The Adventures of Herr Baby

s home wher

together and

h Ba

d have been in trouble if auntie had not come to look, for him-- that is to say if the old man and the young woman had allowed him to set off on his journey home alone. I don't thin

it was, at auntie's being so late. He, too, tried not to look cross, poor old gentleman, but any one who knew him at all well could not help seeing as he moved about the room, sometimes giving a poke to the wood fire which was burning quite brightly as it was, sometimes sharply pulling open one of the window-shutters and looking out, as if

of my eldest daughter," he said, "not to be in before

g the matter with Miss Leonard?" ("Miss Leonard" was what Fritz called auntie's "

Mother had whispered to the lady beside her, who was an old and dear friend, how frightened she was about Herr Ba

"oh no, of course I'm not uneasy. My daughter Helen can take care of herself. I am only ver

, and this made him still crosser. She was not such a sensible lady as old Mrs. Bryan in the arm-chair opposite, who chatte

Tell one of the children to ring and order it up at once. Why, they're not here

don't know why dinner isn't ready yet, but I think it can't

aren't they down?" s

r hes

she said. "The girls have be

r find out that there was something wrong, and indeed neither Celia, nor Denny, nor Fritz, would have been able to stay still in the room for five minutes. They were peeping ou

n the nursery, with deep breaths, of "that

well-known, funny little figure was not perched on it. And Lisa, with a face swollen so that no one would have known her, fussing away to have the kettle boiling, so that her darling should have some hot tea as soon as ever he came in-for she wouldn't allow but that he would soon come in, though sad little stories kept running th

ncy, it was much worse. There she had to sit smiling and talking as if everything were quite nice and comfortable, not only for the sake of the friends who had come to dine with them, but stil

patience w

" said grandfather again, and if the children had been in the room I think his voice would have made them jump, "it is using our frie

p-it was all she could d

aid, "I will

en somehow the handle turned, much more quickly than was usually the case when it was Baby's small hands that were stretching up to reach it-I rather think some one must have been behind to help him-the door opened and-oh such a funny little figure came in! You know who it was of course, but it would be very difficult to tell you exactly what he looked like. He was dressed just as he had been for playing in the garden-a little short thick jacket over his holland blouse, which was no longer very clean; his short scarlet socks and oldest boots on his legs, the bare part of which looked very red and cold, and what had been his best straw hat with part of the brim dangling down, on his cur

bout everything, except that her baby was found, up jumped mother, a rosy flush coming over her face which had looked so white and sad, pretty mother with her silvery silky dress and her sweet eyes filled with tears, and

g, except that her baby was fo

to E

s own account and they had been afraid of his losing his way, that was what had kept her out so late, and she was so sorry. Auntie had such a nice clear simple way of

, "poor children! May, y

ie to hear what she was saying. They were all very kind and very sorry and ver

im's got somesing so pitty, but

, and began undoing them. They all watched him, but he didn't care, and he would let nobody h

o! Them's for you, mother, 'cos him boked you's 'nother ones. Him founded them himself in

g, half crying, and tried to say to the ladies and gentlemen that she hoped they

aby was qu

ll go to tea, for him's raver hungry. But p'ease

n grandfather came forward and in his tur

"you are so kind; I should ask you to forgive our want of po

Herr Baby and gave him over to Lisa, weeping fo

as he sat at the table answering all the questions of Celia and Denny and Fritz and Lisa about his adventures. How had he found his way? How had he made the old man understand what he wanted? Hadn't he been frighten

very hungry, and they set to work at their tea, and for a while there was silence

girl that keeped the shiny gla

?" said the child

oung woman's littl

girl. Him means a little girl up on the wall-

eat satisfaction, and Celia and Denny whispered to each other that

by, would have been spoilt by all the petting the ladies wanted to give him. But his eyes were fixed on one thing, or rather on two things, on the table, one in front of mother at one end, one in front of grandfather at the other, there they

id again to mother, as

how sorry she had been to have the first jugs broken, and how sweet she thought it of him to have got her new o

ut the next day she made him understand; and Baby "p'omised" he would never again set off on h

tory of the broken jugs

r old favourite corners. The "labbits" were well and happy; Jones and Thomas had come to meet them at the railway station with broad smiles on their honest faces; all the house looked bright and smiling, too, it had been so well rubbed up to receive them-altogether Herr Baby thought "coming ba

with real hair, in a stable, from mother, and the coachman's whip to crack at them from Fritz, and the pair of slippers Celia and Denny had worked for him, one foot each, and the birthday cake all snowed over with sugar, and with his name on in pink, from grandfather and mother together, "'asides their other presents." It quite took Herr Baby's breath away to think all these lovely things were for him; he sat at the nursery table quite unable to eat his breakfast, something like Fritz the morning they were starting on their journey, do you remember? till Lisa persuaded him to eat, by telling him if he didn't, he would be so tired that he wouldn't enjoy his birthday

r Baby had not heard her. She leant over his chair

id; "him has such lots of p'esents, h

get it-indeed, I thought of it a long time ago, as you will s

s rather surprised when she led him to his own room-that is to say, to the p

Baby," s

ing, and the last at night, hung the picture of the blue-eyed little girl, the dear little girl of long ago, with her sweet rosy face, and queer

ore. He just stared up at the sweet little face, clasping his hands, as if h

to have him's own pitty little girl always smiling a

ear. She is y

will show her to him's children and him's g'a

auntie again, smiling at

a fairy. Auntie, him would so like to hear all the

ill better, perhaps the little girl will whis

er to let him bring up the shiny jugs to show them to the pitty little girl? Her would like to see them

E

. & R. Clark