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[Illustration]
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The Goose Girl.
Gretchen was a goose girl. She lived in a tiny cottage with a red roof,
all amidst the fields, and woods, and hills, and every day she took a
big stick and drove her geese across the common to the pond on the other
side.
One summer morning her mother said she might take a holiday, and go and
visit her Auntie Jeanne. So Gretchen dressed herself in her best
clothes, and set out to the village. She spent a happy time with her
auntie, and after tea started for home.
Just on the edge of the common she met her geese.
When they saw her they began to cackle in great excitement, and caught
hold of her skirts. Gretchen drove them off with her umbrella. But they
only waddled on a little way, then looked back to see what she was
doing.
“I believe they want me to follow them!” cried Gretchen.
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As soon as the geese saw her coming they began to run, and Gretchen ran
after. On and on they went, over the common, across the fields, until
they came to a little shady dell in a wood. And here Gretchen stopped,
and clapped her hands with delight, for on the mossy ground was spread
the most delicious tea she had ever seen. All around sat a number of
little brown rabbits. Peter Bunny spied Gretchen first.
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“Look, mother!” he cried. “There's a little servant girl!”
“So there is!” exclaimed Mrs. Bunny, staring at Gretchen. “What wages do
you ask, my dear?”
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Gretchen thought this great fun. “If you please,” she said, “I should be
quite satisfied with some of those lovely cakes.”
“As many as you like,” said Mrs. Bunny. “Now go and fetch the tea.”
The geese had vanished, so Gretchen filled the tea pot from the little
kettle on the fire, and Peter Bunny carried dishes of cakes. Then they
all sat down, and Gretchen had as many cakes as she could eat. When tea
was over, Mrs. Bunny told Gretchen to go and play with the children
until bedtime.
“What's that?” asked Peter, presently, pointing to the umbrella, and
Gretchen showed him how it opened and shut.
“I know!” he cried. “We'll go for a sail in the air.”
“Hurrah!” cried all the other rabbits, and they dragged Gretchen and the
umbrella on to the common.
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She opened the umbrella wide, Peter caught hold of her skirts, and the
other rabbits joined on behind, holding on to each other's tails. “One,
two, three—go!” cried Peter, and the whole party went soaring into the
air. It was a delicious feeling. Higher and higher they went, until at
last they were right above the clouds.
“Oh!” cried Gretchen, suddenly, “the umbrella's shutting up! Oh!
whatever shall we do?” Sure enough the umbrella was no longer puffed out
like a balloon, but hanging loosely round the handle, and the next
moment it began to fall.
“We're tumbling into the sea!” cried the rabbit at the bottom of the
chain, and there was a loud splash.
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Splash, splash, splash! One by one all the bunnies fell in until only
Peter and Gretchen were left. All of a sudden the umbrella flew out of
her hands, and she awoke to find herself sitting by the side of the
pond, while her geese were splashing in for their evening swim. On the
ground in front of her lay the umbrella, but Peter and the rest of the
rabbits had completely disappeared.
“I hope they're not drowned,” she said, as she got up and peered into
the pond. But the water was so clear she could look right to the bottom,
and no sign of a bunny rabbit could she see.
“It must have been a dream,” she said, as she smoothed out her dress.
“But those cakes were lovely. So was the journey through the air.” She
picked up her umbrella and opened it, but it wouldn't lift her an inch
off the ground. So she scampered home to find mother standing in the
doorway looking for her, but when she told her story, mother laughed.
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Goose-girl.
“Goose-girl, Goose-girl,
Whither do you wander?”
“Uphill, down-dale,
To find my goose and gander!”
“Sunshine, stormcloud,
Wild and windy weather,
Week in and week out,
I keep my flock together!”
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“In hurricane and rainstorm
Two have gone together;
Now my only fear is
That I shall see them never!”
“Goose-girl, Goose-girl,
Where the streams meander,
There beside a golden egg
You'll find your goose and gander!”
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[Illustration: A Camel]
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Waiting for Tea.
Molly and I have quarrelled;
She isn't nice at all;
She will not let me have her doll,
So she shan't have my ball.
Molly is disagreeable,
And she began it too;
She called me first “a silly,”
And I said, “So are you!”
Molly is standing sulking;
She's dreadful cross with me.
I wish we hadn't fought, 'cause then
We'd give the dolls their tea.
I know the dolls are hungry,
But Molly turns away....
I wonder, if I kissed her,
If she'd forgive and play?
“Are you still angry, Molly?”
“No,” she begins to smile.
“Now come and play with the dollies;
They're waiting all this while.”