Sure enough, way out in the cornfield stood Mr. Scarecrow.
His hat and coat were on and he was standing up like a man, very straight and still. His arms were outstretched to tell Mr. Jim Crow's chums that he was ready for them.
But though they are thieves, the Black Crows are not night burglars and they were fast asleep in the nests in the wood.
The Man-in-the-Moon winked at them three times, once with his right eye, once with his left eye, then again with the right.
And the three happy children thought they heard him say three times:
"Back to bed, back to bed, back to bed!"
Then they heard the sound of bells. Seven times they sounded. It was from the church over in the town,—the big white church with the long finger pointing at the sky. And the Little-Clock-with-the-Wise-Face-on-the-Mantel, answered back.
So they obeyed the old yellow Man-in-the-Moon and scampered like little white mice back to bed.
EIGHTH NIGHT
THE PRETTIEST FAIRY STORY IN THE WORLD
"Tell me a story—a fairy story," said Jehosophat to his Mother.