“Then, Children, what do you think happened? A whole thousand years and a half passed and there came another sunrise. Smudge sat up and yawned and became frightened, for there was no golden flush in the sky and no poppy color in the fields. He shivered and called the man-baby, and the man-baby came riding on the back of a jack-rabbit, pulling its tail.
“‘Good morning, Lord Smudge,’ said the man-baby. ‘You look as though you needed medicine.’
“‘Don’t be impudent!’ shouted Smudge. ‘Where is the sun and the golden Butterfly bird?’
“‘Please,’ said the man-baby. ‘The sun has rheumatism and the golden bird has gone away with an eagle.’
“‘So!’ screamed Smudge, just like a peevish giant. ‘What am I to do all day alone?’
“‘Please,’ said the man-baby. ‘There is the Blackbird.’
“Smudge yawned. ‘All right,’ he grumbled. ‘Call the Blackbird!’
“The man-baby stood up on the jack-rabbit’s back and galloped down into the valley, into a cradle of violets and cream-cups. There he found the Blackbird and said to her, ‘Come!’ The Blackbird hopped to the jack-rabbit’s tail, and the three galloped back to Smudge.
“‘Good morning,’ grumbled Smudge, ungraciously. ‘So you’ve come at last to give me a day of blackness and creeps?’
“The man-baby giggled so that he tumbled right off the jack-rabbit and spilled into a wild rosebush. There he lay and you could hear him snickering.