Sandman's Goodnight Stories Part 17

So the three largest of the icebergs broke away from their brothers and sailed away with old North Wind, who blew her chilling breath on them as they went along.

"Ah, my beauties," she said, "I will make you so strong that no breath of harm can come to you, and you shall crush the big s.h.i.+ps and make all who see you tremble with fear."

The Icebergs believed old North Wind, for they had never been away from North Pole Land and did not know anything about the warm South Wind, or how warm and melting Mr. Sun could be.

So they sailed and sailed until they came to the big ocean where the s.h.i.+ps had to cross as they went from one land to another.

Old North Wind kept close to her big children, but one day old South Wind saw them.

"Oh, ho!" he said, "there is old North Wind with three of her sons.

She is up to some mischief, I'll be bound; so I will ask Mr. Sun to keep his eye on them."

"I have been watching them for many days," said Mr. Sun, "and with all of old North Wind's cold breath I have warmed her sons more than she knows."

At last one morning bright and early old North Wind espied a s.h.i.+p sailing right in their path.

"Now, my beauties," she said, with a shrill laugh, "show your strength and crush the s.h.i.+p that dares to sail in your path. We are the rulers of the sea by right of might and we must show our strength."

Blowing and shrieking, old North Wind hastened her sons toward the s.h.i.+p, and she was so intent on working destruction that she did not feel the warm breath of old South Wind or the rays of old Mr. Sun.

Suddenly she saw her huge sons s.h.i.+ver, and before she could blow a chilling blast upon them they swayed, and with a plunge sank from sight, and the water closed over them.

Old North Wind howled and blew, but the Sun and old South Wind drove her back toward her North Pole Land until the s.h.i.+p was safe from her wrath.

"You wait," she shrieked as she ran away from Mr. Sun and old South Wind. "I'll come again next year with bigger and stronger children and you shall learn who rules the seas."

"Remember, North Wind," said old South Wind in soft, gentle tones, "might is not always right, and while you can make much more noise than I can or old man Sun, we can always melt your children; so keep to your North Pole Land if you wish to keep them."

Old North Wind bustled away with angry shrieks, but she knew full well the power of South Wind and Mr. Sun, but, like many people, she wanted to believe in her own strength and power; and so she roared louder and louder as she blew back to her cold homeland in order to convince herself of her might.

MR. FOX CUTS THE COTTONTAILS

[Ill.u.s.tration: Mr. Fox cuts the Cottontails]

Mr. Fox decided that the only way to get all the wood animals to have a good opinion of him was to give a big dinner, for he had somehow got rather a bad name among the animals for being so tricky.

So all day long he went about telling all the animals that when it was dark--quite dark--they were to come to his house and dine.

There were the Squirrels and the c.o.o.ns, the Possums and the Bear family and all the Rabbit family, including Susie Cottontail and her brother Jimmie and many others.

You may be sure that no one ate any dinner that day. They all saved their appet.i.tes for Mr. Fox's night-time feast, for, as Mr. c.o.o.n expressed it, "we should be very ungrateful to Mr. Fox if we did not take to his dinner our very best appet.i.tes; therefore our stomachs should be empty."

As soon as it was dark, so that Mr. Dog could not see them, all the animals began to slowly creep toward Mr. Fox's home.

Mr. Fox let them in one by one and was careful to draw all the shades and stuff the keyhole so the light would not show outside if anything happened that Mr. Dog should be roaming through the woods.

At last all the animals but Jimmie and Susie Cottontail were there, and everyone began to wonder where they could be and what kept them so late.

It happened that Jimmie and Susie Cottontail were not at all sure they would enjoy Mr. Fox's dinner, and they had run over to the farm on the hill to have a dinner of some garden stuff of which they were fond.

They had stayed longer than they had intended, and when they started for Mr. Fox's house were not as cautious as they usually were about throwing Mr. Dog off their track.

Just as they were entering the wood who should come bounding after them but Mr. Dog, who had followed them from the farm, and off ran Jimmie and Susie Cottontail looking for a hole in which to hide.

Mr. Fox's house was the first refuge they came to, and in the door they burst, with Mr. Dog at their heels.

Of course there was no dinner and the party was spoiled, for everybody ran, and Mr. Dog, not knowing which one to chase when he saw so many, went home without having caught anyone.

The next day Mr. Fox was talking with his friend, Mr. c.o.o.n. "No one of the animals would have gotten us into such a fix but those Cottontails," he said.

"In the first place, their ears are so short they never heard quickly like some others of that family, and then those tails--why they can be seen for yards and yards. I should have known better than to ask them.

"And everyone knows they have no sense. The Cottontails run into the first opening they see and never keep on running as their cousins do.

I have had my lesson. I shall cut them off my visiting list from now on."

And that is the reason the Cottontail family are never invited to any dinners that the wood folk give--their trails can be too easily followed by Mr. Dog.

LITTLE NEVER-UPSET

[Ill.u.s.tration: Little Never-upset]

Little Never-upset was a roly-poly fellow, with weights in his little body so placed that no matter how he was treated or tumbled about he always bobbed up smiling.

His face was a jolly little round one, with a smile that could not be rubbed off, and no matter how the other toys fussed or disputed among themselves, Little Never-upset did not take a part.

One night when the clock struck the midnight hour Miss French Doll and Miss Calico Doll began to fuss.

"You treated me very badly," said Miss Calico Doll. "When we were in the carriage riding in the park one would have thought we did not live in the same playroom."

"Why do you not have something to wear besides that old calico dress?"

asked Miss French Doll. "I never was so disgraced as when we met Miss Marie Doll in her beautiful clothes. I am sure she wondered who you were."

"Anyone would think you never had a broken arm and had to go to the hospital," replied Miss Calico Doll. "You were a sorry-looking sight without your hand and part of your arm, but I did not feel ashamed of you when we sat in our chairs on the front porch."

"That is a very different thing," said Miss French Doll, with a toss of her head. "I could not help having an accident."

"I cannot help wearing this calico dress," said Miss Calico Doll. "It is painted on me just like my face."

"My goodness!" exclaimed Jack-in-a-box, jumping up with a spring, "whatever is all the trouble? A body cannot get an extra wink for you two fussing."

"Bow-wow-wow!" barked little Dog-on-wheels, "why don't you scare a body right out of his skin, Jack? I was asleep right beside your box."

Teddy Bear began to growl. "Anyone would think this was a menagerie instead of a playroom," he said.