FAIRY PRINCE AND OTHER STORIES

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

OLD-DADPEACE ON EARTH, GOOD-WILL TO DOGSRAINY WEEK

E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY

FAIRY PRINCE

AND OTHER STORIES

BY

ELEANOR HALLOWELL ABBOTT

AUTHOR OF "MOLLY MAKE-BELIEVE, " "RAINY WEEK, " ETC. 

NEW YORKE. P. DUTTON & COMPANY681 FIFTH AVENUE

Copyright, 1922, By E. P. Dutton & Company

_All Rights Reserved_

PRINTED IN THE UNITEDSTATES OF AMERICA

CONTENTS

 PAGE

FAIRY PRINCE 1

THE GAME OF THE BE-WITCHMENTS 59

THE BLINDED LADY 111

THE GIFT OF THE PROBABLE PLACES 155

THE BOOK OF THE FUNNY SMELLS--AND EVERYTHING 195

THE LITTLE DOG WHO COULDN'T SLEEP 245

FAIRY PRINCE

In my father's house were many fancies. Always, for instance, on everyThanksgiving Day it was the custom in our family to _bud_ the Christmastree. 

Young Derry Willard came from Cuba. His father and our father had beenchums together at college. None of us had ever seen him before. We werevery much excited to have a strange young man invited for Thanksgivingdinner. My sister Rosalee was seventeen. My brother Carol was eleven. Imyself was only nine, but with very tall legs. 

Young Derry Willard was certainly excited when he saw the Christmastree. Excited enough, I mean, to shift his eyes for at least threeminutes from my sister Rosalee's face. Lovely as my sister Rosalee was, it had never yet occurred to any of us, I think, until just that momentthat she was old enough to have perfectly strange young men stare at herso hard. It made my father rather nervous. He cut his hand on thecarving-knife. Nothing ever made my mother nervous. 

Except for father cutting his hand it seemed to be a very nourishingdinner. The tomato soup was pink with cream. The roast turkey didn'tlook a single sad bit like any one you'd seen before. There was plentyof hard-boiled egg with the spinach. The baked potatoes were frostedwith red pepper. There was mince pie. There was apple pie. There waspumpkin pie. There were nuts and raisins. There were gay gold-paperbonbons. And everywhere all through the house the funny blunt smell ofblack coffee. 

It was my brother Carol's duty always to bring in the Christmas tree. Bysome strange mix-up of what is and what isn't my brother Carol wasdumb--stark dumb, I mean, and from birth. But tho he had never foundhis voice he had at least never lost his shining face. Even now ateleven in the twilightly end of a rainy Sunday, or most any day when hehad an earache, he still let mother call him "Shining Face. " But if anychildren called him "Shining Face" he kicked them. Even when he kickedpeople, tho, he couldn't stop his face shining. It was very cheerful. Everything about Carol was very cheerful. No matter, indeed, how much wemight play and whisper about gifts and tinsels and jolly-coloredcandles, Christmas never, I think, seemed really _probable_ to any of usuntil that one jumpy moment, just at the end of the Thanksgiving dinner, when, heralded by a slam in the wood-shed, a hoppytyskip in the hall, the dining-room door flung widely open on Carol's eyes twinkling like awhole skyful of stars through the shaggy, dark branches of a youngspruce-tree. It made young Derry Willard laugh right out loud. 

"Why, of all funny things!" he said. "On Thanksgiving Day! Why, it lookslike a Christmas tree!"

"It is a Christmas tree, " explained my sister Rosalee very patiently. Mysister Rosalee was almost always very patient. But I had never seen herpatient with a young man before. It made her cheeks very pink. "It _is_a Christmas tree, " she explained. "That is, it's going to be a Christmastree! Just the very first second we get it 'budded' it'll start right into be a Christmas tree!"

"_Budded?_" puzzled young Derry Willard. Really for a person who lookedso much like the picture of the Fairy Prince in my best story-book, heseemed just a little bit slow. 

"Why, of course, it's got to be _budded_!" I cried. "That's what it'sfor! That's----"

Instead of just being pink patient my sister Rosalee started in suddenlyto be dimply patient too. 

"It's from mother's Christmas-tree garden, you know, " she went right onexplaining. "Mother's got a Winter garden--a Christmas-tree garden!"

"Father's got a garden, too!" I maintained stoutly. "Father's is aSpring garden! Reds, blues, yellows, greens, whites! From France! AndHolland! And California! And Asia Minor! Tulips, you know. _Buster's!_Oh, father's garden is a _glory_!" I boasted. 

"And mother's garden, " said my mother very softly, "is only a story. "

"It's an awfully nice story, " said Rosalee. 

Young Derry Willard seemed to like stories. 

"Tell it!" he begged. 

It was Rosalee who told it. "Why, it was when Carol was born, " she said. "It was on a Christmas eve, you know. That's why mother named himCarol!"

"We didn't know then, you see"--interrupted my mother very softly--"thatCarol had been given the gift of silence rather than the gift ofspeech. "

"And father was so happy to have a boy, " dimpled Rosalee, "that he saidto mother, 'Well, now, I guess you've got everything in the world thatyou want!' And mother said, 'Everything--except a spruce forest!' Sofather bought her a spruce forest, " said Rosalee. "That's the story!"

"Oh, my dear!" laughed my mother. "That isn't a 'story' at all! Allyou've told is the facts! It's the _feeling_ of the facts that makes astory, you know! It was on my birthday, " glowed mother, "that thepresentation was to be made! My birthday was in March! I was very muchexcited and came down to breakfast with my hat and coat on! 'Where areyou going?' said my husband. "

"Oh--Mother!" protested Rosalee. "'Whither away?' was what you've alwaystold us he said!"

"'Whither away?' of course _was_ what he said!" laughed my mother. "'Why, I'm going to find my spruce forest!' I told him. 'And I can'twait a moment longer! Is it the big one over beyond the mountain?' Iimplored him. 'Or the little grove that the deacon tried to sell youlast year?'"

"And they never budged an inch from the house!" interrupted Rosalee. "Itwas the funniest----"

Over in the corner of the room my father laughed out suddenly. My fatherhad left the table. He and Carol were trying very hard to make thespruce-tree stand upright in a huge pot of wet earth. The spruce-treedidn't want to stand upright. My father laughed all over again. But itwasn't at the spruce-tree. "Well, now, wouldn't it have been a pity, " hesaid, "to have made a perfectly good lady fare forth on a cold Marchmorning to find her own birthday present?"

My mother began to clap her hands. It was a very little noise. Butjolly. 

"It came by mail!" she cried. "My whole spruce forest! In a package nobigger than my head!"

"Than your rather fluffy head!" corrected my father. 

"Three hundred spruce seedlings!" cried my mother. "Each one no biggerthan a wisp of grass! Like little green ferns they were! So tender! Sofluffing! So helpless!"

"Heigh-O!" said young Derry Willard. "Well, I guess you laughed--then!"

When grown-up people are trying to remember things outside themselvesI've noticed they always open their eyes very wide. But when they areremembering things inside themselves they shut their eyes very tight. Mymother shut her eyes very tight. 

"No--I didn't exactly laugh, " said my mother. "And I didn't exactlycry. "

"You wouldn't eat!" cried Rosalee. "Not all day, I mean! Father had tofeed you with a spoon! It was in the wing-chair! You held the box onyour knees! You just shone--and shone--and _shone_!"

"It would have been pretty hard, " said my mother, "not to have shonea--little! To brood a baby forest in one's arms--if only for a singleday--? Think of the experience!" Even at the very thought of it shebegan to _shine_ all over again! "Funny little fluff o' green, " shelaughed, "no fatter than a fern!" Her voice went suddenly all wabblylike a preacher's. "But, oh, the glory of it!" she said. "The potentialmajesty! Great sweeping branches--! Nests for birds, shade for lovers, masts for ships to plow the great world's waters--timbers perhaps forcathedrals! O--h, " shivered my mother. "It certainly gave one a veryqueer feeling! No woman surely in the whole wide world--except theMother of the Little Christ--ever felt so astonished to think what shehad in her lap!"

Young Derry Willard looked just a little bit nervous. 

"Oh, but of course mother couldn't begin all at once to raisecathedrals!" I hastened to explain. "So she started in raising Christmaspresents instead. We raise all our own Christmas presents! And just assoon as Rosalee and I are married we're going to begin right away toraise our children's Christmas presents too! Heaps for everybody, evenif there is a hundred! Carol, of course, won't marry because he can'tpropose! Ladies don't like written proposals, father says! Ladies----"

Young Derry Willard asked if he might smoke. He smoked cigarets. He tookthem from a gold-looking case. They smelled very romantic. Everythingabout him smelled very romantic. His hair was black. His eyes wereblack. He looked as tho he could cut your throat without flinching ifyou were faithless to him. It was beautiful. 

I left the table as soon as I could. I went and got my best story-book. I was perfectly right. He looked _exactly_ like the picture of the FairyPrince on the front page of the book. There were heaps of otherpictures, of course. But only one picture of a Fairy Prince. I looked inthe glass. I looked just exactly the way I did before dinner. It made mefeel queer. Rosalee didn't look at all the way she looked before dinner. It made me feel _very_ queer. 

When I got back to the dining-room everybody was looking at the littlespruce-tree--except young Derry Willard and Rosalee. Young Derry Willardwas still looking at Rosalee. Rosalee was looking at the toes of herslippers. The fringe of her eyelashes seemed to be an inch long. Hercheeks were so pink I thought she had a fever. No one else came to _bud_the Christmas tree except Carol's tame coon and the tame crow. Carol isvery unselfish. He always _buds_ one wish for the coon. And one for thecrow. The tame coon looked rather jolly and gold-powdered in thefirelight. The crow never looked jolly. I have heard of white crows. ButCarol's crow was a very dark black. Wherever you put him he looked likea sorrow. He sat on the arm of Rosalee's chair and nibbed at her pinksleeve. Young Derry Willard pushed him away. Young Derry Willard andRosalee tried to whisper. I heard them. 

"How old are you?" whispered Rosalee. 

"I'm twenty-two, " whispered young Derry Willard. 

"O--h, " said Rosalee. 

"How young are you?" whispered Derry Willard. 

"I'm seventeen, " whispered Rosalee. 

"O--h, " said Derry Willard. 

My mother started in very suddenly to explain about the Christmas tree. There were lots of little pencils on the table. And blocks of paper. Andnice cold, shining sheets of tin-foil. There was violet-coloredtin-foil, and red-colored tin-foil--and green and blue and silver andgold. 

"Why, it's just a little family custom of ours, Mr. Willard, " explainedmy mother. "After the Thanksgiving dinner is over and we're all, Itrust, feeling reasonably plump and contented, and there's nothingspecial to do except just to dream and think--why, we just list out thevarious things that we'd _like_ for Christmas and----"

"Most people end Thanksgiving, of course, " explained my father, "bytrying to feel thankful for the things they've already had. But thisseems to be more like a scheme for expressing thanks for the things thatwe'd _like_ to have!"

"The violet tin-foil is Rosalee's!" I explained. "The green is mine! Thered is mother's! The blue is father's! The silver is Carol's! Mothertakes each separate _wish_ just as soon as it's written, and twists itall up in a bud of tin-foil! And takes wire! And wires the bud on thetree! Gold buds! Silver buds! Red! Green! Everything! All bursty! Andshining! Like Spring! It looks as tho rainbows had rained on it! Itlooks as tho sun and moon had warmed it at the same time! And then weall go and get our little iron banks--all the Christmas money, I mean, that we've been saving and saving for a whole year! And dump it all outround the base of the tree! Nickels! Dimes! Quarters! Pennies!_Everything!_ And----"

"Dump them all out--round the base of the tree?" puzzled young DerryWillard. 

Carol did something suddenly that I never saw him do before with astranger. He wrote a conversation on a sheet of paper and waved it atyoung Derry Willard. It was a short conversation. But it was writtenvery tall. 

"_Phertalizer!_" explained Carol. 

My father made a little laugh. "In all my experience with horticulture, "he said, "I know of no fertilizer for a Christmas tree that equals ajudicious application of nickels, dimes, and quarters--well stirred in. "

"Our uncle Charlie was here once for Thanksgiving, " I cried. "He stirredin a twenty-dollar gold piece. Our Christmas tree bloomed _everything_that year! It bloomed tinsel pompons on every branch! And gold-ribbonbow-knots! It bloomed a blackboard for Carol! And an ice-cream freezerfor mother! And----"

"And then we take the tree, " explained my mother, "and carry it into theparlor. And shut the door. "

"And _lock_ the door, " said my father. 

"And no one ever sees, " puzzled young Derry Willard, "what was writtenin the wishes?"

"_No one_, " I said. 

Rosalee laughed. 

"Some one--must see, " said Rosalee. "'Cause just about a week beforeChristmas father and mother always go up to town and----"

"Oh, of course mother _has_ to see!" I admitted. "Mother is such friendswith Christmas!"

"And father, " laughed Rosalee, "is such friends with mother!"

"Usually, " I said. 

"Eh?" said father. 

"And then, " explained mother, "on Christmas morning we all go to theparlor!"

"And there's a fire in the parlor!" I explained. "A great hollow Yulelog all stuffed full of crackly pine-cones and sputtering sparkers andfunny-colored blazes that father buys at a fireworks shop! And thecandles are lighted! And--and----"

"And all the tin-foil buds have bloomed into presents!" laughed DerryWillard. 

"Oh, no, of course--not _all_ of them, " said mother. 

"No tree ever fulfills every bud, " said my father. 

"There's Carol's camel, of course, " laughed Rosalee. "Ever since Carolwas big enough to wish, he's always wished for a camel!"

"But mostly, of course, " I insisted, "he wishes for kites! He got ninekites last Christmas. "

"Kites?" murmured young Derry Willard. 

"_Kites!_" I said. "I _have_ to talk a good deal. Once always formyself. And all over again for Carol. " It seemed a good time to talk forCarol. Perhaps a person who came all the way from Cuba could tell us thething we wanted to know. "Oh, Carol's very much interested in kites!" Iconfided. "And in relationships! In Christmas relationships especially!When he grows up he's going to be some sort of a jenny something--Ithink it's an ologist! Or else keep a kite-shop!"

"Yes?" murmured young Derry Willard. 

There are two ways I've noticed to make one listen to you. One is toshout. The other is to whisper. I decided to whisper. 

"You don't seem to understand, " I whispered. "It's Christmasrelationships that are worrying Carol and me so! It worries usdreadfully! Oh, of course we understand all about the Little BabyChrist! And the camels! And the wise men! And the frankincense! That'seasy! But _who_ is Santa Claus? Unless--unless--?" It was Carol himselfwho signaled me to go on. "Unless--he's the Baby Christ's_grandfather_?" I thought Derry Willard looked a little bit startled. Carol's ears turned bright red. "Oh, of course--we meant on his_mother's_ side!" I hastened to assure him. 

"It is, I admit, a new idea to me, " said young Derry Willard. "But Iseem to have gotten several new ideas to-day. "

He looked at mother. Mother's mouth looked very funny. He looked atfather. Father seemed to be sneezing. He looked at Rosalee. They laughedtogether. His whole face suddenly was very laughing. "And whatbecomes, " he asked, "of all the Christmas-tree buds that _don't_ bloom?"It was a funny question. It didn't have a thing in the world to do withSanta Claus being a grandfather. 

"Oh, mother never throws away any of the buds, " laughed Rosalee. "Shejust keeps them year after year and wires them on all over again. "

"All unfulfilled wishes, " said my mother. "Still waiting--still wishing!Maybe they'll bloom some time! Even Carol's--camel, " she laughed outsuddenly. "Who knows, sonny-boy--but what if you keep on _wishing_you'll actually travel some day to the Land-Where-Camels-Live?Maybe--maybe you'll own a--a dozen camels?"

"With purple velvet blankets?" I cried. "All trimmed with scarlet silktassels? And smelling of sandalwood?"

"I have never understood, " said my father, "that camels smelt ofsandalwood. "

Young Derry Willard didn't seem exactly nervous any more. But he jumpedup very suddenly. And went and stood by the fire. 

"It's the finest Christmas idea I ever heard of!" he said. "And ifnobody has any objections I'd like to take a little turn myself at_budding_ the Christmas tree!"

"Oh, but you won't be here for Christmas!" cried everybody all at once. 

"No, I certainly sha'n't be, " admitted Derry Willard, "unless I aminvited!"

"Why, of course, you're invited!" cried everybody. Father seemed to haveswallowed something. So mother invited him twice. Father kept right onchoking. Everybody was frightened but mother. 

Young Derry Willard had to run like everything to catch his train. Itwas lucky that he knew what he wanted. With only one wish to make andonly half a minute to make it in, it was wonderful that he could decideso quickly! He snatched a pencil! He scribbled something on a piece ofpaper! He crumpled the "something" all up tight and tossed it to mother!Carol and mother wadded it into a tin-foil bud! They took thegold-colored tin-foil! Rosalee and I wired it to a branch! We chose thehighest branch we could reach! Father held his overcoat for him! Fatherhanded him his bag! Father opened the door for him! He ran as fast as hecould! He waved his hand to everybody! His laugh was all sparkly withwhite teeth!

The room seemed a little bit dark after he had gone. The firelightflickered on the tame coon's collar. Sometimes it flickered on thesingle gold bud. We cracked more nuts and munched more raisins. It madea pleasant noise. The tame crow climbed up on the window-sill and tappedand tapped against the glass. It was not a pleasant noise. The tame coonprowled about under the table looking for crumbs. He walked very flatand swaying and slow, as tho he were stuffed with wet sand. It gave hima very captive look. His eyes were very bright. 

Father got his violin and played some quivery tunes to us. Mother sang alittle. It was nice. Carol put fifteen "wishes" on the tree. Seven ofthem, of course, were old ones about the camel. But all the rest werenew. He wished a salt mackerel for his coon. And a gold anklet for hiscrow. He wouldn't tell what his other wishes were. They looked verypretty! Fifteen silver buds as big as cones scattered all through thegreen branches! Rosalee made seven violet-colored wishes! I made seven!Mine were green! Father made three! His were blue! Mother's were red!She made three, too! The tree looked more and more as tho rainbows hadrained on it! It was beautiful! We thanked mother very much for having aChristmas-tree garden! We felt very thankful toward everybody! We gotsleepier and sleepier! We went to bed!

I woke in the night. It was very lonely. I crept down-stairs to get mybest story-book. There was a light in the parlor. There were voices. Ipeeped in. It was my father and my mother. They were looking at theChristmas tree. I got an awful shock. They were having what books call"words" with each other. Only it was "sentences!"

"Impudent young cub!" said my father. "How _dared_ he stuff ahundred-dollar bill into our Christmas tree?"

"Oh, I'm sure he didn't mean to be impudent, " said my mother. Her voicewas very soft. "He heard the children telling about Uncle Charlie's goldpiece. He--he wanted to do something--I suppose. It was too much, ofcourse. He oughtn't to have done it. But----"

"A hundred-dollar bill!" said my father. Every time he said it he seemedmadder. 

"And yet, " said my mother, "if what you say about his father's sugarplantations is correct, a hundred-dollar bill probably didn't look anylarger to him than a--than a two-dollar bill looks to us--this year. We'll simply return it to him very politely--as soon as we know hisaddress. He was going West somewhere, wasn't he? We shall hear, Isuppose. "

"Hear _nothing_!" said my father. "I won't have it! Did you see how hestared at Rosalee? It was outrageous! Absolutely outrageous! AndRosalee? I was ashamed of Rosalee! Positively ashamed!"

"But you see--it was really the first young man that Rosalee has everhad a chance to observe, " said my mother. "If you had ever been willingto let boys come to the house--maybe she wouldn't have considered thisone such a--such a thrilling curiosity. "

"Stuff and nonsense!" said my father. "She's only a child! There'll beno boys come to this house for years and years!"

"She's seventeen, " said my mother. "You and I were married when I wasseventeen. "

"That's different!" said my father. He tried to smile. He couldn't. Mother smiled quite a good deal. He jumped up and began to pace theroom. He demanded things. "Do you mean to say, " he demanded, "that youwant your daughter to marry this strange young man?"

"Not at all, " said mother. 

Father turned at the edge of the rug and looked back. His face was allfrowned. "And I don't like him anyway, " he said. "He's too dark!"

"His father roomed with you at college, you say?" asked my mother verysoftly. "Do you remember him--specially?"

"Do I remember him?" cried my father. He looked astonished. "Do Iremember him? Why, he was the best friend I ever had in the world! Do Iremember him?"

"And he was--very fair?" asked my mother. 

"Fair?" cried my father. "He was as dark as a Spaniard!"

"And yet--reasonably--respectable?" asked my mother. 

"Respectable?" cried my father. "Why, he was the highest-minded man Iever knew in my life!"

"And so--dark?" said my mother. She began to laugh. It was what we callher cut-finger laugh, her bandage laugh. It rolled all around father'sangriness and made it feel better almost at once. 

"Well, I can't help it, " said father. He shook his head just the wayCarol does sometimes when he's planning to be pleasant as soon as it'sconvenient. "Well, I can't help it! Exceptions, of course, areexceptions! But Cuba? A climate all mushy with warmth and sunshine! Whatpossible stamina can a young man have who's grown up on sugar-cane sirupand--and bananas?"

"He seemed to have teeth, " said my mother. "He ate two helpings ofturkey!"

"He had a gold cigaret-case!" said my father. "_Gold!_"

My mother began to laugh all over again. 

"Maybe his Sunday-school class gave it to him, " she said. It seemed tobe a joke. Once father's Sunday-school class gave him a high silk hat. Father laughed a little. 

Mother looked very beautiful. She ruffled her hair a little on father'sshoulder. She pinked her cheeks from the inside some way. She glanced upat the topmost branch of the Christmas tree. The gold bud showed quiteplainly. 

"I--I _wonder_--what he wished, " she said. "We'll have to look--sometime. "

I made a little creak in my bones. I didn't mean to. My father andmother both turned round. They started to explore!

I ran like everything!

I think it was very kind of God to make December have the very shortestdays in the year!

Summer, of course, is nice! The long, sunny light! Lying awake till'most nine o'clock every night to hear the blackness come rustling! Sucha lot of early mornings everywhere and birds singing! Sizzling-hot noonswith cool milk to drink! The pleasant nap before it's time to playagain!

But if _December_ should feel long, what would children do? AboutChristmas, I mean! Even the best way you look at it, Christmas is alwaysthe furthest-off day that I ever heard about!

My mother was always very kind about making Christmas come just as soonas it could. There wasn't much daylight. Not in December. Not in theNorth. Not where we lived. Except for the snow, each day was like alittle jet-black jewel-box with a single gold coin in the center. Thegold coin in the center was _noon_. It was very bright. It was reallythe only bright light in the day. We spent it for Christmas. Everyminute of it. We popped corn and strung it into lovely loops. Wethreaded cranberries. We stuffed three Yule logs with crackly cones andcolored fires. We made little candies. All round the edges of the brightnoon-time, of course, there was morning and night. And lamplight. Itwasn't convenient to burn a great many lamps. At night father and mothersat in the lamplight and taught us our lessons. Or read stories to us. We children sat in the shadows and stared into the light. The light madeus blink. The tame crow and the tame coon sat in the shadows with us. Weplayed we were all jungle-animals together waiting outside a man's campto be Christianized. It was pleasant. Mother read to us about a womanwho didn't like Christmas specially. She was going to petition Congressto have the Christ Child born in leap-year so that Christmas couldn'tcome oftener than once in four years. It worried us a little. Fatherlaughed. Mother had only one worry in the world. She had it every year. 

"Oh, my darling, darling Winter garden!" worried my mother. "Wouldn't itbe _awful_ if I ever had to die just as my best Christmas tree wascoming into bloom?"

It frightened us a little. But not too much. Father had the same worryevery Spring about his Spring garden. Every Maytime when the tulip-budswere so fat and tight you could fairly hear them splitting, fatherworried. 

"Oh, wouldn't it be perfectly _terrible_ if I should die before I findout whether those new 'Rembrandts' are everything that the cataloguepromised? Or whether the 'Bizards' are really finer than the 'Byblooms'?Now, if it was in phlox-time, " worried my father. "Especially if thephlox turned out magenta, one could slip away with scarcely a pang. Butin _tulip-time_----?"

We promised our mother she should never die at Christmas-time. Wepromised our father he should never die at tulip-time. We brought themrubbers. And kneeling-cushions. We carried their coats. We found theirtrowels. We kept them just as well as we could. 

But, most of all, of course, we were busy wondering about our presents. 

It hurries Christmas a lot to have a Christmas tree growing in yourparlor for a whole month. Even if the parlor door is locked. 

Lots of children have a Christmas tree for a whole month. But it's a_going_ tree. Its going is very sad. Just one little wee day of perfectsplendor it has. And then it begins to die. Every day it dies more. Ittarnishes. Its presents are all gathered. Its pop-corn gets stale. Thecranberries smell. It looks scragglier and scragglier. It gets brittle. Its needles begin to fall. Pretty soon it's nothing but a _clutter_. Itmust be dreadful to start as a Christmas tree and end by being nothingbut a clutter. 

But mother's Christmas tree is a _coming_ tree. Every day for a monthit's growing beautifuler and beautifuler! The parlor is cool. It livesin a nice box of earth. It has water every day like a dog. It neverdies. It just disappears. When we come down to breakfast the day afterChristmas it simply _isn't there_. That's all. It's immortal. Alwayswhen you remember it, it's absolutely perfect. 

We liked very much to see the Christmas tree _come_. Every Sundayafternoon my mother unlocked the parlor door. We were not allowed to goin. But we could peep all we wanted to. It made your heart crinkle uplike a handful of tinsel to watch the tin-foil buds change intopresents. 

Two of Carol's silver buds had bloomed. One of them had bloomed into awhite-paper package that looked like a book. The other one had strangehumps. Only one of Rosalee's violet buds had bloomed. But it was a verylarge box tied with red ribbon. It looked like a best hat. One offather's blue buds had bloomed. One of mother's red buds. They bloomedvery small. Small enough to be diamonds. Or collar-buttons. 'Way back onthe further side of the tree I could see that one of my green buds hadbloomed. It was a long little box. It was a narrow little box. I canmost always tell when there's a doll in a box. Young Derry Willard'sgolden bud hadn't bloomed at all. Maybe it was a late bloomer. Somethings are. The tame coon's salt fish, I've noticed, never blooms at alluntil just the very last moment before we go into the parlor Christmasmorning. Mother says there's a reason. We didn't bother much aboutreasons. The parlor was very cold. It smelt very cold and mysterious. Wedidn't see how we could wait!

Carol helped us to wait. Not being able to talk, Carol has plenty oftime to think. He can write, of course. But spelling is very hard. So hedoesn't often waste his spelling on just facts. He waits till he getsenough facts to make a philosophy before he tries to spell it: He made aphilosophy about Christmas coming so slow. He made it on the blackboardin the kitchen. He wrote it very tall. 

"Christmas has _got_ to come, " he wrote. "It's part of _time_. Everything that's part of _time_ has _got_ to come. Nothing can stop it. It runs like a river. It runs down-hill. It can't help itself. I shouldworry. "

Young Derry Willard never wrote at all. He telegraphed his "manners"instead. "Thank you for Thanksgiving Day, " he telegraphed. "It was verywonderful. " He didn't say anything else. He never even mentioned hisaddress. 

"U--m--m, " said my father. 

"It's because of the hundred-dollar bill, " said my mother. "He doesn'twant to give us any chance to return it. "

"Humph!" said my father. "Do we _look_ poor?"

My mother glanced at the worn spot in the dining-room rug. She glancedat my father's coat. 

"We certainly do!" she laughed. "But young Derry Willard didn't leave usa hundred-dollar bill to try and make us look any richer. All youngDerry Willard was trying to do was to make us look more Christmassy!"

"Well, we can't accept it!" said my father. 

"Of course we can't accept it!" said my mother. "It was a mistake. Butat least it was a very kind mistake. "

"_Kind?_" said my father. 

"_Very_ kind, " said my mother. "No matter how dark a young man may be orhow much cane-sirup and bananas he has consumed, he can't be absolutelydepraved as long as he goes about the world trying to make things lookmore Christmassy!"

My father looked up rather sharply. 

My mother gave a funny little gasp. 

"Oh, it's all right, " she said. "We'll manage some way! But who everheard of a chicken-bone hung on a Christmas tree? Or a slice of roastbeef?"

"Some children don't get--anything, " said my father. He looked solemn. "Money is very scarce, " he said. 

"It always is, " said my mother. "But that's no reason why presents oughtto be scarce. "

My father jumped up. 

My father laughed. 

"Great Heavens, woman!" he said. "Can't anything dull your courage?"

"Not my--Christmas courage!" said my mother. 

My father reached out suddenly and patted her hand. 

"Oh, all right, " he said. "I suppose we'll manage somehow. "

"Of course we'll manage somehow, " said my mother. 

I ran back as fast as I could to Carol and Rosalee. 

We thought a good deal about young Derry Willard coming. We talked aboutit among ourselves. We never talked about it to my father or my mother. I don't know why. I went and got my best story-book and showed the FairyPrince to Carol. Carol stared and stared. There were palms and bananasin the picture. There was a lace-paper castle. There was a moat. Therewas a fiery charger. There were dragons. The Fairy Prince was all inwhite armor, with a white plume in his hat. It grasped your heart, itwas so beautiful. I showed the picture to Rosalee. She was surprised. She turned as white as the plume in the Fairy Prince's hat. She put thebook in her top bureau-drawer with her ribbons. We wondered andwondered whether young Derry Willard would come. Carol thought hewouldn't. I thought he would. Rosalee wouldn't say. Carol thought itwould be too cold. Carol insisted that he was a tropic. And that tropicscouldn't stand the cold. That if a single breath of cold air struck atropic he blew up and froze. Rosalee didn't want young Derry Willard toblow up and freeze. Anybody could see that she didn't. I comforted her. I said he would come in a huge fur coat. Carol insisted that tropicsdidn't have huge fur coats. "All right, then, " I said. "He will come ina huge _feather_ coat! Blue-bird feathers it will be made of! With asoft brown breast! When he fluffs himself he will look like the god ofall the birds and of next Spring! Hawks and all evil things will scuttleaway!"

There certainly _was_ something the matter with the Christmas tree thatyear. 

It grew. But it didn't grow very fast. 

My father said that perhaps the fertilizer hadn't been rich enough. 

My mother said that maybe all Christmas trees were blooming rather latethis year. Seasons changed so. 

My father and mother didn't go away to town at all. Not for a singleday. 

Late at night after we'd gone to bed we heard them hammering things andrunning the sewing-machine. 

Carol thought it smelt like kites. 

Rosalee said it sounded to her like a blue silk waist. 

It looked like a worry to me. 

It got colder and colder. It snowed and snowed. 

Christmas eve it snowed some more. It was beautiful. We were very muchexcited. We clapped our hands. We stood at the window to see how whitethe world was. I thought about the wise men's camels. I wondered ifthey could carry snow in their stomachs as well as rain. Mother saidcamels were tropics and didn't know anything about snow. It seemedqueer. 

A sleigh drove up to the door. There were three men in it. Two of themgot out. The first one was young Derry Willard. It was a fur coat thathe had on. He was full of bundles. My father gave one gasp. 

"The--the impudent young--" gasped my father. 

We ran to the door. The second man looked just exactly like young DerryWillard except that he had on a gray beard and a gray slouch hat. Helooked like the picture of "a planter" in "Uncle Tom's Cabin. " My fatherand he took just one look at each other. And then suddenly they began topound each other on the back and to hug each other. "Hello, old top!"they shouted. "Hello--hello--_hello_!" Derry Willard's father cried alittle. Everybody cried a little or shouted or pounded somebody on theback except young Derry Willard and Rosalee. Young Derry Willard andRosalee just stood and looked at each other. 

"Well--well--well!" said Derry Willard's father over and over and over. "Twenty years! _Twenty_ years!" The front hall was full of bundles! Wefell on them when we stepped. And we fell on new ones when we tried toget up. Whenever Derry Willard's father wasn't crying he was laughing!"So this is the wife?" he said. "And these are the children? Which isRosalee? Ah! A very pretty girl! But not as pretty as your wife!" helaughed. "Twenty years! _Twenty_ years!" he began all over again. "A bitinformal, eh? Descending on you like this? But I couldn't resist thetemptation after I'd seen Derry. We Southerners, you know! Our impulsesare romantic! Tuck us away anywhere! Or turn us out--if you must!"

My father was like a wild man for joy! He forgot all about everythingexcept "twenty years ago. "

We had to put the two Mr. Derry Willards to bed in the parlor. There wasno other room. They insisted on sleeping with the Christmas tree. Theyhad camped under every kind of branch and twig in the world, they said. But _never_ had they camped under a Christmas tree. 

Father talked and talked and talked! Derry Willard's father talked andtalked and talked! It was about college! It was about girls! It wasabout boys! It was about all sorts of pranks! Not any of it was aboutstudies! Mother sat and laughed at them!

Rosalee and young Derry Willard sat and looked at each other. Carol andI played checkers. Everybody forgot us. I don't know who put me to bed. 

When we came down-stairs the next morning and went into the parlor tosee the Christmas tree we _screamed_!

Every single weeney-teeny branch of it had sprouted tinsel tassels!There were tinsel stars all over it! Red candles were blazing! Glassicicles glistened! There were candy canes! There were tin trumpets!Little white-paper presents stuck out everywhere through the branches!Big white presents piled like a snowdrift all around the base of thetree!

Young Derry Willard's father seemed to be still laughing. He rubbed hishands together. 

"Excuse me, good people, " he laughed, "for taking such liberties withyour tree! But it's twenty years since I've had a chance to take a realwhack at a Christmas tree! Palms, of course, are all right, and bananagroves aren't half bad! But when it comes to real landscape effect--giveme a Christmas tree in a New England parlor!"

"Palms?" we gasped. "Banana-trees?"

Young Derry Willard distributed the presents. 

For my father there were boxes and boxes of cigars! And an order on someDutch importing house for five hundred _green_ tulips! Father almostsw--ooned. 

For mother there was a little gold chain with a single pearl in it! Anda box of oranges as big as a chicken-coop!

I got four dolls! And a paint-box! One of the dolls was jet-black. Shewas funny. When you squeaked her stomach she grinned her mouth and said, "Oh, lor', child!"

Rosalee had a white crêpe shawl all fringes and gay-colored birds ofparadise! Rosalee had a fan made out of ivory and gold. Rosalee had agold basket full of candied violets. Rosalee had a silver hand-mirrorcarved all round the edge with grasses and lilies like the edges of alittle pool. 

Carol had a big, big box that looked like a magic lantern. And on everybranch where he had hung his seven wishes for a camel there was a whitecard instead with the one word "Palestine" written on it. 

Everybody looked very much perplexed. 

Young Derry Willard's father laughed. 

"If the youngster wants camels, " he said, "he must have camels! I'mgoing to Palestine one of these days before so very long. I'll take himwith me. There must be heaps of camels still in Palestine. "

"Going to Palestine before--long, " gasped my mother. "How wonderful!"

Everybody turned and looked at Carol. 

"Want to go, son, eh?" laughed Derry Willard's father. 

Carol's mouth quivered. He looked at my mother. 

My mother's mouth quivered. A little red came into her checks. 

"He wants me to thank you very much, Mr. Willard, " she said. "But hethinks perhaps you wouldn't want to take him to Palestine--if you knewthat he can't--talk. "

"Can't talk?" cried Mr. Derry Willard. "_Can't talk?_" He looked atmother! He looked at Carol! He swallowed very hard! Then suddenly hebegan to laugh again!

"Good enough!" he cried. "He's the very boy I'm looking for! We'll rearhim for a diplomat!"

Carol got a hammer and opened his big box. It _was_ a magic lantern! Hewas wild with joy! He beat his fists on the top of the box! He stampedhis feet! He came and burrowed his head in mother's shoulder. When Carolburrows his head in my mother's shoulder it means, "Call me anything youwant to!"

Mother called him anything she wanted to. Right out loud beforeeverybody. "Shining Face!" said my mother. 

There were lots of other presents besides. 

My father had made a giant kite for Carol. It looked nine feet tall. Myfather had made the dearest little wooden work-box for my mother. There_was_ a blue silk waist for Rosalee. My mother had knitted me a doll!Its body was knitted! Its cheeks were knitted! Its nose was knitted! Itwas wonderful!

We ate the peppermint-candy canes. All the pink stripes. All the whitestripes. We sang carols. We sang, O, the foxes have holes! And the birds build their nests In the crotch of the sycamore-tree! But the Little Son of God had no place for His head When He cameth to earth for me!

Rosalee's voice was like a lark in the sky. Carol's face looked like twolarks in the sky. 

The tame crow stayed in the kitchen. He was afraid of so many strangers. The tame coon wasn't afraid of anything. He crawled in and out of allthe wrapping-papers, sniffing and sniffing. It made a lovely cracklingsound. 

Everything smelt like fir balsam. It was more beautiful every minute. Even after every last present was picked from the tree, the tree wasstill so fat and fluffy with tinsel and glass balls that it didn't lookrobbed at all. 

We just sat back and stared at it. 

Young Derry Willard stared only at the topmost branch. 

Father looked suddenly at mother. Mother looked suddenly at Rosalee. Rosalee looked suddenly at Carol. Carol looked suddenly at me. I lookedsuddenly at the tame coon. The tame coon kept right on crackling throughthe wrapping-papers. 

Young Derry Willard made a funny little face. There seemed to be dust inhis throat. His voice was very dry. He laughed. 

"My wish, " said young Derry Willard, "seems to have been the only onethat--didn't bloom. "

I almost died with shame. Carol almost died with shame. In all thatsplendiferousness, in all that generosity, poor Derry Willard'sgold-budded wish was the only one that hadn't at least bloomed into_something_!

Rosalee jumped up very suddenly and ran into the dining-room. She lookedas tho she was going to cry. 

Young Derry Willard followed her. He didn't run. He walked very slowly. He looked a little troubled. 

Carol and I began at once to fold the wrapping-papers very usefully. 

Young Derry Willard's father looked at my father. All of a sudden hewasn't laughing at all. Or rubbing his hands. 

"I'm sorry, Dick, " he said. "I've always rather calculated somehow onhaving my boy's wishes come true. "

My father spoke a little sharply. 

"You must have a lot of confidence, " he said, "in your boy's wishes!"

"I have!" said young Derry Willard's father, quite simply. "He's a goodboy! Not only clever, I mean, but good! Never yet have I known him towish for anything that wasn't the _best_!"

"They're too young, " said my father. 

"Youth, " said Derry Willard's father, "is the one defect I know of thatis incontestably remedial. "

"How can they possibly know their own minds?" demanded my father. 

"No person, " said Derry Willard's father, "knows his own mind until he'sready to die. But the sooner he knows his own heart the sooner he'sready to begin to live. "

My father stirred in his chair. He lit a cigar. It went out. He lit itagain. It went out again. He jerked his shoulders. He looked nervous. Hetalked about things that nobody was talking about at all. 

"The young rascal dropped a hundred-dollar bill--when he was herebefore!" he said. He said it as tho it was something very wicked. 

Young Derry Willard's father seemed perfectly cheerful. 

"Did he really?" he said. 

"It's a wonder the crow didn't eat it!" snapped my father. 

"But even the crow wouldn't eat it, eh?" said Derry Willard's father. Quite suddenly he began to laugh again. He looked at my mother. Hestopped laughing. His voice was very gentle. "Don't be--proud, " he said. "Don't ever be proud. " He threw out his hand as tho he was askingsomething. "What difference does anything make--in the whole world, " hesaid, "except just young love--and old friendship?"

"Oh, pshaw, " said father. "Oh, pshaw!"

Rosalee came and stood in the door. She looked only at mother. She hadon a red coat. And a red hat. And red mittens. 

"Derry Willard wants to see the Christmas-tree garden, " she said. "May Igo?"

Derry Willard stood just behind her. He had on his fur coat. He lookedvery hard at father. When he spoke he spoke only to father. 

"Is it all right?" he said. "May _I_ go?"

My father looked up. And then he looked down. He looked at DerryWillard's father. He threw out his hands as tho there was no place leftto look. A little smile crept into one corner of his mouth. He tried tobite it. He couldn't. 

"Oh--_pshaw_!" he said. 

Carol and I went out to play. We thought we'd like to see theChristmas-tree garden too. The snow was almost as deep as our heads. Allthe evergreen trees were weighed down with snow. Their branches draggedon the ground. It was like walking through white plumes. 

We found mother's Christmas-tree garden. We found Rosalee and youngDerry Willard standing right in the middle of it. It was all caves andcastles! It was like a whole magic little city all made out of whiteplumes! The sun came out and shone on it! Blue sky opened overhead!Everything crackled! It was more beautiful even than the Christmas treein the parlor. 

They didn't hear us. 

Rosalee gave a funny little cry. It was like a sob. Only happy. 

"I love _Christmas_!" she said. 

"I love _you_!" said Derry Willard. 

He snatched her in his arms and kissed her. 

A great pine-tree shivered all its snow down on them like a veil. 

We heard them laugh. 

We ran back to the house. We ran just as fast as we could. It almostburst our lungs. We ran into the parlor. I didn't tell. Carol couldn'ttell. 

My father and young Derry Willard's father were talking and talkingbehind great clouds of smoke. The Yule log was blazing and sputteringall sorts of fireworks and colors. Only mother was watching it. She wasparing apples as she watched. A little smile was in her eyes. 

"What a wonderful--wonderful day to have it happen!" she said. 

I couldn't stand it any longer. I ran upstairs and got my beststory-book. I brought it down and opened it at the picture of the FairyPrince. I laid it open like that in Mr. Willard's lap. I pointed at thepicture. 

"_There!_" I said. 

Derry Willard's father put on his glasses and looked at the picture. 

"Well, upon my soul, " he said, "where did you get that?"

"It's my book, " I said. "It's always been my book. "

My father looked at the picture. 

"Why, of all things, " he said. 

"Why, it looks exactly like Derry!" said my mother. 

"It _is_ Derry!" said Derry's father. "But don't ever let Derry knowthat you know that it is! It seems to tease him a little. It seems totease him a very great deal in fact. Being all rigged out like that. Theillustrator is a friend of mine. He spent the Winter in Cuba three orfour years ago. And he painted the picture there. "

I looked at Carol. Carol looked at me. It was an absolutely perfectChristmas! If _this_ were true, then everything beautiful that there wasin the world was true, too! Carol nudged me to speak. 

"Then Derry really _is_ a Fairy Prince?" I said. 

Father started to speak. 

Mother stopped him. 

"Yes! Rosalee's Fairy Prince!" she said. 

THE GAME OF THE BE-WITCHMENTS

We like our Aunt Esta very much because she doesn't like us. 

That is--she doesn't like us specially. _Toys_ are what our Aunt Estalikes specially. Our Aunt Esta invents toys. She invents them for astore in New York. Our Aunt Esta is thirty years old with very serioushair. I don't know how old our other relatives are--except Rosalee! AndCarol! And myself!

My sister Rosalee is seventeen years old. And a Betrothess. HerBetrother lives in Cuba. He eats bananas. My brother Carol is eleven. Hehas no voice in his throat. But he eats anything. I myself am only nine. But with very long legs. Our Father and Mother have no age. They arejust tall. 

There was a man. He was very rich. He had a little girl with sickbones. She had to sit in a wheel chair all day long and be pushed aroundby a Black Woman. He asked our Aunt Esta to invent a Game for her. Thelittle girl's name was Posie. 

Our Aunt Esta invented a Game. She called it the Game of theBe-Witchments. It cost two hundred dollars and forty-three cents. TheRich Man didn't seem to mind the two hundred dollars. But he couldn'tbear the forty-three cents. He'd bear even that, though, he said, if itwould only be sure to work!

"_Work?_" said our Aunt Esta. "Why _of course_ it will work!" So justthe first minute she got it invented she jammed it into her trunk anddashed up to our house to see if it would!

It worked very well. Our Aunt Esta never wastes any time. Not evenkissing. Either coming or going. We went right up to her room with her. It was a big trunk. The Expressman swore a little. My Father tore histrouser-knee. My Mother began right away to re-varnish the scratches onthe bureau. 

It took us most all the morning to carry the Game down-stairs. Wecarried it to the Dining Room. It covered the table. It covered thechairs. It strewed the sideboard. It spilled over on the floor. Therewas a pair of white muslin angel wings all spangled over with silver andgold! There was a fairy wand! There was a shining crown! There was ablue satin clock! There was a yellow plush suit and swishy-tail allpainted sideways in stripes like a tiger! There was a most furious tigerhead with whisk-broom whiskers! There was a green frog's head! And agreen frog's suit! There was a witch's hat and cape! And a hump on theback! There were bows and arrows! There were boxes and boxes ofmilliner's flowers! There were strings of beads! And yards and yards ofdungeon chains made out of silver paper! And a real bugle! And redChinese lanterns! And--and everything!

The Rich Man came in a gold-colored car to see it work. When he saw theDining Room he sickened. He bit his cigar. 

"My daughter Posie is ten years old, " he said. "What I ordered for herwas a Game!--not a Trousseau!"

Our Aunt Esta shivered her hands. She shrugged her shoulders. 

"You don't understand, " she said. "This is no paltry Toy to be exhaustedand sickened of in a single hour! This is a real Game! Eth-ical!Psycho-psycho--logical! Unendingly diverting! Hour after hour! Day afterday!--Once begun, you understand, it's never over!"

The Rich Man looked at his watch. 

"I have to be in Chicago a week from tomorrow!" he said. 

Somebody giggled. It couldn't have been Rosalee, of course. BecauseRosalee is seventeen. And, of course, it wasn't Carol. So it must havebeen me. 

The Rich Man gave an awful glare. 

"Who are these children?" he demanded. 

Our Aunt Esta swallowed. 

"They are my--my Demonstrators, " she said. 

"'Demonstrators?'" sniffed the Rich Man. He glared at Carol. "Why don'tyou speak?" he demanded. 

My mother made a rustle to the door-way. 

"He can't, " she said. "Our son Carol is dumb. "

The Rich Man looked very queer. 

"Oh, I say, " he fumbled and stuttered. "Oh, I say--! After all there'sno such great harm in a giggle. My little girl Posie cries all the time. _All_ the time, I mean! _Cries_ and _cries_ and _cries_!--It's afright!"

"She wouldn't, " said our Aunt Esta, "if she had a game like this to playwith. "

"Eh?" said the Rich Man. 

"She could wear the Witch's hideous cape!" said our Aunt Esta. "And thequeer pointed black hat! And the scraggly gray wig! And the greathorn-rimmed spectacles! And the hump on her back! And----"

"My daughter Posie has Ti--Titian red curls, " said the Rich Man coldly. "And the most beautiful brown eyes that mortal man has ever seen! And askin so fair that----"

"That's why I think it would rest her so, " said our Aunt Esta, "to beugly outside--instead of inside for a while. "

"_Eh?_" said the Rich Man. 

He glared at our Aunt Esta. 

Our Aunt Esta glared at him. 

Out in the kitchen suddenly the most beautiful smell happened. The smellwas soup! Spiced Tomato Soup! It was as though the whole stove hadbloomed! My Father came to the door. "What's it all about?" he said. Hesaw the Rich Man. The Rich Man saw him. "Why, how do you do?" said myFather. "Why, how do you do?" said the Rich Man. They bowed. There wasno room on the Dining Room table to put the dishes. There was no roomanywhere for anything. We had to eat in the kitchen. My Mother madegriddle cakes. The Rich Man stirred the batter. He seemed to think itwas funny. Carol had to sit on a soap-box. Our Aunt Esta sat on the edgeof a barrel with her stockings swinging. It made her look not so strict. "All the same, " worried the Rich Man, "I don't see just why you fixedthe price at two hundred dollars and forty-three cents?--Why not twohundred dollars and forty-five cents? Or even the round sum two hundredand one dollars?"

Our Aunt Esta looked pretty mad. "I will be very glad--I'm sure, " shesaid, "to submit an itemized bill. "

"Oh, nonsense!" said the Rich Man. "It was just your mental processes Iwas wondering about. --The thing, of course, is worth any money--if itworks!"

"If it works?" cried our Aunt Esta. 

The Rich Man jumped up and strode fiercely to the Dining Room door. 

Our Aunt Esta strode fiercely after him, only littler. Our Aunt Esta is_very_ little. 

The Rich Man waved his arms at everything, --the boxes, --thebundles, --the angel-wings, --the cloaks, --the suits, --the ChineseLanterns. 

"All the same, the thing is perfectly outrageous!--The size of it!--Theextent! No house would hold it!"

"It isn't meant, " said our Aunt Esta, "to be played just in thehouse. --It's meant to be played on a sunny porch opening out on a greenlawn--so that there's plenty of room for all Posie's little playmates togo swarming in and out. "

The Rich Man looked queer. He gave a little shiver. 

"My little daughter Posie hasn't got any playmates, " he said. "She's toocross. "

Our Aunt Esta stood up very straight. Two red spots flamed in hercheeks. 

"You won't be able to keep the children away from her, " she said, "afterthey once begin to play this game!"

"You really think so?" cried the Rich Man. 

Out in the kitchen my Father looked at my Mother. My Mother looked at myFather. They both looked at us. My Father made a little chuckle. 

"It would seem, " said my Father, "as though it was the honor of thewhole family that was involved!" He made a whisper in Carol's ear. "Goto it, Son!" he whispered. 

Rosalee jumped to her feet. Carol jumped to his feet. I jumped to myfeet. We snatched hands. We ran right into the Dining Room. Carol's facewas shining. 

"Who's going to be Posie-with-the-Sick-Bones?" I cried. 

"S--s--h!" said everybody except our Aunt Esta. 

Our Aunt Esta suddenly seemed very much encouraged. She didn't wait aminute. She snatched a little book from her pocket. It was a little bookthat she had made herself all full of typewriter directions about theGame. 

"_Someone_, of course, " she said, "will have to be the Witch, --someonewho knows the Game, I mean, so perhaps I--?"

We rushed to help her drag the old battered tricycle to the Porch! Wehelped her open up every porch door till all the green lawn and gaypetunia blossoms came right up and fringed with the old porch rug! Wehelped her tie on the Witch's funny hat! And the scraggly gray wig! Andthe great horn-rimmed spectacles! We helped her climb into the tricycleseat! We were too excited to stay on the porch! We wheeled her rightout on the green lawn itself! The green lilac hedge reared all up aroundher like a magic wall!

We screamed with joy! The Rich Man jumped when we screamed. The RichMan's name was Mr. Trent. 

"And Mr. Trent shall be the Black Woman who pushes you all about!" wescreamed. 

"I will not!" said Mr. Trent. 

But Carol had already tied a black velvet ribbon on the Rich Man's legto _show_ that he was!

Our Aunt Esta seemed more encouraged every minute. She stood us all upin front of her. Even Father. She read from her book. It was a poem. Thepoem said:

 Now come ye all to the Witch's Ball, Ye Great, ye Small, Ye Short, ye Tall, Come one, Come all!

"I will not!" said the Rich Man. 

He sweated. 

"Oh Shucks! Be a Sport!" said my Father. 

"I will _not_!" said the Rich Man. 

He glared. 

Our Aunt Esta tried to read from her book and wave her wand at the sametime. It waved the Rich Man in the nose. 

"Foul Menial!" waved our Aunt Esta. "Bring in the Captives!"

"Who?" demanded the Rich Man. 

_"You_!" said our Aunt Esta. 

The Rich Man brought us in! Especially Father! He bound us all up insilver paper chains! He put a silver paper ring through my Father'sbeautiful nose!

"Oh, I say, " protested my Father. "It was 'guests' that I understood wewere to be! Not captives!"

"Ha!" sniffed the Rich Man. "Be a Sport!"

They both glared. 

Our Aunt Esta had cakes in a box. They seemed to be very good cakes. "Now in about ten minutes, " read our Aunt Esta from her book, "you willall begin to feel very queer. "

"Oh--Lordy!" said my Father. 

"I knew it!" said the Rich Man. "I knew it all the time! From the veryfirst mouthful--my stomach----"

"Is there no antidote?" cried my Mother. 

Our Aunt Esta took off her horn-rimmed spectacles. She sniffed. 

"Sillies!" she said. "This is just a Game, you know!"

"Nevertheless, " said the Rich Man, "I certainly feel very queer. "

"When you all feel equally queer, " said our Aunt Esta coldly, "we willproceed with the Game. "

We all felt equally queer just as soon as we could. 

Our Aunt Esta made a speech. She made it from her little book. 

"Poor helpless Captives (said the Speech). You are now entirely in mypower! Yet fear not! If everybody does just exactly as I say, all mayyet be well!"

"Hear! Hear!" said my Father. 

The Rich Man suddenly seemed to like my Father very much. He reachedover and nudged him in the ribs. 

"Shut up!" he whispered. "The less you say the sooner it will be over!"

My Father said less at once. He seemed very glad to know about it. 

Our Aunt Esta pointed to a boxful of little envelopes. 

"Foul Menial, " she said. "Bring the little envelopes!"

The Rich Man brought them. But not very cheerfully. 

"Oh, of course, it's all right to call _me_ that, " he said. "But I tellyou quite frankly that my daughter Posie's maid will never stand forit! _Her_ name is Elizabeth Lou!--Mrs. Jane--Frank--ElizabethLou--even!"

Our Aunt Esta looked at the Rich Man. Her look was scornfuller andscornfuller. 

"_All_ Witch's servants, " she said, "are called 'Foul Menial!'--From theearliest classical records of fairy tale and legend down to----"

"Not in our times, " insisted the Rich Man. "I defy you in anyIntelligence Office in New York to find a--a----"

Our Aunt Esta brushed the contradiction aside. She frowned. Not just atthe Rich Man. But at everybody. "We will proceed with the Rehearsal--aswritten!" she said. She gruffed her voice. She thumped her wand on thefloor. "Each captive, " she said, "will now step forward and draw alittle envelope from the box. "

Each captive stepped forward and drew a little envelope from the box. 

Inside each envelope was a little card. Very black ink words werewritten on each card. 

"Captives, stand up very straight!" ordered our Aunt Esta. 

Every captive stood very straight. 

"Knock your knees together with fear!" ordered our Aunt Esta. 

Every captive knocked his knees together with fear. 

"Strain at your chains!" ordered our Aunt Esta. "But not too hard!Remembering they are paper!"

Every captive strained at his chains but not too hard! Remembering theywere paper!

Our Aunt Esta seemed very much pleased. She read another poem from herbook. The poem said:

 Imprisoned thus in my Witchy Wiles, Robbed of all hope, all food, all smiles, A Fearful Doom o'er-hangs thy Rest, Unless thou meet my Dread Behest!

"Oh, dear--oh, dear--oh, dear--oh, dear!" cried our Mother. "Can nothingsave us?"

My Father burst his nose-ring!

Rosalee giggled!

Carol and I jumped up and down! We clapped our hands!

The Rich Man cocked his head on one side. He looked at our Aunt Esta. Ather funny black pointed hat. At her scraggly gray wig. At her greathorn-rimmed spectacles. At the hump on her back. "U-m-m, " he said. "Whatdo you mean, --'witch-y wiles?'"

"_Silence!_" said our Aunt Esta. "Read your cards!"

We read our cards. 

Carol's card said "PINK BREEZE" on it. And "SLIMY FROG. "

Our Aunt Esta poked Carol twice with her wand. "Pitiful Wretch!" saidour Aunt Esta. "It is now two o'clock. --Unless you are back here exactlyat three o'clock--bearing a _Pink Breeze_ in your hands--you shall beturned for all time and eternity into a _Slimy Green Frog_!--Go hence!"

Carol went hence. He henced as far as the Mulberry Tree on the frontlawn. He sat down on the grass with the card in his hand. He read thecard. And read it. And read it. It puzzled him very much. 

"Pitiful Wretch, go _hence_!" cried our Aunt Esta. 

He henced as far as the Larch Tree this time. And sat down all overagain. And puzzled. And puzzled. 

"Go _hence_, I say, Pitiful Wretch!" insisted our Aunt Esta. 

My Mother didn't like Carol to be called a "Pitiful Wretch. "--It wasbecause he was dumb, I suppose. When my Mother doesn't like anything itspots her cheek-bones quite red. Her cheek-bones were spotted very red. 

"Stop your fussing!" said our Aunt Esta. "And attend to your ownbusiness!"

My Mother attended to her own business. The business of her card said"SILVER BIRD" and "HORSE'S HOOF. "

Even our Aunt Esta looked a bit flabbergasted. 

"Oh, dear--oh, dear, " said our Aunt Esta. "I certainly am sorry that itwas you who happened to draw that one!--And all dressed up in white tooas you are! But after all--" she jerked with a great toss of herscraggly wig, "a Game is a Game! And there can be no concessions!"

"No, of course not!" said my Mother. "Lead me to the Slaughter!"

"There is not necessarily any slaughter connected with it, " said ourAunt Esta very haughtily. But she hit my Mother only once with her wand. 

"Frail Creature, " she said. "On the topmost branch of the tallest treein the world there is a silver bird with a song in his throat that hasnever been sung! Unless you bring me this bird _singing_ you are herebydoomed to walk with the clatter of a Horse's Hoof!"

"Horse's Hoof?" gasped my Mother. "With the clatter of a Horse's Hoof?"

My Father was pretty mad. "Why, it's impossible!" he said. "She's aslight as Thistle-Down! Even in her boots it's like a Fairy passing!"

"Nevertheless, " insisted our Aunt Esta. "She shall walk with the clatterof a Horse's Hoof--unless she brings me the Silver Bird. "

My Mother started at once for the Little Woods. "I can at least searchthe Tallest Tree in _my_ world!" she said. 

It made my Father nervouser and nervouser. "Now don't you _dare_, " hecalled after her, "climb _anything_ until I come!"

"Base Interloper!" said our Aunt Esta. "Keep Still!"

"Who?" said my Father. 

"_You!_" said our Aunt Esta. 

I giggled. Our Aunt Esta was very mad. She turned me into a WhiteRabbit. I was made of white canton flannel. I was very soft. I had longears. They were lop-ears. They were lined with pink velvet. They hungway down over my shoulders so I could stroke them. I liked them verymuch. But my legs looked like white night-drawers. "Ruthy-the-Rabbit"was my name. Our Aunt Esta scolded it at me. 

"Because of your impudence, Ruthy-the-Rabbit, " she said, "you shall notbe allowed to roam the woods and fields at will. But shall stay here incaptivity close by my side and help the Foul Menial do the chores!"

The Rich Man seemed very much pleased. He winked an eye. He pulled oneof my lop-ears. It was nice to have somebody pleased with me. 

Everybody was pleased with Rosalee's bewitchment. It sounded so restful. All Rosalee had to do was to be very pretty, --just exactly as she was!And seventeen years old, --just exactly as she was! And sit on the biggray rock by the side of the brook just exactly as it was! And seewhether it was a Bright Green Celluloid Fish or a Bright Red CelluloidFish that came down the brook first! And if it was a Bright GreenCelluloid Fish she was to catch it! And slit open its stomach! And takeout all its Directions! And follow 'em! And if it was a Bright RedCelluloid Fish she was to catch _it_! And take out all its Directionsand follow _them_!--In either case her card said she would need rubbersand a trowel. --It sounded like Buried Treasure to me! Or else IrisRoots! Our Aunt Esta is very much interested in Iris Roots. 

It was my Father's Bewitchment that made the only real trouble. Nothingat all was postponed about my Father's Bewitchment. It happened all atonce. It was because my Father knew too much. It was about the Alphabetthat he knew too much. The words on my Father's card said "ALPHABET. "And "BACKWARDS. " And "PINK SILK FAIRY. " And "TIN LOCOMOTIVE HEAD. " And"THREE MINUTES. " Our Aunt Esta turned my Father into a Pink Silk Fairywith White Tarlatan Wings because he was able to say the Alphabetbackwards in three minutes! My Father refused to turn! He wouldn't! Hewouldn't! He swore he wouldn't! He said it was a "cruel and unnecessarypunishment!" Our Aunt Esta said it wasn't a Punishment! It was a Reward!It was the Tin Locomotive Head that was the punishment! My Father saidhe wouldn't have cared a rap if it had been the Tin Locomotive Head!--Hecould have smoked through that! But he _wouldn't_ be a Pink Silk Fairywith White Tarlatan Wings!

The Rich Man began right away to untie the black velvet ribbon on hisleg, and go home! He looked very cheated! He scorned my Father withribald glances! "Work?" he gloated. "_Of course_ it won't work! I knewall the time it wouldn't work!--Two hundred dollars! And forty-threecents?" he gloated. "_H-a!_"

Our Aunt Esta cried! She put her hand on my Father's arm. It was a verysmall hand. It didn't look a bit like a Witch's hand. Except for havingno lovingness in it, it looked a good deal like my Mother's hand. 

My Father consented to be turned a little! But not much! He consented towear the white tarlatan wings! And the gold paper crown! But not thegarland of roses! He would carry the pink silk dress on his arm, hesaid. But he would _not_ wear it!

The Rich Man seemed very much encouraged. He stopped untying the blackvelvet ribbon from his leg. He grinned a little. 

My Father told him what he thought of him. The Rich Man acknowledgedthat very likely it was so. But he didn't seem to mind. He kept right ongrinning. 

My Father stalked away in his gold paper crown with the pink dress overhis arm. He looked very proud and noble. He looked as though even ifdogs were sniffing at his heels he wouldn't turn. His white wingsflapped as he walked. The spangles shone. It looked very holy. 

The Rich Man made a funny noise. It sounded like snorting. 

My Father turned round quicker than _scat_. He glared right through theRich Man at our Aunt Esta. He told our Aunt Esta just what he thought of_her_!

The Rich Man said it wasn't so at all! That the Game undoubtedly wasperfectly practical if----

"If _nothing_!" said my Father. "It's you yourself that are spoiling thewhole effect by running around playing you're a Black Slave withnothing on but a velvet ribbon round one knee! The very _least_ youcould do, " said my Father, "is to have your face blacked! And wear aplaid skirt!"

"_Eh?_" said the Rich Man. 

Our Aunt Esta was perfectly delighted with the suggestion. 

The Rich Man took her delight coldly. 

He glared at my Father. "I don't think I need any outside help, " hesaid, "in the management of my affairs. --As the Owner indeed of one ofthe largest stores in the world I----"

"That's all right, " said my Father. "But you never yet have tried tomanage the children's Aunt Esta. --Nothing can stop her!"

Nothing could! She pinned an old plaid shawl around the Rich Man'swaist! She blacked his face! He had to kneel at her feet while it wasbeing blacked! He seemed to sweat easily! But our Aunt Esta blackedvery easily too! He looked lovely! Even my Father thought he lookedlovely! When he was done he wanted to look in a mirror. My Fatheradvised him not to. But he insisted. My Father got up from makingsuggestions and came and stood behind him while he looked. They lookedonly once. Something seemed to hit them. They doubled right up. It waslaughter that hit them. They slapped each other on the back. Theylaughed! And laughed! And laughed! They made such a noise that my Mothercame running!

It seemed to make our Aunt Esta a little bit nervous to have my Mothercome running. She pointed her wand. She roared her voice. 

"Where is the Silver Bird?" she roared. 

My Mother looked just as swoone-y as she could. She fell on her knees. She clasped her hands. 

"Oh, Cruel Witch, " she said. "I _saw_ the bird! But I couldn't reachhim! He was in the Poplar Tree!--However in the world did you put himthere?--Was that what you were bribing the Butcher's Boy about thismorning? Was that----?"

"Hush!" roared our Aunt Esta. "Your Doom has overtaken you! Go hencewith the clatter of a Horse's Hoof until such time as your IncompetentHead may----"

"Oh, it wasn't my head that was incompetent, " said my Mother. "It was mylegs. The Poplar Tree was so very tall! So very fluffy and undecided toclimb! So----"

"With the clatter of a Horse's Hoof!" insisted our Aunt Esta. "There canbe no mercy!"

"None?" implored my Mother. 

"None!" said our Aunt Esta. 

She gave my Mother two funny little wooden cups. They were somethinglike clappers. You could hold them in your hand so they scarcely showedat all and make a noise like a horse galloping across a bridge! Ortrotting! Or anything! It made quite a loud noise! It was wonderful! MyMother started right away for the village. She had on white shoes. Herfeet were very small. She sounded like a great team horse stumbling upthe plank of a ferry-boat. "I think I'll go get the mail!" she said. 

"Like that?" screamed my Father. 

My Mother turned around. Her hair was all curly. There were laughs inher eyes. 

"I _have_ to!" she said. "I'm bewitched!"

"I'll go with you!" said my Father. 

My Mother turned around again. She looked at my Father! At his goldencrown! At his white spangled wings! At the pink silk skirt over his arm!

"Like--that?" said my Mother. 

My Father decided not to go. 

The Rich Man said he considered the decision very wise. 

They glared. 

Way over on the other side of the green lilac hedge we heard my Mothertrotting down the driveway. _Clack_-clack--_clack_--clack sounded thehoof-beats!

"My Lord--she's pacing!" groaned my Father. 

"Clever work!" said the Rich Man. "Was she ever in a Band? In a JazzBand, you know, with Bantam Rooster whistles? And drums that bark likedogs?"

"In a _what_?" cried my Father. He was awful mad. 

Our Aunt Esta tried to soothe him with something worse. She turned tome. 

"Now, Ruthy-the-Rabbit, " she said. "Let us see what _you_ can do toredeem the ignominy of your impudent giggling!" She handed me the BrightGreen and the Bright Red Celluloid fishes. She poked her wand at me. "Hopping all the way, " she said. "Every step of the way, youunderstand, --bear these two fish to the Head-Waters of the MagicBrook, --the little pool under the apple tree will do, --and start themex--ex--peditiously down the Brook towards Rosalee!"

"Yes'm, " I said. 

Our Aunt Esta turned to the Rich Man. 

"Foul Menial, " she said. "Push my chariot a little further down the Lawninto the shade!"

The Foul Menial pushed it. 

My Father pushed a little too. 

I hopped along beside them flopping my long ears. Our Aunt Esta looked_ex_-actly like a Witch! The Rich Man's black face was leaking a littlebut not much! It would have been easier if he hadn't tripped so often onhis plaid shawl skirt! My Father's white wings flapped as he pushed! Helooked like an angel who wasn't quite hatched! It was handsome!

When we got to the thickest shade there was a man's black felt hatbobbing along the top of the Japonica Hedge. It was rather asoft-boiled looking hat. It was bobbing just as fast as it could towardsthe house. 

When our Aunt Esta saw the hat she screamed! She jumped from her chariotas though it had been flames! She tore the scraggly gray wig from herhead! She tore the hump from her back! She kicked off her wooden shoes!Her feet were silk! She ran like the wind for the back door!

My Father ran for the Wood-Shed!

The Rich Man dove into the Lilac Bush!

When the Rich Man was all through diving into the Lilac Bush he seemedto think that he was the only one present who hadn't done anything!

"What you so scared about, Ruthy?" he said. "What's the matter witheverybody? Who's the Bloke?"

"It's the New Minister, " I said. 

"Has he got the Cholera or anything?" said the Rich Man. 

"No, not exactly, " I explained. "He's just our Aunt Esta's Suitor!"

"Your Aunt Esta's _Suitor_?" cried the Rich Man. "_Suitor?_" He clappedhis hand over his mouth. He burst a safety-pin that helped lash theplaid shawl around him. "What do you mean, --_'Suitor?'_" he said. 

It seemed queer he was so stupid. 

"Why a Suitor, " I explained, "is a Person Who Doesn't Suit--so he keepsright on coming most every day to see if he does! As soon as he suits, of course, he's your husband and doesn't come any more at all--becausehe's already there! The New Minister, " I explained very patiently, "is aSuitor for our Aunt Esta's hand!"

We crawled through the Lilac Bush. We peeped out. 

Our Aunt Esta hadn't reached the back door at all. She sat all huddledup in a little heap on the embankment trying to keep the New Ministerfrom seeing that she was in her stocking-feet. But the New Ministerdidn't seem to see anything at all except her hands. Being a Suitor forher hands it was natural, I suppose, that he wasn't interested inanything except her hands. Her hands were on her hair. The scraggly graywig had rumpled all the seriousness out of her hair. It looked quitejolly. The New Minister stared! And stared! And stared! Except forhaving no lovingness in them, her hands looked _very_ much like myMother's. 

"Our Aunt Esta's got--nice hands, " I said. 

The Rich Man burst another safety pin. 

"Yes, by Jove, " he said. "And nice feet, too!" He seemed quitesurprised. "How long's this minister fellow been coming here?" he said. 

"Oh, I don't know, " I said. "He comes whenever our Aunt Esta comes. "

The Rich Man made a grunt. He looked at the Minister's hat. 

"Think of courting a woman, " he said, "in a hat like that!"

"Oh, our Aunt Esta doesn't care anything at all about hats, " I said. 

"It's time she did!" said the Rich Man. 

"We'll go out if you say so, " I suggested, "and help them have apleasant time. "

The Rich Man was awful mad. He pointed at his plaid shawl! He pointed athis black face!

"_What?_" he said. "Go out like _this_? And make a fool of myself beforethat Ninny-Hat?"

"Why, he'd love it!" I said. 

The Rich Man choked. 

"That's quite enough reason!" he said. 

There was a noise in the wood-shed. We could see the noise through thewindow. It was my Father trying to untie his wings. He couldn't. 

The Rich Man seemed to feel better suddenly. He began to mop his face. 

"It's a great Game, all right, " he said, "if you don't weaken!" Hepulled my ears. "But why in the world, Ruthy----" he worried, "did shehave to go and tuck that forty-three cents on to the end of the bill?"

"Why, that's her profit!" I explained. 

"Her--profit?" gasped the Rich Man. "Her _Profit_?"

"Why, she had to have something!" I explained. "She was planning to havemore, of course! She was planning to go to Atlantic City! But everythingcosts so big! Even toys! It's----"

"Her _Profit_?" gasped the Rich Man. "Forty-three cents on a two hundreddollar deal?" He began to laugh! And laugh! "And she calls herself aBusiness Woman?" he said. "Why, she ought to be in an Asylum!--Allwomen, in fact, ought to be in Asylums--or else in homes of their own!"Quite furiously he began to pull my ears all over again. "_BusinessWoman_, " he said. "And both her feet would go at once in the hollow ofmy hand! _Business Woman!_"

Out in the roadway suddenly somebody sneezed. 

It made the Rich Man jump awfully. 

"Ruthy, stay where you are!" he ordered. 

"I can't!" I called back. "I'm already hopped out!"

From my hop-out I could see the Person Who Sneezed! Anybody would haveknown that it was Posie-with-the-Sick-Bones! She was sitting in anautomobile peering through the hedge! There was a black woman with her!

The Rich Man crackled in the bushes. He reached out and grabbed my foot. He pulled me back. His face looked pretty queer. 

"Yes, she's been there all the time, " he whispered. "But not a soulknows it!--I wanted her to see it work!--I wanted to be sure that sheliked it--But I was afraid to bring her in! She catches everything so!And I knew there were children here! And I was afraid there might besomething contagious!"

He peered out through the Lilac Branches. There was quite a good deal topeer at. 

Down in the meadow Rosalee was still running up and down the soft banksof the brook trying to catch the Celluloid Fish. She had on a greendress. It was a slim dress like a willow wand. She had her shoes andstockings in one hand. And a great bunch of wild blue Forget-me-Nots inthe other. Her hair was like a gold wave across her face. She lookedpretty. The Springtime looked pretty too. --Out in the wood-shed myFather was still wrestling with his wings. 

Up on the green mound by the house our Aunt Esta was still patting herhair while the New Minister stared at her hands. 

The Rich Man turned very suddenly and stared at me. 

"_Contagious?_" he gasped out suddenly. "Why, upon my soul, Ruthie--it'sjust about the most contagious place that I ever was in--in my life!"

He gave a funny little laugh. He glanced back over his shoulder towardsthe road. He groaned. 

"But I shall certainly be ruined, Ruthie, " he said, "if my littledaughter Posie or my little daughter Posie's Black Woman ever see me atclose range--in these clothes!" He took my chin in his hands. He lookedvery deep into my eyes. "Ruthie, " he said, "you seem to be a _very_intelligent child. --If you can think of any way--_any_ way, I say--bywhich I can slink off undetected into the house--and be washed----"

"Oh Shucks! That's easy!" I said. "We'll _make_ Posie be the Witch!"

When I hopped out this time I stayed hopped! I hopped right up on thewall! And stroked my ears!

When Posie-with-the-Sick-Bones saw me she began to laugh! And clap herhands! And kick the Black Woman with her toes!

"Oh, I want to be the Witch!" she cried. "I want to be the Witch forever and ever! And change everybody into everything! I'm going to wearit home in the automobile! And scare the Cook to Death! I'm going tochange the Cook into a cup of Beef Tea! And throw her down the sink! I'mgoing to change my Poodle Dog into a New Moon!" she giggled. "I'm goingto change my Doctor into a Balloon! And cut the string!"

The Rich Man seemed perfectly delighted. I could see his face in thebushes. He kept rubbing his hands! And nodding to me to go ahead!

I went ahead just as fast as I could. 

The Black Woman began to giggle a little. She giggled and opened theautomobile door. She giggled and lifted Posie out. She giggled andcarried Posie to the Witch's chariot. She giggled and tied the Witch'shat under Posie's chin. She giggled and tied the humped-back cape aroundPosie's neck. 

Posie never stopped clapping her hands except when the Witch's Wigitched her nose. 

It was when the Witch's Wig itched her nose that the Rich Man slunk awayon all fours to be washed. He giggled as he slunk. It looked friendly. 

Carol came. He was pretty tired. But he had the Pink Breeze in hishands. It was Phlox! It was very pink! It was in a big flower pot! Hepuffed out his cheeks as he carried it and blew it into Breezes! It waspretty! It was very heavy! He knelt at the Witch's feet to offer it toher! When he looked up and saw the Strange Child in the Witch's Chair hedropped it! It broke and lay on the ground all crushed and spoiled! Hismouth quivered! All the shine went out of his face!

It scared Posie to see all the shine go out of his face. 

"Oh, Boy--Boy, put back your smile!" she said. 

Carol just stood and shook his head. 

Posie began to scream. 

"Why doesn't he speak?" she screamed. 

"He can't, " I said. "He hasn't any speech!"

"Why doesn't he cry?" screamed Posie. 

"He can't, " I said. "He hasn't any cry!"

Posie stopped screaming. 

"Can't he even swear?" she said. 

"No, he can't, " I said. "He hasn't any swear!"

Posie looked pretty surprised. 

"I can speak!" she said. "I can cry! I can swear!"

"You sure can, Little Missy!" said the Black Woman. 

Posie looked at Carol. She looked a long time. A little tear rolled downher cheek. 

"Never mind, Boy, " she said. "I will help you make a new Pink Breeze!"

"Oh Lor, Little Missy, " said the Black Woman. "You never helped no onedo nothin' in your life!"

"I will if I want to!" said Posie. "And we'll make a Larkspur-ColoredBreeze too, if we want to!" she said. "And I'll have it on mywindow-sill all blue-y and frilly and fluttery when everything else inthe room is horrid and hushed and smothery!--And we'll make a GreenBreeze----" She gave a little cry. She looked at the Waving Meadow whereall the long silver-tipped grasses ducked and dipped in the wind. Shestretched out her arms. Her arms were no bigger than the handles of ourcroquet mallets. "We'll dig up _all_ the Waving Meadow, " she cried. "Andpot it into Window-Sill Breezes for the hot people in the cities!"

"You can't!" I said. "It would take mor'n an hour! And you've got to bethe Witch!"

"I will _not_ be the Witch!" said Posie. She began to scream! "It's myGame!" she screamed. "And I'll do anything I like with it!" She tore offher black pointed hat! She kicked off her stubby wooden shoes! Shescreamed to the Black Woman to come and bear her away!

While the Black Woman bore her away Carol walked beside them. He seemedvery much interested that any one could make so much noise. 

When Posie saw how _much_ interested Carol was in the noise, she stoppeden--tirely screaming to the Black Woman and screamed to Carol instead. 

While Carol walked beside the Noise, I saw the New Minister come downthe Road and go away. His face looked red. 

Our Aunt Esta came running. She was very business-like. She snatched upher wooden shoes and put them on! She crammed on the scraggly gray wigand the humped-back cape!

"Foul Menial!" she called. "Come at once and resume the Game!"

The Black Woman stepped out of the bushes. She looked very muchsurprised. But not half as surprised as our Aunt Esta. 

Our Aunt Esta rubbed her eyes! She rubbed them again! And again! Shelooked at the Black Woman's face. It was a _real_ black face. She lookedat the Black Woman's woolly hair. --It was _real_ woolly hair! Her jawdropped!

"Ruthy-the-Rabbit, hop here!" she gasped. 

I hopped. 

She put her lips close to my ear. 

"Ruthy-the-Rabbit, " she gasped. "Do I see what I think I see?"

"Yes, you do!" I said. 

She put her head down in her hands! She began to laugh! And laugh! Andlaugh! It was a queer laugh as though she couldn't stop! The tears ranout between her fingers!

"Well--I certainly _am_ a Witch!" she laughed. Her shoulders shook likesobs. 

The Rich Man came running! He had his watch in his hand! He was allclean and shining! He saw the Black Woman standing by the Witch's chair!He saw the Witch in the chair! He thought the Witch was Posie! Hegrabbed her right up in his arms and _hugged_ her!

"Though I'm late for a dozen Directors' Meetings, " he cried, "it's worthit, my Precious, to see you laugh!"

"I'm not your Precious!" cried our Aunt Esta. She bit! She tore! Shescratched! She shook her scraggly gray wig-curls all over her face! Itwas like a mask! But all the time she kept right on laughing! Shecouldn't seem to stop!

The Rich Man kissed her. And kissed her! Right through her scraggly graywig-curls he kissed her! He couldn't seem to stop!

"Now, at last, my Precious, " he said. "We've learned how to live! We'llplay more! We'll laugh more!"

Our Aunt Esta tore off her wig! She tore off her hump! She shook herfist at the Rich Man! But she couldn't stop laughing!

The Rich Man gave one awful gasp! He turned red! He turned white! Helooked at the wood-shed window to see if my Father had seen him. 

My Father had seen him!

The Rich Man said things under his breath. That is, most of them wereunder his breath. He stalked to his car. He ordered the Black Woman topick up the Real Posie and stalk to his car! He looked madder thanPirates!

But when he had climbed into his car, and had started his engine, andwas all ready to go, he stood up on the seat instead, and peered overthe hedge-top at our Aunt Esta! And grinned!

Our Aunt Esta was standing just where he had left her. All the laughterwas gone from her. But her eyes looked very astonished. Her cheeks wereblazing red. Her hair was all gay and rumpled like a sky-terrier's. Itseemed somehow to be rather becoming to our Aunt Esta to be kissed bymistake. 

The Rich Man made a little noise in his throat. Our Aunt Esta looked up. She jumped. The Rich Man fixed his eyes right on her. His eyes were fullof twinkles. 

"Talk about Be-Witchments!" he said. "Talk about--_Be-Witchments_!--I'llbe back on Tuesday! What for?--Great Jumping Jehosophats!" he said. "It's enough that I'll be back!"

My Father stuck his head and the tip of one battered wing out thewood-shed window. He started to say something. And cocked his earinstead. 

It was towards the village that he cocked his ear. 

We all stopped and cocked our ears. 

It was a funny sound: Clack-Clack-_Clack_! Clack-Clack-_Clack_!Clack-Clack--_Clack_!

It was my Mother cantering home across the wooden bridge. 

It sounded glad. 

My Father thought of a new way suddenly to escape from his wings! Andran to meet her!

THE BLINDED LADY

The Blinded Lady lived in a little white cottage by the Mill Dam. 

She had twenty-seven cats! And a braided rug! And a Chinese cabinet allfull of peacock-feather fans!

Our Father and Mother took us to see them. 

It smelt furry. 

Carol wore his blue suit. Rosalee wore an almost grown-up dress. I woremy new middy blouse. 

We looked nice. 

The Blinded Lady looked nice too. 

She sat in a very little chair in the middle of a very large room. Herskirts were silk and very fat. They fluffed all around her like apen-wiper. She had on a white lace cap. There were violets in the cap. Her eyes didn't look blinded. 

We sat on the edge of our chairs. And stared at her. And stared. Shedidn't mind. 

All the cats came and purred their sides against our legs. It felt softand sort of bubbly. 

The Blinded Lady recited poetry to us. She recited "Gray's Elegy in aCountry Churchyard. " She recited "The Charge of the Light Brigade. " Sherecited "Bingen on the Rhine. "

When she got all through reciting poetry she asked us if we knew any. 

We did. 

We knew "Onward Christian Soldiers, " and "Hey Diddle, Diddle, the Catand the Fiddle. " And Rosalee knew two verses about

 It was many and many a year ago In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee. 

We hoped the Blinded Lady would be pleased. 

She wasn't!

The Blinded Lady said it wasn't nearly enough just to know the first twoverses of anything! That you ought to know all the verses of everything!The Blinded Lady said that every baby just as soon as it was born oughtto learn every poem that it possibly could so that if it ever grew upand was blinded it would have something to amuse itself with!

We promised we would!

We asked the Blinded Lady what made her blinded. 

She said it was because she made all her father's shirts when she wassix years old!

We promised we wouldn't!

"And now, " said the Blinded Lady, "I'd like to have the Little Dumb Boycome forward and stand at my knee so I can touch his face!"

Carol didn't exactly like to be called the Little Dumb Boy, but he cameforward very politely and stood at the Blinded Lady's knee. The BlindedLady ran her fingers all up and down his face. It tickled his nose. Helooked puckered. 

"It's a pleasant face!" said the Blinded Lady. 

"We like it!" said my Father. 

"Oh _very_ much!" said my Mother. 

"Has he always been dumb?" said the Blinded Lady. 

"Always, " said my Mother. "But never deaf!"

"Oh _Tush_!" said the Blinded Lady. "Don't be stuffy! Afflictions weremeant to talk about!"

"But Carol, you see, " said my Mother, "can't talk about his! So _we_don't!"

"Oh--_Tush_!" said the Blinded Lady. 

She pushed Carol away. She thumped her cane on the braided rug. 

"There's one here, isn't there, " she said, "that hasn't got anything tobe sensitive about? Let the Young Lassie come forward, " she said, "so Ican touch her face!"

It made Rosalee very pink to have her face explored. 

The Blinded Lady laughed as she explored it. 

"Ha!" she said. "Age about seventeen? Gold hair? Sky-blue eyes?Complexion like peaches and cream?--Not much cause here, " laughed theBlinded Lady, "for this Young Lassie ever to worry when she looks in theglass!"

"Oh but she does!" I cried. "She worries herself most to death everytime she looks!--She's afraid her hair will turn gray before Derrycomes!"

"S-s-h!" said everybody. 

The Blinded Lady cocked her head. She ruffled herself. It looked likefeathers. 

"Derry?" said the Blinded Lady. "Who's Derry?--A _beau_?"

My Father gruffed his throat. 

"Oh Derry's just a young friend of ours, " he said. 

"He lives in Cuba, " said my Mother. 

"Cuba's an island!" I said. "It floats in water! They eat bananas! Theyhave fights! It's very hot! There's lots of moonlight! Derry's fathersays that when Rosalee's married he'll build a----. "

"Hush, Ruthy!" said my Father. "You've talked quite enough already!"

The Blinded Lady patted her skirts. They billowed all around her likeblack silk waves. It looked funny. 

"H-m-m-mmm!" she said. "Let the Child-Who's-Talked-Too-Much-Already comeforward now so that I can feel her face!"

I went forward just as fast as I could. 

The Blinded Lady touched my forehead. 

She smoothed my nose, --my cheeks, --my chin. 

"U-m-mmm, " she said. "And 'Ruthy' you say is what you call her?"

My Father twinkled his eyes. 

"We have to call her something!" he said politely. 

"And is this bump on the forehead a natural one?" said the Blinded Lady. "Or an accidental one?"

"Both!" said my Father. "That is, it's pre-em-i-nently natural for ourdaughter Ruthy to have an accidental bump on her forehead. "

"And there are, I infer, " said the Blinded Lady, "one or two freckles oneither side of the nose?"

"Your estimate, " said my Father, "is conservative. "

"And the hair?" said the Blinded Lady. "It hasn't exactly the texture ofgold. "

"'Penny-colored' we call it!" said my Mother. 

"And not exactly a _new_ penny at that, is it?" said the Blinded Lady. 

"N--o, " said my Mother. "But rather jolly all the same like a pennythat's just bought two sticks of candy instead of one!"

"And the nose turns up a little?" said the Blinded Lady. 

"Well maybe just a--trifle, " admitted my Mother. 

The Blinded Lady stroked my face all over again. "U-m-m-m, " she said. "Well at least it's something to be thankful for that everything isperfectly normal!" She put her hands on my shoulders. She shook me alittle. "Never, _never_, Ruthie, " she said, "be so foolish as tocomplain because you're not pretty!"

"No'm!" I promised. 

"Put all the Beauty you can _inside_ your head!" said the Blinded Lady. 

"Yes'm!" I promised. "And I've just thought of another one that I know!It's about

 You must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear, For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be----"

"_Foolish!_" said the Blinded Lady. "It wasn't sounds I was thinking ofthis time, but _sights_!" She pushed me away. She sighed and sighed. Itpuffed her all out. "O--h, " she sighed. "O--h! Three pairs of Young Eyesand all the World waiting to be looked at!"

She rocked her chair. She rocked it very slowly. It was like a littlepain. 

"I never saw _anything_ after I was seventeen!" she said. "And Godhimself knows that I hadn't seen anywheres near enough before that! Justthe little grass road to the village now and then on a Saturdayafternoon to buy the rice and the meat and the matches and the soap!Just the wood-lot beyond the hill-side where the Arbutus alwaysblossomed so early! Just old Neighbor Nora's new patch-work quilt!--Justa young man's face that looked in once at the window to ask where thetrout brook was! But even these pictures, " said the Blinded Lady, "They're fading! Fading! Sometimes I can't remember at all whether oldNora's quilt was patterned in diamond shapes or squares. Sometimes I'mnot so powerful sure whether the young man's eye were blue or brown!After all, it's more'n fifty years ago. It's new pictures that I neednow, " she said. "New pictures!"

She took a peppermint from a box. She didn't pass 'em. She rocked herchair. And rocked. And rocked. She smiled a little. It wasn't a realsmile. It was just a smile to save her dress. It was just a littlegutter to catch her tears. 

"Oh dear me--Oh dear me--Oh dear me!" said my Mother. 

"Stop your babbling!" said the Blinded Lady. She sniffed. And sniffed. "But I'll tell you what I'll do, " she said. "These children can comeback here next Saturday afternoon and----. "

"Why there's no reason in the world, " said my Mother, "why theyshouldn't come every day!"

The Blinded Lady stopped rocking. She almost screamed. 

"Every day?" she said. "Mercy no! Their feet are muddy! And besides it'stiresome! But they can come next Saturday I tell you! And I'll give youa prize! Yes, I'll give two prizes--for the two best new pictures thatthey bring me to think about! And the first prize shall be a PeacockFeather Fan!" said the Blinded Lady. "And the second prize shall be aChoice of Cats!"

"A Choice of Cats?" gasped my Father. 

The Blinded Lady thumped her cane. She thumped it pretty hard. It madeyou glad your toes weren't under it. 

"Now mind you, Children!" she said. 

"It's got to be a _new_ picture! It's got to be something you've seenyourself! The most _beautifulest_! The most _darlingest_ thing thatyou've ever seen! Go out in the field I say! Go out in the woods! Go upon the mountain top! And _look around_! Nobody I tell you can ever makeanother person see anything that he hasn't seen himself! Now be gone!"said the Blinded Lady. "I'm all tuckered out!"

"Why I'm sure, " said my Father, "we never would have come at all if wehadn't supposed that----. "

The Blinded Lady shook her cane right at my Father. 

"Don't be stuffy!" she said. "But get out!"

We got out. 

Old Mary who washed and ironed and cooked for the Blinded Lady showed usthe shortest way out. The shortest way out was through the wood-shed. There were twenty-seven little white bowls of milk on the wood-shedfloor. There was a cat at each bowl. It sounded lappy! Some of the catswere black. Some of the cats were gray. Some of the cats were white. 

There was an old tortoise-shell cat. He had a crumpled ear. He had agreat scar across his nose. He had a broken leg that had mended crooked. 

_Most_ of the cats were tortoise-shell _and_ black _and_ gray _and_white! It looked pretty! It looked something the way a rainbow wouldlook if it was fur! And splashed with milk instead of water!

"How many quarts does it take?" said my Mother. 

"_Quarts?_" said Old Mary. She sniffed. "_Quarts?_ It takes a wholeJersey cow!"

The Blinded Lady called Rosalee to come back. I went with her. I heldher hand very hard for fear we would be frightened. 

There was a White Kitten in the Blinded Lady's Lap. It was a whiteAngora. It wasn't any bigger than a baby rabbit. It had a blue ribbon onits neck. It looked very pure. Its face said "Ruthy, I'd like very muchto be your kitten!"

But the Blinded Lady's face didn't know I was there at all. 

"Young Lassie, " said the Blinded Lady. "What is the color of yourDerry's eyes?"

"Why--why--black!" said Rosalee. 

"U-m-mmm, " said the Blinded Lady. "Black?" She began to munch apeppermint. "U-m-m-m, " she said. She jerked her head. Her nose lookedpretty sharp. "That's right, Young Lassie!" she cried. "Love _early_!Never mind what the old folks say! Sometimes there isn't any late! Loveall you can! Love----!" She stopped suddenly. She sank back in herskirts again. And rocked! Her nose didn't look sharp any more. Her voicewas all whispers. "Lassie, " she whispered, "when you choose your PeacockFeather Fan--choose the one on the top shelf! It's the best one! It'ssandal wood! It's----"

My boots made a creak. 

The Blinded Lady gave an awful jump!

"There's someone else in this room besides the Young Lassie!" she cried. 

I was frightened. I told a lie. 

"You're en--tirely mistaken!" I said. I perked Rosalee's hand. We ranfor our lives. We ran as fast as we could. It was pretty fast!

When we got out to the Road our Father and Mother were waiting for us. They looked pleasant. We liked their looks very much. 

Carol was waiting too. He had his eyes shut. His mouth looked verysurprised. 

"Carol's trying to figure out how it would feel to be blind, " said myMother. 

"Oh!" said Rosalee. 

"O--h!" said I. 

Carol clapped his hands. 

Rosalee clapped her hands. 

I clapped my hands. 

It was wonderful! We all thought of it at the same moment! We shut oureyes perfectly tight and played we were blinded all the way home!

Our Father and Mother had to lead us. It was pretty bumpy! I peepedsome! Rosalee walked with her hands stretched way out in front of her asthough she was reaching for something. She looked like a picture. It waslike a picture of something very gentle and wishful that she lookedlike. It made me feel queer. Carol walked with his nose all puckered upas though he was afraid something smelly was going to hit him. It didn'tmake me feel queer at all. It made me laugh. 

It didn't make my Father laugh. 

"Now see here, you young Lunatics, " said my Father. "If you think yourMother and I are going to drag you up the main village street--actinglike this?"

We were sorry, we explained! But it _had_ to be!

When we got to the village street we bumped right into the Old Doctor. We bumped him pretty hard! He had to sit down! I climbed into his lap. 

"Of course I don't know that it's _you_, " I said. "But I think it is!"

The Old Doctor seemed pretty astonished. He snatched at my Father and myMother. 

"Great Zounds, Good People!" he cried. "What fearful calamity hasovertaken your offspring?"

"Absolutely nothing at all, " said my Father, "compared to what is_going_ to overtake them as soon as I get them home!"

"We're playing _blinded_, " said Rosalee. 

"We've been to see the Blinded Lady!" I explained. 

"We're going to get prizes, " said Rosalee. "Real prizes! A PeacockFeather Fan!"

"And the Choice of Cats!" I explained. 

"For telling the Blinded Lady next Saturday, " cried Rosalee, "theprettiest thing that we've ever seen!"

"Not just the prettiest!" I explained. "But the most preciousest!"

"So we thought we'd shut our eyes!" said Rosalee. "All the way home! Andfind out what Sight it was that we missed the most!--_Sunshine_ I thinkit is!" said Rosalee. "_Sunshine_ and all the pretty flickering littleshadows! And the way the slender white church spire flares through thePoplar Trees! Oh I shall make up a picture about _sunshine_!" saidRosalee. 

"Oh, Sh--h!" said my Mother. "You mustn't tell each other what youdecide. That would take half the fun and the surprise out of thecompetition!"

"Would--it?" said Rosalee. "Would it?" She turned to the Old Doctor. Sheslipped into the curve of his arm. The curve of his arm seemed to be allready for her. She reached up and patted his face. "You Old Darling, "she said. "In all the world what is the most beautiful--est sight that_you_ have ever seen?"

The Old Doctor gave an awful swallow. 

"_Youth!_" he said. 

"Oh, youth Fiddle-sticks!" said my Father. "How ever would one make apicture of _that_? All arms and legs! And wild ideas! Believe me that ifI ever once get _these_ wild ideas and legs and arms home to-day therewill be----"

We never heard what there would be! 'Cause we bumped into theStore-Keeping Man instead! And had to tell _him_ all about it!

Nobody kissed the Store-Keeping Man. He smelt of mice and crackers. Wetalked to him just as we would have talked to Sugar or Potatoes. 

"Mr. Store-Keeping Man, " we said. "You are very wise! You have a store!And a wagon! And a big iron safe! And fly-papers besides!--In all theworld--what is the most beautifulest thing that you have ever seen?"

The Store-Keeping Man didn't have to worry about it at all. He nevereven swallowed. The instant he crossed his hands on his white linenstomach he _knew_!

"My Bank Book!" he said. 

My Father laughed. "_Now_ you naughty children, " said my Father, "Itrust you'll be satisfied to proceed home with your eyes open!"

But my Mother said no matter how naughty we were we couldn't go homewithout buying pop-corn at the pop-corn stand!

So we had to tell the Pop-Corn Man all about it too! The Pop-Corn Manwas very little. He looked like a Pirate. He had black eyes. He had goldrings through his ears. We loved him a good deal!

"In all the world--" we asked the Pop-Corn Man, "what is the mostbeautiful--est sight that you have ever seen?"

It took the Pop-Corn Man an awful long time to think! It took him solong that while he was thinking he filled our paper bags till theybusted! It was a nice bustedness!

"The most beautifulest thing--in all zee world?" said the Pop-Corn Man. "In all zee world? It was in my Italy! In such time as I was no morethan one bambino I did see zee peacock, zee great blue peacock strideout through zee snow-storm of apple-blossoms! And dance to zee sun!"

"O--h, " said Rosalee. "How pretty!"

"Pretty?" said the Pop-Corn Man. "It was to zee eyes one miracle ofremembrances! Zee blue! Zee gold! Zee dazzle! Zee soft fall of zeeapple-blossoms!--Though I live to be zee hundred! Though I go blind!Though I go prison! Though my pop-corn all burn up! It fade not! Notnever! That peacock! That apple-blossom! That shiver!"

"Our supper will all burn up, " said my Mother, "if you children don'topen your eyes and run home! Already I _think_ I can smell scorchedGinger-bread!"

We children all opened our eyes and ran home!

My Mother laughed to see us fly!

My Father laughed a little!

We thought about the Peacock as we ran! We thought quite a little aboutthe Ginger-bread! We wished we had a Peacock! We hoped we had aGinger-bread!

Our Home looked nice. It was as though we hadn't seen it for a longwhile. It was as though we hadn't seen anything for a long while! TheGarden didn't look like Just a Garden any more! It looked like a_Bower_! Carol's tame crow came hopping up the gravel walk! We hadn'tremembered that he was so black! The sun through the kitchen window wasreal gold! There _was_ Ginger-bread!

"Oh dear--Oh dear--Oh _dear_!" said Rosalee. "In a world so full ofbeautiful things--however shall we choose what to tell the BlindedLady?"

Carol ran to the desk. He took a pencil. He took a paper. He slashed thewords down. He held it out for us to see. 

 "I know what I'm going to choose, " said the words. 

He took his pencil. He ran away. 

Rosalee took her pencil. She ran away. Over her shoulder she called backsomething. What she called back was "Oh Goody! I know what _I'm_ goingto choose!"

I took my Father's pencil. I ran away. I didn't run very far. I found abasket instead. It was a pretty basket. I made a nest for the WhiteKitten in case I should win it! I lined the nest with green moss. Therewas a lot of sunshine in the moss. And little blue flowers. I forgot tocome home for supper. That's how I chose what I was going to write!

When we woke up the next morning we all felt very busy. It made the dayseem funny. 

It made every day that happened seem funny. 

Every day somebody took somebody's pencil and ran away! My Mothercouldn't find anything! Not children! Not pencils!

Rosalee took the Dictionary Book besides. 

"Anybody'd think, " said my Father, "that this was a Graduation Essay youwere making instead of just a simple little word-picture for a BlindedLady!"

"Word-picture?" said Rosalee. "What I'm trying to make is a PeacockFeather Fan!"

"I wish there were three prizes instead of two!" said my Mother. 

"Why?" said my Father. 

Carol came and kicked his feet on the door. His hands were full ofstones. He wanted a drink of water. All day long when he wasn't sittingunder the old Larch Tree with a pencil in his mouth he was carryingstones! And kicking his feet on the door! And asking for a drink ofwater!

"Whatever in the world, " said my Mother, "are you doing with all thosestones?"

Carol nodded his head that I could tell. 

"He's building something, " I said. "Out behind the barn!--I don't knowwhat it is!"

Carol dropped his stones. He took a piece of chalk. He knelt down on thekitchen floor. He wrote big white letters on the floor. 

"It's an Ar--Rena, " is what he wrote. 

"An Arena?" said my Mother. "An _Arena_?" She looked quite sorry. "OhLaddie!" she said. "I did so want you to win a prize!--_Couldn't_ youhave kept your mind on it just a day or two longer?"

It was the longest week I ever knew! It got longer every day! Thursdaywas twice as long as Wednesday! I don't seem to remember about Friday!But Saturday came so early in the morning I wasn't even awake when myMother called me!

We went to the Blinded Lady's house right after dinner. We couldn't waitany longer. 

The Blinded Lady pretended she was surprised to see us. 

"Mercy me!" she said. "What? Have these children come again? Muddy feet?Chatter? And all?" She thumped her cane! She rocked her chair! Shebillowed her skirts!

We weren't frightened a bit! We sat on the edge of our chairs andlaughed! And laughed!

There was a little white table spread with pink-frosted cookies! Therewere great crackly glasses of raspberry vinegar and ice! Old Mary had ona white apron!--That's why we laughed! We _knew_ we were expected!

My Father explained it to everybody. 

"As long as Carol couldn't speak his piece, " he said, "It didn't seemfair that any of the children should speak 'em! So the children have allwritten their pieces to read aloud and----"

"But as long as Carol wasn't able to read his aloud, " cried my Mother, "it didn't seem fair that any of 'em should read theirs aloud! So thechildren's father is going to read 'em. And----"

"Without giving any clue of course, " said my Father, "as to which childwrote which. So that you won't be unduly influenced at all--in any wayby--gold-colored hair, for instance or--freckles----"

"Or _anything_!" said my Mother. 

"U-m-m-m, " said the Blinded Lady. 

"Understanding of course, " said my Father, "that we ourselves have notseen the papers yet!"

"Nor assisted in any way with the choice of subject, " said my Mother. "Nor with the treatment of it!"

"U-m-m, " said the Blinded Lady. 

"I will now proceed to read, " said my Father. 

"So do, " said the Blinded Lady. 

My Father so did. 

He took a paper from his pocket. He cleared his throat. He put on hiseye-glasses. He looked a little surprised. 

"The first one, " he said, "seems to be about 'Ginger-bread'!"

"_Ginger-bread?_" said the Blinded Lady. 

"Ginger-bread!" said my Father. 

"Read it!" said the Blinded Lady. 

"I will!" said my Father. 

 Ginger-bread is very handsome! It's so brown! And every time you eat a piece you have to have another! That shows its worth as well as its handsomeness! And besides you can smell it a long way off when you're coming home! Especially when you're coming home from school! It has molasses in it too. And that's very instructive! As well as ginger! And other spices! The Geography is full of them! Molasses comes from New Orleans! Spices come from Asia! Except Jamaica Ginger comes from Drug Stores! There are eggs in ginger-bread too! And that's Natural History and very important! They have to be hen's eggs I think! I had some guineas once and they looked like chipmunks when they hatched. You can't make ginger-bread out of anything that looks like chipmunks! It takes three eggs to make ginger-bread! And one cupful of sugar! And some baking soda! And----

"Oh Tush!" said the Blinded Lady. "That isn't a picture! It's arecipe!--Read another!"

"Dear me! Dear me!" said my Mother. "Now some child is suffering!" Shelooked all around to see which child it was. 

Carol kicked Rosalee. Rosalee kicked me. I kicked Carol. We all lookedjust as queer as we could outside. 

"Read _on_!" thumped the Blinded Lady. 

My Father read on. 

"This next one, " he said, "seems to be about Soldiers!"

"Soldiers?" said the Blinded Lady. "Soldiers?" She sat up very straight. She cocked her head on one side. "Read it!" she said. 

"I'm reading it!" said my Father. 

 The most scrumptious sight I've ever seen in my life is Soldiers Marching! I saw them once in New York! It was _glorious_! All the reds and the blues and the browns of the Uniforms! And when the Band played all the different instruments it seemed as though it was really _gold_ and _silver_ music they were playing! It makes you feel so brave! And so unselfish! But most of all it makes you wish you were a milk-white pony with diamond hoofs! So that you could _sparkle_! And _prance_! And _rear_! And _run away_ just for fun! And _run_ and _run_ and _run_ down clattery streets and through black woods and across green pastures _snorting fire_--till you met more Soldiers and more Bands and more Gold and Silver Music! So that you could _prance_ and _sparkle_ and _rear_ and _run away_ all over again, --with _flags flying_!

"U-m-m, " said the Blinded Lady. "That _is_ pretty! And spiritedtoo!--But--But it doesn't exactly warm the heart. --And no one but a boy, anyway, would _want_ to think about soldiers every day. --Read the nextone!" said the Blinded Lady. 

"Oh all right, " said my Father. "Here's the last one. "

"Read it!" said the Blinded Lady. 

"I'm trying to!" said my Father. He cleared his throat and put on hiseye-glasses all over again. "Ahem!" he said. 

 "The most beautifulest thing I've ever seen in all my life is my Mother's face. It's so----"

"_What?_" cried my Mother. 

My Father looked at her across the top of his glasses. He smiled. "_Yourface!_" he said. 

"W--what?" stammered my Mother. 

My Father cleared his throat and began all over again. 

 The most beautifulest thing I've ever seen in all my life is my Mother's face! It's so pleasant! It tries to make everything so pleasant! When you go away it smiles you away! When you come home it smiles you home! When you're sick it smiles you well! When you're bad it smiles you good! It's so pretty too! It has soft hair all full of little curls! It has brown eyes! It has the _sweetest_ ears!--It has a little hat! The jolliest little hat! All trimmed with do-dabs! And teeny pink roses! And there's a silver ribbon on it! And----

"My Mother had a hat like that!" cried the Blinded Lady. 

"_Did_ she?" said my Mother. Her face still looked pretty queer andsurprised. 

The Blinded Lady perked way forward in her chair. She seemed all out ofbreath. She talked so fast it almost choked her!

"Yes! Just _exactly_ like that!" cried the Blinded Lady. "My Motherbought it in Boston! It cost three dollars! My Father thought it was anawful price!--She wore it with a lavender dress all sprigged with yellowleaves! She looked like an angel in it! She _was_ an angel! _Her_ hairwas brown too!--I haven't thought of it for ages!--And all full oflittle curls! She had the kindest smile! The minister said it was worthany two of his sermons! And when folks were sick she went anywhere tohelp them! _Anywhere!_--She went twenty miles once! We drove the oldwhite horse! I can see it all! My brothers' and sisters' faces at thewindow waving good-bye! My father cautioning us through his long graybeard not to drive too fast!--The dark shady wood's road! The littlebright meadows!--A blue bird that flashed across our heads at thewatering trough! The gay village streets! A red plaid ribbon in a shopwindow! The patch on a peddler's shoe! The great hills overbeyond!--There was hills all around us!--My sister Amy married a manfrom way over beyond! He was different from us! His father sailed theseas! He brought us dishes and fans from China! When my sister Amy wasmarried she wore a white crêpe shawl. There was a peacock embroidered inone corner of it! It was pretty! We curled her hair! There were yellowroses in bloom! There was a blue larkspur!----"

The Blinded Lady sank back in her chair. She gave a funny little gasp. 

"I _remember_!" she gasped. "The Young Man's eyes were _blue_! His teethwere like pearls! When he asked the way to the trout brook he laughedand said----"

The Blinded Lady's cheeks got all pink. She clapped her hands. She sankback into her Skirts. Her eyes looked awful queer. 

"I see _everything_!" she cried. "_Everything!_--Give the PeacockFeather Fan to the Magician!"

Rosalee looked at Carol. Carol looked at me. I looked at Rosalee. 

"To the Magician?" said my Father. 

"To the Magician?" said my Mother. 

"To the Young Darling who wrote about her Mother's Face!" thumped theBlinded Lady. 

My Father twisted his mouth. 

"Will the 'Young Darling' who wrote about her Mother's Face please comeforward--and get the Peacock Feather Fan!" said my Father. 

Carol came forward. He looked very ashamed. He stubbed his toe on thebraided rug. 

"It seems to be our son Carol, " said my Father, "who conjured up thepicture of--of the blue larkspur!"

"What?" said the Blinded Lady. "_What?_"

She tapped her foot on the floor. She frowned her brows. "Well--well--well, " she said. "It wasn't at all what I intended! Not at_all_!--Well--well--well!" She began to rock her chair. "But after all, "she said, "an agreement is an agreement! And the First Prize is theFirst Prize!--Let the Little Dumb Boy step forward to the ChineseCabinet and choose his Peacock Feather Fan!"

Rosalee gave a little cry. It sounded almost like tears. She ranforward. She whispered in Carol's ear. 

Carol opened his eyes. He took a chair. He pushed it against thecabinet. He climbed up to the highest shelf. There was a fan as big asthe moon! It was sandalwood! It was carved! It was all peacock feathers!Blue! Bronze! It was _beautiful_! He took it! He went back to his seat!His mouth smiled a little! But he carried the Fan as though it was hot!

"The second prize of course, " said the Blinded Lady, "goes to the childwho wrote about the soldiers!"

Rosalee stepped forward. 

The Blinded Lady took her hand. "It is not exactly as I had wished, "said the Blinded Lady. "But a Choice of Cats is a Choice of Cats!--Youwill find them all in the wood-shed Young Lassie--awaiting yourdecision! Choose wisely! A good cat is a great comfort!"

We went to the wood-shed to help Rosalee choose her cat. 

All the cats purred to be chosen. It was sad. My Father said it wasn't. My Father said one cat was plenty. 

The White Persian Kitten lay on a soap box. It looked like EasterLilies. Rosalee saw it. She forgot all about the fan. 

Carol didn't forget about the fan. He stamped his foot. He shook hishead. He took Rosalee's hand and led her to the old Tortoise Shell Cat. He put the old Tortoise Shell cat in Rosalee's arms. Rosalee lookedpretty surprised. So did the cat. 

My sorrow made tears in my eyes. My Mother came running. 

"Bless your heart, Ruthy-Girl, " she said. "You shall have a Ginger-breadto-night that _is_ a Picture!" She put a little box in my hand. Therewas a little gold pencil in the box. It was my Mother's best little goldpencil with the agate stone in the end. "Here's Mother's prize, Darling, " she said. "The Prize Mother brought for _whichever_ childdidn't win the Blinded Lady's prizes! Don't you worry! Mother'll alwayshave a prize for whichever child doesn't win the other prizes!"

My sorrow went away. 

We all ran back to the Blinded Lady to thank her for our BeautifulParty. And for the prizes. 

My Father made a speech to the Blinded Lady. 

"But after all, my dear Madam, " he said, "I am afraid you have beencheated!--It was '_new_' pictures that you wanted, not old ones!"

The Blinded Lady whacked at him with her cane. She was awful mad. 

"How do _you_ know what I want?" she said. "How do _you_ know what Iwant?"

My Father and my Mother looked at each other. They made little laughswith their eyes. 

The Blinded Lady smoothed herself. 

"But I certainly am flabbergasted, " she said, "about the Old Tom Cat!Whatever in the world made the Young Lassie choose the oldbattle-scarred Tom?"

Rosalee looked at Carol. Carol looked at me. I looked at the Old Tom. 

"Maybe she chose him for--for his historicalness, " said my Mother. 

"----Maybe, " said my Father. 

We started for the door. We got as far as the Garden. I rememberedsomething suddenly. I clapped my hands. I laughed right out! "No! Shedidn't either!" I said. "She chose him for Carol's Ar--Rena--I bet'cher!Carol's going to have him for a Cham--peen! We'll fight him everyafternoon! Maybe there'll be tickets!"

"Tickets?" said my Father. 

"Oh my dears, " said my Mother. "A cat-fight is a dreadful thing!"

My Father looked at the Old Tom! At his battered ears! At his scarrednose! At his twisted eye! The Old Tom looked at my Father! They bothsmiled!

"Infamous!" said my Father. "How much will the tickets be?"

We went home. We went home through the fields instead of through thevillage. 

Carol held the Peacock Feather Fan as though he was afraid it would bitehim. 

Rosalee carried the Old Tom as though she _knew_ it would bite her. 

When we got to the Willow Tree they changed prizes. It made adifference. 

Rosalee carried the Peacock Feather as though it was a magic sail. Shetipped it to the breeze. She pranced it. And danced it. It lookedfluffy. 

Carol carried the Old Tom hugged tight to his breast. The Old Tom looked_very_ historical. Carol looked very shining and pure. He looked like achoir-boy carrying his singing book. He looked as though his voice wouldbe very high. 

My Father and Mother carried each other's hands. They laughed verysoftly to themselves as though they knew pleasant things that no oneelse knew. 

_My_ hand would have felt pretty lonely if I hadn't had the little goldpencil to carry. 

I felt pretty tired. I walked pretty far behind. 

I decided that when I grew up I'd be a Writer! So that no matter whathappened I'd always have a gold pencil in my hand and _couldn't_ belonely!

THE GIFT OF THE PROBABLE PLACES

My Mother says that everybody in the world has got some special Gift. Some people have one kind and some have another. 

I got my skates and dictionary-book last Spring when I was nine. I'vealways had my freckles. 

My brother Carol's Gift is Being Dumb. No matter what anybody says tohim he doesn't have to answer 'em. 

There was an old man in our town named Old Man Smith. 

Old Man Smith had a wonderful Gift. 

It wasn't a Christmas Gift like toys and games. It wasn't a BirthdayGift all stockings and handkerchiefs. 

It was the _Gift of Finding Things_!

He called it "The Gift of the Probable Places. "

Most any time when you lost anything he could find it for you. He didn'tfind it by floating a few tea-leaves in a cup. Or by trying to matchcards. Or by fooling with silly things like ghosts. He didn't even findit with his legs. He found it with his head. He found it by thinkingvery hard with his head. 

People came from miles around to borrow his head. He always chargedeverybody just the same no matter what it was that they'd lost. Onedollar was what he charged. It was just as much trouble to him he saidto think about a thimble that was lost as it was to think about anelephant that was lost. --I never knew anybody who lost an elephant. 

When the Post Master's Wife lost her diamond ring she hunted more than ahundred places for it! She was most distracted! She thought somebody hadstolen it from her! She hunted it in all the Newspapers! She hunted itin all the stores! She hunted it all up and down the Village streets!She hunted it in the Depot carriage! She hunted it in the Hired Girl'strunk! Miles and miles and miles she must have hunted it with her handsand with her feet!

But Old Man Smith found it for her without budging an inch from hiswheel-chair! Just with his head alone he found it! Just by asking her aquestion that made her mad he found it! The question that made her madwas about her Baptismal name. --Her Baptismal name was MehetabelleEuphemia. 

"However in the world, " said Old Man Smith, "did you get such aperfectly hideous name as Mehetabelle Euphemia?"

The Post Master's wife was madder than Scat! She wrung her hands. Shesnapped her thumbs! She crackled her finger-joints!

"Never--_Never_, " she said had she been "so insulted!"

"U-m-m-m--exactly what I thought, " said Old Man Smith. "Now justwhen--if you can remember, was the last time that you felt you'd neverbeen so insulted before?"

"Insulted?" screamed the Post Master's Wife. "Why, I haven't been soinsulted as this since two weeks ago last Saturday when I was out in myback yard under the Mulberry Tree dyeing my old white dress peach-pink!And the Druggist's Wife came along and asked me if I didn't think I wasjust a little bit too old to be wearing peach-pink?--_Me_--_Too Old?Me?_" screamed the Post Master's Wife. 

"U-m-m, " said Old Man Smith. "Pink, you say? Pink?--A little powderedCochineal, I suppose? And a bit of Cream o' Tartar? And more than a bitof Alum? It's a pretty likely combination to make the fingersslippery. --And a lady what crackles her finger-joints so every timeshe's mad, --and snaps her thumbs--and?--Yes! Under the Mulberry Tree isa _very Probable Place_!--One dollar, please!" said Old Man Smith. 

And when the Grocer's Nephew got suspended from college for sitting uptoo late at night and getting headaches, and came to spend a month withhis Uncle and couldn't find his green plaid overcoat when it was time togo home he was perfectly positive that somebody had borrowed it from thestore! Or that he'd dropped it out of the delivery wagon workingover-time! Or that he'd left it at the High School Social!

But Old Man Smith found it for him just by glancing at his purple socks!And his plaid necktie. And his plush waistcoat. 

"Oh, yes, of course, it's perfectly possible, " said Old Man Smith, "thatyou dropped it from the basket of a balloon on your way to a MissionaryMeeting. --But have you looked in the Young Widow Gayette's back hall?'Bout three pegs from the door?--Where the shadows are fairlyprivate?--One dollar, please!" said Old Man Smith. 

And when the Old Preacher lost the Hymn Book that George Washington hadgiven his grandfather, everybody started to take up the floor of thechurch to see if it had fallen down through a crack in the pulpit!

But Old Man Smith sent a boy running to beg 'em not to tear down thechurch till they'd looked in the Old Lawyer's pantry, --'bout the secondshelf between the ice chest and the cheese crock. Sunday evening aftermeeting was rather a lean time with Old Preachers he said he'd alwaysnoticed. --And Old Lawyers was noted for their fat larders. --And therewere certain things about cheese somehow that seemed to be soothin' tothe memory. 

"Why, how perfectly extraordinary!" said everybody. 

"One dollar, please!" said Old Man Smith again. 

And when Little Tommy Bent ran away to the city his Mother hunted allthe hospitals for him! And made 'em drag the river! And wore a longblack veil all the time! And howled!

But Old Man Smith said, "Oh Shucks! It ain't at all probable, is it, that he was aimin' at hospitals or rivers when he went away?--What's theuse of worryin' over the things he _weren't_ aimin' at till you'veinvestigated the things he _was_?"

"Aimin' at?" sobbed Mrs. Bent. "Aimin' at?--Who in the world could evertell what any little boy was aimin' at?"

"And there's something in that, too!" said Old Man Smith. "What did helook like?"

"Like his father, " said Mrs. Bent. 

"U-m-m. Plain, you mean?" said Old Man Smith. 

"He was only nine years old, " sobbed Mrs. Bent. "But he did loveMeetings so! No matter what they was about he was always hunting forsome new Meetings to go to! He just seemed naturally to dote hisself onany crowd of people that was all facing the other way looking atsomebody else! He had a little cowlick at the back of his neck!" sobbedMrs. Bent. "It was a comical little cowlick! People used to laugh at it!He never liked to sit any place where there was anybody sitting behindhim!"

"Now you're talking!" said Old Man Smith. "Will he answer to the name of'Little Tommy Bent?'"

"He will not!" said Mrs. Bent "He's that stubborn! He's exactly like hisFather!"

Old Man Smith wrote an entirely new advertisement to put in the papers. It didn't say anything about Rivers! Or Hospitals! Or 'Dead or Alive!'It just said:

 LOST: In the back seat of Most Any Meeting, a Very Plain Little Boy. Will _not_ answer to the name of "Little Tommy Bent. " Stubborn, like his Father. 

"We'll put that in about being 'stubborn, '" said Old Man Smith, "becauseit sounds quaint and will interest people. "

"It won't interest Mr. Bent!" sobbed Mrs. Bent. "And it seems awfulcruel to make it so public about the child's being plain!"

Old Man Smith spoke coldly to her. 

"Would you rather lose him--handsome, " he said. "Or find him--_plain_?"

Mrs. Bent seemed to think that she'd rather find him plain. 

She found him within two days! He was awful plain. His shoes were allworn out. And his stomach was flat. He was at a meeting of men who sellbicycles to China. The men were feeling pretty sick. They'd senthundreds and hundreds of he-bicycles to China and the Chinamen couldn'tride 'em on account of their skirts!--It was the smell of an apple in aman's pocket that made Tommy Bent follow the man to the meeting. --And heanswered to every name except 'Tommy Bent' so they knew it was he!

"Mercy! What this experience has cost me!" sobbed Mrs. Bent. 

"One dollar, please!" said Old Man Smith. 

"It's a perfect miracle!" said everybody. 

"It 'tain't neither!" said Old Man Smith. "It's plain Hoss Sense!There's laws about findin' things same as there is about losin' 'em!Things has got regular habits and haunts same as Folks! And Folks hasgot regular haunts and habits same as birds and beasts! It ain't thePossible Places that I'm arguin' about!--The world is full of 'em! Butthe _Probable Places_ can be reckoned most any time on the fingers ofone hand!--That's the trouble with folks! They're always wearin'themselves out on the Possible Places and never gettin' round at all tothe _Probable_ ones!--Now, it's perfectly possible, of course, " said OldMan Smith, "that you might find a trout in a dust-pan or a hummin' birdin an Aquarium--or meet a panther in your Mother's parlor!--But thechances are, " said Old Man Smith, "that if you really set out toorganize a troutin' expedition or a hummin' bird collection or apanther hunt--you wouldn't look in the dust pan or the Aquarium or yourMother's parlor _first_!--When you lose something that _ain't got_ no_Probable Place_--then I sure _am_ stumped!" said Old Man Smith. 

But when Annie Halliway lost her _mind_, everybody in the village wasstumped about it. And everything was all mixed up. It was AnnieHalliway's mother and Annie Halliway's father and Annie Halliway'suncles and aunts and cousins and friends who did all the worrying aboutit! While Annie Halliway herself didn't seem to care at all! But justsat braiding things into her hair!

Some people said it was a railroad accident that she lost her mind in. Some said it was because she'd studied too hard in Europe. Some said itwas an earthquake. Everybody said something. 

Annie Halliway's father and mother were awful rich. They brought herhome in a great big ship! And gave her twelve new dresses and the frontparlor and a brown piano! But she wouldn't stay in any of them! Allshe'd stay in was a little old blue silk dress she'd had before she wentaway!

Carol and I got excused from school one day because we were afraid ourheads might ache, and went to see what it was all about. 

It seemed to be about a great many things. 

But after we'd walked all around Annie Halliway twice and looked at herall we could and asked how old she was and found out that she wasnineteen, we felt suddenly very glad about something. --We felt suddenlyvery glad that if she really was obliged to lose anything out of herface, it was her _mind_ that she lost! Instead of her eyes! Or her nose!Or her red, red mouth! Or her cunning little ears! _She was so pretty!_

She seemed to like us very much too. She asked us to come again. 

We said we would. 

We did. 

We went every Saturday afternoon. 

They let us take her to walk if we were careful. We didn't walk her inthe village because her hair looked so funny. We walked her in thepleasant fields. We gathered flowers. We gathered ferns. We exploredbirds. We built little gurgling harbors in the corners of the brook. Sometimes we climbed hills and looked off. Annie Halliway seemed to liketo climb hills and look off. 

It was the day we climbed the Sumac Hill that we got our Idea!

It was a nice day!

Annie Halliway wore her blue dress! And her blue scarf! Her hair hungdown like two long, loose black ropes across her shoulders! BlueLarkspur was braided into her hair! And a little tin trumpet tied withblue ribbon! And a blue Japanese fan! And a blue lead pencil! And a bluesilk stocking! And a blue-handled basket! She looked like a SummerChristmas Tree. It was pretty. 

There were lots of clouds in the sky. They seemed very near. It sort ofpuckered your nose. 

"Smell the clouds!" said Annie Halliway. 

Somebody had cut down a tree that used to be there. It made a lonelyhole in the edge of the hill and the sky. Through the lonely hole in theedge of the hill and the sky you could see miles and miles. Way down inthe valley a bright light glinted. It was as though the whole sun wastrying to bore a hole in a tiny bit of glass and couldn't do it. 

Annie Halliway stretched out her arms towards the glint. And started forit. 

I looked at Carol. Carol looked at me. We knew where the glint was. Itwas Old Man Smith's house. Old Man Smith's house was built of tea cups!And broken tumblers! And bits of plates! First of all, of course, itwas built of clay or mud or something soft and loose like that! Andwhile it was still soft he had stuck it all full of people's brokendishes! So that wherever you went most all day long the sun was tryingto bore a hole in it!--And couldn't do it!

It seemed to be the glint that Annie Halliway wanted. She thought it wassomething new to braid in her hair, I guess. She kept right on walkingtowards it with her arms stretched out. 

Carol kept right on looking at me. His mouth was all turned white. Sometimes when people _talk_ to me I can't understand at all what theymean. But when Carol looks at me with his mouth all turned white, Ialways know just exactly what he means! It made my own mouth feel prettywhite!

"We shall be punished!" I said. "We'll surely be punished if we do it!"

My brother Carol smiled. It was quite a white smile. He put out hishand. I took it. We ran down the hill after young Annie Halliway! Andled her to the glint!

Old Man Smith was pretty surprised to see us. He was riding round thedoor-yard in his wheel chair. He rolled his chair to the gate to meetus. The chair squeaked a good deal. But even if he'd wanted to walk hecouldn't. The reason why he couldn't is because he's dumb in his legs. 

"What in the world do you want?" he asked. 

I looked at Carol. Carol looked at me. He kicked me in the shins. Mythoughts came very quickly. 

"We've brought you a young lady that's lost her mind!" I said. "What canyou do about it?"

Something happened all at once that made our legs feel queer. Whathappened was that Old Man Smith didn't seem pleased at all about it. Hesnatched his long white beard in his hands. 

"Lost her mind?" he said. "Her _mind_? Her _mind_? How dar'st you mockme?" he cried. 

"We _darsn't_ at all!" I explained. "On account of the bears! We've readall about the mocking bears in a book!"

He seemed to feel better. 

"You mean in the good book?" he said. "The Elijah bears, you mean?"

"Well, it was _quite_ a good book, " I admitted. "Though my Father's gotlots of books on Tulips that have heap prettier covers!"

"U--m--m--m, " said Old Man Smith. "U--m--m--m----. U--m----m----m. "

And all the time that he was saying "U--m----m----m--U--m----m----m, "young Annie Halliway was knocking down his house. With a big chunk ofrock she was chipping it off. It was a piece of blue china cup with thehandle still on it that she chipped off first. 

When Old Man Smith saw it he screamed. 

"Woman! What are you doing?" he screamed. 

"Her name is Young Annie Halliway, " I explained. 

"Young Annie Halliway--_Come Here!_" screamed Old Man Smith. 

Young Annie Halliway came here. She was perfectly gentle about it. Allher ways were gentle. She sat down on the ground at Old Man Smith'sfeet. She lifted her eyes to Old Man Smith's eyes. She looked holy. Butall the time that she looked so holy she kept right on braiding thehandle of the blue china cup into her hair. It cranked against the tintrumpet. It sounded a little like the 4th of July. 

Old Man Smith reached down and took her chin in his hands. 

"Oh my Lord--what a beautiful face!" he said. "What a beautifulface!--And you say she's lost her mind?" he said. "You say she's losther mind?" He turned to Carol. "And what do _you_ say?" he asked. 

"Oh, please, Sir, Carol doesn't say anything!" I explained. "He can't!He's dumb!"

"_Dumb?_" cried Old Man Smith. "So this is the Dumb Child, is it?" Helooked at Carol. He looked at himself. He looked at my freckles. Herocked his hands on his stomach. "Merciful God!" he said. "How are weall afflicted!"

"Oh, please, Sir, " I said, "my brother Carol isn't afflicted atall!--It's a great _gift_ my Mother says to be born with the Gift ofSilence instead of the Gift of Speech!"

He made a little chuckle in his throat. He began to look at Young AnnieHalliway all over again. 

"And what does your Mother say about _her_?" he pointed. 

"My Mother says, " I explained, "that she only hopes that the person whofinds her mind will be honest enough to return it!"

"What?" said Old Man Smith. "To return it?--Honest enough to return it?"

He began to do everything all over again!--To chuckle! To rock! To takeYoung Annie Halliway's chin in his hand!

"And what did you say your name was, my pretty darling?" he asked. 

Young Annie Halliway looked a little surprised. 

"My name is Robin, " she said. "Dearest--Robin--I think. "

"You think wrong!" said Old Man Smith. He frowned with ferocity. 

It made us pretty nervous all of a sudden. 

Carol went off to look at the bee-hive to calm himself. Young AnnieHalliway picked up the end of one of her long braids and looked at that. There was still about a foot of it that didn't have anything braidedinto it. I didn't know where to look so I looked at the house. It wasvery glistening. Blue it glistened. And green it glistened! And red itglistened! And pink! And purple! And yellow!

"Oh, see!" I pointed. "There's old Mrs. Beckett's rose-vase with thegold edge!--She dropped it on the brick garden-walk the day her sonwho'd been lost at sea for eleven years walked through the gate allalive and perfectly dry!--And that chunky white nozzle with the bluestripe on it?--I know what that is!--It's the nose of Deacon Perry'sfirst wife's best tea pot!--I've seen it there! In a glass cupboard! Onthe top shelf!--She never used it 'cept when the Preacher came!"

"The Deacon's second wife broke it--feeding chickens out of it, " saidOld Man Smith. 

"And that little scrap of saucer, " I cried, "with the pansy petal onit?--Why--Why _that's_ little Hallie Bent's doll-dishes!--We played with'em down in the orchard! She died!" I cried. "She had thewhooping-measles!"

"That little scrap of saucer, " said Old Man Smith, "was the only thingthey found in Mr. Bent's bank box. --What the widow was lookin' for wasgold!"

"And that green glass stopper!" I cried. "Oh, Goodie----Goodie----_Goodie_!--Why, that----"

"Hush your noise!" said Old Man Smith. "History is solemn!--The wholehistory of the village is written on the outer walls of my house!--Whenthe Sun strikes here, --strikes there, --on that bit of glass, --on thisbit of crockles--the edge of a plate, --the rim of a tumbler, --I readabout folk's minds!--What they loved!--What they hated!--What they wasthinking of instead when it broke!--" He snatched his long white beardin his hands. He wagged his head at me. "There's a law about breakin'things, " he said, "same as there's a law about losin' them! My house isa sample-book, " he said. "On them there walls--all stuck up likethat--I've got a sample of most every mind in the village!--People give'em to me themselves, " he said. "They let me rake out their trashbarrels every now and then. They don't know what they're givin. '--Now, that little pewter rosette there----"

"It would be nice--wouldn't it, " I said, "if you could find a sample ofYoung Annie Halliway's mind? Then maybe you could match it!"

"_Eh?_" said Old Man Smith. "A sample of her mind?" He looked jerky. Hegrowled in his throat. "A--hem----A--hem, " he said. He closed his eyes. I thought he'd decided to die. I screamed for Carol. He came running. He'd only been bee-stung twice. Old Man Smith opened his eyes. His voicesounded queer. "Where do they _think_ she lost her mind?" he whispered. 

"In Europe, " I said. "Maybe in a train! Maybe on a boat! They don'tknow! She can't remember anything about it. "

"U--m--m, " said Old Man Smith. He looked at Young Annie Halliway. "Andwhere do _you_ think you lost it?" he said. 

Young Annie Halliway seemed very much pleased to be asked. She laughedright out. 

"In a March wind!" she said. 

"_Eh?_" said Old Man Smith. He turned to me again. "What did you say hername was?" he asked. 

I felt a little cross. 

"Halliway!" I said. "Halliway--Halliway--_Halliway_! They live in thebig house out by the Chestnut Trees! They only come here in the Summers!Except now! The Doctors say it's Mysteria!"

"The Doctors say _what_ is Mysteria?" said Old Man Smith. 

"What Annie's got!" I explained. "What made her lose her mind! Mysteriais what they call it. "

"U--m--m, " said Old Man Smith. He reached way down into his pocket. Hepulled out a box. He opened the box. It was full of pieces of coloredglass! And of china! He juggled them in his hands. They looked gay. Redthey were! And green! And white! And yellow! And blue! He snatched outall the blue ones and hid 'em quick in his pocket. "She seems sort ofpartial to blue, " he said. 

There was one funny big piece of glass that was awful shiny. When heheld it up to the light it glinted and glowed all sorts of colors. Itmade your eyes feel very calm. 

Annie Halliway reached out her hand for it. She didn't say a word. Shejust stared at it with her hand all reached out. 

But Old Man Smith didn't give it to her. He just sat and stared at hereyes. 

Her eyes never moved from the shining bit of glass. They looked awfulfunny. Bigger and bigger they got! And rounder and rounder! And stillerand stiller!

It was like a puppy-dog pointing a little bird in the grass. It made youfeel queer. It made you feel all sort of hollow inside. It made yourlegs wobble. 

Carol's mouth was wide open. 

So was Old Man Smith's. 

Old Man Smith reached out suddenly and put the shining bit of glassright into Annie Halliway's hand. It fell through her fingers. But herhand stayed just where it was, reaching out into the air. 

"Put down your arm!" said Old Man Smith. 

Annie Halliway put it down. Her eyes were still staring very wide. 

"Look!" said Old Man Smith. "Look!" He dropped several pieces of coloredglass china into her lap. 

She chose the handle of a red tea cup and a little chunk of yellowcrockery. She stared and stared at them. But all the time it was asthough her eyes didn't see them. All the time it was as though she waslooking at something very far away. Then all of a sudden she began tojingle them together in her hand, --the little piece of red china and thechunk of yellow bowl! And swing her shoulders! And stamp her foot! Itlooked like dancing. It sounded like clappers. 

"Oh, Ho! _This_ is Spain!" she laughed. 

Old Man Smith snatched all the blue pieces of china and glass out of hispocket again and tossed them into her lap. He looked sort of mad. 

"Spain?" he said. "Spain? What in the Old Harry has a handful of glassand china got to do with Spain?"

"Harry?" said Annie Halliway. "Old--Harry?" Her eyes looked wider andblinder every minute. It was as though everything in her was wide awakeexcept the thing she was thinking about. "Har--ry?" she puzzled. "Harry?" she dropped the red and yellow china from her hand and pickedup a piece of blue glass and offered it to Old Man Smith. "Why, _that_is Harry!" she said. She reached for the pig-tail that had the blueLarkspur braided into it. She pointed to the pig-tail that had the bluefan braided into it. "Why, _that_ is Harry!" she said. She made a littlesob in her throat. 

Old Man Smith jingled his hands at her. 

"There--There--There, my Pretty!" he said. "Never mind--Never mind!"

He opened his hands. There were some little teeny-tiny pieces of plainglass in his hands. Little round knobs like beads they were. Veryshining. They made a nice jingle. 

When Annie Halliway saw them she screamed! And snatched them in herhand! And threw them away just as far as she could! All over the grassshe threw them!

"I will not!" she screamed. "_I will not! I will not!_" Her tears wereawful. 

When she got through screaming her face looked like a wet cloth that hadeverything else wrung out of it except shadows. 

"Where--is--Harry?" said Old Man Smith. He said it very slowly. And thenall over again. "Where--is--Harry?--You wouldn't have dar'st not tellhim if you'd known. "

Annie Halliway started to pick up some blue glass again. Then shestopped and looked all around her. It was a jerky stop. Her jaw sort ofdropped. 

"Harry--is--in--prison!" she said. Even though she'd said it herself sheseemed to be awfully surprised at the news. She shook and shook her headas though she was trying to wake up the idea that was asleep. Her eyeswere all scrunched up now with trying to remember about it. She draggedthe back of her hands across her forehead. First one hand and then theother. She opened her eyes very wide again and looked at Old Man Smith. 

"Where--is--Harry?" said Old Man Smith. 

Annie Halliway never took her eyes from Old Man Smith's face. 

"It--It was the night we crossed the border from France to Spain, " shesaid. Her voice sounded very funny and far away. It sounded likereciting a lesson too. "There were seven of us and a teacherfrom the Paris art school, " she recited. "It--It was the Marchholiday. ----There--There--was a woman----a strange woman in the nextcompartment who made friends with me. --She seemed to be crazy over myhair. --She asked if she might braid it for the night. "

Without any tears at all Annie Halliway began to sob again. 

"When they waked us up at the Customs, " she sobbed, "Harry came running!His face was awful! 'She's braided diamonds in your hair!' he cried. 'Iheard her talking with her accomplice! A hundred thousand dollars' worthof diamonds! Smugglers and murderers both they are!--Everybody will besearched!'--He tore at my braids! I tore at my braids! The diamondsrattled out! Harry tried to catch them!--He pushed me back into thetrain! I saw soldiers running!--I thought they were going to shoot him!He thought they were going to shoot him!--I saw his eyes!--He lookedso--so surprised!--I'd never noticed before how blue his eyes were!--Itell you I saw his eyes!--I couldn't speak!--There wasn't anybody toexplain just why he had his hands full of diamonds!--I _saw_ his eyes! Itell you I couldn't speak!--I tell you I _never_ spoke!--My tongue wentdead in my mouth! For months I never spoke!--I've only just begun tospeak again!--I've only just----"

She started to jump up from the ground where she was sitting! Shecouldn't!--She had braided Old Man Smith and his wheel chair into herhair! When she saw what she had done she toppled right over on her face!And fainted all out!

Over behind the lilac bush somebody screamed. 

It was Annie Halliway's Mother! With her was a strange gentleman who hadcome all the way from New York to try and cure Annie Halliway. Thestrange gentleman was some special kind of a doctor. 

"Hush--Hush!" the Special Doctor kept saying to everybody. "This is avery crucial moment! Can't you see that this a very crucial moment?" Hepointed to Annie Halliway on the grass. Her Mother knelt beside hertrying very hard to comb Old Man Smith and his wheel-chair out of herpig-tail. "Speak to her!" said the Doctor. "Speak to her very gently!"

"Annie?" cried her Mother. "Annie?--Annie--_Annie?_"

Annie Halliway opened her eyes very slowly and looked up. It was a brandnew kind of a look. It had a bottom to it instead of being just throughand through and through. There was a little smile in it too. It was apretty look. 

"Why, Mother, " said Annie Halliway. "Where am I?"

The Special Man from New York made a queer little sound in his throat. 

"Thank God!" he said. "She's all right _now_!"

It seemed pretty quick to me. 

"You mean--" I said, "that her Mysteria is all cured--now?"

"Not _Mys_teria, " said the Special Man from New York, _"Hys_teria!"

"No!--_Her_steria!" corrected Old Man Smith. 

The Special Man from New York began to laugh. 

But Annie Halliway's Mother began to cry. 

"Oh, just suppose we'd never found her?" she cried. She looked at Carol. She looked at me. She glared a little. But not so awfully much. "Whenyou naughty children ran away with her?" she cried. "And we couldn'tfind her anywhere?--And the Doctor came? And there was only an hour tospare?--And we got a horse and drove round anywhere? And--And----"

"I wouldn't have missed it for anything!" said the Special Man from NewYork. 

"And all your appointments waiting?" cried Annie Halliway's Mother. 

"Darn the appointments!" said the Special Man from New York. He slantedhis head and looked at Old Man Smith. "We arrived, " he said, "just atthe moment when the young lady was gazing so--so intently at the pieceof shiny glass. " He made a funny grunt in his throat. "Let mecongratulate you, Mr. --Mr. Smith!" he said. "Your treatment was mostefficient!--Your hypnosis was perfect! Your----"

"Hip _nothing_!" said Old Man Smith. 

"Of course, in a case like this, " said the Special Man from New York, "the Power of Suggestion is always----"

"All young folks, " said Old Man Smith, "are cases of one kind oranother--and the most powerful suggestion that I can make is thatsomebody find 'Harry!'"

"'Harry?'" said Annie Halliway's Mother. "'_Harry?_'--Why, I've got fourletters at home for Annie in my desk now--from some im--impetuous youngman who signs himself 'Harry!'--He seems to be in an Architect's officein Paris! 'Robin' is what he calls Annie!--'_Dearest_ Robin'----"

"Eh?" said Annie Halliway. "What? _Where?_" She sat bolt upright! Shescrambled to her feet! She started for the carriage!

Her Mother had to run to catch her. 

The Special Man from New York followed them just as fast as he could. 

Old Man Smith wheeled his chair to the gate to say "Good-bye. "

Everything seemed all mixed up. 

Annie Halliway's Mother never stopped talking a single second. 

"Oh, my Pet!" she cried. "My Precious. My Treasure!"

With one foot on the carriage step the Special Man from New York turnedround and looked at Old Man Smith. He smiled a funny little smile. 

"Seek--and ye shall find!" he said. "That is--if you only know _How_ and_Where_ to seek. "

Old Man Smith began to chuckle in his beard. 

"Yes, I admit that's quite a help, " he said, "the knowing _How_ and_Where!_--But before you set out seekin' very hard for anything that'slost it's a pretty good idea to find out first just exactly what it isthat you're seekin' for!--When a young lady's lost her _mind, _ forinstance, that's one thing!--But if it's her _heart_ that's lost, why, that, of course, is quite another!"

Annie Halliway's face wasn't white any more. It was as red as roses. Shehad it in her Mother's shoulder. 

The horses began to prance. The carriage began to creak. 

Annie Halliway's Mother looked all around. 

"Oh, dear--oh, dear--oh, dear, Mr. --Mr. Smith, " she said. "How shall Iever repay you?"

Old Man Smith reached out his hand across the fence. There was sort of atwinkle in his eye. 

"One dollar, please, " said Old Man Smith. 

THE BOOK OF THE FUNNY SMELLS--AND EVERYTHING

It was Carol who invented the Book. He didn't mean any harm. 

I helped him. 

We called it "The Book of the Funny Smells--and Everything. "

It was one Tuesday noon coming home from school that we stopped the Ladyon the street. 

She was a very interesting looking lady. She looked like all sorts ofdifferent-colored silk roses. And a diamond brooch. 

"Excuse us, Madam, " I said. "But we are making a book! And we havedecided to begin it with you! If you were a Beautiful Smell instead of aBeautiful Lady, --what Beautiful Smell in the Whole Wide World would youchoose to be?"

The lady reeled back against the wall of the Post Office. And put on agold eyeglass to support her. 

"Merciful Impudences!" she said. "What new kind of census is this?"

We knew what a "census" was. 

"No! It isn't that at all!" I explained. "This is something important. "

Carol showed her the book. He showed her the pencil he was going towrite the book with. 

"When it's all done, " I explained, "everybody will want to read it!"

"I can well believe it, " said the Lady. She looked at Carol. Everybodylooks at Carol. 

"Who are you children, anyway?" she said. 

"My name is Ruthy, " I explained. "And this is my brother Carol. "

She began to look at Carol all over again. She reached out and shook himby the shoulder. 

"Dumbness!" she said. "Why let Sister do all the talking?"

My stomach felt pretty queer. 

"My brother Carol _can't_ talk, " I explained. "He _is_ dumb!"

The Lady turned very red. 

"Oh dear--Oh dear--Oh dear, " she said. She opened her purse. She tookout a dollar bill. "Surely something could be done about it!" she said. 

"We are not looking for money, " I explained. "We are perfectly rich. Wehave warm underalls. And two parents. And an older sister. We have atame coon. And a tame crow. Our Father could paint the house any Autumnhe wanted to if he'd rather do it than plant Tulips. "

The Lady looked at her watch. It was a bright blue watch no bigger thana violet is. 

"This is all very interesting, " she said. "But at the obnoxious hotelwhich you run in this village dinner is at twelve o'clock and if I'mnot there at exactly that moment there will not be another dinner, Isuppose, until twelve o'clock the next day. So----"

"Probably not, " I said. "So if you don't feel timid at all about walkingout with strangers, my brother Carol and I will walk home to the Hotelwith you and write our book as we go. "

The Lady bit herself. She bit herself in the lip. She began to walk veryfast. 

Carol walked very fast on one side of her. I walked very fast on theother. Carol carried the book. He carried it wide open so as to be allready any moment. I carried the pencil. 

"Can you tell me, " said the Lady, "just why you and your brother havepicked upon me as the first victim of your most astonishinginterrogations?"

"Because you are the only Lady we ever saw in our lives that we didn'tknow who she was!" I explained. "And that makes it more interesting!"

"O--h, " said the Lady. She gave a queer little gasp. It was the Hotelhappening! She ran up the hotel steps. There was a Gentleman waiting forher at the top of the steps. He was a tall Gentleman with a very crossmustache. The Lady whispered something to him. He shook his mustache atus. 

"Get out of here, you Young Scamps!" he cried. "Get out of here, I say!_Get out!_"

No one had ever shaken his mustache at us before. We sat down on thestep to think about it. 

The Gentleman ran off to call the Hotel Proprietor. 

The Lady looked a little sorry. She came running back. She stooped down. She took the book from Carol. And the pencil from me. She laughed alittle. 

"You funny--funny children, " she said. "What is it you want to know?The Most Beautiful Smell in the whole wide world, --is that it?--The MostBeautiful Smell in the whole wide world?" She looked back over hershoulder. She wrote very fast. Her cheeks looked pink. She banged thebook together just the first second she had finished. She pulled my ear. "I'm--I'm sorry, " she said. 

"Oh, that's all right, " I assured her. "We'll be round and write therest of the book some other day!"

The Man with the Cross Mustache kept right on hunting all around. 

When the Hotel Proprietor came running and saw who we were he gave ustwo oranges instead, and a left-over roll of wall-paper with parrots onit, and all the old calendars that were in his desk. 

We had to race home across the railroad trestle to get there in time. Itwasn't till we reached the Blacksmith Shop that we had a chance to stopand see what the Lady had written in our book. There was a Smoke Treejust outside the Blacksmith Shop. It was all in smoke. We sat down underit and opened our book. 

This is what the Lady had written in our book. 

 The most beautiful smell in the world is the smell of an old tattered baseball glove--that's been lying in the damp grass--by the side of a brook--in June Time. 

I looked at Carol. Carol looked at me. We felt surprised. It wasn'texactly what you would have expected. Carol rolled over on his stomach. He clapped his heels in the air. He pounded his fists in the grass. 

We forgot all about going home. We went into the Blacksmith's Shopinstead. It was a very earthy place. But nothing grew there. Not grass. Not flowers. Not even vines. Just Junk!

The Blacksmith's name was Jason. He looked something like a Stove thatcould be doubled up in its stomach and carried round to all four cornersof a horse for the horse to put his foot on. He was making shoes for avery stout black horse. The horse's name was Ezra. There were a greatmany sparks around! And iron noises! And flames! And smouches! Ezra'shoofs seemed to be burning! It smelt so funny we didn't think it wouldbe polite to ask Jason what he'd rather smell like instead! So wedecided to begin the other way about. But whatever way you decided youhad to scream it. 

"Jason, " I screamed. "If you were a Beautiful Sound instead of aBeautiful Blacksmith, what Beautiful Sound in the whole wide world wouldyou choose to be?"

"_Eh?_" screamed Jason. He stopped hammering. He stopped thumping. Hestopped boiling poor Ezra's hoof with a red hot poker. "_Eh?_" he saidall over again. "Well, that's a new one on me! What's the Big Idea?"

"Well--I want to know, " said Jason. He sat down on a great block ofwood. He wiped his sleeve on his face. It made his sleeve all black. "IfI was a Sound--?" he said. "Instead of a Man?--Instead of a man?" Itseemed to puzzle him a good deal. "Not to be a man--any more you mean?No arms? Legs? Stomach? Eyes?--To get all worn out and busted stayin' onforever in one place? And then thrung away?--But to be just a--just aSound?--Just a Sound? Well, of all the comical ideas! Of all the----"Then quite suddenly he whacked his hand down in a great black smouch onhis knee and clanged his feet like dungeon chains across a clutter ofhorseshoes. "I've got it!" he cried. "I've got it!--If I was a Soundinstead of a man I'd choose to be a Song!--Not great loud band-tunes, Imean, that nobody could play unless he was hired! And charged tickets!But some nice--pretty little Song--floatin' round all soft and easy onladies' lips and in men's hearts. Or tinklin' out as pleasant as youplease on moonlight nights from mandolin strings and young folkssparkin'. Or turnin' up just as likely as not in some old guy's whistleon the top of one of these 'ere omnibuses in London Town. Or travellin'even in a phonograph through the wonders of the great Sahara Desert. Something all simple--I mean that you could hum without even botherin'with the words. Something people would know who you was even if there_wasn't_ any words!--Something all sweet and low----'Sweet and Low, 'that's it! My Mother used to sing it! I hain't thought of it for fortyyears! _That's_ the one I mean!"

"Sweet and Low"--he began to sing. 

 Sweet and low--Sweet and low-- Wind of the Western Sea----

His voice was all deep and full of sand like the way a bass drum makesyou feel in your stomach. I looked at Carol. Carol looked at me. We feltpretty surprised. Jason the Blacksmith looked more surprised thananyone! But he kept right on singing!

 Over the rolling waters go-- Come from the--the something--moon and blow-- While my little one--while my pretty one--sleeps. Father will come to his babe in the nest-- S-silvery--something--all out of the West-- Silvery----

We ran!

When we got to the Smoke Tree and looked back there was no sound at allin the Blacksmith Shop except the sound of Ezra thumping his hoofs. AndJason being a Song instead of a man!

The faster we ran the more surprised we felt. 

When you _read_ a book, of course, you expect to be surprised. If youdidn't think the person who made the book was going to tell yousomething that you didn't know before you wouldn't bother to read it. But when you're _writing_ a book it doesn't seem exactly as though somany unexpected things ought to happen to you!

We were pretty glad when we ran right into the Old Minister who preachessometimes when all the young ministers can't think of anything more topreach about. 

The Old Minister was leaning against the Bridge. The Old Lawyer wasleaning against the Bridge with him. They were waving their canes. Andtheir long white beards. And arguing about the "Thirty-NineArticles. "--Carol thinks it was the "Fifty-Seven Varieties" they werearguing about. But the "Fifty-Seven Varieties" I'm almost sure isPickles. It's the "Thirty-Nine Articles" that is Arguments!

The Old Minister laughed when he saw us coming. "Well--Well--Well!" hecried. "See who's here! And carrying such a big book too! And all outof breath!" He put his arm round Carol. I thought he was going to ask usour Catechisms. And there wasn't any breath left in our catechisms. 

"Oh, if you were a Beautiful Sound, " I gasped, "instead of a BeautifulPreacher--what Beautiful Sound in the whole wide world--would you--wouldyou choose to be?"

"Eh?" said the Old Minister. "Eh?--What's--that? A--A--Sound instead ofa Preacher? Well, upon my word!--This minute, you mean? Or any minute?If I was a Beautiful Sound instead of----?" He mopped his forehead. Helooked pretty hot. He twinkled his eyes at the Old Lawyer. "Well--just_this_ minute, " he said, "I'd rather be the Sound of Foaming Beer thananything else in the world that I can think of!" He thumped his cane onthe ground. The Old Lawyer thumped his cane on the ground. They bothstarted off down the road thumping as they walked. We heard themchuckling as they thumped. They weren't arguing any more about the"Thirty-Nine Articles. " They were arguing about Cheese. 

And that was surprising too!

There wasn't any dinner left when we got home except just knives andforks and spoons. My Mother found us two bowls to go with the spoons. And some milk to go with the bowls. And some crackers to go with themilk. Everything went very well. 

We told my Mother we were sorry to be late but that we were writing abook and it was very important. 

My Mother said yes, --she knew that writing books was very important andhad always noticed that people who wrote 'em were very apt to be late tothings. Her only regret, she said, was that Carol and I hadn't had alittle more time in which to form habits of promptness before we beganon such a chronic career as Literature. 

My Father said "Stuff and Nonsense!" My Father said that if we'd kindlycondescend to tear ourselves away from the Charms of Literature for onebrief afternoon he'd like to have us weed the Tulip Bed. 

We said we would. 

We forgot all about our book. It isn't that pulling up weeds is anyspecial fun. It's the putting flowers back that you've pulled up bymistake that is such a Game in itself. You have to make little splintsfor them out of Forsythia twigs. You have to build little collars ofpebble-stone all around them to keep marauding beetles from eating uptheir wiltedness. You have to bring them medicine-water from the brookinstead of from the kitchen--so that nobody will scream and say, "Oh, what have you done now?--Oh, what have you done _now_?"

It was Supper Time before we knew it. There was creamed chicken forsupper. And wild strawberry preserve. And a letter from our sisterRosalee. Our sister Rosalee is in Cuba visiting her Betrother. She wroteseven pages about it. She seemed to like her Betrother very much. 

My Mother cried a little. My Father said "Oh, Pshaw! Oh, Pshaw! Youcan't keep 'em babies forever!" My Mother tried not to look at myFather's eyes. She looked at his feet instead. When she looked at hisfeet instead she saw that there were holes in his slippers. She seemedvery glad. She ran and got a big needle. And a big thread. My Father hadto sit very still. 

It seemed a very good time to remember about the Book. 

Carol went and got the Book. He put it down on the Dining Room table. Itwas a gray book with a red back to it. It said "Lanos Bryant" across theback of it. It was Lanos Bryant who had given us the book. Lanos Bryantwas the Butcher. It was an old Account Book. The front of it was allmixed up with figurings. It was in the back of it that we were makingOur Book. 

My Mother looked up. She smiled at us. 

"Why, bless my heart, " she said, "we mustn't forget about the children'sBook!"

"No such luck, " said my Father. 

Everybody smiled a little. 

"What's the Book about?" said my Mother. 

I looked at Carol. Carol looked at me. He nudged me to go on. 

"It's about You!" I said. "And about Father! And about Jason theBlacksmith! And about the Old Preacher. And about most anybody I guessthat would like to be About-ed!"

"Well--Well--Well, " said my Mother. "And what is it for?"

"Oh, it's just for fun, " I said. "But it's very important. --Just thefirst instant anybody reads it he'll know all there is to know abouteverybody without ever having to go and make calls on them! Everythinginteresting about them I mean! Everything that really matters! Lots ofthings that nobody would have guessed!"

"Mercy!" said my Mother. She stopped mending my Father and jumped rightup. 

My Father jumped right up too!

"Oh, it isn't written yet!" I said. "It's only just begun!"

"O--h, " said my Mother. And sat down again. 

"We though maybe you and Father would help us, " I said. 

"O--h, " said my Father. And sat down again too. 

Carol began to laugh. I don't know why he laughed. 

"It's--it's just a set of questions, " I explained. 

Carol opened the Book and found the questions. 

"Just five or six questions, " I explained. "All you have to do is toanswer the questions--and tell us how to spell it perhaps. --And thenthat makes the Book!"

"It certainly sounds simple, " said my Mother. She began mending myFather very hard. "And what are some of the questions?" she asked. 

"Well--the first question, " I explained, "is 'What is your name?'"

My Mother gave a little giggle. She hushed my Father with her hand. 

"Oh surely, " she said, "there couldn't be any objection to telling thesepleasant children our names?"

"No--o, " admitted my Father. 

My Mother looked up. She twinkled her eyes a little as well as hermouth. 

"Our names are 'Father' and 'Mother', " she said. 

Carol wrote the names in the Book. He wrote them very black and literarylooking. "Father" at the top of one page. And "Mother" at the top ofthe other. They looked nice. 

"All right then, " said my Father. "Fire away!"

I looked at my Father. I looked at my Mother. I didn't know just whichone to begin with. Carol kicked me in the shins for encouragement. Idecided to begin with my Mother. 

"Oh Mother, " I said. "If you were a Beautiful Smell instead of aBeautiful Mother, --what Beautiful Smell in the whole wide world--wouldyou choose to be?"

"Eh? What's that? _What?_" said my Father. "Well, of all the idioticfoolishness! Of all the--"

"Why no--not at all, " said my Mother. "Why--Why I think it's ratherinteresting! Why--Why--Though I must admit, " she laughed out suddenly, "that I never quite thought of things in just that way before!" Shelooked out the window. She looked in the fire-place. She looked at myFather. She looked at Carol. She looked at me. She began to clap herhands. "I've got it!" she said. "I know what I'd choose! A White Iris!In all the world there's no perfume that can compare with the perfume ofa White Iris!--Orris root they call it. Orris--"

"Humph! What's the matter with Tulips?" said my Father. 

"Oh but Tulips don't have any smell at all, " said my Mother. "Exceptjust the nice earthy smell of Spring winds and Spring rains and Springsunbeams!--Oh of course they _look_ as though they were going to smelltremendously sweet!" she acknowledged very politely. "But they're justso busy being _gay_ I suppose that--"

"The Tulip Goldfinch, " said my Father coldly, "is noted for itsfragrance. "

"Oh dear--Oh dear--Oh dear, " said my Mother. She seemed verysorry. She folded her hands. "Oh very well, " she said. "Mondays, --Wednesdays, --Fridays, --and Sundays, --I will be the fragranceof the Tulip Goldfinch. But Tuesdays, --Thursdays and Saturdays I reallymust insist on being the fragrance of a White Iris!"

"Humph!" said my Father. "There aren't any of them that are worth thenice inky lithograph smell of the first Garden Catalogues that come offthe presses 'long about February!"

My Mother clapped her hands again. 

"Oh Goodie!" she said. "Write Father down as choosing to smell like 'thenice inky lithograph smell of the first Garden Catalogues that come offthe presses 'long about February'!"

My Father had to tell us how to spell "Lithograph. " Carol wrote it verycarefully. My Mother laughed. 

"Well really, " said my Mother, "I'm beginning to have a very goodtime. --What is Question No. 2?"

"Question No. 2, " I said, "is:--If you were a Beautiful Sound instead ofa Beautiful Father and Mother, --what Beautiful Sound in the whole wideworld would you choose to be?"

My Father felt better almost at once. 

"Oh Pshaw!" he said. "That's easy. I'd be the Sound of Gold Piecesjingling in the pocket of a man--of a man--" He looked at my Mother. "--Of a man who had a Brown-Eyed Wife who looked something like myBrown-Eyed Wife--and three children whose names--when you spoke 'emquickly sounded very similar--yes, very similar indeed to 'Ruthy' and'Carol' and 'Rosalee'!"

"Oh what nonsense!" said my Mother. 

"What does the jingle of Gold Pieces amount to?--Now if I could be anySound I wanted to--I'd choose to be the sweet--soft--breathy little_stir_ that a nice little family makes when it wakes up in themorning--so that no matter how much you've worried during the long blacknight you can feel at once that everything's all right! And thateverybody's all there!--In all the world, " cried my Mother, "I know ofno sweeter sound than the sound of a nice little family--waking up inthe morning!"

I turned to Carol's page. I laughed and laughed. "Bubbling Fat is whatCarol would like to sound like!" I cried. "The noise that Bubbling Fatmakes when you drop doughnuts into it!--But I?--If I could be any lovelySound I wanted to, --I'd like to be the Sound of Rain on a Tin Roof--atnight! All over the world people would be lying awake listening to you!And even if they didn't want to listen they'd have to! Till you weregood and ready to stop!"

It took Carol a good while to write down everything about "Gold Pieces"and a "Nice Little Family waking up in the Morning" and "Rain on a TinRoof. "

"The next question is pretty hard, " I explained. "Maybe you'd like to bethinking about it. --If you were a Beautiful Sight--that people camemiles to see, --what Beautiful Sight in the whole wide world would youchoose to be?"

My Father didn't wait a minute. "A Field of Tulips!" he said. 

Carol pounded the table with his fists. His face was like an explosionof smiles. He pointed to my Father's page in the Book. 

"It's already written!" I said. "We guessed it all the time!"

We turned to my Mother. We saw a little quiver go through my Mother'sshoulders. 

"I'd choose to be a Storm at Sea!" said my Mother. 

"_What?_" cried my Father. 

"A Storm at Sea!" said my Mother. 

My Father stopped saying "What?" And made a little gasping soundinstead. "_You?_--_You?_" he said. "The gentlest soul that everbreathed?--Would like to be a 'Storm at Sea'?"

"It's only the 'mother' side of me that is gentle!" laughed my Mother. She threw back her head suddenly. She thrust out her hands. It jerkedher soft, calm hair all fluffy and wild across her forehead. Her eyesdanced! Her cheeks turned all pink! "Oh _wouldn't_ it be fun?" shecried. "All the roaring! And the ranting! And the foaming! And the_Furying_!--Racing up the beaches in great waves! And splashes!_Banging_ against the rocks! Scaring the fishes almost to pieces!Rocking the boats till people fell _Bump_ right out of their berths ontothe floor! Ruffling the gulls till----"

"You wouldn't actually--wreck a boat would you?" said my Father. 

My Mother stopped tossing her head. And waving her hands. She gave alittle sigh. She began mending my Father again very hard. 

"Just----pirates, " she said. 

"O--h, " said my Father. 

"We intended to make the next one about 'Motions, '" I explained. "But itwas too hard. Carol wanted to be an Elevator!--Carol says an Elevator islike quick-silver in a giant thermometer that's gone mad!--He wanted tobe the motion it makes when the Elevator's going down and the floor'scoming up! But it made me feel queer in my stomach!"

"Merciful Heavens!" said my Father. "What kind of a family have Idrawn?--My Wife wants to be a 'Storm at Sea' and my Son aspires to feellike an 'Elevator Gone Mad'!"

Carol looked at my Mother. My Mother looked at Carol. They laughed theireyes together. 

"So we made it 'Money' and 'Memory' instead, " I explained. 

"Made what 'Money' and 'Memory' instead?" said my Father. 

"The next two questions, " I explained. 

"O--h, " said my Mother. 

"Fire away!" said my Father. 

"Question No. 4, " I said. "Which do you like best? _Times?_ or_Things?_"

"Times or Things?" said my Father. "Whatever in the world do you mean?"His eyebrows looked pretty puzzled. 

"Why, we mean, " I explained, "if somebody gave you five whole dollarsfor your birthday--how would you rather spend it?--What would you getmost fun out of, we mean?--_Times?_ Or _Things?_--Would you be most aptto spend it for Rabbits, we mean? Or going to a Fair?"

"Oh, " said my Father, "I see!--Times or Things?--Times--or things?--Why_Things_!" he decided almost at once. "_Things_ of course!--When youbuy a _Thing_ you've got something really tangible for your money!Something definite! Something really to show!--'Rabbits' I admit wouldprobably not be my choice. --But a book, now! A set of garden tools?--Apair of rubber boots even?"

"N--o, " said my Mother very softly, "I'm almost sure I'd rather 'go tothe Fair'!--'_Times_' or '_Things_'?--Yes I'm perfectly positive, " shecried out, "that _Times_ give me more pleasure than _Things_ do!--Nowthat I think of it I can see quite plainly that always--always I'vepreferred to spend my money 'going to the Fair'!"

"Yes, but how foolish, " said my Father. "When the Fair's over it'sover!--Nothing left to show for it but just a memory. "

My Mother laughed right out loud. It was the prettiest laugh. 

"Now that's where you're mistaken!" she laughed. "When the Fair's whatyou call 'over, '--that's the time it's really _just begun_!--Books getlost--or puppies chew them! Garden tools rust! Even the best rubberboots in the world get the most awful holes poked through theirtoes!--But a Happy Memory?--A Happy Memory--?" She jumped up suddenlyand crept into my Father's arms. 

My Father stroked her hair. And stroked it. 

Carol kicked me in the shins. 

"There's only one more question!" I cried out pretty loud. 

"What is it?" said my Mother. It sounded pretty mumbly through myFather's shoulder. 

"Oh this one is very important, " I said. "It's about _colors_. "

"Colors?" said my Father. He didn't seem to care nearly as much as you'dhave thought he would. 

"C--Colors, " mumbled my Mother. 

"Somewhere in a book, " I explained, "we read about a man who wanted hismemory 'kept green?'--Why _green?_ Why not pink?--Why not blue?--Oreven red with a cunning little white line in it?"

"_Eh?_" said my Father. 

"If you were going away, " I explained. 

My Mother's hands clutched at his coat. She gave a queer little shiver. "Oh not--'away'!" she protested. 

"For ever and ever, " I explained. 

My Mother's face came peering out from the shadow of my Father'sshoulder. She started to laugh. And made a little sob instead. "Oh notfor----ever----and _ever_?" she said. 

We all sat and looked at each other. I felt awful queer in my stomach. 

Carol kicked me in the shins. He wrote something quick on a piece ofpaper and shoved it across the table at me. 

"_China_ was the place that Carol meant!" I explained. "Oh he didn'tmean--at all--what you thought he meant!--If you were going away to--to_China_--for ever and ever--and ever--and gave your Best Friend a wholelot of money like twenty-five dollars to remember you by--what color doyou _hope_ he'd keep your memory?"

"Oh--yes--why of course!" said my Father quite quickly. "It's a jollyone after all, isn't it!--Color--Color?--Let me see!--For twenty-fivedollars you say? Yes Yes!--The very thing! _Yellow_ of course! I hope myBest Friend would have wit enough to buy a _Lamp_!--Nothing fancy youknow but something absolutely reliable. --Daytimes to be sure your memorywouldn't be much use to him. But nights--the time everybody needseverybody the most, --Nights I say, --looking back from--from _China_, wasit that you designated?--Nights it would be rather pleasant I think tofeel that one lived on and on--as a yellow glow in his friend's life. "

My Father reached out and pinched my ear. 

"How about it, Ruthy?" he asked. 

"Oh that's all right, " I admitted. "But if _I_ gave my Best Friendtwenty-five dollars to remember me by--I hope he'd buy a BlueberryBush!--Just _think_ of all the colors it would keep your memory!--Whitein blossom-time! And blue in fruit-season! And red as blood all theAutumn! With brown rabbits hopping through you!--And speckled birdslaying--goodness knows _what_ colored eggs! And--"

Somebody banged the front door. Somebody scuffled on the threshold. Somebody shouted "Hello--Hello--Hello--!" It was the Old Doctor. 

We ran to see if he had peppermints in his pocket. 

He had!

After the Old Doctor had given us all the peppermints he thought weought to have--and seven more besides, he sat down in the big cretonnechair by the window, and fanned his neck with a newspaper. He seemed tobe pretty mad at the people who had made his collars. 

"W-hew!" he said. "The man who invented a 21-inch collar ought to beforced to suck boiling starch through the neck of a Blueing Bottle!"

We didn't see just why. 

The Old Doctor said he didn't care to discuss it. 

"Any news to-day?" asked my Father. 

"News enough!" said the Old Doctor. He seemed pretty mad about that too!

"Such as what?" asked my Father. 

"There's a Prince and Princess in town!" said the Old Doctor. "Or a Duchand Duchess!--Or a Fool and Fooless!--I don't care what you call'em!--They've got some sort of a claim on the old Dun Voolees estate. Brook, --meadow, --blueberry----hillside, --popple grove, --everything!They've come way from Austria to prove it! Going to build a Tannery! Ora Fertilizer Factory! Or some other equally odoriferous industry! Fillthe town with foreign laborers!--String a line of lowsy shacks clearfrom the Blacksmith Shop to the river!--Hope they _choke_!"

"Oh my dear--my dear!" said my Mother. 

The Old Doctor looked a little funny. 

"Oh I admit it's worth something, " he said, "to have you call me your'dear. '--But I'm mad I tell you clear through. And when you've got asmuch '_through_' to you as I have, that's _some mad_!--W-hew!"he said. "When I think of our village, --our precious, clean, decent, simple little All-American village--turned into acheap--racketty--crowd-you-off-the-sidewalk Saturday Night HellHole. . . ?"

"Oh--Oh--OH!" cried my Mother. 

"Quick! Get him some raspberry shrub, " cried my Father. 

"Maybe he'd like to play the Children's new Game!" cried my Mother. 

"It isn't a Game, " I explained. "It's a Book!"

My Mother ran to get the Raspberry Shrub. She brought a whole pitcher. It tinkled with ice. It sounded nice. When the Old Doctor had drunken ithe seemed cooled quite a little. He put the glass down on the table. Hesaw the Book. He looked surprised. 

"Lanos--Bryant? Accounts?" he read. He looked at the date. He looked atmy Father. "What you trying to do, Man?" he said. "Reconstruct afinancial picture of our village as it was a generation ago? Or traceyour son Carol's very palpable distaste for a brush, back to hisgrandfather's somewhat avid devotion to pork chops?" He picked up thebook. He opened the first pages. He read the names written at the topsof the pages. Some of the names were pretty faded. --"Alden, Hoppin, Weymoth, Dun Vorlees, " he read. He put on his glasses. He scrunched hiseyes. He grunted his throat. "W-hew!" he said. "A hundred pounds ofbeans in one month?--Is it any wonder that young Alden ran away tosea--and sunk clear to the bottom in his first shipwreck?--'RoastBeef'?--'Roast Beef'?--'Malt and Hops'?--'Malt and Hops'?--'RoastBeef'?--'Malt and Hops'?--Is _that_ where Old Man Weymoth got hisrheumatism?--And Young Weymoth--his blood pressure?--Dun Vorlees?--DunVorlees?--_What?_ No meat at all from November to February?--Nofruit?--Only three pounds of sugar?--Great Gastronomics! Back of allthat arrogance, --that insulting aloofness, --was _real_ Hunger gnawing atthe Dun Vorlees vitals?--Was _that_ the reason why--?--MercifulHeavens!" cried the Old Doctor. "This book is worth twenty dollars tome--this very minute in my Practice! The light it sheds on the VillageStomach, --the Village Nerves, --the--"

"Please, Sir, " I said. "The Book is Carol's. Mr. Lanos Bryant gave itto him. --And we're planning to get a great deal more than twenty dollarsfor it when we sell it!"

"_Eh?_" said the Old Doctor. "_What?_"

He jerked round in his chair and _glared_ at Carol. 

"_This_ I'll have you understand, my Young Man, " he said, "is in thecause of Science!"

Carol looked pretty nervous. He began to smooth his hair as well as hecould without bristles. It didn't smooth much. 

"Oh please, Sir, " I explained, "people who write books _never_ havesmooth hair!"

"Who's talking about writing books?" roared the Old Doctor. 

"Please, Sir, _we're_ trying to talk about it, " I said. My voice soundedpretty little. "It's the _back_ part of the book that's the importantpart, " I explained. "It's the back part of the book that we're writing!"

"_Eh?_" said the Old Doctor. 

He slammed the book together. He stood up and began to look for his hat. 

There didn't seem a moment to lose if we we're going to get him into ourbook. I ran and caught him by the hand. Even if his face was busy hishands always had time to be friends with Carol and me. 

"Oh please--please--_please_, " I besought him. "If you were a BeautifulSmell instead of a Beautiful Doctor, --what Beautiful Smell in the wholewide world would you choose to be?"

"What?" said the old Doctor. "_What? W-h-a-t?_" he kept saying over andover. He looked at my Father. He looked at my Mother. My Mother told himabout our Book. He made a loud Guffaw. "Guffaw" I _think_ is the noisehe made. Carol is _sure_ that it is! He looked at Carol. He looked atme. He began to Guffaw all over again. 

"Well really, Young Authorettes, " he said, "I hardly know how to answeryou or how to choose. Ether or Chloroform and general Disinfectantsbeing the most familiar savors of my daily life, --the only savors indeedthat I ever expect to suggest to anybody--" He looked out the window. There was an apple-blossom tree. It made the window look very full ofJune. His collar seemed to hurt him. It made him pretty serious. It madehis voice all solemn. 

"But I'll tell you, Kiddies, " he said quite suddenly. "I'll tell you theSweetest Thing that I ever smelled in my life!--It was the first SummerI was back from College. --I was out on the Common playing ball. Somebodybrought me word that my Father was dead. --I didn't go home. --I slunk offinstead to my favorite trout-brook--and sat down under a big white birchtree--and _cursed_!--I was very bitter. I needed my Father very muchthat year. And my step-mother was a harsh woman. --Late that night when Igot home, --ugly with sorrow, --I found that I'd left my Catcher's glove. It happened to be one that my Father had given me. --With matches and atin-can lantern I fumbled my way back to the brook. The old glove laypalm-upward in the moss and leaves. Somebody had filled the palm withwild violets. --I put my face down in it--like a kid--and bawled my heartout. --It was little Annie Dun Vorlees it seemed who had put the violetsthere. Trailed me clear from the Ball Field. Little kid too. Onlyfourteen years to my twenty. Why her Mother wouldn't even let me come tothe house. Had made Annie promise even not to speak to me. --But whenTrouble hit me, little Annie--?" The Old Doctor frowned his eyebrows. "Words!" he said. "It's _words_ after all that have the real fragranceto 'em!--Now take that word 'Loyalty' for instance. I can't even see itin a Newspaper without--" He put back his head suddenly. He gave a queerlittle chuckle. "Sounds funny, doesn't it, Kiddies, " he laughed, "tosay that the sweetest thing you ever smelled in your life was an oldbaseball glove thrown down on the mossy bank of a brook?"

I looked at Carol. Carol looked at me. His eyes were popping. We ran tothe Book. We snatched it open. It bumped our heads. We pointed to thewriting. I read it out loud. 

 The most beautiful smell in the world is the smell of an old tattered baseball glove that's been lying in the damp grass--by the side of a brook--in June Time. 

My Mother looked funny. 

"Good Gracious, " she said. "Are my children developing 'SecondSight'?--First it was the 'Field of Tulips' already written down astheir Father's choice before he could even get the words out of hismouth!--And now, hours before the Old Doctor ever even dreamed of theBook's existence they've got his distinctly unique taste in perfumesall--"

"But this isn't the Old Doctor!" I cried out. "She wrote it herself. It's the Lady down at the hotel. It's the--the Empress that the OldDoctor was talking about!"

"The--Empress?" gasped the Old Doctor. 

"Well maybe you said 'Princess, '" I admitted. "It was some one fromAustria anyway--come to fuss about the old Dun Vorlees place! You saidit was! You said that's who it was!--It's the only Strange Lady in thevillage!"

"What?" gasped the Old Doctor. "_What?_" He looked at the book. He readthe Lady's writing. Anybody could have seen that it wasn't our writing. It was too dressy. He put on his glasses. He read it again. 

 --the smell of an old tattered baseball glove--that's been lying in the damp grass--side of a brook--June Time. 

"Good Lord!" he cried out. "Good Lord!"--He couldn't seem to swallowthrough his collar. "Not anyone else!" he gasped. "In all theworld!--There couldn't possibly be anyone else! It must--It _must_ belittle Annie Dun Vorlees herself!"

He rushed to the window. There was a grocery boy driving by. 

"Hi! Hi there!" he called out. "Don't mind anybody's orders just now!Take me quick to the Hotel!--It's an Emergency I tell you! She may begone before I get there!"

We sat down on the sofa and curled up our legs. Our legs felt queer. 

My Mother and Father sat down on the other sofa. They looked queer allover. They began to talk about the Village. It wasn't exactly theVillage that we knew. It was as though they talked about the Villagewhen it was a _child_. They talked about when the Bridge was firstbuilt. They talked about the Spring when the Big Freshet swept themeadow. They talked about the funny color of Jason the Blacksmith'sfirst long trousers. They talked about a tiny mottled Fawn that theyhad caught once with their own hands at a Sunday School picnic in theArbutus Woods. They talked about the choir rehearsals in the old whitechurch. They talked about my Father's Graduation Essay in the HighSchool. It was like History that was sweet instead of just true. It madeyou feel a little lonely in your throat. Our Tame Coon came and curledup on our legs. It made our legs feel better. The clock struck nine. OurFather and Mother forgot all about us. Pretty soon we forgot all aboutourselves. When we woke up the Old Doctor had come back. He was standingby the table in the lamplight talking to my Father and my Mother. 

He looked just the same--only different--like a portrait in a newspaperthat somebody had tried to copy. All around the inner edges of hisbigness it was as though someone had sketched the outline of a slimmerman. --It looked nice. 

"Well it _was_ little Annie Dun Vorlees!" he said. 

"Was it indeed?" said my Father. 

"Hasn't changed a mite!" said the Old Doctor. "Not a mite!--Oh of courseshe's wearing silks now instead of gingham. --And her hair?--Well perhapsit's just a little bit gray but----"

"Gray hair's very pretty, " said my Mother. 

"Humph!" said the Old Doctor. "I expected of course that she'd think mechanged a good deal. I've grown stout. 'Healthy' she called it. --Shethought I looked 'very healthy'!" The Old Doctor shifted his feet. Hetwitched at a newspaper on the table. "That Austrian gentlemen with herisn't her Husband, " he said. "She's a--she's a widow now. --It's herHusband's brother. "

"Really?" said my Father. 

"Oh _Thunder_!" said the Old Doctor. "I guess perhaps I spoke a littlebit hastily when I was here before--about their ruining theVillage!--I've been talking a bit with Annie and--" His face turnedquite red suddenly. He laughed a little. "There won't be any changesmade at present in the old Dun Vorlees place--I imagine. --Not at presentanyhow. "

He looked over at us. We scrunched our eyes perfectly tight. 

"Asleep, " he said. He picked up our Book. He tucked it under his arm. Helooked at my Father and Mother. "It's quite time, " he said, "that youstarted a Bank Account for these children's college education. --It costsa great deal to send children to college nowadays. Carol will surelywant a lot of baseball bats. --And girls I know are forever needingbonnets!" He took two Big Gold Pieces from his pocket and put them downon the table where our Book had been. They looked very shining. 

My Father gave a little gasp. He jumped up! He started to argue!

My Mother hushed him with her hand. "S--sh----not to-night!" shewhispered. "Not to-night!"

She looked at the Old Doctor. She looked at our Book all hugged up tightunder his arm. Her eyes looked as though they were going to cry. But hermouth looked as though it was going to laugh. 

"Oh of course--if it's in the Cause of Science, " she said. "If it's inthe Cause of Science. "

THE LITTLE DOG WHO COULDN'T SLEEP

It was our Uncle Peter who sent us the little piece of paper. 

It was a piece of paper torn out of that part of a newspaper wherepeople tell what they want if they've got money enough to pay for it. 

This is what it said:

 "WANTED a little dog who can't sleep to be night companion for a little boy who can't sleep. Will pay fifty dollars. "

Our Uncle Peter sent it to my Father and told him to give it to us. 

"Your children know so many dogs, " he said. 

"Not--fifty dollars' worth, " said my Father. He said it with points inhis eyes. 

"Oh--I'm not so sure, " said my Mother. She said it with just a littlesmile in her voice. 

It was my Mother who gave us the big sheet of brown paper to make oursign. My brother Carol mixed the paint. I mixed the letters. It was anice sign. We nailed it on the barn where everybody who went by couldsee it. It said:

 "Carol and Ruthy. Dealers in Dogs who Can't Sleep. "

Nobody dealt with us. We were pretty discouraged. 

We asked the Grocer if he had a little dog who couldn't sleep. We askedthe Postman. We asked the Butcher. They hadn't. 

We asked the old whiskery man who came every Spring to buy old bottlesand papers. HE HAD!

He brought the dog on a dungeon chain. He said if we'd give him fiftycents for the dungeon chain we could have the dog for nothing. 

It seemed like a very good bargain. 

Our Father lent us the fifty cents. 

He was a nice dog. We named him Tiger Lily. His hair was red and smoothas Sunday all except his paws and ears. His paws and ears were sort ofrumpled. His eyes were gold and very sweet like keepsakes you must neverspend. He had a sad tail. He was a setter dog. He was meant to hunt. Buthe couldn't hunt because he was so shy. It was guns that he was so shyabout. 

Our Mother invited us to wash him. He washed very nicely. 

We wrote our triumph to our Uncle Peter and asked him to send us thefifty dollars. 

Our Uncle Peter came instead in an automobile and took Tiger Lily andCarol and me to the city. 

"Of course he isn't exactly a 'little dog, '" we admitted. "But at leasthe's a dog! And at least he 'can't sleep'!"

"Well--I wonder, " said our Uncle Peter. He seemed very pleased to wonderabout it. He twisted his head on one side and looked at Tiger Lily. "What do you mean, --'doesn't sleep'?" he said. 

Because my brother Carol is dumb and never talks I always have to do theexplaining. It was easy to explain about Tiger Lily. 

"Why when you're in bed and fast asleep, " I explained, "he comes andputs his nose in your neck! It feels wet! It's full of sighs and a coolbreeze! It makes you jump and want your Mother!--All the rest of thetime at night he's roaming! And prowling! And s'ploring!--Up the frontstairs and down the back--and up the front and down the back!--Everywindow he comes to he stops and listens! And listens!--His toe-nailshave never been cut!--It sounds lonely!"

"What does he seem to be listening for?" said our Uncle Peter. 

"Listening for gun-bangs, " I explained. 

"O--h, " said our Uncle Peter. 

The city was full of noises like gun-bangs. It made Tiger Lily verynervous. He tried to get under everything. It took us most all theafternoon to get him out. 

The little boy's name was Dicky. He wasn't at home. "Come again, " saidthe man at the door. We came again about eight o'clock at night. Itseemed as late as Christmas Eve and sort of lonely without our Parentsor any other presents. We had to climb a lot of stairs. It made TigerLily puff a little and look very glad. It made our Uncle Peter puff sometoo. It made the little boy's Mother puff a good deal. There wasn't anyFather. The Mother was all in black about it. Her clothes looked verysorrowful. But her face was just sort of surprised. She had white hands. She carried them all curved up like pond-lilies. She was pretty. Evenif you'd never seen her but once in a train window you'd always haveremembered. 

The little boy's room was very large and full of lights. There weretinkly glass things hanging everywhere. There was a music-box playing. There was a tin railroad train running round and round the room all byitself making a bangy noise. There was a wound-up bird in a toy cagecrying "Hi! Hi!" There was a crackling fire. Everything was tinkling orplaying or singing or banging or crackling. It sounded busy. You had totalk very loud to make any one hear you. 

The little boy sat on top of a table in a big bay window looking out atthe night. His knees were all cuddled up into the curve of his arms. Hehad on a little red wrapper and bare legs and fur slippers. He was lotslittler than us. He looked cunning. 

We stamped our feet on the rug. 

"Here's your dog!" I said. 

When the little boy saw Tiger Lilly he jumped right down from the tableand screamed. It was with joy that he screamed. He threw his arms rightaround Tiger Lily's neck and screamed all over again. Tiger Lily likedit very much. 

"What makes his paws so fluffy?" he screamed. "How soft his face is!He's got sweet eyes! He's got a sad tail! What's his name? Where did youget him? Is he for me? Do I have to pay money for him? What does he eat?Will he drink coffee?" Just as though he was mad about something hebegan suddenly to jump up and down and cry tears. "Why doesn't somebodyanswer me?" he screamed. "Why doesn't somebody tell me?"

He got so excited about it that he hit Carol on the nose and blooded himquite a good deal. 

The little boy's mother came running. 

"Oh hush--hush, Dicky!" she cried. "Don't be in such a hurry! The boywill tell you all about it in time! Give him time I say! Give himtime!"

"No he won't, " I explained. "My brother Carol never tells anything. Hecan't. "

"He's--dumb, " said our Uncle Peter. 

The Lady looked sort of queer. 

"Oh dear--Oh dear--Oh dear, " she said. "What a misfortune!"

Our Uncle Peter sort of sniffed his expression. 

"Misfortune?" he said. "I call it the greatest blessing in the world!"He glared at little Dicky. "Yes the greatest blessing in the world!" hesaid. "A child who doesn't babble or fuss!--Or SCREAM!"

The Lady looked more and more surprised. She turned to the little boy. 

"'Dumb, ' Dicky, " she said. "You understand? Doesn't speak?"

Dicky looked at his Mother. He looked at Carol. A little pucker came andblacked itself between his eyebrows. As though to toss the pucker awayhe tossed back his whole head and ran to Tiger Lily and threw his armsaround Tiger Lily's neck. 

"Doesn't----EVER?" he said. 

"Doesn't ever--what?" said our Uncle Peter. 

"Sleep?" said Dicky. 

"It was the boy we were talking about, " laughed his Mother. "Not thedoggie. " She tried to put her arms around him. 

He wiggled right out of them and ran back to Tiger Lily. 

"Is it his adenoids?" he cried. "Have you had his eyes tested? How doyou know but what it's his teeth?"

"Whose teeth?" frowned our Uncle Peter. 

"Tiger Lily's!" cried Dicky. 

His Mother made a sorry sound in her throat. 

"Poor Dicky, " she said. "He's had most everything done tohim!--Tonsils, --spine, --eyes, --ears, --teeth!--Why the last Doctor I sawwas almost positive that the Insomnia was due entirely to--" In the verymiddle of what it was due to she turned to our Uncle Peter. Her voicegot very private. Our Uncle Peter had to stoop his head to hear it. Hehad a proud head. It didn't stoop very easily. 

"He isn't my own little boy, " she whispered. 

As though his ears were magic the little boy looked up and grinned. Hiseyes looked naughty. 

"Nobody's own little boy, " he said. "Nobody's own little boy!" As thoughit was a song without any tune he began to sing it. "Nobody's--Nobody'sown little boy!"

The Lady tried to stop him. He struck at her with his feet. It made ahurt on her arm. He snatched Tiger Lily by the collar and started forthe door. 

"Going to find Cook and get a bone!" he said. He said it like a boast. He slammed the door behind him. It made a rude noise. He came runningback and looked a little sorry, but mostly bashful. He pointed at TigerLily. "What--What's HE afraid of?" he said. 

"Noises, " I explained. 

"Noises?" cried the little boy. He cried it with a sort of a hoot. Itsounded scornful. 

"Oh pshaw!" he said. "There isn't a noise in the world that I'm afraidof! Not thunder! Not guns! Not ANYTHING! Noises are my friends! In thenight I take torpedoes and crack 'em on the hearth just to hear themsputter! I've got three tin pans tied on a string! I've got a pop-gun!"

He ran back to the table to get the gun. It was a nice gun. It waspainted bright blue. It looked loud. 

When Tiger Lily saw it he dove under the bed. It was hard to get himout. The little boy looked very astonished. 

"It's gun-bangs--specially--that Tiger Lily is afraid of, " I explained. 

"Gun-bangs?" said the little boy. 

"That's why he can't ever hunt, " I explained. 

"Hunt?" said the little boy. "Not--ever you mean?" He looked at TigerLily. He looked at the blue pop-gun. "Not ever? Ever? Ever?" Way down inhis little fur slippers it was as though a little sigh started andshivered itself up-up-up--up till it reached his smile. It made hissmile sort of wobbly. "Oh all right!" he said and ran away as fast as hecould to hide the blue pop-gun in the bottom of the closet. A velocipedehe piled on top of it and two pillows and a Noah's Ark and a stuffedsquirrel. When the piling was all done he looked back at our UnclePeter. It was across one shoulder that he looked back. It made hislittle smile look twisty as well as wobbly. One of his eyebrows hadcrooked itself. "It's--It's SILENCES that I'm afraid of, " he said. 

He grabbed Tiger Lily by the collar again and started for the door. Asthough he was playing a Game he reached out one finger and taggedeverybody as he passed them. Everybody except Carol. When he started totag Carol he snatched back his finger and screamed instead. "He's aSilence!" he screamed. "He's a Silence!" Still holding tight to TigerLily's collar he ran for the stairs. 

Flop-Flop-Flop his little fur slippers thudded on the hard wood floor. Tick-Tick-Tick Lily's toe-nails clicked along beside him. It soundedcool. And slippery. 

His Mother wrung her hands. It seemed to be with despair that she wrungthem. 

"Yes that's just it, " she despaired. "It's 'Silences' that he's afraidof! That's what keeps him awake all night banging at things! That's whatworries him so!"

"But he gave up the noisy pop-gun, " said our Uncle Peter. "Gave it up ofhis own accord when he saw that it frightened the dog. "

"Why so he did!" said the Mother. She seemed very much surprised. "Whyso he did!--Why I don't know that I ever knew him to give up anythingbefore. He's been so delicate--and--and the only child andeverything--I'm afraid we've spoiled him. "

"U--m--m, " said our Uncle Peter. 

"And all the circumstances of the case are so bewildering, " despairedthe lady. 

Like white pond-lilies floating in a black gloom her sad hands curled inher lap. It seemed to be at our Uncle Peter that they curled. 

"Are they indeed?" said our Uncle Peter. It was the "circumstances" thathe meant. 

"Very bewildering, " said the Lady. Her cheeks got a little pink. Shejumped up and went to the door and listened a minute at the head of thestairs. When she came back to her chair she shut the door behind her. 

"As I told you, " she whispered, "the little boy isn't my own littleboy. "

"So I understood, " said our Uncle Peter. 

"His Mother died when he was born, " said the Lady. 

"Very sad indeed, " said our Uncle Peter. 

"Dicky is six years old, " said the Lady. "I married his Father a yearand a half ago. His Father was killed in an accident a year ago--"

"Oh dear--Oh dear, " said our Uncle Peter. 

The Lady began all over again as though it was a lesson. 

"Dicky is six years old, " she said. "I married his Father a year and ahalf ago. He was killed in an accident a year ago. It was all sosudden, --the marriage, --the accident, --everything--!" She began to cry alittle. It made her clothes look sorrowfuller and sorrowfuller and herface more and more surprised. Once again she curled up her whitepond-lily hands at our Uncle Peter. It was as though she thought thatour Uncle Peter could help her perhaps with some of her surprises. "I--I didn't know his Father very long, " she cried. "I never knew hisMother at all!----It's--It's pretty bewildering, " she said, "to be leftall alone--for life--with a perfectly, strange little boy--who isn't anyrelation at all!--All his funny little suits to worry about--and hismumps and his measles--and--and whether he ought to play marbles 'forkeeps'--and shall I send him to college or not? And suppose he turns outa burglar or something dreadful like that?--And how in the world am Igoing to tackle his first love affair? Or his choice of aprofession?--Merciful Heavens!--Perhaps he'll want to fly!"

"Why--you're just like a Hen, " said our Uncle Peter. 

The Lady didn't like to be called a Hen. 

It ruffled her all up. 

Our Uncle Peter had to talk about Base Ball to soothe her. 

The Lady didn't know anything about Base Ball but it seemed to sootheher considerably to hear about it. 

When our Uncle Peter was all through soothing her she looked up aspleasant as pleasant could be. 

"WHY?" she said. 

"Why--what?" said our Uncle Peter. He seemed a little perplexed. 

"Why--am I like a Hen?" said the Lady. 

"O--h, " said our Uncle Peter. He acted very much relieved. "O--h, " hesaid. "I was afraid it was something you were going to ask me about BaseBall. But a Hen----?" He looked with smiles at the Lady. "Oh but aHen--?--Why even a Hen, my dear Madam, " he smiled, "a real professionaltrue-enough hen doesn't take any too easily to the actual chick itselfuntil she's served a certain sit-tightly, go-lightly, egg-shell sort ofapprenticeship as it were to the IDEA. --Thrust a bunch of chicks underher before she's served this apprenticeship and----"

I jumped up and down and clapped my hands. I just couldn't help it. 

"Oh, I know what happens!" I cried. "She sits too heavy! And squashes'em perfectly flat!--There was a hen, " I cried. "Her name was Lizzie!She was a good hen! But childless! The Grocer gave us some day-oldchicks to put under her! But when we went out to the nest the nextmorning to see 'em--they couldn't have been flatter if they'd beenpressed in the Bible!--My Brother Carol cried, --I cried, --my Mother----"

"I don't care at all who cried, " said the Lady. It was true. She didn't. All she cared was to look at our Uncle Peter. The look was a stern look. 

"And are you trying to imply, Mr. --Mr. --?"

"Merredith, " said our Uncle Peter. "Percival Merredith. --'Uncle Peter'for short. "

"Mr. Merredith, " repeated the Lady coldly. "Are you trying to imply thatmy----step-son looks as though he had been pressed in a--a--Bible?"

I shook in my boots. Carol shook in his boots. You could hear us. 

Our Uncle Peter never shook a bit. He just twinkled. 

"Well--hardly, " he said. 

The Lady looked pretty surprised. When she wasn't looking surprised shelooked thoughtful. 

Her voice sounded little when she got it started again. 

"Maybe--Maybe I DO take my responsibilities too heavily, " she said. "Butit's this--this sleeping business that worries me so. "

"I should think it would, " said our Uncle Peter. 

"No Nurse Maid will stay with me, " said the Lady. "They say it givesthem the creeps. --It's enough to give anyone the creeps. --A grownperson of course expects a certain amount of wakefulness, but achild, --a little care-free--heedless child--? Just when you think you'vegot him safely to sleep--all cuddled up in your own bed or even in hisown bed--and are just drowsing off into the first real sleep you've hadfor a week--?--Patter--Patter--Patter in the hall! Creak--Creak--Creakon the stairs! A chair bumped over in the Library!--Bumped over onpurpose you understand! Just to make a noise! 'Noises are his friends, 'he says. Why once--once--" The Lady's mouth smiled a little. "Once whenI woke and missed him and hunted everywhere--I found him at last in thePantry--on the floor--with his ear cuddled close up to a mouse-hole!Mouse-Nibble Noises he says are his special friends in the middle of thenight when there isn't anything else. --ANYTHING to break the silence itseems to be!--Why in the world should he be afraid of a Silence? Nobodycan account for it!"

"Possibly not, " said our Uncle Peter. "Yet the fact remains that eitherwithin or just outside the borders of his consciousness the only twopeople responsible for his Being have disappeared unaccountably into aSilence----from which they have not returned. "

"Oh dear, " said the Lady. "I never thought of that! You mean--Youmean--that perhaps he thinks that a Silence is a Hole that you mightfall into if you don't fill it up with a Noise? Why the poor littlefellow!--How in the world is one ever to tell?--Oh dear--Oh dear----"She sank back in her chair and floated her hands in her lap. Her eyeslooked as though she was going to cry again. But she didn't cry. Thatis, not much. Mostly she just sighed. "It isn't as though he was an easychild to understand, " she sighed. "He catches cold so easily, and mumpsand everything. --And he's so irritable. --He kicks, --he bites, --hescratches!"

"So I have seen demonstrated, " said our Uncle Peter. 

"Oh, it's quite evident, " cried the Lady, "that you think I'm harsh withhim!--But whatever in the world would YOU do?" She threw out her handstoward the pretty room, --the rugs, --the pictures, --the fire, --the toys. "Perhaps you can tell me what he NEEDS?" she said. 

"A good spanking, " said our Uncle Peter. 

The Lady gave a little gasp. 

"Oh, not for punishment, " said our Uncle Peter. "But just forexercise. --It's the only exercise that a lot of pampered, sedentarychildren ever get!"

"P--Pampered?" gasped the Lady. "S--Sed--entary?" As though her head wasbursting with the noises all around the room she clapped her hands overher ears. 

Our Uncle Peter jumped up from his chair and began to chase the littletin railroad train. It looked funny to see so large a man running afterso small a train. When he caught it it was having a railroad accident inthe tunnel under the table where a book had fallen on the track. Like abeetle with no paint on its stomach he left it lying on its back withits little wheels kicking in the air. 

"If only all the racket was as easily disposed of!" said the Lady. 

"It IS!" said our Uncle Peter. 

Like turning off faucets of water he turned off the noises one byone, --the window-breeze that made the glass dangles tinkle, --the funnyjiggly spring that kept the toy bird screaming "Hi-Hi" in its wickercake, --the music box that tooted horns and beat drums right in themiddle of its best tunes! He looked like a giant stalking through theNoah's Ark animals! His foot was longer than the village store!

"If only I figured as largely in a less miniature world!" he said. 

He looked at the Lady very hard when he said it as though he was sayingsomething very important. 

The Lady didn't seem to consider it important at all. She looked at herskirts instead and smoothed them very tidily. 

"It's a--It's a pleasant day--isn't it?" said our Uncle Peter. 

"V--very, " said the Lady. Quite suddenly she looked up at him. Hercheeks were pink. She seemed to want to speak but didn't know quite how. She looked more surprised than ever. She bent forward very suddenly andstared and stared at him. 

"Why--Why you're the gentleman, " she said, "who was in the Fruit Storethe day I bought the Alligator pears and dropped my pocket-book downbehind the trash-barrel?"

"Also the day you bought the Red Mackintosh Apples, " said our UnclePeter. "The Grocer cheated you outrageously on them. --Also the day youwore the bunch of white violets and pricked your finger sobrutally, --also the day on the ferry when there was a slight collisionwith a tug-boat and I had the privilege of--of----. "

The Lady looked very haughty. 

"It was the day of the Alligator Pears--that I referred to, " she said. "The only day in my recollection!" Very positively she said it, --"theonly day in my recollection. " But all the time that she said it hercheeks got pinker and pinker. It was when she looked in the glass andsaw how mistaken her positiveness looked that her cheeks got so pink. Tap--Tap--Tap her foot stamped on the rug. "Did--Did you know who it wasgoing to be----when you brought the dog?" she said. "That is, --did youknow when you first saw the advertisement in the paper. " Her whiteforehead got all black and frowny. "How in the world did you know--myname?" she said. 

Our Uncle Peter made an expression on his face. It was theexpression that our Mother calls his "Third-Helping-of-Apple-PieExpression, "--bold and unashamed. 

"I asked the Grocer, " he said. 

"It was a--a great liberty, " said the Lady. 

"Was it?" said our Uncle Peter. He didn't seem as sorry as you'd haveexpected. 

The Lady looked at Carol. The Lady looked at me. 

"How many children have you?" she said. 

"None of my own, " said our Uncle Peter. "But three of my brotherPhilip's, --Carol and Ruthy as here observed, and Rosalee aet. Eighteenwho is at present in Cuba engaging herself to be married. "

"O--h, " said the Lady. 

"I am in short, " said our Uncle Peter, "that object of Romance and Pitypopularly known as a 'Bachelor Uncle. '"

"O--h, " said the Lady. She seemed more relieved than you'd havesupposed. 

"But in my own case, of course--" said our Uncle Peter. 

In the very midst of his own case he stopped right off short to look allaround the room again as though he was counting how heavy the toys wereand how heavy the money was that had bought the toys. All the twinklecame back to his eyes. 

"But in my own case, " he said, "I've always known ahead--of course--fora very long time--that I was going to have 'em. --Learned to sit lightlyon the idea, --re-balance my prejudices, --re-adjust my--"

"Have--what?" gasped the Lady. 

"Nephews and nieces, " said our Uncle Peter. 

"O--h, " said the Lady. 

"Had their names all selected I mean, " explained our Uncle Peter. "Theirvirtues, their vices, their avocations, all decided upon. ----Ruthy ofcourse might have done with less freckles, and Carol here doesn't quitecome up to specifications yet concerning muscle and brawn--and it wasnever my original intention of course that any young whipper-snapperniece of mine should engage herself to the first boy she fell in lovewith. --But taken all in all, --all in all I say--"

"I think, " frowned the Lady, "you are perfectly----absurd. "

The word "absurd" didn't seem to be at all the word she meant to say. She tried to bite it back but got it all mixed up with a little giggle. She bit the giggle instead. It twisted her mouth like a bitter taste. 

Our Uncle Peter looked very sympathetic. 

"You ought to get away somewhere on a journey, " he said. "There'snothing like it as a tonic for the mind. Even if it's a place you don'tlike very much it clarifies the vision so, --dissipates all one's minorworries. "

"--Minor worries?" said the Lady. 

"Travel! Yes that's the thing!" said our Uncle Peter quite positively. All in a minute he seemed to rustle with time tables and maps and smellof cinders and railroad tickets. "Now there's Bermuda for instance!" hesuggested. "Just a month of blue waters and white sand would put theroses back in your cheeks. --And Dicky--"

"Impossible, " said the Lady. 

"Or if Bermuda's too far, " insisted our Uncle Peter. "What aboutAtlantic City? Think how Dicky would enjoy romping on the boardwalk--while you followed more sedately of course in a luxurious wheelchair!--The most diverting place in the world!--Yes quite surely youmust go to Atlantic City!"

The Lady made a little gasp as though her Patience was bursted. 

"You don't seem to understand, " she said. "I tell you it's quiteimpossible!"

"W-H-Y?" said our Uncle Peter. He said it sharply like a Teacher. It HADto be answered. 

The Lady looked up. She looked down. She looked sideways. She wrung herhands in her lap. Her face got sort of white. 

"It isn't very kind of you, " she said, "to force me so to a confessionof poverty. "

"'Poverty'?" laughed our Uncle Peter. He looked around at thefurniture, --at the toys, --at the pictures. It was at most everythingthat he looked around. He seemed to be very cheerful about it. 

The Lady didn't like his cheerfulness. 

"Oh I've always had a little for myself, " she explained. "Enough for oneperson to live very simply on. But NOW----? With this strange little boyon my hands, --I--I intend to go to work!"

"Go to----work?" said our Uncle Peter. "WORK?" He said it with a sort ofa hoot. "Work? Work? Why, what in the world could YOU do?"

"I can crochet, " said the Lady proudly. "And embroider. I can mend. Ican play the piano. And really you know I can make the most beautifulpies. "

"Apple pies, " said our Uncle Peter. 

"Apple pies, " said the Lady. Like a handful of black tissue paper shecrumpled up suddenly in her chair. Her shoulders shook and shook. Thesound she made was like a sob going down and a laugh coming up. "I'm notcrying, " she said, "because it's so hard--but b--because the idea is sof--funny. "

"F--F--Funny?" said our Uncle Peter. "It's preposterous! It'sgro--tesque! It's--it's fantastic!"

He began to walk very fast from the book-case to the window and from thewindow back to the book-case again. It wasn't till he'd stubbed his toetwice on a toy Ferris Wheel that the twinkle came back to his eyes. 

"Carol!" he said. "Ruthy!--In consideration of the reduced circumstancesin which this very pleasant Lady finds herself don't you think that youcould afford to offer her a reduced price on the dog, --your originalprofit on the deal being as noted $49. 50?"

The Lady jumped to her feet. 

"Oh no--no--no!" she said. "Not for a moment! Fifty dollars is what Ioffered! And fifty dollars it shall be! All dogs I'm sure are worthfifty dollars. Especially if they don't sleep! Why all the other dogsthat people brought me did nothing except sleep! On my sofas! In mychairs! Under my tables! Night or day you couldn't drop even so much asa handkerchief on the floor that one or the other of them didn't campright down and go to sleep on it! Oh, no--no--no, " protested the Lady, "whatever my faults, a bargain is a bargain and----"

"Whatever your faults, my dear Madam, " said our Uncle Peter, "they areessentially feminine and therefore enchanting! It is only when ladiesape the faults of men that men resent the same!--Your extravagantindulgency--" he bowed towards the toys--"your absolute innocence ofall business guile--" he bowed towards Tiger Lily--"nerves strung soexquisitely that the slightest--the slightest--"

The Lady shivered her clothes like a black frost. 

"It was advice that I was looking for, not compliments, " she said. 

"Oh ho!" said Uncle Peter. "I'm infinitely more adept with advice than Iam with compliments!"

The Lady looked a little bit surprised. She frowned. 

"It's my little boy that I want advice about, " she said. "What IS thebest thing I can do for him?"

Our Uncle Peter looked at the ceiling. He looked at the rug. He lookedat the pictures on the wall. But it seemed to satisfy him most to lookat the Lady's face. 

"U--m--m, " he said. "U--m--mmmm. --That isn't an easy question to answerunless you're willing first to answer a question of mine. "

"Ask any question you want to, " said the Lady. 

"U--m--m, " said our Uncle Peter all over again. "U--m--m--Um--m--m--U--m--m. It takes a great deal of patience, " saidour Uncle Peter, "to bring up a little boy. --Unless every time he'snaughty you can say to yourself 'Well, even so--think what a good manhis Father grew to be!'----Or every time he's good you're fair enough toadmit that 'Even his naughty Father was once as nice as this!'"----Allthe twinkle went suddenly out of our Uncle Peter's eyes. It left themlooking narrow. He made a quick glance at Carol. He made a quick glanceat me. He seemed very pleased that we were so busy looking at a map ofBermuda. He stepped a little nearer to the Lady. His voice soundedfunny. "Were you--were you very fond of the little boy's Father?" hesaid. 

The Lady's face went blazing like a flame out of her black clothes. Itwas like a white flame that it went blazing. Her eyes looked screaming. 

"How dare you?" she said. "You have no business!--What if I was?--Whatif I wasn't?" All the scream in her eyes fell down her throat into awhisper. "Suppose--Suppose--I--WASN'T?" she whispered. 

"Then indeed I CAN give you advice, " said our Uncle Peter. 

The Lady reached out a hand to the book-case to make herself moresteady. 

"What--what is it?" she said. 

Our Uncle Peter looked funnier and funnier. It wasn't like Christmasthat he looked. Nor Fourth of July. Nor even like when we've got themumps or the measles. It was like Easter Sunday that he looked! Therewas no twinkle in it. Nor any smoke. Nor even paper dolls. But justSHININGNESS! His voice was all SHININGNESS too!--If it hadn't been younever could have heard it 'cause he made his words so little. 

"It's almost a year now, " he said, "since our eyes first met. --You'vetried your best to hide from me--but you couldn't do it. --Fate had otherideas in mind. --A chance encounter on the street, --that day on the ferryboat, --your funny little dog-advertisement in the paper?"

Quite suddenly our Uncle Peter straightened up like a soldier and spokeright out loud again. 

"About your little boy, " he said, "my advice about your little boy?--Itbeing indeed so well-nigh impossible, Madam, for a woman to bring up alittle boy very successfully unless--she did love his Father, --my adviceto you is that without the slightest unnecessary delay you proceed toget him a Father whom you COULD love!"

Whereupon, as people always say in books, our Uncle Peter turned uponhis heel and started for the door. 

The Lady swooned into her chair. 

Our Uncle Peter had to get a glass of water to un-swoon her. 

I ran for a fan. It bursted my garter. When our Uncle Peter tried tomend it he swore instead. 

The Lady came out of her swoon without an instant's hesitation. 

"Here at least, " she said, "is something that I know enough to do. "

Her mouth was full of scorn and pins. It was with pins that she knewenough to do it. 

Our Uncle Peter looked very humble. 

The Lady patted my knees. 

"Little girls are so much easier to manage than little boys, " she said. "I don't seem to understand little boys. "

"Nor big boys either!" said our Uncle Peter. He said it with gruffness. It sounded cross. 

"Perhaps I--don't want to understand them, " said the Lady. 

Our Uncle Peter's cheeks got sort of red. 

"Suit yourself, my dear Madam, " he said and started for the door. Hepicked up my hat and put it on Carol's head. --Carol's head looked prettyastonished. He took Carol's cap and put it on my head. He handed us ourcoats upside down. --All our pennies and treasures fell out on the floor. He snatched up the little boy's gloves by mistake and thrust them intohis own pockets. 

The Lady collected everything again and re-distributed them. She seemedto think it was funny. Not very funny but just a little. She looked atCarol sort of specially. 

"Oh my dear Child, " she said. "I hope you didn't mind because Dickycalled you a 'Silence'?"

Carol did mind. He minded very much. I could tell by the way he carriedhis ears. They looked very stately. Our Uncle Peter whirled round in thedoor-way. His ears looked pretty stately too. 

"All the men in our family, " he said, "aim to meet the exigencies oflife--sensibly. "

The Lady seemed to consider the fact quite a long time before she smiledagain. 

"Oh very well, " she said. "If the Uncle really is as sensible as thenephew perhaps he will consent to leave the children here with meto-night--instead of bearing them off to the confusion and generalmis-button-ness of hotels. "

Our Uncle Peter's face fairly burst into relief. 

"Oh, do you really mean that?" he cried. "It IS their infernal buttonsthat makes most of the worry!--And their prayers?--What IS thedifference anyway between a morning and an evening prayer?--And thisawful responsibility about cereals? And how in the world do you makesure about their necks?"

"Oh those are the things I know perfectly, " said the Lady. "All the nicegentle in-door things. "

Our Uncle Peter began to strut again. 

"Oh pshaw!" he said. "It's only the outdoor things that are reallyimportant, --how to climb mountains, how to stop a runaway horse, --how tosmother a grass fire!"

It put the Lady all in a flutter. 

"Oh pshaw!" said our Uncle Peter. "That's nothing!--The very firstinstant you hear the maddened hoofs on the pavement you place yourselfthus! And THUS!--And----"

The Lady tried to explain to him the difference between a morning and anevening prayer. "Now at night, of course, " she explained, "everything isso very lonely that--"

Our Uncle Peter didn't seem to care at all how lonely it was. 

"The instant you see the horses's blood-red nostrils, --JUMP!" cried ourUncle Peter. 

It sounded pretty muddled to me. 

"Personally, " insisted the Lady, "I consider a rather soft sponge bestfor the neck. "

"So that with your hands clutched like a vise on either side of themouth, " cried our Uncle Peter, "you can saw up and down with all theviolence at your command! Now in fighting a grass fire, it's craft, notmight, that you need. In that case of course--"

"Two hours if you're using a double boiler, " explained the Lady, "butmany people consider a rapider action more digestible, I suppose. "

"My dear Lady----let me finish my explanation!" said our Uncle Peter. 

"But I want to finish mine!" said the Lady. 

Our legs got pretty tired waiting for all the explanations to getun-mixed up again. 

It was nine o'clock before the Lady gave our Uncle Peter a cup of hotchocolate and turned him out doors. 

"Just like a dog, " said our Uncle Peter. We heard him say it across hisshoulder as he went down the steps. 

It made the Lady laugh a little. 

It was warm milk in two great blue bowls that she gave us. "Just likekittens, " we thought it was!

We heard the little boy's feet come thud-thud-thudding up the stairs. Weheard Tiger Lily's toe-nails click-click-click along behind him. 

The little boy looked very full of chicken and joyfulness. So did TigerLily. 

"Cook says I've got to romp him!" he said. "Every day!--Twice everyday!--More'n a hundred times some days! Out doors too! Not just inparks, --parks are good enough for cats, --but in real fields! Else he'llDIE!" Almost as though he was frightened he stooped down suddenly andlaid his little ear on Tiger Lily's soft breast. "He's alive now!" heboasted. "You can hear his heart nibbling!" He threw back his littlehead and laughed and laughed and clapped his hands. He took Tiger Lilyby the collar and led him over to the table by the window. He climbedup on the table and pulled Tiger Lily after him. 

Tiger Lily was frightened, but not too much. He felt proud. His earslooked fluffy. His back was shining silk. His tail hung down across theedge of the table like a plume. 

Far off in the city streets somewhere there was a noise that trolly carsmake when they're climbing up a hill and the switch is too hard forthem. It was a sour sound. 

Tiger Lily started to make a little quiver in his back. The little boythrew his arm around him. A mouse nibbled in the wall. Tiger Lily cockedhis head to listen but kissed the little boy's cheek instead. It was anice kiss. But wet. The little boy laughed right out loud. Way down onthe very tip end of Tiger Lily's plumey tail about two hairs wagged. When the little boy saw it his face went all shining. He threw both armsaround Tiger Lily's neck. "T--Tiger Lily's--little boy!" he said. "T--T--" Something funny happened to his mouth. It was a teeny-weenyyawn that didn't seem to know just what to do about it. Nothing in allthe world felt lonely any more. 

Except me. 

The Lady put me to bed. 

Carol put himself to bed all except the knots in his shoestrings. 

We went to sleep. 

Pretty soon it was morning. And we went home. 

Our Uncle Peter changed a lot of our dog-money into nickles so it wouldjingle. We sounded like cow-bells. It felt rich. Our Uncle Peter held usvery tight by the hands all the way. He said he was afraid we might stepinto something wet and sink. 

It had been Wednesday when we went away. It was only Thursday when wegot home. It seemed later than that. 

Our Mother was very glad to see us. So was our Father. 

The Tame Crow flew down out of the Maple Tree and sat on Carol's head. 

Our Tame Coon came out of the hole under the piazza and sniffed at ourheels. 

The posie bed in front of the house was blue with violets. The whiteSpirea bush foamed like a wave against the wood-shed window. 

In spite of our absence nothing seemed changed. 

We gave our Father a dollar of our money to buy some Tulips. We gave ourMother a dollar to spend any way she wanted to. We put the rest of it ina book. It was a Savings Bank Book that we put it into. 

"For your old age, " our Father said. 

Our Father's eyes had twinkles in them. 

"I hope you've thanked your Uncle Peter properly!" he said. 

"For what?" said our Uncle Peter. 

Our Father jingled the twenty nickles in his hand. "For all favors, " hesaid. 

Our Uncle Peter said he was perfectly repaid. He made a frown at myFather. 

When bed-time came I climbed up into my Mother's lap and told her allabout it, --the house, --the cocoa, --the toy Ferris Wheel, --the bluedaisies on the stair carpet, --the pigeon that lit on my window-sill inthe morning, --the splashy way Tiger Lily lapped his milk. 

"It will be interesting, " said my Mother, "to see what we hear fromTiger Lily as Time goes on. "

Time went on pretty quickly. Pansies happened and yellow poppies andducks and two kittens and August. 

It wasn't till almost Autumn that we ever heard from Tiger Lily or thelittle boy again. 

When the letter came it was from the little boy. But it was the Lady whowrote it. 

We thought her writing would be all black and sorrowful. But it wasviolet-colored instead, with all the ends of her letters quirked upwith surprise like her face, only prancier. 

 "My dear little friends, " wrote the Lady, "Dicky wishes me to tell you how much we enjoyed your delightful visit, and to say that Tiger Lily is a sweet dog. He thinks you are mistaken about Tiger Lily not hunting. Tiger Lily hunts very well he says, --'only different. ' It's mice, he wants me to tell you, that Tiger Lily is very fierce about. And bugs of any sort. All in-door hunting in fact. Certainly our wood-boxes and our fire-places have been kept absolutely free of mice this entire season. And Cook says that not a June Bug has survived. Truly it's very gratifying. Also Dicky wants me to tell you that there's a field. It's got a brook in it where you can sail boats and everything. It's most a mile. This is all for this time Dicky says. 

 "With affectionate regards, I am, etc. ----"

Our Mother looked up across the top of the letter. It was at my Fatherthat she looked. 

"Poor dear Lady, " she said. "I hope she's happier now. It's that Mrs. Harnon, you know. Her marriage was so unfortunate to that dreadfulHarnon man. "

"U--m--m, " said my Father. 

We read the letter over and over waiting for the next one and wonderingabout Tiger Lily. 

There wasn't any next one till most Thanksgiving. When it came at lastit was Dicky's letter just the same, but it was written in our UnclePeter's handwriting this time. It seemed funny. But perhaps the Lady'shand was lame and she advertised for help. --Our Uncle Peter reads allthe newspapers. 

The letter was awful short. And there weren't any quirks in it oranything. Just ink. This is what it said:

 "Mutts:

 Tiger Lily's got nine puppies. We're sleeping fine. 

 Dicky. "

Our Mother looked at our Father. Our Father looked at our Mother. Theyboth looked at the letter again. 

"My brother Peter's handwriting just as sure as you're born!" said myFather. 

"Of course it's Peter's writing, " said our Mother. Her cheeks were quitepink. "Well of all the unexpected romances--" she said. 

"Whose?" I said. 

"Tiger Lily's, " said my Father. He seemed to be in an awful hurry to sayit. 

I looked at my Mother. Her eyes were shining. 

"Is a--Is a 'Romance' a something that you make a story out of?" I said. 

"Yes it is, " said my Mother. 

I thought of my gold pencil. 

"Oh, all right, " I said, "when I get tall enough and more spelly I'llmake a little story about it. "

"You already have!" said my Mother.