"Now, I'll tell you honestly," said Little Mr. Thimblefinger, popping out from under
Mr. Rabbit's big arm-chair, "I don't like such stories. They give me the all-overs. I
expect maybe it's because they are true."
"No doubt that's the trouble with them," remarked Mr. Rabbit in a tone unusually solemn. "You don't think that at my time of
life my tongue is nimble enough for me to sit here and make up stories to suit the
hour and the company? By the bye," he continued, turning around so as to catch Little Mr.
Thimblefinger's eye, "what stories were you talking about?"
"Well, to tell you the truth, I was fast asleep, for the most part, but I distinctly
remember something about Moons and Monkeys. When I heard that, I just went off to
sleep in spite of myself."
"There's no accounting for tastes," said Mr.
har1895.2007.258.jpg
Rabbit. "There are some tales
that put me to sleep and I have no complaint to make when anybody begins to doze over them that I tell."
"Oh, you tell 'em well enough," Little Mr. Thimblefinger declared. "If anything, you
make them better than they ought to be. You lift your ears at the right place, and
pat your foot when the time comes. I don't know what more could be asked in telling a
story."
"So far so good," remarked Mrs. Meadows, who had thus far said nothing. "Suppose you
whirl in and tell us the kind of tale that you really admire."
"That's easier said than done," replied Little Mr. Thimblefinger, fidgeting about a
little. "You have to take the tales as they come. Sometimes one will pop into your
head in spite of yourself. You remember it just because you did n't like it when you
first heard it."
" Tell us one, anyway, just to pass away the time," said Sweetest Susan.
"If I tell you one," Little Mr. Thimblefinger replied, "I'll not promise it will be
one that I like. That would be promising too much. But the talk about the Moon, that
I heard before I
har1895.2007.259.jpg
dozed off just now, reminded me of a
tale I heard when I was a good deal smaller than I am now.
"Once upon a time there was a man who had two sons. They were twins, but they were
just as different from each other as they could possibly be. One was dark, and the
other was light complected. One was slim, and the other was fat. One was good, and the other was
what people call bad. He was lazy, and full of fun and mischief. They grew up that
way until they were nineteen or twenty years old. The good boy would work hard
every day, or pretend to work hard, and then he'd go back home and tell his mother
and father that his brother had n't done a stroke of work. Of course, this made
the old people feel very queer. The mother felt sorrowful, and the father felt
angry. This went on, until finally, one day, the father became so angry that he concluded to take his bad son into some foreign country, and bind him out to some
person who could make him work and cure him of his mischievousness. In those days people sometimes bound out their children to learn trades
and good manners and things of that sort."
"I wish dey'd do it now," exclaimed Drusilla.
har1895.2007.260.jpg
" Kaze den I would n't hafter
be playin' nuss, an' be gwine in all kind er quare places whar you dunner when ner
whar you kin git out."
"Stuff!" cried Buster John. "Why don't you be quiet and listen to the story?"
"It go long too slow fer ter suit me," said Drusilla in a grumbling tone.
"Well," remarked Mr. Thimblefinger, turning to Buster John, "you've come mighty
close to telling a part of the tale I had in my mind."
"I don't see how," replied Buster John with some surprise.
"You said 'stuff!'" responded Mr. Thimblefinger, "and that's a part of my story. If you listen, you'll soon find out. As
I was saying, people in old times bound out their sons to some good man, who
taught them a good trade or something of that kind. Well, this man that I was
telling you about took his bad son off to a foreign country, and tried to find
some one to bind him out to. They traveled many days and nights. They went over
mountains and passed through valleys. They crossed plains, and they went through
the wild woods.
"Now, the man who was taking his son into a
har1895.2007.261.jpg
foreign country was getting old,
and the farther they walked, the more tired he grew. At last, one day, when they
were going through the big woods, he sat down to rest near a tall poplar-tree,
and, turning to his son, said angrily:—
" 'Stuff! you are not worth all this trouble. But for you I 'd be at home now,
enjoying myself and smoking my pipe.'
"The son, who was used to these outbreaks, made no reply, but stretched himself
out on the dead leaves that littered the ground. He had hardly done so when there
was a tremendous noise in the woods, and then both father and son saw rushing
toward them an old man with a long beard, followed by a small army of
fierce-looking dwarfs armed with clubs and knives and pikes. They rushed up and
surrounded the father and son.
" 'Which of you called my name and abused me?' cried the old man with the long
beard.
" 'Not I,' said the bad son.
" 'Not I,' said the father. 'I am sure I never saw you or heard of you before.'
"This made the old man more furious than ever. He fairly trembled with rage. 'Did
n't I
har1895.2007.262.jpg
hear one of you say, "Stuff!
but for you I'd be at home now enjoying myself, and smoking my pipe?"
" 'I did say something like that,' replied the father in great astonishment.
" 'How dare you?' cried the old man, beside himself with rage. 'How did I ever
harm you? Seize him!' he said to his army of dwarfs. 'Seize him, and bind him hard
and fast! I'll show him whether he can come into my kingdom and abuse me!'
"The father was speechless with astonishment, and made no attempt to prevent the
dwarfs from seizing and binding him. They had him tied hard and fast before he
could say a word, even if he had had a word to say. But by this time the son had
risen to his feet.
" 'Wait!' he cried, 'let's see what the trouble is! Who are you?' he inquired, turning to the old man with the long beard.
" 'My name is Stuff,' he replied, 'and I am king of this country which you are
passing through. I'm not going to allow anyone to abuse me in my own kingdom. You
may go free, but mind you go straight back the way you came.'
har1895.2007.263.jpg
"The son thought the matter over a little while, and then turned on his heel and
went back the way he had come, and, as he walked, he whistled all the lively tunes
he could think of. For a time he was glad that his father was no longer with him
to quarrel and complain; but finally he grew lonely, and then he began to think
how his father had raised him up from a little child. The more he thought about
this, the sorrier he was that he had given his father any trouble. He sat down on
a log by the side of the road and thought it all over, and presently he began to
cry.
"While he was sitting there with his head between his hands, crying over the fate
of his father, a queer-looking little man came jogging along the road. He had
bushy hair and a beard that grew all over his face, except right around his eyes
and lips and the tip-end of his nose. His beard was not long, but it was very
thick, and it stood out around his face like the spokes in a buggy-wheel. He
seemed to be in a big hurry, but when he saw the young man sitting on the log
crying, he stopped, and stared at him.
" 'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'What's all this? Who has hurt your feelings?'
har1895.2007.264.jpg
"If the young man had not been so sorrowful, he would have been surprised to see
the queer¬looking little man standing by him. But, as it was, he did n't seem to
be surprised at all. He just looked at the stranger with red eyes.
" 'My name is Mum,' said the stranger, 'and I'm the Man in the Moon. Tell me your
troubles. Maybe I can help you. I'm in a great hurry, because the Moon must change
day after to-morrow, and I must be there to lend a hand; but I'll not allow my
hurry to prevent me from hearing your troubles and helping you if I can.'
"So then and there the young man told his story, and the Man in the Moon sighed
heavily when he heard it.
" 'I see how it is,' he said. 'You are young and thoughtless, and your father is
old and crabbed. You never thought of what you owed him, and he never made any
allowances for your youth. He's in no danger. I know old Stuff well. I've watched
him many a night when he thought nobody had an eye on him, and he's a pretty tough
and cunning customer. You must have help if you get your father out of trouble.'
har1895.2007.265.jpg
[illustration - A QUEER LOOKING LITTLE MAN CAME JOGGING ALONG THE
ROAD ]
har1895.2007.266.jpg
har1895.2007.267.jpg
" 'What am I to do?' asked the young man.
" 'Well,' replied the Man in the Moon, 'in the first place you will have to go
home. Say nothing about the trouble your father is in. Just tell your mother that he has
lost the sole of his shoe, and has sent you for the awl that is in the big red
cupboard, a piece of leather, a handful of pegs, and a piece of wax.'
" 'What then? ' the young man inquired.
" 'Bring them here,' said the Man in the Moon. 'By the time you get back, I will
have another holiday. We'll put our heads together and see what can be done.'
"The young man made no delay. He was so anxious about his father that he started
for home at once. It was a long journey, but he lost no time on the way. He was in
rags and tatters when he reached home, but that made no difference to him. He took no time to eat, or to sleep, or to rest, but went to his
mother at once, and told her that his father had lost the sole of his shoe, and
had sent for the awl that lay in the big red cupboard, a strong piece of leather,
a handful of shoe-pegs, and a cake of shoemaker's wax.
har1895.2007.268.jpg
"His mother asked him a great many questions, as women will, but all the answer the son would make was that his
father had lost the sole of his shoe, and had sent for the awl that lay in the big
red cupboard, a strong piece of leather, a handful of shoe-pegs, and a cake of
shoemaker's wax. Of course, the mother was very much worried. She finally came to
the conclusion that some great calamity had befallen her husband, and she went about
crying and wringing her hands, and declaring that they were all ruined; that her husband was
dead; and that more than likely he had been murdered by this bad, bad son of hers,
who had no other story to tell except to ask for the awl that lay in the big red
cupboard, a strong piece of leather, a handful of shoe-pegs, and a cake of shoemaker's wax.
"Now, the good son heard all this, but he said nothing. He just folded his hands
and fetched a sigh or two, and seemed to be sorry for everything in general. But while the mother was going about wringing her hands and
weeping, and the good son was heaving and fetching his sighs, the other son went
to the big red cupboard. There on a shelf he saw the awl sticking in a
har1895.2007.269.jpg
cake of shoemaker's wax. Near it
was a strong piece of leather, and close by was a handful of shoe-pegs. He took
these, changed his ragged coat, and started back on his journey.
"Now, although the good son did nothing but sigh and look sorry, he had deep ideas
of his own. The reason he was called the good son was because he was so cunning.
He thought to himself that now would be a good time to do a fine stroke of business. He knew
that his brother had something more on his mind than the awl, the leather, the
pegs, and the shoemaker's wax, and he wanted to find out about it. So he ran after
his brother to ask him what the real trouble was. He caught up with him a little
way beyond the limits of the village, but no satisfaction could he get. Then he
began to abuse his brother and to accuse him of all sorts of things.
"But the son, who was trying to get his father out of trouble, paid no attention
to this. He went forward on his journey, turning his head neither to the right nor
to the left. The good brother (as he was called) followed along after the best he
could, being determined to see the end of the business. But somehow it happened
that, on
har1895.2007.270.jpg
the second day, the brother
who was going to meet the Man in the Moon was so tired and worn out that he was
compelled to crawl under a haystack and go to sleep. In this way the good brother passed him on the road and
went forward on his journey, never doubting that the other was just ahead of him.
Finally, one day, the good brother grew tired and sat down on a log to rest. He
sat there so long that the brother he thought he was following came up. He was
very much surprised to see his nice and good brother sitting on a log and nodding
in that country. So he woke him up and asked him what the trouble was.
" 'Stuff! ' cried the other, 'you know you have made way with our father!'
"At once there was a roaring noise in the woods and a rustling sound in the
underbrush, and out came an old man with a long beard, followed by an army of dwarfs.
" 'How dare you abuse me in my own kingdom?' he cried to the good brother. 'How did I ever harm you?'
"The brother, who had seen this game played before, tried to explain, but King
Stuff would
har1895.2007.271.jpg
listen to no explanation. He
commanded his armed dwarfs to seize and bind the good brother, and they soon
carried him out of sight in spite of his cries.
"Now, the young man who had gone home for the awl and the axe and the shoemaker's
wax was very much puzzled. He had more business on his hands than he knew what to
do with. He saw that he must now rescue his brother as well as his father, and he
did n't know how to go about it. He had the awl and the axe and the shoemaker's
wax. He also had the shoe-pegs and leather that he found together. But what was he
to do with them? He sat on the log and thought about it a long time.
"While he was sitting there, and just as he was about to go forward on his
journey, he heard some one coming briskly down the road singing. He heard enough
of the song to be very much interested in it. It ran thus:—
" 'With the awl and the axe
And the shoemaker's wax,
And the pegs and the leather
That were found close together
Where the old man had fling'd 'em,
We'll bore through and roar through;
har1895.2007.272.jpg
We'll cut down, we'll put down,
This king and his kingdom.'
"Of course, it was the Man in the Moon who was coming along the road singing the
song, and he seemed to be in high good humor. He caught sight of the solemn face
of the young man and began to laugh.
" 'There you are!' cried Mum, the Man in the Moon, 'and I 'm glad to see you; but
I'd feel a great deal better if you did n't look so lonesome. I don't know what to
do about it. Your face is as long as a hind quarter of beef.'
" 'I can't help it,' replied the young man. 'I am in deeper trouble than ever. My
brother has been carried off by the same people that captured my father.'
" 'What of it?' exclaimed the Man in the Moon. 'If you knew as much about that brother of yours as I do you'd go on about your business, and let him stay where
he is.'
" 'No,' said the young man. 'I could n't do that. I know he is my brother, and
that is enough. And then there's my father.'
"The Man in the Moon looked at the young man a long time, and finally said:—
har1895.2007.273.jpg
" 'Since we are to have a sort of holiday together, maybe you won't mind telling me your name.'
" 'Why, of course not,' replied the young man. 'My name is Smat.'
"The Man in the Moon scratched his head and then laughed. 'It is a queer name,' he
said; 'but I see no objection to it. I suppose it just happened so.'
" 'Now, I can't tell you anything about that,' replied Smat. 'I was too young when
the name was given to take any part in the performance. They seized me, and named
me at a time when I had to take any name that they chose to give me. They named me
Smat, and that was the end of it so far as I was concerned. They never asked me
how I liked it, but just slapped the name in my face, as you may say, and left it
there.'
" 'Well,' said the Man in the Moon, 'they'll put another letter in the name when
you get back home. Instead of calling you Smat, they'll say you are Smart, and
there's some consolation in that.'
" 'Not much as I can see,' remarked Smat. 'It's all in your mouth, and what is in
your
har1895.2007.274.jpg
mouth is pretty much all wind
and water, if, you try to spit it out. What I want now is to get my father and my
brother out of the trouble that my mischief has plunged them in. Please help me.
They ought to be at home right now. There's the corn to grind, and the cows are waiting to be milked, and the grain is to be gathered. Times are pretty hard at
our house when everybody is away.'
" 'Very well,' said the Man in the Moon. He had hanging by his side the horn of
the new Moon, and on this he blew a loud blast. Immediately there was a roaring noise in the woods, and very soon there swarmed
about them a company of little men, all bearing the tiniest and the prettiest lanterns that
were ever seen. It was not night, but their lanterns were blazing, and as they
marched around the Man in the Moon in regulare order, it seemed as though the light of their lanterns had quenched that
of the sun, so that Smat saw the woods in a different light altogether. He had not moved, but he seemed to be in another country entirely. The
trees had changed, and the ground itself. He was no longer sitting on a log by the
side of the big
har1895.2007.275.jpg
road, but was now standing on his
feet in a strange country, as it seemed to him.
"He had risen from his seat on the log when the little men with their lanterns
began marching around, but otherwise he had not moved. And yet here he was in a
country that was new to him. He rubbed his eyes in a dazed way, and when he opened
them again, another change had taken place. Neither he nor the Man in the Moon had
made any movement away from the big road and the log that was lying by the side of
it, but now they were down in a wide valley, that stretched as far as the eye
could see, between two high mountain ranges.
" 'Now, then,' said the Man in the Moon, 'you must be set up in business. On the
side of the mountain yonder is the palace of King Stuff, and somewhere not far
away you will find your father and your brother, and perhaps some one else.'
"He then called to the leaders of the little men with the lanterns, and gave each
one a task to do. Their names were Drift and Sift, Glimmer and Gleam, and Shimmer
and Sheen. These six leaders waved their lanterns about, called their
har1895.2007.276.jpg
followers about them, and at
once began to build a house."
"And they so little, too," remarked Mrs. Meadows sympathetically.
"Why, it was no trouble in the world to them," said Little Mr. Thimblefinger. "It
did n't seem as if they were building a house. Did you ever see a flower open? You
look at it one minute, turn your head away and forget about it, and the next time
you look, there it is open wide. That was the way with this house the little men
built. It just seemed to grow out of the ground. As it grew, the little men
climbed on it, waved their lanterns about, and the house continued to grow higher
and higher, and larger and larger, until it was finished. Not a nail had been
driven, not a board had been rived, not a plank had been planed, not a sill had
been hewn, not a brick had been burned. And yet there was the house all new and
fine, with a big chimney-stack in the middle.
" 'Now,' said the Man in the Moon, when everything was done, 'here is your house,
and you may move in with bag and baggage.'
" 'That is quickly done,' replied Smat. 'What then?'
har1895.2007.277.jpg
" 'Why, you must set up as a shoemaker,' said the Man in the Moon.
" 'But I never made a shoe in my life,' the young man declared.
" 'So much the more reason why you should make 'em before you die,' the Man in the
Moon remarked. 'The sooner you begin to make shoes, the sooner you'll learn
how.'
" 'That's so true,' said Smat, 'that I have no reply to make. 'I'll do as you say,
if I can.'
" 'That's better,' cried the Man in the Moon . 'If you do that, you'll have small
trouble. If you don't, I would n't like to tell you what will happen. Now listen!
There is in this kingdom a person (I'll not say who) that goes about with only one
shoe. When you see that person, no matter when or where,— no matter whether it's
man, woman, or child,-you must let it be known that you are ready to make a shoe.'
"Then the Man in the Moon called to the leaders of his army of lantern bearers,
and waved his hands. They, in turn, waved their tiny lan¬terns, and in a moment
all were out of sight, and Smat was left alone. For some time afterwards he felt
both lonely and uneasy, but this feeling
har1895.2007.278.jpg
passed away as soon as he went
into his house. He was so astonished by what he saw in there that he forgot to
feel uneasy. He saw that, although the house was newly built,— if it had been
built,— it was in fact old enough inside to seem like home. Every room was finely
furnished and carpeted, and in one part of the house, in a sort of shed-room, he
found that a shoemaker's shop had been fixed up. There he saw the awl and the axe,
and the shoemaker's wax, with the pegs and the leather that were found close together.
"He thought to himself that all that was very nice, but he knew, too, that he was
not much of a shoemaker, and this bothered him not a little. Anyhow, he made
himself comfortable and waited to see what was going to happen.
"One day a head officer of the kingdom chanced to pass that way. He saw the house
and rubbed his eyes. He was so astonished that he went and told another officer,
and this officer told another, and finally all the officers in the kingdom knew about it. Now, if you've ever noticed, those who hold government offices have less to do and more time to do
it in than any other
har1895.2007.279.jpg
day laborers. So they went about
and caucussed among themselves, and examined into the books, and found that no
taxes had ever been gathered from the owner of such a house. There was great
commotion among them. One of them, more meddlesome than the rest, took a big book
under his arm and went to Smat's house to make inquiries. The first question he
asked was the last.
"Says he, 'How long have you been living in this precinct?'
" Says Smat, 'Ever since the house was built and a little while before.'
"The officer looked at the house and saw that it was a very old one, and then he
tucked his big book under his arm and went off home. At last the king— the same
King Stuff whose name you've heard me mention— heard about the new house that was
old, and of the shoemaker who did n't know how to make shoes. So he concluded to look into the matter. He summoned his high and mighty men, and when
they had gathered together they went into a back room of the palace and shut the
door, and had a long talk together. All this took time; and while the
har1895.2007.280.jpg
king and his high and mighty
men were confabbing together, other things were happening, as you shall presently see.
"It seems that in that kingdom there was a beautiful girl who went wandering about
the country. If she had any kinsfolk, nobody knew anything about it, and, indeed,
nobody cared. She had lost one of her shoes, and she went about from place to
place hunting for it. Some pitied her, and some laughed at her, which is the way
of the world, as you'll find out; but nobody tried to help her. Some said that one
shoe was better than no shoe, and others said that a new shoe would do just as
well as an old shoe."
" That's where they made a big mistake," said Mrs. Meadows: "I've tried it, and I
ought to know. A new shoe is bound to hurt you a little at first, I don't care how
well it fits."
"Well, I'm only telling you what they said," replied little Mr. Thimblefinger.
"From all I can hear, new shoes hurt the ladies a great deal worse than they do
the men. But that's natural, for their toes and their heels are a good deal
tenderer than those of the men folks. Anyhow, this beautiful girl had lost one of
her shoes, and,
har1895.2007.281.jpg
rather than buy another one or a
new pair, she went hunting it everywhere. One day she came by Smat's house. He,
sitting by one of the windows, and wishing that he could see his father and brother, paid no attention
to the passers-by. But this beautiful girl saw him at the window and spoke to him.
" 'Kind sir,' she said, 'have you seen anything of a stray shoe? I have lost one
of mine, and I 'm in great trouble about it.'
" Smat looked at the girl, and she was so beautiful that he could n't help but blush. Seeing this, the girl began to blush.
And so there they were, two young things a-blushing at one another, and wondering
what was the matter.
" 'I have seen no stray shoe,' said Smat; 'but if you'll come in and show me the
one you have on, I think I'll know its fellow when I see it.'
"The girl went into the house and sat on a chair, and showed Smat the shoe that
she had n't lost. She had the smallest and the neatest foot he had ever seen.
" 'I hope you are no kin to Cinderella,' said Smat, 'for then you could n't get a
shoe to fit your other foot until some kind fairy made it.'
har1895.2007.282.jpg
" 'I never heard of Cinderella,' the girl replied. 'I only know that I have lost my shoe; and I'm afraid I'll never get
another just like it.
" Smat scratched his head, and then he thought about the awl and the axe and the
shoemaker's wax, and the pegs and the leather that were found close together. So
he said to the beautiful girl :-
" 'Just sit here a little while, and I'll see if I can't get you a shoe to fit
your foot. But I must have the other shoe as a pattern to work by.'
"At first the girl did n't want to trust him with the shoe, but she saw that he
was in earnest, and so she pulled off the only shoe she had and placed it in
Smat's hands. He saw at once that the leather he had was a match for that in the
shoe, and he set to work with a light heart, ¬ with a light heart, but his hand
was heavy. And yet, somehow or other, he found that he knew all about making
shoes, although he had never learned how. The leather fitted itself to the last,
and everything went smoothly. But the beautiful girl, instead of feeling happy
that she would soon have a mate to her shoe, began to grow sad. She sat in a
corner with her head
har1895.2007.283.jpg
[illustration - HAVE YOU SEEN ANYTHING OF A STRAY SHOE? ]
har1895.2007.284.jpg
har1895.2007.285.jpg
between her hands and her hair
hanging down to her feet, and sighed every time Smat bored a hole in the leather
with his awl or drove in a peg. Finally, when he handed her the shoe entirely
finished, she looked at it, sighed, and let it fall from her hands.
" 'Of course,' said Smat, 'I don't feel bad over a little thing like that. But you
don't have to pay anything for the shoe, and you don't have to wear it unless you
want to.'
" 'Oh, it is not that,' cried the beautiful girl. 'The shoe will do very well, but
the moment I put it on, your troubles will begin.'
" 'Well,' replied Smat, 'we must have troubles of some sort anyhow, and the sooner
they begin, the sooner they'll be ended. So put on your shoe.'
"Now, it happened that just as the girl put on the shoe, which fitted her foot
exactly, King Stuff and his councilors came driving up to the door. King Stuff was
not a large man, but he was very fierce-looking. He called out from his carriage
of state and asked what sort of a person lived in that house that he could n't
come out and salute when the king and his councilors went
har1895.2007.286.jpg
riding by. Smat went to the
door and bowed as politely as he could, and said that he would have been glad to
bow and salute, if he had known his royal highness and their excellent
excellencies intended to honor his poor house even so much as to pass by it. The king and his
councilors looked at one another and shook their heads.
" 'This man is none of us,' said the oldest and wisest of the councilors. 'We must
be careful.'
" 'How long have you lived here?' asked the king.
" 'Longer than I wanted to,' replied Smat. 'My house is so far from the palace
that I have not been able to call and pay my respects to your majesty.'
" 'I see you are a maker of shoes,' remarked the king, seeing the awl in Smat's
hand.
" 'No, your majesty, not a maker of shoes, but simply a shoemaker. Thus far I have
succeeded in making only one shoe.'
" At this the king and his councilors began to shake and tremble. 'What was the
prophecy?' cried the king to the oldest and wisest. ' Repeat it! '
"The oldest and the wisest closed his eyes,
har1895.2007.287.jpg
allowed his head to drop to one
side, and said in solemn tones:—
'Wherever you go, and whatever you do,
Beware of the man that makes but one shoe;
Beware of the man with the awl and the axe,
With the pegs and the leather and the shoemaker's wax.
If you're out of your palace when you meet this man,
You'd better get back as fast as you can.'
"Smat felt very much like laughing at the solemn way in which the oldest and
wisest councilor repeated this prophecy, or whatever it might be called. 'Your majesty
need n't be worried about that prophecy,' said he. 'It's the easiest thing in the
world to break the force of it.'
" 'How?' asked the king.
" 'Why, having made one shoe, I'll go to work and make another,' replied Smat.
" The oldest and wisest of the councilors said that was a pretty good plan,—
anyhow, it was worth trying. Smat promised to make another shoe, and have it ready
in two days. But this was easier said than done. In the first place, he had used
nearly all his leather in making a shoe for the beautiful girl. In the second
place, the awl point would n't stay in the handle. In the
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third place, the pegs split
and broke every time he tried to drive them, and the shoemaker's wax would n't
stick. Everything went wrong at first and grew worse at last, so that when the
king sent his officers for the shoe it was no nearer done than it had been before
Smat began.
"The beautiful girl had not gone very far away, and she came every day to see how
Smat prospered in making the second shoe. She was watching him when the king's
officers came for the shoe, and when she saw them she began to weep. But Smat
looked as cheerful as ever, and even began to whistle when the officers knocked at
the door.
" 'We are in a fix,' said he, 'but we'll get out of it. Lend me the shoe I made
for you. I'll send that to the king and then get it back again.'
" The girl tried to take the shoe from her foot, but nothing would move it. 'That
is a sign,' said Smat, 'that it ought not to come off. I'll just go to the king
myself and tell him the facts in the case. That is the best way.'
"So he gathered the awl and the axe and the shoemaker's wax, and the scraps of
leather, and
har1895.2007.289.jpg
bundled them together. Then he told
the officers that he would go with them and carry the shoe himself, so as to be
sure that it came safely into the king's hands. They went toward the palace, and
Smat noticed, as they went along, that it grew darker and darker as they came
nearer to the palace. The officers seemed to notice it too. By the time they
reached the palace, it was so dark that Smat had great trouble in keeping up with
the officers.
"There was great commotion in the palace. Nobody had ever seen it so dark before
except just at the stroke of midnight, when the shadows grow thick and heavy and
run together and over everything.
"Now, old King Stuff was a sort of magician himself (as, indeed, he had to be in
those times, in order to manage a kingdom properly), and as soon as he saw the
great darkness coming on at the wrong time of day, he thought at once of the
prophecy in regard to the man who made but one shoe. So he hustled and bustled
around the palace, calling for the officers he had sent after the shoe. But nobody
had seen them return before the dark began to fall, and after that it was impossible to see them.
har1895.2007.290.jpg
"In the midst of it all, the officers, followed by Smat, stumbled into the palace
and went groping about from room to room hunting for old King Stuff and his
ministers. At last, they heard him grumbling and growling, and felt their way
toward him.
" 'The shoe! the shoe!' cried King Stuff, when the officers had made themselves
known.
" 'I have something that will answer just as well,' said Smat.
" 'The shoe! give me the shoe!' cried the king.
" 'Take this, your majesty,' said Smat, handing him the bundle.
"No sooner had the king's hands touched the bundle than there was a rumbling noise
in the air, the building began to shake and totter and crumble away. In the midst
of it all some one cried out in a loud voice:-
' Wherever you go, and whatever you do,
Beware of the man that makes but one shoe !'
"In the twinkling of an eye, King Stuff and his army and his palace had
disappeared from sight. At the same time the darkness had cleared
har1895.2007.291.jpg
away, and Smat saw his father and
his brother standing near, dazed and frightened, and not far away was the
beautiful girl. The father and the brother were very much astonished when they
found that Smat had been the means of their rescue. They talked about it until
night fell, and then the Man in the Moon, with his tiny lantern-bearers, came and escorted them to their own country.
"Now it happened that the beautiful girl was a princess, the daughter of the king.
It fell to the lot of Smat to take the princess home. Not long after that the king
gave a great festival, to celebrate the return of his daughter. Smat's father and
brother got close enough to the palace to see him standing in a large room, where
there was a large crowd of people and music and flowers. They saw, too, that he
was holding the princess by the hand.
" And so," said little Mr. Thimblefinger, wiping the perspiration from his
forehead, "the story ended."
