"I never did eat such vegetables!"
Then he would smile over at Mother.
And Marmaduke, after his turn one night, whispered to his mother--
"It _was_ a pretty fairy story, Mother. And we made it come true ourselves."
"Yes, with the help of G.o.d and His fairies--the jolly Sun, the gentle Rain, and brown Mother Earth. But the best part of it all is that _your own_ hands helped."
But the Little-Clock-with-the-Wise-Face-on-the-Mantle thought that the children understood now. So he stopped this advice with his silver tongue.
And Mother, too, agreed that it was late. So she kissed them good-night and tucked them under the coverlids as they had covered the tiny seeds in their brown beds.
NINTH NIGHT
ANOTHER TRUE FAIRY STORY
Jehosophat, Marmaduke, and Hepzebiah were very happy as they watched the fairy story of the flowers. They were happier still because they helped it grow. But of course that did not take all of their time. So one morning when Marmaduke had eaten up all of his oatmeal and the cream, which b.u.t.tercup had given him, he laid his spoon down and said:
"Won"t you show us another story, "cause we can"t watch our gardens all day long?"
"Yes," said Mother, "let me think what it will be."
So Mother thought awhile.
"I"ll get Mother Nature to show you another story. But you can"t help with this one. You"ll just have to watch. It"s made by the birds themselves."
Then she looked at the calendar.
"Why, it"s the fourteenth of May. He ought to be here pretty soon."
"Who ought to be here soon?" asked Jehosophat.
"Why, the Oriole, the Baltimore Oriole, on his way back from the South, where he lives all winter."
"How do you know he"ll come soon?" the three children asked, all in the same breath.
"He always comes back about the middle of May. City folks call May first "Moving Day," but the fifteenth is the Oriole"s Moving Day."
So Mother led them out of the front door.
"Just sit in that swing or play with the pine needles and watch that elm.
Don"t make too much noise now! Maybe he"ll come today."
And the children played in the front of the house all the morning and looked up at the dark green leaves of the elm every once in a while. But no bright little bird messenger came.
They were very much disappointed but Mother said:
"Never mind, tomorrow is his Moving Day and I think he"ll come then. He is usually pretty prompt."
That night Uncle Roger came to the house with Aunt Mehitable. As a special treat the children were allowed to stay up late and hear Uncle Roger"s stories of the great sea.
They stayed up very late, although the Little-Clock-with-the-Wise-Face-on-the-Mantle spoke several times. So next morning they were very tired. The sun was warm and while Jehosophat, Marmaduke and Hepzebiah sat on the porch they fell asleep. Jehosophat"s head nodded against one post, Marmaduke"s against another post, while little Hepzebiah fell asleep between them on the floor of the porch.
"Wow, wow, wow," growled Rover, "let"s go out in the barnyard and chase the White Wyandottes. It"s no fun playing with sleepy children."
"Wow, wow, wow!" answered Brownie and little Wienerwurst together, and this in dog"s language means "Yes."
So they romped away to the barnyard to chase the frightened White Wyandottes.
That was not a good thing for the chickens but it was a good thing for the children. For if the dogs had not run away they might have missed something very wonderful.
What do you think it was?
First they heard pretty strains of music. It was something like a song and something like a whistle.
They looked up in the elm tree.
There, shining among the dark green leaves, was a pretty thing with orange and black feathers. He whistled away as if he did not have a care in the world.
And they did not have to be told--they knew who it was. It was their old friend, the Oriole.
He didn"t stay still very long ever, for he was a busy fellow. But once he swung on a twig for a little while. They saw that he was almost as big as a robin, with head and shoulders of black, the wings black too, and most of his tail. But the rest of his body was like the prettiest orange-coloured velvet they had ever seen. He was singing something like this:
"What a fine day, what a fine day.
I can sing and build, for work is play."
And every once in a while he would fly over to the apple tree and hop from branch to branch between the pink and white blossoms, looking for food.
He was very fond of those caterpillars in the tree, you see. In between mouthfuls he would whistle just part of his song,
"A-ver-y-fine-day!"
Then he would take another bite, hop to another branch and whistle again:
"A-ver-y-fine-day!"
He certainly seemed to be happy over the beautiful weather.
Then he would whistle again as if he were talking to someone.
The three sleepy children listened.
"Now that nest, dear, now that nest, dear. We must build that nest, before we rest."
To whom could he be talking?