MMM!" he said by way of reply, "Did you
bring the candle with you, Tum Tum?"

"Oh, I forgot it, Tim Tim!" his little wife replied, "I will run right
back and get it!"

"No, Tum Tum! I will run home and get it! You sit down upon this soft
little toad-stool and wait until I return. It will take me but a
moment!"

So Mrs. Tamytam sat down to wait upon the little soft toad-stool, with
her bonnet hanging over her shoulders, and she sang and knitted.

Now, Mrs. Tamytam was a delightful little elfish lady, and she and Tim
Tim were very, very happy together, even though they were only six
inches tall.

So, while she sang and knitted, Tim Tim ran down the tiny path made by
the woodfolk, past the bubbling spring and around the bend in the bank
of the tumbling brooklet until he came to his home, which was another
hole in the trunk of an old tree.

As Tim Tim climbed into his doorway, he stood and looked with dismay at
what had been his cozy living room, for now it was filled with sawdust
and small pieces of sticks and twigs, for the whole top of the old tree
had broken off and now the rain would splash right down on everything
the first time there was a shower.

Tim Tim Tamytam searched about in the sawdust and twigs until he found a
tiny bit of bayberry candle, and, putting this in his pocket, he turned
to go out of the hole. But just then Tom Tom Teenyweeny walked in the
door.

"Hello, Tom Tom Teenyweeny!" Tim Tim cried cheerily.

"Hello, Tim Tim Tamytam!" Tom Tom cried at the same time, "What ever has
happened to your lovely home, Tim Tim?"

"Well, I will tell you, Tom Tom," Tim Tim answered, "You know Mrs.
Fuzzytail lived with her grandchildren squirrels up in the top of the
tree, and they had a very cozy den up there, too, but Mrs. Fuzzytail
wished to make some small improvements, such as a new peep-hole window
and a little cupboard for Chinkapins and hickory nuts. So last summer
she sent for the carpenter ants and arranged with them to do the
carpenter work. And do you know, Tom Tom," and here Tim Tim Tamytam
put his hand upon Tom Tom's shoulder and got very confidential, "those
mischievous carpenter ants, when they once got started, they sawed and
chipped, until they had cut almost all of the shell of the tree away,
and when it blew so very hard last night the top of the tree broke right
in two, where the ants had made their tunnels, and down it fell with a
great crash and made this great pile of sawdust and st