It was so big and heavy that they had built something that made one think of a raft or perhaps a ladder with the sides very far apart. How they put the pudding on it would be hard to tell, but they managed it and bravely they struggled with their burden perched on their little shoulders. They took turns so that no one got too tired, but all were glad when they were safely out of the woods and had landed the pudding in the hollow of the old tree back of the school house, for this had been the spot chosen for the grand feast of the morrow. Then to their homes they skipped away to dream of the good times in store for them, and if their backs did ache and their poor little feet felt sore and weary, the vision of the pudding dancing in their heads made them forget all their woes.
And what a treat they had on Christmas Day! The pudding was so good, and the day was so merry that the Brownies wished as they shut their sleepy eyes that Christmas came more than once a year. They made up their minds that they would never let a Christmas go by without having a plum pudding, for it was the best thing they had ever tasted.
THE RAID OF THE INSECTS.
She was Queen of the garden, this beautiful creature, and all the flowers loved her. Each vied with the other in trying to please her. The tall white lillies held their heads still higher as she passed by, the tiny bud opened its curled petals further and further until it burst into a glorious rose, the blue bells tinkled their sweetest music, and the shy, gentle mignonette shed forth its loveliest perfume—every flower did all in its power for her sake.
And the Queen loved all the flowers, too. She begged the sun to shine down upon them, and she asked the morning dews to bathe their bright faces, and the gentle rains to give them plenty to drink.
At last there came a day when the lillies hung their heads; blue bell and heart ease fell from their stems, the poppies that had gleamed so brightly in the sun light covered their faces and shone no more, and all the garden seemed full of gloom and sadness.