Part 11

“Well, I may want to make a chair some day,” replied the cheese-maker. “The door will be locked after this,” he added; “but whenever your master wants cheese, you know how to get it.”

It happened, in this way, that the cheese-maker and his wife grew very rich; for the monkeys constantly came to buy cheese, and they always paid for it with heavy lumps of gold. Soon the straw hut disappeared, and in its stead rose a stately house of stone, with gardens and terraces about it. The cheese-maker wore a velvet coat, and his wife flaunted about in a satin gown; but still they never failed to make their cheeses twice a week.

“Why do you still make cheese?” asked the fine visitors who came to see them, rolling in gilded coaches. But the cheese-maker had one answer for them all: “Because I have a head on my shoulders, and not a pumpkin.”

THE SPELLING LESSON.

THE teacher sat in her high-backed chair, Her chair so straight and tall; Her eyes went flashing to and fro Among the children small. At last she spoke, and “Billy boy! Now answer, Billy Bolee, And tell me quickly, what does C- O-W spell?” quoth she.

Then up went Patty’s hand, Up went Matty’s hand, Up went Freddy’s hand, too; But poor little Billy, He _was_ so silly, He didn’t know what to do.

The teacher smiled her pleasant smile, And shook her small, wise head. “Be quiet, all! for I am sure That Billy knows!” she said. “Put on your thinking-cap, my child, And tie it very tight; Then C-O-W will not trouble you, And you will say it right.”

But up went Patty’s hand, Up went Matty’s hand, Up went Freddy’s hand, too, And poor little Billy He _was_ so silly, He didn’t know what to do.

But when the children ’gan to laugh, And fun at him ’gan poke, Poor Billy thought it might not be So _much_ worse if he spoke. So, lifting up his fearful eyes All sad and timorously, “Sure, C-O-W, must spell, _Sobble-you_!” Thus spoke Billy Bolee.

Then out laughed Matty, And out laughed Patty, And out laughed Frederick, too; But _poor_ little Billy, He felt so silly, He didn’t know, _what_—TO—DO!!!

THE PERSON WHO DID NOT LIKE CATS.

ONCE upon a time there was a Person who did not like cats. She did not like dogs, either, but she never said anything about that, because the Big Master and the two Little Masters and the four Little Mistresses were all very fond of dogs, and liked to have them lie round under everybody’s feet and get white hairs all over everybody’s clothes, and take up the whole hearth-rug and run away with the roast beef, and bark to be let out and then howl to be let in, and shake themselves when they were wet, and do all the things that dogs do,—they liked all these things, so the Person who did not like cats never dared to say a word.

But nobody cared very much about cats—except when they were little downy kittens, and they _will_ not stay kittens!—save Maggie, the cook; so the Person felt free to speak her mind, and said she would not have any cats in the house. And after she had said that, these things happened:

One day a kitten belonging to the neighbour’s little boy came into the kitchen, and refused to go out again. The little boy was sent for, and he came and took the kitten home.

Next day it came again, and was taken home again. And so it went on for a week, till every one in the house was tired out with carrying that kitten home, and the kitten’s little boy cried and thought it was too bad. It was.

But the kitten was very happy, and Maggie, the cook, said she “couldn’t let the crathur starve,” so it stayed; and pretty soon it was not a kitten any more, but a cat, and it had kittens of its own, one of which was given to the little boy.

Now the Person who did not like cats said the other kittens must be taken away in a bag; but all the Little Masters and Mistresses cried out, and said,—

“Oh, Mamma!” “Please, Mamma, the dear, sweet little things!” “See their little paws!” “See their dear little noses!” “Hear them squeal!” “We must keep this one, Mamma!” “We can’t possibly part with that one, Mamma!” “Oh, Mamma!” “Dear Mamma!” “Feel this one’s little back!” and so on, and so on.

So the Person said that they might keep the one which they all thought the prettiest, and that the others must go away in a bag; but while they were deciding, the kittens grew up and became cats. So then the bag was not big enough to hold them, and they stayed, partly for that reason, and partly because they were all so ugly that no one could tell which was the least ugly.

Now, one day, the man at the livery stable, where the Master kept his horse, said that he wanted a cat, because the rats were giving him a great deal of trouble in his hay-loft. So the Master took the ugliest cat of all, which was really ugly enough to frighten the crows, and he put her in a basket, and took her away to the stable, and everybody was glad.

But three days after, as the Person was weeding the flowerbed, she heard a loud squeal of joy, and felt something rubbing against her back; she turned round, and there was the Ugliest Cat, purring and squeaking, and seeming just as glad to get back as if she were perfectly beautiful, and as if everybody loved her to distraction. She was sent to the stable again, but this time she came back the very next day, because she had found out the way. So she stayed.

But after that, things went worse than ever. The Person went out to walk, and a cat followed her home, and would not go away, and would come in! and Maggie, the cook, said she “couldn’t see the crathur starve,” so she fed it and it stayed. And on Thanksgiving Day a miserable hungry kitten came to the door and begged to be let in, and nobody could refuse to give it a Thanksgiving dinner, so _it_ came in, and _it_ stayed.

And now the Person who does not like eats has nothing but cats about her all the time. They lie on the stairs and trip her up in the dark. If she takes up a clothes-basket, out rolls a kitten. If she gets the little sleigh to take the Littlest Mistress to ride, out jumps a cat. Wherever she goes, whatever she does, she sees a dirty white cat, or a rusty black cat, or a faded yellow cat, or a dingy tabby cat, or a hideous tortoise-shell beast, which is the Ugliest Cat of all. And the Person would like the children to tell her _what_ is to be done about it!

THE END.

The Hildegarde Series

AND OTHER BOOKS BY LAURA E. RICHARDS.

*** Next to Miss Alcott’s famous “Little Women” series they easily rank, and no books that have appeared in recent times may be more safely put into the hands of a bright, intelligent girl than these four “Queen Hildegarde” books.

HILDEGARDE’S NEIGHBORS.

By Laura E. Richards. A companion to “Queen Hildegarde,” etc. Illustrated from original designs. Square 16mo, cloth. $1.25.

A new volume in the “Hildegarde” Series, some of the best and most deservedly popular books for girls issued in recent years. This new volume is fully equal to its predecessors in point of interest, and is sure to renew the popularity of the entire series.

QUEEN HILDEGARDE.

A story for girls, by Laura E. Richards, author of “Captain January,” etc. Illustrated from original designs by Garrett (292 pp). Square 16mo, cloth. $1.25.

“We would like to see the sensible, heroine-loving girl in her early teens who would not like this book. Not to like it would simply argue a screw loose somewhere.” _Boston Post._

HILDEGARDE’S HOLIDAY.

A companion to “Queen Hildegarde.” By Laura E. Richards. Illustrated with full-page plates by Copeland. Square 16mo, cloth. $1.25.

HILDEGARDE’S HOME.

By Laura E. Richards, author of “Queen Hildegarde,” “Captain January,” etc. Illustrated with original designs by Merrill. Square 16mo, cloth. $1.25.

_ALSO_

FOUR FEET, TWO FEET, AND NO FEET;

Or, Furry and Feathery Pets, and How they Live. Stories of Animals, Fishes and Birds for the Little Folks. Edited by Laura E. Richards. Illustrated with nearly 250 wood engravings, all original in design, and engraved by George T. Andrew. Quarto. Illuminated board covers. $1.75.

FIVE MICE IN A MOUSE TRAP.

The story of their lives and other wonderful things related by The Man in the Moon, done in the vernacular from the lunacular form, by Laura E. Richards, daughter of Julia Ward Howe, author of “Four Feet, Two Feet, and No Feet,” “Joyous Story of Toto,” etc. With a large number of beautiful illustrations by Addie Ledyard, Kate Greenaway and others. Quarto. Illuminated board covers. $1.25.

SIX GIRLS.

A delightful book for girls. By Fannie Belle Irving, a gifted writer, and niece of Washington Irving. Illustrated from designs by Merrill. 16mo, cloth. Boston. $1.25.

_Estes & Lauriat, Publishers, Boston._

* * * * *

Transcriber’s Notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired.

Page 28, “of” changed to “off” (wiped off the dust)

Page 80, “Conquerer” changed to “Conqueror” (of William the Conqueror)

Page 101, “sudddenly” changed to “suddenly” (and suddenly, they emerged)

Page 116, “butttons” changed “buttons” (as many buttons as it)

Page 124, “but” changed to “put” (put on her best bonnet)

Page 161, “lizzard” changed to “lizard” (creature, like a lizard)

Page 208, repeated word “the” removed from text. Original read (up the the back stairs)

End of Project Gutenberg's Five Minute Stories, by Laura E. Richards