oor-knob when some one started to come out. I
think we'd better eat our pie first. I might get one of those
huckleberries in my throat while talking, and there's no doctor close
at hand to keep me from choking to death."

So they ate their huckleberry-pie, and then Mr. Thimblefinger told the
story.

"Once upon a time a farmer had five sons. He was not rich and he was
not poor. He had some land, and he had a little money. He divided his
land equally among his four oldest sons, giving each just as much as
he could till. To each, he also gave a piece of money. Then he called
his youngest son, and said:--

"'You have sharp eyes and a keen wit. You want no land. All you need
is a saddle. That I will give you.'

"'A saddle! What will I do with a saddle?' asked the youngest son,
whose name was Tip-Top.

"'Make your fortune with it.'

"'If I had a horse--'

"'A head is better than a horse,' the father replied.

"Not long after, the old man died. The land was divided up among the
four older sons, and Tip-Top was left with the saddle. He slung it on
his back and set out to make his fortune. It was not long before he
came to a large town. He rested for a while and then he went into the
town. He remembered that his father had said a head was better than a
horse, so, instead of carrying the saddle on his back, he put it on
his head. At first the people thought he was carrying the saddle
because he had sold his horse for a good price, or because the animal
had died. But he went through street after street still carrying the
saddle on his head, never pausing to look around or to speak to
anybody, and at last the people began to wonder. Some said he was a
simpleton, some said he was a saddle-maker advertising his wares, and
some said he was a tramp who ought to be arrested and put in the
workhouse.

"This talk finally reached the ears of the Mayor of the town, and he
sent for Tip-Top to appear before him."

"What is a Mayor?" asked Sweetest Susan suddenly.

"He de head patter-roller," said Drusilla, before anybody else could
reply.

"That's about right," Mr. Thimblefinger declared. "Well, the Mayor
sent for Tip-Top. But instead of going to the place where the Mayor
held his court, Tip-Top inquired where his house was and went there.
Now, when Tip-Top knocked at the Mayor's door the servant, seeing the
man with a saddle on his head, began to scold him.

"'Do you think the Mayor keeps his harness in the parlor? Go in th