go to get my soul," said Snap, turning his curranteyes anxiously to the clock.
"I hope you _will_ have time." And Lily fell to work with all hermight, after Snap had put on her a paper apron and a cap like his.
It was not hard; for when she was going to make a mistake a spark flewout of the fire and burnt her in time to remind her to look at thereceipt, which was a sheet of gingerbread in a frame of pie-crust hungup before her, with the directions written while it was soft and bakedin. The third sheet she made came out of the oven spicy, light, andbrown; and Snap, giving it one poke, said, "That's all right. Now youknow. Here's your reward."
He handed her a receipt-book made of thin sheets of sugar-gingerbreadheld together by a gelatine binding, with her name stamped on the back,and each leaf crimped with a cake-cutter in the most elegant manner.
Lily was charmed with it, but had no time to read all it contained; forjust then the clock began to strike, and a chime of bells to ring,--
"Gingerbread, Go to the head. Your task is done; A soul is won. Take it and go Where muffins grow, Where sweet loaves rise To the very skies, And biscuits fair Perfume the air. Away, away! Make no delay; In the sea of flour Plunge this hour. Safe in your breast Let the yeast-cake rest, Till you rise in joy, A white bread boy!"
"Ha, ha! I'm free! I'm free!" cried Snap, catching up the silver-coveredsquare that seemed to fall from heaven; and running to a great whitesea of flour, he went in head first, holding the yeast-cake clasped tohis breast as if his life depended on it.
Lily watched breathlessly, while a curious working and bubbling went on,as if Snap was tumbling about down there, like a small earthquake. Theother cake-folk stood round the shore with her; for it was a greatevent, and all were glad that the dear fellow was promoted so soon.Suddenly a cry was heard, and up rose a beautiful white figure on thefarther side of the sea. It moved its hand, as if saying "Good-by," andran over the hills so fast they had only time to see how plump and fairhe was, with a little knob on the top of his head like a crown.
"He's gone to the happy land, and we shall miss him; but we'll followhis example and soon find him again," said a gentle Sponge Cake, with asigh, as all went back to their work; while Lily hurried after Snap,eager to see the new country, which was the best of all.
A delicious odor of fresh bread blew up from the valley as she stood onthe hill-top and looked down on the peaceful scene below. Fields ofyellow grain waved in the breeze; hop-vines grew from tree to tree, andmany windmills whirled their white sails as they ground the differentgrains into fresh, sweet meal, for the loaves of bread that built thehouses like bricks and paved the streets, or in many shapes formed thepeople, furniture, and animals. A river of milk flowed through thepeaceful land, and fountains of yeast rose and fell with a pleasant foamand fizz. The ground was a mixture of many meals, and the paths weregolden Indian, which gave a very gay look to the scene. Buckwheatflowers bloomed on their rosy stems, and tall corn-stalks rustled theirleaves in the warm air that came from the ovens hidden in the hillsides;for bread needs a slow fire, and an obliging volcano did the bakinghere.
"What a lovely place!" cried Lily, feeling the charm of the homelikelandscape, in spite of the funny plump people moving about.
Two of these figures came running to meet her as she slowly walked downthe yellow path from the hill. One was a golden boy, with a beamingface; the other a little girl in a shiny brown cloak, who looked as ifshe would taste very nice. They each put a warm hand into Lily's, andthe boy said,--
"We are glad to see you. Muffin told us you were coming."
"Thank you. Who is Muffin?" asked Lily, feeling as if she had seen boththese little people before, and liked them.
"He was Ginger Snap once, but he's a Muffin now. We begin in that way,and work up to the perfect loaf by degrees. My name is Johnny Cake, andshe's Sally Lunn. You know us; so come on and have a race."
Lily burst out laughing at the idea of playing with these old friends ofhers; and all three ran away as fast as they could tear, down the hill,over a bridge, into the middle of the village, where they stopped,panting, and sat down on some very soft rolls to rest.
"What do you all do _here_?" asked Lily, when she got her breath again.
"We farm, we study, we bake, we brew, and are as merry as grigs all daylong. It's school-time now, and we must go; will you come?" said Sally,jumping up as if she liked it.
"Our schools are not like yours; we only study two things,--grain andyeast. I think you'll like it. We have yeast to-day, and the experimentsare very jolly," added Johnny, trotting off to a tall brown tower ofrye and Indian bread, where the school was kept.
Lily never liked to go to school, but she was ashamed to own it; so shewent along with Sally, and was so amused with all she saw that she wasglad she came. The brown loaf was hollow, and had no roof; and when sheasked why they used a ruin, Sally told her to wait and see why theychose strong walls and plenty of room overhead. All round was a circleof very small biscuits like cushions, and on these the Bread-childrensat. A square loaf in the middle was the teacher's desk, and on it layan ear of wheat, with several bottles of yeast well corked up. Theteacher was a pleasant, plump lady from Vienna, very wise, and so famousfor her good bread that she was a Professor of Grainology.
When all were seated, she began with the wheat ear, and told them allabout it in such an interesting way that Lily felt as if she had neverknown anything about the bread she ate before. The experiments with theyeast were quite exciting,--for Fraeulein Pretzel showed them how itwould work till it blew the cork out, and go fizzing up to the sky if itwas kept too long; how it would turn sour or flat, and spoil the breadif care was not taken to use it just at the right moment; and how toomuch would cause the loaf to rise till there was no substance to it.
The children were very bright; for they were fed on the best kinds ofoatmeal and Graham bread, with very little white bread or hot cakes tospoil their young stomachs. Hearty, happy boys and girls they were, andtheir yeasty souls were very lively in them; for they danced and sang,and seemed as bright and gay as if acidity, heaviness, and mould werequite unknown.
Lily was very happy with them, and when school was done went home withSally and ate the best bread and milk for dinner that she ever tasted.In the afternoon Johnny took her to the cornfield, and showed her howthey kept the growing ears free from mildew and worms. Then she went tothe bakehouse; and here she found her old friend Muffin hard at workmaking Parker House rolls, for he was such a good cook he was set towork at once on the lighter kinds of bread.
"Well, isn't this better than Candy-land or Saccharissa?" he asked, ashe rolled and folded his bits of dough with a dab of butter tuckedinside.
"Ever so much!" cried Lily. "I feel better already, and mean to learnall I can. Mamma will be so pleased if I can make good bread when I gohome. She is rather old-fashioned, and likes me to be a nicehousekeeper. I didn't think bread interesting then, but I do now; andJohnny's mother is going to teach me to make Indian cakes to-morrow."
"Glad to hear it. Learn all you can, and tell other people how to makehealthy bodies and happy souls by eating good plain food. Not like this,though these rolls are better than cake. I have to work my way up to theperfect loaf, you know; and then, oh, then, I'm a happy thing."
"What happens then? Do you go on to some other wonderful place?" askedLily, as Muffin paused with a smile on his face.
"Yes; I am eaten by some wise, good human being, and become a part ofhim or her. That is immortality and heaven; for I may nourish a poet andhelp him sing, or feed a good woman who makes the world better for beingin it, or be crumbed into the golden porringer of a baby prince who isto rule a kingdom. Isn't that a noble way to live, and an end worthworking for?" asked Muffin, in a tone that made Lily feel as if somesort of fine yeast had got into her, and was setting her brain to workwith new thoughts.
"Yes, it is. I suppose all common things are made for that purpose, ifwe only knew
it; and people should be glad to do anything to help theworld along, even making good bread in a kitchen," answered Lily, in asober way that showed that her little mind was already digesting the newfood it had got.
She stayed in Bread-land a long time, and enjoyed and learned a greatdeal that she never forgot. But at last, when she had made the perfectloaf, she wanted to go home, that her mother might see and taste it.
"I've put a good deal of myself into it, and I'd love to think I hadgiven her strength or pleasure by my work," she said, as she and Sallystood looking at the handsome loaf.
"You can go whenever you like; just take the bread in your hands andwish three times, and you'll be wherever you say. I'm sorry to have yougo, but I don't wonder you want to see your mother. Don't