, if you can!
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!

_Little Old Woman._ Yes, he is calling to us from the wood. I thank you,
children, and now we will go home.

_Gingerbread Man_ (_in the wood_). Ah, ha! and they didn't catch me! and
now I am free to play in the wood. What a pleasant place!

_Mr. Fox._ Well, what sort of a funny little man is this?

_Gingerbread Man._

Ah, ha! ah, ha! catch me, if you can!
You can't catch me, I'm a gingerbread man!

_Mr. Fox._ Can't I? Well, I _have_ caught you; and now let me see if you
are good to eat. First, I'll try one of your arms. That tastes good!

_Gingerbread Man._ I'm going!

_Mr. Fox._ And now the other arm!

_Gingerbread Man._ I'm going!

_Mr. Fox._ Now for the leg.

_Gingerbread Man._ I'm going!

_Mr. Fox._ Really, Mr. Gingerbread Man, I think you are very good eating
for a hungry fox. Now I'll taste the other leg.

_Gingerbread Man._ I'm going!

_Mr. Fox._ Now for your round little body.

_Gingerbread Man._ I'm going!

_Mr. Fox._ There is not very much left. Just your head for the last
mouthful.

_Gingerbread Man._ I'm gone!

_Mr. Fox._ Yes, you're gone; and a very nice meal, Mr. Gingerbread Man.

THE GOOD FAIRY

SCENE I.--_In the Wood_

_The Good Fairy._ At last I am in this wood where I must save the Lady
Alice from danger. How dark it seems here after the bright light of my
skyey home. Surely I shall be glad to return to the courts of fairyland.
Yet it is pleasant to be of service to the young and innocent, to those
who are good and true. Some there are on earth who do not love the
truth, who do not do the things that are honest and kind, and they must
be punished. Kind and gentle deeds must be rewarded with our help.

Here in this dark grove dwells Comus, an evil spirit, who loves not the
good. Here he finds the unlucky traveler and takes him to his court.
There he offers him food and a pleasant drink. But in the glass is a
potion which drives memory from the mind and makes one forget home and
friends. Then the unhappy traveler loses his human head and must have
the head of some animal or bird. Comus enjoys seeing his victims act
like wild and foolish animals or the forest.

In this dangerous wood the Lady Alice and her brothers are wandering,
and my duty it is to protect them from the evil Comus. Hark! I think I
hear the noisy band. Here will I hide and listen.

[_Comus and his crew enter; men and women with an