Milly grew and grew and turned pink like Billy Button. Then she untiedher hood and peeped out, showing her soft cheeks and pretty whitecollar.
"What a great world it is!" she said. "It is all so wide and high. Iam a little afraid."
"This is only a bit of the world," said Billy Button. "I know, for theFlying Beetle told me. He has travelled far, and has seen wonderfulsights. Ah! how I should like to travel!"
"I would rather stay at home," said Milly. She was trembling a little;everything seemed strange up here in the strong light.
"Grow close to me," said a friendly Thistle. "I will shelter you withmy long arms." She stretched out one of her arms, and Milly nestledbeneath it and was comforted.
All that day and night she and Billy Button grew so fast that when thenext morning came they hardly knew one another.
"How big you are, Billy!" said Milly.
"So are you," said Billy. "You are quite a mushroom lady now. Butgoodness gracious! Whatever is that? What a monster! And how itshakes the ground!"
A boy was walking over the field with a basket in his hand. He wasgathering mushrooms. He stooped and pulled Billy Button from theground.
"Oh, the cruel monster! Oh, poor, poor Billy!" sobbed Milly Mushroom.
But Billy was not at all frightened. "Hurrah! I am going to travel atlast!" he cried. "Good-bye, Milly. I shall see the world now."
He was popped into the basket and carried off, while Milly was leftshivering under the thistle's arm.
She soon forgot her fright, however, though she often wondered whathappened to Billy Button, and whether he enjoyed his travels. She grewtaller and bigger every day, and changed her hood for a big flat hat sowide and shady that the little field-mouse could sit under it and talkto her. And the thistle covered her from sight with its friendly arms,so no monster ever found her to put her in his basket and carry her off.
WIGGLE-WAGGLE
Mrs. Earth-worm made a hole under the ground and put an egg in it.Round the egg she wrapped clear jelly to serve as food for the littleone when it should hatch. Then she went back to her burrow.
Soon Wiggle-Waggle came out of the egg. He was the tiniest worm youcould imagine, but he had a fine appetite; he ate all the jelly hismother had left for him. Then he began to nibble at the earth, and heliked it so much that he went on nibbling. There were all sorts ofnice things in it--scraps of leaf and stalk and root and seed--just thethings he liked best. The more he ate the bigger he grew; soon youwould hardly have known him.
One day he thought: "I wonder what it is like above the ground? I willgo up and see."
He began to burrow in an upward, slanting direction, breaking down theearth with his hard little mouth, and swallowing it out of the way. Atlast he reached the surface of the ground and poked his head throughinto the daylight. But he drew back quickly into his burrow again, forthe strong light hurt him. He could not see it, for he had no eyes,but he could feel it on the skin of his head, and he did not like it."It makes me feel quite ill," he said. He pulled some loose earth intothe mouth of his burrow, and coiled himself round till night fell.
Then he came out once more. Ah! things were very different now! Theair was cool and moist, and delightfully dark; hundreds of neighbourworms were crawling over the ground, feasting and talking and visitingone another.
"Oh! there you are at last," said his mother from the next-door burrow."I have been listening for you. Fix your tail into the top of yourburrow, and sway yourself round and feel for your food. Then you canslip back easily if an enemy comes near. There are many enemies about,so listen carefully. And never stay up till daylight comes, or a birdwill catch you."
So Wiggle-Waggle entered into the busy night-life of the garden. Atfirst he followed his mother's advice, keeping his tail in his holewhile he felt for green leaves, dragging them into his burrow. Later,he grew more venturesome, and crawled out over the ground to make theacquaintance of his neighbours. He lined his burrow with soft leavesand gathered tiny stones together to hide the entrance from the eyes ofhis enemies. Life was busy and pleasant, and he grew big and strong.
But one night he stayed up too long; when the red light of morningsprang up in the eastern sky he was quite three feet from his home. Hehurried, darting his head as far forward as he could reach, stickinghis front bristles in the ground, drawing his body up in a loop,dropping it, and then darting his head forward again. He went swiftly,but not quite swiftly enough. An early blackbird saw him, and swoopeddown upon him. His head and half his body were already in his burrow,but the blackbird's beak closed on his tail.
He stuck all four rows of sharp bristles like tiny pins in the ground,and held on for his life, while the blackbird pulled hard for itsbreakfast. Snap! crunch! tear! It was dreadful. Poor Wiggle-Waggleparted in the middle, and the blackbird flew off with half of him.
Wiggle-Waggle was not dead, but he felt very unwell. He wriggled downto the bottom of his burrow, and kept very quiet for a long time. Anda wonderful thing happened. New rings of body, and then a new tail,grew on the broken end, and soon he was a whole worm again, with only ajoin-mark to show that an accident had happened.
When he goes up at night now to feed and visit his neighbours, he isvery careful not to stay too late. He is still living in his old home,unless the last heavy rain has flooded his burrow and washed him out.
THE LEAF FAIRIES
In the wood the Leaf Fairies were busy making their leaves. They madethem of every shape and size, for each fairy had her own idea of whatlooked prettiest. Some made them long and narrow, like tall andgraceful ladies; some made them round and dumpy, like fat little men;some made them heart-shaped, and some cut up the edges till they wereall dainty points and curves. Some placed them sitting down on thebranches, while others set them on slender stalks. There was no setrule for anything. Each fairy followed her own pretty fancy.
"In the wood the Leaf Fairies were busy making theirleaves"]
Most of the leaves were green, but a few were splashed with yellow orveined with red or lined with silver. Everywhere they covered treesand bushes and low-growing ground plants, growing here in clusters, andthere singly or in pairs. The fairies swung themselves far out on thebranches to admire their handiwork.
"Now you must be busy," they said to the leaves. "In the daytime youmust help the roots to gather food for yourselves and all thefamily--roots and stems and flowers and seeds; and at night when wehave swept the passages you must throw out the rubbish."
"Shall we never have time to play?" asked the leaves anxiously.
"Yes," said the fairies. "When the family is fed each day you maydance with the winds and play hide-and-seek with the sunbeams, and whenthe autumn is here and all your work is done, we ourselves will takeyou for a pleasure trip."
The leaves were content, and at once set to work. The fairies madetiny kitchens for them, and here they gathered the food for the familyand prepared it for their use. The fairies carried it to roots andstems and flowers and seeds, so they all grew strong and well. Atnight the fairies swept the passages so clean that not a grain of dirtwas left anywhere; the leaves threw out the rubbish from their kitchendoors.
Summer passed and autumn came. "You have worked well," said thefairies to the leaves. "Now you shall have your pleasure-trip."
They dressed the leaves in gay frocks, all gold and crimson and brightbrown; they loosened them from the trees and set them floating on thewind. "Now follow us," they said; and the fluttering leaves followedthem. First they whirled and danced on the ground beneath the trees,then they rose in the air and flew away, away--nobody knows where. Youcould not have seen the fairies leading if you had been there, for theyare not visible to mortal eyes; but you would have seen the leavesfollowing them. Where they went to I can't tell you. They never cameback, though it is said that the fairies did.
BUNNY-BOY
"Now, Bunny-Boy," said his mother, "look after the house while I amaway, and mind you do not g
o outside, for there are boys about to-day."
"What nonsense!" thought Bunny-Boy to himself. "As if I could not runfaster than any boy. And I have been waiting for a chance to go andsee the world, so I shall go to-day."
As soon as the Bunny-Mother was out of sight, he slipped out and ranaway, this naughty Bunny-Boy, with his little white tail bobbing, andhis eyes shining with delight. "Now, I shall see what the great worldis like," he thought.
He came to a skylark sitting on her nest.
"Good-day, Lady Skylark!" he said. "I am going to see the world.Would you like to come with me?"
"Oh dear no, indeed," said the Skylark. "I have to sit on my eggs.Does your mother know you are going?" Bunny-Boy ran off at once. Hedid not want to answer that.
He came next to a little hill, where other Bunny-Boys and Bunny-Girlslived. They all came running out to see him, and said: "Stay and playwith us."
"No," he said; "I am going to see the world."
"Where is that?" they asked.
"Somewhere over that big fence," said Bunny-Boy. "You may come with meif you like."
"We do not want to come," they said. "You stay here with us." ButBunny-Boy would not stay. He ran off again. The others called out:"We will tell your mother of you." But he only ran the faster.
He went through the big fence, and came into a field of oats. Here menwere busy cutting the oats, and Bunny-Boy was so frightened by thenoise they made that he scampered out of that field into the next.This was a field of grass, and Bunny-Boy thought: "Now I can begin toenjoy myself."
Just then he heard a bark, and a big dog rushed over the grass afterhim. A boy came with the dog, and now poor Bunny-Boy had to run forhis life. How he did run! But the dog could run too, and he nearlycaught Bunny-Boy. His mouth, with its sharp teeth, was just open readyto snap on Bunny-Boy's back, when Bunny-Boy saw a hole in front of him,jumped into it, and was saved.
At the bottom of the hold he found a Bunny-house, and some kindBunnies, who let him stay there till the dog and its master had goneaway. Then he crept out, and went sadly home.
"I will always do what you tell me," he said to his mother that night."It was dreadful out in the world. I would much rather stay at homeand mind the house."
LOVE-MOTHER
A potato and a rusty nail lay side by side in an old shed. Through thewinter they found very little to say to one another, but when thespring came the potato grew restless and talkative.
"This is a poor life for us," she said. "Do you not feel that it is awaste of time lying here like this?"
"Not at all," said the rusty nail. "If you had been knocked about asmuch as I have you would be glad to lie still." He was bent in theback and had lost half his head, so he had a right to talk.
"But I want to grow!" cried the potato. "I want to go down into thedark warm earth, where it is so easy to grow. Then I should send upwhite stalks that turn green when they reach the sunlight, and bearbroad leaves and beautiful flowers. My children would grow on mywhite, stalks under the ground. Ah! that would be life indeed!"
"You seem to me to be talking nonsense," said the nail. "I once livedin a kitchen, where a great many potatoes were cooked every day, butnone of them had the beautiful leaves and flowers you talk about."
But the potato was not listening now, for something seemed to be movinginside her. "I feel so strange!" she cried. "I am sure something isgoing to happen."
The next moment something did happen. The skin was pushed open, and alittle white shoot poked its head out. "I am growing!" cried thepotato joyfully. "Oh, I wish somebody would put me in the ground."But, alas! nobody understood potato-language, so she lay there forseveral days longer. Then a little boy who was playing saw her andpicked her up.
"Here is a potato growing without any ground," he said. "I shall plantit in my garden."
He carried her to his garden, made a hole, and planted her. Shenestled thankfully down into the warm earth as he covered her up. "Atlast I am put into my right place and can really grow," she said. Andgrow she did. Shoot after shoot ran up from her sides, spreading outin the sunlight into broad green leaves and beautiful lavender colouredflowers. And the little potatoes came, all along the white undergroundstems. Bigger and bigger they grew, till they were as big and fine astheir mother had been. How proud she was of them!
But as they grew she dwindled and lost her strength, for she was givingall the substance of her body to feed her children. "What is thematter, little Love-Mother?" they asked tenderly. "Why do you grow soweak and thin?" They did not understand where their food came from,but she knew and was well content. "It is my life, but they need it,and I am happy in giving it," she said softly to herself.
So day by day she grew less and less, till with a loving sigh she died."I am happy," was her last thought, "for I have done my part in theworld, and now, like the rusty nail, I am glad to rest."
THE HILL PRINCESS
It was when Roy and Charlie were out rabbiting that they met the HillPrincess. They had gone much farther than they usually did, and thatis how they found her. It was in a long gully at the foot of thetallest hill of all, and she had come down the side of the hill to meetthem. She was tall and beautiful, and her robes were as green as thegrass in the gully, while her crown was all of starry white clematisflowers.
"Have you had a good time?" she asked. The boys were too shy to speakat first--she was so grand and wonderful. But they knew it was politeto answer when you are spoken to, so Charlie plucked up courage andsaid: "Yes, thank you."
"That is right," she said kindly. Then she stood and looked at themfor quite a long time, while the boys grew shyer and shyer under hersearching eyes. At last she spoke. "I am trying to feel your hearts,"she said. "I can feel those of my own people at once, but yours arehard to understand."
The boys did not know what she meant, but they were too shy to ask.She went on: "I should like to show you my Palace, but I must firstknow whether it is safe to trust you. Can you keep your word?"
"I can!" cried both boys at once. The thought of seeing the Palacetook away their shyness.
"Well," said the Princess, "if I take you to the Palace, you must firstpromise not to tell anybody about it--not even your mothers. No mortalhas ever before seen it, and I do not wish others to come to look forit; so you must not tell them about it. Do you promise?" The boyspromised at once, and the Princess said: "I shall always hold you tothat. See that you keep your word. Now come."
They followed her a few steps up the side of the hill. Here shestopped, and tapped with her foot on the ground. Instantly a door flewopen in the hillside, and they entered. The door swung to behind them,and they found themselves in the Princess's throne-room.
It was a magnificent room, wide and lofty. The walls and roof andfloor were all of glittering limestone, lit up by magic star-shapedlights of brilliant colours. In the centre stood a throne of solidgold, with a rug made of crimson flower-petals thrown half over it."Don't the petals fade?" asked Roy as they admired the beautiful rug.
"Nothing fades in my Palace," answered the Princess.
She led them from room to room, talking kindly to them, and showingthem quite proudly all the beauties of her home. It was indeed awonderful Palace. Each room was different from all the others. In onethe walls were made of gold, in another of silver, in another of opal,and in others of emerald or ruby or diamond, until one's eyes almosttired of the brilliance.
The furniture was as beautiful as the walls, but the boys noticed thatthe chairs and tables and sofas and beds were all made very low, exceptthose for the Princess herself. Indeed, so close to the ground werethey that Charlie asked the Princess: "Are your people very little,Hill Princess?"
The Princess laughed. "Come and see them," she said, and she led theway out to the back of the hill. Here they found themselves in an openspace covered with grass and flowers and little bushes. On every siderose a high straight bank, covered with bush creepers,
and behind thebank rose tall bush trees to hide the place from view. "This is ourplayground," said the Princess, "and here are my people."
The boys looked round eagerly. All they could see were rabbits andhares and birds and insects--rabbits and hares and birds and insectseverywhere--hundreds of them playing on the grass, amongst the flowers,in the bushes. The boys were puzzled.
"Where are the people?" asked Charlie.
The Princess laughed again. "The hill creatures are my people," shesaid. "There, the animals can talk and work and play just as you can.The hares and rabbits do the work of the Palace; the birds fly in withour food from the surrounding country; and the insects take ourmessages. So work is provided for all. For their play they come here,and here they are so much at peace with one another that everyone issafe. To hurt anything is impossible here."
Now all this time Charlie had been thinking: "What a grand place forrabbiting!" So he looked up with rather a red face at the Princess'swords. She knew what he was thinking, for she said: "See if you cantouch Little Hoppy." She pointed, as she spoke, to a wise-lookingrabbit who sat close to her feet, looking up at her with loving eyes.
Roy and Charlie both bent down to catch Little Hoppy, but they found totheir astonishment that, although he sat quite still, they could nottouch him. Again and again they tried, but every time something seemedto push away their hands. It was not the rabbit--he never moved.Neither was it the Princess. She stood smiling beside them. "It'smagic," said the Princess.
"Come and play marbles," said Little Hoppy. The boys jumped. So therabbits could talk in this strange place, could they? And playmarbles, too? Why, yes, there were several marble rings in theplayground, with bunnies and birds all playing together and chatteringas fast as any crowd of boys. And hares were playing leap-frog. Andgroups of bush-robins were nursing tiny dolls.