Everychild | Page 8

said to the genie, trying to speak as if he were thoroughly experienced in making wishes, "I wish I had a nice place to sleep, here in the forest."
He had scarcely spoken when he realized that he was all alone: Aladdin with his Oriental rug and his lamp was gone; the genie was gone. His hand was resting upon something very soft and cool. It seemed like a carpet, though finer than any carpet he had ever seen. And he remembered how his mother had scolded him more than once for lying on the carpet at home.
"But no one will scold me for lying here," he reflected.
So it came about that on his first night away from home he slept on the beautiful green carpet, with the Road of Troubled Children hard by.
And he could not know that the thing he had wished for, and which had been given him was the very thing which poor beggars, beloved of God, are granted every tranquil summer night.
CHAPTER IV
EVERYCHILD IS JOINED BY HANSEL AND GRETTEL
In the morning he went on his way along the Road of Troubled Children; and it seemed to him that he had gone a very great distance when he heard voices by the roadside. They were the voices of children, and it was plain to Everychild that they were in trouble.
He waited until they came close, and then his heart bounded, because he recognized them. He had often seen their pictures. They were Hansel and Grettel.
Hansel was saying sorrowfully, "I am afraid they are all gone, Grettel, and we shall never be able to find our home again."
It was then that Everychild stepped forward. "I know you," he said, trying to seem really friendly. "_You are Hansel and Grettel. Your parents lost you in the woods to be rid of you_--because there wasn't enough to eat at home."
[Illustration: "You are Hansel and Grettel."]
Hansel and Grettel looked at each other with round eyes. "It is true," they replied in unison. "But to think it should have got about already! Who are you?"
Everychild addressed himself to Hansel--who, by the way, was a fat boy with wooden shoes and a tiny homespun jacket and trousers of the same stuff, the trousers being very floppy about the ankles. "I am Everychild," he said. "And if I were you I'd not try to go home to such a father and mother. You know, they still had half a loaf left."
"At least," said Hansel, "I'd like to go home until that half a loaf is gone!"
For a second Grettel looked at her brother as if she really could not think of a suitably severe rebuke. "Our poor father and mother!" she exclaimed. "No doubt they thought we should find food in the forest, or that we should encounter travelers who'd have a bite to spare."
"At any rate," said Everychild, "it's no use your searching any more. You're looking for the crumbs you dropped, so you'd find the way home. But I should think you could guess the birds had eaten them all up!"
Hansel turned to Grettel, his eyes more round than ever. "It must be true!" he exclaimed.
"Where you made your mistake was in not dropping pebbles, the way you did the first time--though I suppose you couldn't have got the pebbles, being locked up in your room the night before. Anyway, it's no use your trying to go back. Even if you found the way, the same thing would happen again. Your father made a great mistake when he agreed to lose you the first time, simply because your mother asked him to. You know what the book says: 'If a man yields once he's done for.' You'd much better go along with me."
Hansel became all curiosity at once. "Where to?" he asked.
Everychild undertook to reply quite frankly; but all of a sudden he became dumb. It had seemed to him that he knew very well where he was going. Even now he felt that the answer ought to be perfectly simple. Just the same, he could not think of a single word!
Then he heard a voice behind him. "He has set forth on a quest of Truth!" said the voice.
That was it, of course! He turned gratefully--and there was the Masked Lady! She seemed to be smiling to herself, as if she had thought of something which amused her. But on the whole her manner was really friendly and serious.
Nevertheless, Everychild was not at all sure that he was glad to see her. The mask she wore really did give her a very strange appearance. Still, he faced Hansel with a certain proud bearing. "That is it," he said.
And then he turned about again to look at the Masked Lady, for he had noted that there was something strange about her appearance.