"Not I," said the goose.
"Not I," said the rat.
"Then I will," said Little Red Hen.
So she took the wheat to the mill, where it was ground. Then she carried the flour home.
"Who will make me some bread with this flour?" she asked.
"Not I," said the cat.
"Not I," said the goose.
"Not I," said the rat.
"Then I will," said Little Red Hen.
So she made and baked the bread.
Then she said, "Now we shall see who will eat this bread."
"We will," said cat, goose, and rat.
"I am quite sure you would," said Little Red Hen, "if you could get it."
Then she called her chicks, and they ate up all the bread. There was none left at all for the cat, or the goose, or the rat.
IN SEARCH OF A BABY
BY F. TAPSELL
"Please, I"m lost." These words, and a thump! thump! on the door were what Mrs. Stone heard as she sat at supper in her tiny house in the wood.
She went to open the door, and there she saw a dear little girl about three years old.
"Please, I"m lost," again came the words, and two fat little fists went up to a pair of big blue eyes.
"Come in, little girl, and tell me all about it," said the woman.
"Maybe I can help you to find your way."
The child let herself be led into the room; then all at once the two tiny fists came down from the two blue eyes, and she gave a quick look at the table.
"Are you having supper?" she said. "May I have supper too? I am ever so hungry."
"Yes, dear; of course you shall have some," was the reply. "See, you shall sit on this chair by my side. Now what will you have?"
"I think I would like some bread and b.u.t.ter with sugar on it--brown sugar, you know;" and soon the little girl was as happy as could be.
"What is your name, dear?" asked Mrs. Stone, when supper was over and the little girl had begun to think once more about how she was to find her way home.
"Meg," was the reply.
"But your other name, for you must have two names."
"No, my name is just Meg, of course; I don"t have any other name," she said, a look of wonder in the big blue eyes.
"Do you know where you live?"
"Yes; I lives in the nursery. Didn"t you know that?"
She was so sure that it did not seem any good to say any more about it. So Mrs. Stone only asked, "Where were you going when you came to my house?"
"To find a baby," was the reply. "Rob said that if I went to a house in the wood they would give me one. Have you got a baby to give me?"
"No, dear; I am afraid I have not. But why do you want a baby? I am sure you have lots of dolls."
"Yes, of course I have; but then you see dolls are not alive. I want a real baby to play with.
"Enid won"t play with me much now, for she says I am too small, and Rob is at school all the time."
"Why, who is that?" said a voice, and a man came in with a bag of tools.
Then the two little fists again went up to the blue eyes, for the little maid was shy of this great big man.
"Well, wife, so you have a friend, I see," he said. "Who is the little la.s.s?"
"I don"t know," said his wife. "It seems she was lost, and came here to ask her way. She says she came to find a baby."
"Come here, little one, and don"t be afraid," said the man. "There never was a child yet who would not come to me," and as he spoke he drew her on to his knee. "Now, then, tell me all about it."
After one glance at the man"s kind face Meg nestled up to him and began,--
"Nurse was so busy she could not be in the room with me.
"So I put on my hat and came to look for a baby; but I got lost on the way. At last I came to the wood and saw this house. She could not give me a baby as Rob said she would, but she gave me some tea, and bread and b.u.t.ter with sugar on it. We only have that on Sunday at home. Is this Sunday?"
"No, little miss," said the man. "But I expect you had it just for a treat, as you had got lost."
But just then steps were heard on the path, and there was a sharp knock at the door.
The latch was lifted, and a voice said,--
"Have you seen a little girl in a white frock pa.s.s this way?"