with
her; and when, long years afterward, she was queen of the country, the
foxes and wolves and tigers dared not harm her people, for her good
knights drove evil from her land; but to loving gentle creatures she
gave love and protection, and she lived happily all the days of her
life.

_THE LITTLE GRAY PONY_

MOTTO FOR THE MOTHER

_The humblest workman has his place,
Which no one else can fill_.

There was once a man who owned a little gray pony.

Every morning when the dewdrops were still hanging on the pink clover in
the meadows, and the birds were singing their morning song, the man
would jump on his pony and ride away, clippety, clippety, clap!

The pony's four small hoofs played the jolliest tune on the smooth pike
road, the pony's head was always high in the air, and the pony's two
little ears were always pricked up; for he was a merry gray pony, and
loved to go clippety, clippety, clap!

The man rode to town and to country, to church and to market, up hill
and down hill; and one day he heard something fall with a clang on a
stone in the road. Looking back, he saw a horseshoe lying there. And
when he saw it, he cried out:--

"_What shall I do? What shall I do?
If my little gray pony has lost a shoe_?"

Then down he jumped, in a great hurry, and looked at one of the pony's
fore-feet; but nothing was wrong. He lifted the other forefoot, but the
shoe was still there. He examined one of the hindfeet, and began to
think that he was mistaken; but when he looked at the last foot, he
cried again:--

"_What shall I do? What shall I do?
My little gray pony has lost a shoe_!"

Then he made haste to go to the blacksmith; and when he saw the smith,
he called out to him:--

"_Blacksmith! Blacksmith! I've come to you;
My little gray pony has lost a shoe_!"

But the blacksmith answered and said:--

"_How can I shoe your pony's feet,
Without some coal the iron to heat_?"

The man was downcast when he heard this; but he left his little gray
pony in the blacksmith's care, while he hurried here and there to buy
the coal.

First of all he went to the store; and when he got there, he said:--

"_Storekeeper! Storekeeper! I've come to you;
My little gray pony has lost a shoe!
And I want some coal the iron to heat,
That the blacksmith may shoe my pony's feet_."

But the storekeeper answered and said:--

"_Now, I have apples and candy to se