Oh, never pinch a p.u.s.s.y"s tail Nor pull a poor fly"s wings._
_And never tease your little dog, With unkind act or word, And never throw a cruel stone At any little bird._
[Ill.u.s.tration]
The Trees
I often think when Winter comes How cold must be the trees; More than in the Summer Time They need their coats of leaves.
THE CANARY
Canary Bird, Canary Bird, In your golden jail, On your trapeze balancing With your yellow tail,
Don"t you wish that you could fly Through the window pane To the Robin Redbreast gay Singing in the lane?
Where the apple trees in bloom Drop their petals white, So you almost think it has Snowed "most all the night?
Would you love to see the nest Mrs. Robin"s made, And the eggs of china blue Which she just has laid?
Don"t you want to leave your cage?
See, the door is wide Open and the window, too-- You can fly outside.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
_See the turkey gobbler run.
Guess he doesn"t call it fun.
Don"t you hope he gets away Before it is Thanksgiving Day?_
[Ill.u.s.tration]
_Up and down the page he goes On his long, thin pointed toes.
Now and then he gives a squawk-- That"s the way a Turkey talks!_
THE LAND OF NOWHERE
Jack and Grace were in the nursery playing with their toys, when suddenly they were startled by a tiny voice calling out "Good-by!"
They looked up quickly, and to their surprise their little tin airship was slowly rising from the floor. In another moment it sailed across the room and out of the top of the window, which was down a little to let in fresh air. The little man at the steering wheel waved his hand as the airship disappeared. Jack rushed to the window.
"Grace, Grace!" he shouted, "did you ever hear of such a thing? Come on.
I"m going to run outside and see where it goes." Both children hurried down stairs and out on the sidewalk. Sure enough, just over the top of the next house they could distinguish their Christmas present ascending higher and higher into the clear blue sky.
Just then something fluttered at their feet. Jack stooped down and picked up a piece of paper on which was written:
"Sorry I didn"t have time to tell you as the airship was under way and I didn"t dare make a turn inside the room, but if you both will come up on the roof, I will come back and tell you something lovely."
"Let"s!" exclaimed Grace, who had read the note over Jack"s shoulder; and in another moment both children were running up to the attic. After some difficulty, they raised the little door in the ceiling and stood upon the roof. Sure enough, just overhead and about to descend was an airship. But, goodness me! it was a regular airship, just like the kind they had seen in pictures, and not the little toy machine which they had but a few minutes before seen sailing out of the window and up over the next house. Nor did the lovely fairy who now alighted from the airship look anything like the queer little painted man. "h.e.l.lo!" she said, in a very friendly voice: "would you like to take a sail?"
Jack helped Grace in, and before long they were flying above the clouds, which looked like huge snow banks below them, white and fluffy.
Everything was blue about them, and the air seemed full of perfume.
"Isn"t it lovely, Jack!" exclaimed Grace. "I"m so glad I came!"
"So am I," replied her brother, "but I wonder where we are going. I don"t see the earth any more; we must be going somewhere. Where are you taking us, little Fairy Queen?" he called out, and he and Grace waited anxiously for the answer.
"Nowhere!" she answered.
"Don"t you know where Nowhere is?"
"Well, not exactly," replied Jack. "I"ve often heard of it, but I"ve never been there."
Just then the airship swerved to the right and in a few seconds landed gracefully on the broad steps of a beautiful castle. Everything was blue, even the tall chimney was built of blue bricks. The fairy had hardly turned off the power, and the big airship was still quivering, when the castle door opened, and a beautiful princess, dressed all in blue, came graciously forward. The only thing about her that wasn"t blue was her long flowing hair, which was of the most wonderful golden hue that Grace had ever seen. "How do you do?" she said in a sweet voice.
"Come in. Have you come from very far away?"
"We don"t know, Princess," answered Jack, bowing politely, while Grace made a pretty courtesy; "we really don"t know how far we have come, nor just where we are."
"Well, I"ll tell you then," answered the lovely blue Princess, taking them each by the hand and walking between them through the open castle door; "at least, I"ll tell you where you are and then after that you can tell me where you came from, and then we"ll know a little more about each other."
"How beautiful you are," said Grace as they all three sat down on a big blue sofa in the big blue hall of the stately blue castle.
"Am I, dear?" said the Princess, looking at Grace with a smile, "and why do you think so?"
"I never saw such wonderfully beautiful gold hair," exclaimed Grace, admiringly, gradually getting over her bashfulness.
The lovely Blue Princess laughed. "When I was a little girl," she said, taking hold of Jack"s hand so as not to leave him out in the cold, "the Sun Man told me if I would comb my hair every morning for a whole year, at break of day, when he first got up, that it would turn gold. And so every morning for a whole year I got up at peep o" day and stood by the east window and combed my hair."
"And it did?" said Jack, speaking for the first time since they had entered the Blue Castle. "Why don"t you try it, Grace? You love gold hair so much," and he gave her braid a mischievous pull behind the back of the Blue Princess.
Grace gave a little scream. "Don"t, Jack"--and then, to her surprise, she found herself with her arms around her new dolly in the big armchair in their own room at home. She looked over to where Jack was busily engaged with his train of cars. "I must have been dreaming," Grace exclaimed, and as she looked at her golden-haired doll, with the beautiful blue dress, she laughed and said:
"Oh, dolly, I guess it was you I dreamed was the beautiful Blue Princess!"
[Ill.u.s.tration]