have their homes in the holes of trees but the chipmunks like the ground
better. She was teaching all the very little ones that they must only
drink dew-drops. For they are like the rabbit family, and think that
water which has touched the ground is very dangerous to drink. They will
only drink fresh dew-drops and rain water from leaves and flowers.
“All the little chipmunks hurried and scurried about, and pretty soon
Father Chipmunk said, ‘I will offer a prize for the one who gets the
greatest number of nuts. Hurry, scurry!’
“Chippy Chappy won the prize. ‘It is a house I made out of nuts—a nice
little house of special kinds of nuts,’ said Father Chipmunk, ‘and Chippy
Chappy can eat a room whenever he feels hungry! But now, all of you
hurry, and hide your nuts!’ And off they scampered to their little homes
with their winter food.”
OCTOBER 16: The Fairies’ Trip
“The queen of the fairies said,” began daddy, “‘I have a scheme. We will
visit the clouds.’
“At that the loveliest airships appeared. They looked almost like clouds
themselves, so filmy and white were they.
“So off they sailed, feeling just like birds with the delightful flying
motion of the ships. And up to the silvery clouds they went. When they
got in the clouds the cloud fairies—you know there are fairies who
live in the clouds all the time—took them all around and showed them
their homes. And such homes as they have! They have the most marvelous
palaces, with courtyards and exquisite scenery all about. They have tall
mountains where they always go for their parties. Everything is such a
beautiful color too, for the cloud fairies are very fond of pale grays
and blues and silver.
“Then the fairies from the woods suggested to the cloud fairies that they
should return their visit and come to earth.
“‘We would love to do that,’ said the cloud fairies. So off they began
to fly from the clouds. They needed no airships but do you know what
happened?
“As they began to drop great big drops of rain fell to the earth, and
then the heaviest kind of a rainstorm began for the earth people, for of
course when the cloud fairies move the rain is not held any more and it
falls to the earth.
“But the fairies from the woods didn’t mind, as the big trees always
protect them, and the cloud fairies only let the rain fall where there
were no trees. So the afternoon was one of greatest pleasure for both the
wood fairies and the cloud fairies.”
OCTOBER 17: The Lion Babies
“I have a true circus story to tell you this evening,” said daddy.
“It’s to be a strange story, because it is to be about a mother dog who
looked after some lion babies.”
“A mother dog who looked after lions?” shouted the children.
“Yes,” said daddy, “and you remember I said it was true.
“One time in the circus a mother Lioness grew very, very sick.
“‘I am afraid she will not live,’ said the Keeper.
“‘But whatever will happen to her dear little Lion Babies?’ asked another
man.
“‘I’m sure I don’t know,’ said the Keeper. ‘We will just have to do the
best we can. I have watched her with them a good deal and perhaps I can
look after them.’
“‘She is so fond of them,’ said the other man. ‘What a pity it is she
can’t live.’
“The Lioness seemed to know she could not live. Over and over again she
kissed her little Lion Babies with her tongue. And when she opened her
mouth, her great, cruel teeth could be seen—but the little babies didn’t
know their mother had teeth—so gentle was she with them.
“And the Lion Babies nestled close to their mother, and by the little,
soft growls they made, they were trying to say, ‘How we love you, mother!
Your fur is so warm, so soft. You are so good to us, mother. How we love
you!’
[Illustration: “SO OFF THEY SAILED, FEELING JUST LIKE BIRDS WITH THE
DELIGHTFUL FLYING MOTION OF THE SHIPS”—_Page 243_]
“And then the Lioness held them closer. And with one of her paws which
could have crushed and killed a creature if she had so wished, she
fondled and petted her babies.
“Slowly as she talked to them in her low, growling way, she began to see
ahead. Her eyes gazed far out of the bars of her cage.
“‘What will happen to my babies when I am not here to look after them?’
she was thinking. Her eyes stared and stared into space—beyond the people
who passed by every little while to watch the beautiful mother Lioness
and the little Lions.
“And she began to think so hard that she almost forgot her babies. She
was searching with her eyes way, way out into an unknown world, and
wondering, wondering all the time what would happen to her lovely brood.
“The Lion babies nestled closer. Mother was letting the cold in! And
again she fondled them, while from her eyes that so often looked
treacherous and wicked, great tears fell down on their soft, warm fur.
“The next morning when the Lion Babies woke up there was no mother
Lioness. They couldn’t imagine what had happened. They saw the big man
always around their cage, feeding them, talking to them in soft, kind
tones, but their lovely warm, soft, furry mother, where was she?
“The day went on and still she didn’t come! Oh, such miserable little
Lion Babies as they were! The Keeper did all he could for them—but he
couldn’t feed them anything to take away that queer feeling they had. For
it wasn’t hunger—it was loneliness! And the Lion Babies found that no
food filled that place!
“But the next morning when the Keeper came to look at the Lion Babies,
there outside the cage was the big, woolly sheep dog. She was licking the
paws of the Lion Babies and they were once again giving their low growls.
“When the dog saw the Keeper she jumped up and down as if to say, ‘Let me
care for the Lion Babies.’
“The Keeper saw that the Lion Babies were quite gentle with the dog, and
he seemed to know that they wanted to be together—so he let the dog in
the cage.
“Day after day the dog stayed with the Lion Babies, except when she came
out now and again for a run. And the dog brought up the little lions—and
when they were big enough for the circus they always had the dog with
them.”
OCTOBER 18: Max’s Escape
“A little dog,” said daddy, “was one of five beautiful puppies living in
the country with a very proud and happy mother.
“But, sad to tell, it was not very long before the mother dog heard her
master saying to a friend of his, ‘I simply cannot keep so many dogs.
There is no room for them—not even here in the country. You see I have as
many animals now as I can possibly manage.’
“‘Well,’ said the friend, ‘I will take a puppy for you. I can keep one
easily in our city house. There is plenty of room. I will take the little
white one with the brown right ear.’
“So the little dog named Max was taken to the city. He was dreadfully
homesick and one day when he was being taken for a walk led by a leash he
escaped.
“Such adventures as he had. He remembered the trip he had taken with his
new master. First they had gone on a ferry boat across some water—and
then on a train. So Max ran and ran until he reached the railroad
station. He got through the gate when the guard wasn’t looking and he
jumped up into the baggage car just as the train was pulling out.
“On and on he rode until he saw some water and a great boat—just like the
one he had been on before. What should he do? Jump? The train was going
fast, but it stopped where the ferry boats were. And so Max reached home
and his mother—and somehow or other room was made for him by his first
master.”
OCTOBER 19: The Fire Bell
“In a big city school,” said daddy, “there were several thousand
children. Pretty soon the school bell rang and all the children went to
their different classrooms.
“They had not been there long when a great bell sounded through the
school. It was different from the usual school bell which brought them
to their lessons, and it filled them all with fear. The teachers looked
frightened too, but they were all very quiet.
“‘March out, slowly, in single file,’ said the teacher of each classroom.
‘There! A little faster, but no shoving. We must all see how calm we
can be. It is only when we become frightened that there is danger.’ And
in this way every one tried to be calm, even though every one felt so
nervous.
“For the bell had been a fire bell. And they had all known it. Soon
every single one of the children was out in the big courtyard and they
had at last reached the street. The teachers were all out too, for they
had all ‘kept their heads’ as the saying is.”
OCTOBER 20: The Rain
“We heard some people talking and they made us very angry,” said the Rain
Drops. “They said, ‘Oh, it’s raining cats and dogs.’ And we would never
rain cats and dogs, never, never, never, at any time at all.”
The King of the Clouds laughed hard. “Well do I remember when it used to
make me mad when people said those things,” he chuckled. “People often
talk in that foolish way.”
“Whatever do they mean by it?” asked the Rain Drops.
“Nothing, nothing at all.”
“Then they don’t imagine we will really rain cats and dogs?” asked the
Rain Drops.
“They know you really won’t,” said the King of the Clouds. “When they say
that you are raining cats and dogs they mean that you are raining very
hard and furiously.”
“But, Cloud King,” said the Rain Drops, “there were some other people and
they said that it was raining pitchforks. Now can you imagine us doing
that? We wouldn’t rain pitchforks for anything. They’d hurt people and
children and animals, and while we do love to splash and have our jokes,
still we would never do anything mean such as rain pitchforks.”
“Of course you wouldn’t,” said the King of the Clouds. “They say that in
just the same way as they say it is ‘raining cats and dogs.’ That also
simply means it’s raining very, very hard. So go back and play.” And the
Rain Drops were much relieved.
OCTOBER 21: Grandfather Pine Tree
Two little pine trees had been planted by two big ones. They were so
tiny, and the two big ones known as Grandfather and Grandmother Pine Tree
were very, very tall, even for pine trees.
“We seem so tiny,” said the little pine trees. “Will we ever grow to be
as tall as you are?” And they tried to lift up their heads and see the
tops of the big pines, but it was almost impossible.
“Listen,” whispered Grandfather Pine Tree. “You will surely grow to be
tall, so do not get discouraged. And more than that, you will be happy.
You will be awake all the time. You will see what I have seen each year.
“There will be snow soon and then there will be the springtime, when the
flowers will peep above the ground and will say a good morning to all the
world, and the leaves will follow the blossoms on the trees.
“Then will follow the warm summer and the children from the white house
down yonder will bring old rugs and books, and will come up under us.
They know we’ll keep them cool.
“You must grow to be strong and tall and you’ll find that it’s one of
the most interesting of things in the world to be a pine tree. And most
especially, to be a pine tree here on this hill overlooking the garden
and the white house where two children, a little boy and a little girl,
are always happy—all the year around, just as we are, in the winter,
spring, summer and autumn.”
And the two small pine trees decided they would try their hardest to grow
and see as many lovely things as their grandfather and grandmother saw
each year.
OCTOBER 22: Jack Frost’s Evening
“Jack Frost, and the Frost Brothers,” said daddy, “were off for a good
time. ‘We’ll have the most wonderful party,’ said Jack Frost.
“‘What will we do?’ asked the Frost Brothers. They were always ready to
do anything Jack suggested, but they never thought of the things to do
first.
“‘We’ll celebrate,’ said Jack Frost.
“‘What will we celebrate for?’
“‘Because the wind has gone to sleep and we can do our work in peace. Oh,
such work as we’ll do!’
“‘First you say we’ll have a celebration, and then you say we’ll work.
Whatever do you mean, Jack Frost?’
“‘I mean,’ he said cheerily, ‘that we’ll have both a celebration and that
we’ll do wonderful work too. For work and play are all the same to me. I
feel like singing a song about it.’ And off he started singing, dancing
around as he sang these words:
I’m so happy, I’m so gay,
I like to work, I like to play.
Whichever it is I do not mind,
So long as the wind is still and kind.
“They put many of the flowers to sleep for the winter. Then the Frost
Brothers helped Jack Frost make his wonderful pictures and this was what
they called the celebration. They worked all night, and when morning
came, people looked out and saw their windows covered with frost. ‘Jack
Frost must have been around last night,’ they said.”
OCTOBER 23: Beans and Peas
A can of beans and a can of peas were talking. They had just been opened
and had been poured into large bowls in the kitchen. “Last summer,” said
the peas, “a young man came from the city. He wanted to work in the
garden, he said.
“Well, of all the funny workers he was the funniest! But the funniest of
all—that is—it was the funniest to us, was that he didn’t know us at all.”
“He didn’t know you,” exclaimed the beans.
“No,” grinned the peas, in their vegetable way, “he didn’t know whether
we were flowers or vegetables. He looked at us from a little distance
away and he said:
“‘Are these flowers or vegetables?’”
“Think of that,” exclaimed the beans.
“Yes, he didn’t know peas,” said the peas.
“Well,” said the beans, “we’ve heard of creatures who didn’t know beans,
but we’ve never heard of creatures who didn’t know peas.”
OCTOBER 24: Tiger West’s Food
“Tiger West,” said daddy, “had been off on a number of trips with his cat
friends who lived down the street.
“Now Tiger West lived in great grandeur. He had a special bed of cushions
and a blanket to curl under. He had a rug of white, soft, fluffy material
which he could lie upon whenever he wanted. And he wore a beautiful bow
to match his mistress’ gown.
“His master was a very rich man, and Tiger West was used to the best of
food. But he had missed adventures and when he became friendly with the
cats down the street he certainly did have enough. He narrowly escaped
having horrid cold water thrown on him from an upper window one time,
because he had been getting some goodies out of an ash tin. ‘Meow,’ he
said to himself, ‘what a joke it would be if the master could see me
with my whiskers quite dirty and my beautiful fur ruffled up. Well, I
know how to make myself look like a gentleman cat when I am ready to go
home.’
“Days passed and Tiger West still went on trips with his cat friends.
One day there was to be a meeting on the back fence of the cats of the
neighborhood, and Tiger West was asked to be present. Now, Mr. Black Cat
was very different looking from Tiger West. Mr. Black Cat’s fur was not
handsome, and he had a thin look, not at all becoming to a cat. He looked
as though he had to hunt for his food and had to exercise entirely too
soon after eating. Tiger imagined he must have been chased away after
every meal he took.
“Still Mr. Black Cat was a leader in the cat neighborhood. He was
President of the Night Singing Club, Vice-President of the Ash Can
Visitors, Secretary of the Hunt Mice Club, and Treasurer of the Garbage
Guild. He was always chosen as the judge of all the trials held in the
cat neighborhood and for this reason he was always called ‘Your Honor.’
“Now it made Tiger West very much annoyed to hear such a common cat
called by such a fine name. ‘Do you like strawberries and cream?’ he
asked.
“‘Never ate any,’ said Mr. Black Cat.
“‘I do,’ said Tiger West, ‘and I eat them in and out of season. My master
always gets them for me, or else he gets something else that is nice for
my breakfast with cream.’
“‘It doesn’t satisfy my hunger to hear what you have had to eat,’ said
Mr. Black Cat.
“Still Tiger West wanted to show that he amounted to something and was
better than Mr. Black Cat. ‘I never eat any kind of meat on a chicken
but the tenderest white meat,’ he said. ‘And I am particularly fond of
ice-cream. I like all the best food, and I get it too.’
“Mr. Black Cat raised his back and snarled. ‘This cat,’ he said, ‘tries
to be superior to us. Let’s put him out of the club.’
“The cats were chasing Tiger West now, but he got away from them and back
home. ‘How foolish I was,’ he said to himself as he began to drink a bowl
of rich milk, ‘to leave a home like this for such terrifying adventures.
But my curiosity is satisfied, and now I will stay home and live in
luxury as I should.’”
OCTOBER 25: Autumn Leaves
“Ah,” said the autumn leaves, “now is the time of the year for our great
and wonderful party.”
“Are you going to have one soon?” asked Mr. Wind.
“We hope to have one very, very soon,” said the leaves as they blew
about.
“The reason I asked,” said Mr. Wind, “was because I did not want to have
any other engagement on the day that you give your party. It would be the
sort of a party I would enjoy and I trust you will invite me.”
“Well,” laughed the leaves, “we couldn’t very well have the sort of a
party we want without you. We want your help in the races and jumps and
scampers. We need you to say, ‘Ready, Set, Go.’ We could never go without
you, Mr. Wind. And so we talked about this party right before you, hoping
you would show a great interest.”
And Mr. Wind came to the party and helped to make it a huge success.
OCTOBER 26: Blackie’s Escape
“A little girl named Doris,” said daddy, “was devoted to her pet dog,
Blackie. He had long black curly hair and was her constant companion.
“Wherever Doris went, Blackie followed. He took long walks with her, and
when she stopped to gather ferns and lovely wild flowers, Blackie would
romp through the fields, playing and chasing his shadow, sticks, and
sometimes his tail!
“One day Doris was very busy. She was getting ready for a magic lantern
show she was going to give for some of her little friends that evening.
“Blackie went out alone. He thought at first he would take a long scamper
over the hills and then he decided that he would go and see some of
the other dogs in the village where Doris lived. He thought perhaps
they would like to take a run, and it would be so much more fun to have
companions. He knew his mistress would not be able to leave the house for
she had told him so, and Blackie always understood.
“He went up into the village and before he had met any of his special
friends he came across a big bone. He had met several dogs he knew well
enough to sniff at and wag his tail to as he went by, but he was waiting
to see some of his really good friends when he happened upon the bone.
“‘This looks good,’ he said to himself. ‘I do believe I’ll take it home
and spend the afternoon munching on the bone.’
“Blackie ran home and into the side yard. What a time he did have, but it
was not long before Doris saw him.
“‘What, back again?’ she said. And Blackie wagged his tail. ‘Maybe I’ll
get through in time for a little scamper.’
“Of course Blackie knew perfectly well what a scamper meant and he barked
delightedly.
“‘What have you got there?’ asked Doris as she noticed the bone.
“Somehow it had a peculiar look and a very peculiar odor and in a moment
Doris thought of poison. That was always the danger about bones that were
found. She thought to herself, as she took the bone and looked at it,
that there have been people cruel enough to put poison around on bones so
dogs would eat it.
“She threw the bone away and though Blackie looked very much disappointed
he knew that it must be quite a horrid bone if his mistress wouldn’t let
him have it. For she knew how much he loved bones and would never take it
away from him if she didn’t have to do so.
“‘I think I’ll be able to leave now,’ said Doris. For the bone still
worried her and she thought perhaps it would be good for Blackie to have
a run.
“Blackie was very happy again, but when they were a little way out of the
village, Blackie didn’t seem to want to run, and he stopped every few
moments to eat grass. Dogs usually do that when they are feeling ill.
“Again Doris thought of the bone and how worried she was. Blackie didn’t
want to run, and was so unlike himself.
“Pretty soon she decided to go home and Blackie seemed very glad of that.
She telephoned her little friends and said that the magic lantern show
would be put off for Blackie was ill.
“How badly they all felt, for they knew how much she loved Blackie. But
she didn’t forget about the other little dogs. She told all her friends
to watch their pets, for she imagined a cruel person who wanted to poison
dogs was around.
“During the evening Blackie grew worse! Oh, how sick he was! He was so
hot, and Doris kept sponging his head with cool water. He would look at
her out of his brown eyes and tell her how grateful he was, and he would
try to say that he did not want to leave his mistress—life had been so
happy for him.
“‘Oh, Blackie,’ whispered Doris, as she bathed his head, and as her tears
rolled down on his black shaggy hairs, ‘would they kill little dogs who
are people’s pets—just because they are so mean and don’t know what it is
to understand and love an animal? And they put the poison around anywhere
so that the good are just as apt to eat it as perhaps one dog who is
naughty.’
“But Blackie got well, and perhaps the cruel person heard about it, for
there was no more dog poisoning in that village.”
OCTOBER 27: A Talk with the Sun
“A little boy named Melville,” said daddy, “had heard that day that every
one should make hay while the sun was shining.
“‘Make hay while the sun shines,’ was what Melville had been told. The
one who had told him this was his teacher in school.
“How could any one make hay in the winter time and the sun shone in the
winter time as well as in the summer time? he thought.
“He wondered about it more and more as he felt the warmth of Mr. Sun
shining into his window. He was sitting curled up in a big arm chair.
“How he wished he could ask Mr. Sun what it meant. Of course he could ask
his teacher to-morrow. There must be some meaning to it, or some catch to
it which he didn’t understand.
“Mr. Sun looked very pleasant and as though he would be quite willing to
tell Melville if only Melville knew how to ask him so he would hear.
“How nice and warm Mr. Sun was. More and more sleepy did Melville become,
and after a few moments he was sound asleep. Then it seemed as though Mr.
Sun came and sat on the window sill. ‘It is true,’ said Mr. Sun, ‘that
one can only make hay when the season allows it, and the season doesn’t
allow it when it is winter, most assuredly.
“‘But the expression, “Make hay while the sun shines,” has nothing to do
with the seasons.
“‘It is simply an expression meaning to take advantage of the good
weather or the good time or the good season and prepare for ones which
aren’t so good.
“‘For example, when daddies and mothers are well and strong they try to
save a little money for the days when illness may come. That is making
hay while the sun shines, for they’re saving during the time when they
get a chance to save.
“‘When children study when they’re young they’re making hay while the sun
shines for they’re taking advantage of the opportunities they have which
will make them wise when they’re men and women.
“‘When people are wise and take advantage of time it is making hay while
the sun shines, for it is not losing time. The expression, as you see,
means taking advantage of good times to prepare for bad times, and it
started by some one telling some one else to see about the hay while the
sun was shining, for the rain might come, and then it would be too late.
“‘And,’ continued the sun, ‘it is a wise saying, a very wise saying,
indeed.’”
OCTOBER 28: The Squash
“It’s all right to be a winter vegetable or to be a summer vegetable, and
it’s all right to be any kind of a vegetable at all a vegetable wishes to
be,” said the squash, “but it’s sad above everything to be a squash.”
“And why so?” asked one of the potatoes.
“Because there is something flat about being a squash.
“Just think of the family name, for example—squash! Doesn’t it sound flat
and squashed and trampled upon and walked upon and squashed down flat? It
has such a hopeless sound!”
“It does sound that way,” said the potato. “But still you aren’t all
trampled upon and squashed down flat. In fact, I don’t know that I ever
saw folks going around and trampling upon you. To be sure, your name has
a flat, trampled-upon sound.”
“And, oh, dear,” said the squash, “we’re such a dull sort of family.
There is no interest to us. We’re not fascinating and pretty, like the
tomatoes, and we’re not even loved by some and hated by others, like the
cucumbers.
“They are interesting, for they have both friends and enemies.