The Tar Baby and the Tomahawk: Race and Ethnic Images in American Children's Literature, 1880-1939

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brownies.192106.011.jpg [illustration - OUR LITTLE FRIENDS]
brownies.192106.013.jpg [illustration - Students at Freetown, Sierra Leone]
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Nursery every morning on their way to work and call them upon their return in the evening. The children are cared for during the day by the matron and Nursery-helpers. They received two meals a day and the Nursery proper are rows of little white cribs where the smaller children take an afternoon nap. Games, story-telling and other recreation are provided for the small children while those of school age attend the public schools returning to the Nursery after each session.

Hope Day Nursery, established nearly twenty years ago, is controlled by board of thirty-five active members composed entirely of colored women, and is supported all together by the voluntary efforts of its Board of Managers, friends and well wishers. The annual reports of the Nursery show that during nineteen years the children cared for aggregate more than 150,000.

The very small fee that the mothers pay for the care of their children is not sufficient to buy even the milk that the babies must have. For this reason strenuous efforts have to be made by the Board of Managers in order to maintain the Nursery.

For many years now it has been custom of the Nursery to give an entertainment at one of the large amusement halls in New York City in May for the purpose of raising money to carry on this work. During all these many years the most talented children of the city have gladly given their services at this annual May Entertainment. Some of the children on this year's progam given on Manhattan Casino Friday, May 6, before an audience of several thousand people, are the children of parents who themselves as children volunteered their talents in rendering programs for Hope Day Nursery. Now these same parents are still contributing toward the up-keep of the Nursery by permitting their little ones to continue this splendid work.

Many of these little folks, some of whose photos accompany this article, gave evidence of such genuine talent that the grown-ups who ought to know went away that Friday night with a feeling that the race need not fear for the representation when our present public artists pass from view.

In this year's performance, as in several years past, more than one hundred children
brownies.192106.017.jpg took part. These children are the pupils of Miss Amanda Kemp's dancing class and are known on the stage as "Miss Kemp's Dancing Dolls". Miss Kemp is one of New York City's public school teachers and is as successful, as her programs show, with her dancing-class as she is in the school-room.

The ages of the children range from three to sixteen years of age. A group of the tiniest tots danced wonderfully well, classic dances of ancient Greece. there were any number of larger girls whose Spanish, Gypsy and Hawaiian dances brought the audience to their feet in wild cheering and applause. These little children, rendered with the ease and comfortable confidence of stage stars, the latest songs and dances of the day.

The concluding number this year was a minstrel— a real kiddies minstrel, with end-men who kept the audience roaring with laughter. Not only was this minstrel funny, but it was tuneful and full of life. Each of the little tots entered into the fun of this as much as did the audience, and when it came to their turn to dance and sing, as they do in real grown-up minstrels, it was done with such a charm of grace and manner that the audience warmed up to them in such a manner as I have never seen in any theatre or music hall.

Thelma Whitaker and Dorothy Embry, two high school girls, are really wonderful, and both of them have been faithful to Hope Day Nursery's programs ever since they were little girls. Thelma's specialty is toe-dancing, and she is an artist at this, while Dorothy is especially gifted in handling popular songs and dances. This year both girls danced the Garotte together in a most pleasing manner.

Gwendolyn Sturgis and little Anges Newton are two other favorites that are always expected to give a Hope Day Nursery audience a thrill. Gwendolyn's dance, "Winter" and Agnes' "Butterfly dance" were very dainty and pretty.

Tiny Thelma Wilkins in the "Scarf Dance" made one think of a little fairy.

Goldie Withington, another little mite was a special feature in the "Dancing Dolls' Minstrel", as was also Caroline McLoughlin. Little Margaret Smith was not able to take part in this year's program due to a temporary residence out of the city, but her work of previous
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I wish there were space to tell you about, and to show you the pictures of each and every girl who made our program such a success this year, for they too deserve mention.

The only boy on the program was little four year old Montague Gray, who danced "Little Pierrot" and enjoyed his number fully as much as the audience.

Bernice Thomas, who led the "Tambourine Dance", has been on of the stars on Hope Day Nursery's program for several seasons. Pheon Hood, Eunice Shreeves, Ellen Meadows, Marie Mahood, Virginia Brannon, Elain Bayne, and Myrtle Withington (Goldies's sister), are others who never fail to please the audience.

Hope Day Nursery's annual May Entertainment can always be assured of success as long as the "Dancing Dolls" continue to help us. People come from far and near to see and hear them. This year one of Hope Day's Nursery's well-wishers came from Michigan just to see our annual May Program.

SUSAN PAYTON WORTHAM, Chairman of Hope Day Nursery Annual May Entertainment Committee
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THE CHILDREN'S TREASURE

A Play in One Act

• Characters
• Aunt Malinda
• The Rent Man
• Grace
• Julia
• Ethel
• Joe
• Robert

Aunt Malinda's kitchen is a neat little room, as clean as a pin and as fresh as the morning breezes. In the center of the rear wall is a door which leads to the cupboard and at the left against the same wall is a table without a cover, but so clean from constant scrubbing that it is almost white. In the right wall is a window and near the left wall a stove. There are a couple of straight chairs bear the table and in the center of the room a low rocking chair without arms. This is Aunt Malinda's favorite seat. When we first see the room there is no one present, but after a few moments the door is pushed slowly open and Grace, a girl of ten, peeps in. Not seeing anyone she comes in on tiptoes, and looks all around. She has a paper bag in her hand.(She goes back to the door and beckons to someone outside. Presently Julia, Ethel and Joe appear, each carrying a bag similar to Grace's) (She goes out again) (Robert enters with a bag which is much smaller than those the others have.)
brownies.192106.019.jpg (They all stand with their bags behind them. Aunt Malinda, an old woman in black, enters.)
brownies.192106.020.jpg (There is a loud knocking on the door. The children are silent.)
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THE JURY

WE would like very much to have you visit us on Emancipation Day. I am sure we have ours a little different from the way you all have yours in the North. We all "turn out" in large numbers and have a big barbecue dinner and the women prepare large baskets of good things to eat such as chickens, cakes, pies and many other delicious things. We have games for the out-doors sports such as base- ball, lawn-tennis and golf ball, and you can spend your time on the one you are interested in most.

We are also going out in cars on the drive ways; my car will be leading and while on the way we will lunch under the shade of the large oak trees.

We are going to have a dance on the same night, and if you like to dance you 'can have your dancing capacity filled. Also the community building will be open to every one ; there you will find a beautiful ladies' rest room with all kinds of good books to read and a few society games, also a library and a public reading room. Here you will find literature of all kinds to suit your taste.

One day I stopped and gave a horse an apple and this is the story he told me.)

I WAS born in the west and brought up 1 among many other horses on a ranch. I would frolic from morn until night in the large pasture. Life went on smoothly until the time that I was to be broken in.

One day some of the cowboys came and took me out of the pasture and put a bit and bridle on me. I did not like it at all and began to kick, but one of them jumped upon my back. I threw him off into the dust and made a break for freedom. I ran across the prairies as fast as I could go. Some of the men came after me with other horses, but I left them far behind and soon found myself out on the open prairie.

After a while I stopped and looked around. Far in the distance a coyote howled, and save for that there was no other sound. My legs were tired and sore but after taking a few mouthfuls of grass I continued on my way. The ground became more hilly as I went on, and here and there a cactus plant was to be seen. I had become very thirsty and you can imagine my joy on finding bubbling from the side of a small hill a spring of clear, cool water. This was indeed a delightful place, so I spent the night here.

When I awoke the next morning I was surprised to see a group of horses coming toward me. This was my first sight of the wild horses that I came to know very well. They had coins to the spring to drink and feed off the tender grass which grew around it. I joined this band of horses and the whole summer we roamed the prairies, grazing and drinking from springs and babbling brooks.

One morning early in the autumn, some of the horses seemed excited and began to lift their heads and sniff the air. I soon saw what was the matter, however, for some men came riding around so as to head us off. We started another way, but were met by more riders. Every way we started we were met and driven back. The horses were now panic-stricken and galloped around until they were tired and then the cowboys closed in on us. A lasso was thrown over my head and I was pulled to the ground struggling. Several others were captured.

I was taken to the same ranch from which I escaped and was readily recognized by the men. That night I was put in a stable and the next day broken in. This was the end of my adventures as a runaway horse and although I won honors as a race horse, I never look back to pleasanter days than those of my adventures with the wild horses of the plains.

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PLAYTIME

ENGLISH INDOOR AND OUTDOOR GAMES

I.

NUTS AND HAY

HE players pick sides and form into two parallel lines facing each other. One of the lines dances with joined hands towards the other line singing:

When they sing the second line they dance back to their places.

Then the other line dances forward and then backwards singing:

The first line then sings:

The two people who have been chosen from the two different lines, advance. A handkerchief is placed on the floor between them. They place one foot at the edge of it 'and at a given signal join hands and pull. The one who succeeds in pulling the other over to his side wins the game. This goes on until one side has nearly all the children of the other side on its side. Note-1. American children will find the tune of "Here we go round the mulberry bush" suited to these words.

2. Any name may be used in the place of Ruth Anna.

II.

RING A RING OF ROSES

THIS game is for very young children. They join in a ring and dance around to the following words :

At the end they all fall down.

III

TOM TIDDLER'S GROUND (OUTDOOR)

APART of the ground on which the children are playing is marked off as Tom Tiddler's ground. One of them is chosen to be Tom Tiddler and he is placed in the middle of his ground. The other children keep dashing over, and onto his ground shouting "I'm on Tom Tiddler's ground." He chases them ; when he catches one it is that child's turn to be Tom Tiddler.

IV.

SARDINES (INDOOR)

THIS is on the same lines as hide and seek ; except that it is reversed. Two players go away and hide. After a while all the rest set off in a body to look for them. When one, by chance, finds them, he does not shout out joyfully "I've found them", but puts the others off the scent and goes back and joins the hiders. This goes on until there is only one searching. Then the game is begun afresh. It must be played absolutely in the dark.

V.

GHOSTS (INDOOR)

THIS game must be played in an absolutely dark room with only one door. A ghost is chosen among the players. He goes out of the room leaving the door ajar, whilst the other players hide themselves in various corners of the room, or lie flat on the floor. Presently, when everything is quiet the ghost must enter the room, but so quietly that the others do not know. When they do know, because he will probably stumble, they try to escape from the room. The last person to be caught is the next ghost.

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A BLACK RUSSIAN

A True Story

LONG years ago, Peter the Great bought a young black lad who, historians say, was an African prince. Abraham Hannibal (for so he was called) was brought to the Russian court. He was quite a favorite with Peter the Great who gave him a splendid education and placed him in a government office where he rose to the position of general. Hannibal's granddaughter was the mother of Alexander Pushkin, who stands as the creator of Russia's national literature.

Pushkin was born at Moscow in 1799. His family was wealthy, lived for pleasure, played havoc with their estates, and troubled themselves little about rearing their children. From his father he inherited his love for frivolity and dissipation.

His early years were spent in Tsarkoye Telo, a village near the capital and the home of the last Czar of Russia and his family. Here he attempted drama, verse and fable in imitation of French classics. He received his early training from foreign tutors who taught him the French language, everything in fact French. Rodionovna, his Russian nurse, gave him his store of Russian fairy stories and Russian legends. There was a warm and lasting friendship between Pushkin and this fine woman. At the height of his popularity he often slipped away from the gay capital to spend a few quiet days with the "darling of his youth".

Alexander Pushkin was not a prodigy in learning, not even a good student. He had no special aptitude for , learning except for French, but in his teens he suddenly developed a passion for reading. He was left alone in his father's library which was exclusively French. Voltaire, Moliere and La Fontaine were his favorites. This sort of reading is not to be recommended for most children, but it gave this one a mastery of French. In fact his school-fellows called him "Frenchman" and made fun of his bad Russian.

Like other boys of rich parentage, he was sent to the Lyceum for six years. Here he began to write poetry, first in French and then in Russian. When he was fifteen years old, some of these poems were printed. During one of the school affairs to which celebrities were invited, Pushkin declaimed one of his own works. Derghávin, one of the foremost liter. literary critics of the day, was so pleased he publicly blessed the boy.

After leaving the Lyceum, he entered a foreign office. At this time he joined a literary club formed for the purpose of freeing the literature of the country from the trammels of artificiality. There was no Russian literature. The nobles were ashamed of their language and their civilization. They imitated and affected things French. But Pushkin's first poem showed nationalism and realism. It was not any. thing extraordinary and did not call for the extreme praise or condemnation which it received. But official Russia felt that "the hour had struck".

Pushkin's association with a group of young political liberals was reflected in his poetry. When the officials frowned on his writings, dreading that his youthful enthusiasm for the time "when Russia shall arise from her sleep and on the ruins of Autocracy shall inscribe our names" might be dangerous, he retorted with a number of striking epigrams on the vice of the imperial court. This called forth an order for his banishment.

Only the power of influential friends saved him from a life of imprisonment in a monastery. He was banished to, southern Russia when he was twenty. He loved the gay society of the capital but the change was good for him. He became acquainted with General Raevsky while in the South, and came to know and admire Byron, who was ardently talked of by the general's family. Some of his works are quite in the Briton's style. He made use of this exile to make the customs and scenery of the Caucasus better known to the rest of Russia. His descriptions are as real as photographs:

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He roamed about the Crimea and learned here many a legend, in the palace of the old Khans, from which he afterwards developed poetical gems.

He also wandered about with the gypsies and wrote his "Gypsies" based on direct observation.

After four years of exile he was permitted to return home. During that time, however, the simplicity and sincerity of the peasant life had intensified his patriotism. He studied Russian history and the habits and traditions of the people.

Pushkin was the first Russian to use national types in literature. His characters are truly Muscovite and the dominant note of his work is nationality.

In "onyegin" we have a definite type of Russian society. The hero has every advantage, is blasé, weary of life and has nothing to do except amuse himself-absolutely purposeless- a typical Russian aristocrat. On the other hand, there is Lensky, educated away from the turmoil of society. He knows the short-comings of Russia but is unable to make his influence felt and he displays the hopeless attitude toward social conditions, so characteristic of Russians.

In 1831 Pushkin married Natalia Gonscharoff, a young woman of fine family. He received an appointments s Historiographer of Peter the Great. He was favored by the Czar and idolized by the people. Everything seemed to point to a long happy life ahead. But the court nobles were jealous and treated him and his wife with disdain at state balls and social functions. His means were not sufficient either to meet the strain of court life. Finally, a notorious libertine, Baron Dantes, circulated some scandal about Pushkin's wife. Dantes proved to be the sole author and publisher of the vile stories. Although Pushkin never credited the tales, in accordance with the custom of the time he had to challenge Dantes by an appeal to arms to vindicate his wife's honor. On the banks of the Black River in 1837, he was fatally wounded. For two day, he lingered in agonizing pain, the center of one of the most dramatic scenes in history. The Czar regarded his death as a personal loss and the whole nation was moved. Dantes had to flee the country. Pushkin had to be buried by stealth lest public indignation cause riot and bloodshed. Czar Nicholas took his wife and children under his protection, paid his debts of £15,000 and ordered a complete edition of his works.

His career closed before he reached his height and in his own words:

Because of his early association with liberals, his intimacy with the Czar after his return from exile, caused some to brand him as a traitor to his previous declarations for freedom. The grace and good will of the emperor and the outward splendor of Russia dazzled him. the last ten years were unhappy ones. Only a few lauded his literacy works. The public turned away from the one time supporter of the Revolution, who was now a supporter of Autocracy. In the forties Believing pointed out the beauties of his worlds. But not until 1881 at the unveiling of the Moscow Memorial to the poet was he accepted unanimously, though Dostoievsky had admired the "world genius."

His poetry is the revelation of a soul. His works are unfinished but have a magic rhythm. In translation they lose much of the fine emotional shadings and musical rhythm. they are heard best by "Neva's Frozen Shores".

Pushkin is the national poet of Russia. He put life into the old Russian legends. his ease in verse, richness of language, pictures and fancies stand out against the old, arid Russian style. He is no dramatist or historian. He is a lyric poet, the echo of Russia, a genuine artist.

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AS THE CROW FLIES

THERE is nothing sweeter than rain. I fly through clinging, shimmering diamonds, amid fleecy greys and duns and purples. Soft mists fall and enwrap me and I kiss the rain and am glad.

• For some time the American government has been trying to get rid of certain persons whom it thinks it does not want by sending them to Russia. The Russian government has asked that this be stopped.
• England and Russia have arranged an understanding by which they are to trade with each other. Other understandings with various European countries will doubtless follow. The United States still stands aloof.
• Out in the Pacific Ocean there is a little island called Yap which consists of a number of rocks and a few human beings. It happens, however, to be so situated as to be a very convenient place for landing the little bundles of wires which lie along the beds of the ocean and over which we telegraph news around the world. The treaty of Versailles gave Yap to the control of the Japanese. The United States does not like this and is making protest.
• Canada, although a part of the British Empire, is going to send its own Minister to represent it at the capital of the United States.
• Another step has been taken toward making peace in the world. The Germans did not think that they could pay the immense sums demanded by the treaty of Versailles. Their proposals, however, were very unsatisfactory. After considerable debate France, England and the other Allies determined to send their armies and take charge of the chief coal and industrial regions of western Germany. Just before the armies were ready to march Germany assented to the proposals of the Allies and promised to pay an indemnity of thirty-four thousand million dollars in installments.
• A great strike of coal miners is taking place in England. The miners believe that the government ought to take charge of the mines instead of having them owned by private persons. The government had charge during the war and about a month or so ago started to return them to private owners. The private owners immediately planned to reduce wages and the miners struck. Other working men on the railroads and in various industries voted to strike in sympathy. pathy. The Prime Minister seemed to be helpless, but a Committee of Parliament secured some concession from the miners' Secretary. To these concessions the miners refused to assent but the other laborers postponed their strike. The miners are still striking and the other laborers may eventually join them.
• Last year Great Britain, who owes large sums to the United States, paid three hundred, seventy-five million dollars on her indebtedness.
• In Italy there is almost a civil war between the so-called Fascist, or extreme Nationalists, and the Socialists and other radicals. The Fascist especially have been murdering and harrying the radicals.
• Since King Charles made his spectacular visit to Austria and sought to regain his throne, the Austrians have passed a law making the presence of a former King in Austria a felony punishable by imprisonment.
• The Polish Diet has voted to ratify the treaty of peace between Poland, Russia and the Ukraine.
• Poland is again at war. The Peace Treaty ordered that a vote be taken in Silesia, the industrial and mining region of eastern Germany which formerly belonged to Poland, to determine whether the inhabitants wished to be Germans or Poles. Most of the inhabitants seemed to vote in favor of Germany, but some particular districts had a Polish majority. The question is how shall this be interpreted and want parts of Upper Silesia shall go to Poland and Germany.
• Poland is already disgruntled because she did not receive complete control of her only seaport, Danzig, and also because the Allies did not support her very energetically in her attempt to conquer parts of Russia. She has therefore allowed certain Polish insurgents to rush in and take possession of certain parts of Upper Silesia.

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• The American Minister to Cuba has decided that at the last November election in Cuba Dr. Alfredo Zayas, the Coalition Party candidate, was elected President. As a matter of fact the Liberals either actually cast more votes or at least had more votes to cast.
• Turks and Greeks are still fighting in. Asia Minor. The Greeks are angry because the Allies will not support them and the Turks are fighting for their country.
• Dr. Sun Yat Sen, first Provincial President of China after the Empire, is reported to have been elected President of the Chinese Republic. He was formerly a resident in America and has made great sacrifices for China.
• Great Britain and Japan, before and during the war, had a treaty of alliance which pledged them to help each other in case either was attacked. This treaty expired recently and negotiations are being made to renew it. One difficulty is that while England wants Japan's help, certain parts of the British empire, like Australia, hate and fear the Japanese.
• Moreover with Russia impotent and Germany conquered there is no one Great Britain and Japan have to fear except the United States. This makes the question of disarmament the greatest question before the United States and the world. We are building a bigger and costlier navy than any other country. We are spending 92 per cent of the income of the National Government on past, present and future wars. This is ridiculous. Why not let all the great powers come together and agree to reduce their armaments? This is what Senator Borah is proposing in Congress, but President Harding hesitates.

Terrible is sunshine out of the endless steel blue sky. I am afraid of sunshine for it glitters hard and sends its sharp shafts against my bright eyes. If all were sunshine and there were no rain I could not fly and caw. I should droop and weep.

• The Senate has ratified the treaty giving twenty-five million dollars to Colombia. We stole some land from Colombia in order to dig the Panama Canal. Since then we have refused to either apologize or to pay for the land. The present treaty omits the apology but pays up.
• A bill to restrict immigration to the United States so that people can come here only in proportion as their nationality is already presented here, will probably become law.
• Remember that legally we are still at war with Germany and we seem unable to get peace. The Senate has passed the Knox resolution declaring a state of peace, but the House is waiting because President Harding has got to make up his mind on what conditions we are going to accept peace with Germany. We have refused to accept the conditions laid down in the treaty of Versailles; yet, notwithstanding that, the government has decided to allow the United States to be "unofficially" represented on the three executive boards established by that treaty, namely, the Supreme Council, the Council of Ambassadors and the Reparations Committee.
• After four years of suspension the Post Office Department has consented to send letters to Russia and receive them from that country.
• The railroads are trying to reduce the wages of their employees claiming that they cannot afford to pay such wages. The employees, on the other hand, claim that by bad management the railroads waste a thousand million dollars every year.
• John J. Pershing, the highest ranking officer in the United States Army, is going to be appointed the head of the General Staff which has headquarters in Washington.
• Sailors and other marine workers to the number of a hundred thousand are on strike in the United States against a proposed reduction of their wages.
• The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States reports that the Great Britain owes the United States $277,000,000.
• Governor Dorsey, of Georgia, has asked for an inquiry into conditions of peonage in Georgia. A great many colored workers are virtually enslaved in that State.
• Frank white of North Dakota, has been nominated as Treasurer of the United States.
• A statue of General Simon Bolivar, liberator of the five South American republics, has been unveiled in New York. When Bolivar was a fugitive and in danger of his life he found refuge and help in Haiti.
• Myron T. Herrick has been appointed Ambassador to France.
• In Chicago children under 16 cannot be on the streets after ten o'clock unless properly accompanied.

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ONCE 'TWAS A LITTLE PIG

GRANNY had promised more than once to tell Cless the story of the little pig, but somehow she had forgotten all about this tale until one June evening when her little boy sauntered into the house from his usual playtime in the street. It was long after twilight when he came in, and while Granny was not disturbed, she nevertheless disliked the idea of his staying out so late.

"Mind, you little scamp," she threatened as he came in, "mind!—you know what happened to the little pig who stayed out late one night."

Now of course Cless hadn't heard what happened to the little pig, so Granny took him by the hand and led him into the living-room, where they both sat down—Granny to tell the tale and Cless to listen.

"Once 'twas a little pig," began Granny, "who lived in a nice little pen near the banks of a river in the Land of Sunshine. Now this little pig had everything he wanted except a cover over his pen. So one day when the farmer who owned him came out to give him his dinner, the little pig asked him to put a cover over his pen.

"'Oh, sure!—sure promised the farmer, 'sure the little pig can have a cover for his house.' But the farmer kept putting the little pig off this way until one night a big rain came. And all that night the water fell pitter-patter! pitter-patter! in the little pig's face.

"The next day when the farmer came out naturally the little pig asked about his shed again and he got the same old answer—'0h sure the little pig may have a shed over his pen.' Night came once more and there was no shed over the little pig's pen. So he stole out that evening by the moonlight to see if he could find something to make him one. He hadn't gone very far before he came to a big bunch of palmettos. Now palmettos are little palms that grow in the Land of Sunshine. They are shout the size of a fan and make a fine covering for a shed. So the little pig gnawed off enough of these to serve his purpose, took them back to his pen and commenced to put up his shed. He worked hard all night and the next morning when the farmer came out he was surprised to find a nice cover over the pen.

"'Who made the cover for your pen, little pig?'

"The little pig said, 'Me.'

"'Well it looks mighty nice,' said the farmer as he started back to the house. But by and by he came back as angry as a lion. Some one had been in his cornfield that night and stripped off some of the best corn in the patch.

"'Little pig,' he hollered, 'it's you—nobody but you who's been in my cornfield last night. Get out, little pig,—little pig, get out! I don't want you any more—wouldn't have you any more. Get out; get out and root for yourself the rest of your life.'

"Of course the little pig wasn't guilty but the old farmer was so very angry that he thought it best to leave. He left. Now he hadn't gone very far before he came to the same bunch of palmettos from which he had built the shed of his pen. Here again he got another load of palms and started down to the riverside to build him a house. On his way down he came upon Mister Crocodile. It was a very hot day and Mister Crocodile had crawled out of the mud and was cooling off under the shade of a big magnolia tree.

" 'Heyo, there, little pig! Where you going this hot day with a whole load of palmetto fans?' The little pig told Mister Crocodile he was looking for a place to build a house.

"'Stop a while and fan me a bit, little pig, and I'll show you a nice, cool place to build a house—right by the riverside.' Now the little pig was almost scared to death. He didn't know whether he should take a chance on fanning Mister Crocodile, or whether he should run back to the angry old farmer. He finally decided to fan Mister Crocodile. And while he was fanning him he took the time to tell him about the corn which had been stolen the night before.

"'Why it's Bre'r Bear who's been stealing that corn; didn't I see him passing by here last night with a whole arm full of green corn?' The little pig was so glad to hear this that he jumped up and squealed with delight. Now he could go back and make the old farmer understand who had been stealing all the corn.

"But Mister Crocodile begged the little pig to help him set a trap for old Bre'r Bear. The
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brownies.192106.030.jpg little pig agreed. And that same night the crocodile sent him up in the cornfield to wait for old Bre'r Bear.

"'Now,' said the crocodile, 'you go up in the cornfield and wait till old Bre'r Bear comes. And when he does come you grunt like a hog and he'll take after you. Then you just run as fast as you can toward the river. I'll meet you half way up the road and I'll trip old Bre'r Bear down and break his neck.'

"Well the little pig started out, came to the field and hid himself among the corn. Now he waited and waited, but old Bre'r Bear didn't come. So presently he dropped off in a nap. And just about that time old Bre'r Bear tipped into the cornfield and commenced a-snapping and a-popping off the ears of corn. The little pig was snoring with all his might, but as soon as old Bre'r Bear got his arms full of corn the little pig commenced to dream that old Bre'r Bear was choking him to death.

" Whee ! whee! wheel' he squealed.

"'Who's that squealing like a hog?' asked Bre'r Bear.

"Of course the little pig didn't answer. He just kept right on squealing 'Wheel whee ! whee !'

"Presently old Bre'r Bear went over toward the noise and commenced fumbling 'round in the dark for the little pig. It wasn't long before he stumbled upon him. Down went old Bre'r Bear's armful of corn and up jumped the little pig. Both started out for the river. The little pig was in the lead and was running with all his might. Old Bre'r Bear, close behind him wasn't making many steps, but my, he was making such long ones! You could hear his big feet a-going vip-vop! vip-vop! And every now and then he'd get close enough to the little pig to make a swipe at him with his big, rough paw. But the little pig kept on running till he came to the place where Mister Crocodile had promised to wait for him and Bre'r Bear.

"Now what do you think? - Mister Crocodile had got tired waiting and had gone back to the river! So the little pig had to keep on down to the water. And just about the time he was almost to the river and out of breath and about to give up the race, Mister Crocodile poked his head up out of the water and hollered : 'Run, little pig!—little pig, run! Run, little pig!— run ! run! run!'

"And the little pig was certainly getting over some ground too. It was a clear moonlight night and you could see the dust a-flying up behind his heels as plain as if it were day. At last he reached the river. Ker chunk! right overboard he went. Right behind him splashed old Bre'r Bear—ker loonge! Now just as soon as Bre'r Bear struck the water Mister Crocodile hit him such a blow with his tail you could hear it go,—ker pow!—way up on the hillside.

"Bre'r Bear was no more good after this one blow. Mister Crocodile grabbed him by the neck and kept on ducking him under the water till he drank himself to death. By this time the little pig had paddled ashore and was waiting for Mister Crocodile to push old Bre'r Bear in. When he saw that old Bre'r Bear was enough dead he asked Mister Crocodile it might go home early the next morning and the farmer who had been stealing all the corn. The crocodile consented. So early the morning the little pig started home once more.

"The farmer met him at the gate with the same old cry—'Go away, little pig; go away. I don't want you any more. Wouldn't have you. Go away and root for yourself the rest of your life. Somebody's been in my cornfield again last night and it's nobody but you. It was you 'cause I saw your tracks. Go away, little pig— go away.'

But the little pig wouldn't go away, so the mean old farmer got a big stick and began to chase him away. And he chased him and chased him till he came to the river. And what did he see there but a great big bear—dead! The little pig ran right up to Bre'r Bear and stopped and looked first at the farmer and then at Bre'r Bear as much as to say : 'Here lies your corn thief!'

"The old farmer quickly saw that Bre'r Bear was guilty, for the proof was there in the corn tassels that stuck to him while he was stealing the corn. They were still clinging to his hair. At last the farmer really believed the little pig innocent. And what do you think he did to show his belief? Why he simply skinned old Bre'r Bear right there by the riverside and carried the little pig back to his pen. And by and by, when the old farmer was settled, he just stretched that nice big bear hide across the pen, and the little pig had a waterproof shed that lasted as long as he lived."