"Pass on, little girl," she said, opening the gate, and in a few minutes Dapple Gray was clattering over the bridge. And pretty soon he drew up before the Goody Sweet Tooth Shop.
"I bring you good news from the little men of the glen," cried Mary Louise to the little old woman who just then looked out of the door.
"What is the news, dearie?" she asked, shading her eyes with her withered hand.
"Tomorrow morning, just at dawn,
When the little red rooster blows on his horn,
The maple sugar candy hearts,
Cute little cupids and candy darts,
In a great big box will be laid at your door
to give to the children who come to your store."
said little Mary Louise. And how she ever could have spoken in poetry is more than I can tell, but perhaps the fairy maple sugar candy, which she had eaten on her way to town, had lent magic to her tongue.
Then the little old woman made a curtsy, and Mary Louise continued on her way, and by and by, after a while, she came to a great big bear sitting on a stone by the roadside. On the ground by his side was a big bundle tied with a thick leather strap.
Well, as soon as the bear saw Mary Louise, he took off his cap and said,
"I wish I had a pony,
Either brown or gray,
So I could ride whate'er betide
For many miles away."
"Why, what's the matter?" asked little Mary Louise.
"I have a splinter in my foot," answered the bear.