She sat on a bench,
looking out of the gable window at the old stick chimney, made by
building a square _cob-house_ arrangement of sticks of wood, tapering
toward the top, and plastering it with clay. The top of the chimney was
surrounded by a barrel with both ends open, through which the smoke
climbed lazily up into the air. Near by stood an oak-tree, in which a
jay-bird was screaming and dancing in a jerky way. Sukey then looked
away into the blue sky, and the clouds seemed to become pagodas, and
palm-trees, and golden ships floating drowsily away. All at once she
heard somebody say, in a queer, birdlike voice--
"Pray, look this way, little Sukey Gray. May I make bold to say you are
looking grum to-day? You neither laugh nor play; now what's the reason,
pray?"
Sukey started up to see where this funny jingle came from. There, in the
oak-tree, where the jay-bird had stood a few minutes before, was a
queer-looking little chap, in blue coat and pants, with a top-knot cap
and a rather sharp nose. He looked a little like a jay-bird, but had a
most comical face and blinky eyes, and brought his words out in short
jerks, making them rhyme in an odd sort of jingle. And all the time he
was dancing and laughing and turning rapid somersaults, as if the little
blue coat could hardly hold so much fun.
Pages:
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121