hs were
golden Indian, which gave a very gay look to the scene. Buckwheat
flowers bloomed on their rosy stems, and tall corn-stalks rustled their
leaves in the warm air that came from the ovens hidden in the hillsides;
for bread needs a slow fire, and an obliging volcano did the baking
here.

"What a lovely place!" cried Lily, feeling the charm of the homelike
landscape, in spite of the funny plump people moving about.

Two of these figures came running to meet her as she slowly walked down
the yellow path from the hill. One was a golden boy, with a beaming
face; the other a little girl in a shiny brown cloak, who looked as if
she would taste very nice. They each put a warm hand into Lily's, and
the boy said,--

"We are glad to see you. Muffin told us you were coming."

"Thank you. Who is Muffin?" asked Lily, feeling as if she had seen both
these little people before, and liked them.

"He was Ginger Snap once, but he's a Muffin now. We begin in that way,
and work up to the perfect loaf by degrees. My name is Johnny Cake, and
she's Sally Lunn. You know us; so come on and have a race."

Lily burst out laughing at the idea of playing with these old friends of
hers; and all three ran away as fast as they could tear, down the hill,
over a bridge, into the middle of the village, where they stopped,
panting, and sat down on some very soft rolls to rest.

"What do you all do _here_?" asked Lily, when she got her breath again.

"We farm, we study, we bake, we brew, and are as merry as grigs all day
long. It's school-time now, and we must go; will you come?" said Sally,
jumping up as if she liked it.

"Our schools are not like yours; we only study two things,--grain and
yeast. I think you'll like it. We have yeast to-day, and the experiments
are very jolly," added Johnny, trotting off to a tall brown tower of
rye and Indian bread, where the school was kept.

Lily never liked to go to school, but she was ashamed to own it; so she
went along with Sally, and was so amused with all she saw that she was
glad she came. The brown loaf was hollow, and had no roof; and when she
asked why they used a ruin, Sally told her to wait and see why they
chose strong walls and plenty of room overhead. All round was a circle
of very small biscuits like cushions, and on these the Bread-children
sat. A square loaf in the middle was the teacher's desk, and on it lay
an ear of wheat, with several bottles of yeast well corked up. The
teacher