“Play with it, of course. Didn’t think it was to eat, did you?”
“N-no, but——”
“This football will do everything you want it to. If you want it to come to you, you say, ‘Come’; if you want it to go, you say——”
“Go!” murmured Tommy.
“Not at all!” exclaimed the fairy testily. “I wish you wouldn’t jump to conclusions. If you want it to go you say ‘Og!’”
“Og?” faltered Tommy.
“Of course. When the ball comes to you it comes forward. When it goes away from you it must go backward. And ‘go,’ backward, is ‘og.’ I never saw anyone so stupid!”
“Oh,” murmured the boy. “But suppose I kick the ball?”
“Say ‘Og.’ But you’d better not kick it very hard, because if you do it might not like it. Magic footballs have very tender feelings.”