when I am eaten myself." 
 
 " But how do you know that the old man eats 
 little boys and girls ? " asked Tom. 
 
 " Well, we do know it. If you will look through 
 that split panel in the door, you will see a number 
 of big jars on the shelves, with something written 
 upon them." 
 
 Tom looked, and saw the jars. Some were 
 marked BLACKBOY JAM, and others WHITE- 
 BOY JAM. Tom trembled, and looked again.
 
 TOM AND THE OGRE. 135 
 
 " Who is that big little boy going up to the 
 shelves ?" he asked. 
 
 " Is it an ugly big little boy ?" said George. 
 
 " Yes, very ugly, and very big for a little boy," 
 replied Tom in a whisper. 
 
 " Then it must be the Ogre's son, and he's going 
 to steal the jam." 
 
 Sure enough, he was going to steal it; and he 
 placed a chair near the shelf, and mounting on it, 
 opened one of the jars, and began to eat it. 
 
 " Won't he catch it," cried George, " if the Ogre 
 wakes! and it's about his time, for I can smell his 
 beef cooking : he always sleeps for an hour before 
 he eats his dinner, and after dinner he takes a pot 
 of jam." 
 
 " What a greedy man he must be, to eat a whole 
 pot of jam!" 
 
 " Yes ; and you should see the beef he'll eat 
 to-night ; three whole ribs, at least. There ! I told 
 you so. The Ogre has caught his son stealing the 
 jam." 
 
 Tom heard a loud crying,- looked again through 
 the crack in the panel of the door, and saw that the
 
 TOM AND THE OGRE. 
 
 Ogre had got his son across his knee, and was 
 well, any little boy who has been caught stealing the 
 jam will know what took place, so I need not say. 
 
 Torn looked again, and saw that the Ogre was 
 getting ready for his supper. The beef was on the 
 table, and after taking a long drink from a large 
 bottle of beer the Ogre devoured every morsel, and 
 nothing was left but the bones. lie then had a pot 
 of jam, another long drink, and fell fast asleep in 
 his chair. 
 
 "The Ogre seems to be very fond of the beer," 
 said Tom. 
 
 u Yes ; and very fond of the jam ; which is all 
 the worse for us. But we had better have our 
 supper, and go to sleep." 
 
 So all the little boys and girls ate some sugar, 
 and went to sleep. 
 
 Pretty much the same sort of thing took place for 
 the following two or three nights. The Ogre was 
 absent all day, and seldom returned in the evening 
 without one or two little children to lock up in the 
 room. Tom was by this time quite tired of sugar, 
 and would sooner have had a piece of the driest
 
 TOM AND THE OGRE. 137 
 
 bread. Every night the children watched through 
 the crack in the door, and longed for a slice of the 
 beef or bread which the Ogre devoured. One day, 
 Tom, who had been thinking a great deal, called 
 George apart from the others, and said to him, 
 
 " If you will help me, George, I think we shall 
 be able to get some of the beef. To-night, when 
 the Ogre is asleep, we will try and force open the 
 cracked panel in the door : I think it will give way 
 if we and all the others push together." 
 
 The children anxiously awaited the return of the 
 Ogre, who, as usual, put his ribs of beef to roast, 
 and fell asleep while the meat was cooking. 
 
 No sooner did the hissing and spluttering, and the 
 delicious smell of the browning, come to their ears 
 and nostrils, than they pushed with such good will 
 at the cracked panel, that the lower nails gave way 
 to the pressure, and although it still held fast at the 
 top, they were able to swing it forward for more 
 than a foot. Tom and George crept through the 
 opening, but were terrified to see that the Ogre's 
 big little boy was sitting up in his bed wide awake. 
 
 Quick as thought, Tom jumped back to the room
 
 138 TOM AND THE OGRE. 
 
 which he had just left, and filling his hands with 
 large lumps of sugar, he gave them to the Ogre's 
 child. This quieted him ; so Tom and George lost 
 no time in carrying the beef between them back to 
 the hungry children, who soon polished the bones. 
 
 "Now," said Tom, " when the Ogre wakes he'll 
 want his supper, and the best thing we can do is to 
 make him believe he's had it:' 
 
 So Tom returned once more to the Ogre's room, 
 and going up to the chair where their enemy slept, 
 he rubbed the greasy bones across the Ogre's lips, 
 and put a few crumbs of bread on his beard. Then 
 he got back to his own room as fast as possible, and 
 pulling the loose panel after him, watched to see 
 what the Ogre would do. A few moments, and he 
 awoke, and stared hard as the bare bones met his 
 eye. 
 
 He shook his head, as if he was not quite satis- 
 fied, but tasting the grease on his lips, and seeing 
 the crumbs of bread, he was forced to believe that 
 he did not feel hungry ; however, to make sure, ho 
 took three large pots of blackbcy jam, an extra jug 
 of beer, and fell fast asleep.
 
 TOM AND THE OGRE. 139 
 
 " Now is our time," said Tom. " Follow me 
 quietly, but first take off your boots ; carry them 
 with you, for I hope you will require them." 
 
 Tom pushed open the broken panel in the door, 
 and led the way, all the children following, through 
 the Ogre's room, into the outer passage, where they 
 found a window left open. They lost no time in 
 helping one another through it, and had soon reached 
 the place of the wooden bridge. It was hard work 
 to get this across, but they managed it at last, and 
 were soon running for their lives down Longstep 
 Lane. Tom's father and mother took them all in 
 for the night, and the next day the hearts of many 
 parents were made glad by the return of their lost 
 children. 
 
 But Tom had not done with the Ogre. As 
 he had tricked him once, he thought he might be 
 able to do so again, and asked his father to help 
 him. Accordingly, they took a number of large 
 sponges, which they soaked in syrup and butter, 
 dusted over with flour, and browned in the oven. 
 These new-fashioned cakes they then hung to the 
 trees in Longstep Lane, so that when next the Ogre
 
 14 TOM AND THE OGRE. 
 
 came that way lie could not avoid seeing them. 
 Just as they thought it would happen, so it took 
 place. The Ogre and his big little boy soon smelt 
 out the syrup and butter, picked the new-fashioned 
 sponge-cakes, ate as many as they could swallow, 
 were taken very ill, went home, and died. 
 
 I am rather glad to think that this was the last 
 Ogre who ever lived, especially as I know of certain 
 little boys and girls who are in the habit of stealing 
 the sugar.
 
 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN. 
 
 UPON A TIME, you might have seen a man 
 with a wooden leg, walking along a dusty road. 
 His long beard and moustache, his fierce eye- 
 brows, the bend in his back, and the way he turned 
 out his five toes, would have proved to any one 
 who felt inclined to doubt the fact, that he was an 
 old soldier. For all that he held his chin so high, 
 he was tired and footsore, not so tired as you or I 
 would have been if we had either of us walked so 
 great a distance as he had, because you see he had 
 only one leg to tire ; yet he was glad when he came 
 to the foot of a great oak tree glad enough to take 
 off his wooden leg, and lie down to sleep. Soon he 
 snored, and the Emperor's trumpeters could not 
 have awakened him. 
 
 Down the road came another man with a wooden
 
 I4 2 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN. 
 
 leg, also an old soldier, to judge by his bearing. He 
 came as far as the tree, saw the other man lying 
 tlic-rc, unstrapped his own wooden leg, placed it be- 
 side him. and was soon snoring as loudly as the 
 
 * 
 
 other. 
 
 Down the road ngain came still another old soldier 
 with a wooden leg, walking more slowly than the 
 others, for he was blind. On his shoulder was 
 perched a magpie, which chattered and talked in 
 bird tongue to his poor old master, who seeim-d 
 almost to understand the language. 
 
 It is certain that the bird comprehended the man; 
 for he jumped from one shoulder to the other, just 
 as he was told. 
 
 AY hen the old soldier reached the shadow of the 
 oak tree, the magpie hopped to the ground, and led 
 the way, chattering to his master, who followed the 
 sound. 
 
 Soon his leg was unfastened the wooden one I 
 mean of course and soon he was as fast asleep as 
 the other two. 
 
 Then Dandie flew away in search of food. 
 
 Down the road there came another man (two
 
 THE FIGHT FOR THE WOODEN LEG. [raff '43-
 
 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN. 143 
 
 legged) in rags and tatters, with sharp piercing eyes 
 looking quickly from right to left, and back again 
 from left to right. When he spied out the three men 
 sleeping, he stopped to look at them. This ragged, 
 tattered man was a thief, so he quickly made up his 
 mind to steal the wooden legs, as he saw nothing 
 better worth taking. 
 
 He seized two of them, and was about to take the 
 third, when the magpie returning, called out, "Stop 
 thief! stop thief! " and away he ran with the two 
 wooden legs under his arm. 
 
 The first old soldier awoke, saw two men sleeping, 
 and one wooden leg, which he was about to fit on 
 to his stump ; when the second old soldier awoke 
 also, and snatched it from him. The first snatched 
 it back again, and presently they were fighting hard 
 for the possession of the wooden leg. 
 
 " It is mine," shouted the first old soldier, point- 
 ing with one hand to his stump. 
 
 The second shook his head in a determined 
 manner, and pointed to his stump, but said no- 
 thing. Then they tussled for it again as hard as 
 they could manage with only one leg apiece. Over
 
 144 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN. 
 
 and over they rolled, right on to the blind old soldier, 
 who seized the wooden leg, and struggled for it as 
 bravely as either of the others, crying out, " The leg 
 is mine, the leg is mine ! without it I shall perish, (I >r 
 I am blind." Neither would leave his hold of the 
 wooden-leg, and the battle lasted for nearly ai hour, 
 when till three of them rested to take breath. 
 Then the first old soldier cried out, 
 ''We are three old fools to be fighting for one 
 wooden leg. Some one must have stolen the other 
 two ; for it is certain there must have been more 
 than one, to carry three one-legged men all to this 
 place. Dlind man, can you speak with your fingers ? 
 for I am deaf, and cannot hear your voice." The 
 blind man shook hi- head; but the second old soldier, 
 who had been listening, answered with his hands, 
 "I speak with my fingers, for I am dumb." 
 The three poor cripples soon understood ca<'h 
 other : one was deaf, one was dumb, and the other 
 blind, yet each could understand the meaning of tin; 
 other two. If the dumb man spoke with his hands, 
 the blind man could not see what he said, but the 
 deaf man could tell him. So, if the deaf man
 
 QUITE A JOLLY PARTY; OR, 
 
 TICK DEAF MA.V, 
 
 'IIIK IH'MH MAN, 
 
 TIIK III. INI) MAN, 
 
 AND DANDIE. 
 
 {Page 145.
 
 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN. 
 
 spoke to the blind man, he used his tongue ; while, if 
 he spoke to the dumb man, he used his fingers. They 
 talked for a while, and agreed that is was a strange 
 chance which had brought them together ; but they 
 could not decide who was to have the one wooden 
 leg. When they were tired of arguing the ques- 
 tion, they agreed that the best thing to do would be 
 for them to travel on in company, and wear the leg 
 by turns ; so off they started arm-in-arm, the blind 
 man in the centre with two legs, and the others 
 hopping one on each side of him. The magpie 
 hopped before, and, all things considered, they 
 formed a very jolly party. 
 
 No body can go for any great distance along a 
 dusty road without coming to an inn, but it is not 
 everybody who comes across such a comfortable one 
 as the Old Saracen's Head. So thought our four 
 travellers, the three men and the magpie, when 
 they found themselves inside, with a good supper 
 before them. Moreover, it is not every inn that has 
 four such strange guests; and so thought Thomas 
 Magister the landlord. 
 
 t; Wonders will never cease," he exclaimed as they
 
 146 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN. 
 
 entered. " Yesterday morning the Earl's daughter 
 puts up here to escape a thunder-storm, and steals 
 my golden goblet ; and this evening I have four such 
 guests as I never had before. I do believe the world 
 is coming to an end." 
 
 " Stranger things might happen yet, good land- 
 lord," said the blind man ; " for you might get 
 your cup back again.'' 
 
 "Nay," said the landlord, "that can never be; 
 for I dare not accuse the Earl's daughter of the 
 theft : her father has the first right in my house and 
 lands; he would ruin me if I claimed my goblet." 
 
 "What is the worth of the cup?" asked the 
 blind man. 
 
 " The worth ! oh, three times its weight in gold, 
 that is the worth to me, and that is the price I will 
 pay to recover it." 
 
 " It is a golden cup, landlord, is it net ? and yet 
 worth three times its weight in gold ; how can that 
 be?" 
 
 "Easily enough, blind man, easily enough. Pour 
 water into my goblet, and it becomes ale; pour ale, 
 and it becomes wine if you only wish so."
 
 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN. 147 
 
 " What happens if you pour wine into it ?" 
 
 " The wine becomes water." 
 
 " Well, tell me where the Earl's daughter lives, 
 and we three and the magpie will get your cup for 
 you, if you will only pay the price you name for 
 it." 
 
 "Willingly," replied Thomas Magister ; "you 
 shall have the money and my thanks into the 
 bargain." 
 
 The one-legged men lost no time the next morn- 
 ing, but started early for the Earl's castle. 
 
 The deaf man had the wooden leg, and the others 
 hopped beside him, all three arm-in-arm. 
 
 The blind man and the dumb man waited out- 
 side the castle, the deaf man crossed the draw- 
 bridge, and boldly entered the gateway. The fat 
 porter, who was scarcely awake, nodded and allowed 
 him to pass in, because he was too sleepy to trouble 
 to hinder him. Thus it was that the deaf man 
 found himself in the presence of the Earl's daugh- 
 ter, as she was seated at breakfast with her ladies. 
 
 " Good morrow, fair lady," said the deaf man ; 
 " although I am deaf, I have heard of your lady-
 
 148 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN. 
 
 ship, and I have called to know if I may teach you 
 to speak with your hands; it is worth knowing 
 how to do so, for when you are old you may lose 
 your hearing as I have done." 
 
 The Earl's daughter was delighted, nodded her 
 head for him to begin, and soon she had learnt the 
 deaf and dumb alphabet by heart. 
 
 "AVhat shall be your reward, good deaf man, 
 for teaching me ?" spelt out the Earl's daughter 
 with her fingers. 
 
 " Only a drink of water, my lady ; but it must be 
 from a golden cup." 
 
 " He shall drink from my new cup ; " and turning 
 to one of her ladies-in-waiting, she pointed to a 
 golden goblet which stood among many others on 
 a shelf in an old-fashioned cabinet. " Fill it with 
 water, and give it to the deaf man." 
 
 The deaf man took the cup, wished for ale, and 
 found that it contained as good ale as he had ever 
 tasted. 
 
 The Earl's daughter returned the goblet to the 
 shelf, and locked the cabinet, placing the key in 
 her pocket.
 
 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN. 149 
 
 The deaf man saw there was no chance of 
 getting the cup, so he spelt, " Good morrow to 
 you, my lady ; " and leaving the castle, returned to 
 his two companions, to whom he related his 
 experience. 
 
 The dumb man next putting on the wooden leg, 
 entered the castle walls, and found the Earl's daugh- 
 ter seated at her dinner with her ladies-in-waiting. 
 He bowed to the ground, and speaking with his 
 fingers, told her ladyship that he had something to 
 say, which she would wish to hear. 
 
 " What is it ?" asked the Earl's daughter, speak- 
 ing on her fingers ; " you are the second deaf man 
 with a wooden leg who has been here." 
 
 "If your ladyship will give me a cup of ale, I 
 will tell you; only one cup of ale, out of your 
 own goblet." 
 
 " Certainly, two if you wish it," spelt the Earl's 
 daughter." 
 
 The dumb man took: the cup of ale, wished, 
 and it was good wine to his taste. 
 
 " Now what have you to tell me ? w 
 
 " That your ladyship had better keep a good
 
 15 TUB THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN. 
 
 watch on your golden cups to-night, as there are 
 thieves not far off." 
 
 " Thank you, good man ; I will take care to carry 
 the key of the cabinet to my room to-night, and 
 it will be hard if they take it from under my pillow 
 without awakening me." This she spelt with her 
 hands. Then she turned to her ladies-in-waiting, 
 ;tiid laughing said, " It strikes me that this deaf 
 man is one of the thieves ; so I shall leave the key 
 in the cabinet to-night, where they will scarcely 
 think of looking for it." She little thought that 
 c\vry word she said was heard by the man whom 
 she supposed to be deaf, just because he hud one 
 wooden leg, and spoke with his fingers. 
 
 The dumb man returned to his two companions, 
 told them what he had heard, and they all agreed 
 that the blind man would have a difficult task be- 
 fore him, as his visit to the castle would be the only 
 chance of getting the cup. 
 
 The wooden leg changed wearer for the second 
 time, and in the evening the blind man and his 
 magpie stood outside the castle gate. 
 
 " Now, Dandie," said his master, " in you go as
 
 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN. I$l 
 
 quick as may be." In flew the magpie, chattering 
 and making a tremendous noise. The blind man ran 
 after him yes, actually ran, for he followed the 
 sound, and knew that Dandle was too clever to lead 
 him where he would stumble over anything. 
 
 " Dandle, Dandie ! " cried the blind man ; 
 " Dandie, where are you going ? " 
 
 The porter at the gate was fast asleep by this time, 
 quite tired with doing nothing, which is really the 
 hardest work I know of, next to doing something. 
 So there was no one to stop Dandie and his master 
 from going to the room where the Earl's daughter 
 was eating her supper with her ladies-in-waiting. 
 
 All the ladies laughed at the blind man running 
 after his bird. So he stopped, and said, " Good 
 evening, fair ladies; pity a blind man with one 
 wooden leg and a magpie who is so wicked, that if 
 he smells cheese nothing will keep him from it." 
 
 "Let the bird have some cheese," said the Earl's 
 daughter. " Ah ! by my faith, he is helping him 
 self." 
 
 This was true enough, for Dandie was hopping 
 with a large lump, right from the middle of the
 
 I5 2 THE THREE OXE-LEGGED MEN. 
 
 cheese; and having perched himself on his master's 
 knee, he made very easy work of eating it. 
 
 "Just a crumb or two for master," whispered the 
 old soldier, and Dandie quietly dropped a piece 
 into his hand. 
 
 " Lady, a cup of wine for an old soldier who 
 has lost a leg and two eyes just a cup of wine." 
 
 The wine was given him, and it tasted like clear 
 watc-r j so the blind man knew he was drinking from 
 the right cup, and rubbed the piece of cheese which 
 Dandie had given him on the bottom part of the 
 stem. Then he returned it to the Earl's daughter, 
 who said, "Blind man, tell me your history to 
 earn your cup of wine." 
 
 "My history is not very wonderful, my lady; but 
 I will tell it to you." 
 
 THIS WAS THE BLIND MAN'S STORY. 
 
 " ONCE upon a time, I had two legs to walk upon, 
 and two eyes to see with, or else I should never 
 have been a soldier. Perhaps if I had only had 
 one leg when I was a boy, I should now have both 
 my eyes. But one never knows what will happen
 
 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN. 153 
 
 until after it lias taken place ; so I will go on with 
 my story. 
 
 " When I was twenty- one years old, my father 
 wished me to go for a soldier, as he was tired of 
 keeping me, and I did not earn my own living. I 
 thought it was very hard that I should have to leave 
 my comfortable home, but there was no help for it ; 
 and when I found myselt able to march as well as 
 any one of my companions, looking so brave and 
 smart in my red coat, I was quite content. 
 
 " Soon we were ordered to go to the wars, and in 
 the first battle I lost the sight of my eyes, from a 
 sword-cut across my forehead. I was left at a farm- 
 house to be taken care of while I recovered from 
 my illness, and my regiment went with the rest of 
 the army to follow the enemy. The old farmer 
 and his wife treated me very kindly as long as 
 my countrymen were in the neighbourhood ; but 
 after they had gone they gave me nothing but hard 
 words, and the poorest food. 
 
 " I should have been very badly off if Dandie the 
 magpie had not been kinder than the farmer and 
 bis wife ; many is the odd bone and piece of bread
 
 154 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN. 
 
 that lie got for me, and ere long we began to under- 
 stand each other quite well. 
 
 " Dandle belonged to no one in particular, but 
 was welcome wherever he went out of one house 
 into another, all day long, picking up crumbs and 
 little pieces everywhere. Ka--h day at dinn T- 
 tiiue he would come to the door of the farmer's 
 house, and chatter away till I came out, when he 
 would hop off, calling me to follow him right down 
 to the bottom of the garden ; there I should iind a 
 of food broad, meat, cheese, pudding, all in 
 small pieces which Dandie had kept for me. 
 
 " IIow aiixiniisly I waited day after day for the 
 re-turn of my regiment ! for the captain had promised 
 to fetch me, and take me home to my country. 
 But they never came, and the fanner and his wife 
 got tired of having me, and used often to talk 
 quietly together about me. I was sorry to stop 
 with them against their wish ; but what could I 
 do, a poor blind man in a strange country ? 
 
 " They became more cruel to me every day, and at 
 last, one morning as I was walking slowly round the 
 garden, they came quietly behind me, and seizing
 
 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN. 155 
 
 me before I was aware of it, threw me down an 
 old well. I lay stunned for I know not how long ; 
 when I recovered my senses, I found that my leg 
 was broken, and that I could not move without 
 great pain. 
 
 "The well was nearly dry, there being not more 
 than a foot or so of water at the bottom. I was 
 glad enough of that little ; I drank some, and bathed 
 my temples. I gave myself up for lost, and bowed 
 my head to await my fate. 
 
 "Presently something fell upon me. It was a piece 
 of cheese; and I felt sure that Dandie had found out 
 where I was. I called, Dandie! Dandie! and heard 
 a chattering and fluttering over the top of the well, 
 while another piece of food was dropped down to 
 me. In short, I very soon had a good meal, and 
 felt some hope ; but I could not think what I should 
 do to get out of the well. 
 
 "While I was thinking, something else fell upon 
 me. This time it was a little twig of wood, which 
 I threw on one side ; then came another twig, another, 
 and another, and then they came down by dozens. 
 What did it mean ? had Dandie become mischievous?
 
 156 THE T H REE XE -L EG G E D MEX. 
 
 did lie wish to cover me up with little pieces of 
 wood ? I heard the fluttering of many wings, for 
 Dandie and numbers of other birds of all sorts were 
 there, all dropping twigs of wood upon me. I had 
 quick work to manage to keep mysell clear of them. 
 For hours and hours Dandie and the other birds 
 continued their work, and suddenly I saw the mean- 
 ing of it all. The well was being filled up with 
 twigs, and I was gradually being raised nearer ami 
 nearer to the top. Before night-time I was level 
 with the mouth of the well, and Dandie came and 
 parched upon my shoulder. After he had rested a 
 while to recover from the fatigue of his hard day's 
 work, he chattered to me and hopped off. I followed 
 him as best I could crawl, for what else could I do? 
 Through the garden gate he led me, up the village, 
 to t\>? door of the doctor's house, where I knocked 
 many times before it was opened to me. My leg 
 was very painful, and the doctor, who was a kind- 
 hearted man, took me in, and set it for me; but 
 by the morning I was very ill indeed, and my leg 
 had to be cut off to save my life. 
 
 "After a time I got better; my regiment returned ;
 
 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN. 157 
 
 my captain brought me back to my own country, 
 and I brought Dandle with me. We have passed 
 through many adventures since then, and to-night, 
 with your permission, good lady, we shall sleep under 
 the table in this room. And that is the end of iny 
 story," said the blind man. 
 
 "Quite an interesting story," said the Earl's daugh- 
 ter ; " if it had been much longer, I should have 
 forgotten the beginning by the time you reached 
 the end. Dandie is a very clever bird, and in the 
 morning perhaps I will buy him of you." 
 
 " You say right when you say perhaps, my lady, 
 for perhaps I won't sell him, and perhaps in the 
 morning he won't be here to buy." 
 
 " Oh ! but you know you can sleep here for the 
 night, blind man, and your bird with you. Good 
 night to you both." "With these words the lady 
 retired for the night the lights were put out, 
 and the blind man and Dandie were left to sleep 
 under the table. 
 
 At about midnight, the magpie tapped his 
 
 10
 
 15 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN. 
 
 master on the nose to awaken him, and they both 
 listened to hear if all the inmates of the castle 
 were asleep. Being satisfied that they were, the 
 blind man felt with his hand along the floor, to try 
 which way the cracks in the boards ran. He knew 
 that the cabinet which contained the golden goblets 
 was placed facing the side of the wall where the 
 boards ran crossways, because he hud heard the 
 shoes of the lady-in-waiting scraping against the 
 divisions between the wood as she walked towards 
 it. This little bit of knowledge saved him some 
 trouble in finding the cabinet, and very many minutes 
 had not gone by, before he had turned the key in 
 the lock, and was feeling about on the shelves. 
 There were golden goblets wherever he placed his 
 hands, and it would not do to take the wrong one; 
 so in almost a whisper he called the magpie to him, 
 and said, 
 
 " Dandie, boy ! there's a cheese in the cupboard ; 
 find it, boy ! " 
 
 Dandie was up in a moment, and he certainly 
 smelt cheese, as well he might ; for, as I mentioned 
 before, the blind man had rubbd some on the stem
 
 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN. 159 
 
 of the landlord's goblet, and the bird soon found 
 out which it was, and pecked hard at it. This was 
 enough for the blind man ; the sound guided him 
 to the exact position of the cup, which he placed 
 inside his pocket. Dandie led the way, and his 
 master followed, past the fat porter at the gate, 
 and down the road to the Old Saracen's Head. 
 The blind man could find his way at night-time 
 just as well as by day, for each was equally dark 
 to him. 
 
 Thomas Magister was not in bed, nor were the 
 two old soldiers; and when the blind man entered 
 with the cup in his hand, they all three jumped 
 with delight. The landlord, because the cup was 
 restored, and the others because of the gold they 
 were to share together. Many times was the goblet 
 filled that night, or, perhaps I ought to say that 
 morning. 
 
 The three one-legged men were happy, for now 
 they could buy a dozen wooden legs apiece if 
 they had a mind to ; but they preferred to hop on 
 together ; and the strangeness of their appearance 
 induced people to give them money and food, so
 
 160 THE THREE ONE-LEGGED MEN. 
 
 that in a few months' time they were able to sepa- 
 rate and retire in comfort each to his native 
 village. 
 
 Dandie is as fond as ever of cheese of which he 
 has a large slice for supper every evening.
 
 THE PIMPLE ON A NOSE. 
 
 UPON A TIME, there were numbers of people, 
 living in a country of which I shall some day tell 
 you a great deal that you will be pleased to hear. 
 These people were divided into two classes, those 
 who had pimples on their noses, and those who had 
 not. The two sorts of people were perfectly alike 
 in all other respects; they lived in houses of the 
 same kind, ate the same sort of food, and wore the 
 same fashion of dress, but they never spoke to one 
 another when they could help it. It was not con- 
 sidered a nice thing to have a pimple on your nose, 
 and every one who had was looked down upon by 
 any one who had not. When the people without a 
 pimple gave a party, they never invited any of the 
 other sort, unless they were very rich indeed, and 
 then they were not very polite to them. If I had
 
 l62 THE PIMPLE ON A NOSE. 
 
 had a pimple on my nose, and any one had been 
 impolite to me, I should have stopped away from 
 his house; but then every one does not think alike, 
 which is perhaps a good thing. 
 
 There lived in this country a young man named 
 Alberto, who was very handsome, very clever, and 
 very rich, and every one was very ibnd of him, 
 because he was so clever, rich, and handsome, and 
 because he had no pimple on his nose. lie lived in 
 a beautiful large house, gave grand parties, to which 
 every one without a pimple on his nose was invited, 
 and he was a great favourite with all the young 
 ladies who were on the look-out for a husband. At 
 one of his quadrille parties he danced with a beau, 
 tiful young lady named Bella, fell in love with her, 
 and asked her to marry him. Her papa and mama 
 were very pleased to hear of it, and gave their con- 
 sent at once; so everything was arranged for a 
 grand wedding; and every one who knew them 
 was invited to see the marriage, and to eat cake and 
 drink wine, and talk about the young couple. 
 
 The bride was dressed in a white satin robe, 
 covered with pearls and lace, with a rich lace scarf
 
 Hi,
 
 THE PIMPLE ON A NOSE. 163 
 
 hanging from her head right down to the ground ; 
 she rode to the church with her papa, in a grand glass 
 carriage, drawn by two white horses, and was as 
 happy as could be. Just as they reached the church 
 door, an ugly old man, selling spectacles, came to 
 the window of the carriage, and said, 
 
 "Please to buy my spectacles; I make them 
 myself, and I know how wonderful they are ; if you 
 wear a pair of them, you will be able to see every- 
 thing bad of everybody." 
 
 Bella's father bought a pair, and, putting them 
 on, he handed his daughter out of the carriage, and 
 led her into the church, while all the little boys in 
 the crowd huzzaed as loudly as they could. 
 
 Alberto was there waiting for his bride, and every 
 one was ready to see them married, when Bella's 
 father called out, 
 
 " Stop ! stop! he has a pimple on his nose ; I can 
 see it with my new spectacles. No man with a 
 pimple on his nose shall marry my daughter." 
 
 Bella was carried out of the church, fainting, and 
 every one talked about the lucky escape the poor 
 girl had had. As for Alberto, nobody would look
 
 1 64 THE PIMPLE ON A NOSE. 
 
 at him, and he went home very, very sad. His fine 
 house gave him no pleasure, and he did not care 
 whether he was rich or poor, but sat all the long 
 day shut up in his room, thinking how wretched he 
 was. At night there was a gentle knock at the 
 door, and the old man with the spectacles crept into 
 the room. 
 
 "Who is there?" said Alberto. 
 
 " Scandalus, the spectacle maker, has come to see 
 you," replied the old man, in a squeaky voice. 
 
 " Then begone, Scandalus. But for you, I should 
 have been happy now, instead of miserable, as I am." 
 
 " Well, well, then," said Scandalus, " I am very 
 sorry for you ; but I must sell my spectacles, you 
 know. Cheer up, and buy a pair yourself; they 
 are very useful, very wonderful, and cheap at any 
 price; for with them you can see anything bad of 
 anybody." 
 
 " But," replied Alberto, " I don't wish to know 
 anything bad of anybody, and I won't buy your 
 spectacles." 
 
 " Just try on a pair, only for a minute : I know 
 they will suit your sight."
 
 THE PIMPLE ON A NOSE. 165 
 
 "Well, then, I will try them on ; but I don't wish to 
 buy them." So Alberto put on a pair, and could see 
 quite distinctly, although he thought things looked 
 a little twisted ; but when he tried to take them, off 
 again, he could not ; so he was forced to keep them 
 against his will. Scandalus was delighted and 
 danced with joy when he was paid for them, to 
 think that he had sold another pair. He bowed 
 very politely, rubbed his hands together, and crept 
 quietly out of the house. 
 
 Alberto soon forgot all about the old man and 
 nis spectacles ; he sat up all night writing a farewell 
 letter to Bella, and had not finished by the morning, 
 when he heard a rattling of carriage wheels and 
 a loud knock at his door. It was Bella's father, 
 who had come to return the presents and letters 
 which Alberto had sent to his daughter, and to 
 demand all her letters and presents from him. 
 
 As soon as he entered the room, Alberto nearly 
 fell down on the floor with surprise; for there on 
 the nose of the old gentleman he distinctly saw 
 a pimple. There was no doubt about it ; and the 
 old gentleman confessed with tears of sorrow,
 
 1 66 
 
 THE PIMPLE ON A NOSE. 
 
 that he was glad it was found out, for now the 
 marriage could take place, and every one would be 
 happy. 
 
 So it did, and so they were, and the spectacles 
 dropped off their noses on the wedding day.
 
 THE QUARRELSOME CHICKEN. 
 
 UPON A TIME, there were a number of 
 chickens who never had any mothers at all. 
 When the eggs from which they came were first laid 
 in a beautiful straw nest, at a farmhouse in York- 
 shire, the hen that laid them was robbed by the 
 master's servant, and they were sold to be sent to 
 London, where some one had found out how to 
 hatch chickens by steam. Thus the little chicks who 
 ought to have come from the shell in Yorkshire, 
 where no one would have thought anything of them, 
 had the good fortune to be brought to London, put 
 in an oven, kept nice and warm, and shown to a 
 number of people, who paid money to be allowed 
 to see them hatched. Now, most of the ladies and 
 gentlemen who went to see the exhibition, lived in 
 houses without gardens, and of course they could
 
 l68 THE QUARRELSOME CHICKEN. 
 
 not keep fowls ; so they were delighted to see the 
 little ragged-looking chickens cracking their shells, 
 and poking out their wee yellow beaks. The 
 little girl:? and boys who went to see them would 
 say, u How wonderful 1 how pretty! what dear 
 tiny things! " 
 
 One of the chickens of which I am telling you, 
 while he was inside the shell, thought to him-rlf, 
 "I only wish I could get out of this; it is so vny 
 hot and uncomfortable, and I seem to be growing 
 larger and larger every day: whatever will become 
 of me I don't know." Truly, it seemed to him that 
 unless he did something or other he would certain! v 
 die, so he set to work and pecked away with his 
 beak for a long time without doing any good ; but 
 at length the shell cracked, and a little piece fell 
 away, so that he could just put one eye to the hole, 
 and see outside. Then, after a little rest for he 
 was not strong, and soon became tired he went to 
 work again, and broke off a larger piece, so that 
 he was able to put out the whole of his head. At 
 last, after a great deal of trouble and hard work, 
 he managed to get out altogether, and wa> immedi-
 
 THE QUARRELSOME CHICKEN. 169 
 
 ately wrapped in flannel by the person who had 
 charge of the oven. All the chicks lived together 
 very happily, arid were fed upon meal and grits, and 
 all sorts of nice food that chickens are most fond 
 of. But I am sorry to say that the chick I have 
 been speaking about, became so vain from hearing 
 people say, " What a sweet little dear ! " that he be- 
 gan to be rude to the others, and called them com- 
 mon birds, and other ugly names. In particular he 
 used to annoy one little chick who was not so for- 
 tunate as the others, for he had no tail feathers. 
 This poor little chick, who was a very quiet, good 
 little bird, for some time took no notice of his 
 cruel words, but after a while he thought he could 
 not bear it longer; so one day he said to the 
 proud and quarrelsome chicken, 
 
 " I am very sorry that I have no tail, and I would 
 give anything to have one, but I do not choose to 
 have you always telling me about it ; so if you are 
 not more oolite to me for the future I shall fight 
 you." 
 
 " Then you had better begin at once," said the 
 proud chicken (for he did not like to be spoken to
 
 17 THE QUARRELSOME CHICKEN. 
 
 in this manner before the other chickens), "you had 
 better begin at once : you are a good-for-nothing 
 chicken without a tail." 
 
 As soon as these words were spoken he was 
 sorry for what he said, because, being a coward, 
 he did not want to fight ; but it was too late. The 
 little chicken without a tail rushed at him, knocked 
 him over two or three times, and seemed so enraged 
 that the cowardly quarrelsome 'chicken ran away as 
 la-t as he could, tumbled over the edge of the box 
 in which they lived, 'Ml on to the stone floor, and 
 broke his leg. 
 
 He was ill for a long time afterwards, and still 
 walks lame ; but latterly he has been very friendly 
 towards the chicken without a tail.
 
 THE QUARRELSOME CHICKEN, 
 
 AND 
 
 THE CHICKEN WITHOUT A TAIL. 
 
 [Page 170.
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN THE SON OF 
 JACK THE GIANT KILLER. 
 
 UPON A TIME, young John the son of Jack 
 the Giant Killer read an account of the adven- 
 tures his father had had when he was young; so he 
 resolved to do something grand himself. He knew 
 of a certain giant living in a log hut in the centre 
 of a thick wood, a very old giant, but still a very 
 savage one, and a terror to the people of the neigh- 
 bourhood. This giant was continually taking folks 
 as prisoners, and locking them up in a deep cave at 
 the back of his hut; and on this account young 
 John determined to kill him. He started off with 
 his father's sword, and before long reached the out- 
 skirts of the wood, where he spied the giant's hut, 
 but dared not enter while it was daylight; so he 
 sat down to think matters over and arrange his 
 
 c 
 
 plans of action.
 
 I? 2 THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN THE SON 
 
 When the moon began to show above the hill- 
 top, John the giant killer (as he hoped to be called) 
 knocked at the door with the sword handle, and 
 entered boldly. The giant was in a great rage, for 
 he had been put out of temper that day by a corn 
 on his toe ; so when John bowed politely to the giant, 
 he only had a frown and a growl in return, with a 
 surly question as to who he was, and what he wanted 
 there. 
 
 " My name is John," was the reply, " and I have 
 come to look about me." 
 
 " Well then, gei out ; I hate Johns and Jacks ; 
 they always remind me of that horrible Jack the 
 Giant Killer." 
 
 " Oh ! then," said John, " you have heard of 
 Jack the Giant Killer." 
 
 " I should rather think I have," answered the 
 giant. 
 
 " Well then, you'll be pleased to hear that I am his 
 son, and I am just starting in the same line of busi- 
 ness myself." 
 
 " Why can't you go away ? " blubbered the giant, 
 " go away, and leave a poor old party alone. I never
 
 OF JACK THE GIANT KILLER. 173 
 
 hurt you. How would you like me to come and 
 annoy you ? " 
 
 "That's nothing to do with the question," said 
 John; U I intend to put an end to you, but not 
 to-night, as I have something else to do. Any 
 time to-morrow we can see who is the best 
 man." 
 
 " You leave me alone," cried the old giant, " you 
 would not dare to hit me if I were only as little as 
 you are." 
 
 " I am not going to hit you, or do anything so 
 cowardly," replied John, " I'm coming here to-mor- 
 row to have a regular trial of skill; if you come to 
 grief, it will be your own fault. You shall name 
 what the trial is to be ; so I think nothing can be 
 fairer." 
 
 " Oh ! well ! I suppose it's no use trying to get 
 out of it, and the sooner it's decided the better for 
 both of us ; but mind, Mr. John, if you can't do 
 what I wish, it's all up with you." 
 
 " All right; what shall I have to do on my part ? " 
 
 and John was all attention. 
 
 
 
 " You shall take my hatchet, and cut down the 
 
 1 1
 
 J 74 THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN THE SON 
 
 thickest tree in the woods at one blow ; if you fail, 
 you are to suffer death." 
 
 " How shall I find the thickest tree, giant?" 
 
 " Oh! I'll find it for you easily enough, my boy; I 
 ought to know it, for I sleep underneath it every 
 afternoon when the sun is hot." 
 
 Very good, giant, I agree ; and if you on your 
 part can cut down the thinnest tree- with six blows 
 from my hatchet, you shall be spared, otherwise you 
 shall suffer death. We quite understand each other, 
 and in the morning you shall sec me." 
 
 John, after. this arrangement, walked out of the 
 giant'shut, and thought within himself, "Now I have 
 a very difficult task to perform to-morrow; I must go 
 and see this tree. The giant would not tell me at 
 what part of the forest it grows; but he said that he 
 goes there every afternoon when the sun is hot, so 
 I will follow the path where the grass is most trod- 
 den down." This was a capital idea of John's; it 
 showed that he had his wits about him, and more 
 than that, it really was the means of his finding the 
 tree, w r hich was a very, very thick one. He was 
 sure it was the right tree, for he saw that the weeds,
 
 OF JACK THE GIANT KILLER. 175 
 
 plants, and even the earth itself, had been flattened 
 down on one side of it, where the giant had rested 
 for the sake of the shade. 
 
 John very soon decided as to what he would 
 do, and drawing his father's sword from its sheath, 
 he felt the edge, which was all notched from the 
 hard fighting it had gone through ; he tried if he 
 could use it for a saw, and was very pleased to find 
 that it worked beautifully. It did not take him 
 much time to saw through the stem of the big tree, 
 all except a little thickness on one side, which was 
 strong enough to hold the tree upright, and keep it 
 from falling. Then he turned homeward, and 
 after a good supper went to bed and slept soundly. 
 
 In the morning John at once commenced his 
 preparations for his visit to the giant ; he took a slate 
 from the roof of his father's house, and forming it 
 into the shape of a hatchet head, fixed it to a 
 handle, and took it with him. 
 
 To make short a long story, I will tell you how 
 that John gave one swinging cut with the giant's 
 hatchet, just where he had stopped sawing the 
 trunk, and down the tree fell with a tremendous
 
 1? THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN THE SON 
 
 <T.-i<h. Then the giant took John's hatchet, and 
 gave so strong a blow to the thinnest tree, that the 
 slate was smashed to pieces, and the tree still stood 
 in its place. 
 
 " Your life is mine," said John, " but if you will 
 liberate the people you have taken prisoners, I will 
 let you live another clay, and give you another 
 chance." 
 
 "Thank you, Mr. John," said the giant, who was 
 now very civil ; u I think it is very kind of you. Here 
 is the key of the cave behind my hut : you will find 
 the people there. I never eat people now, because 
 my teeth have all fallen out ; so you will find them 
 all right." 
 
 "Then why do you take them prisoners?" 
 
 " It's the only way I have to amuse myself. But 
 please let me off the other trial ; I am getting very 
 old, and shall not do much more harm to any one." 
 
 " Not if I know it," said John, u to-morrow we 
 must have another trial of skill. I propose that we 
 try who can eat the* most hard-boiled eggs ; you 
 shall find eggs for me to eat, and I will find eggs 
 for you.'
 
 OF JACK THE GIANT KILLER. 177 
 
 u Agreed," said the giant, " my eggs shall boil all 
 night ; I warrant they will be hard enough by the 
 morning." 
 
 " As hard as you please, giant. So now that we 
 understand each other, I will go and liberate the 
 prisoners, and then go back to father's house." 
 
 John opened the door of the cave, and the' poor 
 prisoners ran to their homes as fast as they could go, 
 never stopping to look behind them. 
 
 When John went to the hut in the morning, he 
 took with him six bladders of lard, and giving 
 them to the giant, said, 
 
 " My eggs are not quite hard yet, so put them in 
 the pot to boil, and give me those which I am to 
 eat ; I will just take one to start with, and eat the 
 others when you are ready to begin." 
 
 After a little time John said to the giant, 
 
 " Take the eggs out of the pot, and eat them, it 
 you can." 
 
 The giant opened the lid of the pot, and saw 
 nothing but water inside, for the heat had melted 
 the bladders of lard. 
 
 " Spare me," said the giant, who did not under-
 
 I ?8 THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN THE SON 
 
 stand it at all. " Fate is against me. Only let me live, 
 and I will promise never to go out of the wood 
 again for prisoners.* 1 
 
 " If you intend to keep your word, you may live," 
 answered John; "my only wish is to prevent you 
 from locking up the poor people. Remember, you 
 are not to leave the woods." 
 
 After this speech, John returned to his father, 
 and related what he had done. The old man Jack 
 shook his head, and said, 
 
 " You were wrong to trust a giant ; but you have 
 done very well, considering the short time you have 
 taken up the profession of giant-killer." 
 
 John laughed, and said, " Wait a bit, and see, 
 father; perhaps I have done better than you think." 
 
 The giant remembered his promise for a time, 
 but could not rest content for long, and one unlucky 
 morning he took his hatchet, and started out to 
 seek for prisoners. 
 
 When he arrived at the outskirts of the wood, 
 where the trees were thin and tall, he found that
 
 OF JACK THE GIANT KILLER. 1 79 
 
 each one had been bent over like a bow, and 
 fastened to the ground by the top branches. " Ho ! 
 ho !" said the giant, " this is Master John's work ; 
 he thinks this will keep me from getting out of the 
 woods ; but I can soon cut through such a fence as 
 this." 
 
 Slash went his hatchet, and it cut clean through 
 one of the ropes ; up sprang the tree, and struck 
 him such a blow on the head, that he was dead in 
 an instant. 
 
 The people found his body, and when Jack the 
 Giant Killer heard of it, he knew why his son 
 John had laughed and said, "Wait a bit, and see." 
 Jack gave John his sword to keep for himself; 
 and although Jack the Giant Killer and his son John 
 are both dead years ago, John's great-great-grand- 
 son, who is not so very big after all, has the sword 
 to the present day. If there were any giants living 
 now, I have no doubt it would be useful. 
 
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