h her mother, an old grey cat.

"Very nice," said the old woman, "but we can't cook them."

"You cooked the hens," said the old man.

Then he pulled out a pillow case full of hay.

"Quite nice," said the old woman, "but we can't cook it."

"You cooked the cabbages," said the old man.

Then he pulled out a box full of pieces of broken glass.

"Beautiful!" said the old woman, "but we can't eat it."

"You ate the marmalade fast enough," said the old man.

Then the old woman said, "If you go on talking so foolishly I shall be
very cross. Turn that cat and her kitten out at once, burn the hay, and
throw the broken glass out of the window."

"And what shall I do with the bag?" said the old man.

"You can do just as you please with the bag," said the old woman; "I am
going to bed."

And off she went.

The old man opened the door and turned out the cat and her kitten. Then
he burnt the hay a little bit at a time on the fire, and threw the
broken glass out of the window.

After doing this he sat down in his chair to think. "What shall I do
with the bag?" he said to himself. "My wife said I might do what I
pleased with it. Perhaps I had better burn it."

So he cut it in pieces with a knife, and burnt the pieces on the fire.

[Illustration: Burnt the pieces on the fire.]

In the morning when the old woman came downstairs to breakfast she
looked on the nail for the bag, but of course it was not there.

"What have you done with the bag?" she called to the old man.

"I have burnt it," said the old man.

"Why did you burn it?" said the old woman.

"Guess," said the old man.

The old woman guessed and guessed and guessed and guessed and guessed.

But she could not guess right, and the old man had to keep on saying,
"Guess again, guess again, guess again."

Now why did the old man burn his bag?

You must get your Mamma to tell you.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Old Man's Bag, by T. W. H. Crosland

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