'Down the hill, down the hill,
Not at all like Jack and Jill,
For the cream we never spill,
While our voices loud and shrill
Echo back from hill to hill.'
"Louder and louder came the chant from the mountain; when lo! as they gazed in the direction of the music, they were surprised to behold dwarf after dwarf marching down the mountain-side, each singing with all his might.
"At some distance behind them, scurrying helter skelter and pell mell, were a group of acrobatic brownies, turning somersaults and handsprings, flip flaps and cart wheels. Some were sliding down the steep on one ear, while others paused for a moment to stand straight up in the air on the tips of their noses. Some were walking along on their hands; but all moved with merry, joyous shout onward toward the village, juggling their dishes in the air as they came.
"The voices of the singers were in perfect unison, from the little pot-bellied brownie in the rear, who sang bass, to the flat-faced pygmy in the centre, whose high tenor notes echoed and re-echoed among the surrounding mountains. Thus gaily they came onward, while 'Aunt Twaddles' and the children stood watching them from the throne.
"Down in the Village of Hide and Seek all now was silent. The Doll-General had scattered his forces and marched them away in a quiet, orderly manner to long tables methodically grouped on the lawn. All the dolls seemed to be listening to the sweet music.
"Louder and louder came the song from the band of musical midgets. As they drew nearer, Arthur and Maud noticed that each dwarf carried a large tray before him and that the trays were loaded with good things to eat, piled so high that a strong wide strap encircled the neck of each dwarf and helped support the tray at its sides.