pher ever thought of that, I suppose!"

"Well," said Jem, in despair, "I hope you enjoy yourself when you
are here?"

"Yes, I do," answered Baby. "That's one comfort. There is nothing to
knock my head against, and things have patent stoppers on them, so that
they can't roll away, and everything is soft and easy to pick up."

There was a slight pause after this, and Baby seemed to cool down.

"I suppose you would like me to show you round?" she said.

"Not if you have any objection," replied Jem, who was rather subdued.

"I would as soon do it as not," said Baby. "You are not as bad as some
people, though you do get my clothes twisted when you hold me."

Upon the whole, she seemed rather proud of her position. It was evident
she quite regarded herself as hostess. She held her small bald head very
high indeed, as she trotted on before them. She stopped at the first door
she came to, and knocked three times. She was obliged to stand upon
tiptoe to reach the knocker.

"He's sure to be at home at this time of year," she remarked. "This is
the busy season."

"Who's 'he'?" inquired Jem.

But Flora only laughed at Miss Baby's consequential air.

"S.C., to be sure," was the answer, as the young lady pointed to the
door-plate, upon which Jem noticed, for the first time, "S.C." in very
large letters.

The door opened, apparently without assistance, and they entered the
apartment.

"Good gracious!" exclaimed Jem, the next minute. "Good_ness_ gracious!"

She might well be astonished. It was such a long room that she could not
see to the end of it, and it was piled up from floor to ceiling with toys
of every description, and there was such bustle and buzzing in it that it
was quite confusing. The bustle and buzzing arose from a very curious
cause, too,--it was the bustle and buzz of hundreds of tiny men and women
who were working at little tables no higher than mushrooms,--the pretty
tiny women cutting out and sewing, the pretty tiny men sawing and
hammering and all talking at once. The principal person in the place
escaped Jem's notice at first; but it was not long before she saw him,--a
little old gentleman, with a rosy face and sparkling eyes, sitting at a
desk, and writing in a book almost as big as himself. He was so busy that
he was quite excited, and had been obliged to throw his white fur coat
and cap aside, and he was at work in his red waistcoat.

"Look here, if you please," piped Baby, "I have brought some