"I'll take anything you'll give me," said Jimmieboy.
The old wizard laughed heartily at this. "Most boys would," said he, "but you are the first one I ever met who was willing to take advice. The boys I've known have all been like little Sammy. Ever hear about little Sammy?"
"No," answered Jimmieboy. "What did he do?"
"Why," said the wizard, "Sammy is the boy the poet wrote about, saying:
"Sammy was a pretty boy,
Sammy was his mother's joy.
Sammy'd take
A piece of cake,
Sammy'd always take a toy.
"Sammy'd take a top to spin.
Pie with fruit and raisins in.
Sammy'd take
A piece of steak,
Sammy'd take his medicine.
"Sammy'd take a bowl of rice,
Sammy'd take a bit of spice.
Sammy'd take
A garden rake,
But he would not take advice."
Here the wizard stopped.
"Is that all?" asked Jimmieboy.
"Certainly," answered Thumbhi. "What more do you want?"
"Didn't anything happen to Sammy?" queried Jimmieboy.
The wizard was about to say no, but then he suddenly remembered that something always does happen to boys that refuse to take advice, so he said: "The poet never told us about that, but I think it probable that something did happen to Sammy. Very likely he went out skating on a mill-pond one summer day in spite of his father's warning, and got his feet so wet that he caught cold, and had to stay in bed while all the other boys went off on a picnic."