III.
On his way home, he stopped to look in the window of the little stone house.
Thump sat by the fireplace toasting his feet.
“My, my!” chuckled old Mr. Wolf, smacking his lips, “he is the fattest one of all. What a fine breakfast I shall have to-morrow!”
The next morning he came earlier than ever, and knocked on the door of the little stone house.
“Mr. Thump, let me come in,” said he.
“All right,” called little Thump, “when my feet get warm.”
So old Mr. Prairie Wolf sat down to wait.
By and by, old Mr. Wolf knocked on the door again. “Aren’t your feet warm yet, Mr. Thump?” he growled.
“Only one,” called Thump; “you will have to wait until the other one is warm.”
So old Mr. Wolf sat down to wait.
After a few minutes had passed, he knocked on the door again.
“Isn’t your other foot warm yet, Mr. Thump?” he growled.
“Yes,” called Thump, “but the first one is cold now.”
“See here, Mr. Thump,” growled old Mr. Wolf, “do you intend to keep me waiting all day while you warm first one foot and then the other? I am tired of such foolishness. I want my breakfast. Open the door, or I’ll knock your house over!”
“Oh, all right,” barked little Thump, “and while you are doing it, I shall eat my breakfast.”
That made old Mr. Prairie Wolf very angry, and he kicked at the little stone house with all his might; but little Thump knew he could not move a stone.
After a long while the noise stopped, and little Thump peeped out of the window. He saw old Mr. Wolf limping painfully off; and that was the way he always remembered him, for he never never saw him again.
This story, which is built on the framework of the old classic, “The Three Pigs,” lends itself readily to dramatization. Let the four characters take their parts as they remember the story. By no means have them memorize the words.