the sixteenth night sloshin' of course marmaduke grew well again, and backfrom uncle roger's came jehosophat and hepzebiah. they came back inthe old creaking buckboard with methuselah the old, old white horse, and thetoyman.
cricket farm, no sooner had they jumped to the ground thanmarmaduke asked, very proudly: "where do you think _i've_ been?" "you've been sick." marmaduke shook his head.
"that's not what i mean," he said. "i've beento see the old man-in-the-moon." "_now_ you're telling _stories_" jeered jehosophat."you've just been in _bed_ all the time." "i'm _not_ telling any stories," said hisbrother stoutly. "i tell you, i _have_ been to visit the old man-in-the-moon." but jehosophat wouldn't believe him. "that's a _whopper_," said he. marmaduke turned to his friend, the toyman.
"i _have_ been there, haven't i?" "where?" said the toyman. "to see the old man-in-the-moon." "of course you have," his good old chum replied,"and a heap of wonderful things you saw." the toyman never laughed at the wonderfulthings they had done, nor at the marvellous things they had seen—no never,for he understood little children. now jehosophat _had_ to believe him. he askedlots of questions, while
hepzebiah listened, her eyes growing as roundas big peppermint drops. so marmaduke showed them the little red andblue sleigh, and told them all about the little driver, jack frost. andhe didn't forget about old black-eyed susan's great jump, nor the goldpennies, either. jehosophat felt just a little jealous. perhapsthat is why he was naughty that day. and this is how it all happened: it was in the afternoon. jehosophat was cominghome from the schoolhouse, which was up the road about a mile, a longway from the
white-house-with-the-green-blinds where thethree happy children lived. with him walked four of his friends—sophysoapstone and sammy soapstone, who lived on the farm by the old canal; lizziefizzletree, who lived on the turnpike; and fatty hamm, who lived by theriver road. sammy soapstone had blue eyes and tow hairwhich stood up straight on his head. it was as stiff as the curry comb withwhich the toyman brushed the horses. sophy soapstone had blue eyes, too,and two neat little pigtails down her back. but lizzie fizzletree had black eyes and hairthat stuck out in all
directions. she had more safety-pins on herdress than a neat little girl should ever have. and her stockings were forevercoming down. fatty hamm was so round and so plump thathe looked as if he had pillows under his clothes. and though he was onlytwelve he had two chins. every once in a while he would eat so much thata button would pop off. he was eating apples now. one, two, three, four, five, he ate. he didnot offer one to his friends, _not even the core_! another apple he took. that made six!
pop went a button and—splash—it landedin a puddle of brown water. for three days it had rained, washing thewhite snow away. the ruts in the road were full of these puddles, nice andbrown and inviting. sammy's eyes and jehosophat's eyes followedthe button as it landed in the water, making little rings which grew largerall the time. "let's slosh," said sammy. "let's!" cried lizzie fizzletree, "it's lotsof fun, sloshin'." into a big puddle marched sammy soapstone,and after him marched lizzie and sophy, and at the end of the procession waddledfatty.
"slop, slosh, slop, slosh," they went throughpuddle after puddle. glorious fun it was. showers of spray flewall over the road. but jehosophat walked on ahead in the middleof the road. hadn't his mother told him, particularly, _not_ to get his feetwet? "come on in, it's fine!" they all shoutedat jehosophat. "aw, come on!" sammy soapstone repeated, andfatty called: "'fraidcat!" at that jehosophat turned around. he justcouldn't stand being called "'fraidcat."
so _slosh, slosh_, into the biggest brownpuddle he could find he went. _slosh, slop, slop, slosh_! over his rubber tops went the water. fineand cool it felt. splash went the water over the road. and hekicked it over fatty till the round fat legs were drenched too. then all the boys bent over the puddle, andscooped up great handfuls of water, and threw them over each other. it was a great battle. and when it was finishedand they were soaked to the
skin, they splashed up the road, shoutingand singing. i guess they went into every last puddle betweenthe schoolhouse and the white-house-with-the-green-blinds by the sideof the road. they had reached it now. all-of-a-sudden jehosophat felt very funnynear the pit of his stomach. something was sure to happen now. in front of the house marched mr. stuckup,the turkey. his chest was stuck out and his tail feathers were spread outtoo, like a great big fan. he was having a lovely parade all by himself.
"rubber, rubber, rubber," he gobbled. jehosophat looked down at his feet. he feltguilty—but he thought it was very mean of mr. stuckup to call attentionto his wet rubbers that way. "keep quiet," jehosophat shouted. "you don'tneed to _tell_ on me!" "rubber, rubber, rubber," gobbled mr. stuckupjust the same. jehosophat kicked at him with his wet feet,and tried to grab the fat red nose that hung down over the turkey's beak. at that old mr. stuckup's feathers ruffledin anger, and he hurried off, still gobbling "rubber, rubber, rubber," asloud as he could.
around the house sneaked jehosophat, tryinghard not to be seen. half-way to the back door, who should he meetbut a procession of the foolish white geese. by this time jehosophat was not only wet clearthrough, he was angry clear through too, so he kicked at them. they stretched out their long white necksand called: "hiss! hiss! hissssssss!!" they might be very foolish, these white geese,but they were sensible enough to know that jehosophat ought to havebeen ashamed of himself that
afternoon. to make matters worse, the sun was shiningnow. he sparkled so brightly on the gold rooster on the top of the barn, thatfather wyandotte flapped his wings and cried to all the world: "look, look, look, look! you're going to getit—hurroo!" and all the white wyandottes took up the cry: "cut, cut, cut, cut, cut—you'll get it." jehosophat wished he were as small as hop-o'-my-thumb,so that he could creep through the keyhole and never be seenat all.
but he had one friend left—little wienerwurst,who frisked up to him just then, wagging his tail. he didn't scold jehosophatat all, partly because he was so often up to mischief himself. andthen little wienerwurst always stuck by his friends anyway. for a while nothing more happened, and jehosophattiptoed in at the back door. mother was nowhere to be seen, so overthe floor he sneaked. at every step the water oozed out and _slop,splosh, slop, splosh_, still went his shoes. but he reached his room safely, then quicklyhe rummaged in the drawers of
the bureau. quiet as a mouse he took off his wet clothes,and put them in the darkest corner of the big closet. quiet as a mousehe drew on the clean dry ones. but someone was calling: "jehosophat—_je-hos'-o-phat_!" no answer made he. no longer could he hide. so, making his facelook as bold and as innocent as possible, he walked into the dining-room. but somehow, though he tried to look innocent,i guess he really looked
guilty. "jehosophat green, what _have_ you been doing?"asked mother. her eyes were almost always kind but they were a littlestern just then. jehosophat tried another look on his face,for you can try different looks on your face just as you try different hatson your head. this time he tried the one that folks call "unconcern,"a look as if he had no troubles at all, as if he had nothing to hide. "aw, just playin'," he answered his mother. then his mother asked a very strange question:
"where's the party?" jehosophat _was_ surprised. "party" soundedfine. "what party, mother?" he asked. "i don't know," his mother replied. "i justthought you were dressed up for one." and he looked down at his clean suit and hissunday best shoes. and from out the corner of his eye he saw wet placeson the floor and muddy tracks, about as big as his feet. no answer now had jehosophat. he guessed hewould go into the parlour. so
he sat down at the marble-topped table, andlooked at the picture book which uncle roger had given him. it was fullof great white ships sailing the blue sea. for a moment he almost forgot all his troubles,so interested was he in looking at those great ships and their sailsand all the wonderful fish. then suddenly he remembered. he looked out through the door into the dining-room. mother wasn't saying anything. she was justbusy. that was all. but had she forgotten?
somehow jehosophat did not like the sad lookon her face. he went and shut the door. he thought he wouldfeel more comfortable if he couldn't see mother's eyes. then he sat downto look at the picture book again. but he felt more miserable than ever. bang! he shut the book too. it was very strange.the things that usually made him so happy weren't any fun at all justthen. then he looked up at the mantel. above it hung a great picture. there was aman in a cocked hat. he had on a fine uniform and he rode a tall white horse.jehosophat knew very well who
that was. it would be _his_ birthday tomorrow—georgewashington's birthday. the teacher had told them all aboutit that very afternoon. she had told them a story, too, about a hatchetand a cherry tree—and—a lie! the man on the horse looked down from thepicture. the eyes were very stern. a lie! yes, that was just what he had told to mother.he had told a lie, and acted a lie.
though there was no one else in the room butthe great man in the big picture, jehosophat's cheeks grew very red.a lump came into his throat. now he never could be president nor have asword—and ride a big white horse—and call "forward march" to the wholearmy. no—never! to the window he went, and pressed his noseagainst the pane. the clouds were grey. it all seemed very dark and notat all cheerful as the world ought to be. once more he looked up at the picture. and as he looked at the eyes of the man inthe picture, they told him to do
something. he decided to do it. and as soon as he decidedhe felt better—not _all_ better—but better. and out into the dining-room he marched. hehad to close his fists tight, for it is very hard sometimes to tell peopleyou've done wrong to them, especially if they are people you love. "mother," he said—not very loud. she looked up. "yes?"
"mother—i——" he stopped. mother looked up. she saw hislip tremble a little and wanted to take him in her arms. but she didn't justthen. he must tell what he had to tell, first. "mother—i told a lie—i got my feet wet—sloshin'—andi said i was playin' when i changed my clothes—an' i'msorry an'—an'—i'll never do it again." then mother did take him in her arms and shekissed him and hugged him too. "well—i love my little boy all the morefor this. it was very wrong to
disobey, worse still to tell a lie. but itwas hard to tell me your own self about it and you were brave." so she kissed him. and her eyes weren't sadany more. end of the sixteenth night the seventeenth night the circus comes to town mother green and father green were fast asleepin the white-house-with-the-green-blinds. the toymanwas fast asleep too. rover and brownie and wienerwurst lay curled upin their kennels, with their eyes
tight shut. on their poles in _their_ houseall the white wyandottes perched like feathery balls, their heads sunklow on their breasts. on the roof cuddled the pretty pigeons, all pinkand grey and white. in the barn teddy, and hal, and methuselah, and black-eyedsusan, and all the four-footed friends of the three happy children,rested from the cares of the day. hepzebiah never stirred in her crib,and jehosophat lay dreaming of something very pleasant. but the crickets, and the katydids, the scamperingmice, and the big-eyed owls, and the little stars, snapping theirtiny fingers of light up in the
sky, and marmaduke—_they_ were awake. he had played very hard that day and he hadleg-ache. mother had rubbed it till it felt better and he fell asleep, butnow it began to hurt again and he woke up. the little-clock-with-the-wise-face-on-the-mantelstruck, not seven times but four. it was long past midnight—_itwas four o 'clock in the morning_! but marmaduke didn't call his mother. he thoughtthat it would be too bad to wake her up from that nice sleep. sohe just tried to rub his leg himself.
it was then that he heard that far-off noiselike a rumble of thunder. but it wasn't thunder. it was something rollingover the bridge down the road. marmaduke sat up in bed and looked out ofthe window into the dark shadows of the trees. there was another rumble, and another andanother. there must be, oh, so many wagons rolling by in the night. thenhe heard the sound of horses' hoofs on the road, the clank of rings andiron trace chains. he rubbed his eyes this time and looked hardout into the darkness. yes, he could see the tops of the big wagons,moving slowly past, under the
trees and over the road. it was a strange procession and he just hadto jump out of bed, forgetting all about his leg-ache. he ran to the window,pressing his little turned-up nose against the panes. though it was dark still it must have beennear morning. the moon was just going down behind the church-with-the-long-white-finger,that finger which always kept pointing at the sky. the old man-in-the-moonlooked very tired and peaked after sitting up so late. there were so many of the wagons and so manyhorses. they must stretch
way back to the school-house, and miles andmiles beyond that, marmaduke thought. the horses seemed very tired, for they ploddedalong slowly in the dark, and the drivers almost fell asleep, noddingon their seats. they looked just like black shadows. under the axles of the wagons were lanterns,swinging a little and throwing circles of light on the road. now and then one of the drivers spoke roughlyto the horses. and sometimes marmaduke heard strange noises like the sleepygrowls of wild animals.
perhaps they were in those wagons! then marmaduke laughed. he knew what it was.they were circus wagons! the circus was coming to town! the toyman hadtold him all about it, that very day. once, one of the animals roared and the othersanswered back. their noise was louder than the rumble of the wagon-wheelson the bridge. marmaduke was frightened. but the roaring stopped, and allhe could hear was the noise of all those wheels on their way up the roadby the river. then the last wagon passed and marmaduke wentback to bed and fell asleep.
but the long procession rolled on and on tillit reached the church. there was a large field nearby. into it the wagonsturned and all the horses were unhitched. then the cooks started fires in the stoveson the cook-wagons, and all the strange men and women had coffee. and then,just as the sun was coming up and the night was all gone, they went to work. up in the centre of the field they raisedthree tall poles. they were almost as high as the long white finger ofthe church. they drove many stakes into the ground. and around the tallpoles they stretched almost
as many ropes as there are on a ship. then they unrolled the white canvas and, whenthe sun was just a little way up in the sky and the morning was all niceand shiny and bright, the great white tents were ready for the circus. back in the white-house-with-the-green-blinds,marmaduke was eating his oatmeal. he asked a question that he veryoften asked: "what do you think _i_ saw?" "another dream?" said jehosophat. "no, it was _real_," replied marmaduke. "isaw a lot of wagons,
hundreds 'n thousands, in a big line mileslong. and there were wild animals in the wagons." "i'll bet that was a _dream_," his big brotherinsisted, but the toyman said: "no, it wasn't a dream, it was the circuscoming to town." then father spoke up: "that's so, i most forgot." he looked at the toyman: "frank," he said, "i've got to go over tothe miller farm to buy some
yearling steers. you'll have to take the youngstersto that circus." the toyman didn't seem worried about that.he looked just "tickled," "like a boy himself," mother said. so, after dinner, old methuselah was hitchedup, and away they drove,—the toyman, jehosophat, hepzebiah, and marmaduke,with little wienerwurst, as usual, in back. he was very happy, barkingat all the carriages hurrying up the road to the circus. they came to the field with the big whitetents and were just going to turn in, when they heard music way off in the streetsof the town.
"why, i most forgot," said the toyman to jehosophat."there's the circus parade over on main street. in the big citythey have the parade and the circus all in one big building, but in thecountry towns they have the parade first in the street, and the performanceafter, in the tents." "tluck, tluck!" he called to methuselah, andjog, jog, jog, the old horse trotted into town. in uncle roger's barn thetoyman unhitched him, and gave him some hay and some oats too, for itwas a grand holiday. then hand-in-hand the toyman and the three happychildren hurried over to main street.
so many people were crowded on the sidewalkthat the children could hardly see. but jehosophat ducked under the stomachsof two big fat men and sat on the curb-stone. and the toyman held marmadukeon one shoulder and hepzebiah on the other. he was very strong. from theirhigh perch they could look right over the heads of all the people atthat great circus parade. hark! they were coming! first the band. they were dressed in gay uniformsof red and blue, with gold tassels too, and bright brass buttons. ahead of them marched the leader of the band—thetall drum major. he had
on a high fur cap, twice as big as his head.in his hand he swung a long black cane, called a "baton." it had a goldknob on it, bigger than a duck's egg. he raised the cane and the music began! _trrat——trrat——trrat—trrat—trrat_!went the little drums. _boom——boom—-boom—boom—boom_! wentthe big bass drum. _hum_— _hum_— _hum—hum_!
sounded the shiny horns. _ter-loo_ _loo-loo-loo_ _ter-loo-loo_! gaily whistled the little fifes. then they all sounded together in a grandcrash of music that made all the people happy and excited, and they almostdanced on the sidewalk. and all the time the tall drum-major kepttwirling that baton with the gold knob on it till jehosophat's eyes most poppedout of his head.
my! how he could twirl it! but other wonderful things were coming now,marching by very swiftly,—ladies on horses that pranced anddanced; cowboys on horses that were livelier still; a giant as tall as thebig barber's pole; and a dwarf no higher than that tall giant's knee. and great grey elephants, all tied togetherby their trunks and their tails; and zebras like little horses paintedwith stripes; and cages on wagons, full of funny monkeys, making facesat all the people; and lions and tigers, walking up and down and showingtheir sharp teeth.
then something happened! one of the circus men must have been sleepythat morning, for he hadn't fixed the lock on that cage just tight. andthe big tiger felt very mean that day. he snarled and he snarled, and hejumped at the bars of his cage. open came the door. out leaped that wickedtiger right on the street, and the people ran pell mell in all directions. the two fat men were so frightened that theyfell flat on their stomachs. the barber shinnied up his pole, and hungon for dear life to the top. the baker-man tumbled into the watering-trough,and all the rest rushed
higgledy-piggledy into the houses and stores. the toyman picked up hepzebiah, marmaduke,and jehosophat, hurried them into the candy-store, and shut the door tight. it was full of beautiful candies,—chocolatecreams and peppermint drops, snowy white cocoanut cakes, black and whitelicorice sticks, and cherry-red lollypops. but the three children never noticedthose lovely candies at all. they just looked out of the glass doorat that tiger, walking up and down the street, a-showing his teeth and a-swishinghis tail. the tiger looked at all the people behindthe windows and doors. they were
all shivering in their boots, and he didn'tknow which one to choose. then he looked up at the man on the barber-pole,and he was shivering too. then all of a sudden the tiger stopped. "_girrrrrrrrrrrhhh_!" he saw the butcher shop. the door was open. some nice red pieces ofbeef hung on the hooks. he licked his chops and ran into the shopand jumped up at the first piece of beef and ate it all up. he never saw thestout butcher, who was hiding under the chopping block. the butcher's facewas usually as red as the
beef, but now it was as white as his apron,and his feet were shaking as fast as leaves in the wind. but just as the tiger was gobbling the lastmorsel up, down the street galloped a cowboy on a swift horse. he stoppedright in front of the butcher shop. out went his hand. in it was a rope all coiled up. around his head he twirled it, in great flyingloops. then he let it fly. and it fell around that wicked tiger's headand neck, just as he was
finishing his dinner. then the circus men came with big steel forks,and they ran at that tiger, and they tied him all up in that rope verytight, and put him back in the cage on the wagon, while he growled and growledand growled. so the parade started again and all of thepeople came out of their hiding-places, all but the fat men who hurriedoff home, as soon as they found their breath, and the old ladies whosaid they guessed they'd go to missionary meeting after all. a circus paradewas too heathenish. soon it was all over, and the rest of thepeople hurried off to the field
with the big white tents. and what they saw there we will tell you tomorrownight. end of theseventeenth night the eighteenth night the jolly clown marmaduke was lost. there was such a crowdaround those tents! he wriggled between lots of pairs of legs, but nowherecould he find the toyman's. near the door of the tent stood a man witha big black moustache, and a silk hat on his head. he was selling tickets.the toyman went up to him.
"howdy," said the toyman. "howdy, pardner," replied he. "i'd like four tickets. here is the money.one whole ticket and three half tickets too." the man counted the money and gave him thetickets. then the toyman asked: "did you see a little boy 'bout this high,with a little yeller dog?" the man with the big black moustache and thetall silk hat shook his head. "sorry i can't oblige you, pardner. i've seenlots of kiddies but nary a one with a yeller dog."
"well then," said the toyman, "will you kindlyshow these youngsters to their seats while i look for that little lostboy and his dog?" "certainly, be most pleased," was the answer,for all circus men are very polite on circus day. so the man with the black moustache and thetall silk hat called a man in a red cap. jehosophat took hepzebiah by thehand, and the man in the red cap led them into the big tent. he showed themtheir seats, and they sat down in the very front row. outside, the toyman kept looking, lookingeverywhere. there was no sign of
marmaduke's tow head nor of little yellowwienerwurst. _they_ were on the other side of the tent,outside too, mixed up with men and women they didn't know, and hundredsof boys and girls. they could see other men too, with striped shirts andloud voices, standing in small houses. and the small houses looked just likelittle stores, and on the counters were good things to eat,—popcorn,peanuts, cracker jack, and something cool in glasses, like lemonade butcoloured like strawberries. loud did the men shout, trying to sell thosegood things to everybody who came near.
but marmaduke couldn't buy even _one_ peanut.he didn't have any money. how was he ever going to get into thatcircus! oh, where was the toyman? but he didn't cry. you know he didn't. hejust shut his teeth hard, and winked and winked. at last wienerwurst gave a little bark. hesaw a little hole, and wienerwurst always liked little holes. itwas under the tent and just his size. right into it he crawled. all marmadukecould see of his doggie now was his little tail like a sausage. the restof him was under the tent.
thump-thump-thump went the tail. and marmadukeknew it must be pretty nice inside. then the tail, too, disappeared. so down onhis stomach went the little boy and crawled right in after his doggie. the tent had several big rooms and he wasin one of them. on every side were big cages with iron bars. "_girrrrrrrrrrrhhh_!" went something in oneof the cages. that wicked runaway tiger! marmaduke ran past all the cages very fastuntil he came to another room.
in it were lots of queer funny people. he heard another voice, not like the runawaytiger's, but one just happy and pleasant, though very deep. "well, look who's here!" it said. that was a funny thing to say, marmaduke thought,and he looked up. he had to look up ever so high. there wasthe tall giant, sitting on a great big chair. big were his feet and hislegs and his hands, and big were his chin and his nose and his hat. still hedidn't look cross like the giants in the story-books, just nice and kind.
marmaduke stared up at him and he smiled downat marmaduke. it was very hot and the big giant took offhis hat to wipe his forehead. he set his hat down. he didn't look wherehe put it and it went over marmaduke's head and nearly covered him up.he couldn't see any sunlight. it was all dark inside that hat. "let me out," he shouted. and he heard someonesay: "what's in your hat?" "there _was_ a little boy around here," thegiant replied. "maybe i've covered him up."
the giant leaned down and picked up his hat,and took it off the little boy. very glad was marmaduke to see the lightonce more. the giant bowed low to apologize and the greatchair creaked. "very careless of me," he said. "a thousandpardons, sir!" marmaduke felt very happy. it was fine tobe called "sir" by a great big giant like that. then he felt himself being lifted up, andthere he sat on the giant's knee. the giant told him a story and gave him abig ring from his finger. it was so large that marmaduke could put his wholearm through it.
then another voice spoke. it was a littletiny voice this time—no bigger than a mouse's squeak or a cricket's "good-night." marmaduke looked down from the giant's knee. "hello, little fellow," squeaked the funnylittle voice. no, it was not jack frost. it was a dwarf,all dressed in a crimson velvet gown, with a gold crown on her head. the topof the crown wasn't even as high as the giant's knee. my, but she _was_little! marmaduke was just going to say, "little,_huh_! i'm as big as _you_ are!" but he didn't. that wouldn't havebeen quite right when
all these circus people were so very politeto him. so all he said was: "good-afternoon!" and the little tiny lady in the crimson gowngave him something too,—a silver button from her dress. then the gianthanded him over to a lady who sat next. a very funny lady was she, for shehad a woman's voice and a woman's dress and a woman's hair, too, buton her chin was a long, long beard, just like a man's. the bearded lady kissed marmaduke. he didn'tlike that, she tickled so.
he didn't go very near the one who sat next.yet _she_ was a very pretty lady with blue eyes and golden hair,but around her arms and neck instead of necklaces were curled up snakes! "they won't bite, little boy," she said smiling."look out for the _snakes in the grass_, but don't mind these.they can't hurt you at all." with that she handed him some candy. marmaduke's hands were so full now, with thecandy and the big ring and the silver button, that he didn't know what todo.
just ahead of him was little wienerwurst'stail. the very thing! so he put that big ring over that little tail. thatfelt so funny that wienerwurst tried to reach his tail and that round shinything on it. around and around he went in a circle, tryingto bite it off. he looked as if his head and tail were tied together.like a little yellow merry-go-round, whirling so swiftly afteritself, was he. all the strange circus people laughed and cheered and thegiant clapped his huge hands till they sounded like thunder. all of a sudden the ring rolled off wienerwurst'stail, and marmaduke went
scrambling after it. it rolled right nearthe lady—and all those snakes! marmaduke didn't like _that_. he was gladwhen he heard another voice call out, very cheerily. "here it is, sonny!" this was a very jolly voice, jollier thanany he had ever heard in the world except the toyman's. the man who owned that voice stood beforehim, such a funny man, in a baggy white suit, with red spots like big red tiddledywinks all over it. he had a pointed cap all red and white too. and hisface was all painted white,
with long black eyebrows and a wide, wide,red mouth. this was the way marmaduke met tody the clown. they had a long talk together and he seemedto understand little boys, just like the toyman. "it must be fine to always live in a circus,"said marmaduke. "wish i did." "well, sonny, when you grow up, maybe youcan," replied tody the clown. marmaduke looked at the wide mouth with itsfunny smile. "you're always happy, aren't you?" tody nodded and answered:
"sure—anyway _almost_ always." "don't you ever feel cross or have any troubles?" tody threw back his head at that and laughedway out loud. "sure i do," said he. "a heap of troubles,but i just think of all the little girls and boys like you that i've gotto make happy. then i try hard to make 'em laugh and—" "an' what?" "why all my troubles fly away, quick as awink," laughed tody. "yes, just as quick as i do this." and _quicker_than a wink he turned a
somersault. he turned a whole lot of somersaultsand then he took marmaduke on his shoulder and galloped around the tentand they had a glorious time. but the music was sounding out in the bigtent just next them—drums and horns and bugles and fifes. the circus wouldstart in a minute now and all the fun would be over. "where's your ticket, sonny?" asked tody. "i haven't any," marmaduke explained. "i'velost the toyman—and he's got my ticket an'—an'—i can't go in." "don't you worry about that. you'll have the_best seat in the whole
circus_." and tody turned another somersaultjust to make him laugh. then he looked down at little wienerwurst. "but they won't let any doggies in there.we'll just tie him to this pole." marmaduke shook his head and tried hard tokeep the tears back. just one little one rolled down his right cheek butthat was on the other side of tody. maybe tody saw it anyway, for when marmadukesaid to him,—"then i can't go in either, my little pet doggie wouldfeel so badly," the jolly clown answered: "well, we'll just have to fix it up some way.can y' keep him quiet?"
"quiet as a mouse," answered marmaduke, "quietas mother robin when she sits on her nest." and wienerwurst barked out loud just to showhow quiet he could be. tody spoke to another man. this one had ona bright red vest, red as father robin's. he looked at the boy and the dog.his voice wasn't as pleasant as tody's nor the giant's, but what he said wasall right. it was just "sure!" and marmaduke and wienerwurstslipped inside the big tent, right near the front, where they couldsee all the wonderful things that went on.
wienerwurst sat pretty quiet on his lap andtogether they watched the elephants stand on their heads, and the menway up in the air turn somersaults on little swings, and the ladiesin bright spangles gallop round and round the ring, and the monkeysand the clowns do tricks—and everything. tody was the funniest and happiest of all,and he made all the children laugh and shout and clap their hands. evenjohnny cricket, the lame boy, who had come a long way to see the circus,smiled. marmaduke and wienerwurst were so excitedthat they forgot all about
jehosophat and hepzebiah and the toyman. after a while tody turned a somersault, acartwheel, and a flipflop, and landed right near their seat. "how would you like to ride on an elephant?"he whispered in marmaduke's ear. of course marmaduke answered: "better 'n anything i _ever_ did." so tody took him by the hand and led him intothe little tent and put a little pointed cap on his head, just liketody's own. then he lifted
marmaduke into a big seat on top of jumbo,the big elephant. and out they marched under the tent and round and roundthe ring. marmaduke could look down on all the rowsof people. he was up quite high and their faces looked small, but he couldtell jehosophat, and hepzebiah, and sammy soapstone, and sophy, lizzie fizzletree,and fatty hamm, too. and _there_ was the toyman walking around, lookingeverywhere for him. "'llo, toyman," he shouted, and the toymanlooked up and saw marmaduke in his little pointed cap, way up on the backof the big elephant. the toyman waved his hand and smiled. i guesshe was very glad to find that
marmaduke wasn't lost after all. but jehosophat was wishing that _he_ had beenlost, so that he could have had that fine chance to be part of thecircus. suddenly there was a chorus of barks. marmadukehad forgotten all about wienerwurst. he turned around to look for him and leanedback so far that he almost fell flop off the elephant's back. tody caughthim just in time or there _would_ have been trouble. the trick dogs were coming into the circusnow. some of them were walking
on their hind legs. marmaduke listened. there were so many different barks! just asmany as there were dogs,—deep or squeaky, smooth or creaky, rough or happy,gruff or snappy, and one that marmaduke knew the very minute he heard it. "_run—run—run—run—runrunrun_!" yes, he knew that little voice. he could telllittle wienerwurst's bark anywhere. somehow it was different from anydoggie's in the world. there he was, frisking and scampering and biting atthe other dogs' tails, just in
fun. "_run—run run—run—runrunrun_!" and that is just what they did, right intothe circus ring where the man in the red cap held out big hoops of paper abovethe dogs' heads. the first dog jumped through one hoop, andthe second dog jumped through another. then the man in the red cap heldup a third hoop bigger than all the rest. another dog, a long tall greyhound, got readyto take his turn, but i guess wienerwurst decided all-of-a-sudden that _he_wasn't going to be left
out. he just gave the tail of that big doga little nip, and when the big dog turned around to see what was thematter, why wienerwurst jumped through the hoop all by himself. so pleased was he that he ran round the ring,looking up at the people in their seats, with his little pink tongue hangingout in delight. a great doggie was wienerwurst. but soon it was all over and the people lefttheir seats, and walked out of the tent to their homes and their suppers. tody the clown just wouldn't let marmadukeand little wienerwurst go. he
invited them and his brother and sister andthe toyman, too, to have supper in the tent. at a long table they sat, with tody, and thebig giant, and the little teeny dwarf, and the lady-with-the-long-long-beard,and the lady-with-the-necklace-of-snakes. but sheput the snakes away and marmaduke wasn't afraid at all. tody the clown sat by his side and kept hisplate full and his cup full too. he didn't forget little wienerwurst either._he_ had a nice big bone all for himself.
but the time came to say "good-bye," whichthey did, to one and all of the kind circus people. tody the clown didn't kiss marmaduke. he justshook hands. marmaduke was glad of that. he felt like a real man now.for hadn't he been part of a circus and ridden on an elephant! i guessso! all tody said to him was: "good-bye, pardner, you just keep smilingand make people happy, and you'll be a circus man too, one of these days." so the toyman hitched up "old methuselah,"and the three happy children
rode home together, falling asleep in thebuggy before ever they reached the white-house-with-the-green-blinds by theside of the road. when you visit that place ask marmaduke toshow you the silver button and the big giant's ring. he keeps them stillin his little bureau. but the candy was gone, oh, long ago. end of the eighteenth night the nineteenth night wienerwurst's brave battle mr. sun must have known that it was jehosophat'sbirthday, he made it so
bright, not too sunny nor yet too cool. the three children, mother, father, and thetoyman, were all crowding about something which stood in front of thebarn. the three tails of three doggies wagged as if they thought it was fine.mr. stuckup came to take a look. so did miss crosspatch and the wyandottes;and the pigeons flew down from their house on the roof and perched onits seat. it was something for jehosophat, of course.it was his birthday, and he had tried hard to be good ever since he had hadthat talk with the tall man on the white horse in the picture.
it was something he had always wanted,—alittle cart with a real live pony in the shafts. and the pony was all dressedin new harness, spick and span and shiny. not very tall was the little pony. his earstwitched just on a level with jehosophat's head. jehosophat put his arm around his neck andpatted his black coat, which was almost as shiny as the harness itself. helooked at the tail. it was nearly a yard long and very thick. that pony wascertainly handsome. and father had given him—cart, harness, and all—tojehosophat for his birthday, for
his very own, to keep just as long as thepony lived. and that was the finest present any boy could have—ever. the name was a very important matter. theboys each had a dozen they could think of, but mother and father and the toymancouldn't think of any. at least they wouldn't give any suggestions.they thought it was jehosophat's right to name his own pony. it was settled at last,—"little geeup."where-ever jehosophat got that name nobody knew. i really believe he reada story once about a horse called that. or perhaps he remembered oneof the circus ponies with the
same name. anyway, that was the one he chose.so it can't be changed now, any more than jehosophat's own, or marmaduke's,or hepzebiah's. a moment more they looked little geeup allover, from the black mane on his neck down his sleek back to his fine fulltail. a moment more they looked at the little cart, its bright red body withthe blue lines around it, the wheels and spokes, which were bright yellow,and the shafts and the whiffletrees, which were yellow too. then they got in. little hepzebiah sat onthe seat with jehosophat. he proudly held the reins. marmaduke sat behind,his legs hanging over the
tail-board, with wienerwurst wriggling onhis lap. "tluck, tluck," called jehosophat. littlegeeup obeyed. the yellow wheels turned, and down the driveway they went, fatherand the toyman hurrying alongside, rover and brownie barking behind. there were lots of fine carriages out thatday, but never so fine a turnout as that little red cart with the yellow wheelsand the black pony in the shafts. jehosophat didn't have to learn how to drivelittle geeup. father had often let him drive old methuselah when they wentto town, and the little black
pony was quite safe. at last father and the toyman stopped andwaved good-bye. so off the children drove, up the road by the river. "where shall we go?" asked jehosophat. now marmaduke was thinking over somethingtody the clown had told him—about making other folks happy. "let's take johnny cricket for a ride," hesuggested. the driver agreed, so they turned from theroad by the river and drove up a lane. at the end was a house. it was a verysmall house and a poor one too.
here lived johnny cricket, the lame littlefellow, who never could run or play like the three happy children. there wasn't much furniture in his home, ormuch money either, hardly enough to buy him new crutches, to say nothingof toys that little boys like. "whoa!" called jehosophat, in front of thegate. then he got out and knocked at the door. it opened. johnny's mother was there. jehosophat took off his hat.
"good-morning, mrs. cricket, can we take johnnyfor a ride in my new cart?" "of course," replied she. "my! won't johnnybe glad to go for a ride in that pretty cart! he's been very lonesome." so out hobbled johnny, all smiles. crunch,crunch, crunch went his crutch down the gravel walk. "hepzebiah, you'll have to sit in the backwith marmaduke," commanded the owner of the little cart. so the little girl climbed over the back ofthe seat and sat with marmaduke and wienerwurst. and they helped johnny incarefully, and off they drove up
the lane, enjoying the woods and the nicewarm sun. johnny enjoyed it ever so much, but not more than they. i guess thethree children were quite as happy, for to make others happy brings thebest sort of happiness. at last they turned round and drove back. they were just trotting past the miller farmwhen they heard a great growl. over the fields, with great leaps, a big dogwas running. now jake miller's dog, prowler, was the worst dog in the neighbourhood.often the three children had heard father say "he ought tobe shot." and there he was—running straight towardsthem, and little wienerwurst had
jumped over the tailboard and out of the wagon,and was trotting alongside. "_urrururur_," growled prowler. he had almostreached the gate. he was long and big, and really looked more likea savage animal than a dog. pieces of chain hung from his neck and draggedalongside in the earth as he ran. he must have broken away from his kennel. through the gate he bounded, then stoppedstill and growled in suspicion. "_out—out—out_!" he seemed to be saying.he thought they had no right in front of his home, not even whenthey were driving on the road, which was free to all.
the three happy children and little geeupdidn't like the looks of things very much. "here, wienerwurst—come here," called marmaduke.he wanted his little dog to jump back in the wagon and be safe. but wienerwurst was no coward. besides, hewas a friendly little fellow, and liked to be polite to everybody, dogsand people too, even if sometimes he did chase the pretty pink pigeons and thewhite wyandottes. but that was just in fun, of course. so he just stood still and looked at the bigbad dog and wagged his tail in
a friendly way, and smiled. but that big bad dog prowler didn't appreciatethat at all. he opened his big jaws and showed his teeth and gave a deepgrowl. "_out—out—out_!" he repeated. and then wienerwurst gave his tail a wag,and advanced a step or two. quick as lightning prowler jumped at him. wienerwurst didn't run. yet he was so littleand the other dog was so big. and his ear hurt too, where the other dogbit him. the big dog was jumping at him again and againand biting him too, but i
guess wienerwurst must have heard father andthe toyman tell the boys once never to start a fight, but always to standup for one's rights, and never to be a coward, or run away. that prowler had no right at all to tell himto get off the road nor to bite him! and so, though he was only a yellow dog andsmall and weak, wienerwurst barked bravely and tried his best to fightoff the big dog. it wasn't a very happy chorus of growls andbarks and squeals. it sounded something like this:
"_gurrrrr—gurrr-uh—ow—ow—gurr—gurr—ow—wuf—ar—gurr—ow—wow—uh-wuf—xxx—x_!!!" jehosophat pulled on the reins. "we must stop that," said he. "hepzebiah yousit here." out he jumped, but his brother was ahead ofhim, for marmaduke loved wienerwurst even more than they did. at the big dog's collar they pulled, and theygrabbed tight hold of his chain, trying to drag him away so that hewouldn't hurt little wienerwurst. but he was very strong, that wicked bad dog.they couldn't budge him at all.
but just then they heard the sound of wheels.they were glad. help was coming at last! a wagon drove up. it was the country postman,who delivered the mail to the farms, in a wagon. "whoa!" the postman shouted and out he jumpedwith his whip! he ran straight for the big dog, and out ofthe gate ran jake miller too. i guess he felt ashamed of himself for keepingsuch a dog as prowler. the two men grabbed the chain and whipped thebig bad dog till he let go of wienerwurst and ran back to his kennel.
tenderly the two boys lifted their littlefriend into the cart, and drove home as fast as they could. they forgot all about the pony and the finenew cart, just thinking of their poor hurt doggie. mother and the toyman brought water in a basin,and the toyman poured something from a bottle, which coloured thewater all dark. with a little clean rag he washed out the cuts on wienerwurst'sface and the back of his neck. then out to the workshop he went and broughtback a little can. he
unscrewed the top and took out some of thesalve inside. it was coloured just like peanut-butter and was soft and healing.on each cut he put a little of the salve, then wound the littledoggie all up in nice soft bandages too. and wienerwurst licked the toyman'shand to show how thankful he was. they made him a little bed, but he didn'tstay in that long. the toyman was such a good doctor that wienerwurst felt betteralready. still he didn't play very much that day. mother sent the toyman over to the cricketfarm to ask johnny's mother to
let her boy stay for the night. he did—for _three whole days_—and greatfun they had with little geeup, and the red dogcart, and the littlelame boy, giving wienerwurst rides to make him all well. and father and the toyman made jake millerchain up the wicked dog—very tight this time—with a chain that wouldnever break. and soon that bad dog died, which was a goodthing too. nobody wasted many tears on him. but little wienerwurst got well and strong,and chased the pretty pink
pigeons—in fun of course—just as fastas ever he did. end of the nineteenth night the twentieth night the lions of the north wind by the fire sat the toyman. he must have been seeing things in the flames,for he kept looking, looking all the time. he was all alone, for father and mother greenhad gone to town to see a fine wedding. it was not often that they stayedout so late, but this was
a grand event. and they knew the three happychildren would be safe in the toyman's care. they were all in the next room. jehosophatand hepzebiah were sound asleep—but not marmaduke. he was sittingup, a little bit of a fellow in a big bed. outside, old giant northwind roared and roared.now he seemed to be running around and around the house, faster than anytrain. now he stopped to knock at the door and bang at the window panes.now he trampled on the roof, knocking off pieces of slate and a brick fromthe chimney, which fell,
_crash_, through the glass cover of the littlegreenhouse. marmaduke did not like the sounds cruel giantnorthwind made. and it was very dark in the room. to tell the truthhe was just a little bit frightened. but he didn't say anything atall. for the toyman had told him always to be "game." that was a funny word,but marmaduke knew what it meant. a brave little boy must not cry evenif he _is_ afraid. still the giant northwind kept running roundand round the house with great leaps. and the windows creaked, and the treesthumped the house with their branches.
suppose the giant should break in and carryhim 'way, 'way off! the door of the next room was open. throughit he could see the bright fire. higher and higher leaped the flames,as if they wanted to jump up the chimney and join the northwind in his madrace. very comfy and bright looked the fire. veryfunny were the shadows on the wall, dancing and bowing to each otherand jumping up and down like jacks-in-the-box. one shadow was like a man's, as tall as theceiling. had giant northwind gotten in the house atlast!
marmaduke shivered and crept out of bed—andhurried into the next room. he kept as far away from that giant shadowas he could. but he never cried out. he was very brave. on and on against the wall he tiptoed towardsthe chair by the fire, where the toyman sat, thinking his strange thoughts. the toyman felt a tug at his sleeve. he lookedaround. there stood marmaduke, pointing at the shadow. that shadow was so big and marmaduke was sosmall. "don't let him get me!" the little boy cried.
the toyman reached down and in a second marmadukewas safe in his arms. "there's nobody here but me," said the toyman. loud the giant northwind howled and roared,while the flames leaped up the chimney. "look there!" cried marmaduke. "there he is!!" and again he pointed to the shadow on thewall. "the giant northwind has got in our house!" but the toyman only laughed, hugging him tighter. "that's not old northwind, that's only myshadow," he explained.
then marmaduke laughed too. "tell me a story, toyman," he asked, "'boutthat ole giant northwind." "it might scare you," the toyman answered. marmaduke only shook his head. "nothing makes me scared when i'm _here_,"he said. he wasn't afraid of giants, or ogres, or wild animals, or anything,when he was safe in the toyman's arms. for a while he looked up into his face. thetoyman's hair stood up, all funny and rough. he was always running hisfingers through it. his face
had wrinkles like hard seams, and it was asbrown as saddle leather from working outdoors. but marmaduke thought thatnowhere in the world was there so kind a face, except his mother's. the toyman put down his corncob pipe and began: "once upon a time, long time ago, before yourmother was born, or your grandmother, or your great-grandmother either,there was a king. he was king of all the winds. and he lived in a greatbig cave up in a high mountain." "was the mountain as high as the church steeple?"asked marmaduke.
"oh, higher than that—as high as a lot ofchurch steeples, stuck one on top of another," the toyman explained. "sometimes the king of the winds took a littlesnooze in his cave, and then everything was quiet. but when he woke uphe would go out of his cave, raisin' ructions all over the world. "there was a lot of work for him to do, eastand west, south and north. he tossed the branches of the trees and made'em crack, and he made the waves in the ocean turn somersaults, and blew thewooden ships across the sea, and chased the cloud-ships across the sky.
"and he had a lot of little chores too, likedrying the clothes on mondays, and waving the flags on fourth of july, andsailing little boy's kites high in the air. "when the king of the winds was a young fellow,it was all great fun. but after a while the trees grew bigger and bigger,and the ships taller and taller, and there were so many clouds thathe got very tired. he was getting pretty old and he ached in all ofhis bones. "so he said to himself, said he: "'i'll let the kiddies do the work, and restfor a spell in my cave on the
mountains.' "there were four of 'em—two boys and twogirls—and each had a name, of course. southwind and westwind were the girls,eastwind and northwind the boys, two strapping big fellows. "so he called his children together and satin the door of his cave. "first he took a big pinch o' snuff. thatwas a very bad habit folks had in those days. "_kerchoo_! he sneezed, and blew two big cloudsout of the sky. "_kerchoo_!!! he sneezed again, and turnedupside down a whole fleet
of ships in the ocean. "_kerchoooooo_!!!! he sneezed a third time,and blew off the roofs from all the houses in the city, a hundredmiles away. "when he was all through his sneezing he saidto his children: "'get ye out to the four corners of the earthand take up my business.' "now for a cane the old king used a tree withthe branches pulled off. he picked it up and pointed to the south. "'southwind, you go there.' "she was a pretty little thing, with blueeyes and roses in her hair. and
she answered him sweet as you please, 'allright, daddy,' and out she danced. "then with the big tree cane, the old kingpointed to the west. "'westwind, there is your place,' he said. "a very pretty girl too was westwind, withkind eyes and a soft smile. her voice was soft and low, and she answered ina whisper: "'good-bye, daddy dear.' "she kissed him on the forehead, and floatedaway to her new home in the west.
"then the two boys came before the old king.the big tree cane pointed east. "'get to work over there, eastwind,' commandedthe old king. "now eastwind was a strong fellow, but hewas surly and cross and he didn't obey very quickly. so his father the kingpicked up his tree cane in a rage and whacked him across the shins, and outeastwind ran, crying and yelling till the trees of the forests sobbed too.and he cried so hard that rivers of tears ran from his eyes and over the earth. "once more the old king picked up his bigtree cane, and said to the eldest
of his sons: "'northwind, your home is right here in thenorth.' "bigger even than his brother was northwind.strong were his muscles, and his whiskers and hair were covered with icicles.when he breathed, millions of snowflakes danced from his mouth. "_brrrrrrr_!! how one shivered when he wasaround. "then the old king's hand trembled and thebig cane dropped to the floor. he laid him down in the cavern and breathedhis last. he had been a great king but he was deader than a doornail now.
"so his four children took up his work. "up and down the south country wandered southwind,with her rosebud mouth and golden hair. and wherever she went shescattered posies and violets upon the earth. "back and forth over her country floated westwindwith her soft smile and gentle voice. she whispered lullabies to littlechildren, and laid cool hands on sick people's foreheads. she blewlittle boy's kites up ever so high above the church steeple, and tried neverto break them. and she blew the white ships gently across the ocean. folksliked to travel the waters
whenever she was about. "but they didn't like eastwind very much.sometimes he was all right, but usually he was bent on mischief, makingtrouble for every man jack. the seas he would tumble about, turn overthe ships, and drown the poor sailors. he would call his grey clouds togetherand they would weep till the rivers were full. then he would blow therivers over the banks, and spoil the gardens, and break the bridges,and drown the poor sheep, and all the rest of the animals too. "but the most cruel of all was giant northwind.where his heart ought to
be was a chunk of ice. sometimes he was pleasantenough, but most often he was hard and unkind. he would breathe on people,and freeze their noses and toeses, and leave many a poor fellow stiffon the snow. "northwind grew and grew till he was the biggestgiant on earth. most as tall as a mountain himself was he, and whenhe raised his arm he could nearly touch the sky. he kept walking up anddown the earth, roaring and hollering fit to blow his lungs out. and howhe could travel! he could go clear around the world in about a week. "one fine day he went out for a walk and hesaw mr. sun riding up high
in the sky. mr. sun was a strange sort ofa chap, all dressed up in gold armour. the gold armour shone so bright youcould never see his eyes or his nose or his mouth, when he walked in the sky. "giant northwind grew very jealous of mr.sun. he wanted that fine suit of gold armour, for all he had himself was hislong whiskers and his fur coat of snow. "at mr. sun he shook his fist. "mr. sun only laughed at him. "'ho, ho!' he said, 'ho, ho!' and again 'ho,ho!'
"'ho, ho! you say,' mimicked northwind, veryangry, 'soon you will laugh on the other side of your mouth. i will blowyou out and people can't see your fine suit of gold armour any more.' "'ho, ho!' mr. sun laughed back. 'just tryit and see. might as well save your breath.' "that made northwind very mad. so he tooka deep breath until his chest puffed way out like a big balloon. "then he let go. all the hills in the northcountry shook at that roar. "and the clouds came hurrying out of the mountainsand covered the sky so
you couldn't see the sun and his fine suitat all. "'ho, ho!' laughed the northwind.' now youwill laugh on the other side of your mouth, mr. sun.' "then he sat him down in his cave to enjoyhimself. "but what was that! "there was a little hole in the clouds. throughthe chink he saw gold shining. then more and more gold. in a fewmoments mr. sun was riding up in the sky, as big as life. "'ho, ho!' said mr. sun, 'who laughs last,laughs best.'
"then old giant northwind grew madder andmadder, madder than a hornet, yes, just as mad as mother wyandotte whenwienerwurst chased her into the brook. "he took a deep breath, did giant northwind,so deep that he almost burst his lungs. he blew and he puffed and he puffedand he blew till the whole sky was filled with grey clouds. and you couldn'tsee mr. sun and his fine suit of gold armour at all. "then down he would sit in his cave to enjoyhimself for a spell, but by and by, sure as shooting, mr. sun would comeback again.
"so, for a hundred years, northwind triedto blow out the sun. but at last he gave it up as a bad job. "when he was still a middling young fellow,only about a thousand years old or so, he went walking up and down the earthone night, just after dark. "he came to a great forest. in it he saw somethingbright, like a little piece of the sun. now he was taller than thetallest tree in the forest, so he got down on his knees to peek between thetrunks and see better. people were sitting around the bright little pieceof the sun, and warming their hands, and cooking their supper. of courseit was only a merry fire, but
giant northwind was sure it was a piece ofthe sun that had fallen on the earth. he had been so busy trying to blowhim out of the sky that he hadn't noticed these little fires much before. "but he had grown very cross as he knelt there,looking through the trees, and he said to himself, said he: "'ho, ho! that's one of the sun's children.i'll blow that out anyway.' "and he took a deep breath and puffed hischeeks out. "_whurrrooooo_! he breathed on that littlepiece of the sun. "but the little fire just laughed and leapedhigher and higher.
"so he took a real deep breath this time,till he filled all his chest, and it stuck way out like the strong man's inthe circus. "_whurrrrrrooooooooooooooo_!!!! he roared,but the little flames just danced in the air, as bright and as merryas could be. "the more he blew the bigger grew the fire,and the sooner the people had their suppers. "then for years and years the old giant stampedup and down the earth, trying to put out those little pieces of thesun. and he couldn't do it at all. like their father, the sun, the littlefires just laughed at him.
"at last northwind said to himself, said he:"'i know what i'll do, i'll get me some big grey wolves to put out thosefires.' "so a-hunting he went, up into the biggestforests of the world, so dark that people called them 'the forests of night.'and they were full of fierce grey wolves. "with his strong hands he caught a hundredwolves and drove them back to his cave. "then one dark night when the people weresitting around their fires, so cozy and nice, he untied the wolves and roaredout:
"'wolves, put out those fires!' "and the fierce grey wolves ran out of thecavern, and snapped and snarled at the little fires. but they couldn't putthem out. so back they came to the cave, with their tongues hanging out andtheir tails between their legs. "'good-for-nothings,' roared northwind, 'i'llget me some tigers.' "again he went stalking over the earth tillhe reached the great deserts, which the people called 'the deserts withoutend.' here he caught a thousand fierce tigers and drove them backto his cave.
"the next night, while the people were talkingand singing around the little fires, he let the tigers loose. "'tigers,' roared he, 'put out those fires.' "they ran out of the cave, making a terriblenoise, and they raced up and down the earth, with their sharp teeth gleaming,and their tails lashing. at the fires they snarled, and growled, androared, and tried to beat out the flames with their paws. but they wereonly burned for their trouble. and so the tigers too slunk back to the cave,with their heads hanging down and their tails between their legs.
"once more the northwind stalked forth andhunted through the highest mountains he could find, so high that peoplecalled them 'the roof of the world.' ten thousand lions he caught, thefiercest in all the earth. he tied them together by their tails, ten ata time, and drove them back to "and he sent them out too. "'lions, put out those fires!' "such a terrible roar those lions roared thatthe whole earth shook. through the forests they raced, leaping throughthe wild tree tops, lashing their tails, and shaking their shaggy manes.and they leaped at the fires,
but they couldn't do any better. those biglions just couldn't put the little fires out. "beside himself with rage was old northwindnow. so he sent them all out, wolves and tigers and lions wild, and he rushedon at their head. "but never, never can they put the littlefires out, so you needn't worry at all." the toyman stopped and marmaduke listened. "hark!" yes, there were the grey wolves now, howlingdown the chimney. there were
the wild tigers, snarling at the window panesand leaping at the door. hark! how the knobs rattled! and there were the wild lions, rushing androaring through the tree-tops. and round and round and round the house racedold giant northwind himself. but all the while, in the fireplace the littlered flames danced merrily, never afraid at all. marmaduke jumped. something was whining andscratching at the door. was it a wolf? the voice he heard was too small and weak.
he knew who _that_ was. "toyman," he shouted, "that's my little petdoggie, out in the cold. those bad wolves an' tigers an' lions 'll eat himup." so they ran to the door, the toyman and littlemarmaduke. and he wasn't afraid at all. and they let little wienerwurstin, and saved him from the grey wolves and the wild tigers and the fiercelions of the northwind. little wienerwurst barked happily and curledhimself up by their feet, in front of the warm fire. after that marmaduke spoke only once beforehe fell asleep.
"you never had any little boys, did you, toyman?" on the toyman's face was a funny look as heanswered: "no, little feller, i never had any littleboys." marmaduke reached up his hand and patted thetoyman's rough, kind face. "don't worry, toyman," he said, "_i'll_ beyour little boy." little wienerwurst was sound asleep, so marmadukejust had to fall asleep too, happy and safe in the toyman's arms,by the little red fire that the wind could never put out. the end
end of seven o'clock stories�
