Boy Blue and His Friends | Page 3

Boy Blue heard a voice.
He listened. It seemed to be saying:--
"Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn,?The sheep's in the meadow,?The cow's in the corn."
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"Oh," thought the little boy, "I must hurry!"
He looked for his horn. There it lay in the grass.
But he was so sleepy,--he couldn't run after the sheep.
In a moment he fell asleep.
Then he heard the voice again:--
"Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn,?The sheep's in the meadow,?The cow's in the corn."
Yes, he could see the cow eating the corn in the field.
And there was the sheep in the meadow, eating the fresh green grass.
He must call them away.
So he took up the horn and put it to his mouth.
Then he blew one loud call.
"Oh!" he said, as he opened his eyes, "What a loud noise that was!"
Then he laughed and rubbed his eyes.
"I guess I was dreaming," he said.
"I guess I was dreaming, too," said Little Sister, opening her blue eyes.
Then she waked up her doll, and Boy Blue went on reading from his story-book.
Mary had a little lamb,?Its fleece was white as snow,?And everywhere that Mary went?The lamb was sure to go.
He followed her to school one day,?Which was against the rule.?It made the children laugh and play?To see a lamb at school.
And so the teacher put him out,?But still he lingered near,?And waited patiently about?Till Mary did appear.
MARY'S LAMB
Of course you know all about Mary and her little lamb.
The little girl in this story was named Mary, and she had a little lamb, too.
Mary was Boy Blue's cousin.
She lived in the city, and her father owned a big toy-store.
Mary liked to go to the store with him.
She liked to see all the dolls and toys and books.
Sometimes she played store with her own toys.
But I must tell you about her lamb.
One summer Mary went to the country to visit Boy Blue.
Of course there were cows, and pigs, and sheep, and lambs on the farm,
Mary liked the lambs best, and one of them was a great pet.
She called him Fleecy, and pulled sweet clover for him to eat.
Fleecy followed Mary all over the farm. Sometimes he even ran down the road after her.
When Mary was going home her uncle said to her, "You may take Fleecy with you, if you wish."
So the next day Fleecy had a long ride in the train.
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I don't think he liked it very well, but he didn't say a word.
When Mary took him out of the box he was glad to run about in the yard.
He soon became used to his new home.
He liked to play with the children.
They often played hide and seek.
When they hid behind the trees he could always find them.
THE LAMB AT SCHOOL
One morning Fleecy could not find Mary.
He looked everywhere for her.
She was not in the yard, and she was not in the barn.
He went to the gate, and looked down the street, but he could not see her.
Then he went to the back door, and called, "Baa-a, Baa-a!" but she did not come.
Where could she be?
After a long time she came running into the yard.
Fleecy trotted up to her.
"Baa-a, Baa-a!" he said; which meant, I think, "Where have you been, Mary?"
"I have been to school," said Mary.
You see she knew what he meant.
"To school," thought Fleecy. "I wonder what that is."
Everyday Mary went away and left him.
Did I say every day?
Once in a while she stayed at home.
Then Mary and the lamb played together in the yard.
"Now," thought Fleecy, "she is going to stay at home with me."
But no, on Monday Mary went away again.
At last Fleecy could bear it no longer.
"I must go to school, too," he said.
"I must see what Mary does all day.
"If she goes to school to play games, I can play with her."
The next day Fleecy watched Mary go through the gate.
Then he followed her very quietly.
Mary ran along with the other little girls and boys.
They were playing tag and they did not see Fleecy.
Soon he heard a bell ring.
Then how the children ran!
They all ran into a little house and shut the door.
"Oh!" thought Fleecy, "What shall I do? I can never open that door."
Just then he saw a little boy running very fast.
The boy ran up to the same little house.
He opened the door and went in, but he did not shut it.
Fleecy climbed up the steps.
He put his head in at the door and looked around.
He could see no one, so he walked in.
There was another door, and that was open, too.
Fleecy stood still and listened.
The children were singing as if they were very happy.
Then he put his head against the door and pushed it wide open.
What a room-full of children he saw!
And they were all sitting very still, and not playing at all.
"I don't think I shall like school," thought Fleecy.
Just then the children saw