LITTLE MISS HELPFUL.
“You tell such good stories,” said Dorothy, “I would like very much to
hear one to-day.”
The chair laughed merrily and said: “I think I will tell you about
Little Miss Helpful.”
Little Miss Helpful was a dear little girl, who lived in a dear little
cottage with a dear little grandmother. In front of the cottage was
a pretty garden, with balsams and four-o’clocks and lazy hollyhocks
basking in the sunshine. There was also a little bed of crisp lettuce,
another of tender string beans, and best of all, a strawberry patch.
In the back of the cottage was a large yard where a busy mother hen and
a brood of twelve downy chicks scratched and chuckled all day long.
The little girl that I am going to tell you about was no larger than
yourself, but she was such an industrious little body that every one
called her Little Miss Helpful. While the chicks were just toddling
about in the yard, she would sit and watch them because a certain black
cat in the neighborhood had his eye on them and longed to get one for
his dinner. Sometimes she hemmed a kerchief, or made a little duster
while she was “minding” the chickens, and sometimes she read fairy
stories all by herself. Every day she managed to get a few minutes to
weed the garden, especially the strawberry patch.
I cannot tell you about all the steps she saved her dear old
grandmother. It would take too long. I will merely mention the fact
that she could dust as nicely as a tidy housemaid, wipe the dishes so
carefully that none got broken and she could gather a basket of chips
for her grandma’s fire in the shortest possible time.
One day she was sitting in the back yard “minding” the chickens. It
was dreamy summer weather, and soft white clouds floated in the blue
sky. Suddenly a bluebird lighted on a branch over her head and began
to sing. The little girl listened to the bird and when he had finished
he flew right down on her head. She was very much surprised and put up
her hand to catch the bird. But he had flown away and on her head was a
blue silk bonnet with long strings. She was so excited that she arose
from her little chair and lo! her gingham dress disappeared and she
had on the most beautiful blue silk frock and dear little blue satin
slippers.
“Are you ready?” said a voice, and Little Miss Helpful saw a beautiful
fairy sitting in a golden chariot.
“Please, good fairy, I cannot leave the chicks,” said the little girl;
“a cat might take one.”
“She will watch the chickens until you return,” said the fairy, and she
pointed to a little girl in her little chair that looked just like
Miss Helpful.
Then Little Miss Helpful stepped into the golden chariot and was soon
driving through the woodlands beside the beautiful fairy.
“I am going to take you to a party this afternoon; would you like to
go?”
“Very much indeed, thank you,” replied the little girl, and she looked
down at her blue silk dress and her little satin slippers and smiled
with pleasure.
Suddenly they stopped before a great golden castle, and in a few
minutes Little Miss Helpful was walking up the steps with the beautiful
fairy. When they were inside the castle the fairy said: “Now I must
leave you, but you can find the way yourself. Go down the long hall and
open the golden door.”
The fairy disappeared and Miss Helpful started to walk down the long
hall. As she went along she saw a pin on the floor, and being a
careful little soul she stopped and picked it up. The instant she took
the pin from the floor it turned into a beautiful fairy who said, “I
will bestow upon thee this gift, thou shalt always be clean and bright
as a new pin.”
The fairy disappeared when she had said the words and Little Miss
Helpful continued to walk toward the golden door.
Suddenly she saw a half-wilted rose lying in a corner. She picked it up
and it turned into a beautiful fairy who said, “Thou shalt be as lovely
as a rose, and thy helpful ways like its fragrance bring delight to all
who know thee.” This fairy also disappeared and just then the little
girl found herself before the golden door.
She opened it and entered a magnificent room where beautiful kings and
queens were dancing. They were all dressed in spangled white robes, but
Little Miss Helpful had the most beautiful dress in the room.
A handsome prince came forward to meet Little Miss Helpful and the
next minute she was dancing around the room with him.
She was feeling very happy when all at once she heard a chicken squeal.
“A cat!” cried Little Miss Helpful, and she darted for the door, ran
through the hall and out into the woodlands as fast as she could go.
The wind was blowing and suddenly her blue silk bonnet fell off. She
never stopped to pick it up, but ran on toward her grandmother’s
cottage. She never noticed in her hurry that the minute her blue bonnet
came off the silk dress disappeared and she had on her old gingham
frock again.
She was quite out of breath when she reached the back yard. She
hurriedly counted the chicks and to her dismay found only eleven. One
was missing and she could have cried she felt so disappointed. She
called, “Grandma, grandma!”
“What is it, dearie?” said the old lady, coming to the door.
“Alas! grandma, one of the chicks is missing,” cried the little girl,
and two big tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Don’t cry,” said her grandmother, “but look around and see if you can
find it. I will watch the chickens till you return.”
Little Miss Helpful walked all around the field, calling, “Chick,
chick, come chickey, chickey.” “Perhaps it strayed away,” she said
to herself and she took the path for the woods and looked behind the
bushes, but she could not find her chicken. All at once she saw a
little girl coming toward her. The girl was swinging a blue silk bonnet
in her hand and as she came nearer Little Miss Helpful saw that it was
her cousin, Nannie Worthless, who lived in the village.
“See,” said Nannie, holding up the blue bonnet, “I found it in the
woods and I am going to keep it.”
“It belongs to me,” cried Little Miss Helpful, “I lost it a little
while ago.”
“You lost it,” said Nannie with scorn. “Why, you never had a bonnet
like this in your life.”
“You may keep the bonnet, I don’t want it,” replied Miss Helpful; “but
tell me, did you see a little chick?”
Nannie laughed loudly and said:
“Did you lose the chick when you lost the bonnet?”
Then Little Miss Helpful knew that Nannie was making fun of her, so she
went quietly on her way and did not answer, while her cousin continued
homeward with the beautiful bonnet.
Little Miss Helpful looked everywhere but the chick could not be found,
so at last she turned her footsteps home, feeling very sad.
She had almost reached her grandmother’s gate, when she met Johnny
Wander, a village lad.
“Have you seen anything of a little chick?” asked the girl, and Johnny
rolled his eyes and said he thought he saw a chick running toward the
village.
“Perhaps it is mine,” cried Miss Helpful, and she ran toward the
village, but not a trace of the lost chicken could be seen. Suddenly
she heard a loud trumpet call, and all the people seemed to be hurrying
to the village green.
“What is the matter?” asked Miss Helpful of an old woman she met on the
way.
“Why, child,” said the old woman, “don’t you know that all the village
maidens are assembled on the Green by order of the Prince. He is going
to select a princess. I must hurry to see who is the lucky maid!”
Little Miss Helpful thought with a pang that she might have been with
all the village maidens, if it had not been for the lost chicken.
“I will go home now to grandma,” said the little girl; “the black cat
must have caught it.”
Just then she reached the village green and there were all the maidens
standing in a row waiting for the Prince.
They looked very pretty, especially Nannie Worthless, who wore the blue
silk bonnet.
In a few minutes the Prince drove up in his golden chariot and dear
Little Miss Helpful saw that it was the very Prince that she had danced
with in the golden castle. But alas! he never looked at her in her
old gingham dress. He saw Nannie Worthless, and making a low courtesy
before her, said, “Ah! I think I have seen this bonnet before.”
Nannie blushed and smiled at the Prince, who helped her into the golden
chariot. Little Miss Helpful stood apart from the crowd and felt sad
indeed when she realized that the blue bonnet had won the Prince’s
heart. All at once a great gust of wind came along and blew the bonnet
off Nannie’s head. The handsome Prince jumped out of the chariot and
ran to catch it. Away went the bonnet with the Prince after it until
all of a sudden it dropped right on the head of Little Miss Helpful and
stayed there as nice as could be.
Now a strange thing happened. No sooner did the blue bonnet touch
Little Miss Helpful, than her gingham dress changed to the blue silk
frock and her feet were encased in the dear little blue satin slippers
again. In fact there she stood just as she had appeared in the golden
castle.
Everybody was very much surprised, and Nannie had to get out of the
golden chariot before all the people.
The Prince bowed low before Little Miss Helpful, saying, “This is my
true princess,” and he helped her into his golden chariot.
The people were all delighted because they loved Little Miss Helpful
and knew her goodness. The Prince drove through the village while
all the folks cheered and showed their good will. All except Nannie
Worthless, who was very angry. As the Prince approached Little Miss
Helpful’s cottage, there stood her dear old grandmother at the gate and
in her hand was the lost chicken.
[Illustration: The Prince bowed low before Little Miss Helpful, saying,
“This is my true princess.”--Page 204. _Little Miss Dorothy._]
“Why, grandma, where did you find the chicken?” asked the little girl.
Her grandmother laughed and said, “I found it sound asleep in my best
lace cap.”