“Which one are you going to drown?”
[A] Author unknown.
As soon as he had finished, he waltzed around three times, turned a somersault, and bounded out of the circle as quickly as he had appeared.
When the Story People had stopped laughing the Story King rose and waved his hand and said:
“That will do for to-day; we must not tire our guest.”
“Oh, I am not tired,” said Mary Frances; “I could listen to such stories forever.”
“Dear child, I believe you love stories as much as we do,” said the Queen, smiling at her enthusiasm. “Well, you shall have a delightful surprise to-morrow.”
While the stories were being told, Mary Frances had noticed a little dried-up man, sitting at a table near the Story Lady, and writing rapidly with an immense quill pen. Before him was a pile of white paper and an inkwell. As she told the story he wrote it down, keeping even pace with her words. Mary Frances had never seen any one write so fast and she watched him, fascinated. Almost without an effort his pen flew over the paper, and as the last word of the story left the Story Lady’s lips his pen stopped. Then he folded his papers neatly and laid them on the table.
As Mary Frances was passing out with the Story Lady, this little man, much to her surprise, stepped up and handed her the papers he had been writing.