Friendly Fairies Part 9

Thumbkins lived in a tiny, cozy little house right down beneath a mushroom. The tiny, little house was made of cobwebs which Thumbkins had gathered from the bushes and weeds. These he had woven together with thistle-down, making the nicest little nest imaginable.

One day Thumbkins was pa.s.sing through the meadow and it began to rain.

"Dear me! I shall get soaking wet!" Thumbkins cried as he hurried along.

A mamma meadow-lark, sitting upon her nest, saw Thumbkins running and called to him: "Come here, little man, and get beneath my wing and I will keep you warm and dry!"

So Thumbkins crawled beneath Mamma Meadow-Lark's wings and, snuggling down close to the bottom of the meadow-lark's nest, he found three tiny little baby meadow-larks. It was too dark for Thumbkins to see them, but he felt that the baby Meadow-Larks were as warm as toast.

Thumbkins kept very quiet, for the baby meadow-larks were sleepy little fellows, and before he knew it Thumbkins was sound asleep himself, with an arm around one of the baby birds.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Thumbkins did not know how long he had been asleep, but when he awakened the rain had ceased. Thumbkins knew it had stopped raining for he could no longer hear the rain drops pattering upon Mamma Meadow-Lark's back.

So now he climbed out of the nest and looked about.

The ground about the Meadow-Lark's nest was covered with tiny puddles, and Mamma Meadow-Lark was soaking wet. She looked very uncomfortable.

Her feathers stuck out in all directions and a drop of water fell from her head and rolled down her beak.

Thumbkins thought at first Mamma Meadow-Lark was crying, and he said: "Are you cold, Mamma Meadow-Lark?"

"Yes, indeed!" Mamma Meadow-Lark replied as she shook her ruffled feathers, sending the water flying in all directions.

"But, you see," she continued, "if I did not cover my baby Meadow-Lark chicks they would get very, very cold, for they have little bald heads with not a single feather upon them to protect them! So, while I get wet, it does not matter so much, for I know I have kept my little Meadow-Lark chicks dry and warm and cozy and that, of course, makes me very happy! And I had the pleasure of keeping you warm and dry, too!"

Mamma Meadow-Lark added.

"Perhaps Mamma Meadow-Lark is very happy inside!" Thumbkins thought to himself as he stood and looked at her. "But she does not look very happy with such wet feathers."

"I thank you ever and ever so much, Mamma Meadow-Lark!" Thumbkins said.

"You are indeed very welcome," Mamma Meadow-Lark replied, "and any time it rains you can come back to my nest and crawl beneath my wing and keep warm and dry. For you are tiny and do not take up much room!"

Thumbkins thanked Mamma Meadow-Lark again, and told her of his nice warm cozy little nest beneath the mushroom. "It is always nice and dry there," he said, "for the rain runs right off the mushroom and does not touch my little cobweb home!"

That night as he lay in his little thistle-down bed, Thumbkins heard it thundering. "I'm very glad that I haven't a home built right out upon the bare ground like the meadow-larks!" he said. And as the thunder grew louder, Thumbkins turned over and tried to go to sleep.

Presently the raindrops began to patter on the round top of the mushroom and "drip-dropped" to the ground without getting Thumbkins' little house the least bit wet. Usually when it rained, the patter of the raindrops upon his mushroom roof lulled Thumbkins right to sleep, but tonight Thumbkins lay wide awake and thought and thought.

"I can't go to sleep!" Thumbkins said, so he hopped out of his warm little bed and lit his tiny lantern. Then, though it was raining ever so hard, he pulled his little hat well down on his head and ran out into the storm.

Yes! There was Mamma Meadow-Lark sitting upon her nest with her head tucked under her wing, sound asleep. But when he held his tiny lantern close, Thumbkins could see that she shivered as the cold raindrops splashed upon her back.

So Thumbkins ran to the woods where he knew the mushrooms grew, and breaking off the largest one he could find he carried it to where Mamma Meadow-Lark sat sleeping upon her nest, and planted it so the raindrops rolled off the round roof and did not touch her at all.

Then, shivering himself, for he was soaking wet, he ran home as fast as he could, took off his dripping clothes, put on his little pajamas, and climbed into his warm little cozy cobweb bed.

Now of course Thumbkins was happy because he had helped another, and when a person is happy there is nothing to worry about, and when there is nothing to worry about, of course there is nothing to keep one awake.

So Thumbkins fell fast asleep and dreamed the most pleasant dreams.

And they were such happy dreams Thumbkins slept until almost half-past eight the next morning.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

THE WISHBONE

The stove lifter lay upon his iron side and looked across the top of the shelf which stood above the stove. "Who is he?" he asked of the box of matches lying near him.

The box of matches looked at the strange new object standing upon two thin white legs and leaning against the wall near the coffee pot.

"I do not know!" the match box answered.

Then they asked a number of other objects lying about if they knew who the newcomer was, but none of them had ever seen anything like him before.

When the new two-legged object with the bald head heard everyone whispering he felt they were talking about him, and he stepped out where all might see him, and walked up and down the shelf at the back of the stove.

The stove lifter, the match box and all the other objects watched him with interest as he strutted back and forth.

At last the new object stood still and with his head thrown back he said: "I am a wish-bone, but as none of you know what a wishbone is, I shall tell you! A wishbone is an object of great importance in this world. Some of us come from the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of chickens and some from the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of turkeys. When we are placed above a doorsill in a house, we bring good luck!"

"Don't the people in the house here wish good luck?" asked the match box.

"What a silly question!" replied the wishbone, "Anyone could easily see you do not know much!"

"Then why didn't they place you above the door?" asked the stove lifter.

"Because I have greater qualities than bringing good luck!" the wishbone answered. "The children placed me here to dry, for they have heard that I make wishes come true! And if you keep your eyes and ears open you will see just what a great object a wishbone really is!"

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

All the other objects upon the shelf on the back of the stove held their breaths to think such an important object deigned to talk to them.

Then the children came romping into the kitchen. "Here they come!" cried the wishbone. "Now watch me make their wishes come true!"

And all the other objects scarcely breathed while they watched the children as they took the wishbone from the shelf. They could see how proud he looked as the children each took one of the wishbone's legs between their fingers.

"I wish that this kitchen were just filled with candy and cake, then we could eat all we wish to!" one of the children said. "And I wish for a million golden pennies piled high upon the kitchen table!" the other child cried.

"Now watch!" the wishbone winked to the objects upon the shelf behind the stove.

The two children pulled upon the wishbone's legs. "Ouch!" he cried.