e Wash Lady's sack
at the top of the slide, and before the children could so much as
wink, it had slid off into the darkness and disappeared from sight.

"Oh, my!" cried Ann, "Is it a shoot-the-chutes? Does it bump when it
gets there?"

"No, no," said the Sandman. "No bumps whatsoever, the most comfortable
kind of traveling I know, in fact you're there the same time you
start, and I'd like to know how you can beat that? I ought to know,
for I use this route myself on my rounds a little earlier in the
evening." He walked back to his pile of sacks, and picked up another
of them. "Now then," said he, examining the label, "who's next?
Aha--Miss Jane Mackenzie!"

The children could hardly believe their ears. "Oh, Ruddy," whispered
Ann in Rudolf's ear, "what kind of dreams do you suppose Aunt Jane
will get?"

"Sh! Listen, he's going to tell us," answered Rudolf.

The Sandman was gravely consulting his list.
"M-hm--Cook-that-likes-living-in-the-Country! Step this way, ma'am,
and don't take any more room than you can help. New Non-fadable Cheap
but Elegant Parlor Curtains--One Able-bodied Intelligent Gardener,
with a Generous Disposition--hurry the gentleman forward, boys, he's a
curiosity! What's next? Aha! One niece, two nephews--three perfectly
good children." Sandy paused, stared about him at the throng of
jumping, pushing dreams--then added: "Don't see 'em."

"Why, yes you do!" Ann was pulling impatiently at the Sandman's
sleeve--"Here you are." Then she turned to Rudolf and whispered
excitedly: "Don't you see? We must make the Sandman believe we are
Aunt Jane's Good Dreams, and then he'll send us back to her."

"I'd like a ride on that slide, all right!" returned Rudolf.

"But I doesn't want to go back to Aunt Jane yet," came the voice of
Peter clearly from behind them. "I shan't go till I've seen the Bad
Dreams."

"Nonsense!" Rudolf turned round on him angrily. "Of course you'll go.
You're the youngest, and you've _got_ to mind us." And then without
paying any more attention to Peter, Rudolf thrust himself in front of
the Sandman. "Here we are," he said. "We're all ready."

The Sandman looked the boy up and down, consulted his list again,
smiled and shook his head very doubtfully.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but I'm afraid you don't exactly answer. Just
listen to this." And he read aloud: "Number one. Boy: polite and
gentlemanly in manner--brown hair neatly smoothed and parted--Eton
suit, clean white collar, b