CUTHBERT TIM.
Albert, Lucy, May, Susan, James, and Cuthbert Tim were all greatly excited.
Their Aunt Emily, who lived in a field, had asked them to spend the holidays with her. They had always 
lived in the bush, and they did not know what a field was like.
When the great day came, six small string bags stood in a corner, ready for the little mice to 
carry.  One by one they picked them up, till there was only one left.
" Cuthbert Tim! " called Mrs. Mouse.
"Where are you? We are all ready to start." There was no answer. With a sigh, Mrs. Mouse went to look 
for her youngest son.
There was not a sign of him about the house. Then she looked in the coal-cellar. There was Cuthbert 
Tim, sitting on the floor, and putting lumps of coal into a paper
bag.
"Oh! " said Mrs. Mouse. "What do you mean by coming in here with your clean clothes on, and just as 
we are all ready to start, too? " She pulled him out by the
collar.
"Oh, but my coal! " cried the little mouse, while his mother scrubbed his face and paws hard. "I 
thought Aunt Emily would like some. Boo-hoo! "
A few minutes later, Cuthbert Tim, looking very clean and rather cross, joined his brothers and 
sisters at the gate. Mrs. Mouse locked the front  door, and they were
really off. It was a lovely morning; and very soon Cuthbert Tim forgot  all about his coal and scrubbing, and danced along with 
the others.
At last they came to the edge of the bush, and stepped into a grassy field. They had never before 
seen such a wide open space. Albert, Lucy, May, Susan, and
James all felt a little afraid, and crept closer to their mother, but not so, Cuthbert Tim. He ran 
round and round in circles, till Mrs. Mouse said sharply, " Now,
Cuthbert Tim, don't be silly; you'll only make yourself giddy."
It was still a long way to Aunt Emily's home at Hole Corner, and Mrs. Mouse said, "Now, children, 
we'll have some lunch and a rest." They all sat down, and were
soon busy nibbling bread and butter and cheese, and nut buns, and wild cherries.
Then they all lay down to have a rest - all except Cuthbert Tim. He felt wide awake, and, besides, he 
wanted to look round. Picking up his bag, he tip-toed away
through the grass. He went on and on, and the field seemed to stretch for miles around him.
All at once he heard a voice. " If you want to go to the Fun Fair, " it said, " take the turn to the 
left at the tenth clump of
daisies. " Cuthbert Tim looked round and saw a big grey rabbit. " The merry-go-round is grand, " the 
rabbit went on.
Cuthbert Tim ran as fast as he could to the Fun Fair. Soon he heard music, and next he was in the 
middle of everything, and close to the merry-go-round. The black
rabbit in charge of it was shouting, " Six rounds for a farthing! Off we go!" Cuthbert Tim dropped 
his string bag, and in a second was on the back of a shining pink
pig. Off they went, round and round, in a merry whirl.
In the meantime, Mrs. Mouse had to go on to Aunt Emily's without Cuthbert Tim. Aunt Emily was 
delighted to see the family. She sat them all down to a wonderful
tea with raspberries and cream. The children were very happy, but Mrs. Mouse was thinking all the 
time about Cuthbert Tim.
" Don't worry, my dear," said Aunt Emily. "Old Maria, my cook, is just going off to the Fun Fair. She will look out all the way 
for a little mouse with a string bag."
Now, all this time Cuthbert Tim had been riding round and round, sometimes on a pink pig, sometimes 
on a yellow dog, and once on a large black cat. He came to
his last farthing. " Shall I have one more ride? " he said to himself. Just then he saw an old mouse 
pick up his string bag, pull out his clean clothes, and look at
them.
"Hi, stop! " he shouted. " That's my bag; " and he rushed over to the old mouse.
" Ah, Cuthbert Tim! " she said. " I thought I should find you. You are a naughty boy. I am your Aunt 
Emily's cook, Maria, and I am going to take you home at once. "
It was not long before Cuthbert Tim found himself in Aunt Emily's kitchen; and Mother, Aunt 
Emily, Albert, Lucy, May, Susan, and James were all round him. He
had been a naughty boy, but they were all very glad to have him safe and sound once more. The 
children wanted to know all about the merry-go-round, and Cuthbert
Tim was soon talking as hard as he could.
After that they had supper. Mother and Aunt Emily did say something about naughty little mice having 
no raspberries and cream. I think, however, that Cuthbert
Tim did have, well, perhaps just a very few.
-Retold from the story by ANNE E. KING in the "Merry-go-Round," 1931.

MARY AND JOHN.
Mary and John were staying with their granny and their aunty, whom they called Push. Mary was seven, 
and John was five.
One day, the maid, Edie, said that visitors were coming to dinner, and that Granny wanted Mary and 
John to look nice. Edie washed their hands and faces. She
scrubbed hard, and dried their faces upwards, which nobody likes. She brushed their hair good and 
hard, too, till their heads felt prickly. Then she put John into a
clean white suit, and Mary into a spotted muslin frock. She put white shoes and socks on them both; 
and they felt very clean, and stiff, and cross.
"Now," said Edie, " you must wait here till I'm ready to take you to the dining-room." She sat 
them both on chairs.
" We've got nothing to play with," said John. Edie said they could play with their fingers for once; and she left them.
It was very dull for John and Mary. Mary's frock had a stiff frill, which scratched her neck and 
tickled her chin. John rubbed
his white shoes together, and sent the white powder from them flying.
" How long do you think we have been here? " said Mary.
" About an hour," said John.
"I think Edie has forgotten all about us," said Mary.
"I wonder what there is for dinner!" said John.
" Chicken", said Mary. " I heard them say they wished they had some water-cress for it."
" Mary, there is water-cress down in the corner of the field. Let's go and get some. "
No sooner said than done! They quite forgot everything Edie had told them. Down they got from their 
chairs; out they went at the door and down the stairs; then out through
the front door. They went down the path, and scrambled through a hole in the hedge. Mary caught her 
frock on a thorn, and she did not bother to stop. There was a ripping
sound, and a long tear.
"Oh , Mary," said John, "look at your frock! "
" It doesn't matter," said Mary, and really she did not feel as if it did.
Bully-boy, the calf, came running up to them. He gave a moo and nuzzled John's shoulder. " See, Mary, 
he likes me," said John. " Do it again, Bully." Bully-boy did. He
was chewing grass and daisies, and had a ball of green stuff on his tongue. He licked John's white 
suit, and left long green marks, but nobody minded that.
Then all three went to the pig trough, where Dorcas and Snorcas and Porcas were having dinner. They 
were gobbling at a great rate. John drove them off with a stick. " I
want something for my Bully-boy," he said. He put his hand into the pig wash and pulled out a carrot 
and a lettuce leaf, which he waved in the air. Back came Dorcas and
Snorcas and Porcas.
" Keep them off, Mary," screamed John, "keep them off."
Mary tried, but it ended in a fine old mix-up of pigs and calf and children. By the time Mary and 
John were ready to go on again, they were splashed with pig wash from
head to foot;  but they did not mind.
At last they came to the water-cress. They had to crawl under a barbed-wire fence, and John left a 
bit of his white shirt on the fence. The water-cress was in a wet and
muddy bog.
" It's very wet," said John.
"I am going to jump to that island," said Mary.
Mary jumped, and landed in mud and water well over the tops of her shoes. John tried to follow  her, 
and fell on his face. He was not hurt, but, oh, the sight he looked! He
was muddy and slimy, and streaked with green, and soaking wet, and ready to cry. Mary was not much 
cleaner or drier.
" What will they say? " said John.
" Well, we are too dirty now to try to be clean," said Mary.
Just then Edie came running after them.
"John, Mary, come here at once, at once, you naughty children! "
John and Mary turned their backs and began picking water-cress as hard as they could. Then came Push, 
their aunty. She said nothing. She walked up to them, and
first she picked up John, and then Mary, and carried them dripping to the path.
"Now, " she said, race home! I'll meet you at the back door - back door, mind!" It was Push that took 
John and Mary into the bathroom and locked the door. She made a
pile of all the water-cress clothes. She washed and dressed the children afresh. She did not say 
much, nor did they.
At last she took them to the dining-room. It was so late that the visitors had gone; but Mary and 
John had chicken and strawberries and cream.

" NOW, RACE HOME! "

"I must say, " said Mary to Push at last, "I must say that you are very good."
John felt all at once that he would like to do something. " Push, shall I say ' Lucy Gray ' to the 
visitors? Do you think Granny would like it? "
"I think perhaps not," said Push.
-Retold from "John and Mary," by GRACE JAMES. (Frederick Muller, Ltd.). 

CRABBY CRAB.
" Touch me, and I'll give you a good nip," said Crabby Crab. John was not afraid of the old crab. He 
picked him up, and held him behind his nippers, and had a good look
at him.
The crab's broad flat body and eight legs are all inside a case of hard shelly stuff. This keeps the 
soft body safe from the crab's foes. The little tail is curled under the
body.
The eyes are black spots at the tip of two short stalks.
The crab has ears and noses, also, - two of each. They are not easy to see. The ears are in the small 
feelers on the crab's head, and. the noses are in the large feelers.
His nippers are the things the crab is most proud of. With them, he grabs his food, and nips his foes.
John's crab was an old one, with most of his troubles over. He had stopped changing
his shape, and growing, and putting
on a new coat every few  weeks. All
he had to do now was to hunt for 
food, and dodge his foes.
 John did not think Crabby Crab very handsome; but, if he had seen him as a baby, he would have thought him even more odd. 

BABY CRAB.

In our picture of him, we see his long tail and his big round head, 
shaped like a helmet with one horn pointing up and one down. The funny baby was no bigger than a pin's head. He lived in the 
deep sea, and 
he got along by turning head-over-heels.
One day, Baby Crab did not feel very well. This was because his hard skin was about to come off. All 
at once, it split across the back, and he pulled himself right out of
it. Weak and tired, he sank to the bottom of the sea.
" Hallo, Big Eyes! " said a fish, as it swam by.
"Big Eyes! " said Baby Crab to himself. "Why did he call me Big Eyes? "
Then he looked down at himself, and found that he was quite changed. He was bigger; his tail was 
longer; his legs were real legs now; he had a pair of little
nippers; and his black eyes stood out on stalks. That was why the fish had said, " Big Eyes."
Big Eyes was pleased to find that he could swim faster than before. He could see better, too, and catch more food, and fight 
bigger foes.  

BIG EYES AND CRABBY CRAB.

For a month, he played about in the sea. Then, one day, he came right in to the shore, and crept under a rock.
Once more he was going to get rid of his skin. When he wriggled out of it this time, no one would have known him. He was no 
longer Big Eyes, but Crabby Crab, a
real little crab, no larger than your finger-nail.
There was the broad flat back, and the eight strong legs with sharp claws at the end.
The long tail, which had helped him to swim, was now short and tucked under his body. His black-beady eyes still stood out on 
little stalks, and his nippers were
large and strong). Besides all this, he was now safe inside a case of hard smooth shell.
" What a nice pool this is! " said little Crabby Crab. "I should be silly to go out to sea again, 
where any big fish might eat me." He did not say that he was
staying on the shore really because he could no longer swim. But, if he could not swim, he could dig. 
When he saw a foe, he quickly dug himself with his back
claws into the sand. He could live quite well, deep down in the wet sand.
Crabby Crab found so much to eat in the pool that soon his shell was too small for him. What was 
he to do? While he was thinking, the shell split.
"I must creep out of that crack, " he said; and he did.
It hurt; and there he was, a poor, weak, soft crab with his old shell lying beside him. He crept 
under a stone, and waited for a new shell to grow. While he waited,
he grew as fast as he could.
In his new shell, he was a much bigger crab. Every few weeks, Crabby Crab found his shell too tight 
for him. He was glad when at last he stopped growing.
But now here was this boy John, holding him so that he could not nip. Crabby Crab was lucky, for John was a nice boy. After
he had had a good look at the old crab, John put him back in his pool. Then he laughed, as Crabby 
Crab scuttled away with his funny side-ways walk.

MILLY-MOLLY-MANDY GOES FOR A PICNIC.
One fine morning, Milly-Molly-Mandy met little-friend-Susan. She was eating hawthorn berries from the 
hedge by the road. " Hallo, Susan," said Milly-Molly-Mandy,
and she ate a hawthorn berry too.
Susan said, " Hallo, Milly-Molly-Mandy! What do you think I'm going to do to-day? I'm going to have 
my dinner outside, because Mother's busy. Look at my
pockets."
Milly-Molly-Mandy looked, and in one of little-friend-Susan's coat-pockets was a packet of bread-and-butter, and in the other, a 
hardboiled egg and an apple! Milly-Molly-Mandy thought it was a very nice thing to do indeed, and she began to feel hungry at 
once.
Susan said, " Couldn't you go and see if your mother is busy? Perhaps she would like you to take your 
dinner out too. "
Milly-Molly-Mandy gave a little skip and ran to ask Mother. Mother looked at Milly-Molly-Mandy, and 
thought. Then she said, " Well, perhaps I can manage to be too busy to
give you  your proper dinner to-day." And Milly-Molly-Mandy gave another little skip because she was 
so pleased.
Mother gave her a packet of bread-and-butter to put in one coat-pocket, and a hardboiled egg and an 
apple to put in the other. She told her to take her scarf, and not to go in
damp places and get muddy. Milly-Molly-Mandy gave Mother a kiss for goodbye and thank you, and ran 
out to Susan. Then they started off down the road with their bulging
pockets.
Before long, they met Billy Blunt, and Milly-Molly-Mandy said, " Hallo, Billy! Where are you going? "
Billy Blunt said, " Home to dinner."
Then Milly-Molly-Mandy said, " Susan and I are taking our dinners out because our mothers are busy. 
Look at our pockets."
Billy Blunt looked, and saw the packets of bread-and-butter, and the hard-boiled eggs and apples. He 
thought it was a very nice thing to do indeed, and he began to feel even
more hungry than he did before.
Milly-Molly-Mandy said, " Couldn't you go and see if your mother is busy? Perhaps she would like you 
to take your dinner out too."
Billy Blunt went in to ask his mother, and she said he could if he liked. She gave him a packet of 
bread-and-butter to put in one coat-pocket, and a hard-boiled egg and an
apple for the other. Then the three children went off with their bulging pockets.
As they passed the Big House by the cross-roads, Mrs. Green was just getting her car out, and her 
little girl, Jessamine, was
waiting by the gate. Milly-Molly-Mandy smiled, and Jessamine said, " Hallo, Milly-Molly-Mandy! Mother 
and I are taking our dinners out. Look at our basket."
"We're taking our dinners out too," said Milly-Molly-Mandy. " Look at our pockets."
Then Mrs. Green said, " Are we all taking our dinners out? What fun! Would you like to come with us 
and eat them all together? "
That meant going for a drive in the
motor-car; so, of course, Milly-Molly-Mandy and little-friend-Susan and Billy Blunt said
Yes and Billy added, Thank you! so Milly-Molly-Mandy and little-friend-Susan added, " Thank you!" too.
Mrs. Green went back for three more mugs and some rugs. Then she said, " Pile in! ', and they all 
piled in. Jessamine and Milly-Molly-Mandy and Susan sat in the back, because
they wanted to be together. Billy Blunt sat in front, because he wanted to watch Mrs. Green drive. 
Then off they started. And it was fun!
Mrs. Green's car went fast, and the sun shone, and the wind blew, and Milly-Molly-Mandy was so happy 
that she felt like shouting at the top of her voice. Of course she didn't;
she just talked to Jessamine and Susan. Billy Blunt talked to Mrs. Green about the gears and the 
brakes. He was longing to try to drive himself.
When they came to the picnic ground, they had a lovely time. They made a fire of sticks not too close 
to the trees or the dry fern, but in a safe open spot. Then Mrs. Green made
hot cocoa in a saucepan, and poured it into their mugs. Next they all brought out their packets of 
food. Mrs. Green and Jessamine had bread-and-butter and hard-boiled eggs and
apples, too. Then Mrs. Green cut up a cherry cake into big slices, and they all had to help to eat it up up.
It was a lovely meal. Milly-Molly-Mandy
couldn't think why anybody wanted to eat their dinner in-doors. Afterwards they buried all the 
egg-shells and papers, and put the fire quite out, and left everything tidy. Then they
gathered acorns and fir cones.
When the time came to go home, Mrs.
Green drove them back to the village. Then Milly-Molly-Mandy, Susan, and Billy Blunt said,  "Good-bye; thank you very much! 
"
and Mrs. Green said, "You must all come and play with Jessamine some evening soon." Jessamine gave 
a skip because she was
pleased. Milly-Molly-Mandy and Susan and Billy Blunt said, " Thank you! " again. They didn't skip, 
because they didn't feel they knew Mrs. Green quite well enough just yet; but
they skipped like anything inside themselves, and, after all, that is the best place to do it.
-Adapted from "More of Milly-Molly-Mandy" by JOYCE LANKESTER BRISLEY. (Harrap.)

MR. BONES, THE BUTCHER.
Mr. Bones kept the toy butcher's shop. When the shop was new, there had been plenty of things to 
sell: legs of mutton,
roasts of beef, a ham, and a string of sausages. Now there was nothing left at
all. Some of the things had been lost, and some had been crushed under the rocking-chair. The ham had fallen into a cup of
tea, and all the paint had come off.
"It's no fun keeping a shop like this," said Mr. Bones. " I'll go and see Mr. Noah."
Mr. Bones hopped across the floor to the Ark, and tapped on the lid. It was no use tapping on the 
door, because it was
only a painted one, and would not open. Mr. Noah pushed up the lid and looked out.
" Hallo, Mr. Noah!" said Mr. Bones. "Do you happen to have any broken animals ? "
"I should think I have, " said Mr. Noah. "The Ark is half full of them; and, when I take them for a walk, they give me such 
trouble. They are 
always wanting to lean
against something, and they tumble over if any one touches them."
" I wonder if you would lend me some of them," said Mr. Bones. "They would he just the thing for my 
shop."
"Yes," said Mr. Noah, "I will, gladly. I'll make up a load, and send it over on the toy train. "
Mr. Bones hopped home. He swept and dusted his shop, and shone the scales. He was greatly excited to 
think he was going to have something to sell again. When the
toy train came rattling across the floor, he was waiting at the door.
" Hallo! " said the train. " I have some things here for you from the Ark: one half elephant, one 
cracked lion, one camel-head, twelve grey legs, three yellow legs, and one
tiger-tail. Just count them, please, and see that they are right."
" Quite right," said Mr. Bones, " quite right. " He tied loops of cotton to all the pieces, and hung 
them on pegs round his shop. They looked almost as well as the plaster
ham and legs of mutton had done.
It was not long before Mrs. Taddlers, who lived in the doll's house, heard the news. She had not been 
able to buy anything to eat for a long time. Off she went to the
butcher's shop.
" Good morning, Mr. Bones! " said Mrs. Taddlers. "I want a leg for or roasting, please. "
" Yes, madam," said Mr. Bones. " Grey or yellow? "
" What sort of legs are they? " asked Mrs. Taddlers.
" Well," said Mr. Bones, " I'm not sure. They might be legs of anything."
" Then, I don't think I'll take a leg, " said Mrs. Taddlers. "You want to know what you're eating. "
" Quite so," said Mr. Bones. "What about a little elephant or lion? "
"The trouble is that they are not little," said Mrs. Taddlers. "Mary Jane could never get them into the oven."
"I'm afraid the only other things I have , "  said Mr. Bones, " are a camel-head and a tiger-tail."
Mrs. Taddlers looked at the tiger-tail with its neat black stripes. " I'll take that,
please," she said. " It will make a delicious Irish stew."
Mrs. Taddlers took the tiger-tail home. Mary Jane broke it into little pieces, and put it into a pan with real water, and a pinch of 
sawdust to thicken the gravy. She also put in some beads for potatoes. Then she stood it on the red paper fire.
Before long there was a knock at the door, and there stood Mr. Bones.
"Mr. Noah sent me, " he said. " The tiger has been found under the piano, and he wants its tail back. Mrs. Noah has the glue 
ready to mend it. "
" Well, think of that now! " said Mary Jane; " and I've just made the tail into an Irish stew! "
" Don't tell me you've broken it! " said Mr. Bones.
"Of course I have," said Mary Jane. "I've broken it into little bits, and put them in real water. All the paint has come off by this 
time. It's going to make a 
delicious stew."
"Dear me!" said Mr. Bones. "Mr. Noah will be angry. What's the good of a tiger without a tail? It might get mixed up with the 
guinea pigs, and then there would be a nice how-do-you-do! "
" Tell him to glue a wooden match on instead," said Mary Jane. " He can make the stripes with pen and ink. Now do go away. If I 
let the stew burn, I shall be in trouble." She shut the door.
Mr. Bones found a match and took it to the Ark. He told Mr. Noah about the tiger's tail being made into Irish stew. Then he held 
up the match. " Couldn't you make the tiger a tail with this?" he asked. "You could draw the stripes with pen and ink."
" Not half a bad idea," said Mr. Noah. "Mrs. Noah will enjoy making a new tail. She's good at that sort of thing. I must 
run and see to the glue. " In he popped, and closed the lid of the Ark after
him.
Mr. Bones went slowly home. He was a little tired, but very happy. "It is exciting keeping a shop," he said.
Mrs. Taddlers and Mary Jane were very happy, too, for the Irish stew was delicious.
-Retold from "Tell Them Again Tales," by MARGARET BAKER. (University of London Press.)

MITTENS.

Once there was a little boy named Richard, who loved cats and kittens. He talked to all the cats he met in the street, and every 
day he said to his mother, "Mother, I want a kitten. Why can't I have a kitten?"
"Because you are too little, Richard, " his mother would say. " When you are older, you may have one."
So Richard had to wait, but he kept on asking, just the same; and every day he grew 
older and bigger. One day he went with his mother to the market to buy a chicken for Sunday's dinner. And there in a 
cage, beside the
butter, eggs, and cheese, was the sweetest kitten he had ever seen. He was a fat tabby and, when he saw Richard, he opened his 
little pink mouth and said, "Mew? "
" Mother," said Richard, tugging at her sleeve, " look! "
Richard's mother looked at the kitten, and he said, " Mew? " again. Then he rubbed his head against 
the side of the
cage and began to purr.
" Goodness ! What a loud purr for such a small kitten! " said Richard's mother. She put a finger 
through the wire of his
cage and stroked his nose.
" Mother," said Richard, " I want that kitten. Please, Mother."
" Now, Richard," said his mother, and he knew just what was coming next.
" Mother, listen, I'm nearly six years old, and I wear size seven suits. Surely I'm big enough now. 
Please, Mother!"
"Well, I don't know," said his mother.
" He's only a shilling," said the woman behind the counter. "And see," she said, pointing to his feet, "he has mitten
paws."
" Mitten paws?" said Richard. "What, are they? "
"He has six toes on each front paw, instead of five, " said the woman, " and they make his paws look 
like mittens. "
And indeed they did look like mittens-little fur mittens.
" Just think, Mother," said Richard, " he even has mitten paws! We've just got to have him. "
"Very well, then," said his mother, and she paid the woman a shilling.
 "Hooray, hooray!" cried Richard, jumping up and down. "Thank you, Mother, thank you! "
The woman put the kitten into a paper bag, with just his head and front paws sticking out. She handed him to 
Richard, who held him
with the greatest care in both
hands, like a bag of hot popcorn.
"I know what to name him, Mother," Richard, as they walked to the car. "I've just thought of 
it - Mittens! "
When they got home, Mittens had some
warm milk in a jar-top, because that was the only thing small enough for him. When he had lapped it all up with 
his little pink
tongue, he gave himself a good wash. Then he climbed on to a chair and went to sleep.
When Richard woke up next morning he
heard a " purr-purr-purr " at the foot of the bed.
" Hi, Mittens! " cried Richard, rolling out of bed. He began to dress in a hurry, so as to have time 
for a play before
breakfast. But Mittens couldn't wait. He began to play a little game of his own that he had just 
thought of. He hid under
the bed and pretended he wasn't there. Then, all at once, he pounced out and grabbed one of Richard's bare feet.
" Ow! " said Richard. " Mittens, stop it! Let go! "
But Mittens just held on tightly with his front paws, and kicked hard with his hind
ones. He was pretending that Richard's foot was a foe he was being very fierce with. Then, all at 
once, he stopped, and began to lick Richard's toes, to show that he was
only playing, and had not meant to hurt.
-Adapted from " Mittens," by CLARE TURLAY NEWBERRY. (Hamish Hamilton.)

SAINT GEORGE AND THE DRAGON.
Once upon a time there was a fierce and cruel dragon. Every day it came out of its den to kill. The 
people lived in terror, and they did not know what to do. The dragon's
scaly skin was harder than brass, so that no sword or spear could pierce it. Its breath of fire burnt 
anyone that dared to go near it.
There was only one way to calm its rage. Every day the fathers and mothers gave it, to eat, one of 
their daughters. At last, in the whole town, there was only one
daughter left. She was the Princess, the King's daughter.
The King could not bear to part with her. But, as all the other fathers had given their daughters to 
the dragon, he could do no less. Sadly he said good-bye to the lovely
maiden. Then she was taken away, and tied to a tree not far from the dragon's den.
The Princess waited for the cruel dragon to come. Instead, she saw, riding up to her, a knight on a 
great white horse. He stopped beside her.
" Pray, sweet maiden," said he, " why are you so sad? And why are you tied to that tree? "
The Princess told the knight all about the dragon. She said she hoped that, when it had
killed her, it would leave the rest of the people in peace. "Oh, here it comes!" she cried. "Go, Sir Knight! Save yourself! I am 
quite ready to die!"
Saint George, for that was the knight's name, looked round. He saw the great dragon creeping up to them. Its scales shone in the 
sun, and its breath of fire and smoke filled the air. Saint George did not gallop away. Sword in hand, he rode to meet the wild 
beast.
There was a terrible fight. Again and again, Saint George struck the dragon. At last it was so badly wounded it could fight no 
more. Saint George then got off his horse. He untied the Priness, and told her to lead the dragon to the town.
When the people saw her coming with the dragon, they ran away in terror.
" Don't run," shouted Saint George.
The dragon can't hurt you now. I have been sent to free you from it. "
The crowd turned and came to meet the Princess and Saint George. With his sword Saint George then 
smote off the dragon's head, and the King and his people knew that their
days of fear were over.
This was not the only brave and noble deed that Saint George did. The people of England thought so 
much of him that they made him their patron saint. It pleases them to think
of their country as being like Saint George: always fighting for good against evil, for right against 
wrong. The twenty-third of April is Saint George's Day.

THE WOLF'S DREAM.
Once upon a time, a wolf and a fox stole a hen. They hid it away for the next day's dinner, and 
lay down to rest. The fox fell asleep, but the wolf lay awake asking
himself, " Shall I eat the hen now, while the fox is asleep, and then sleep and dream about my 
feast; or shall I first go to sleep and dream about the hen, and then eat it
afterwards? "
He kept turning these plans over in his mind. First he thought one way was better; then he thought 
the other. While he was trying to make up his mind, he f ell asleep.
Then the fox awoke and saw the wolf sound asleep. He went over to the hen and said to himself, "Shall I eat the wing or the leg - 
the wing or the leg? " At last he made up his
mind to eat the wing. When he had eaten it, he thought, " The wing is very nice, but I should not be 
surprised if the leg were still nicer. I think I'll eat a leg now. "
When he had finished the leg he said, "After all, I think the wing was better. Now shall I eat the 
other wing, or the other
leg? " He thought a long time, and then ate the other wing. Then he said to himself,
"Well, what's the use of leaving the other leg?
After eating the second leg, he lay down to sleep, He turned and twisted, but he could not sleep. 
Before him still lay the body of the fowl. He walked over to it, and, after looking
at it, ate it all up. Only the feathers were left, and these he sprinkled over the wolf's mouth. Then 
he fell asleep.
Meanwhile, the wolf slept the whole night through. He kept seeing the hen in his dreams, and thinking 
he was eating it. When, he awoke in the morning, he saw that the hen had
gone, and he called out, " Mr. Fox! , Mr.
Fox ! Wake up! "
" What's the matter, Mr. Wolf ? " asked the fox with a yawn.
" Where's our hen? " asked the wolf, looking all round. At this, the fox jumped up, and, opening his 
eyes very wide, said,
" It seems to me that you have eaten it, Mr. Wolf. Just look at the feathers all round your mouth! "
" Dear me! " said the wolf. " My mouth is covered with feathers. Well, I must have eaten the hen in my sleep! I dreamt that 
I was eating it. The strange thing is that I have eaten a whole hen, and
yet I feel very hungry. I really can't understand it!"
The fox gave a sly grin, and ran off.

JANE GOES TO SCHOOL.
Jane Martin was six on Friday, and on Monday she was to go to school for the first time. Most children go to school at five, 
but Jane's mother wanted to teach her at home; and, indeed, she had
taught her a great deal. Jane could feed baby Margaret, look after John, aged three, wash up the tea things, make tea, tidy a 
room, and run messages and get the right change. But she had not
learned to read or write or do school
sums.
Her mother said, " And I will take you to school, Jane, the first time. The teacher looks so like Aunt Jane, that I am sure 
you will be as happy there as you are at Granny's. " Aunt Jane lived at
Granny's, you know.
At last Monday morning came, and at twenty minutes to nine, in came Mrs. Brown to look after John and baby Margaret. Jane's 
mother gave Jane a last look to see that her hair was extra tidy, and
her lunch was in her case. Jane gave Margaret an extra hug, and told her she would be back soon, but Margaret just went on 
spluttering and playing with her fingers.

A LAST LOOK.

Then Jane looked for John, but John could not be found.
Daddy said, " I will say good-bye to him for you, Jane. The old chap is rather down in the dumps, so I told him to get the 
garden house ready for your dinner. Mother is going to let you have it there to-day."
It was only five minutes' walk to school, and soon Jane was across a great play-ground, and through a door into the largest 
room she had ever seen, except a church. (Later she learned that it was
the school hall.) It seemed to Jane that she had been walking in it for nearly an hour, and all the time her heart was 
getting nearer and nearer to her boots! So she said, " I don't feel well, Mother, so
we will go home now."
Mother said, "You will feel better in a moment. Look at the lady by the desk. She has seen us, and she is smiling at my Jane. "
And, indeed, there was a grey-haired, grey-eyed little lady, with big spectacles, and a lovely green over-all with tiny 
bunches of flowers on it. She looked so friendly and flowery that you could not be
afraid any longer.
Mother said, " Run to Miss Wright, Jane, and say ' Good morning.' "
Jane hurried to Miss Wright and said,
"Good morning. I am Jane, and may I go the class of the teacher Mother says is like my Aunt Jane? "
" Oh," said Miss Wright, " I think that must be Miss Shepherd; she is just like an Aunt Jane."
Before Jane knew where she was, Mother was gone, and Miss Wright had Jane busy
putting flowers in a jar. Then Miss Wright was ready to take her to her class. They went into another 
big room, and Jane walked up to Miss Shepherd and said, " Good
morning, Miss Shepherd. I am Jane, and please I should like to sit in that chair by that little girl."
" Why, that is lucky," said Miss Wright. "You two must be friends,  for you are both six, and you are both going to be taught to 
read as 
quickly as you like to learn. "
" I should like to learn to-day, please," said Jane, " for I got a book for a birthday present, and 
here it is." She opened her case and showed her book to Miss Wright and
Miss Shepherd.
" You shall, Jane," said Miss Shepherd. "Perhaps not to read everything, but, at any rate, something. And we will teach you so 
quickly that 
you will surprise your mother."
" And Daddy and John," said Jane.
Then Miss Shepherd looked at all the other children, who were so busy that they hardly noticed Jane. 
"They don't seem to need me," said Miss Shepherd, " so I shall give
you and Mary your first lesson."
What fun they had! As each could read and write her own name, they first learned to read and write 
each other's. Then they had a guessing game. Miss Shepherd wrote
down the names of things they knew well, and they had three guesses. Sometimes
they were right, and sometimes wrong. Miss Shepherd then told them to look at the little 
word-picture, as she called it, and try not to forget what it was. Then they copied
it in big letters on a lovely blackboard which went round the room.
Jane and Mary learned words very quickly, because they were six. Though that may seem old to begin 
reading, they had both been busy using their eyes, and it was easier for them to see the shape of words than for younger children.

WHAT FUN THEY HAD.

Then Miss Shepherd had to go to the others, and she sent Peggy to help Jane and Mary. Now, Peggy was 
just the sort of helper you would like - the sort that helps, and
yet does not do the thing for you.
Weeks after, when Mary and Jane could read Jane's book, Miss Shepherd said, " Well, you know, it is really Peggy you have to 
thank for this." And they thought so too!
-Adapted extract from " Jane's First Term," by NANCY CATTY. (Harrap.)

MR. PERCY PRICKLES.
We had set a trap in the garden for rats, and what do you think we caught? A poor, dear, little 
hedgehog.
We were sorry. He was caught by the paw. It was a hard job setting him free, because he had rolled 
himself up into a prickly ball, but we did it at last. We put him in a big box
of hay in the kitchen.
For a long time he was afraid to unroll, but, after a while, we saw the bright eyes in his little 
piggy face peeping at us. Next he began to drink the milk we had put ready for him,
and we gave him some food.  Hedgehogs like insects and snails, spiders and worms; but they will eat 
almost any kind of food, and Mr. Percy Prickles had a good supper of
scraps.
He soon grew to know us, and became quite tame. He was a quaint pet. When his paw was better he liked 
to explore the rooms. He could run along quite quickly, and
sometimes he played about like a cat, rolling himself up and then springing out again. He slept in a 
dark corner, or in his box, and he always liked to sit by the fire.
He enjoyed meal-times, and he always had lots to eat and lots to drink. He used to go out into the 
garden and catch worms and insects for himself, and there was a pool there
for him to drink from. He
would always come, however, if we rattled a spoon on his milk-saucer.
Mr. Percy Prickles stayed with us for a long time, but one sad day we could not find him anywhere. We searched the garden 
again and again, but he was gone for good.
We missed our odd little pet very much.
One summer afternoon, we saw, on the gravel path outside the house, a little young
hedgehog. When he rolled himself up, he was about the size of a tennis-ball. New-born hedgehogs are blind, and their prickles 
are soft and white, so this little chap must
have been six or seven weeks old.
We wondered if he was a son of our Mr. Percy Prickles.
-ELIZABETH GOULD, in Blackie's "The Big Bumper Budget for Children." (Slightly adapted.)

LOST AND FOUND.
One day Richard's little cousin, Norine, picked Mittens up by the tail and squeezed him. After that, Mittens could not be 
found. Richard looked under the sofa. " Come out,
Mittens," he called. " Norine has gone home, and nobody will pull your tail now." But Mittens was not under the sofa.
"Perhaps he went upstairs," said Richard's mother, and they went up to see. They looked under the beds, in the wardrobes, 
behind the doors, and even in the gas-oven,
because you never know with kittens. But they couldn't find Mittens anywhere.
At last Richard's mother said, " Darling, I'm afraid your kitten has got out. The grocer's boy may have let him through the 
door." They then looked outside, and they called, " Mitty, Mitty, Mitty! " until
their throats were sore.

NORINE AND MITTENS.

Richard's mother asked all the neighbours: "Have you seen a little grey, tabby kitten, about so big? " And 
all the neighbours said, " No, we haven't."
When Richard's father came home to dinner, there was no one to meet him at the front door. Richard was crying, and his 
mother was in the basement looking in all the dark corners, and calling, "Mitty, Mitty!"
" Oh, Daddy," sobbed Richard, " I've l-lost my k-kitten. "
" Lost your kitten? " said his father. "Lost Mittens? Something must be done about this. "
He rang up the paper office, and asked them to print in to-morrow's paper that Mittens was lost. After that they all felt 
better, and Richard stopped crying. The next morning, this was printed in the
paper: Lost: black-and-grey tabby kitten. Child's pet. REWARD.
" How soon do you think they will bring Mittens back, Daddy? " asked Richard.
" I don't know, Richard," said his father as he started off to work. " It might be any minute now. "
Richard sat down near the front door  to wait. Before long the bell went brrrrr! Richard shouted, " Mother! " and threw open 
the door. There stood a boy with a cat in his arms; but it was not Mittens;
oh dear, no! It was a big, old, yellow tom-cat with torn ears and a mean look in its eyes.
" Hallo, kid! " said the boy, with a grin. "Here's your cat. How about the reward?"
" But that cat's not Mittens!" said Richard.
" No, indeed," said his mother, coming to the door. " Mittens is a very tiny kitten."
" But this is a fine cat, " said the boy. "It fights dogs. Perhaps your Mittens grew. Are you sure it isn't him?"
" Quite sure," said Richard's mother. So the boy said " O.K. " and ran down the steps.
Then the phone went zzzzzing! A lady asked Richard's mother if she wanted to buy some white Persian 
kittens with blue eyes. Richard's mother did not; so the lady
rang off.
Then the door-bell went brrrrr! again. This time it was an old lady with a large, lumpy bag under her 
arm.
" Good morning, little boy," she said. "I've found your lost pussy cat." She pulled out of her bag a little, scared, black kitten.
" Oh dear! that isn't Mittens either," said Richard.
" Well, now, that's a shame," said the old lady. "But why not have this one? She's a lovely kitten."
" No, thank you," said Richard's mother. "I think we'll just wait and see if our own kitten does turn 
up." The old lady put the black kitten back into her bag and went off
down the street.
Again the door-bell rang. Two little girls stood on the porch. One held a sad-eyed mother cat in her 
arms, and the other had a basket of very new kittens.
" Is this the cat your little boy lost?" asked the girl with the mother cat.
" No, indeed it's not," said Richard's mother in a tired voice.
" Oh, that's all right," said the little girl. "Our mother said you may have all of these cats, 
because we don't need them."
" That's very kind of your mother, I'm sure," said Richard's mother " but we don't
need them, either." So the two little girls took their cats and went off down the street.

TWO LITTLE GIRLS STOOD ON THE PORCH.

All day long people kept coming to the door with cats. There were little cats, big cats, fat cats, 
thin cats. There were black cats, white cats, red cats, yellow cats, grey
cats, and brown cats. If there were any such things as green, purple, or sky-blue cats, there would 
have been some of them, too. But not one of them was Mittens.
In the evening Mr. Timmons-across-the-street came. " There's a cat up in my tree, " he said, " and it 
sounds like a kitten. Better come over and see."
They all rushed across the street to the tree in Mr. Timmons' back-yard. "Mew! Mew! Mew! " came down 
from above, but it was too dark to see. Richard's father got a ladder and climbed into the
dark branches, until Richard could see only his legs.
" Kitty-kitty-kitty," said Richard's father, as he felt among the thick leaves. " Got him! " he 
shouted all at once, and, " Ouch! you little beast! " In another minute he was on the ground again 
with a
mewing, struggling scrap of fur in his hand. They looked at it under the porch light, and
" Mittens! " shouted Richard. " Oh, Daddy, it really is Mittens at last." He held the kitten against 
his cheek, and Mittens stopped mewing and began to purr.
As they were starting for home, Richard thought of something. " Daddy, what about the reward? " he 
asked. " I think it ought to be about two hundred pounds. " He was tucking Mittens under his
sweater to keep him warm.
" I'm afraid I can't afford  quite that much, " said his father. "What do you think, Mr. Timmons? "
"I'll tell you what," said Mr. Timmons. "Supposing you ask me to dinner some time
when you are having roast chicken ? That would be my idea of a reward. " So Mr. Timmons was invited 
over for the very next Sunday; and after that they went home.
Mittens was so glad to be home again,
and to have all the warm milk he could hold, that he purred loudly for a long time without stopping. 
Richard sat on the floor in front of the fire and petted him, and said over and over again, " Oh,
Mother, I'm so glad we found Mittens. Aren't you glad, Mother? "
-Adapted from "Mittens," by CLARE TURLAY NEWBERRY. (Hamish Hamilton.)

A BAD DAY.
One Monday was the worst day Jane had ever had. It began by her being late for school. Just as she 
reached the front gate, the button came off her shoe. She rushed
back, and began to put on her other pair of shoes; but her mother saw her and said, "No, Jane. They 
are much too thin for a day like this. You must wait while I
pop Margaret into her cot, and then I'll sew on the button"
"But I shall be late! I shall be late!" wailed Jane.
Her mother was firm, and Jane had to wait. Then her mother wrote a note to her teacher. When Jane 
reached school she gave her note to Miss Shepherd, who said,
" That's all right, Jane. Now get on with your work. "
Jane was good at sums, but bad at writing, and the first thing she always did was some writing. To-day she was to copy a 
poem, which she was going to teach John to say for Mother's birthday.
She got a clean piece of paper, and then she thought how lovely it would be to use a pen instead of a pencil. Jane was only 
at the pencil stage.
Now, as you may know, ink is very messy; and Jane began by dipping her pen too far into the pot. The ink got on her fingers, 
and, without thinking, she rubbed her fingers on her hanky. She had
only written, " I know a little cupboard," when the hand she had rubbed on her hanky smudged her paper. She said to herself 
that one smudge did not matter, and then, as she wrote the k of key,
her pen made a blot.
"This silly ink is no good," said Jane to Phyllis. She reached to Phyllis's table for a pencil, and her arm pushed the bottle 
of ink on to the floor! Luckily it was the kind of bottle that does not spill
much, so only a little ink splashed out on to the floor and on to Jane's and Phyllis's socks. What a blessing the bottle did 
not break!
All the children looked up from their work, and Miss Shepherd came. Phyllis had
picked up the bottle, while Jane sat still. " What are you doing with ink, Jane?" asked Miss Shepherd, but Jane was so near 
to crying that she could not answer. " Well, I hope you have learned
your lesson," said the teacher. " Now go and wash your hands, and then begin your writing at once."
At that, Jane could keep back the tears no longer; they seemed to rush out of her
eyes as she got up. "Come, come!" said Miss Shepherd. " Crying won't do any good. It's no good being a baby in times of 
trouble." That made it worse, and Jane cried 
and cried while she was trying to wash the ink off. It would not come off
in cold water, and the more she washed the more she cried.
Then Miss Wright came and found  Jane, and soon heard all about it. Do you know what she did ? She 
took Jane to her own room, and in the corner was a wash-basin with soap, a clean towel,
and something that Jane had not seen before - a piece of pumice. It took the ink off as soon as Jane 
rubbed her hand with it. She wanted to try it on her socks, but Miss Wright said it would rub
them into holes.
Jane's troubles, sad to say, were not yet over. When she went back, the girls were all making paper 
dresses. Some one called out, "Come on, Jane! " but Miss Shepherd said, "Jane has not done
her writing yet," and Jane nearly cried again. Then the stupid girl sat and dawdled and, even when 
play-time came, her poem was not copied.
At lunch-time it was raining, and Jane did not have her mackintosh. When the button came off her 
shoe, she had put the mackintosh down by the gate and left it there. So she had to run home in
the rain, and, by the time she reached her gate, she was very wet. When her mother saw her, she said, 
" How stupid of you, Jane! Now you must pop into a bath. "
That set Jane off crying again. Her mother was very much surprised, and so was John. The crying child 
was put into the bath, and then, not into dry day clothes, but into her pyjamas.
" You are tired, Jane," said her mother, "and have a cold. An afternoon in bed will do you good. John 
shall bring you some hot milk, and you shall have an egg for tea. " So Jane got into bed, drank
her milk, hugged John, and went to sleep.
She woke up about tea-time and, while John was playing with Margaret, she had a
cosy talk with her mother. She told her all her troubles - sitting on her mother's knee just as though 
she were a little girl!
The next day everything went as smoothly as if there had been no bad day; and soon Jane forgot all 
about her troubles, and even about the horrid ink.
-Adapted extract from " Jane's First Term," by NANCY CATTY. (Harrap.)

PINOCCHIO.
Once upon a time, an old man, named Geppetto, set to work to make a doll, or puppet, out of a piece 
of wood. " I think I will call him Pinocchio," said Geppetto. It is a name that will bring him luck."
First he made the hair, then the forehead, and then the eyes. When the eyes were made, Geppetto got a 
shock. They moved and stared at him. " Wicked wooden eyes, why do you look at me? "
he said. There was no answer.
He then carved the nose. No sooner had he made it than it began to grow. It grew and grew and grew. 
Poor Geppetto cut it off and cut it off ; but the more he cut it, the longer that cheeky nose
became.
Before the mouth was finished, it began to laugh and make fun of Geppetto. " Stop laughing," said he 
very crossly. The mouth stopped laughing, but it put out its tongue as far as it would go.
Geppetto pretended not to see, and went on with his work. After the mouth, he made the chin, then the 
neck and body and arms and hands. The hands were hardly finished when they snatched
Geppetto's wig off his head.
" Pinocchio," said Geppetto, "Give me back my wig at once! " The puppet, instead, put it on his own 
head, and it nearly smothered him. "You bad boy!" said
Geppetto. " You are not yet finished, and you are already being rude to your father."
When Geppetto had finished the feet, he got a kick on the nose. " I deserve it, " he said. " I should 
have thought of it sooner. "
He then began to teach the wooden doll to walk. At first, Pinocchio's legs were still and he could 
not move them. Geppetto led him by the hand, and showed him how to put one foot before the other.

From the Watt Disney film.]
FINISHING THE PUPPET.

Soon the puppet could walk by 
himself, and he began to run round the room. Next, he ran out of the door and down the
street.
Poor Geppetto rushed after him, but he could not catch him. " Stop him! Stop
him!" " he shouted. The people, however, only stared at the wooden puppet running like a race-horse, 
and they laughed and laughed. At last Geppetto caught Pinocchio. He tried to take him
home, but the naughty puppet threw himself upon the ground and would not walk another step.
" Poor puppet! " said the people. " Very likely he won't go home because old Geppetto will beat him." 
It ended in a soldier taking poor old Geppetto off to gaol, while Pinocchio ran home.
As he sat resting on the floor, he heard someone say, " Cri-cri-cri! "
" Who's that?" said Pinocchio in a fright.
"It's I, the Talking Cricket, and I have lived in this room a hundred years and more."
Pinocchio turned round and saw a big cricket slowly crawling up the wall. " Well, now this room is 
mine," said Pinocchio, " so please go away at once."
" I will not go," said the Cricket, " until I've told you something."
"Tell it then, and be quick about it."
"Woe to those boys that don't obey their parents, and run away from home! "
" Sing away, Cricket," said the puppet. "For me, I am going to run away to-morrow morning, because, if I stay, I shall be sent to 
school and 
made to learn lessons. I am going to play and have a good time. "
" You little goose! In that way you will grow up to be a perfect donkey, and everyone will laugh at 
you."
" Hold your tongue, you wicked croaker!" shouted Pinocchio. He snatched up a wooden mallet and threw 
it at the Talking Cricket. Perhaps he did not mean to hit him, but the
mallet struck the Talking Cricket on the head, and he said no more.
When Pinocchio awoke next morning, someone was knocking at the door. " Let me in, " said a voice. It 
was Geppetto back again. The puppet jumped up to run to the door, but
he fell down. He then saw that his wooden feet were burnt off ; he had been asleep with them too 
close to the fire.
Geppetto had to climb in through the window. When he saw the puppet lying on the floor without any 
feet, he was very sorry for him. To punish him for being naughty, however, he
let him cry all the morning for a new pair of feet.
" Why should I make you new feet? asked Geppetto. " You will only run away again."
" I promise," said the puppet sobbing, that I will always be good. "
" All boys promise to be good when they want something," said Geppetto. All the same, he took his 
tools and two small pieces of wood, and set to work. In less than an
hour, two neat little feet were made. "Shut your eyes," said Geppetto, " and go to sleep."
Pinocchio shut his eyes and pretended to go to sleep. His father, with a little glue, which he had 
melted in an egg-shell, fixed the new feet on to the legs. He did it so well that no
one could see the joins.

OFF PINOCCHIO WENT TO SCHOOL.

When the puppet found  he had feet again, he danced round the room, wild with joy. "To pay you for 
what you have done for me," he said to his father, " I will go to school at
once."
"Good boy!" said Geppetto; and off Pinocchio went to school.
-Retold from " Pinocchio," by C. COLLODI. Published in Dents' " Literature of To-day and Yesterday " series.

THE SLY LITTLE SPRAT.
One fine day, all the fishes in the sea had a meeting to choose a Chief for the year. 
Everyone wanted to be chosen and there was a great to-do. The fishes opened and shut their mouths, 
and swished their tails, and shook their fins, until they woke the
Oldest Crab in the sea. He was ever so old, and so lazy that he spent most of his time asleep.
He did not want to be the Chief ; he knew he could not keep awake long enough. "Hold your noise, you 
finny things," he said. " You make my shell ache. Each one can tell
me why he thinks he should be Chief, and then I'll choose the one I think is best. "
The Shark cried out, "I'm the fiercest and the bravest. I'll lead them all to battle. Let me be 
Chief. "
But a Winkle squeaked, " Go on with you, you great booby; we don't want to go to battle. We want to 
play. " The angry Shark darted at him, and the cheeky Winkle hid under
the claw of the Oldest Crab, and put his tongue out at the Shark.
" Have me! " cried the Sword-fish. " I can knock a hole in a boat. "
"What's the good of that?" said a Shrimp with a little giggle. " Who wants a boat with a hole in it? "
" Why not me? " said the Flying Fish. "I'm a bird as well as a fish."
" Then go and build a nest and sit on it! " said a tiny Sand-eel, with a wriggle and a twist.
Just then a great Whale came rushing through the water. " What's all this? " he roared in a loud 
voice. " Choosing a Chief, are you? What do you mean by it? I have a very
good mind to swallow the lot of you. I'm your Chief because I'm the biggest and the swiftest. "
" Bosh and oysters! " called out a little Sprat. " I can race you."
The Whale looked at him in great surprise, and he held his breath so long that everyone thought he 
would burst. Before he could speak, the Oldest Crab said,
"Very well, let the Sprat and the Whale swim a race, and the winner shall be Chief."
The Oldest Crab made all the fishes swim three miles and then stop. That was the winning-post. He 
then put the Whale and the Sprat in a line and cried out, " One, two, three, off! "
Away went the great Whale like fifty express trains. The sly little Sprat, however,
perched himself on the Whale's tail, and held on tight. The Whale went so fast that he churned the 
sea into foam for twenty miles around.
In two minutes he had reached the winning-post, and he turned right round to see how far the Sprat was
behind him.
At once, the little Sprat slipped off his tail, and shouted. " Here I am! I've won!
I've won! " And all the other fishes, who were glad to be able to laugh at the Whale, called out, "Hurrah! Hurrah! Spratty's won! "
So the Sprat became Chief for the year; and all that time the silly great Whale sulked by himself 
under an iceberg.
-Retold from "Tell me Another," by STEPHEN SOUTHWOLDE. (Longmans, Green and Co.)

HE ONLY PRETENDED.
There is no doubt that the Oak Tree was proud and gruff; but perhaps, for all his pride, he had a 
tender heart.
One spring day, two Sparrows came and perched on one of his branches. They were such mites, however, 
that he took no notice of them at all. He even pretended that he
did not know they were there. The Sparrows were whispering to each other with their heads very close. 
There is no doubt that the Oak Tree did hear what they said.
" You ask him, my dear, " said one of the Sparrows.
"But, my darling," said the other, "he looks so surly that I am afraid to speak to him."
After some more whispering, the two little Sparrows stood very, very close to each other, and then 
said together in such shy voices: " Oh, please, Oak Tree, may we build a
nest on this branch? "
The Oak Tree said nothing.
"Oh, please, Oak Tree-" they began again; and the Oak Tree said in a great voice of thunder, " I 
heard what you said." As he did not say any more, the little Sparrows got
closer than ever to each other, and then said more timidly than before, "But please, may we? "
" What do I care about what you two mites do? " boomed the Oak Tree. " I have too much to do to think 
about you two scraps. "
The two Sparrows were not quite sure whether he meant yes or no. But, as they were in a hurry, and 
the Oak Tree was such a fine, strong, safe fellow on which to build a
nest, they made up their minds to begin at once.
Day after day they worked, flying many, many weary hours; but their hearts were happy, and no work 
was too much for them. When the cosy nest was finished, they sat
on the edge of it and said together as before, "Oak Tree, what do you think of our nest?"
" Nest? Nest? " said the Oak Tree. "Don't bother me with silly little things
like that. " He seemed so cross that the Sparrows were afraid of him, and they said no more.
Then, one day, there were five lovely little eggs in the nest. The Sparrows were so full of joy and 
pride that they simply had to say, " Oak Tree, do look at our eggs!"
" Go along with you, " said the Oak Tree gruffly. " I've other things to think about. "
The happy days passed by, and at last one sunny, bright morning, five baby Sparrows broke through the 
egg-shells. They lifted their queer little heads and said, " Cheep!
Cheep! Cheep! " Their mother's heart was full of love for them. She could not keep herself from 
saying, " Oak Tree, do look at my pretty babies."
All the Oak Tree said was, "Babies? Pooh! I've no time to look at babies. " The Sparrows were so 
angry that they could have pecked him.
But the next day, when they had both flown off to find food, the Wind came blowing through the 
branches of the Oak Tree. The Oak Tree called out loudly, " Gently, Wind,
gently! You'll upset my babies."
" Your babies! " said the Wind with a laugh. " Where are they? "
"Why here, of course," said the Oak Tree. " Five of them; aren't they darlings? "
Well, what do you think about the gruff old Oak Tree now?
-Adapted from "In between Stories," by STEPHEN SOUTHWOLD. (Longmans, Green, and Co.)

BUNCHY AND THE CLOTHES-PEGS.
Bunchy was picking up clothes-pegs for her grandmother. They were all lying about on the grass, 
except one. It was propped against a tuft of grass, as if it was trying to stand
up on its two little wooden legs. As Bunchy picked it up, she thought that it looked like a funny  
little man, with its little round knob of a head.
" They all look like little peg-men," she said to herself. "If some of them had skirts, there would 
be little peg-ladies, too. I wonder- "
Some poppies were growing by the wall. Bunchy picked up two or three big, shiny, red petals from the 
ground. She then tied them round a peg's waist with a piece of ribbon
grass. The peg looked like a little lady in a red satin skirt. Bunchy stuck it in the ground, so that 
it stood up by itself.  And then - what do you think? The little peg-lady began to
twirl slowly round in a stiff little dance! It spread its petal skirt, and used the two ends of the 
grass sash as if they were arms.
"Oh," said Bunchy, " I must dress some more pegs." She dressed some in leaves or petals; these were 
peg-ladies. The ones she didn't dress were the peg-gentlemen in
trousers.
Now, either the peg-people grew bigger, or Bunchy grew smaller, for, after a time,
they all seemed to be the same size. Bunchy walked about the grass with the peg-people, and sipped 
raindrops out of the flowers as easily as they did.
Then Bunchy saw that the peg-gentlemen were making a fire of dry twigs to cook their dinner on. The 
peg-ladies set out acorn cups, and a pot of soup was placed on top of
the twigs. It was an empty snail-shell, full of something that looked rather like mud
and water. But, by the way the peg-people all crowded round, they seemed to think it was very 
delicious.
Some cloths were still hanging on the line just above them, and Bunchy saw that they were flapping 
very wildly. Then, all at once, the pegs holding one of them fell off the
line, and ran to the little party round the fire. It seemed that they couldn't, or
wouldn't, hold on any longer, with such good things going on below them.
"Oh, you naughty pegs! " cried Bunchy, picking up the cloth. " You must hold the cloths on the line. 
Come here at once! " But the pegs wouldn't come. They were much too
busy pouring soup from the snail-shell pot into their acorn cups.
" Oh dear!" said Bunchy. "I'm sure Granny wouldn't like this cloth to be left on the ground, but I 
can't reach the line to peg it up, even if those naughty pegs had not run off
like that! "
Just then, the first little peg-lady in the poppy skirt took hold of one corner of the cloth. She led 
Bunchy to the tree to which the clothes-line was tied. Up she climbed, still
holding one end of the cloth; and Bunchy climbed up after her, holding on to the other end. Then the 
peg ran along the clothes-line like a tiny tight-rope dancer, pulling
Bunchy after her. The peg sat down on her end of the cloth, and pegged it firmly on to the line.
" Well," said Bunchy to herself, " I have two legs like a peg, so I suppose I can fix my end, too." She sat on the line, trying to 
hold the cloth and steady herself at the
same time.
It was not at all easy, but, of course, she was very new at it. The wind flapped the cloth and jerked 
the line so much that it was all Bunchy could do to hold on. Then, just as she was getting used to being a peg, what do you 
think that naughty little peg at the other end did?
It leaned over as far as it could and, with the next puff of wind, it dropped to the ground. It ran 
to its friends round the soup pot, and left Bunchy to keep the cloth pegged on
to the line all by herself.
" Peggy, come back! " called Bunchy, jigging up and down but still holding on tightly. " Oh dear, 
those naughty pegs! "
A drop of rain splashed on to her head. "Whatever shall I do? " she cried. " It's going to rain. I 
shall get soaked and so will the cloth."
At that moment she heard her grandmother calling, " Bunchy, where are you? Come in out of the rain. " 
And down Bunchy came to earth with a bump.
" Yes, Granny," she cried. " Oh, Granny, there's a cloth on the ground."
" Bring it in quickly," said Granny.
Bunchy picked up the cloth, threw the
pegs into the basket, and ran inside with them.
"Look, Granny, at the little peg-lady, " she said. " I shouldn't like to be a peg-person. 
It must be a bother holding clothes on to a line all day long, mustn't it?"
"Well, it's a peg's work," said Granny; "and it's nice to be useful. Now help me to lay the table for dinner."
"Yes, Granny," said Bunchy. "That's more my sort of work, isn't it, Granny? "
-Retold from "Bunchy," by JOYCE LANKESTER BRISLEY. (Harrap.)

SAINT ELIZABETH.
Many, many years ago, there lived a
young Queen called Elizabeth, who was very good and very kind. She was so sorry for the sick and the 
poor that she spent a large part of her time, and a great deal of
money, in helping them. She would
have given away everything she had, but the King would not allow that. He said she
went too far with her good works.
One day, Elizabeth was going to a grand
wedding. She wore a lovely robe, and over it a velvet cloak rich with gems. As she was crossing the 
square to the hall, she saw a
sick and starving beggar lying against a wall. There was no time to get him food, so 
Elizabeth took off her cloak and gave it 
to him. That would buy him all he needed. " Oh," said Elizabeth to herself, " I forgot! I can't go 
into the great hall without a cloak! " She hurried back home.
" Are you ready, my dear?" asked the King. " Where is your cloak?"
"I gave it to a beggar," she said softly. She feared what the King would say.
At that moment, a maid came into the room with the lovely cloak over her arm. "My lady," she said, 
"is this not your cloak? I found it hanging in your wardrobe."

ELIZABETH TOOK OFF HER CLOAK.

Elizabeth drew the cloak round her. She knew that it was a miracle, and she whispered a prayer of 
thanks. The King, too, knew that something strange and wonderful had
happened.
All through the cold winter, Elizabeth used to toil up and down the steep snowy paths and tracks, to 
help the sick and needy. She would carry heavy loads of bread, and
leave a loaf at each poor cottage.
One day she was starting out with a great bundle of loaves. She had them in her mantle. The King, who had been out
hunting, met her. He was cross when he saw his wife carrying a heavy load.
" What have you got in your mantle?" he asked sternly.
Elizabeth turned pale.
She knew the would be very angry when he saw the loaves of bread.

A SHOWER OF SOFT RED AND WHITE ROSES.

With trembling hands, she let go the hem of her mantle. Then she
looked down, thinking to see the loaves tumble to the ground. But what was this? Not bread, but a 
shower of soft red and white roses slipped from the mantle, and lay
about her feet.
She gazed in joy and surprise.
The King, too, looked in wonder. He knew the heavy load had not been roses. How could he any longer be angry with his sweet 
wife, who clearly was no less than a sainted angel?

THE WEASEL IN THE STORE ROOM.
This is one of the stories an old French nurse used to tell the children she was looking after.
A weasel was walking along one day, looking for something to eat. As he had not eaten for a week, he was very thin and 
hungry. He could not find any rabbits to
kill, for they had all come to know about him. One rabbit would always sit on the top of each hill, then, as soon as the weasel
came near a hill, the rabbit on top used to
stamp his foot, and frrt-! all the little rabbits ran into their holes.
This day was very hot, and the weasel felt too weak and tired to hunt any more. He said to himself, " Why should I hunt?
The rabbits will not let me get near them. I see a house over by those trees. I am sure I. could find 
something to eat
there." He went to the house and saw that the front door was open.
" Nobody at home," said the weasel,
"and I smell such a good smell of food." He walked right into the hall, past the sitting room, 
through the dining room,
and into the kitchen. There he found a cook, whose name was Marie. She was fast asleep in a chair, 
and did not hear
the weasel. He looked all round the kitchen to see where the food  was, but he could not find a bite 
to eat. There were
plates on the plate rack, knives and forks and spoons in a box, and some big pots hanging up by the 
fire. But they
were all bright and clean, outside and in; he could not find even a spot of gravy to lick.
He looked very closely, and smelt again. Yes, there was that smell of food, coming from a little hole 
under a door. It
was the door of the store room, where Marie used to put away all the food after every meal.
As the weasel could not open the door, he went up to the hole to see if he could get in. It was only 
a little hole, but he
was a very thin weasel, and at last he was through. And then there was a meal. He ate and ate for two 
hours, and
after that he went to sleep. As soon as he woke up, he began eating again, but, when the cook came he had to run 
and hide. " I
don't like this," said the weasel; " it's as bad as being a rabbit; I don't like having to run and hide.
I must get out of here. "
He ran to the hole under the door, but, oh dear! what had happened? He could not get through! He pushed and 
puffed, and puffed
and pushed, but it was no good,
 so he sat down and made angry noises.
Just then a wee mouse looked in through the hole. " Hallo, Mr. Weasel, what's the
matter?" " he said. " I can't get out through
this hole," said the weasel, "and I got in all right this morning. " " Oh, " said the mouse, with a grin, " I know why that 
is. I saw you when you went in; you were a skinny looking
thing. Now you have eaten such a huge meal, you are very round and very fat. You will just have to sit in the midst of all 
that food and starve, till you are as thin as when you
went in! "
-Adapted from the French of LA FONTAINE.

MILLY-MOLLY-MANDY HAS A TEA-PARTY.  
Once upon a time, Milly-Molly-Mandy had a nice little surprise. Uncle came back from 
market one Saturday with a card-board box
under the seat of the trap, and he gave it to Milly-Molly-Mandy to hold. It was a neat little box tied round with string, and 
it was not very heavy, and did not rattle much, and it
smelt of nothing except card-board. Milly-Molly-Mandy could not guess what was in it.
" May I look in it? " she asked.
" Oh yes, if you like, " said Uncle, as he went inside with the other parcels.
Milly-Molly-Mandy picked the knot undone and, when she got it open, what do you think she saw inside? The sweetest little 
dolls' tea-set, all fitted neatly into holes cut in the
card-board, so that it couldn't rattle about! Milly-Molly-Mandy gave a squeak of delight, and ran after Uncle.
"Oh, Uncle, thank you! " she said. " Is it for me? Oh, thank you, Uncle! "
It was a lovely little tea-set, with a tea-pot that would really pour, and a sugar-basin with a tiny lid, and two little cups 
and saucers and plates. " One for me and one for Susan,"
said Milly-Molly-Mandy to herself. " I'll ask Mother if I may have Susan to tea to-day."
That afternoon, Milly-Molly-Mandy laid a small cloth on the garden table, and put her tea-set on it, 
with a little vase of
flowers in the middle, and all the good things Mother had given her to eat. Then she ran down the 
road. to ask little-friend-Susan to come to the tea-party. But what do you think? She met Susan coming up the road.
" Hallo, Susan! " said Milly-Molly-Mandy.
"I was just coming to ask you to a dolls' tea-party. I have a new tea-set." And Susan said at the same 
moment, "Hallo, Milly-Molly-Mandy! I have a new tea-set. Will you come to a dolls' tea-party with me?" They 
both stood still
and stared at each other.
" Mine is a brand new tea-set," said Milly-Molly-Mandy. " Uncle brought it to me from market, and 
it's pink."
" I got mine to-day, too," said Susan. "Father brought it home from market, and it's blue. "
" But I have a nice little cake and a proper dolls' loaf," said Milly-Molly-Mandy.
"Do come! "
" No, you come! " said Susan. " I have a tiny little tart, and a weeny little pot of strawberry jam. "
"I have lots of bread-and-jam, on an ordinary plate for us to eat, " said Milly-Molly-Mandy; " and 
it's such a sweet
little tea-set! "
"Oh, Milly-Molly-Mandy," said Susan, " mine is all laid in the summer-house, and there's a daisy 
beside each
plate, and lots of thin bread-and-butter, and my tea-set is simply lovely, too! "
It was very hard, indeed to know what to do. Milly-Molly-Mandy felt sure that her party would be 
nicer, and she did not
want it wasted; and Susan felt sure that her party would be nicer, and she did not want it
wasted, either. Just then, Billy Blunt came along, scraping a bit of stick with his knife.
" What's up? " he asked; and the little girls told him all about the two tea-parties.
Billy scraped away for a moment, and then said, " Better take your things into the field and have a 
double party." He
wanted to say, " And ask me to it "; but he thought he had better not.
Milly - Molly - Mandy and Susan both wondered why they had not thought of a double tea themselves. " Then we shall each 
have 
a cup over," said Milly-Molly-Mandy, "so, Billy, you must come too!"
 Milly-Molly-Mandy took her little pink tea-set out into the field; and Susan took her little blue tea-set out into the 
field. Then they all sat on the grass, and ate off the tiny plates and drank out of the
tiny  cups. Milly - Molly - Mandy poured out for  Susan; and  Susan  poured out for Milly-Molly-Mandy; and  they both 
poured out  for Billy Blunt. Billy  had two cups, because  he was the
guest at  two tea-parties.
They finished eating when there was nothing more to eat, and then they took the tea-things to the stream and washed them. 
Milly-Molly-Mandy and little-friend-Susan both thought a double tea-party
was much more fun than just an ordinary one; and, as the cups and plates were very small, Billy Blunt, also, thought that 
being a double guest was ever so much better than being just an ordinary
single one!
-Adapted from "Further Doings of Milly-Molly-Mandy," by JOYCE L. BRISLEY. (Harrap.)

THE WOODEN HORSE.
Troy was a town of long ago, with high strong walls all round it. Outside the walls, the Greek army had been camping for ten 
long years. The Greeks were fighting against the people of Troy, and had tried again and in to break through those great walls.
One morning, when the men of Troy looked over the city walls, they saw, to
their great surprise, that the Greek army
was not there. The guards ran through the streets, shouting, "Good news! Good news! The Greeks have gone!"
The gates in the walls were thrown open for the first time in ten years; and the
people of Troy all went out to look at the Greeks' empty camp. They crowded round a huge wooden horse, which the Greeks had
left behind them. " Let us take it into the city," some said. "It may bring us good luck."
"No, do not touch it, " said a wise man of Troy. "The gift of a foe will bring you woe."
Just then, a Greek, called Sinon, was brought along. He said his people had
been cruel to him, and had left him behind. The people of Troy were sorry for Sinon. They untied his hands and treated him 
kindly. He told them that, if they took the great wooden horse into their
town, it would keep them safe from all harm.
The people believed Sinon's story, and they began to drag the horse up to the city
gates.
Boys and girls decked themselves with flowers and danced round the huge horse, while the men pulled it along on rollers. Four 
times it stopped, and each time a 
strange noise was heard inside it, but the
people were too happy and excited to take much notice. As the horse was too big to pass through the gates, part of the wall had 
be 
pulled down.
At last the wooden horse stood right in the heart of Troy. The wall was built up
again, the gates were shut, and a merry evening was spent in the town. At last, tired out, the people went to their rest.  Still and 
silent stood the great horse,
showing no sign of its secret.
One man in Troy that night was not sleeping; it was Sinon, the Greek. He was
stealing along the empty streets to where stood the horse. He gave its side a sharp
knock. Lo! a secret trap-door opened, and
jumped a band of twenty Greek soldiers!
They had been hiding all day long in the great hollow body of the wooden horse.
Now they ran to the city gates, which were, of course, shut fast for the night. In a
moment the Greek soldiers had pulled back bars and bolts, pushed aside the guards, and
thrown open the gates.
Outside, the whole Greek army was waiting to rush into Troy. The Greeks had not gone far away in the morning, and they had
stolen back to the gates as soon as it was dark. Now the way was open to them, and they poured into 
Troy.
The sound of the clash of arms awoke the people of Troy. To their dismay they found the foe inside 
their gates. Bravely they fought, but the Greeks were too strong for
them. They had been tricked by the wooden horse, and they had to hand over to the foe  the city they 
had guarded so long.

PYJAMAS.
There was once a little boy, whose name was John, but he was so fat that his mother called him "Little, little Dumpling, my son 
John," and all the family then called him "
Little, little Dumpling." His baby brother could not say " Little, little Dumpling," so he changed it 
to " Diddle, diddle Dumpkin," and after that John was often called "Diddle,
diddle Dumpkin."
When John was ten, his father became ill, and for a long time the family was very poor. John and his 
two brothers had a little bedroom among them. John slept in a very small
bed by himself, and his two brothers shared a larger bed.
One very cold winter, their mother did not have enough blankets for her boys. As John was fat, she 
said he could keep himself warm in bed, and she gave most of the bed-clothes to his two thin brothers.
Still, although John was fat, he was very cold in bed. One very bitter night, he felt he could not 
undress and crawl under his icy sheet. He waited until his big brother had
blown out the light, and then he crept into bed with all his clothes on, even his shoes. As he got 
in, one shoe fell off, and he 
left it on the floor.
Soon he grew nice and warm, and he fell asleep. When he awoke, it was early morning.
His two brothers were dancing round his bed and shouting, " Oh, Mother, Mother, come and look at 
John. He's in bed with his trousers on. "
When his mother came in and saw him, she said, "Oh, John, how could you be so naughty? And you've 
torn the sheet with your shoe. "
John was made to stand in the corner of the kitchen, while the others had breakfast. Then John's big 
brother, who was a very clever boy, said, " Mother, I've made a poem
about John." With a giggle, he pushed back his chair, stood up, and said:
Diddle, diddle, Dumpkin, My son John, 
Went to bed With his trousers on;  
One shoe off,
One shoe on, Diddle, diddle, Dumpkin, My son John!
The family all laughed, but poor John burst into tears. Then the door opened, and
in walked Farmer Tebbs. The snow was all over his hat and coat and his long brown beard. He stamped 
his feet and said,
"Good-day, everybody. What a morning! " John turned his face to the wall and tried
to stop crying. But Farmer  Tebbs went over to him, put his arm round him, and said, "Oh, what a sad 
face! What is the matter with Diddle, diddle Dumpkin? "
When he had heard the dreadful story, he sat down by the fire, drew John up to his knee, and said 
with a laugh, "Why bless my beard! Why only one shoe?"
"I dropped the other, " said John with a sob.
"And did you sleep warm?" asked Farmer Tebbs with a twinkle in his eye.
"Like a hot potato, " said John.
Farmer Tebbs sat quietly for a little while. Then he gave a laugh and a shout, and cried, " Why, the 
boy's a marvel! It's the very thing I've been looking for for years. I never can
keep warm in bed on winter nights. But this Dumpkin has given me a great idea. I'm going to have a 
suit of clothes made just for sleeping in, and a pair of woollen boots as
well."
Putting his hand in his pocket, Farmer Tebbs gave John a silver shilling, Then, patting him on the 
head, he went away, laughing as he went.
And that was how pyjamas and bed-socks began.
-Based on a story by STEPHEN SOUTHWOLD in "Ten-minute Tales." (Longmans, Green, and Co.)

THE LOST LAMB.
Late, one chilly spring afternoon, the maid, Edie, was taking John and Mary home from their dancing 
class. She was
trying to hurry them, because it was nearly tea-time.
" I can see something in the corner of that field," said Mary, pointing. " Look, by the hedge, 
something white. What
can it be?"
" Cat or dog, " said Edie, " or perhaps an old hen. " She was thinking about her tea; but John and 
Mary were not to
be so easily put off.
"It's not a hen," said John; "they cluck. " He crossed the road to the edge of the dry ditch and 
peered at the hedge. "Come, Mary, I can see it just behind that bit of holly. It's not moving much."
"It's white all over," said Mary. " I don't think it is a dog, and a cat would jump about more."
"Unless it was hurt," said John.
"Now it's moving a little-"
"Come along, do, " cried Edie, as she saw the children slip down into the ditch and scramble up the 
bank on the other
side.
" Wait, Edie," said Mary, " we must see what it is."
" Well," said Edie, crossly, " it's not the time nor the place for nature-study, if you ask me. "
At that moment a faint " Ba-a " was heard from the other side of the hedge.
" It's a lamb! Oh, John, it's a lamb!" said Mary. " A lost lamb," said John softly. "Poor little
 thing! " John wriggled through a gap in the hedge, and for a few  minutes nothing was heard, 
while he searched
and groped about. "More in the corner, John." The lamb bleated again. "Ah," said John, " I've got 
him. All
right, all right, old chap! Where are you, Mary?" 
" Here by the gap. "
John stumbled along on the far  side of the hedge with the lamb in his arms.
"Could you get hold of him, if I pushed him through? I don't think I could get through the gap with him. 
He wriggles rather,
and his legs stick out."
"Here, John," said Edie, "you hand him through, and I'll get him. "
What with the prickles in the hedge and the darkness coming on, it was not easy. In the end, however, 
the bleating
lamb was
pulled and pushed into Edie's arms. Then
she and the children scrambled on to the road once more.
" What a little sweet! " said Mary, stroking the lamb's head.
"Give him to me, Edie," said John.
"We'll leave him at the bridge cottage,"
said Edie.
" I'm going to take him home, " said John. " My gracious! " cried Edie. " If that doesn't beat all! 
What would your aunty say if you came home with a lamb? "
" It's my lamb and Mary's," cried John. " Go away, Edie. You are not to touch it."
" Oh, the poor little lamb," wailed Mary. " You'll hurt it; you'll frighten it; give it to me "
" Now, Mary  "
A car came along and stopped, and their aunt (called Push) jumped out.
" Dear me! " she said. "What's all this about?"
"Oh, Push, we've got a lamb."
"We may bring him home, mayn't we, Push? He could easily live in the nursery."
"He could have the doll's bed; the big one- "
He could have a basket with straw."
" Please, Miss, lambs can't be kept in
doors. I couldn't - " 
"Nobody's asking you to, Edie."
"Push, she's cruel. You're a horrid cruel girl, Edie."
"Get into the car," said Push.
"But-" said John.
"Lamb and all," said Push.
They all packed in - John, Mary, and the lamb beside Push, Edie behind.
" I have just been talking to Shepherd Taylor," said Push quietly. " He and his
dog, Trust, were out with a lantern. They were looking for a lamb." John hugged the lamb in his arms 
and said nothing. " They have gone to the fold to see if they can calm down
the ewe. She was carrying on, Shepherd said. "
"Ma-a-a-ing? " said Mary.
"I suppose so."
Mary and I found the lamb," said John.
" Oh, I know."
One star came out in the green part of the sky.
" Push," said John, "have we passed the turning to Shepherd Taylor's?"
"We are just coming to it."
" Perhaps we had better go and take the lamb to his mother."
"If you say so, John."
"But me and Mary found him, and he will always be ours, always," said John.
-Adapted extract from "More about John and Mary," by GRACE JAMES. (Frederick Muller.)

THE WHY OF THE WEATHER.
"I'm sure I only want to please people," said the Clerk of the Weather one day. "If I knew the kind of 
weather they
wanted, I should be very happy to send it. "
He undid the top of a large brass jar of sunshine, and smiled. " Surely that will please everybody," 
he said; " they all
like sun! " He soon found, however, that he was wrong.
" This sun is too hot for words," grumbled a man who was sawing logs. " Why can't we have a breath of 
wind to keep
us cool? "
" Wind! " said the Clerk of the Weather.
"If that's all you want, I can make you happy; " and he began to work his great pair of bellows.
" You can't trust this weather," sighed a little old lady, who had just sat down to rest in the park. 
" A nasty little wind
like this, springing up all at once, is enough to give anyone her death of cold. I wish, if it were 
going to be windy that it
would blow hard. Then we should all know what to do, and stay indoors."
" Anything to suit you, madam," said the Clerk of the Weather; and he blew his bellows with a will. 
The wind raced
over the country, roared down the chimneys, whistled under the doors, and drove everything before it.
"Hurrah! Hurrah! " shouted the boys that were flying kites; but the people walking along the road did 
not at all like the
strong wind. " Oh, this horrible dust! " they said.
"What we want is rain."
"I'm glad you've had enough wind," panted the Clerk of the Weather, quite out of breath with pumping 
the bellows. He
took down a watering-can; but were the people pleased when he began to sprinkle them with rain? Not a 
bit! They all
grumbled because they had left home without umbrellas; or because they had just hung out the washing; 
or because
they were afraid of getting their feet wet.
" Why should it rain now? " they cried.
"It's silly the way the weather changes! " " It's silly the way your minds change," said the Clerk of 
the Weather, and he
lit his smudge fire and made a good black fog. "That ought to keep them quiet while I. think," said 
he. He thought
and thought. "I'll never be able to please them all," he sighed; " no two of them want the same 
thing. " Then he had a
bright idea.
" I'll serve out the weather in little pieces!" he said. " Each one shall have
his own bit. There won't be anything to grumble at then." He rolled up his sleeves and set to work.
Farmer Fuddle wanted wind to dry his hay. Gardiner Grub wanted rain for his seedlings. Mrs. Muffin 
wanted a cool
day for ironing. Miss Miffin wanted it warm so that she could wear her new thin summer dress. Tommy 
Tod wanted to
play snowballs; and his little sister, Tilly, wanted sunshine, so that she could sit on the grass and 
pick daisies. Lazy
Larry thought a thunderstorm would be nice, for then he could stay at home from  school.
The Clerk of the Weather bustled round his room. He sprinkled a little rain here, and he let out a 
few rays of sunshine
there. He took a turn at the bellows, and opened the ice-chest to get a lump of snow. He hunted 
through the linen
press for clouds of the right size, and he reached up to the iron box on the top shelf for a 
thunder and lightning
firework.
" It's very hard work," he panted, " but, if the new plan pleases people, I don't mind."
At first everyone was delighted to find he had exactly the weather he wanted; and as long as people 
stayed by
themselves, it was all right.
Miss Miffin, however, happy in her own patch of sunshine, stopped to talk to Farmer Fuddle. He was 
working in his
own patch of
wind; and their two weathers became all mixed up at the edges. Miss Miffin began to shiver, and 
Farmer Fuddle to
mop his brow. Instead of saying, " Lovely weather, isn't it?" They both cried " What weather! It
changes every five minutes! "
It was worse when Tommy Tod was told to mind his little sister, Tilly. Her sunshine melted his snow, 
and his snow
killed her daisies. Then Lazy Larry, with his
thunderstorm ran up to play with them.
Such queer things happened when the three weathers mixed that the children all ran
home crying.
" What can you make of a day like this? "
everyone was saying. " The weather used
to change often enough, but now it changes
every time you meet a friend. What can the Clerk of the Weather be doing? "
" Doing? " groaned the Clerk of the Weather. " I'm trying to please everybody,
 and this is all the thanks I get. If I choose the weather, it's wrong; and, if the people choose 
their own, it's worse.
There's nothing for it but to shut my eyes every morning, turn round three times, and take the 
weather I touch first."
So that is how the weather is chosen now-a-days. If we don't like it, we must think of a better plan. 
No doubt, the
Clerk of the Weather will be very glad to give it a trial.
-Retold from a story by MARGARET BAKER in the " Oxford Children's Annual."

THAT FUNNY FEELING.
The yellow cat stretched himself lazily; Then he sat up and listened. "What a noise to be sure!" he 
said. "What is it all
about?"
The white rooster sat on the farm-yard
gate and crowed. " Cock-a-doodle-doo-oo," he cried; and all the hens clucked and cackled
round him.
"They seem pleased," said the yellow cat; " but they speak so fast that I can't
hear what they say. "
The red calves kicked up their heels and
ran  round the yard. " Moo-oo-oo! " they called.
" They seem pleased too, but they talk so 
loudly that I can't hear what they say,"
grumbled the yellow cat.
The blue pigeons all strutted and bowed to 
one another. "Coo-coo-coo-oo! " they
murmured.
"  They seem pleased, " said the yellow cat, "but they all talk at once, and I can't hear what they 
say."
All the ducks and geese and turkeys quacked and hissed and gobbled.
" I think they are all quite silly," said the yellow cat; but he had a funny feeling himself.
Floss, the black dog, came running up. "Isn't it glorious? " she panted.
" Isn't what glorious? " asked the yellow cat crossly. " What is everybody so excited about?"
"Oh! haven't You heard? It's spring!"
"Is that it?"  said the yellow cat. "Excuse me a moment."
He raced off down the garden with his tail in the air; he skipped round in circles; he chased up and 
down trees; and at
last he came back and lay down by Floss with his tail swishing.
" Excuse me! " he said again. " But it does make you feel funny, doesn't it? " "It does!" said Floss.
- CICELY ENGLEFIELD, in the "Oxford Children's Annual."

VISITING A GOLD-MINE.
[Last year some of us enjoyed reading about
Nora of Reefton. This time we shall read of Nora's going down a Reefton gold-mine.]
One morning Father came into the kitchen, where Mother was making scones, and said in
a whisper, " I am going up to the ' Keep-it-Dark ' mine. Do you think I might take Nora with me? "
Mother said, " Well, Daddy, I know she
would like to go, if she would not be a worry to 
you. " Nora was playing the piano in 
the drawing-room. How excited she was
when Father asked her if she would like to go! He told her she must not be frightened,
for there would be nothing to fear. Nora
promised to be brave, and to do exactly as
she was told, and to stay close to Father all the time.
They went up to the mine in Grandfather's
buggy. When they got there, Nora saw a lot of big untidy sheds. There was a very large wooden wheel, and a water-race running 
along to the 
top of the wheel.
Father said that the water from the race fell on to the wheel, and its weight turned the wheel round. 
Then, as the
wheel turned, it worked an engine in the big shed.
They went inside and looked round. A long steel rope ran round a drum, and Nora saw that the rope 
went into a big
hole in the earth - the shaft. Soon there was a clang from a bell, and the engine began to work. The 
rope wound round
the drum, and in a few  minutes the cage came up the shaft.
The mine manager, Father, and Nora got into the cage. Nora held Daddy's hand very tightly, for she 
did not like
dark holes very much. There was a jerk, and the cage began to go down. As they went down into the 
earth, Nora
watched the shiny walls. She felt like Alice falling into Wonderland.
At last there was a bump, and they were at the bottom of the hole. The place was like a big dark 
room. It was lit with
small lamps. There were men and horses and trucks. Oh dear, it was so muddy, and there were so many 
boards and
rails to fall over! Nora was glad she had on her biggest boots.
The miners had funny little lamps on the front of their caps. Father and Nora were
given one of these little lamps. They were called " safety lamps," as the flame in them was covered so that 
it could not set fire 
to the gas in the mine. Nora had heard of the dreadful explosions of gas that sometimes killed miners.
Then a miner took them along a tramway.
It was dark and very wet and muddy. There were pools of water and the path was
rough. Once they heard a shout, and Father stepped back against the wall and pulled Nora with him. A 
horse drawing
a string of trucks came round the corner and passed them.
After they had gone on in the dark a long way, they came to a place where men
were digging out the gold. They were using picks and shovels with short handles. Some were shovelling the 
clay and rock
into little trucks, for the horses to pull away along the tram-line.
A little farther on they came to the reef.
Father said, " Look, Nora, here is the gold "; and
 Nora, who had expected to see a broad  band of shining gold, said, " Is that all? " For the gold vein 
was only a thin
streak, like the mark of a golden pencil in the white
rock above her head. Father said it was a very rich reef, and he wished he owned all
the gold in it.
The miners laughed at Nora, and one said " I suppose you thought it would be
as wide as your sash." Nora did not tell him that she had expected it to be as wide as a footpath.
They went back another way, and had to climb a long ladder. The mine manager went first, then came 
Nora, and
lastly Father, who watched that Nora did not slip on the rungs of the ladder. He showed her how to 
put her feet so as
to grip with the heel of her boot. Up, up they climbed. It was very hot and Nora felt tired, but she 
did not complain.
At last they reached the top and came out into another long tunnel through the earth. The miners said 
there was no
gas in this part of the mine, so their little lamps were taken away, and Daddy was given a big 
lantern to carry. But,
before they went on, the lights were put out. The mine manager said, " Let us show Nora how dark it 
is in the mine."
Then Nora "saw" real dark. It was blacker than the blackest night - no moon, no stars, just inky 
blackness.
When the lamps were lit again, they sat and ate some chocolate while they waited for the cage. 
When it came,
they got in and they were quickly pulled to the top. The sunshine hurt Nora's eyes at first, but she 
was rather glad to
be out of the dark and mud of the mine. Daddy told her that the mine ponies often went blind in the 
mine.
They climbed into the buggy and drove home, feeling very dirty. When Nora got
into the warm bath, which Mary had ready for her, she said to Mother, " I'll never have a warm bath, or 
play in the
sunshine, or
sit by a fire, or eat a good dinner, but I will 
say, 'Thank you, miners, who dig the coal
and gold out of the horrid mines for us.' "
-From " Nora Among the Hills," by E. N. SAMPSON.

THE SHEEP-DIP.
The caravan children were walking across a field when they came to a sheep-dip. They had never seen 
one before, so
Miss Quilter told them how the sheep were driven into the dirty-looking, red-brown water. She said 
that, when they
came out, their woolly coats were fresh and clean, and that the dip only frightened them a little.
David, however, wanted to know how cold the water was, and he could not see at all how the men dipped 
the sheep.
Miss Quilter walked right down the slope that led to the water, and stood at the edge. "Now," she 
said, " the sheep
come down here one by one, and the man at this side takes them like this . . . " She bent down and 
pretended to
take hold of a sheep, and to push it into the water. But her foot  slipped, and she fell plop! right 
into the middle of the
sheep-dip, and the red-brown water came right up to her neck.
"Oh, help!" said Miss Quilter.
"Oh, help!" cried all the children, and they jumped up and down, and for a moment they did not know what to do.
Then Mary, who was the eldest, ran to the edge of the water and held out her hand, and Miss Quilter 
caught hold, and
held on tight. Then Mary gave her other hand to Elizabeth; and she stretched out her other hand to 
Tommy
(Thomasina); who gave
her other hand to David; and David gave his other hand to Peter; and Peter caught
hold of the fence with his other hand, and
held on tight.
" Now, pull! " said Mary.
They all held tight and pulled hard, and
they slowly pulled Miss Quilter out of the
red-brown water. She stood safe at last at 
the edge of the sheep-dip, and the dirty
water dripped from her dress. It bubbled
out of her shoes, and ran out of her sleeves,
and she smelled all over of sheep-dip.
The children stood round her with very
grave faces, until she began to smile. After a little she began to laugh, and then somehow they all 
began to laugh.
They laughed and laughed and laughed. " Oh dear! " laughed Miss Quilter, " I can tell you now, David. 
The water is
just about as cold as ice." And she laughed again, and gave some big sneezes one after another.
The children were afraid she had caught cold, so they all ran back to the caravan. Miss Quilter kept 
on giving big
sneezes, and the children said she must go to bed at once. While she was taking off her wet clothes, 
they made her
bed ready, and put in two hot-water bottles, and lit the stove. When Miss Quilter was ready to get 
into bed, the
caravan was warm and cosy.
Then Tommy said she would make a surprise tea. " Well," said Miss Quilter, "a hot meal would be 
simply lovely. It
really is kind of you. I'll just go to sleep till it's ready." She drew the bed clothes up to her chin, shut her eyes, and was soon fast 
asleep.
" Now," said Tommy, " I'll be the cook; Peter and David can make the toast, and Mary and Elizabeth can make cocoa and get the 
plates ready."
They all started to work. Peter carefully cut some slices of bread and he and David began the toast. 
Mary and Elizabeth found the cocoa-tin and milk, and Tommy got out some eggs, and butter, and a pan, and a wooden spoon.
" What are you going to make, Tommy?" asked David, who was feeling rather hungry.
" Scrambled eggs," said Tommy, putting a lump of butter in the pan. She then broke the eggs into a 
basin, added
milk, pepper, and salt, and beat it all with a fork . Then she poured this all into the pan, and stirred and 
stirred with the wooden
spoon. All at once the thin-looking mixture turned
into thick scrambled eggs; and Tommy
said, "It's ready."
They put the pieces of toast on the plates, and
poured     over them the lovely, hot scrambled eggs. Then they put a plate of scrambled eggs and a cup of steaming cocoa
on a tray, and took it to Miss Quilter. "Wake up! Tea time! " said Tommy loudly; they all 
wondered what Miss
Quilter would say. She woke at once.
 " Tea already!" she said. Then she saw the
tray. " What? " she said. "Scrambled
eggs ? How lovely! On toast? Oh! 
 However - Oh! And hot cocoa ? Oh! Delicious! Oh!" So they all felt very pleased, and sat
down and enjoyed their own meal.
The next morning Miss Quilter had no cold at all, and she said it was because the children had 
taken such good
care of her,
and had given her such a splendid tea.
-Adapted from " The Caravan Children," by LUCY  M. BELLHOUSE. (Harrap.) (Price, 1s.)

ELIZA'S LAD.
It was Tony's birthday, and he was seven years old. It was a lovely day. The sun was shining; the birds were singing; and Tony 
sat swinging on the gate. He should
have been very happy, but he was not. And it was all because of Eliza's Lad.
Eliza was a nice white dog, and she really belonged to The-man-over-the-fence, who was a great friend 
of Tony's. She played with Tony so much, however, that
sometimes Tony forgot that they did not belong to each other.
Well, one morning, seven weeks before, Tony had been planting daffodil bulbs in his own piece of 
garden, when The-man-over-the-fence called, " Come and see what
Eliza's
got!"
Tony dropped his gardening fork, climbed over the fence, and ran into the stable. It seemed dark in 
there after the sunshine outside, but, after a moment, he saw in the
corner a large box. He peeped inside, and what do you think he saw? He saw Eliza and six little squeaking puppies.
"Oh, Eliza," said Tony, " what beauties!" 
That was seven weeks ago, and oh ! what a lovely time they had all had, as the puppies grew old enough to play ! But, sad to 
say, during the last week, five of them had gone to new homes. Only the Lad was left, and he was to 
go to-day, Tony's birthday, of 
all days! If he hadn't been seven years old, Tony would have gone into the stable and sat in the dark 
and cried.
" Hallo, old man, many happy returns of the day! " said The-man-over-the-fence, looking over, and 
smiling at Tony.
Tony stopped swinging and smiled. He hoped his grown-up friend would not guess how unhappy he felt. 
"Thank you, "
he said. " Oh, hallo, Eliza.
He scrambled down from the gate as Eliza jumped the fence. She nearly knocked him over, in the joy of 
giving him a
birthday lick. Tony hugged her. " She doesn't seem to mind at all about losing the Lad, " he thought.
" Has the Lad gone yet? " he asked The-man-over-the-fence.
"Yes, he went about half an hour ago."
Tony blinked away the tears. "Did Eliza mind? " he asked.
" Mind? Not she! " said Eliza's master; "in fact, I think she was rather pleased."
Tony could not believe it. Rather pleased at losing her last puppy! He looked at her sadly, but Eliza 
was barking and
capering about, and showed no sign of sorrow. Then her loud barks turned to sharp little yelps.
" She seems to want to tell you something," said her master.
"What is it, Eliza? What is it, old girl? " asked Tony, trying to catch hold of her collar. Eliza 
could not speak, but she
did the next best thing. Catching hold of Tony's jumper, she gave a few sharp tugs.
"And she seems to want to take you
somewhere, as well, " said The-man-over-the-fence.
Tony laughed. "Come on, Eliza, show me."
Along the path she led him, up the steps, into the kitchen, and along the passage to
the door of Tony's play-room. There she
stopped. Tony opened the door, and Eliza
bounded in before him. He took a step into the room, and stood, unable to believe his eyes. Then he 
gave a shout.
There in a big basket lay Eliza's Lad
fast asleep. Round his neck hung a chewed piece of ribbon with a torn card tied to it. Tony put two 
or three pieces
together and slowly read out
Many Happy Returns of the Day,  With love,
From Eliza.
-Adapted from PHYLLIS M. BLAND'S story in "Child Education." (Evans.)

ANDROCLES AND THE LION.
In Africa, long ago, there lived a slave
called Androcles. His cruel master beat him every day, and, at last, Androcles could bear
it no longer. He ran away into the desert. There he wandered about in the terrible heat, until he 
came to a rocky cave.
Worn out, he crept into the shade of the cave, and fell asleep.
When he woke up, he saw a great tawny lion at the mouth of the cave. The poor slave thought his last 
hour had
come. Afraid to move, he lay waiting for the beast to spring.
The lion did not spring; it walked quietly up to Androcles and held out its paw. The slave then saw 
that the beast was
in pain. He took the paw in his hand and looked at it closely. A long sharp thorn
had gone deep into the flesh. The slave pulled out the thorn, and then cleaned and bathed the sore. 
The lion, now free
from pain, fell asleep with its paw still between the slave's hands.
From that day, the lion was the slave's friend; and for three long years the strange pair lived 
together in the lonely
cave. Every day the lion brought in a share of the birds and
beasts it had killed, and the slave roasted his meat in the hot sun.
At last Androcles felt so lonely that, while the lion was away, he left the cave. It was not long before 
he was caught by
some soldiers, who sent him back to his master.
The poor slave was put in prison for running away, and then, one day, he was taken with
other slaves to the circus, to be thrown to the wild beasts.
A great crowd of people sat round to watch the struggle between the slaves and the animals. Androcles' turn 
came, and he stood
waiting for the beast that would surely kill him. The door of a cage opened, and a
hungry lion, bigger and fiercer than all the
others, leapt out.
It made straight for the slave and then,
instead of springing upon him, it stopped.
It walked quietly round him, gently rubbing  against him, and licking his hands and legs. The slave, 
half-dead with fear,
now looked  closely at the lion. He saw that it was his old friend of the desert and, putting his arms
round the shaggy neck, he hugged the great
beast for joy.
All the people were looking on in wonder. Why did the lion not kill the slave? What was the slave 
doing? Then they
saw that
the man and the beast were friends. A loud
cheer went up. The King sent for Androcles, and asked him what it all meant.
He heard the slave's story, and he was so pleased that he made him a free man. After that, when 
Androcles walked
about the streets, a great lion was always beside him, like a faithful dog.

TOTO, THE LITTLE ELEPHANT.
Far away, in the very heart of Africa, there is a great green forest, and in the middle of this 
forest there is a tawny jungle. Through the jungle flows a river, which the
elephants call the lazy river. This piece of country has two names. The keeper living in his hut 
calls it His Majesty's Game Reserve, but the animals haven't time to use
such a long name. They call it the safe place.
In this safe place there lives a little elephant called Toto. He is rather a nice little fellow, 
with a crinkly coat and a funny curly tail. His mother thinks that he is an elephant of
mark, but his father says that Toto is an animal of very small brain indeed.
One morning, Toto wandered to the edge of the forest, where in a clearing stood the gamekeeper's hut. 
Toto was not afraid of men, oh no! He knew that no man could come
to this safe place, to hunt the elephant folk for their ivory tusks. Those that did come, therefore, 
must be friends, and certainly the keeper was a friend. Toto stared at the
shady house, and wondered what it was like inside. Surely he might peep!
Walking softly on his cushiony pads, Toto stepped on to the wooden veranda. Funny place! What a lot 
of strange smells! He poked his trunk inside a window.
" Goodness! " cried a
voice inside the room. "Here's an elephant come to call! Go
away, Jumbo, you'll knock the place down. Go away! "
Toto did not go away. He marched up and down the clearing, and put his naughty
paws on all the neat banana patches, and
even ate the bananas. Now, this did not please the keeper, because he had meant to eat them himself. He 
said to one of his boys, " We will turn the hose on this very
naughty elephant. "
They brought out the hose and turned it full strength on to Toto, thinking he would run away. But Toto 
did not run away. He wiggled his curly tail and said, "This is a nice
game; I can play it too;" and he
dipped his trunk into the water tubs and
squirted everything he could see. He then stayed and ate the keeper's bananas, and didn't go home 
till he wanted to.
When at last he went back to the jungle, the gamekeeper came on to the veranda to watch him go. He 
saw him wave his long trunk and wiggle his little tail, and the keeper
said to himself, " Now that little elephant thinks he is a very clever fellow,
he will very likely come back to eat more of my bananas. Hmmm! Something must be done about him."
As for Toto, he went back home and strutted before his mother, and showed off
every time he went near his father, and thought himself a very fine fellow indeed.
The next morning, Toto went again to the keeper's house. He looked at the banana patch, and thought 
how good it
would be to eat the bananas. Then he looked at the house, and noticed how still and dark it was. " I 
will peep through
the window," he said.
Toto poked his trunk through the window, but no one was there. Then he heard something move - something 
that made
a scratchy, scuttling noise along the wood-work, a pittery, pattery noise along the boards, a 
swishing, swirling noise
in the dark. Toto started back and said quite loudly: "Little elephants don't like creepy, shivery 
noises in the dark. They are not afraid of roaring lions in the jungle, and they are not afraid of
snappy crocodiles in the river. They are strong and brave, and lords of all the forest,  but they 
don't like shivery noises
round about a place. "
Then the noise began again. It scratched
and pattered and swished and swirled all round the dark room. Toto's ears began to
flap like sails, and he got a funny feeling down his back-bone, and his tail became so shivery that it 
twisted into a ball.
He drew
back from the veranda, and said, " I don't care for places where there are crawly, creepy
noises "; and he turned and ran towards the jungle.
As Toto reached the edge of the clearing, the keeper came on to the veranda and laughed. He said, "You really are a
rather nice litle elephant, but you shouldn't eat my
bananas. You don't mind a hose, and you are not afraid of banging and shouting, but I knew you 
wouldn't like the sort
of noise a mouse makes in the dark."
Toto didn't hear him. He was running to his mummy as fast as he could. When he reached home he was 
very good.
One of the young elephants asked him to go with him to raid the banana groves, but Toto said, " No 
thank you. I
would rather stay by the river. I don't think I like bananas."
-Retold from the story by MURIEL A. HILL, in "Child Education." (Evans.)  

MAKING A GUY.
Guy Fawkes day was coming, and the Bargery children made up their minds to have a guy. It was David's 
idea, but it
was his big brother, Henry, who set to work to
make the guy.
" The first thing we need," said Henry, "is old clothes."
" Then, we must go to Dad, " said David.
So to Dad they went. He said he could let them have an old pair of trousers and an old pair of boots; 
but he could not
spare a coat or a waistcoat. When Jack Willet heard about it, he said he could bring an old coat of 
his father's.
With the things they had, the children then began to make the guy. They stuffed the body with paper 
and rags; they
made the legs stiff with sticks; and they fitted on the boots. The only thing they had to buy was a 
false face, which
cost sixpence.
At the tea-table, the children could talk of nothing else but the guy.
"What we want now," said Henry, " is a waistcoat. As it is now, the stuffing shows."
" Use one of Father's shop aprons,'' said David.
"No, no," said Jane, "that would make it look too much like Father."
Mrs. Bargery laughed, and Mr. Bargery said, " I don't mind the guy looking like me, so long as I 
don't look like the
guy."
" But isn't that the same thing, Father?" asked David.
" Now, David," said his mother, " go on with your tea. "
" But--- " went on David.
 "No," said his mother, "not but, but
butter - bread and butter. Eat that first and ask questions afterwards."
They managed, after all, to button up the coat so that the inside didn't show. The only thing still 
needed was the hat.
Henry wanted to use his father's old top-hat, but Mr. Bargery said that, although it was too bad to 
wear, it was too
good for a guy.
" Besides," said Phyllis, who had learnt history, " there were no top-hats in the days of Guy Fawkes."
So they made a paper hat, and the guy was complete.
-From " The Bargerys," by P. B. BALLARD. (University of London Press.)

THE CHRISTMAS PARTY.
One morning, when the children at Jane
Martin's school went to their seats, they each found an envelope on the desk, with his or her name on 
it. Inside was a
lovely
card with a crinkly silver edge, and on it us written:
" The boys and girls of Smith's Road Upper School invite you to a Christmas Party to be held on the 
14th December.
Tea, 3.30 p.m. R.S.V.P.
Mothers, 6.30 p.m.
"Well," said Miss Shepherd, when the children had calmed down a little, " the first thing you must 
do is to answer
invitations. " Miss Shepherd always knew what should be done first. She had a pink or blue card for each 
child, and
most of the answer was written on it. It was:
" * will be very pleased to  come to the Christmas Party on  the 14th December. " And now for the party.

* Each child wrote his or her name here.

After the children had shaken hands with the Headmaster, and said they were " quite well, thank you," they were each met by a 
big boy or girl, who helped them to
dress up in the most lovely paper dresses. Jack was a Red Indian; Billy was a king; Phyllis was Old Mother Hubbard; and Jane 
was a fairy with a wand.
They then each drew a number out of a large box, and went and found the same number on one of the little tables laid for four 
in the boys' hall. Jane drew 40, and soon
found herself sitting with a clown, a postman and a shepherdess! Then came tea, with real tea to drink, which was a treat 
for Jane. While they were having their meal,
people sang to them. Miss Wright and Miss Shepherd sang too, for Jane watched them. They were jolly songs like " What Shall 
we do with a Drunken Sailor ? " and "Ten Green Bottles "; and soon the children were joining in too.
Later on, they went to the girls' hall, where they found seats with numbers on for them, and a real stage. The curtain was 
drawn up, and there was Father Christmas and
the funniest clown you ever saw. The clown told Father Christmas that the big boys and girls were giving the party for the 
children in the infant school. " We thought," he
said to Father Christmas,
"that you would like to be here, and we hope you will stay to the end, sack and all.
"Indeed, I will," said Father Christmas, "and I hope I may be able to add to the fun later on. " And down he came from the stage, 
and sat at the back of the hall.
Then the clown stole the policeman's helmet and hid it in the piano. Walking on his hands,  he pretended to be helping the
policeman to find it. Just as the policeman was going to look in the piano, a fireman rushed on to the stage, pushing a 
fire-engine. He said they were saving petrol, and
the clown and the policeman must push too.
 They all rushed off pushing the fire-engine - it was really only a toy - and all the time the policeman was crying, " I want 
my helmet! " The clever clown, who had
popped it on the fireman's head, was crying, " He wants his helmet! " Jane only just stopped Billy 
from telling the
policeman where it was, as they all three pushed the fire-engine past the children's chairs.
When the children looked up at the stage again, there was the dearest little theatre on it. The 
little people who acted
in it seemed so alive, that it was hard to believe
they were only dolls. There were Jack and Jill telling how they spilled the water; Old Mother Hubbard 
who went to a
real cupboard and took out a bone while her dog barked for it , the Wise Men of Gotham; and Little 
Red Riding Hood.
She said to the wolf, " Yes, what big teeth you have! But here comes a chopper to chop off your head!" And a chopper did
drop down from the top of the stage. The
children cheered and cheered. They cheered so much that afterwards they never could be quite sure 
whether the
chopper chopped the wolf's head off or not, for the curtain came
down at that moment, and no one would tell them.
Next, Father Christmas came back and said, "Now I'm going to give you each a present,
 and my daughter, the shepherdess, must help me, because my eyes are sore with the soot from the 
chimneys." Lo
and behold! there came the loveliest shepherdess, crook and all. She was so lovely and fairy-like that it 
was not until she
spoke that Jane knew her. Jane forgot where she was, and called out, "Miss Shepherd!" All the 
children knew
then, and they cheered and clapped and shouted, until the shepherdess waved her crook and said, "Be 
quiet, little
lambs." "
They were quiet then, for they had to
listen for their names. At last everyone had his present, a just-what-I-wanted present. The boys 
began to play in
their comic band with combs and tins and penny whistles, and the girls sang until they were tired.
Then Miss Wright came up on the stage
and thanked the big boys and girls for the party they had given the infant school, the loveliest 
party any of them
had ever had. She looked at her own top class and said:
"Now, children, please go out, row by row to your cloakrooms, and get ready quickly, for your mothers will be waiting for you. 
Good-night, everybody."
One of the teachers played marching tunes, and they all went out quietly and happily. And Miss Shepherd was very proud of 
them, for not a single one forgot to say, " Thank you, sir! " to the
Headmaster, who stood at the door to say good-night to them.
-Adapted from "Jane's First Term," by NANCY CATTY. (Harrap.)



