“I’m tired and sleepy,” sobbed the boy.
“Why don’t you go to sleep then?” asked Fred.
“Humph! I guess you haven’t been here long, or you’d know.”
“No, I’ve just come; I think it’s nice.”
“Wait till you get sleepy,” said the boy. “I used to think Wide-Awake Land would be nice. I believe Sleepy Land would be nicer now.”
“Yes,” added Fred; “but why can’t you go to sleep?”
“Because the little men that you see everywhere carry pins. They prick us when we try to sleep. O, I wish I hadn’t come!” And the boy began to cry again. Fred thought he was very silly, and ran off to find some other new-comer.
Night came at last. Big lamps were hung on the trees and made the place as light as day. The little men were flying about to keep the sleepy ones awake.
Fred got sleepy at last, and began to nod. A little man thrust a big pin into him. “You must keep awake,” he said. Fred tried hard, but his eyes would shut, and then would come the wicked pin. At last he screamed aloud.