Long, long ago, when the world was very young indeed, the Birds and
Animals used to send their children to school, to Mother Magpie's
kindergarten. All the morning long the babies learned their lessons
which it was needful for them to know. And when the noon hour came their
various mammas came to the school bringing lunches for the children. You
can imagine how gladly they were received by the hungry little scholars.
One day Mrs. Partridge was very busy with her house-cleaning, and when
the noontime came she could not leave her work to go to the school with
her babies' lunch.
"Dear me," she said, looking out of the nest, "here it is noon and the
little Partridges will be so very hungry. But I really cannot leave home
now. What shall I do? If only some other mamma were going that way."
She craned her neck and looked eagerly in every direction. And finally
she spied Madame Tortoise plodding along towards the school, with the
lunch for her little Turtlets.
"Oho, neighbor, oho! Stop a minute!" cried Mrs. Partridge, waving a wing
at Tortoise. "Are you going schoolward, as I think? Oh, dear Madame
Tortoise, if you knew how busy I am to-day. I don't think any one was
ever so busy as I am with my house-cleaning. Will you do me a favor,
please?"
The Tortoise sniffed. "Well, I am a busy woman myself," she said, "but I
am willing to oblige a neighbor. What is it you wish, ma'am?"
"Oh, thank you so much!" cried the Partridge. "Dear Madame Tortoise, I
shall never forget your kindness. Now, will you take this bunch of nice
wiggly worms to my little ones for their lunch? I shall be so very
grateful."
"Don't mention it," snapped the Tortoise, who was rather tired of
hearing Mrs. Partridge's shrill thanks. "I'm perfectly willing to take
the lunch, since I am going to the same place. But I don't know your
babies. What do they look like, ma'am?"
"Oh, that is easily told," cried Mrs. Partridge. "They are the most
beautiful little creatures in the school. They are said greatly to
resemble me. You will have no trouble in recognizing them. When you
come to the school just look around at all the children, and pick out
the three most beautiful of all. Those are certain to be mine. Give them
the wiggly worms, please, with my love. And oh, _thank_ you, Madame
Tortoise, so very much! Some time I will do as much for you. So
neighborly! Thank you!"
[Illustration: _Here are some nice fat wiggly worms!_]
"Don't mention it!" snapped the Tortoise again, very much bored by all
this chatter. She sniffed as she moved slowly along towards the school,
with the second lunch carried carefully on her broad shell-back. "They
are nice fat worms," she said.
Now when the Tortoise came to the school it was high noon, and all the
children were waiting open-mouthed for their mammas and the lunches
which they expected. Such rows and rows of wide hungry mouths! Madame
Tortoise moved slowly up and down and round and round, eyeing the
various children who begged for the nice wiggly worms. "H'm!" she said
to herself, "hungry children seem to look considerably alike, and none
of them are so wondrously beautiful when their mouths are wide open
greedily. I wonder which are Mrs. Partridge's children. She told me to
give this lunch to the handsomest babies here. Well, I will, and if I
make a mistake it will not be my fault. Hello! Here are my dear little
Turtlets! Bless the babies, how pretty they are! Why, I declare, I never
realized that they were so handsome. Certainly, they are the
best-looking children in the school. Then I must give them Mrs.
Partridge's luncheon, for so I promised. Yes, my little ones, here is
your lunch which I brought for you. And when you have finished that,
here is another, some nice, fat, wiggly worms which mother collected on
the way,--a prize for the handsomest children in the school."
So the little Turtlets fared wonderfully well that day; but the poor
little Partridges went hungry, and had dreadful headaches, and went home
peeping sadly to their silly mother. And Mrs. Partridge had no more
sense than to be angry with Madame Tortoise, which I think was very
unfair, don't you? For the latter had only done as she was bidden by her
silly and conceited neighbor.
But after that the Tortoise and the Partridge never spoke to each other,
and their children would not play together at school.