“Goodbye, Robert’s Mother.”
So the Grocery Man hangs up the telephone and takes another basket and in the basket he puts some prunes and some macaroni and some salt and some oatmeal. Then he carries Ruth’s basket out and puts it in a wagon on the street. Then he carries John’s basket out and puts it in the wagon. At last he carries Robert’s basket out and puts that in the wagon with the others. Then the driver jumps to the seat and gathers up the reins and says “Go on, Old Dan,” and clopperty, clopperty clop! off goes Old Dan down the street.
Old Dan goes clopperty, clopperty, clop till he gets to Ruth’s house and there he stops. The driver jumps out and takes the basket and pat, pat, pat, go his feet running to the door. Prrrr! he rings the bell and gives Ruth’s mother the potatoes, the graham crackers, the sugar and the carrots. Then pat, pat, pat, he is back in the wagon. “Go on, Old Dan,” and clopperty, clopperty, clop! off goes Old Dan down the street.
Old Dan goes clopperty, clopperty, clop till he gets to John’s house and there he stops. The driver jumps out and takes another basket and pat, pat, pat go his feet running to the door. Prrrr! he rings the bell and gives John’s mother the spinach, the apples, the butter and the eggs. Then pat, pat, pat, he is back in the wagon. “Go on, Old Dan,” and clopperty, clopperty, clop! off goes Old Dan down the street.
Old Dan goes clopperty, clopperty, clop till he gets to Robert’s house and there he stops. The driver jumps out, takes another basket and pat, pat, pat, he is at the door. Prrrr! he rings the bell and gives Robert’s mother the prunes, the macaroni, the salt and the oatmeal. Then pat, pat, pat, he is back in the wagon. “Go on, Old Dan,” and clopperty, clopperty, clop! off goes old Dan down the street.
So Old Dan goes clopperty, clopperty, clop from house to house until he has left a basket with everybody who telephoned to the grocery man in the morning.
THE JOURNEY
This story, which is an adaptation of a five-year-old’s story quoted in the introduction, embodies the details given to me by another three-year-old child. The sound of the train should be intoned, as it was in the original telling.