•pT]"TrTJ«TJAND"p/^T T"Vr 
 
 II IN SUMMER II 
 
 t 
 
 aOSE"LUCIA 
 
 ^^^^^^^ 
 
CKrst 
 
 7 
 
 Malcolm Whyte Collection of 
 
 CHILDREN'S 
 LITERATURE 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
DATE DUE 
 
 HRlLr 
 
 aju^^qJ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CAYLORO 
 
 
 
 PRINTCDIN U.S.A. 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis bool< is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924005546209 
 
Co 
 
 C. M. G. 
 
 COMRADE THROUGH MANY LONG HAPPT 
 
 SUMMER DAYS IN THE COUNTRY 
 
 OF PETER AND POLLY 
 
p 
 
 M ' t j.m; v.n! 
 
 I 'I r i liTi 
 
PETER AND POLLY 
 IN SUMMER 
 
 BY 
 
 ROSE LUCIA 
 
 Formerly Principal of the Primary School 
 Montpelier, Vermont 
 
 Author of "Peter and Polly in Autumn," "Peter and Polly in 
 Whiter," and "Peter and Polly in Spring." 
 
 AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY '% 
 
 NEW YORK CINCINNATI^ (HK ACiO 
 
 BOSTON ATLANTA 
 
COPTEIOHT, 1912, BY 
 
 ROSE Ll'CIA. 
 
 E>'TEBEI» AT StaTI'-VKII-" HaLL, LOXDOS. 
 COPYKIGHT, PHILrPPlXE INLANDS. U^L'S. BY 
 
 AMEEICAX BOOK COMPANY. 
 
 PETEE AXD POLLY IX Sl'MiEEE, 
 
 E.P,2fi 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Our Little Friends . . 7 
 
 Their Home 10 
 
 Father's Store. Part I 13 
 
 Father's Store. Part II 16 
 
 Grandmother .... 18 
 
 In the Fields .... 21 
 How Never-still let the 
 
 Brooks run Away . . 24 
 
 Strawberry Time ... 29 
 
 Mr. Woodchuck ... 32 
 
 Wag-wag 35 
 
 Polly's Playhouse . . 38 
 
 On the Bridge .... 42 
 
 Down the Road ... 46 
 
 Salting the Sheep . . 49 
 
 The Flock of Sheep . . 52 
 The Pink Ice Cream 
 
 Party 56 
 
 On Horseback .... 59 
 
 John Gilpin 62 
 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Turtle's Eggs 
 
 
 66 
 
 Peter's Playmate . 
 
 
 70 
 
 Mr. Billy Goat 
 
 
 74 
 
 The Jersey Cows . 
 
 
 78 
 
 Flying Kites . . . 
 
 
 82 
 
 The Wind .... 
 
 
 86 
 
 Peter's Dream. Part I 
 
 89 
 
 Peter's Dream. Part 
 
 II 
 
 93 
 
 The Cyclone Cellar 
 
 
 98 
 
 Timothy and Redtop 
 
 
 104 
 
 Making Hay . . . 
 
 
 108 
 
 Polly's Turtle . . . 
 
 
 113 
 
 Blacky 
 
 
 118 
 
 The Four Kittens 
 
 
 122 
 
 The Cat's Visit to the 
 
 
 Monkeys .... 
 
 
 126 
 
 Pin-scissors . . . 
 
 ^ , 
 
 131 
 
 Peter's First Day 
 
 AT 
 
 
 School .... 
 
 . 
 
 135 
 
 Jack-o'-lanterns . 
 
 
 139 
 
PETER AND POLLY 
 IN SUMMER 
 
 OUR LITTLE FRIENDS 
 
 Peter is a small boy. He is now four 
 years old. Polly is his sister. She is three 
 years older than Peter. Can you tell how 
 old she is ? 
 
Peter has light hair and blue eyes. Polly 
 has red hair and blue eyes. Polly's hair 
 hauffs in curls. Peter's hair is cut too short 
 to make real curls. 
 
 Polly has freckles on her face. The smi 
 and the wind help to make them. Peter 
 calls them rust spots. 
 
 One day Peter said, " Polly, I can rub off 
 your rust spots." 
 
 Polly said, " I will let you try." 
 
 Peter took some wet sand. He rubbed 
 Polly's face with it. He rubbed so hard 
 that it hurt. 
 
 Then Polly washed her face. She hoped 
 that the freckles would be gone. But they 
 were still there. 
 
 Poor Polly's face was red and sore from 
 the hard rubbing. Mother said, " Sand is 
 good for real rust spots. But it is not good 
 for faces." 
 
 Polly has lost two teeth. Peter is not old 
 enough to lose his teeth. 
 
 His mother keeps them clean and white 
 for him. She brushes them with his little 
 toothbrush. 
 
 Polly has to brush her own teeth. She is 
 old enough to do so. 
 
Peter and Polly live in the country. 
 Every fine day in summer they can play in 
 the fields. Every day they can see birds 
 and butterflies. 
 
 They know about lambs and sheep and 
 cows. They know about playing in the 
 brook and finding wild flowers. 
 
 In winter the snow falls. The fields are 
 covered with snow. The hills are covered 
 with snow. It hides the brooks. Some- 
 times it hides the fences. 
 
 Peter and Polly like to play in the snow. 
 They like to slide downhill. They like to 
 roll snowballs and make snow men. 
 
THEIR HOME 
 
 Peter and Poll\' live in a white house. 
 It has green blinds. There, is a barn near 
 it Look on the map in the front of this 
 book, and you can find the place. 
 
 The house is on a hill. So Peter has a 
 hill all his OAvn to slide down. 
 
 There is a large yard aroimd the house, 
 Tn it are many tall elm trees. One elm tree 
 has two long ropes around a big branch. 
 
 These ropes hang down and are tied to- 
 10 
 
11 
 
 gether at the bottom. What do you think 
 they ai-e for ? 
 
 \V]iy, put a board hetweeu the ropes and 
 sit on the board. Then some one can swing 
 you. 
 
 The swing will take you way up into the 
 branches. But you must hang on. That 
 is the way Polly does. Peter cannot swing 
 so high yet. 
 
 Peter and Polly liave a friend. She is 
 grown up. They call her the Story Lady. 
 The Story Lady knows stories about every- 
 thing. She taught Polly to say this verse : 
 How do you like to go up in a swing, 
 
 Up in the air so blue 1 
 Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing 
 Ever a child can do ! 
 
 Wag-wag is Peter's dog. He likes to 
 run after the swing. Back and forth, back 
 and forth, he runs. 
 
 He barks, and jumps on his hind feet. 
 His little tail goes wag, wag. Perhaps he 
 is asking for a swing. 
 
 Sometimes he plays that he will catch 
 Polly's dress. But he never does. He 
 knows that might pull her out of the swing. 
 He likes Polly and he would not hurt her. 
 
12 
 
 So when Polly swings up and down she 
 sings, "Wag-wag, Wag- wag, can't catch 
 me." And the little dog runs back and forth. 
 
 He barks, "Bow-wow, bow-wow." Per- 
 
 
 haps he says, "I can, but I won't, 
 might hurt you." 
 
 It 
 
FATHER'S STORE 
 Part I 
 
 One morning Peter and Polly went to the 
 store. Their mother needed a yeast cake. 
 
 " Please give me two cents, mother," 
 said Polly. " I will pay for the yeast cake." 
 
 Her mother said, " You may have two 
 cents to put into your bank, Polly. But 
 father will give you the yeast cake." You 
 see, the store belonged to Polly's father. 
 
 " May we stay at the store with father 1 " 
 
 " Yes," said her mother. " You may 
 come home to dinner with him. Be sure to 
 look for a train when you get to the track." 
 
 The children walked down the hill. 
 They came to the railroad track. Here 
 they stopped to look for a train. 
 
 They looked up the track. They looked 
 down the track. But they saw no train. 
 So they went on. 
 
 " Perhaps father will let us play keeping 
 store," said Polly. 
 
 13 
 
u 
 
 " Perhaps father will," said Peter. 
 
 " I will buy from you first, Peter." 
 
 " Then I will buy from you, Polly," said 
 Peter. 
 
 Their father was selling sugar. He had 
 a bag on the scales. He was filling the 
 bag. 
 
 "Ten pounds," said the man who was 
 waiting. 
 
 "That will be sixty cents," said Polly's 
 father. " Sugar costs six cents a pound." 
 
 " Father," said Polly, " mother wants a 
 yeast cake. May we play store 1 " 
 
 " Is mother in a hurry for the yeast 
 cake ? " 
 
 " No, father," said Peter. 
 
 "Then you may play store," said his 
 father. 
 
 Peter went behind the counter. He was 
 so small that he could not look over. He 
 climbed upon a chair. " What will you 
 buy to-day *? " he asked. 
 
 " Good morning, Mr. Howe," said Polly. 
 " I will buy that paper of pins." 
 
 " What else can I do for you ( " 
 
 " I will buy those shoes. They will just 
 fit my little girl." 
 
15 
 
 rfp»«««T1a»K— !3_ 
 
 " Those are good shoes," said Peter. 
 "You will hke them. They rost fifty 
 dollars." 
 
 " Oh, Peter, shoes do 
 not cost so much as that." 
 
 " Those shoes do," said 
 Peter. " What 
 else Avill you 
 buy? I haye \ 
 very good things ' 
 to sell." 
 
 "1 will take 
 that cake of soa]> 
 for mother." 
 
 " That is good 
 soap. Tt costs fifty dollars," said the little 
 storekeeper. 
 
 " Oh, Peter," cried Polly, " soap does not 
 cost so much ! " 
 
 " This soap does," said Peter. " Every- 
 thing in this store costs fifty dollars." 
 
 "Even the pins ? " asked his sister. 
 
 "Yes, everything." 
 
 " That is not a good game, Peter. You 
 do not know how much things really cost. 
 Now let me be storekeeper. I will be Miss 
 Howe. You may buy of me." 
 
FATHER'S STORE 
 Part II 
 
 Polly went behind the counter. " Good 
 morning," said Peter. " Have you many 
 things to sell to-day 1 " 
 
 " Ever so many. What will you buy 
 this morning ? " 
 
 " First I will take a yeast cake for 
 mother." 
 
 " That is two cents, sir. Here it is. Now, 
 Peter, if you keep it in your hand, it will get 
 soft." 
 
 " I will put it on the counter," said Peter. 
 " Now I will buy a quart of eggs." 
 
 " You cannot buy a quart of eggs, Peter." 
 
 " Then I will buy a gallon of eggs." 
 
 " That is worse. Don't you know that we 
 sell eggs by the dozen 1 " 
 
 " Then I will not take any eggs. I will 
 take a quart of that candy." 
 
 " Oh, Peter," cried Polly, "you cannot buy 
 a quart of candy ! But you can buy a pound." 
 
 16 
 
17 
 
 " T do not want a pound, Polly. I want a 
 quart of something. Give me a quart of 
 those stockings." 
 
 Polly laughed very hard. Do you knoAv 
 why 1 Then she said, " If you want a 
 quart, Peter, buy some milk." 
 
 " Give me a quart of milk, then. But I 
 do wish I could buy a quart of candy." 
 
 Just then their father called to them. 
 " Come, chicks, will jow ride home with 
 father 1 Take the yeast cake, Polly. Now 
 jump in. It is dinner time." 
 
 " Father," said Polly, " when I grow up, 
 may I really keep store ? " 
 
 " If I keep store," said Peter, " I shall 
 sell a quart of everything." 
 
 Mr. Howe laughed. " When you go to 
 school, Peter, you will learn better than that." 
 
GRANDMOTHER 
 
 Peter and Polly have a grandmother. 
 She is Grandmother Howe. Their father 
 is her son. She calls him her " Big Boy." 
 Peter is her " Little Boy." 
 
 Grandmother lives near Peter and Polly. 
 If you will look at the map in the front of 
 this book, you can find the place. 
 
 The children love their grandmother very 
 much. She has pretty white hair. 
 
 She wears spectacles. She cannot see 
 well without them. Sometimes she calls 
 her spectacles her " eyes." 
 
 One day she lost her spectacles. She 
 looked for them upstairs. She looked for 
 them downstairs. 
 
 Polly was there. Polly said, " I will find 
 your eyes, grandmother." So she looked 
 and looked. At last she was tired. 
 
 She climbed into grandmother's lap. She 
 put up her hands to pat grandmother's 
 pretty white hair. Then she found the 
 spectacles. 
 
19 
 
 Grandmother had pushed them up to the 
 top of her liead. Her soft hair liid them. 
 
 Polly said, " You fumiy grandmother, to 
 hide your spectacles there. You had them 
 all the time." 
 
 Grandmother said, " I need your eyes 
 to help me find mine." 
 
 " I wish I had four eyes," said Polly. 
 
 Her grandmother gave her a pair of 
 spectacles. The glass was gone. She said, 
 " You may have them for your very own." 
 
 How pleased Polly was ! " I think I can 
 see better now that I have four eyes," she 
 told grandmother. 
 
20 
 
 " Can you see to wipe dishes 1 If you 
 can, you may stay to supper with mc." 
 
 " Oh, yes, grandmother, I can see to do 
 that." 
 
 " Then take this cup and ask your mother 
 for some cream. Be sure to wear your 
 spectacles. You might stub your toe if 
 you did not. Then what would become 
 of grandmother's cream ? " 
 
 Peter and Wag-wag were playing to- 
 gether. " What is in your cup 1 " asked 
 Peter. 
 
 " Nothing," said Polly. " I came for 
 cream. Grandmother wants a cupful. I 
 am going back to grandmother's for sup- , 
 per." 
 
 Peter took the cup. He ran ahead of 
 Polly. "Mother," he shouted, "grand- 
 mother wants a couple." 
 
 " A couple of what ? " asked mother. 
 
 "Why, a couple of cream," cried Peter, 
 " a couple of cream ! " 
 
 "Oh, mother," said Polly, "he means a 
 cupful of cream, not a couple of cream ! 
 He doesn't get his words just right, does 
 he mother 1 " 
 
IN THE FIELDS 
 
 Peter and Polly love to play in the fields. 
 They love to play among the wild flowers. 
 
 " I like the buttercups," said Peter. " I 
 like the daisies. I like them all better than 
 tame flowers." 
 
 His father said, " Farmers do not like 
 daisies." 
 
 " Why don't they ? " asked Peter. 
 
 "Because they spoil the hay. You can- 
 not make good hay out of daisies." 
 
 "When I am a farmer, I shall have a 
 whole field of daisies. Then I shall make 
 just daisy hay," said Peter. 
 
 "What will you do with it?" asked 
 
 father. " Your cows will not like it. Your 
 
 horses will not like it." 
 
 " I will teU them that they must eat it. 
 21 
 
22 
 
 I have to eat bread and milk. I do not like 
 that." 
 
 " But bread and milk is good for a little 
 boy. It will help him grow. 
 
 " Poor hay is not good for cows. You 
 must learn better than that, Peter. You 
 must be a good farmer." 
 
 But Peter still likes the daisies. He is 
 not a farmer yet. 
 
 In the daisy field is a little brook. It is 
 a good little brook. It always sings softly 
 to itself. 
 
 The Story Lady said, " It is telling lovely 
 stories. Sometimes it sings about the water 
 fairies. Their home is in its water. 
 
 " If one grows tired of staying at home, 
 she goes on a journey. 
 
 " One day a sunbeam says, ' Are you tired 
 of staying in the brook 1 Come with me 
 and I will take you far away.' 
 
 " So the water fairy goes with the sun- 
 beam. Up, up, up, he takes her. She begins 
 to feel lonely. Then she comes to a place 
 where there are many other water fairies, 
 
 "They all crowd together, Peter looks 
 up into the sky. He sees them. He calls 
 them a cloud. 
 
23 
 
 " The wind pushes them along. Some- 
 times they fly fast. Sometimes they fly 
 slowly. It is such fun to sail up there in the 
 sky. 
 
 " But they cannot stay always. At last 
 they wish to go home. Down they come 
 through the air. 
 
 " Peter thinks they are just raindrops. 
 Watch them hop up and down on the side- 
 walk and see." 
 
 This is what the Story Lady says the little 
 brook sometimes sings about. 
 
 " Story Lady," asked Polly, " does our 
 little brook like to run ? Does it get tired 1 " 
 
 "1 think it likes to run, Polly. It is not 
 hard work for the little brook. It always 
 runs downhill. I will tell you a story about 
 a fairy and the brook. It begins, ' Once 
 upon a time.' " 
 
 Now Polly knew something and Peter 
 knew something. It is this. If a story be- 
 gins, " Once upon a time," it is not a truly 
 true story. The Story Lady had told 
 them so. 
 
HOW NEVER-STILL LET THE BROOKS 
 RUN AWAY 
 
 Once upon a time there was a fairy. He 
 was very little, but he had two names. One 
 was Never-still and one Mischief. 
 
 The first name was given him when he 
 was born. The Wish Fairy gave it to 
 him. She always gave the new fairies their 
 names. 
 
 After she had named a fairy, he had to be 
 just like his name. So, if she called one 
 Never-still, then he could not be still. 
 
 But many people spoke of him as Mis- 
 chief. This was because he was nearly 
 always in mischief. I cannot begin to tell 
 you half the naughty things he did. 
 
 Once he sewed up the pockets in the bees' 
 legs. The poor bees could not gather pol- 
 len all that day. Then a kind fairy cut the 
 stitches. 
 
 Once he stole the lanterns of the fireflies. 
 That night the fireflies could not see their 
 
 24 
 
25 
 
 way about. Some got into the wrong 
 houses. Some did not get home until 
 morning. Then tlie kind fairies found 
 their lanterns for them. 
 
 Once Never-still played a trick on the 
 caterpillars. They have six real legs near 
 their heads. Never-still put these legs on 
 the end near their tails. When the cater- 
 pillars walked, they went the wrong way. 
 
 At first they thought it very funny. They 
 did not mind at all. But they got into so 
 many wrong places that they grew tired of 
 it. So some kind fairies put their legs back. 
 
 Once he spoiled the new house of the 
 wasps. He painted it red. He used the 
 juice of the bloodroot for paint. 
 
 The wasps were very angry. They like 
 their paper houses gray. Never-still was 
 punished for this trick. He was shut up 
 in that house for a whole day. Nothing 
 could have been worse. 
 
 It took a dozen fairies to undo Never-still's 
 mischief. But they were never cross about 
 it. Every one knew it was his name that 
 made him act so. 
 
 There was one thing that Never-still liked 
 best in all the world. He liked it better 
 
26 
 
 than being naughty. This was to see the 
 brooks run by. He could almost be still 
 while he looked at tha dancing water. 
 
 In those old days the brooks were not as 
 they are now. Only once a year did they 
 run. The rest of the time the fairies kept 
 them locked up in the ponds. 
 
 The fairies liked to see the ponds heaped 
 full of water. But once a year the bottoms 
 of the ponds had to be cleaned. 
 
 So, on that day the brooks were unlocked. 
 Then they ran down the hillsides. 
 
 Now Never-still was the only fairy who 
 liked to see the brooks run. Perhaps this 
 was because of his name. 
 
 The other fairies liked best the still ponds. 
 They hated cleaning days. Never-still 
 never helped to clean. He only ran beside 
 the happy brooks and sang and shouted. 
 
 One night Never-still danced by a pond. 
 At last he stopped for a drink of dew. 
 
 He heard a voice say, " Never-still, Never- 
 still, go and get the keys." 
 
 "What keys, and who are you*?" 
 
 " We are the brooks," said other voices. 
 " You like to see us run. Get the keys that 
 unlock us. We are tired of staying here." 
 
27 
 
 " I never thought of that," said he. " If 
 I unlock you, will you run for me 1 " 
 
 " Oh, yes, Never-still, yes," the voices 
 said. " We will run as long as you like." 
 
 Now Never-still knew well where the keys 
 were. He did not stop to think how naughty 
 it Avould be. He just ran to get them. 
 Then he ran back and unlocked the brooks. 
 
 Away they went ; and when Never-still 
 saw them, he was very, very happy. 
 
 All at once he heard a crowd of fairies 
 
28 
 
 coming. The Fairy Queen was with the 
 rest. He could see that they were angry. 
 
 The fairies had never before been angry 
 with him. He was frightened, for he saw 
 that he had been too naughty. Before he 
 thought, he threw the keys into a brook. 
 The brook caught them and hid them. 
 
 "Oh, Never-still! What have you 
 done 1 " cried the fairies. " Now our keys 
 are lost and our brooks are gone forever. 
 We can never lock them up any more." 
 
 Then the Fairy Queen said, " Never-still, 
 you must find those keys. You must go 
 and Hve in the brooks. You must hunt 
 until you find them. Then bring them back, 
 and we will lock up the brooks again." 
 
 Now Never-still couldn't be very sad 
 about tha,t. It was just what he longed for. 
 It pleased him to live in the brooks. So he 
 kissed the Queen's hand and jumped into 
 the water. 
 
 And there he must be to this day. He 
 has not found the keys ; for, when he does, 
 the brooks will be locked up again. 
 
 He is very happy. If you listen hard, 
 you can hear him laughing and singing to 
 himself as he floats along. 
 
STRAWBERRY TIME 
 
 It is wild strawberry time. Peter and 
 Polly are out picking strawberries. All the 
 children who live near are with them. 
 
 Peter has a little tin cup. Polly has a 
 little tin pail. 
 
 Once the bottom of Peter's cup was al- 
 most covered with strawberries. Then — 
 guess what ! He ate them all up. 
 
 Now he must begin again to fill his cup. 
 But there are so many things to see. He 
 cannot look for strawberries all the time. 
 
 The first strawberry that Polly found did 
 not go into her cup. It did not go into 
 her mouth. She threw it over her right 
 shoulder and said : 
 
 " Good luck, good luck, 
 I hope I'll fill my cup." 
 
 Now she is having good luck. Her little 
 
 pail is half full. Grandmother likes wild 
 
 29 
 
30 
 
 strawberries. Polly will try to get enough 
 for grandmother's supper. 
 
 It is hot on the hillside. The other chil- 
 dren are in the next field. It is very still. 
 
 " What is that, Polly 1 " whispered Peter. 
 
 " What is that, Peter 1 " whispered Polly. 
 
 That is a queer little animal. Pie is com- 
 ing out of a hole not so very far away. 
 
 Polly and Peter are quite still. Mr. 
 Woodchuck sits down by his hole. He 
 looks at the children. 
 
 Perhaps he says to himself, " I am not 
 afraid of you. If you stir, I shall run. You 
 cannot get into my hole. So you cannot 
 get me. 
 
SI 
 
 " If you watch here for me, I shall not 
 come back. But I shall not have to stay 
 in my house. I have another door. You 
 don't know where it is." 
 
 Polly and Peter do not frighten Mr. 
 Woodchuck. They wish to watch him. 
 All at once he hears Wag-wag bark. 
 Then down he pops into his hole. 
 
 Perhaps he thinks, " I like company. I 
 like nice, quiet company like Peter and 
 Polly. But I never did like dogs. So 
 good-by." 
 
 At supper father said, "Now tell me about 
 Mr. Woodchuck. How did he look 1 " 
 
 " He had fur," said Polly, "It was brown 
 or gray. I could not see which." 
 
 " He had long claws," said Peter. 
 
 " He had little ears and bright eyes and 
 a funny mouth," said Polly. 
 
 " He sat up on his hind legs," said Peter. 
 
 " I saw his tail, when he popped down his 
 hole," said Polly. 
 
 " Well done, chicks," said father. " Polly, 
 you don't need four eyes. Keep your two 
 open and see what they will do for you. 
 
 "Now let me tell you why your friend 
 Mr. Woodchuck is not liked by every one." 
 
MR. WOODCHUCK 
 
 " You thought Mr, Woodchuck was very 
 nice, didn't you? Some people do not 
 think so. 
 
 "Mr. Woodchuck does not mean to be 
 bad. But he makes much trouble for the 
 farmers. 
 
 " Mr. Woodchuck lives in the ground. 
 He digs his own home. He uses those 
 long claws for digging, Peter. 
 
 " He digs most with his fore feet. With 
 his hind feet he throws the dirt backward. 
 
 " You can find a pile of dirt near each of 
 his holes. Sometimes his tunnels are many- 
 feet long. How hard he must work ! 
 
 " The tunnels end in a room. This is 
 where Mr. and Mrs. Woodchuck keep the 
 four or five baby woodchucks. 
 
 " As soon as the babies are grown up, 
 32 
 
33 
 
 they also dig holes. Each one must have 
 a house for winter. Sometimes two live 
 together in the winter, but not often. 
 
 " Each house must have two doors. Just 
 think how many holes one family makes. 
 
 " No farmer likes his fields full of holes. 
 If he is plowing, his horse may step into 
 one. The horse may break its leg. 
 
 " If he is mowing, his machine may run 
 into a pile of dirt left by the woodchuck. 
 This hurts the knives on the machine. 
 
 " Then, too, woodchucks must have food 
 to eat. They like clover and beans and 
 peas best. 
 
 " They will eat much clover. They will 
 go a long way to find beans and peas. 
 Many times they spoil these crops. Do 
 you wonder that farmers do not like them 1 
 
 " Now, chicks, it is bedtime. Father will 
 tell you about the woodchucks' long nap. 
 Then you must run. 
 
 "In the fall, they eat and eat until they 
 are very fat. When the days begin to 
 grow cold, they begin to grow sleepy. 
 
 " By and by they creep into their warm 
 homes. They go to sleep and sleep and 
 sleep. 
 
34 
 
 " They never know abotit Jack Frost. 
 Thev never know about the snow above 
 tliem. 
 
 
 " They sleep all winter. You couldn't do 
 that. But run along now and sleep all 
 night." 
 
 **When Tarn a farmer," said Peter, "T 
 will have a field wliere woodcliucks can 
 dig. I will put all tlie woodcliucks into 
 that field." 
 
 " Do you think you can keep them 
 there]" asked father- " Wait and see." 
 
.i^'K 
 
 WAG-WAG 
 
 Peter's dog is called Wacr-waPr. This is 
 a funny name for him. He is such a happy 
 doo-. He rmis and plays all day with the 
 children. 
 
 He has a short tail. He tries hard to 
 wao" it. He tries so hard that he Avao-s his 
 whole body. That is why he is named 
 Wag-wag. 
 
 He likes Peter and Polly. They arc 
 always kind to him. They do not hurt 
 liiiii. He would not hurt them. He would 
 Hot liurt aiivthing. 
 
 Late one day, Farmer Brown went into 
 the store. He said to Mr. lio^\'e, " \ our 
 dog has been chasing my sheep. 
 
 "T saw him doing it this, afternoon. He 
 was with another dog. You must have 
 huu killed." 
 
36 
 
 " But Wag-wag would not do that," said 
 Mr. Howe. "He is a good dog." 
 
 " I saw him," repUed Farmer Brown. 
 '•'Perhaps he got into bad company. I 
 cannot have all my sheep spoiled. He 
 must be killed." 
 
 " But it may not have been our dog," said 
 Mr. Howe. " Perhaps he was at home." 
 
 He telephoned to Mrs. Howe. "No," 
 said Mrs. Howe, "Wag-wag has not been 
 here since early this morning." 
 
 Then Mr. Howe said to Farmer Brown, 
 "Mr. Brown, I will see about this. I do 
 not wish to kill Wag-wag. Perhaps I can 
 keep him tied." 
 
 " Do something," replied the farmer. " I 
 will shoot him if I catch him chasing my 
 sheep again." 
 
 Peter and Polly were in the store. They 
 had heard Farmer Brown. 
 
 " Oh, what shall we do ? " cried Polly. 
 
 " Oh, what shall we do It " cried Peter. 
 
 " First we will go home to supper, chicks. 
 Then we can tell mother. Jump in and 
 we'll drive along." 
 
 When they passed grandmother's house, 
 she called to them. " Children, did you 
 
87 
 
 know that Wag-wag is here/? He has 
 been here since early this morning. I think 
 he is sick." 
 
 ''' Has he left the house at all ? " asked her 
 
 son. 
 
 " Oh, no, he has been in the kitchen all 
 day." 
 
 "That settles it," said her Big Boy. 
 " Watr-wag: wasn't the dog. Farmer Brown 
 was mistaken. He must look once more." 
 
 And he and Peter and Pollv were all 
 
 glad together. 
 
POLLY'S PLAYHOUSE 
 
 Polly has a playhouse. Peter helped to I 
 
 build it. But Polly thought of it first. [ 
 
 So it is called " Polly's house." | 
 
 It is quite near the real house. It is in ( 
 
 the yard under a large elm tree. On the j 
 
 next tree is the swing. j 
 
 Polly's house has no roof. It has no i 
 
 really, truly walls. But that does not mat- !; 
 ter. It is a house just the same. The 
 children l)uilt it in one day. 
 
 First tliey cleaned up the yard. Peter j 
 
 took a rake. He raked up the dried grass, j. 
 
 Polly took a broom. She swept up the ,; 
 sticks. Then they brought small stones 
 from the road. They laid them in hues 
 
 like this: j! 
 
 » ^ a 
 
 ^ « e 
 
 ^ <a ^ O o C3> ^ Qi gb a s^ <s^ aw 
 
39 
 
 " That is my house," said Polly. " It hsf< 
 four rooms. It has a parlor, a bedroom, a 
 dining- room, and a kitchen." 
 
 "Where is the front door?- " asked Peter. 
 " I wish to ring- the bell." 
 
 " Oh, I forgot the doors. I Avill make 
 some now," said Polly. So she made tlie 
 doors as you see. 
 
 ® BEDROOM ** KITCHEN ** 
 
 g & ^ 
 
 © & 
 
 a Parlor pininq room & 
 
 ^^ .^ •& <a> (i^ iQ Q iB m> '^ Q w 
 
 Just then mother called to Polly and 
 Peter. " It is supper time, children. Come 
 and wash your ffices and hands. We must 
 be ready for father.'' 
 
 At supper Polly said, " I have a ncAv 
 house, father. I will show it to you. It is 
 almost as nice as yours. It has a parlor, a 
 bedroom, a dining room, and a kitchen." 
 
 " I must see your liouse to-morrow," said 
 father. " Did you build it all to-day 1 " 
 
 " Yes, father. Hut we didn't have any- 
 thing to put in it. There is no bed. Tliere 
 is no stove and no dishes." 
 
40 
 
 "We must see about those things to- 
 morrow," said mother. " No one can keep 
 house without a bed and a stove and some 
 dishes." 
 
 The next morning they all went to look 
 at the new house. You never could guess 
 what had happened. 
 
 The walls were out of place. The stones 
 were scattered about. 
 
 " Some one bad has been here and spoiled 
 our house," said Peter. " Do you know 
 who it was, father 1 " 
 
 Polly said nothing. She looked very, 
 very sorry. But she did not cry. 
 
 " It must have been the hens, or Wag- 
 wag," said Mr. Howe. " They did not 
 mean to be bad. Never mind, chicks. I'll 
 bring some bigger stones. Then your house 
 will last for a long time." 
 
 The house was built again. It was better 
 than before. Polly and Peter picked grass 
 on the lawn. This they put into the bed- 
 room. It was for the bed. 
 
 In the kitchen they made a stove. It was 
 just a flat stone laid across two other stones. 
 
 In the dining room they made a table. 
 This was a smooth white stone. Polly said, 
 
41 
 
 " We must find a white stone for that table." 
 Can you guess why ? 
 
 Mother gave them some dishes. She gave 
 them two little cups and two little plates. 
 
 ('"C-"; 
 
 ^ -'ijt^ 
 
 The children like to play in their house. 
 Nearly every day they find something new 
 for it. 
 
 Sometimes mother gives them a plate of 
 bread and butter. The bread is cut into 
 very small pieces. It has maple sugar 
 on it. 
 
 Then they play housekeeping. Mother 
 said, " One must have food really to keep 
 house. I should not like to try to keep 
 house without something to eat." 
 
 What do you think yoiu' mother would 
 say about it '? 
 
ON THE BRIDGE 
 
 Can you find the bridge on your map ? 
 The river is far below it. Steep banks lead 
 down to the water. 
 
 Peter and Polly do not often climb down 
 there. Mother and father do not like to 
 have them. 
 
 But they watch the river fi'om the bridge. 
 The water looks brown. That is because 
 the bottom is covered with brown stones. 
 
 Sometimes the Story Lady watches the 
 water with them. She taught them to say 
 this verse : 
 
 Dark brown is the river, 
 
 Golden is the sand, 
 It flows along forever, 
 
 With trees on either hand. 
 
 Polly said, " Perhaps tlie man who made 
 that knew about our little river. It sounds 
 just like it." 
 
 Sometimes the big boys fish from the 
 42 
 
brido-e. J*ullv and Peter cannot. It takes 
 such a long line to reach the water. But 
 they often watch the big boys. 
 
 The children like to look for things in 
 the Avater. Lean over the rail Avith them, 
 and see what you can find. 
 
 In the spring the river is high. The 
 melting snoAvs fill it. The spring rains 
 till it. It picks up logs and Ijranches and 
 boxes. It carries these along. 
 
 When the Avater groAvs lower, these catch 
 on the rocks. 
 
 Then, too, thoughtless people throw things 
 from the bridge into the riA^er. Tlie Htory 
 Lady says this is a pity. 
 
44 
 
 But Peter and Polly do not think this 
 spoils the river. They hke to see liow 
 many different thhi^s tliey can find deep 
 down in the water. 
 
 Once there was a cart wheel, once a part 
 of a wagon Sometimes they can see broken 
 dishes and bottles. 
 
 " I wish we had those dishes to put in our 
 playhouse," said Polly. 
 
 " I wish I kiiew what is in those 
 bottles," said Peter. 
 
 One day Polly counted three tin pails and 
 five tin cans. The sunbeams touched the 
 tin. This made it shine. 
 
 Peter Avas sure that there must be silver 
 
46 
 
 at the bottom of the river. Perhaps it be- 
 longed to the water fairies. 
 
 Tliat night he said to his father, " Will 
 you help me get the silver at the bottom of 
 the river 1 " 
 
 " I'm afraid there isn't any, Peter, But 
 sometimes people find pearls in the river. 
 A fine pearl is as good as silver. It can be 
 sold. 
 
 " When you are a big boy, you may hunt 
 for pearls. But first I must teach you to 
 swim. Then mother will not worry about 
 you." 
 
 " Did you ever find a pearl, father ] " 
 
 " Oh, yes, Polly. When I was a boy, I 
 hunted for pearls every summer. The 
 pearls in this river are found in clams. 
 
 " We boys used to dig many clams. 
 Once in a while Ave found a clam with a 
 pearl in it. Most of these were not very 
 good. But I found one good pearl. Mother 
 has it. She will show it to you." 
 
 " I shall always fish for clams now," said 
 Peter. " What shall I use for bait ? " 
 
 " You will not catch any clams," said 
 father. " So you might just as well fish for 
 fish." 
 
DOWN THE ROAD 
 
 There is a road wliicli runs past the store. 
 Follow it for five miles. It will take you 
 to a village. 
 
 Peter and Polly call it the " Large Vil- 
 lage." That is easier than its real name. 
 
 They call their home the " East Village." 
 
 It is a very little village. It has just 
 fourteen houses. Most of these are on one 
 street. This street is the road which runs 
 beside the river. 
 
 Just halfway between East Village and 
 Large Village lives Farmer Brown. Here 
 is a picture of his farmhouse. 
 
 •i« 
 
47 
 
 His barns are much larger than his house. 
 Can you think why ? 
 
 One noon father said, " Peter and Polly, 
 will you drive with me to-day ? I am going 
 to Large Village. 
 
 " You may come as far as Farmer Brown's. 
 He wishes to see you. He wishes to see 
 Wag-wag, too. He will show you his sheep." 
 
 It was fun to go with father. First Polly 
 was the driver. Then Peter was the driver. 
 Father always said, " Ladies before gentle- 
 men." 
 
 Mary is the bay horse. 
 She knows when the children 
 are driving. Then she goes 
 carefully. 
 
 Peter and Polly often feed 
 her sugar. Mary likes sugar. 
 She likes Peter and Polly, too. 
 She does not mind if they 
 drive her for just a little while. 
 
 By and by they caught up 
 with a big boy. He had bare 
 feet. His hair was wet. He 
 lived with Farmer Brown. 
 The children knew him well. 
 
 " Hello, John," said Mr. Howe. " Jump 
 
48 
 
 in and we will give you a ride home. You 
 have been to the .swimming hole, haven't 
 you ? " 
 
 " Yes, I have. But how did you know ? " 
 
 "I knew because your hair is so wet. 
 Have you had any dinner I " 
 
 " No, and I am glad to get a ride home. 
 I am very hungry. Guess what I have in 
 my hand, Polly." 
 
 "A frog," said Polly; "but I am not 
 afraid of frogs." 
 
 " A worm/' said Peter; "but I am not 
 afraid of worms." 
 
 "Wrong, Polly. Wrong, Peter. It's 
 an egg — not a bird's egg, either. It's a 
 turtle's egg. I found it in the sand by the 
 river. I left the rest there." 
 
 " Were they in a nest 1 Oh, take us to 
 see them," cried both children. 
 
 " Turtles don't build nests like birds," 
 said John. " I will take you to see the 
 eggs to-morrow, if your father will let me." 
 
 " You may take them, John. But youmust 
 keep them out of the water," said Mr. Howe. 
 "They are not big enough to go in swimming." 
 
 " All right, sir," said John, " they shall not 
 even go in wading." 
 
SALTING THE SHEEP 
 
 Soon they reached Farmer Brown's. 
 Peter and Polly and John jvimped out of 
 the wagon. 
 
 " Thank you for the ride, Mr. Howe," 
 said John. 
 
 " Good-by, father," said Peter and Polly. 
 " Don't forget us when you go home." 
 
 Farmer Brown came out of the house. 
 "Well, this is nice," he said. "We will 
 play together until your father comes back. 
 What shall we do first '? " 
 
 " See the sheep, please," said Polly. 
 
 Farmer Brown took a bag of coarse salt. 
 Then away they went. Polly and Peter 
 knew why he took the salt. Do you 
 know 1 
 
 Sheep like salt more than you like sugar. 
 It is good for them, too. 
 
 The sheep were in a pasture on a hill. 
 From the house one can see the pasture. 
 
 Farmer Brown gave a strange call. When 
 49 
 
50 
 
 the sheep heard this, they came to him. 
 Perhaps they thought that he had salt for 
 them. 
 
 Soon they had come from all parts of 
 the pasture. They crowded about Farmer 
 Brown. He spread salt on the ground in 
 many places. 
 
 The children watched the sheep hck it 
 up. Wag-wag watched them, too. He 
 sat very still. He did not run nor bark. 
 
 There were big sheep and httle lambs. 
 Some had long tails. Some had short tails. 
 
61 
 
 "Those must be Bo-Peep's sheep," said 
 Polly. "They've left their tails behind 
 them." 
 
 " jMaybe they are," replied Farmer Brown. 
 " I guess 1 don't know about Bo-Peep." 
 
 Some of the sheep had black faces. And 
 there Avere two black sheep in the flock. 
 
 Polly put her hand into the wool of one 
 sheep. It felt soft and warm. Next to the 
 skin it Avas very white. It was dirty on 
 the outside. 
 
 The wool was not very long. It had 
 been cut off in the spring. But it was 
 growing every day. 
 
 " How often do they have their hair 
 cut 1 " asked Peter. " I have mine cut 
 very often." 
 
 "Just once a year," Farmer Brown told 
 him. Then he said, " Wag-wag is a good 
 dog. He does not frighten the sheep. I 
 am glad he was not the dog that chased 
 them." 
 
 " AVhy does that hurt the sheep so 
 much 'I " asked Polly. 
 
 "Let's sit down here under this tree," 
 said Farmer Brown. " You look at the 
 sheep, and I will tell you about them." 
 
THE FLOCK OF SHEEP 
 
 " Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any 
 wool?" 
 " Yes, sir, yes, sir ; three bags full. 
 One for my master, one for his dame, 
 And one for the Httle boy who lives in 
 the lane. " 
 
 "Now," said Farmer Brown, "it is just 
 this way. We farmers keep sheep to get 
 wool. Or we keep them to sell for food. 
 
 "Sometimes bad dogs kill our sheep. 
 From these we cannot get wool or food. 
 Sometimes bad dogs chase our sheep, but 
 do not kill them. 
 
 " Suppose you were a sheep, and a bad dog 
 chased you. How should you feel, Polly ? " 
 
 " I should feel frightened," said Polly. 
 
 " Yes, and shouldn't you be frightened 
 all the time? You would wonder when 
 that dog was coming again. Every time 
 you heard a noise you would stop eating. 
 
 "You would look around for that bad 
 62 
 
58 
 
 dog. Even if you couldn't see him, you 
 would think he was surely near. 
 
 " After a while, you would be so afraid 
 that any noise would make you run. Do 
 you think that you could grow fat, if you 
 felt like that 1 Do you think that your 
 wool would grow nice and thick 1 " 
 
 " No," said Polly. "1 am sorry that 
 dogs chase sheep. And I am glad that 
 Wag-wag did not do it." 
 
 " So am I," said Farmer Brown. " In 
 the summer the sheep live in the pasture. 
 They eat the grass. Their wool grows and 
 grows. How do you keep warm out of 
 doors in winter 1 " 
 
 " We put on thick coats," said Polly. 
 
 "The sheep do the "same thing. Their 
 wool has grown so thick during the summer 
 that they have warm coats, too. 
 
 " These sheep that you see cannot stay 
 in the snowy fields in winter. What could 
 they find to eat there'? The grass is dry 
 and it is covered with snow. What could 
 they find to drink ? The water in the 
 brook freezes over. 
 
 " Then I keep my sheep in a part of my 
 barn. In the daytime they go into the 
 
64 
 
 barnyard. Some farmers keep sheep in 
 sheds made for them. 
 
 " Wc must give them hay to eat and 
 water to drink. If they fall sick, we must 
 care for them. 
 
 " In places where there is not much snow, 
 sheep can stay in the fields all winter. But 
 our sheep cannot. So it is hard work 
 caring for them. 
 
 "In the early spring the sheep are 
 sheared. That means A\'e cut oti" their 
 
65 
 
 wool. They do not need it any long'er to 
 keep them warm. Summer is coming 
 
 again. 
 
 " The wool that comes off a sheep we 
 call a fleece. AVe sell wool by the pound. 
 So we like the fleeces to be thick and 
 heavy, 
 
 " Men buy the wool from the farmers. 
 They send it to the mills. There it is made 
 into woolen cloth, 
 
 " The sheep are good friends of yours, 
 Peter." 
 
 " How do you know 1 " asked Peter, " I 
 never played with them before," 
 
 " Because they gave you the warm 
 mittens and stockings that you wore last 
 winter." 
 
 " Those were black," said Peter. " Were 
 they made from the black sheep 'I " 
 
 '' Maybe they were," said Farmer Brown. 
 " But don't you know that white can be 
 turned into any color 1 " 
 
 " Is it magic ? " asked Peter. 
 
 " There is no magic about it. Was it 
 magic to paint my house white and my 
 barns red? Ask your mother. She will 
 tell you." 
 
THE PINK ICE CREAM PARTY 
 
 Mr. Brown took Peter and Polly back to 
 the farm. On the way down the hill they 
 saw a snake. 
 
 "That is a good snake," said Farmer 
 Brown. "His name is garter snake. He 
 will not hurt any one. We must never try 
 to kill him." 
 
 " See how fast he can go along," said 
 Polly. " But he has no legs. He does not 
 go straight. He makes curves hke our 
 little brook." 
 
 At the farm Mr. Brown gave a call. Two 
 lambs came running around the house. 
 They came close to Mr. Brown and said, 
 " Baa, baa." 
 
 "These are our pets," said Mr. Brown. 
 " Their mothers died when they were little 
 babies. I brought them into the house. 
 
 " Mrs. Brown fed them with a bottle. 
 She fed them on warm milk. She took care 
 of them. So they like her very much. 
 
 56 
 
57 
 
 " They will follow her everywhere. They 
 will go up on the piazza. If the door is 
 open, they will walk into the house. 
 
 " At first it was funny. But now they 
 are quite big. They make us much trovible. 
 I must put them in the pasture with the 
 flock." 
 
 Just then Mrs. Brown came out. " Polly 
 and Peter," she said, " I have some pink ice 
 cream for you." 
 
 " Oh, goody, goody ! " cried Polly. 
 
 " Oh, goody, goody ! " cried Peter. 
 
 " We will have our party out here on 
 the steps. The lambs may come to the 
 party. Here are some animal crackers, 
 too." 
 
 She gave each child a dish full of pink 
 ice cream. 
 
 Polly took an animal cracker. It was a 
 dog. It tasted very good. Peter found a 
 lion. That tasted very good. 
 
 Then Polly found a sheep. She said, "I 
 shall not eat this. I do not like mutton." 
 
 " It will taste just like the others," said 
 Mrs. Brown. " It will not taste like mutton." 
 
 Now, of course, Polly knew this. She 
 was only playing. 
 
58 
 
 By and by Mr. Howe drove up. "Al- 
 most supper time," he called. " Jump in, 
 chicks." 
 
 " Thank you, Mrs. Brown. Thank you, 
 Mr. Brown," said Polly and Peter. " We 
 have had a good time." 
 
 " And so have we," said the farmer and 
 his wife. " You must come to play with us 
 again soon. You are better pets than the 
 lambs." 
 
 " I won't let John forget to take you to 
 see the turtle's eggs," said Mrs. Brown. 
 
ON HORSEBACK 
 
 The very next day John came. Peter 
 and Polly were out in the road watching 
 for him. He was not walking. He was 
 riding horseback. He had Farmer Brown's 
 old bay mare. 
 
 "Hello, Polly! Hello, Peter!" called 
 John. " I'm going to see the turtle's eggs. 
 Are you going with me 1 If you are, jump 
 on." 
 
 " Oh, John," said Polly, " may we ride on 
 your horse, too ? " 
 
 " You surely may. I asked your father 
 when I came past the store. I'll ride up 
 close to the fence. You climb up the fence 
 and get on. 
 
 " Polly, you sit behind and hold fast to 
 me. Peter, sit here in front of me. I will 
 hold fast to you. Now we are oflf." 
 
 And they were. Mother came out and 
 called, " Good-by." She knew that the 
 children were safe with John. 
 
 59 
 
60 
 
 They stopped at grandmother's house. 
 She must see them ridmg horseback. 
 
 In the bridge some children were playing. 
 Peter and Polly called to them. They 
 Avished eveiybody to look at them. 
 
 " Don't you wish you could ride horse- 
 back >. " said Polly. All the children stopped 
 playing to \\'atch them out of sight. 
 
61 
 
 John let his horse drink at the watering 
 trough. P0II7 said, " How much she drinks, 
 John ! I can feel her sides all swell up." 
 
 At the store, Mr. Howe came out. " Well, 
 John Gilpin," he said, '* are you off? " He 
 gave John some bananas. " I have heard 
 that hunters are always hungry." 
 
 " Are we hunters, father ? " asked Peter. 
 
 " Oh, yes, Peter. You are egg hunters 
 to-day. Hold on to John Gilpin, Polly. 
 And, John, look out for your horse, won't 
 you?" 
 
 " I will be careful," said the big boy. " I 
 won't play John Gilpin this time. You 
 may trust me, Mr. Howe. We will walk 
 the horse aU the way." 
 
 And off they went down the road. Soon 
 they came to a path. This path led to the 
 river. 
 
 " We will leave the horse here," said 
 John. So he tied the mare to the fence. 
 The sun was very hot. John was careful 
 to tie her where the trees would give her 
 shade. 
 
 She could nibble a little grass that was 
 near her. She would be quite happy until 
 the children came back. 
 
JOHN GILPIN 
 
 " John," said Polly, " is your name Gil- 
 pin ? I thought it was Brown." 
 
 " So it is, Polly. And Farmer Brown is 
 my uncle. That is why I live with him 
 every summer. 
 
 " In the winter I go back to the city. I 
 have to be in school then. I wish I could 
 stay here all winter."' 
 
 "It is nice," said Polly. " The snow is 
 deep. We have a school, too. But why 
 did father call you ' John Gilpin ' ? Doesn't 
 he know your name "? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, he knows it. But that is a 
 joke on me. When I first rode horseback, 
 I did not know much about horses. 
 
 " One day my horse wished to go home. 
 She thought that it was time, I did not 
 think so. But she turned around and 
 went just the same. I could not stop her. 
 
 "John Gilpin could not stop his horse, 
 either. He is a man in a poem. He lived 
 in London. That is a big city across the 
 
 62 
 
63 
 
 ocean. T "will tell you the story. You will 
 think it is funny. 
 
 " One day his wife and he planned to 
 take their children to the country. They 
 wished to have a dinner away from home. 
 
 " Their carriage was so full that John 
 Gilpin had to ride on horseback. He asked 
 a friend for a horse. 
 
 " He was late in getting started. He 
 kept a store and had to wait on some 
 customers. His wife and children went 
 along without hmi. 
 
 " When at last he did get started, his 
 horse began to go very fast. He could not 
 stop her any more than I could stop my horse. 
 
 " He did not ride his horse very well. 
 He bumped up and down on her back. He 
 lost his hat. He lost his wig. He must 
 have looked funny. 
 
 " His horse went right past the house 
 where his family was waiting for him. 
 They saw him riding by. 
 " ' Stop, stop, John Gilpin ! Here's the 
 house ' — 
 They all at once did cry, 
 ' The dinner waits, and we are tired ; ' 
 Said Gilpin — ' So am L' 
 
64 
 
 
 
 ^:^y<^'^'^ : 
 
 
 "But he could not stop his horse. She 
 galloped on until she came to her master's 
 home. 
 
 " Her master ran out to see what was the 
 matter. He wiped the dirt from Gilpin's 
 face. 
 
 "He gave John another hat and wig. 
 He asked John to stay to dinner. But 
 John said he must ride back. He must 
 have dinner with his wife and children. 
 
 " So turning to his horse he said, 
 ' I am in haste to dine, 
 'Twas for your pleasure you came here. 
 You shall go back for mine.' 
 
 " Just then a noise frightened that horse. 
 Off she started as before. Only this time 
 she galloped toward London. 
 
" Away went Gilpin, and away 
 Went Gilpin's hat and wig ; 
 He lost them sooner than at first, 
 For why ? They were too big. 
 
 " His wife saw him gallop past again. 
 She thought that he was crazy. She asked 
 a boy to ride after him. Some men saw the 
 boy chasing John Gilpin. 
 
 " They thought that Gilpin was a thief 
 running away. So they all chased him, too. 
 
 "The people up and down the road 
 watched the chase. They thought that 
 Gilpin was riding a race with these men. 
 
 " And so he did and won it, too. 
 For he got first to town, 
 Nor stopped, till where he had got up. 
 He did again get down." 
 
 "That is a good story," said Polly. 
 " He didn't get any dinner, did he ? Did 
 you lose your wig, John 1 " 
 
 "No, mine is sewed on too tight," said 
 John. " Maybe I didn't look quite so funny 
 as Gilpin. But your father thinks that I 
 looked funny enough. 
 
 " He always remembers it, and that is 
 why he calls me ' John Gilpin.' " 
 
•'r*» 
 
 THE TURTLE'S EGGS 
 
 " Now, Polly and Peter," said John, " let 
 us eat our bananas. Aren't you hungry ? 
 The sun is very hot. See how it shines on 
 the water. 
 
 " Here you are very near the turtle's eggs. 
 Can you see them'? I shall not tell you 
 where they are. 
 
 " You must hunt for them. We will play 
 ' hot ' or ' cold.' When you come near the 
 eggs, I'll call ' hot.' You are hot now. 
 
 " Oh, Polly ! You are getting colder and 
 colder. That means you are going away 
 from the eggs. 
 
 " Now you are getting warm ; now very 
 warm ; now hot. You'll burn your hand in 
 a minute. Yes, there they are under the 
 sand. You saw the end of that one sticking 
 out, didn't you I " 
 
 " What a lot of them, John," said Polly. 
 " How did they get there 'I " 
 
 " Why, the turtle scraped a hollow iu the 
 sand. Then she laid them there." 
 
 66 
 
67 
 
 " But who covered them up 1 " 
 
 " The turtle did. She cannot f^it upon 
 them hke a lien. She has a hard sliell, 
 you know. So slu' t-over.s tlieni with sand 
 and lets the Avarni sun do tlie rest." 
 
 " AAHiat will C'OUK', out of tl)osc' e_u'o;s ? " 
 asked ] V'ter. " Will tliey hateli littk- liirds ? " 
 
 " X<», indeed. Tliey will liateli turtles — 
 littlr l)its of tellows. Do you think that 
 those loolc like l)ird's eii-gs, Peter ?" 
 
 " Tliey are not tlie same shape," said 
 I'olh'. •' Thev arc alike at both ends. 
 
68 
 
 Hen's eggs are not. Bird's eggs are not." 
 
 "Good for you, Polly. You have two 
 bright eyes. Now drop the egg which you 
 have in your hand." 
 
 "I don't like to drop it, John. Won't 
 it break?" 
 
 "Try it and see. There! It did not 
 break. It just hopped up a little way. A 
 rubber ball will do that, but a hen's egg 
 will not. Of course, if you dropped a tur- 
 tle's egg too hard, it would break, just as a 
 hen's egg would." 
 
 " Will the mother come to see her baby 
 turtles when they hatch? Will she take 
 care of them ? " 
 
 " I think not," said John. " Her babies 
 will have to take care of themselves." 
 
 " She isn't so good as a hen mother," said 
 Polly. " I'd rather be a little chicken than 
 a little turtle. Then I'd have a mother." 
 
 " So should I," said John. " A mother 
 is a very good thing to have. Well, Peter, 
 what have you found ? " 
 
 " A shell," said Peter. 
 
 "So it is. It's a clamshell. Here is 
 another shell to go with it. Fit them to- 
 gether like this, Peter. 
 
69 
 
 " See ! They make a box. The upper 
 half is the lid. Once a clam lived in this 
 shell house. His shells were fastened to- 
 gether at the back. 
 
 "He could open and shut them in front 
 as he wished. But he could not come out 
 of his house. It Avas fastened to him." 
 
 " And a turtle's house is fastened to him, 
 too," said Polly. 
 
 "Where do clams live? " asked Peter. 
 
 " This kind lives at the bottom of the 
 river in the sand." 
 
 " j\Iy father has found pearls in clams. 
 He has found them in this very river," said 
 Polly. 
 
 " Let's take the clamshells home, Peter. 
 We will put them in our playhouse. We 
 will plaj that they are bathtubs." 
 
PETER'S PLAYMATE 
 
 Peter has a playmate. His name is Tim- 
 othy. But that name is too big for him. 
 So he is called Tim. 
 
 Tim lives on a farm. His father keeps 
 many cows. They are all Jersey cows. 
 
 Every morning these cows are milked. 
 Then in smnmer they are driven to the pas- 
 ture. Every evening they are driven back 
 to the barn and milked again. 
 
 All the milk is put into large tin cans. 
 Once a day it is taken to the station. It is 
 put on an early train. 
 
 It is carried many miles to a great city. 
 There it is sold to people who do not keep 
 cows. 
 
 > Tim likes these pretty Jersey cows. He 
 likes to look at them as they stand in the 
 barn. He likes to see them come from the 
 pasture. He wishes he had one for his 
 own. 
 
 His father said to him, "You are a little boy 
 now, Tim. What would you do with a cow 'l 
 
 70 
 
71 
 
 You could not oven milk ber. Wait until 
 }ou grow up. When you are big and can 
 help nie, I will give you some cows. But 
 now you must play with your dog." 
 
 A»v 
 
 ^4 
 
 
 So Tim has changed his dog Collie into 
 a cow. He tries to drive him up and down 
 the road. 
 
 " Hi, there, Jersey-cow ! " he shouts to him. 
 
 Collie does not act much like a coav. He 
 barivS and wags his tail. Did you ever hear 
 a real coav bark 1 Did you; ever see a real 
 cow wag her tail '? 
 
 Tim's Jersey-cow and AVag-wag are play- 
 mates. They play together when Tim and 
 Peter play together. 
 
72 
 
 They run up and down the road. They 
 roll over and over. They bark, " Bow-wow, 
 bow-wow." But they are never cross. 
 
 Peter throws sticks for them to chase. 
 They hke to do this. They find the sticks 
 and take them back to Peter. 
 
 One day Tim tried to throw sticks, too. 
 He could not make them go straight. He 
 had not learned how to throw. 
 
 He hit Jersey-cow with one. He hit 
 Wag-wag with one. They jumped up and 
 down and thought it was great fun. 
 
 So Tim threw again. This time the stick 
 went up into the air. It came down on 
 Tim's own head. Tim did not like this 
 very well. It made him cross. 
 
 So he picked up the stick once more. He 
 thought, " I will throw it hard. Then it 
 will go far away. I shall never see it again." 
 
 He threw it with all his might. He threw 
 it so hard that he sat right down in the 
 road. He did not like that very well. 
 
 But that was not all. The stick which he 
 threw hit Peter. It hurt Peter, too. It 
 made him very cross. 
 
 "Why did you do that, Tim?" asked 
 Peter, crossly. 
 
73 
 
 " I don't know," said Tim. " I was 
 throwing." 
 
 " You can't throw in my road any more," 
 said Peter. " You can't throw straight. You 
 must go home." 
 
 " I don't want to go home, Peter, Old 
 stick knocked me down, too. Let's fight 
 old stick." 
 
 " You go home, Tim. I will call Wag- 
 wag if you don't. He will bark at you." 
 
 So he whistled to Wag- wag. But Wag- 
 wag was busy playing with Jersey-cow. 
 He would not stop. He did not know that 
 Tim and Peter were cross. 
 
 Then Peter started to go into the house. 
 Tim called to him. 
 
 He said, " Peter, I will go home. But 
 you come, too. We Avill take my goat. 
 You may drive him." 
 
 " All right, Tim," said Peter. " Come on. 
 I am not cross. I don't care if you did hit 
 me. You are such a little boy it did not 
 hurt much. I will show you how to throw 
 straight." 
 
 Now Peter and Tim always liked to make 
 up. So off they went to Tim's house wry, 
 very happy. 
 
MR. BILLY GOAT 
 
 Tim's house is up the hill past Peter's 
 house. Tim and Peter went up the hill. 
 Jersey-cow and Wag- wag ran after them. 
 
 " Some one must harness old Billy Goat, 
 Tim," said Peter. " Then we can drive 
 him." 
 
 " One of the men will do it, Peter. My 
 father will let him." 
 
 The boys went into the barn. One of the 
 men who worked on the farm was there. 
 He was cleaning a harness. 
 
 " Hello, boys, do you want a job to-day ? " 
 he called. " I will let you clean this harness. 
 Or you may water the horses. Or you may 
 sweep the barn floor. Do you want to 
 help ? " 
 
 "No," said Peter. "We want you to 
 help us. Please harness Billy Goat so that 
 we can drive him." 
 
 " Harness Billy Goat 1 " said the man, 
 " Billy Goat is cross to-day." 
 
 " So were we cross, but we got over it. 
 14. 
 
75 
 
 Maybe Billy will get 
 over it, too. What 
 uiade Billy cross 'i " 
 
 " I guess it was 
 stomach ache," said 
 the man. " Last 
 night he found some 
 of Tim's stockings 
 hanging on the line. 
 Hethoughtthat they 
 looked good to eat. 
 So he chewed off all 
 the feet. He left the 
 legs." 
 
 " Then I shall have to go barefoot," said 
 Tim. " That will be fun." 
 
 " Well, I gl^ess he didn't eat all your 
 stockings up, Tim. I saw your mother 
 niending holes for you this morning." 
 
 Just then Billy walked into the barn. 
 The man caught him. He put on Billy's 
 harness. Then he hitched him to the 
 cart. 
 
 " Who goes first 1 " asked the man. 
 
 " I do," said Peter, getting into the cart. 
 
 Billy was cross. Perhaps his stomach 
 did ache. He did not wish to be driven. 
 
76 
 
 He stood still on the barn floor. He would 
 not move. 
 
 The man laughed. "Don't let him run 
 away, will you, Peter ? " he said. 
 
 But Peter did not think it was funny. 
 He wished for a ride. So the man took hold 
 of Billy. He pulled Billy out of the barn. 
 
 This made Billy still more cross. He put 
 down his head. He ran at the man. He 
 tried to butt him. 
 
 Peter pulled on the reins. He called, 
 "Whoa, Billy, whoa." But Billy would 
 not stop. He chased the man back into the 
 barn. 
 
 Then he felt better. He trotted up and 
 down the road a few times. Peter liked it 
 very much. 
 
 At last it was Tim's turn. He thought 
 he would drive Billy down to Peter's house. 
 
 But Billy had become cross again. He 
 would not go. He stood stiR a long, long 
 time. 
 
 Peter and Tim grew tired of waiting. At 
 last Billy started. He walked away from 
 the road. 
 
 He walked on the grass. He began to 
 eat it. He went close up to the house. He 
 
77 
 
 ate a few morning-glory vines. This was 
 naughty. 
 
 Then he stopped and looked around. He 
 was thinking what to do next. He saw the 
 piazza. He started up the steps. Tim fell 
 out of the cart. He bumped his head. 
 But it did not hurt him much. 
 
 He jumped up, and he and Peter pushed 
 naughty Billy oflf the piazza. Billy ran to 
 the barn. 
 
 Just then the cows began to come from 
 the pasture. So the boys ran to the bam, 
 too. They liked to watch the men milk. 
 
THE JERSEY COWS 
 
 The Jersey cows came into the barnyard. 
 They were pretty cows. Tim's dog CoUie 
 was driving them. 
 
 Collie knows just how to drive cows. He 
 can keep them together. He can make 
 them go fast. He can make them go slowly. 
 
 He can keep them all on one side of the 
 road. He can turn them when he wishes. 
 He can pick out one cow and leave her in 
 the pasture. 
 
 He can do these things more quickly than 
 a boy or a man. He is worth a great deal 
 to his master. 
 
 The Jersey cows walked into the cow 
 stable. This has many open windows. 
 These keep the air fresh. The stable itself 
 is kept very clean. 
 
 The cows are kept very clean. The men 
 who milk are very clean, too. Before they 
 begin, they put on clean overalls and coats 
 and fresh white caps. 
 
 They wash their hands. Everything 
 78 
 
79 
 
 must be clean. Then the milk will have 
 no dirt in it. It can be sold for more money 
 than dirty milk. 
 
 Peter and Tim like to 'watch the men 
 milk. They like to see the foam on the 
 tops of the pails. 
 
 One of the men said to Tim, " Run into 
 the house and get your tin cups. I will 
 give you some milk to drink." 
 
 Tim brought two bright cups. The man 
 filled them both. The boys liked the warm 
 milk very much. 
 
 After the milking was over, they saw the 
 men feed the calves. Some of these were 
 so young that they could not eat grass. 
 They must be fed on milk. 
 
80 
 
 At first they did not know how to drink 
 this from a pail. Then there was great fun 
 watching them learn. 
 
 The men pushed the calves' noses down 
 into the milk. By and by they began to 
 drink. Sometimes one blew the milk in 
 the pail all over the man who was feeding 
 her. 
 
 Then Peter and Tim looked at the cows. 
 They knew many of them by name. They 
 went down the long rows speaking to them. 
 
 They watched them chewing their cuds. 
 They watched them swallow the cuds. After 
 
81 
 
 a cud had been swallowed, another came up 
 into the cow's mouth. They watched the 
 cows' throats to see this. 
 
 Sometmies they touched the cool, wet 
 noses of the cows. The boys were not afraid 
 of them. Cows do not bite. They have no 
 upper front teeth. 
 
 They pull the grass partly with their lips. 
 Their back teeth are so flat that they can 
 chew their cuds nicely. 
 
 " This cow is the best of all, " said Tim. 
 " My father will not sell her. We keep all 
 her milk. My father says it will make me a 
 big boy." 
 
 " My cow is black and white," said Peter. 
 " She is not a Jersey cow. Once my father 
 put me on her back. She did not like it. 
 I am not afraid of her. She cannot hook 
 me. She has no horns." 
 
 " When I am a big man, I shall have more 
 cows than these," said Tim. 
 
 " Then I will sell you my daisy hay for 
 them," said Peter. 
 
 " What is daisy hay, Peter '? Is it good 
 for cows 1 " 
 
 " My father says it is not, Tim. Now Pm 
 going home to supper." 
 
FLYING KITES 
 
 One evening Peter and Polly had such 
 fun. They were flying kites. Their father 
 helped them make two kites. He drew 
 faces on them like this : 
 
 HAPPy 
 
 The children made the tails. These were 
 of colored paper. They called the kites 
 "Happy" and "Unhappy." Perhaps you can 
 guess why. 
 
 Peter and Polly are too httle to fly kites 
 alone. They have often tried to do so. 
 But the kites will not go up into the air. 
 Their father must help them. 
 
 So after supper Peter, Polly, and father set 
 off. They took Happy and Unhappy with 
 
 them. 
 
 82 
 
83 
 
 They went to a place in the road where 
 there were no trees. The ground was 
 smooth and good for running. It was a 
 windy evening — just the kind for flying 
 kites. 
 
 Father gave Happy to Polly. Then he 
 unwound a little of the string. Polly 
 tossed Happy into the air as high as she 
 could. 
 
 Just then father ran with the string. 
 This sent Happy still higher. The wind 
 caught him and away he sailed. 
 
 Peter held the string while father and 
 Polly put Unhappy up into the air, too. At 
 last both kites were high above their heads, 
 
 Peter jumped up and down and clapped 
 his hands. " Oh, see them, see them ! " he 
 cried. " I wish I were riding on one of 
 them." 
 
 " See them chase each other," said Polly. 
 " See them dip down and then fly up again. 
 They look like great white birds." 
 
 "But look at their long tails," said Peter. 
 " Birds don't have such long tails." 
 
 " How they pull on the strings, father. 
 They are trying to get away." 
 
 " That is the wind, Polly. Don't you feel 
 
84 
 
 it ? It is blowing your hair all about. The 
 kites are so light that it carries them along 
 with it. You are too heavy for this wind 
 to carry you up into the air. 
 
 '' Hear it whistle. How loud it sounds ! 
 You can hear it, and you can feel it. But 
 can you see it 1 " 
 
 "No," said Polly. "But I can see the 
 things it does. I know about the wind, 
 father. The Story Lady taught me a poem 
 about it. I will say it to you on the way 
 home." 
 
 " Do," said father. " Look at those birds 
 up in the air. They are swallows. Per- 
 haps they live in some chimney. See the 
 wind blow them. 
 
85 
 
 " They spread their wings and let it carry 
 them along. What fun it must be ! When 
 they wish to fly back against the wind, it is 
 not so easy. But they can do it. 
 
 " Now watch our kites. They cannot fly 
 against tlie wind." 
 
 " 1 wish I were a bird," said Peter. " I 
 would fly higher than our kites. I would 
 fly up to the moon. Do swallows go to the 
 moon 1 " 
 
 "No, Petei, it is too far away. They 
 don't go to the sun„ either. That is still 
 farther. 
 
 "Now, chicks, see the lovely sunset. 
 That is the way the sun says good night to 
 you. It is time to go home. 
 
 " Shall I let Happy sail right up to those 
 pretty pink clouds ] He will never come 
 back." 
 
 " Oh, father, if you do, Unhappy will look 
 crosser than ever. Let's keep them both." 
 
 So father pulled in the kites. But when 
 Unhappy was coming down, he caught on 
 some wires. 
 
 There he hung until the next morning. 
 Then father took him ofi" with a very long- 
 fishing pdle. 
 
THE WIND 
 
 On the way home father said, "Now, 
 Polly, what about the wind 1 " 
 Then Polly said these verses : 
 
 " I saw you toss the kites on high 
 And blow the birds about the sky ; 
 And all around I heard you pass, 
 Like ladies' skirts across the grass — 
 
 wind, a-blowing all day long ! 
 
 wind, that sings so loud a song ! 
 
 " I saw the different things you did. 
 But always you yourself you hid. 
 I felt you push, I heard you call, 
 I could not see yourself at all — 
 
 wind, a-blowing all day long ! 
 
 wind, that sings so loud a song ! 
 
 " you that are so strong and cold, 
 blower, are you young or old 1 
 Are you a beast of field and tree, 
 Or just a stronger child than me 1 
 wind, a-blowing all day long ! 
 wind, that sings so loud a song ! " 
 86 
 
87 
 
 " Those arc good verses," said father. 
 " But they don't tell you what the wmd is. 
 Do you know ? " 
 
 " 1 used to think it was a great giant 
 blowing with his mouth," said Polly. " I 
 used to think he blew off my hat just to 
 tease me. Now I think it can't be a giant. 
 Is it, father r' 
 
 "No, it isn't a real giant, Polly. It 
 is just moving air. Sometimes it moves 
 slowly. Then we say it is a breeze. Some- 
 times it moves fast. Then it is a strong 
 wind. 
 
 " A very strong wind goes many miles 
 an hour. It is as strong as your giant. It 
 can do much harm. 
 
 " Sometimes it bloAvs down grass and 
 grain so that they are hard to cut. Some- 
 times it blows down trees. 
 
 " Sometimes it is so strong that it blows 
 the roofs from the houses. It even takes 
 up a whole house and carries it away." 
 
 " What do the people in the house do ? " 
 asked Polly. 
 
 " They are often badly hurt," said father. 
 " Should you like to live where your house 
 might blow away ? " 
 
88 
 
 "No, I shoiild not, father. Why don't 
 those people tie their houses down ? " 
 
 " Many people who live in that part of 
 our country dig large holes in the ground. 
 When they see a hard storm coming, they 
 go into these holes. There they wait for 
 the storm to pass. 
 
 " It is better to hide in the holes than to 
 be blown away by the wind." 
 
 " Then, when they come out of their holes, 
 sometimes their houses are gone," said Polly. 
 " I should not like that." 
 
 " The wind is never so strong here," said 
 father. "We like it in the summer. It 
 flies our kites. It helps to dry om* hay. It 
 makes the air seem fresh and cool. 
 
 " We like it in the winter, too, even when 
 it blows the snow into drifts." 
 
 " I shall be glad when winter comes," said 
 Peter. " Then I can play in the drifts." 
 
 "Poor boy," said father, "what a long 
 time you must wait. Summer isn't half 
 over yet. Now you two run along to bed. 
 Perhaps you will dream of flying up to the 
 moon." 
 
 Note. The poem on page 86 is from R. L. Stevenson's A 
 Child't Garden of Verstt, by permission of Charles Soribner's Sons. 
 
PETER'S DREAM 
 
 Part I 
 
 Peter went to bed. It was not dark. 
 The bright moon shone in at the window. 
 Peter could see everything in his room. 
 
 All . at once he heard a noise. It was a 
 tap, tap on the window. Peter opened his 
 eyes. He saw that the room had grown 
 quite dark. Something was outside the 
 window. It was hiding the moon. 
 
 Tap, tap came the noise again. " What 
 is it 1 " called Peter. 
 
 " It is I, Peter. Come to the window." 
 
 Peter climbed out of bed and went to the 
 window. There he saw a bird. Not such 
 a bird as you have ever seen. Oh, no ! 
 
 This bird was so large that his head filled 
 the whole window. His eyes were the size 
 of saucers. His bill was more than a foot 
 long. 
 
 " Hello, Peter," said the Bird. 
 
 " Hello," said Peter. " Who are you 1 " 
 89 
 
90 
 
 "*1 am a Bird, Peter. I have come to 
 
 take you to the moon. Your father said 
 that birds cannot fly to the moon. He for- 
 got all about fairy birds. I am a Fairy Bird. 
 
 "You made a wish this evening. You 
 wished that you could fly up to the moon. 
 The Wish Fairy heard about it. She sent 
 me to take you there." 
 
 " Why did she 1 " asked Peter. " Shall I 
 always have my wishes 1 " 
 
 " If the Wish Fairy hears them, you will. 
 But she will not hear them unless the wind 
 carries them to her. And the wind will not 
 carry them unless it pleases him. But come 
 along. We can talk as we fly." 
 
 " Where shall I sit 1 " asked Peter. 
 
 " Sit on my back. There is a warm place 
 behind my neck. Climb up on the window 
 sill. Now, jump! There you are, safe. 
 Here we go." 
 
 And Peter felt the Bird's great wings 
 flapping. He felt himself moving. He saw 
 that he was flying up above his house, above 
 his trees ; and he knew that he was on his 
 way to the moon. 
 
 He leaned over and looked below him. 
 At first he could see the houses and their 
 
91 
 
 lights. He could see the river shining in 
 the moonlight. He looked above him. 
 Stars and clouds were everywhere. 
 
 " How do yon like it?" asked the Bird. 
 
 " I like it," said Peter. "Where have the 
 houses gone '? " 
 
 " They are still there, Peter. We are so 
 far away now that you cannot see them." 
 
 "Why does the wind blow so hard? Is 
 he carrying wishes to the Wish Fairy ? " 
 
 " Oh, no ! The wind is still. But I am 
 
92 
 
 flying very fast. You are moAdng, instead 
 of the air. If I stop, you will see there is no 
 ■wind." 
 
 " What is that music, Bird ? " 
 
 " That is the moonbeams singing. Listen 
 and you can hear the words." 
 
 The moonbeams were on their way to the 
 earth. They were singing this song over 
 and over again : 
 
 " Moonbeams we, gay and free. 
 All the night we make bright, 
 As we fly through the sky. 
 Moonbeams we, gay and free." 
 
 '' They always sing like that," said the 
 Bird. " They sing because they are happy. 
 They like to go to the earth. They like to 
 make it light." 
 
 " I never heard them when I was at 
 home," said Peter. 
 
 " You never can hear them unless you 
 are with a fairy. You hear them to-night 
 because you are on the back of a Fairy 
 Bird. 
 
 " You must shut your eyes now for five 
 minutes. When you open them, we shall 
 be in the taoon." 
 
PETER'S DREAM 
 Part II 
 
 When Peter opened his eyes, he looked 
 about him. Then he winked and blinked. 
 Such a place he had never seen before ! 
 
 The roads were made of brown sugar. 
 The trees were chocolate. Their leaves 
 were green candy. Their flowers and fruit 
 were green and red gumdrops. 
 
 The houses were made of blocks of candy. 
 Some were red, some were white, and some 
 were yellow. Peter thought it would be 
 fun to live in a candy house. 
 
 The fences were made of candy. Peter 
 saw two boys break off a piece of fence and 
 eat it. But, when he looked again, the 
 fence was as good as ever. 
 
 All at once he heard music. Many 
 people were coming up the street. He had 
 never before seen any of them. But he had 
 seen their pictures. So he was sure that he 
 knew them. 
 
 93 
 
94 
 
 First came a queen„ She was carrying a 
 plate of tarts. Peter, knew she must be the 
 Queen of Hearts. 
 
 She stopped and said, " How do you do, 
 Peter ? " 
 
 Peter tried to be very polite and said, 
 " How do you do, Queen 1 " 
 
 " It is a nice evening, Peter," went on the 
 Queen. " But don't you know that you must 
 take ofFyour cap when you speak to a queen 1 " 
 
 " Please excuse me," said Peter. " 1 
 didn't think I had any cap with me." 
 
 " You haven't," said the Queen. " But 
 you must take it off just the same." 
 
 Then she walked on. 
 
 "I'm sure I don't know what that means," 
 thought Peter. " I don't see how I can." 
 
 Just then, along came a boy. Under his 
 arm he carried a hen. He stopped by Peter 
 and said to the hen, " Lay." The hen laid 
 an egg of gold. 
 
 Then Peter knew that this was Jack, the 
 boy who climbed the beanstalk. 
 
 " You may have the egg, Peter," said 
 Jack. " For if you have it now, you won't 
 have it then." 
 
 " Thank you," said Peter, as the boy 
 
95 
 
 walked on. '• But I'm sure I don't know 
 what that means." 
 
 After this Peter saw Cinderella, Puss-in- 
 Boots, Mother Goose, and many others. 
 They all spoke to him kindly. Cinderella 
 
 let him try on her glass slipper. It fitted 
 very well. 
 
 She said, " It may fit here, Peter, but it 
 won't fit there." 
 
 And Peter said again, " Thank you, but 
 I'm sure I don't know what that means." 
 
 At last there were only two children left. 
 
9t) 
 
 One was a little girl with a red hood and 
 cloak. The other was a boy. He wore 
 blue clothes. He carried a horn. 
 
 " Hello, Peter," said Boy Blue. " How 
 do you like the moon 1 " 
 
 " I like it," said Peter. " But what are 
 you all doing here ? " 
 
 " We live here," said Little Red Riding 
 Hood. 
 
 " But I thought you were in books," said 
 Peter. " I never thought that you were 
 alive." 
 
 " Why, Peter ! Don't you know better 
 than that 1 " asked Little Red Riding Hood. 
 " Every one who is put into a book comes 
 alive. That is, the good people do. The 
 bad ones do not. Then we come to the 
 moon to live." 
 
 Just then the Bird's voice said, " Time to 
 go home now, Peter. Are you hungry? 
 Pick a piece of the bush beside you. You 
 may eat it." 
 
 Peter did as he was told. He found it 
 the sweetest candy that he had ever tasted. 
 All at once he began to grow sleepy. As 
 soon as he had climbed upon the Fairy Bird's 
 back he fell fast asleep. 
 
97 
 
 At last the Bird woke him. " We are 
 home, Peter," said he. " Get in at the win- 
 dow. Then climb into bed." 
 
 " Good-by," said Peter. " I have had 
 such a good time." 
 
 But the Fairy Bird did not answer. He 
 was gone. 
 
 Peter walked across the room. He tried 
 to climb into bed. He slipped and fell on 
 the floor with a bang. 
 
 Mother ran in. "Why, Peter!" she cried. 
 " You have tumbled out of bed again." 
 
 " No," said Peter. " I was just trying to 
 get into bed. I have been to the moon." 
 
 Then he told mother about it. She said, 
 " You have been dreaming." 
 
 " But see this piece of candy in my hand," 
 said Peter. " I got it from a bush in the 
 moon." 
 
 Mother looked at it. She thought that she 
 had seen it before. She thought that she 
 had given it to him. But, of course, she did 
 not say so. 
 
 Instead, she said, "Go to sleep now, Peter, 
 or you will be very tired after your ride to 
 the moon. To-morrow you can tell Polly 
 all about it." 
 
THE CYCLONE CELLAR 
 
 One day Polly said to Peter, " I know 
 what let's do. Let's dig a hole in the 
 ground. Then, when the wind blows hard, 
 we can get into it." 
 
 " Why 1 " asked Peter. " It won't blow 
 down our house. It doesn't blow so hard 
 here. Father said so." 
 
 " I know it, Peter. But you can never 
 tell. Maybe it will sometime. Let's dig 
 the hole, anyway." 
 
 "Where?" asked Peter. 
 
 " Oh, out in the garden. I'll show you. 
 Come on." 
 
 Peter took his little hoe and a trowel. 
 Polly took her small spade. They found a 
 fine place to dig and set to work. 
 
 Polly marked a circle on the ground. 
 This was for the opening of the hole. 
 
 Peter began to dig with his hoe. Polly 
 
 took the loose dirt away with her spade. 
 
 Soon they really had made quite a large 
 
 hole. 
 
 98 
 
09 
 
 Then Polly sat down on the edge and 
 worked with her trowel. 
 
 The next day they worked more, and the 
 next and the next. At last Peter and 
 Polly could get mto the hole together. 
 
 
 Father called it their " cyclone cellar." 
 He said, " Are you watching for that 
 storm % The kind that blows down houses 
 is called a cyclone. Don't let it catch you. 
 Jump right into your cyclone cellar when 
 it comes." 
 
100 
 
 " I wish a big wind would come, Polly," 
 said Peter. 
 
 '' Why, Peter Howe, should you like to 
 hnd your house blown away 1 " 
 
 "No," said Peter. "I did not think of 
 that. Let's play something else." 
 
 " I know what," said Polly. " Let's dig 
 this hole right down deep. If we dig far 
 enough, we can get to China." 
 
 " All right," said Peter. So they made 
 the hole still deeper. 
 
 One day Peter said, " Polly, we can 
 never get to China. Let's play something 
 else." 
 
 " I know what, Peter. Let's dig a tunnel. 
 If we dig far enough, we can get to Tim's 
 house. Maybe we can find some gold or 
 silver on the way. 
 
 " Sometimes people hide their money iu 
 the ground to keep it safe. Then they 
 forget where they have put it." 
 
 So the children again set to work. They 
 dug and dug and dug. Almost every fine 
 day thev spent a little time in their 
 hole. 
 
 Father made a covit far the top. This 
 kept out the water. 
 
101 
 
 He said, " You are worse than wood- 
 chucks, children. kSee the pile of dirt you 
 have made. What shall I do with it ? " 
 
 "We will put it in the road, father." 
 
 " No," said father. " That is good dirt. It 
 belongs in our garden. We will keep it here." 
 
 One day Peter said to Polly, " Are we 
 /almost up to Tim's house now? I don't 
 want to dig any more. We don't find any 
 gold or silver or anything. Let's play some- 
 thing else." 
 
 " Oh, Peter, we are not nearly up to Tim's 
 yet. We are not out of this corner of the 
 garden. Let me dig. I like to." 
 
102 
 
 Just then Peter's trowel struck something 
 hard. He scraped away the du't. It was 
 the corner of a box. 
 
 " Oh, Peter, Peter ! " cried Polly. " What 
 have you found 1 It's a box. Maybe it is 
 full of gold or silver. Hurry and dig it up." 
 
 At last the box was pulled out. It was 
 very small. It was made of tin. It was 
 not heavy. It would , not open. Some- 
 thing inside rattled. 
 
 " What's in it ? " said Peter. 
 
 Polly cried, " Oh, I know it's money ! I 
 know it is ! Let's find father. Pie will open 
 it for us." 
 
 Father was just coming up the hill with 
 Grandmother Howe. He heard the chil- 
 dren's story. He took the box and shook 
 it gently. 
 
 " Open it, open it ! " cried Polly, jumping 
 up and down. 
 
 So father opened it. And guess what! 
 Inside were four, very old, silver dollars. 
 
 " Oh, goody, goody ! " cried Polly. 
 
 " Oh, goody, goody ! " cried Peter. 
 
 "Well, I never!" said father. "Now 
 where do you suppose these old silver 
 dollars came from 1 " 
 
103 
 
 Grandmother said, " Years ago there was 
 a house where your garden is. My father 
 told me so. The house was burned long 
 before I was born. 
 
 " Perhaps the box was lost at that time. It 
 must have been thrown into the old cellar 
 with the dirt which was used to fill it." 
 
 "Well, Peter, well, Polly, then these 
 dollars are yours. They are very old. 
 They are not like the dollars we liave now. 
 I think, perhaps, they are worth more than 
 a dollar apiece. We shall see. Now let's 
 show them to mother." 
 
TIMOTHY AND REDTOP 
 
 Around Peter's home is a large field. It 
 belongs to Mr. Howe. It is his hayfield. 
 In the summer he has the grass cut. The 
 sun and the wind make the cut grass into hay. 
 
 The hay is carried into the bam. In the 
 winter Mary, the bay horse, and Black Bess, 
 the cow, live in the barn. 
 
 They must be fed. They cannot any 
 longer get grass for themselves. The hay 
 from Mr. Howe's field will help feed them. 
 Their grain he will buy at the grain store. 
 
 Peter and Polly like this hayfield. All 
 the year it is a pleasant place. Here they 
 slide on the crust in winter. Here they 
 pick blue violets in the spring. 
 
 In the summer the grass grows tall. 
 Then they cannot run about the field. If 
 they did, they would trample it. 
 
 So they sit on the fence and look at the 
 tall grass. They watch the wind bend it 
 down. They watch the birds fly into it. 
 They smell the sweet clover blossomg. 
 
 104 
 
lO.*^ 
 
 Bobolinks live in this field. Their nests 
 are built on the ground. Polly and Peter 
 think that they know where some of the 
 nests are. 
 
 So often they have seen the bobolinks 
 fly down into the grass. But, of course, 
 they can never go to look. 
 
 " The grass is the roof of their nests," 
 said Polly to Peter. , " So I hope the little 
 bobolinks will hatch soon." 
 
 Peter called to a bird, " Mr. Bobolink, 
 when father cuts the grass, where will your 
 roof be r' 
 
 But Mr. Bobolink did not stop to talk. 
 He flew away over Peter's head. As he 
 flew he sang, "Bobolink, bobolink, spink, 
 spank, spink." 
 
106 
 
 Perhaps he said, " My little ones are 
 growing fast. They will all learn to fly 
 before our roof is cut down. Don't you 
 worry about them, Peter." 
 
 In the hayfield are 
 two kinds of grasses. 
 There are also two kinds 
 of clover. All these to- 
 gether make very good 
 hay. 
 
 Peter and Polly know 
 the two grasses by name. 
 One is called timothy; 
 
 Timothy. 
 
 the other is called 
 redtop. 
 
 Now Polly has 
 red hair. Some- 
 times, to tease 
 her, the children 
 call her "Red- 
 top." 
 
 One day Polly's 
 
 Bedtop. 
 
107 
 
 father told lier about timothy and red- 
 top. 
 
 Polly said, " It teases me to be called 
 'Redtop.' I hope it does not tease the 
 grass. 
 
 " It is a pretty grass because its top is red. 
 When it is ripe it is as pretty as a flower. 
 I know I can remember its name. And I 
 can remember timothy, too. That is like 
 Tim's name." 
 
 " So it is," said father. " And, Polly, 
 your red hair is pretty, too. It is just as 
 pretty as the redtop grass. Do you think 
 that it isn't? 
 
 " The children only call you ' Redtop ' 
 for fun. They do not mean to be unkind. 
 I like jonr red hair. It is so bright and 
 shiny that you look like a sunbeam." 
 
 " Then I will be your sunbeam, father," 
 said Polly. 
 
 " That is right, Polly. It is good to have 
 one sunbeam that will always shine. When 
 it rains, you must shine brighter than ever. 
 Can you do this for father 1 " 
 
 " I think I can, father. I will try. And 
 now perhaps I shall be glad that I have red 
 hair." 
 
MAKING HAY 
 
 One evening Mr. Howe said, " We will 
 begin to cut onr grass to-morrow. I think 
 that we shall have a pleasant day." 
 
 " Oh, goody, goody ! " cried Polly. 
 
 " Oh, goody, goody ! " cried Petei-. 
 
 " The timothy is ripe. The redtop is 
 ripe. If the sun will shine and dry the 
 grass, we shall have some good hay." 
 
 " I will shine, father," said Polly. " I am 
 a sunbeam, you know. Maybe I can help 
 dry the grass." 
 
 " Then shine all you can. Little Sunbeam. 
 Perhaps the west wind will work with you 
 to dry it." 
 
 Early the next morning the mowing be- 
 gan. The mowing machine Avas pulled by 
 two horses. The man who owned the ma- 
 chine drove them. Mr. Howe hired him to 
 cut the grass. 
 
 The knives on the machine cut it close to 
 
 the ground. Up one side of the field went 
 
 108 
 
109 
 
 the machine. Down the other side it came. 
 Always it left behind a line of cut grass. 
 This lay on the ground and dried in the sun 
 and wind. 
 
 After it was partly dry, another machine 
 went up and down the field. This machine 
 tossed all the cut hay about. Then the 
 grass that had been underneath had a 
 chance to dry. 
 
 Peter and Polly watched the mowing. 
 They watched the piece of standing grass 
 grow smaller and smaller. They liked to 
 see the grass fall. They liked very much 
 the sweet smell of the drying hay. 
 
 " Mr. Bobolink's roof is almost gone," 
 said Peter. 
 
 " I don't believe he cares," said Polly. 
 "His children are quite large now." 
 
 In the afternoon Peter and Polly went 
 again to the field. The grass that was first 
 mowed Avas drying well. Now the other 
 machine was spreading it. 
 
 "Oh, see, Polly," said Peter. "It is 
 kicking up behind. It is tossing the grass 
 all about." 
 
 Polly asked a man who was working in 
 the field, " Will it be dry to-night l " 
 
no 
 
 " Some of it will. But we are going to 
 leave it all out to-night. To-morrow we 
 shall take it into the barn." 
 
 The next morning the sun shone bright. 
 
 "We shall have another good day," said 
 Mr. Howe. " The farmers who are haying 
 will be glad. Every pleasant day helps 
 them. Our hay will be in by supper time." 
 
 In the night the dew had fallen upon the 
 hay. The warm sun soon dried it. Then 
 still another machine was driven around the 
 field. This was the raking machine. It 
 raked the hay into long rows. 
 
 After this, men went about with pitch- 
 forks. They piled the rows of hay into 
 haycocks. 
 
 Then came a big hay wagon into the 
 field. The hay was all made, and it was 
 time to carry it to the barn. 
 
 Peter and Polly were playing among the 
 haycocks. They watched the men load. 
 One man stood on top of the wagon. Two 
 men stood on the ground. 
 
 They lifted the haycocks up on their 
 pitchforks. The man on the wagon took 
 the hay with his pitchfork. He spread it 
 over the wagon and packed it down nicely. 
 
Ill 
 
 " Oh, Peter," said Polly, " the load is get- 
 ting higher and higher. See, they are com- 
 ing to get our haycocks next." 
 
 When the cart was full enough, the horses 
 drew it to the barn. There the men un- 
 loaded the hay into the loft. At the same 
 time another wagon was being filled in the 
 field. 
 
 Late in the afternoon the last load was 
 
112 
 
 readj to go to the barn. Then one of the 
 men called to Peter and Polly. 
 
 " Come here, children. I will put you 
 on top of this load. You may ride on it to 
 the bam." 
 
 The children sank down in the soft hay. 
 The ride was not a long one, but they 
 thought it great fun. 
 
 At supper father said, " Well, chicks, 
 have we some good hay ? Is there enough 
 for Mary and Black Bess, too ? " 
 
 " We think so, father," said Peter. " And 
 we have had fun all day. I like to make 
 hay. When I am a man, I think I shan't 
 make daisy hay. I'd rather make good hay 
 like yours, father." 
 
POLLY'S TURTLE 
 
 One day the Story Lady said to Polly, 
 "Will you go to drive with niel Your 
 mother says that you may." 
 
 " Oh, will you take me, Story Lady 1 
 When shall we go 1 " 
 
 " Get your coat and come now. You 
 may help me harness my horse." 
 
 Polly ran into the house to get her coat. 
 " Good-by, mother," she said. " I am go- 
 ing now with the Story Lady." 
 
 " Wait a minute, Polly," said mother. " I 
 have a bag of cookies for you to take. You 
 will be gone all the afternoon." 
 
 Polly said, "Thank you," and ran off with 
 the cookies. 
 
 Soon she and the Story Lady started. 
 At the store they stopped. " Good-by, 
 father," called Polly. " I am going to 
 drive." 
 
 "Good-by, Polly. Tell me all about it 
 when you get home." 
 
 It was a lovely day. The sky was very 
 113 
 
114 
 
 blue. Great puffy white clouds sailed above 
 their heads. 
 
 " See the wind blow those clouds, Polly. 
 They are flying toward the east. That 
 means the wind is from the west. It is a 
 good hay day." 
 
 " My father is all through haying," said 
 Polly. "He has only one field. But 
 Farmer Brown is not through. He has a 
 big farm. Are we going past there 1 " 
 
 " No, we will go past the pond and up 
 the hiU." 
 
 " Oh, see tlie chipmunk, Story Lady! He 
 is running: along- beside us on the fence." 
 
 " There are two of them, Polly. Can 
 you see the other'? He is sitting on his 
 
 hind legs. He 
 has something; in 
 his fore paws. 
 Perhaps it is a 
 seed. 
 
 " See how his 
 cheeks are pufied 
 out. He looks 
 as if he had a 
 toothache. But 
 he hasn't. 
 
115 
 
 "He has stuffed his mouth full of some- 
 thing — perhaps more seeds. Poor chip- 
 munk has no pockets. He uses his mouth 
 instead." 
 
 "There is a 
 woodpecker," said 
 Polly. "I know 
 him. He is dig- 
 ging for food. He 
 digs with his bill. 
 Sometimes a little 
 woodpecker comes 
 to our trees. 1 
 have seen him. 
 He is black and 
 white." 
 
 They drove past 
 the pond. Men 
 
 were fishine: in it. One showed them a laro;e 
 pickerel that he had just caught. 
 
 There were white water lilies in the pond. 
 But one could not reach them from the shore. 
 
 They went up a long hill and througli 
 some lovely woods. Here they stopped at 
 a spring to drink. The spring was near the 
 side of the road. The water bubbled up 
 from the bottom. 
 
116 
 
 The Story Lady said, " Here is a little 
 paper cup for you to drink from, Polly. I 
 will drink from this one." 
 
 How good the cool, clear water was ! 
 
 " I am hungry now," said Polly. " Let's 
 eat our cookies." So they did, and then they 
 drove on. 
 
 All at once Polly said, " What is that in 
 the road 'i " 
 
 "Why, I do believe it's a turtle, Polly. 
 Do you want to take it home to Peter 1 Pll 
 get it if you do." 
 
 Polly said, " Yes." So the Story Lady got 
 out. She took the turtle up by its shell. It 
 was as large as a saucer. 
 
 " See him curl his legs under his shell, 
 Polly. See him hide his funny tail and his 
 
117 
 
 head. I'll put him on the bottom of the 
 
 waiTon on his buck. He will be safe there." 
 
 Now My. Turtle did not like to ride on 
 his back. After a time he stretched out his 
 long neck. He put his nose on the floor of 
 the wagon. He gave a push, and over he 
 went, right side up. 
 
 Then he began to walk about. Polly and 
 the Story Lady had forgotten him. So he 
 was free to do as he liked. He walked from 
 one end of the wagon to the other. 
 
 Near the front he found some strange 
 things in his way. These were the Story 
 Lady's shoes. 
 
 He thought he would climb over them. 
 So he pulled himself up on the shoes. Then 
 he put his claws into the stockings. But 
 the Story Lady felt that. 
 
 " What is biting me 1 " she cried. She 
 looked down. She found Mr. Turtle trying 
 to crawl across her feet. 
 
 "Well, old fellow," she said, "were you 
 lonely 1 Your claws are very sharp. Lie 
 over on your back until we get home." 
 
 After that they watched the turtle. He 
 did not have a chance to try that trick 
 again. 
 
BLACKY 
 
 Polly and Peter have many pets. Wag- 
 wag is one of them. Besides Wag-wag, 
 they have a cat. The cat is named 
 Blacky. 
 
 Mother gave Blacky to them. She was 
 then only a kitten. Mother said, "Chil- 
 dren, here is a pet for you. You may have 
 her for your very own. 
 
 " You must be good to her. You must 
 take care of her. I give you food three 
 times a day. You must feed her three 
 times a day. 
 
 " I always remember to do this for you. 
 You must always remember to do it for 
 her. If you have pets, you must be kind to 
 them. If you cannot be kind to them, you 
 cannot have them." 
 
 118 
 
119 
 
 So Polly and Peter took care of Blacky. 
 Now she is a big cat. 
 
 Wag-wag and Blacky are friends. At 
 first Blacky did not like Wag-wag. When 
 she saw him, her tail grew big. Her fur 
 stood out. She curled up her back. She 
 showed her claws. She spit at him. 
 
 Perhaps she had seen her mother act so. 
 But that was long ago. She was only a 
 baby cat then. 
 
 Soon she was used to Wag-wag. She 
 played with him. She chased him round 
 and round. She liked to hit him with her 
 paws. But she did not scratch him. She 
 kept her claws well hidden. 
 
 Wag-wag liked to tease Blacky. Some- 
 times he stole her food from her plate. He 
 would try to find her asleep. He liked to 
 creep near softly. Then he liked to bark in 
 her ear. He thought it fun to see her jump. 
 
 But the cat and the dog are really good 
 friends. They do not hurt each other. 
 
 One day Mr. Howe said, " Children, I 
 know something. I know where there are 
 four kittens. They are Blacky's kittens. 
 She has hidden them in the hay. Come, 
 and I will show them to you." 
 
120 
 
 " Oh, goody, goody ! " said Polly. 
 
 " Oh, goody, goody ! " said Peter. 
 
 They went to the barn. They climbed 
 the stairs to the hayloft. Mr. Howe took 
 them to a dark corner. 
 
 There lay Blacky. She was curled up in 
 
 the hay. Close beside her were four kit- 
 tens. They were fast asleep. 
 
 Blacky saw the children. She began to 
 purr. That waked her babies. They 
 moved about and mewed. They were 
 hungry. 
 
 Polly and Peter had never seen such 
 little kittens. They were very much pleased. 
 
121 
 
 " See their funny pointed tails, father," 
 said Polly. " Why can't they stand np 
 on their legs I And oh, they are all 
 blind ! " 
 
 " They will not be blind by and by, 
 Polly. They will open their eyes in a few 
 days. The light is not good for them yet. 
 You see Blacky knows that. She has made 
 her home in a dark corner." 
 
 " May we take the kittens to the house, 
 father? " 
 
 " In a few weeks you may. But we will 
 leave them in the hay now. You may 
 come here and see them. Blacky will not 
 mind. She knows that you will not hurt 
 them." 
 
 " May we play with them ? " 
 
 " You may when they are older. It is not 
 good for them to be handled yet. They 
 are too little. But you must be sure to give 
 Blacky all the food she will eat. For now 
 she has her kittens to feed." 
 
 " Let us name them," said Polly. 
 " There is just one apiece to name." 
 
 "We will at supper time. You may 
 be thinking of names mitil then," said 
 father. 
 

 THE FOUR KITTENS 
 
 At supper Polly said, " Now let us name 
 the kittens. You name first, mother." 
 
 " I choose a gray one," said mother. " I 
 will call her White-foot. She has just one 
 white foot." 
 
 " Now, Peter, name yours," said Polly. 
 
 " I choose the black one," said Peter. " 1 
 will call her Black Baby. She looks just 
 like Blacky." 
 
 " Now, father, it is your turn." 
 
 " Well, Polly, I will take the other gray 
 one. His name shall be Gray Brother." 
 
 " Then the black and white one is mine," 
 said Polly. " But I cannot think of a name 
 yet. I could have named all the others. I 
 shall like him best." 
 
 The kittens grew and grew. Soon they 
 were blind no longer. Their eyes had 
 opened. Polly and Peter went to see them 
 every day. 
 
 The children had always liked to go to the 
 hayloft. Now they liked it more than ever. 
 
 122 
 
I2;j 
 
 They liked to sit in the soft hay. They 
 would sit very still and wateh the kittens. 
 
 The kittens tried to play. Their legs 
 were not strong. They often tumbled down 
 when they Avere playing. 
 
 They had made a deep house for them- 
 selves. It was just a hole in the hay. 
 Polly could not reach to the end. 
 
 "Father," said Polly one day, "when 
 mar we bring the kittens down 1 " 
 
124 
 
 " Let them come down themselves. Then 
 we shall know that Blacky thinks it is time. 
 Perhaps the brightest will find the way 
 first." 
 
 " Oh, I hope it will be my black and 
 white one," said Polly. " Then I shall know 
 what to name him." 
 
 One day Polly and Peter went to the 
 barn. Thev started toward the stairs to the 
 hayloft. What do you think they saw 1 
 
 There, at the bottom of the stairs, was the 
 black and white kitten. He was mewing as 
 hard as he could. 
 
 At the top of the stairs were the other 
 three kittens. They did not dare to come 
 down. They were peeping over at the black 
 and white one. 
 
 He was trying to climb up the stairs. 
 He was so small that he could not. He 
 could get down, but he could not get back. 
 He could only open his red mouth and say, 
 " Meow, meow." 
 
 "Oh, kitty," cried Polly, "you are the 
 brightest of all ! You are the first to find 
 the way down. Now I know what to name 
 you. 
 
 "You shall be Christopher, after Chris- 
 
125 
 
 topher Columbus. For he first found the 
 way to a new land." Then she carried 
 Christopher upstairs. 
 
 Soon after this, all the kittens came down- 
 stairs. Blacky was with them. She made 
 them a new home. It was in a box. 
 
 Then mother said, " Now the kittens must 
 learn to lap milk." 
 
 She brought a dish of warm milk. Then . 
 she tried to teach them to lap. 
 
 Christopher learned very quickly. White- 
 foot would not learn. She just walked right 
 into the dish. 
 
 Then she sat down and licked her feet. 
 The milk on them tasted good. So she 
 went back to try it again. 
 
 Black Baby was there. She had one 
 foot in the dish. She was lapping quite 
 fast. But she kept putting her nose into 
 the milk. This made her sneeze. 
 
 Just then Blacky came. She began to 
 purr. All the kittens ran to her. She sat 
 down and licked their wet paws. She 
 cleaned them all over with her tongue. 
 
 Perhaps slie told them not to walk in 
 their food. For by and by they all learned 
 to lap milk very nicely. 
 
THE CAT'S VISIT TO THE MONKEYS 
 
 One day Polly showed the Story Lady 
 the kittens. They were eating their supper. 
 
 Blacky was watching. Polly patted her, 
 and Blacky curled her tail and purred. 
 
 " See her tail," said Polly. " She curls it 
 at the end. It looks like a buttonhook. She 
 often does it. I wonder why." 
 
 " I can tell you a * Once upon a time ' 
 story about it, Polly. Shall I ? " 
 
 " Oh, please do. Story Lady." 
 
 So the Story Lady began : " Once upon 
 a time there was a Cat. She was a 
 very hard working Cat. She caught all 
 the mice in her house. She caught all 
 the mice in her barn. She did this at 
 night. 
 
 " In the daytime she sat in the yard. She 
 watched the chickens. She did not let the 
 
 126 
 
bad birds get them. ISo yo"u can see that 
 she worked night and day. 
 
 " Since she was a little kitten, she had 
 never played with her tail. She had never 
 stolen cream. She had never taken things 
 from the table. She had not had time for 
 any of these nice games. She had done 
 nothing but work. 
 
 " One dav she said to herself, ' I am so 
 
128 
 
 tired of working night and day. T must 
 take a vacation, I shall soon be old. I will 
 go and enjoy myself while I am young. 
 
 " ' Where shall I go ? Let me see. I 
 must think of a place where no one works. 
 I wish to play, play, play for a long time.' 
 
 " At last she thought of her tenth cousins, 
 the Monkeys. 
 
 " She said to herself, ' I will go to see my 
 Monkey cousins. Every one knows that 
 they never work. They do not know 
 enough to do so. They play and play. 
 They will let me play with them.' 
 
 " So she packed her clothes and started. 
 She traveled many days. At last she came 
 to a thick wood. She knew that she was 
 near the end of her journey. 
 
 "Her tenth cousins, the Monkeys, were 
 very glad to see her. They said, ' Now 
 you can teach us to work. We wish to 
 know how to build houses.' 
 
 " ' No,' said the Cat. ' I cannot teach you 
 that. Other people build houses. I only 
 hve in them. But I can teach you how to 
 catch mice.' 
 
 " ' We do not care to learn that,' said 
 the Monkeys. ' We have no mice to 
 
catch. Can you teach us to speak as men 
 dor 
 
 " ' No,' said the Cat. ' I never could 
 learn that myself. But I can teach you 
 how to climl) up and down trees.' 
 
 " ' We do not care to have you,' said tlie 
 Monkeys. ' We can do that abeady, and 
 even faster than you.' 
 
 " ' I am not sure that you can,' said the 
 Cat. ' Let us try.' 
 
 " So the Cat and the Monkeys started up 
 the trees as fast as they could go. They 
 all reached the top at the same time. 
 
 " Then the Monkeys said, ' Let us quarrel 
 about who reached the top first.' 
 
 " 'No,' said the Cat. ' I came here to play, 
 not to work. It would be work to quarrel. 
 Let us play something else.' 
 
 " So the ]\Ionkeys showed the Cat all 
 their tricks. They showed her how to pick 
 nuts. They showed her how to throw these 
 on the heads of people under the trees. 
 
 " They showed her how to jump from one 
 tree to another. They showed her how to 
 frighten sleeping birds at night time. 
 
 " The Cat played all these games until 
 she was tired. 
 
130 
 
 " At last she said, * Cousins, if there are 
 no new games, I must go home. I have 
 played long enough.* 
 
 " The Monkeys said, ' There is one other 
 game. We have never taught it to any one. 
 We think that no one can learn it.' 
 
 " ' Show me,' said the Cat. ' I can learn 
 it. I can learn all your silly games.' 
 
 " * Very well,' said the Monkeys. ' But 
 don't blame us if you get hurt.' 
 
 " Then they showed her how they could 
 hang by their tails. They curled their 
 tails around a branch and swung and swung. 
 
 " * Pooh ! ' said the Cat. ' I, too, have a 
 tail. It is as good as yours. Let me try.' 
 
 " But her tail would not curl around the 
 branch tightly. She fell to the ground. 
 She tried again and again, while the Mon- 
 keys sat near and laughed. At last she 
 grew quite cross to think that she could not 
 learn. 
 
 " She said, * Cousins, I will go home now. 
 But I shall keep on trying. When I have 
 learned how, I shall come and show you.' 
 
 "So from that day to this she has tried 
 to curl her tail. But she has never visited 
 the Monkeys again." 
 
PIN-SCISSORS 
 
 One day Polly said to her mother, 
 " Mother, I have lost my scissors. What 
 shaU I do ? " 
 
 " Why not hunt for them, Polly 1 Hunt 
 until you find them." 
 
 So Polly hunted. She looked all over 
 the house. At last she found them. They 
 were on the sofa. They had slipped almost 
 out of sight between the back and the seat. 
 
 Polly put her fingers into the crack to 
 pull them out. She felt something in the 
 crack. It was a cent ! 
 
 Then she felt again. Perhaps she could 
 find another cent. But no ! She found 
 only a pencil, a button, and some pins. 
 
 At supper she told her father about the 
 'crack. She told him about her scissors. 
 Then she showed him the cent, the pencil, 
 the button, and the pins. 
 
 " Mother says I may have them all," said 
 Polly. 
 
 " And so you may," said father. ** You 
 
 131 
 
182 
 
 are a good hunter. Now get Peter and 
 come with me. I will show you how we 
 can make scissors out of your pins." 
 
 Father and Polly and Peter went down 
 to the railroad tracks. Polly and Peter 
 thought this was great fun. 
 
 They were not allowed to play near the 
 tracks. They had to cross them, when they 
 went to the store. 
 
 First, they must always stop and look for 
 a train. Then they must hurry across. But 
 now father stayed near the tracks. 
 
 "It is nearly time for a train," he said. 
 " Give me some pins, Polly." 
 
 He placed eight pins upon the car rails. 
 He placed them like this : 
 
 "Oh, father," 
 said Polly, "the 
 train will run 
 over them." 
 "That is just 
 what we wish, Polly. What do you think it 
 will do to the pins *? " 
 
 " Spoil them," said Polly. 
 
 " Yes, it will spoil them for pins. But it 
 will make scissors of them." 
 
 " Real scissors, father ? " 
 
133 
 
 "Just play scissors, Polly. I'm 
 you cannot e\ii with them. Here 
 
 afraid 
 
 comes 
 
 che train. We will sit on this bank. Then 
 we can watch it. 
 
 " I will tell you something. We may put 
 pins on the track. But we must never, never 
 put any big thing there. We must not put 
 stones or sticks. They might make the 
 train run off the track. Then people might 
 be hurt. You must remember this, chicks." 
 
 Polly and Peter liked to watch the train. 
 It stopped in front of the station. 
 
 " The engine says ' puff, puff.' I think it 
 is out of breath," said Polly. " It has to 
 run so fast." 
 
134 
 
 By and by the engine started. It went 
 over the phis. Then the wheels of the cars 
 went over them, too. 
 
 The children could hardly wait until the 
 train was gone. They wished so much to 
 see their scissors. 
 
 They ran to the place. Yes, indeed, 
 father was right. The pins were not pins, 
 but scissors. 
 
 They were no longer round. The great 
 wheels had pressed them flat. And every 
 two pins were joined together. 
 
 The children now had four pairs of scis- 
 sors like this : 
 
 " How heavy 
 the cars must be, 
 father." 
 
 " Yes, Polly. 
 Do you see now why you must keep away 
 from the trains 1 " 
 
 "Oh, yes," said Polly. "Those great 
 wheels would crush me. But we do keep 
 away, father." 
 
 " You are good children," said father. 
 "Now we will go and show our scissors 
 to grandmother. Then it will be bed- 
 time." 
 
PETER'S FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL 
 
 It is September. Summer is almost gone. 
 School will begin soon. 
 
 Polly has said over and over, " Mother, 
 may I go to school this year 1 
 
 " I am seven years old. I think I am old 
 enough. Besides I can read and write a 
 little already." 
 
 At first mother said, " We will see." 
 Then she said, "Yes, Polly, father and I 
 think that you are now old enough." 
 
 Then Peter said, " Mother, is Polly going 
 to school ? I want to go, too. I can't play 
 all alone." 
 
 "You will not have to, Peter. You can 
 play with Wag-wag, and you can play with 
 Tim." 
 
 "But T want Polly. I want to go to 
 school with Polly." 
 
 Father said, " You are too little yet, my 
 You will not like it. But we will let 
 136 
 
 son. 
 
136 
 
 you go with P0II7. Then you can see for 
 yourself that you are too httle." 
 
 When the day came, Peter and Polly set 
 out for the school. They were quite early. 
 By and by most of the children in the vil- 
 lage had come to the schoolhouse. Only the 
 little ones were left at home. 
 
 Peter was the smallest at school. Some 
 of the big boys laughed at him, because he 
 was so small. They said, " You'd better run 
 home and take your nap, Peter." 
 
 But the teacher did not laugh at him. 
 She was Miss Barnes. She knew Peter 
 quite well. 
 
 She gave him a seat. Then she let him 
 cut out pictures. At first Peter thought 
 it great fun. After a while, he grew tired 
 of sitting still. He almost wished to go 
 home. 
 
 Polly was having a good time. She 
 had some new books. She liked them 
 very much. Father had taught her to 
 read. She could write and do number 
 work, too. 
 
 At recess Peter said to Polly, " I think I 
 shall go home now." ^ 
 
 " Oh, Peter, you don't know much about 
 
137 
 
 school, do you ? You cannot go until noon. 
 Nobody in this school goes until then." 
 
 " I shall," said Peter. " I guess I don't 
 want to come to school." 
 
 Just then the bell rang. Recess was 
 over, Polly hurried Peter into the school- 
 house. He took his seat and looked ver}' 
 cross. 
 
 This time Mfss Barnes let Peter trace 
 some j)ictures. Then he colored them with 
 colored pencils. 
 
 He liked this very well for a short time. 
 But he grew tired of it. He looked out of 
 
138 
 
 the window. He could see the leaves mov- 
 ing in the breeze. 
 
 He thought, " I should like to be out 
 under that tree. . I wish I could sit down in 
 the grass. How hard this seat is! I am 
 hungry, too. I want a glass of rnilk. I do 
 not like to come to school. I am not old 
 enough." 
 
 He was so sorry for himself that he 
 began to cry. 
 
 " Why, Peter, what is the matter 1 " 
 asked Miss Barnes. " Are you sick ? " 
 
 "No," said Peter. "But I am so hungry, 
 and my seat is so hard I want to go 
 home. May I ? " 
 
 " Of course you may, Peter," said Miss 
 Barnes. " I knew you came for just a little 
 while. You are too small to stay here all 
 day. You may come and visit us some- 
 times. Now good-by." 
 
 Peter said, " Good-by," and ran home. 
 He was very glad to be out of school. 
 
 " Mother, mother," he shouted, " I am 
 too little to go to school. I will play with 
 Wag-wag and Tim. Please give me some 
 )nilk to drink. I am very hungry. Then 
 I will go to find Tim." 
 
JACK-O'-LANTERNS 
 
 In Mr. Howe's garden grew some corn. 
 In the corn grew pumpkins. Peter and 
 PoUj like pumpkins. They were glad 
 when their father planted the seed. 
 
 They watched the vines grow and grow. 
 They watched the yellow flowers. They 
 saw these flowers wither, and the little 
 pumpkins form. 
 
 After that, Polly picked out a pumpkin 
 for her own. Then Peter picked out one 
 for his own. 
 
 They said to father, " May we have these 
 pumpkins for ours ? May we do just as we 
 like with them 1 " 
 
 Father said, " Why, yes. Are you going 
 to ask mother to make pumpkin pies ? Or 
 are you going to make Jack-o'-lanterns 1 " 
 
 " They are for Jack-o'-lanterns, father 
 Will you make them for us ? " 
 
 139 
 
140 
 
 " Yes, I will, -when the pumpkins are nice 
 and yellow," said father. 
 
 Tlic pumpkins grew and grew. One day 
 Polly said, " Peter, if your pumpkin grows 
 any more, it will be too big. You cannot 
 carrv it." 
 
 " Then I will take it around in my cart,'' 
 said Peter. 
 
 Peter's pumpkin did not stop growing. 
 But Peter did not care. 
 
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 Suf-t W 
 
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 One day father picked all the pumpkins. 
 They were as yellow as could be. He put 
 them in a pile on the barn floor. 
 
 Polly carried her pumpkin to the house. 
 Peter could not carry his ; it was too heavy. 
 Father carried it for him. 
 
141 
 
 They all sat down on the back piazza. 
 Then father began to make the Jack-o'- 
 hmterns. He first cut covers in the tops. 
 Polly and Peter helped scoop out the inside. 
 Then father cut faces Hke these : 
 
 After this, he stuck a candle in each. 
 
 When it was dark, Polly said, "Now, 
 may we go around and show our lanterns ? " 
 
 " You may go to one house," said mother. 
 " Then you must come home." 
 
 The children went out to light their 
 lanterns. " Where shall we go, Peter 1 
 Shall we go to show Tim? Oh, I know! 
 Let's go to Mrs. White's. She will like to 
 see them. She must be lonely all by her- 
 self." 
 
 Now Mrs. White did not live far away. 
 She was a friend of Peter's and Polly's. 
 She did not like other children. She said 
 
142 
 
 they made too mucli noise. She said they 
 were always in the way. But she was kind 
 to Peter and Polly, 
 
 The children put Peter's lantern on his 
 cart, and set off down the road. At Mrs. 
 White's they stopped. They left the cart 
 by the side of the road. They put both 
 lanterns on the piazza steps. They knocked 
 on the door. Then they hid behind a large 
 bush. 
 
 Mrs. White came to the door. She saw 
 the lanterns grinning at her. She thought 
 some of the big boys were trying to tease 
 her. So she took the lanterns. She car- 
 ried them into the house, one after the 
 other. Then she slammed the door. 
 
 "Oh, Polly, my lantern," said Peter. 
 " It's gone." 
 
 "Oh, Peter, my lantern," said Polly. 
 " She has it. But she would give them 
 back, if she knew they were ours. Let's go 
 and tell her." 
 
 So the children knocked on the door once 
 more. " Come in," said Mrs. White. She 
 would not go to the door again. "Why, 
 Peter ! Why, Polly ! How do you do ? " 
 
 " We came to tell you about the lanterns, 
 
143 
 
 Mrs. White. They are ours. We did not 
 mean to bother you. We just wanted you 
 to see them," 
 
 " Are these yours 1 " asked Mrs. White. 
 " They are fine lanterns. I hke them very 
 much. How did you get that big one down 
 here 1 " 
 
 " It came in the cart," said Peter. " Will 
 you help us carry it out to the road ? " 
 
 " To be sure I will. And here are some 
 sticks of candy. I bought them for you 
 
144 
 
 to-day at Large Village. I thought you 
 might come to see me soon. Perhajis your 
 mother will let you eat your candy to-mor- 
 row. Come to see me again with your 
 lanterns." 
 
 So Peter and Polly climbed the hill with 
 their Jack-o'-lanterns. They were very 
 happy. They felt quite sure that Mrs. 
 White had been glad to see them. 
 
Cornell University Library 
 
 PZ 7.L93P47 
 
 Peter and Polly in summer, 
 
 3 1924 005 546 209 
 
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