Good Cheer Stories Every Child Should Know | Page 3

in
single file, each laden with a great sack of flour. Mother Mitchel, after
having examined the quality of the flour, had every sack accurately
weighed. This was head work and hard work, and took time; but

Mother Mitchel was untiring, and her cat, also, for while the operation
lasted he sat on the roof watching. It is only just to say that the millers
of the Greedy Kingdom brought flour not only faultless but of full
weight. They knew that Mother Mitchel was not joking when she said
that others must be as exact with her as she was with them. Perhaps
also they were a little afraid of the cat, whose great green eyes were
always shining upon them like two round lamps, and never lost sight of
them for one moment.
All the farmers' wives arrived in turn, with baskets of eggs upon their
heads. They did not load their donkeys with them, for fear that in
jogging along they would become omelettes on the way. Mother
Mitchel received them with her usual gravity. She had the patience to
look through every egg to see if it were fresh.
She did not wish to run the risk of having young chickens in a tart that
was destined for those who could not bear the taste of any meat
however tender and delicate. The number of eggs was complete, and
again Mother Mitchel and her cat had nothing to complain of. This
Greedy nation, though carried away by love of good eating, was strictly
honest. It must be said that where nations are patriotic, desire for the
common good makes them unselfish. Mother Mitchel's tart was to be
the glory of the country, and each one was proud to contribute to such a
great work.
And now the milkmaids with their pots and pails of milk, and the
buttermakers with their baskets filled with the rich yellow pats of butter,
filed in long procession to the right and left of the cabin of Mother
Mitchel. There was no need for her to examine so carefully the butter
and the milk. She had such a delicate nose that if there had been a
single pat of ancient butter or a pail of sour milk she would have
pounced upon it instantly. But all was perfectly fresh. In that golden
age they did not understand the art, now so well known, of making
milk out of flour and water. Real milk was necessary to make
cheesecakes and ice cream and other delicious confections much
adored in the Greedy Kingdom. If any one had made such a despicable
discovery, he would have been chased from the country as a public

nuisance.
Then came the grocers, with their aprons of coffee bags, and with the
jolly, mischievous faces the rogues always have. Each one clasped to
his heart a sugar loaf nearly as large as himself, whose summit, without
its paper cap, looked like new-fallen snow upon a pyramid. Mother
Mitchel, with her crutch for a baton, saw them all placed in her
storerooms upon shelves put up for the purpose. She had to be very
strict, for some of the little fellows could hardly part from their
merchandise, and many were indiscreet, with their tongues behind their
great mountains of sugar. If they had been let alone, they would never
have stopped till the sugar was all gone. But they had not thought of the
implacable eye of old Fanfreluche, who, posted upon a water spout,
took note of all their misdeeds. From another quarter came a whole
army of country people, rolling wheelbarrows and carrying huge
baskets, all filled with cherries, plums, peaches, apples, and pears. All
these fruits were so fresh, in such perfect condition, with their fair
shining skins, that they looked like wax or painted marble, but their
delicious perfume proved that they were real. Some little people,
hidden in the corners, took pains to find this out. Between ourselves,
Mother Mitchel made believe not to see them, and took the precaution
of holding Fanfreluche in her arms so that he could not spring upon
them. The fruits were all put into bins, each kind by itself. And now the
preparations were finished. There was no time to lose before setting to
work.
The spot which Mother Mitchel had chosen for her great edifice was a
pretty hill on which a plateau formed a splendid site. This hill
commanded the capital city, built upon the slope of another hill close
by. After having beaten down the earth till it was as smooth as a floor,
they spread over it loads of bread crumbs, brought from the baker's, and
levelled it with rake and spade, as we do gravel in our garden walks.
Little birds, as greedy as themselves, came