Title: The Box of Smiles, and Other Stories
Author: Laura Rountree Smith
Illustrator: Florence Mae Pettee
Release date: January 20, 2022 [eBook #67207]
Most recently updated: October 18, 2024
Language: English
Original publication: United States: Whitman Publishing Co
Credits: Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
THE WITCH DROPPED IN TWO STRAWS FROM HER BROOM (See page 32)
(AND OTHER STORIES)
By LAURA ROUNTREE SMITH
ILLUSTRATIONS BY F. M. PETTEE
Whitman Publishing Co.
RACINE, WISCONSIN
COPYRIGHT 1920 BY
Whitman Publishing Co.
RACINE, WISCONSIN
| THE BOX OF SMILES | 9 |
| THE FAIRY SHOEMAKER | 17 |
| TELL-TALE AND TATTLE TOO | 27 |
| LITTLE STAY-AT-HOME AND THE WISHING PIN | 37 |
| LITTLE GIRL THROW-AWAY | 46 |
| THE ENCHANTED STAIRCASE | 54 |
| LITTLE DWARF COURAGE | 68 |
| DOROTHY ANN AND THE WEE LITTLE MAN | 72 |
| THE WITCH DROPPED IN TWO STRAWS FROM HER BROOM | Frontispiece |
| HE WAS STANDING ON A SAND PILE SURE ENOUGH AND THERE WERE FAIRIES ALL AROUND HIM | 15 |
| AT THAT VERY MINUTE A LITTLE FAIRY JUMPED RIGHT ON THE LITTLE TOE | 19 |
| AND THEY BLEW AWAY, AWAY, AWAY | 31 |
| THEY SAILED AWAY FOR THE FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION | 43 |
| THE LITTLE FAIRY FROM THRIFT TOWN STEPPED OUT | 47 |
| THEY HAD A BIRTHDAY PARTY AND DANCED ROUND AND ROUND IN A RING | 51 |
| THEY LOOKED UP AND SAW A CUTE LITTLE HOUSE IN A TREE AND AN OLD MAN STOOD AT THE DOOR | 55 |
| THE DWARFS WERE ALL AT BREAKFAST DOWNSTAIRS | 59 |
| AND THE WEE PEOPLE CAME TUMBLING DOWN THE CHIMNEY ONE AFTER ANOTHER | 63 |
(Little Boo-Hoo—Is it Y-O-U?)
cried mother one day.
Her little boy cried when he had his face washed, and cried when he had to get up, and cried when he had to go to bed, and cried when he went to school, or stubbed his toe, or lost a game of ball.
Little Fairy Light-Heart whispered to mother,
Before you could wink an eye-lash little Boo-Hoo was nid-nid-nodding, and in the twinkling of an eye Fairy Light-Heart said,
Little Boo-Hoo rubbed his eyes.
He was standing on a sand pile sure enough, and there were fairies all around him.
They were not fairies with happy, smiling faces, but they frowned and scolded while Fairy Long-Face cried,
Then the most surprising thing happened!
Four and twenty little fairies came running with four and twenty little empty gold-fish bowls and Fairy Growly-Voice said,
The Elves and Fairies were very short of water in their desert home!
Before Little Boo-Hoo could shed a tear, Elf Big-Frown led a whole bucket brigade and said,
All the fairies set up a chorus,
Then Fairy Contrary said,
Just as Little Boo-Hoo began to feel a tiny little bit scared under his left hand vest coat pocket, Fairy Light-Heart, who had left only for a minute, skipped first on one foot then on the other singing,
Little Boo-Hoo looked above him, on a branch hung a little key.
He took it in his chubby little fingers and read on the key,
Then the dimples began to play about his mouth, and because the fairy verse mentioned “miles” he thought as likely as not, the Box of Smiles might be near, for the fairies enjoy a joke!
He put his hand in the hole in a hollow tree beside him, and out came the Box of Smiles.
On the box was written,
He put the key in the lock.
It turned with a click, click, click.
Out flew the smiles!
Big smiles, little smiles, middle-sized smiles,
The fairies formed a magic ring and danced around Little Boo-Hoo, and while he was with them he never shed a tear! Every one smiled, and smiled.
Fairy Light-Heart took Little Boo-Hoo’s hand and they danced away, away, away, and when he awoke it was the dawn of day, and there hung the Wishing Key on a little blue ribbon, round his neck.
Whether he ever found the Box of Smiles again or not I do not know, but he was always dimpling and smiling and speaking of fairy gold-fish bowls, and wondering if the fairies ever got their washing done, and talking about fairies skating on a pond.
HE WAS STANDING ON A SAND PILE SURE ENOUGH AND THERE WERE FAIRIES ALL AROUND HIM (See page 10)
Whatever happened after that,
If you find the Box of Smiles be very careful when you unlock it for,
sang the Fairy Shoemakers as Little June ran through the woods one day.
She stopped and listened and heard the fairy hammers, but she could not see where the fairies were hidden.
Little June looked down at her worn out slippers and said,
She went on to the store, with a basket[18] on her arm, for she was the little errand girl of the family.
As she came back home through the woods, she heard someone singing,
Little June looked under the broad leaves about her path, and under the toad-stools, but she could not see where the voice came from.
Every day she ran out and did errands willingly, and only once did she complain to her mother about her shabby slippers.
Mother put little bows of ribbon on the shabby slippers to cover the worn part, and she said everything cost so much this year June would have to wait for a new pair.
AT THAT VERY MINUTE A LITTLE FAIRY JUMPED RIGHT ON THE LITTLE TOE (See page 21)
Mother said pleasantly,
Whenever June ran through the woods she heard a new song, and every bird and animal she met made friends with her.
sang the Fairy Shoemakers, and Little June clapped her hands singing,
One day June went on her way sadly, for one little toe showed through one little slipper.
By and by as she sat down on a log to rest two little tears began to trickle down her cheeks.
At that very minute a little fairy jumped right on the little toe, that peeped out from the little slipper, singing,
It was a tiny needle of course, but Little June had bright eyes and she threaded it while the Fairy sang,
Then June knew that she was talking to one of the Fairy Shoemakers and she said,
The Fairy pretended he did not hear, but he blew a silver whistle, and four and twenty little Fairy Shoemakers came, with their four and twenty little needles and one after another, they asked the little girl to thread them.
As they hopped about her, she never dreamed that they might be measuring her feet for a pair of slippers.
One of the Fairies hopped right up in her lap, saying,
Little June said, “How would you feel[23] if you were in a performance to be given the last day of school, and what if you had to dance in the front row, with an old pair of slippers on?”
At that, the Fairy Shoemakers all sang in a chorus,
Little June did not know that she had been dreaming in the woods that Saturday morning, until she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder, and there stood her teacher before her.
Little June cried again and told her teacher all her troubles, and her teacher said, “I love the fairies too, hark! what is that?”
They both heard the fairy song,
Little June went merrily homeward.
The last day of school drew nearer and nearer.
The little slippers grew more and more shabby!
At last the great day came, and mother said she was sorry she had no new slippers for the willing little feet.
She said,
Little June sat down and sang,
Evening came, and she put on the little white dress she had ironed herself, and the little red sash and hair ribbons father had given her.
She looked at the little old slippers, with patches upon them. They had been carefully blackened.
At that very minute the door-bell went, “Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle.”
She ran downstairs in her stocking feet.
There, on the door-step was a box marked, “For June.”
With trembling fingers she opened it, and took out a pair of little red slippers.
They were exactly the right size.
They had gilt buckles upon them.
Little June was so happy she danced the best of any one, she had to come out by and by all alone, in her little red slippers and dance for an encore.
The people said it was the prettiest little performance they had ever seen, and Little June knew that it was a fairy dance, and that she had learned it from the Fairy Shoemakers who measured her for a pair of slippers.
Even as she danced she thought she heard their fairy hammers ringing, and their fairy voices singing,
Once upon a time, there was a little boy who always told tales, and always tattled on his playmates at school.
On Halloween night, a big Jack O’ Lantern appeared on the window-sill of his room, and called out of its crooked mouth,
The little boy replied,
At this very minute, a Black Cat jumped up on the window-sill, winking and blinking her great round eyes, and she said, as she showed her white teeth,
The little boy answered,
Then, whisk, bound, without any warning, a witch on a broom rode right up on the window-sill and shouted,
As she said the last word, the wind blew, “Ooo-ooo-” and it blew the little boy right on the witch’s broom stick and they blew away, away, away.
The Jack O’ Lantern and big Black Cat had to run as fast as they could to keep up.
By and by they sailed down, down, down into the heart of the deep green woods.
There were Brownies sure enough, dancing in a circle. They waved their hands and made comical faces singing.
Before he knew it, the little boy was dancing round and round the ring with the Brownies.
He was all out of breath when they stopped dancing and the Jack O’ Lantern said,
The Black Cat said,
The Witch said,
The Brownies said,
AND THEY BLEW AWAY, AWAY, AWAY (See page 29)
They all began to dance around a big kettle, that hung over the fire. The Brownies covered their eyes and the Jack O’ Lantern dropped a candle in the kettle. The Black Cat dropped in catnip and the witch dropped in two straws from her broom.
Then the Brownies uncovered their eyes and said,
Tell-Tale put his hand over his mouth for he wanted to whisper, “He dropped in a candle, and it will spoil your kettle of soup,” but he sat stock-still and never said a word.
Then the Brownies winked and blinked at each other as they said,
Tell-Tale put both hands over his mouth this time for he wanted to sing out, “She put catnip in the kettle and it will spoil your porridge,” but he smiled to himself and never answered a word.
Then the Brownies clapped their hands as much as to say, “We’ve got him this time,” and said,
The little boy turned a backward somersault for he wanted to shout, “She put two straws in the kettle and it will spoil your stew,” but he said never a word.
Then the most surprising thing happened.
The candle jumped out of the kettle and said,
Then the candle jumped into a beautiful Halloween lantern and stood by his side, while the catnip jumped out of the kettle and said,
Then the catnip began to weave this way and that way, till it wove a beautiful carriage for the little boy to ride home in.
Out jumped the two straws from the kettle and sang,
The straws turned into two coal-black[35] steeds and were ready to draw the beautiful carriage.
The lantern lighted their way, and saying good bye to the Jack O’ Lantern, the Big Black Cat, and Witch, he drove merrily homeward.
He saw a Halloween lantern in the moon-light. It hung above the window-sill and as it turned round and round, he saw on it a Jack O’ Lantern, a Big Black Cat and a Witch!
He cried,
Whether he rode in the magic lantern or[36] not, I cannot say, but every year on Halloween a Big Black Cat, sat on his door-step, and a Jack O’ Lantern peeped in his window, and a Witch riding by on a broom said,
He had many jolly rides with the trio many times on Halloween without doubt.
I wish I knew if he really changed his name to “Think-A-Minute.” I forgot to ask him.
If Little Stay-At-Home had not found a red, white and blue pin on the 4th of July perhaps nothing fairylike would have happened.
She said to herself over and over,
The children going to the Fourth of July celebration waved their hands to her and called, “Goodbye, Little Stay-At-Home, good-bye.”
Little Stay-At-Home knew that mother needed her at home, and she knew that the ironing had to be done.
As she got out the Clothes Horse she heard a voice call.
Then the Ironing Board piped up,
The Iron acted in the strangest manner and began to run to and fro on the Ironing Board, saying,
Little Stay-At-Home had never happened to see kitchen things act in such a comical manner.
She stood first on one foot, then on the other and said,
Then the first surprising thing happened.
A Peanut Bag sailed in the window and the Peanut Fairies sailed about as lively as crickets. They sprinkled and folded the clothes neatly.
Little Stay-At-Home clapped her hands and said,
Then the second surprising thing happened.
A Firecracker walked in proudly, jumped up on the Ironing Board and began to iron clothes as neatly as you please.
A cracked voice called,
Little Stay-At-Home began to iron on the table, and the Firecracker ironed on the board. My! how fast the work went on.
Suddenly the little girl remembered she had one more wish so she said,
Then the third surprising thing happened.
In floated a red, white, and blue balloon with a basket below it, to ride in.
The Peanut Fairies jumped in the basket.
The Firecracker jumped in and Little Stay-At-Home jumped in beside him.
They sailed away to the Fourth of July celebration.
The Fireworks had not arrived.
Little Stay-At-Home wondered if she could have one more wish, so she rubbed her little Wishing Pin and wished that the Fireworks would come at once.
To the delight of all, they arrived and everyone shouted, “Hurrah, for the Fourth of July!”
After the Fireworks were over and the red lemonade was passed the strange company[42] in the basket sailed right back in the kitchen window.
A sweet voice called,
Mother stood in the doorway with a glass of red lemonade on a tray, and a dish of white ice cream, and cakes covered with red and blue sugar.
Little Stay-At-Home rubbed her sleepy eyes, her adventure seemed very real, and sure enough the ironing was all done!
Little Stay-At-Home and mother sat down to enjoy their treat. She told mother her adventures.
She put her hand to her dress.
The Wishing Pin was gone.
THEY SAILED AWAY FOR THE FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION (See page 41)
Mother said,
Then the most surprising thing of all happened.
They saw a red balloon sailing over the house and a nutty voice called out,
They next saw a white balloon sail over the house and a fiery voice called,
The Firecracker sailed away in his balloon.
Then a blue balloon sailed over the house and a fairy voice called,
The Wishing Pin dropped right down into Little Stay-At-Home’s hand!
She called,
Now that Little Stay-At-Home has the Wishing Pin to keep for all I know she may make three wishes every day.
Little Girl Throw-Away was always throwing something away from morning until night.
One day a fairy peeped in the window and called,
The little girl said, “I don’t believe in fairies except big ones like Santa Claus.”
Then the most surprising thing happened.
THE LITTLE FAIRY FROM THRIFT TOWN STEPPED OUT (See page 50)
The Thrifty Fairies sailed in the window and tugged at the little girl’s dress and apron, and soon they carried her away, away, away to Thrift Town.
There every one was smiling and happy and every one was talking about saving something.
They called in merry little voices,
The Thrifty people were very, very small and looked like real fairies. One little Fairy called,
Little Girl Throw-Away looked in her dress pocket and apron pocket, but she[49] could not find any pencils at all. Then the Fairy said,
Then Little Girl Throw-Away, sighed, “Oh dear, oh dear, I do throw away things so much, I never save my paper, I never write on both sides of a sheet.”
The Fairy next said in a sing-song kind of way,
She would not tell anyone what she wanted the string for.
By and by the Thrifty Fairies took Little Girl Throw-Away home.
She sat in her little red rocking chair and said, “I cannot see the Fairies now, but I will begin to save for them!”
So she saved her little bits of pencils and paper and string, and laid them in a little box on the window-sill every night, and every morning they were gone.
She saved all the paper bags too, that came to the house for the Fairies.
By and by at the end of a year and a day, she saw a Fairy balloon.
It sailed down, down, down, and the little Fairy from Thrift Town stepped out and said,
THEY HAD A BIRTHDAY PARTY AND DANCED ROUND AND ROUND IN A RING (See page 66)
She gave Little Girl Throw-Away a tiny little white box. On opening it, the Little Girl found a tiny gold ring with a forget-me-not upon it. Inside the ring was written,
Waving her hand gayly the little Fairy stepped back into her balloon and sailed away, away, away to Thrift Town.
Little Girl Throw-Away put her ring on her third finger and wished it on, saying,
Soon every little girl in town was saving paper, and pencils and strings, and I think the Fairies must often have dropped things down to them from their gay balloons, for[53] the children wore happy smiles and talked in a fairy language.
They sang fairy songs too,
Little Girl Throw-Away became a very thrifty child and sometimes she talked in fairy rhymes.
The Little Girl changed her name to “Girl Save-A-Bit,” and many a time she played with the Fairies from Thrift Town.
Little Boy lived with such old people they had forgotten what a Birthday Party was, so he said,
To his surprise, the staircase on which he stood, answered,
THEY LOOKED UP AND SAW A CUTE LITTLE HOUSE IN A TREE AND AN OLD MAN STOOD AT THE DOOR (See page 71)
Little Boy chuckled as he rattled the pennies in his pocket and said happily,
Before the pennies could be changed into dimes or answer a word, and before Little Boy could get into bed, (for it was his sleepy time) “pitter, patter, pitter, patter” was heard on the staircase and up came Fairy Good-Cheer, saying,
The Fairies had always been so good to Little Boy that he emptied his pockets of the pennies he had saved for his own Birthday Cake, and Fairy Good-Cheer went off singing,
Little Boy saved up his pennies again for a week and a day and said,
Before the pennies could answer a word, “pitter, patter pitter, patter,” was heard on the staircase and up came Fairy Light-Heart saying,
As Little Boy handed Fairy Light-Heart the pennies she sang,
Little Boy saved up pennies again for a week and a day and said,
Before the pennies could answer, “pitter, patter, pitter, patter” was heard on the staircase and Fairy Sweet-Tooth said as she bounded in,
As Little Boy parted with his pennies again, she went off singing,
THE DWARFS WERE ALL AT BREAKFAST DOWNSTAIRS (See page 67)
Once more Little Boy saved his pennies and when he had twenty-three he said,
He put his hand up to his ear to listen.
Sure enough, again he heard, “pitter, patter, pitter, patter” and up came Fairy Sing-Song, singing,
As Little Boy counted out his twenty-three pennies she went off singing,
Little Boy sighed after the Fairies left him and he went out and sat down on his own staircase saying,
Then the enchanted staircase on which he was sitting cried,
Little Boy ran down stairs and looked up.
He saw on the tip top step a wonderful Birthday Cake. It was large and round and had pink and white frosting upon it.
Just then a cheerful voice called,
Then, as Little Boy winked and blinked his eyes to be sure he was not dreaming, a laughing voice called,
There shone candles on every step, big candles, little candles, middle-sized candles, Birthday Candles, red, white and blue candles, ready to light the Birthday Cake.
Then he saw boxes, and boxes of candy, while a sugary voice cried,
Little Boy laughed so hard that he rolled right over in a heap on the floor, for the Fairy piled candy right up to the ceiling.
Then a Musical Top began to spin down the staircase singing,
“My Top,” said Little Boy in surprise.
AND THE WEE PEOPLE CAME TUMBLING DOWN THE CHIMNEY ONE AFTER ANOTHER (See page 73)
Then all the fairies trooped down stairs and cried,
Then the most wonderful thing of all happened.
The top step of the enchanted staircase opened.
The Birthday Cake led the way.
The lighted candles went two and two, and the candy boxes followed, while all the time the Musical Top played.
Fairy Good-Cheer and Fairy Sweet-Tooth cried,
The Musical Top took one of Little Boy’s hands singing,
Fairy Light-Heart took Little Boy’s other hand singing,
In less time than it takes to tell it, the Fairies led Little Boy into Fairyland.
They had a Birthday Party and danced round and round in a ring and for all I know they are dancing yet.
If you ever hear an old staircase go “creak, creak” when you are on it, put your ear close to one of the steps and listen. It may be trying to talk to you and say,
Whether your staircase is enchanted or not you can never tell until you try it.
Once upon a time when Dot went to visit the Little Dwarfs that live in the woods she stayed all night.
She overslept, and woke at last when they were all at breakfast downstairs. She heard the “Click, click” of their silver spoons.
She knew the Dwarfs would soon go out on their travels so she dressed quickly and came downstairs and said, “Oh Dwarf Courage, please take me with you tonight.”
Then Dwarf Courage held his head on one side and Dwarf Laughter chuckled.
Dwarf Courage replied,
Dot said, “I can hardly wait for night, I want to see how you give children courage.”
Dwarf Courage said,
At last evening came, and they started out in cap and gown, Dwarf Courage saying,
What fun they had when they came to town, running up one staircase, after another, helping the children to go happily to bed.
One little boy was afraid after he had gotten to bed and Dwarf Courage pulled aside the curtain and showed him the[69] friendly moon and he went happily to sleep.
One little girl was afraid to stay alone in the dark and Dwarf Courage cried,
Dot said, “I never thought before what little ’fraid cats some children are.”
At this, Dwarf Courage turned a backward somersault down the stairs and said,
They had hardly gotten outside when they saw an old man walking in the moon-light, “See,” said Dot. “He is really afraid of falling.”
Dot took one hand and Dwarf Courage[70] the other and soon the old man was safe at home.
As they ran along giving every one courage, Dwarf Courage sang,
They ran along through the woods and some one was singing,
The rain was falling, “patter, patter, patter,”[71] and they surely needed an umbrella.
Dot said, “Where is the house?”
Dwarf Courage answered,
They looked up and saw a cute little house in a tree and an old man stood at the door with umbrellas in each hand.
Dwarf Courage cried,
Without a word in reply down sailed two little fairy umbrellas, and as Dot took one and Dwarf Courage took the other, they sailed right through the air to the little wee house in the woods, and Dwarf Laughter had a merry ha, ha, as they sailed in the open window.
called a wee little voice one wintry November evening.
Then a wee little red boot was seen coming down the chimney, and another little red boot, and one of the Wee People soon was skipping merrily on the hearth.
He danced himself nearly out of breath singing,
At this, Dorothy Marjorie Ann scowled and said,
Then the most surprising thing happened.
The Wee Little Man blew a whistle, and the Wee People came tumbling down the chimney, one after another, and the most remarkable thing of all was, not one had a speck of soot on his clothing.
All the fairies were scolding.
The Wee Bed-Time Fairy sang,
The Mirror Fairy said,
The Rubber Fairy in the hall began:
The Toy Fairy called,
The School Bell Fairy sang,
The Waste-Basket Fairy said,
The Good-Mannered Fairy sang,
At that, Dorothy Marjorie Ann danced and capered about for she had no idea before, that she had anything to do with making the Wee People thankful, and every hour it grew nearer, and nearer Thanksgiving Day.
Soon all the Fairies were dancing and shouting,
Then the Wee Little Man who first came down the chimney joined hands with her, and they danced up the chimney, off and away, over hill and dale, and all the Wee Fairy People followed them.
Soon they came to a little Wee House.
The table was set for Thanksgiving dinner. Dorothy Marjorie Ann said,
She did not notice that the Little Wee Man had put his wishing cap on her head, and as they ran on, she began to grow smaller, and smaller, and smaller.
They ran all round the house, and the Fairies crowded round her and said,
The Fairies snatched off the wishing cap just in time or there would have been no Dorothy Marjorie Ann left at all!
They all trooped in to dinner, and every hour it grew nearer and nearer Thanksgiving Day.
They sat at a table and Dorothy Marjorie Ann clapped her hands as down sailed some sliced turkey on her plate.
At this very minute the Wee People set up a cry,
Away sailed the turkey, plate and all.
Down sailed a fine piece of pumpkin pie on her plate.
Just as she put her fork into it the Wee People clapped their hands and sang,
The plate sailed away as before.
Down came a plate with cranberry sauce and cookies, but she had not even taken a bite when the Wee People called,
Away sailed the plate, and Dorothy Marjorie Ann was so disappointed, that she ran to the door and put on her wishing cap and said,
She grew just as big as she was before, and the Little People crowded around her and tugged at her dress singing.
At this very minute Uncle Phil came to the rescue, singing,
Dorothy Marjorie Ann winked and blinked her eyes; sure enough she did have a funny cap on, and she cried,
“Where have you been?” asked Father as they sat down to eat turkey and pie and cranberry sauce.
“Where have you been?” asked Mother.
Dorothy Marjorie Ann said,
Uncle Phil knew a few things himself about the Wee People so he said,
After that Dorothy Marjorie Ann found 101 things to be thankful for and made all the Wee People thankful.
