The garden of the little lame princess

Front matter

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COPYRIGHT DEEOSm

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Preface

Did you ever hear of the little lame Princess? Do you know what happened in her garden? The editors—whose readers heard the story first, have said we might tell it again to you. And so we are grateful to Child Life, John Martin s Book—The Child’s Magazine, Holland’s Magazine, Farmer’s Wife, Successful Farming, and others.

Please do not think badly of the little fairy who thought the gray bundles hang¬ ing to the shrubs were not worth opening. You know, she was very—oh, very much ashamed of herself when she learned there were butterflies inside waiting to be set free.

Myrtle J. Trachsel.

St. Joseph, Missouri,

January, 1Q2J.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I Winter in the Garden . . . 15

II The Chickadee’s Breakfast . . 26

Chapter I

T HE sparrow heard of it first. He had found a cozy corner under the eaves that hung low over the nine windows of the castle room, where the little lame Princess lay on her couch. He sat by the hour in this place, sheltered from the cold wind, and watched the Prin¬ cess or listened to the song of her canary. It seemed to the sparrow that the yellow canary sang a great deal of the time. One day he pecked on the window-glass with his bill and asked the canary why he sang so much.

“The little Princess is lonely,” said the bird in the cage. “She misses the garden, the birds, and all the little people that played there during the summer. The goldfish that were brought in from the pool swim about all day in the large bowl. We want her to be happy, but it is hard for us to take the place of a garden full of bloom and song.”

The canary picked up a seed and then began to sing again. The sparrow did not offer to help amuse the little Princess. But when he saw Bunny Puffball come from his home under the garden wall, he flew down to tell the rabbit the news.

“The little Princess is lonely,” he said. “She misses the flowers and the little gar¬ den people that played here all summer.”

Bunny looked about at the dull, dead garden. The pool was frozen over. Dry, ugly stalks were sticking up through the snow where the flowers had been. There was not a living thing in the garden except the brown bird and the gray-brown rabbit.

“No wonder she misses her summer garden,” said Bunny. “We must do some¬ thing to amuse her.”

At that moment the chill wind blew the sparrow’s feathers the wrong way, and he hurried back to his shelter. At first Bunny could think of nothing he could do to amuse the little Princess. While he nibbled the bark of tender shoots he could see her watching from her window. He must do something.

Now Bunny could jump very well; he was, in fact, very proud of his long hind legs. Perhaps the Princess would like to see him jump, he thought. He leaped over the garden-walks, he jumped over the flower-beds. Around and around he went, leaving a pretty pattern of tracks in the snow. The Princess clapped her hands and smiled at him, so Bunny did it all over again. But he could not run and jump all day. He must have help. When he stopped for breath, he thought of the two squirrels he had seen chasing each other from tree to tree. Bunny was sure the Princess would enjoy watching them, and he knew where to find the twin squirrels on a bright sun¬ shiny day.

Sure enough, the squirrels were chasing each other from limb to limb and leaping from tree to tree. They were glad to show the Princess what they could do, and when Bunny assured them that there were no dogs in the garden, they raced for the stone wall that surrounded it.

Bunny went on to the cornfield for a nibble of corn, and on his way back he stopped to examine some tracks he found on a snow-covered log. Tracks were like a newspaper to Bunny. He could look at them and tell what animal or bird had passed that way, and sometimes he could guess where it was going and what it was going to do. These were bird tracks, but very strange ones. The track of most birds showed the print of three toes pointing for¬ ward and one back. The tracks upon the snow showed two toe-prints in front and two in the back. This fact told Bunny that a woodpecker had made them, and he guessed that Downy Woodpecker was near.

Bunny listened until he heard the “tap, tap, tap,” of Downy’s bill, then hurried off to find him. The woodpecker was climbing up the trunk of a tree, tapping here and there with his bill and listening carefully.

“Hello,” said Bunny. “Won’t you come to the garden and amuse the little Princess by walking around the tree trunks?”

But Downy Woodpecker had heard a dull sound that told him a borer was hid¬ ing inside the trunk of the tree. He paid no attention to Bunny, but clung tight to the bark with his sharp claws, braced him¬ self with his stiff tail-feathers, and set him¬ self to cutting away the wood with his bill.

He was hungry and wanted that fat grub for dinner. Not until he had made a hole large enough to run in his long, forked tongue and pull out the grub, would he listen to Bunny. The little rabbit did not mind. He enjoyed watching the bird work, and he was glad the grub could do the tree no more harm.

Downy Woodpecker was willing to go to the garden and amuse the little lame Princess, but h6 said he thought Chicka¬ dee’s tricks much more interesting. Bunny wondered why he had not thought of Billy

Chickadee, whose cheery call of “Chick-adee-dee-dee,” could be heard in the woods, no matter how cold the day. He heard it now off in the distance, and hurried in that direction when the woodpecker had flown down to the garden.

Billy Chickadee was playing with two of his cousins, Titmouse and Nuthatch. All were stout little birds, dressed in slate color with black-and-white markings. Tit¬ mouse wore a topknot upon his head, where the other two wore black caps. The little rabbit begged them all to come to the garden and help him amuse the little lame Princess.

“She is lonely without the birds and flowers of summer, and she will enjoy watching Chickadee swing from the limbs of the trees.”

Chickadee was very proud of the trick of swinging by his toes while he searched the under sides of the branches for hidden grubs and insect-eggs. But he declared that the things done by Nuthatch were more amusing.

Bunny knew nothing about the bird with the queer name, so he was very much surprised, when they reached the garden, to see Nuthatch not only climbing up the trunks of the trees but also running down them head first. Bunny thought he surely would fall, but he did not. He seemed to en¬ joy standing on his head. From a low limb hung the Chickadee. Downy Woodpecker had discovered a borer in the oak-tree and was busy drilling a hole. Among the branches of the trees the squirrels still played, and at one of the nine windows could be seen the smiling face of the little Princess. She was no longer lonely.

In the midst of the frolic the gardener appeared with queer-looking objects in his hands. The squirrels, the birds, and the little rabbit watched him from the tops of near-by trees, from the garden wall, and from the hidden hole under the wall. From

2 3 her window the Princess watched. When the gardener went away he left something on the ground and something in the oak-tree. What could these things be? The bright object on the ground reminded Bunny of the carrots he had found in the garden. The very thought of them made his mouth water. He crept closer. It was a carrot! Besides the carrot there were nuts, cracked and ready for the squirrels, that caught them up in dainty paws, and, fac¬ ing the window of the Princess, nodded their thanks while they nibbled at them.

Seeing these things, the birds flew to the platform in the tree and found the things they liked—suet and seeds. There were not many tricks after that for a time; they were busy eating and thanking the Princess. Chickadee flew to her window ledge and showed her how quickly he could break the hull from the sunflower seed he wished to eat. Jaybird heard the joyous sounds and added his bit of bright color to the winter garden. It was all very gay and jolly until the sun disappeared behind the castle wall.

Then the birds went off to feather-lined nests, and Bunny crept into his warm hole under the garden wall. The little rabbit was very happy. The little Princess had not been lonely, and he was sure she would not be. Chickadee would come to the garden every day, no matter how cold the weather, and he was sure the rest of them could leave their warm nests a little earlier than usual if it made the Princess happy to see them.

This, however, was not necessary. Jack Frost had seen Bunny and his friends amusing the little Princess, and he decided to help them. That night he called nine of his frost elves and set them to painting fairy gardens on the nine windows of the castle room. There were gardens with tall palm-trees and lacy ferns, gardens with mountains in the distance and tall pines, —beautiful gardens they were, and all silvery white. Then Jack Frost whispered to the birds, the squirrels, and to Bunny, and told them they need not get up until the sun had made the garden warm and bright.

“The Princess will have fairy gardens to amuse her until that time to-morrow morning, and every morning until the spring brings back the flowers.” So said Jack Frost, and so it was. The little lame Princess was no longer lonely.

Chapter II The Chickadee’s Breakfast

O NE winter morning when the sun had partly melted the frost pic¬ tures from the window by the bed of the little lame Princess, she raised the sash and scattered crumbs on the sill. Snow covered the window-sill, and the yel¬ low crumbs could plainly be seen. She waited some time, her eyes upon the win¬ dow, and then she said, “I wonder why Chickadee does not come.”

“Perhaps he is not hungry,” said the Nurse. “Or he might have overslept.”

The Princess patiently waited a much longer time.

“I don’t believe he is coming this morn¬ ing,” she said at last, “and I saved him

some of my sponge cake.”

THE CHICKADEE'S BREAKFAST

The yellow crumbs could still be plainly seen on the white snow.

“Something may have happened to him,” said the nurse. “He may have been killed, or he may have frozen to death last night.”

But nothing at all had happened to little Chickadee, that is, nothing of importance, and yet at that very moment he was sitting all huddled up on a tiny limb and was as miserable as any little bird could be. He had forgotten all about his breakfast. If only he had not seen the blue jay when he peeped from his cozy little house that morning!

His fluffy feathers had kept him warm all through the cold night. The sun came out and he was just ready to burst into his cheery song when he saw Jaybird. Of course he had seen the jay many times be¬ fore, but until that moment he had not no¬ ticed how very beautiful was this bird’s coat of blue trimmed in black and white.

Chickadee looked at his own dull, grayishbrown coat. It seemed very plain and ugly to him, and the little bird’s heart was sad. He was much too sad to sing.

“Ah me,” he thought, “if I had a beau¬ tiful coat like the jay’s I could fly to the little Princess and make her happy just by showing her my beauty. I could make her poor dead garden gay with my bright colors.”

The more he thought about it the more unhappy he became. The bare branches of the trees seemed to whisper together, and the little Chickadee thought they said:

Dull and brown, dull and brown,

Poor little bird, his coat is brown.

Now the branches were not talking about the chickadee at all; they would not have been so unkind. But the little bird did not know he could always find something to be unhappy about if he looked for it. He wanted to hop back into his little home in

THE CHICKADEE'S BREAKFAST a knot of the tree, and hide himself. But as he hopped along he passed the hollow in which the old owl slept.

“Ah,” sighed the little Chickadee, “there’s a splendid bird. If I were large like the owl, I could do so many things for my friends, but I am so small I can do nothing.”

The branches were still whispering, and Chickadee thought they said:

Poor little bird, he is so small;

There’s almost none of him at all.

If Chickadee had understood their lan¬ guage, he would have known they were talking about their leaf-buds that were ready to burst their jackets as soon as the sun was warm enough; and the little bird would not have been so sad.

Then he heard some one calling him. “Chickadee, Chickadee, where are you?”

The little bird saw beneath him little Bunny Puffball.

3 o GARDEN OF THE LITTLE LAME PRINCESS

“Why don’t you come to the garden?” the rabbit wanted to know. “We are so lonely without you, the Princess and I.”

“Lonely without me?” asked Chicka¬ dee, very much surprised.

“Yes, indeed. You are the only song-bird we have since the redbird left us. And on a sunny day like this we need you to help us feel jolly.”

The little bird fluffed his feathers while his heart beat happily. It was nice to know he could please folks just by singing his cheery little song.

“Chick-a-dee, chick-a-dee-dee-dee,” he sang.

“The squirrels will come out when they hear your song, and we will all have a big play together,” said the rabbit, as they hur¬ ried along to the garden.

The squirrels did come out, and Chick¬ adee sang his song again and again. The more he sang the happier he became, and

THE CHICKADEE’S BREAKFAST 31

then he remembered his breakfast. He hur¬ ried to one of the nine castle windows and saw the yellow crumbs on the window-sill.

“Chickadee-dee-dee!” he sang.

How glad he was he had come! The little Princess pressed her nose against the window-pane, and he saw how delighted she was to have him come. He fluffed his feathers and hopped about in his most entertaining manner while picking up the crumbs. Now and then he stopped long enough to sing his happy song.

When all the crumbs were gone he hung by his toes to a limb close by, and showed the little Princess how he searched along the twigs for his breakfast when there were no crumbs to be had.

“Chickadee-dee-dee!” he sang. What he really meant was, “I thank you very much, and hope you are happy.”

Jaybird came to the garden, and Chick¬ adee admired his blue coat without feeling bad about his own. Titmouse, Nuthatch, and Downy Woodpecker came, asking why Chickadee let them sleep so long. Chickadee had not known they were de¬ pending upon him to wake them. It made him feel very important and very proud, and never again did the little lame Prin¬ cess have to wait so long for his coming.

Chapter III

A GENERAL spring house-clean¬ ing had been ordered in the gar¬ den of the little lame Princess, and in the woods all around it. The March wind was the broom, and with much blus¬ ter and noise he threw down from the trees all the old bird-nests that could not be used a second summer, and swept the old leaves and the trash down into the hollows. Then the heavy rains came to carry all the trash away, and dust things off nicely.

When it was all over, Chickadee and Bunny went out to see what had happened. The sun was shining warmly, and every¬ thing was clean and fresh. On the south side of the castle in a sheltered place they found a dandelion.

“I wonder if the pussy willows are out,” said Chickadee.

“I wonder if they are,” said Bunny Puff¬ ball. And without another word the two started for the willow-tree in the heart of the woods.

They stopped a minute to call to Gray Squirrel as they passed the maple-tree. The squirrel was having a dainty meal from the tender maple buds, and the bees were there, too, drinking the sweet syrup that dripped from the twigs Jack Frost had broken off in his frolics. To their surprise they found other bees buzzing about a big cottonwood tree.

“I wonder what they are doing here,” said Bunny. He had once had an angry bee sting him on the nose, and ever since that time he had kept as far away from the bees as possible. The Chickadee went closer, and found they were carrying off some of the fragrant wax that had sealed the buds. This was called propolis, or bee mortar, and the bees used it to patch the leaky roofs of their houses.

“Have all of you leaky roofs?” asked Chickadee, noticing how many bees were coming for the wax.

Several bees stopped long enough to ex¬ plain that there were many repairs to be made before honey-gathering really started, and those who did not need the wax at that time were careful to lay by a supply, as it could be found only a short time in early spring.

“Very interesting,” said Bunny, as they went on their way. “Oh, look, there is the willow-tree covered with pussy-willows. But what is that under it? Can it be a giant pussy willow?”

Bunny jumped behind a fallen log, but Chickadee flew to the willow tree and dis¬ covered the furry object was a chubby baby bear. He was begging the little pussy-willows on the tree to come and play with him.

Begging the little pussy-willows to play with him.

“Come down, little bears. Come down and play with me,” he said.

Bunny giggled when he heard that, but Chickadee tried to explain:

. “They are not bears. They are the wil¬ low’s blossoms. They wear fur coats be¬ cause they like to come out early in the spring. Look at this one and you will see the little brown seeds are beginning to form.”

The little bear could scarcely believe it. He took the pussy-willow Chickadee threw down to him and examined it very carefully. He tried to eat it, but found it not exactly to his liking. After he had stud¬ ied it a few moments he turned and lum¬ bered off, but the others noticed he did not go very far. He sat down on a log under a locust tree and looked at the branches to which the long, dry bean-pods still clung, rattling loudly in the wind.

“What is the matter?” called Chickadee.

“I never saw this old thorny tree before, so I must be lost. I am trying to think which way I should go.”

“Where do you live?”

“I live in a cave, but I do not know where the cave is. I had never been out of it before, and I am afraid I went too far.”

“Dearie me,” said Bunny, standing up straight behind his log, “I am afraid you did go too far.” He was not afraid of a baby bear. “Most of the moss grows on the north side of the trees, you know. You can get your directions from that.”

“But I don’t know what direction I came from.”

“Dearie me,” said Bunny, again. “How very young you are.”

Neither Chickadee nor Bunny had ever been lost, but because the little bear did not whine or cry when he found himself in trouble, they wanted very much to help him. Finally Bunny said, “Your eyes are very small for so large a head, but you can see well enough, can’t you?”

“Oh, yes, I can see very well indeed.”

“Then follow those footprints over there and they will take you home.”

The little bear examined the footprints, fitted his feet into them to make certain they were his, and started off happily. But this time he did not go far.

“What is the matter?” asked Chickadee.

“This is a rocky place, and I can find no more footprints.”

“Dearie me,” said Bunny, “you must be very, very young. Do you see any broken twigs that might show which way you

“Oh, yes. I stopped here to eat a few swollen buds, and over there I dug a nice juicy root.”

In a short time he stopped again. He could find no more broken twigs, and he had not picked up his trail again.

“Now listen, little bear,” said Bunny. “When you came to the willow-tree did you come down the mountain, up the

4 o GARDEN OF THE LITTLE LAME PRINCESS

mountain, or around the mountain?”

“I came straight down the mountain, and now I must go straight up the moun¬ tain. Thank you, good friends; I am sure I shall find my way now.”

He hurried away as fast as he could go, and was soon hidden by the trees. Bunny and Chickadee played with the pussy¬ willows, and presently, to their great sur¬ prise, they saw the same little bear coming from the opposite direction.

“Well!” cried the little bear, very much surprised himself.

“Well, indeed!” said Chickadee. “You must have traveled in a circle.”

Although the bear was greatly disap¬ pointed he did not give up. He sat down to think about it.

“Little bear,” said Bunny, “can you smell, or is your nose too young?”

“I can smell,” cried the little bear, hap¬ pily. “Perhaps I can find the way home with my nose.”

“Wait. You may take the trail that will lead you back here. You want to go straight up the mountain. Did you ever hear the rule for going straight?”

The little bear shook his head.

“Then remember this. Sight three trees or other objects directly in line. Then when you reach the first, sight another di¬ rectly in line with the two that are left, and so on. Just remember that, and you will go straight.”

The little bear sighted three trees, and then, with a grateful word of thanks, started out again, but this time the rabbit and the chickadee nodded to each other and silently followed along behind.

“He is very, very young,” whispered Bunny. “I think we had better see that he gets back to his home.”

But the little bear had learned his lesson well. Up he went and on up, without once turning aside. Up and up, much farther than Bunny had ever been before, and up there, near the top of the mountain, they saw a mother bear hurrying to meet the little fellow.

“I think we had better go back to the garden of the little lame Princess,” said Bunny. “I never was much of a traveler.”

Chapter IV

S INCE the first warm days of spring so many things had been happening in the woods and in the garden that Bunny Puffball could not rest for fear of missing something. He managed to sleep with one eye open, and satisfied his appe¬ tite by nibbling fresh young shoots as he hurried along.

Even before the spring house-cleaning in the woods, Bunny had some very excit¬ ing adventures. When he could find time to lie down for a moment in his cozy little home under the garden wall, he liked to think of the night a flock of wild geese rested in the marsh at the foot of the moun¬ tain. He had seen them flying low over the woods, the leader in front and the others forming a great wedge behind.

Bunny had hurried to the marsh and watched the flock as it fed. He had crept quite close to the big leader when he was resting. In the faint light of early morning he saw the leader rise in the air and start northward, followed by the others in regu¬ lar order. He watched until the flying V grew smaller and disappeared entirely, then he sighed. It seemed very lonely after they had gone.

One day he had heard the redbird’s call of “Cheerily, cheerily. Come here, come here. Quick, quick, quick!” and had hur¬ ried to welcome the beautiful bird. He was glad he could show this old friend where to find enough seeds for several dinners. Then Bluebird and Robin had appeared.

The red-bud trees had burst into bloom, and hither Bunny had gone to visit with the squirrels. Red squirrels, fox squirrels, and gray squirrels could all be found feast¬ ing on the red buds.

The trees and the plants were putting forth new leaves and green shoots. Some insects were flying through the air, but Bunny was much surprised to see a fullgrown cricket hopping along the gardenpath, as few crickets were able to live through the winter.

“Hello,” said Bunny. “Where did you come from?”

Cricket waved one of his forelegs to¬ wards the castle. “I came from the castle. You know the little lame Princess invited me to spend the winter with her.”

Bunny had heard nothing about such an invitation, and he was much surprised. “How did she happen to ask you?”

“She wanted a musician to sit on her hearth and sing her to sleep.”

The rabbit’s eyes opened wide in aston¬ ishment, but he could only repeat, “How did she happen to ask you?”

Cricket held his head high. “She liked my singing better than any other that she heard during the summer, so she asked me to come into the castle.”

“Well, well,” said Bunny; “that is most surprising.”

He had never considered the cricket much of a singer, but he could not well doubt his word, since it was plain the cricket had spent the winter in some warm place.

“I merely came out for a little air, and to see how things were growing,” he re¬ marked, grandly. “Food and drink are fur¬ nished me in the castle.”

They went first to the bed of violets, but the cricket was not impressed with the modest blossoms.

“If you want to see real flowers, come with me,” he invited; and he led the way to the castle room with the nine windows. There upon the window-sill were pots holding tall shafts of green, and upon each shaft were three or four pure-white lilies.

“Oh!” exclaimed Bunny. “What are they?”

“Easter lilies.” The cricket turned away, and the rabbit would have followed if he had not heard the little Princess and her nurse talking together about the lilies.

“Won’t you tell me again the story about the Easter lily,” begged the Princess. The nurse promised, and Bunny pressed close to the wall under the window that was raised at the bottom. He wished very much that he might hear more about the beauti¬ ful flower.

Said the nurse: “In the long ago when many of the flowers were still young, there grew a beautiful field of lilies. Some had blossoms of lavender hue, some were rose-colored, some blue, and some golden. As they stood on their long stems, turning their faces to the sun, a more beautiful sight could never be seen.

“Mother Nature came to this wonderful field of lilies with a request.

“ ‘You are the most beautiful flowers in all my kingdom,’ she said, ‘that is why I come to you.’

“The lilies nodded and whispered among themselves. ‘What is it you would have of us?’ inquired a tall lily, the most beautiful of all in the field. Its petals were a soft blue, perfect in shape and gracefully curving away from the yellow stamens in the center.

“ ‘I would send a messenger to remind the people that they need not fear death, but through it they will be led to a life of greater beauty.’ Mother Nature looked di¬ rectly at the tall blue lily. ‘Will you go?’ she asked.

“The beautiful lily was flattered and said she would like to go.

“ ‘Are you willing to die that the people may see you live again?’ asked Mother Nature. ‘You must lose your beauty, be tucked away in a little brown case and laid in the ground. Unless this is done, the peopie will not understand the message of new life.’

“ ‘Oh, no,’ cried the lily, ‘I would not like to lose my beauty. Please do not ask me to go.’

“Mother Nature turned to the lovely rose-colored lily. ‘Will you go?’ she asked. But the rose lily shook her head and was silent. Mother Nature went all over the field, searching for a willing messenger, but could find none. She was just about to give up when she heard a timid voice be¬ side her.

“ ‘Dear Mother Nature, I would gladly go, but I am not beautiful.’

“Mother Nature looked down at the speaker, and saw that this lily truly was not beautiful. A rock had rolled upon it and caused its stem to grow crooked. The blossom, held close to the ground by the rock, was scarred and ugly. Mother Na¬ ture smiled down at her. ‘Service will make you beautiful,’ she murmured.