When they rode by the school they kept very still, and they all crept down in the bottom of the wagon.
On and on they rode, through the woods and into a town and away off to a little red house on a farm.
“Will you spend the day with me?” asked the farmer.
The Ink-Bottle Babies cried, “We will! We will!” And they jumped up and down with joy. They had a fine time all day. They saw the sheep and pigs and cows, and they took turns riding on a little pony.
When night came Molly and Polly cried, “We want our Ma! We want our Ma!”
The farmer’s wife was very deaf, but she saw that all the Ink-Bottle Babies were crying at once, so she gave each one a cookie. The cookies had red sugar on them. They had raisins in them. The Ink-Bottle Babies cried and would not eat their cookies.
Then the farmer’s wife took Polly on the right arm of her chair, and she took Molly on the left arm of her chair. Then she let all the rest of the Ink-Bottle Babies crowd around her.
Next, the farmer’s wife put on her spectacles and opened a great red book. Then all the Ink-Bottle Babies clapped their hands and set up a shout, for they could see the name of the book.
It was called “Tip-Top Fairy Tales.”