plow and harrow
the ground in the springtime, to draw in the hay and the grain in the
autumn, and to trot cheerfully along the country road when the children
take a ride? Oh! I hope the farmer gives him a good, dry bed to sleep
upon, a manger of hay and a measure of oats when he is hungry. I hope
he combs and smooths Dobbin's black coat well, and puts a blanket on
his back when the weather is cold. I'm sure the farmer wouldn't cut
off Dobbin's shiny black tail for the world, for how could Dobbin drive
away the flies that trouble him, without his tail? I know that there
is always plenty of fresh water for Dobbin to drink whenever he is
thirsty, and that, sometimes, the children give him a lump of sugar to
eat. The farmer never lets Dobbin lose a shoe, I'm sure, for fear he
might go lame, but always takes him to the blacksmith if only a nail is
loose."
Buzz z z z! buzz z z z! sounded close to Ethel's ear. She opened her
eyes and looked about. There she sat upon a bench in the park. The
sun had gone down behind the tall buildings, and it was almost dark.
The pretty elfin in green had vanished. Her country friends were
nowhere to be seen. A bee's gauzy wings and yellow legs were
disappearing in the distance. "There goes another of my friends," said
Ethel, "I think he must have come to tell me that it is time to go
home."
So Ethel ran home and told her mother all about the fairy and her
friends. "Oh, mamma! do you suppose the fairy really and truly took me
to the country?" said Ethel.
"No," said mamma, "I think my little girl was asleep and dreaming; but,
for all that, the animals on the farm are really among our very best
friends."
"Yes, I know that," said Ethel, "how I wish I could see them!" And for
many days after her wonderful dream Ethel never went to the park
without thinking of how the little fairy in green took her to visit all
her friends in the country.
End of Project Gutenberg's A Kindergarten Story Book, by Jane L. Hoxie
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A KINDERGARTEN STORY BOOK ***
***** This file should be named 14127.txt or 14127.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.net/1/4/1/2/14127/
Produced by Al Haines
Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.
Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright i
|