owing away off into the sky
all by itself.

"Then at last when the rough wind, so forgetful, so careless, has had
all the fun it wants, then the people of the village all come together
and begin to wind up the spool and bring back the village where it was
before."

"O-o-h-h," said one uncle. "Um-m-m-m," said the other three uncles.

"And sometimes when you come to the village to see your little
relation, your niece who has four such sweet uncles, maybe she will
lead you through the middle of the city to the public square and show
you the roundhouse. They call it the Roundhouse of the Big Spool. And
they are proud because it was thought up and is there to show when
visitors come."

"And now will you answer the second question second--why do you have
two freckles on your chin?" interrupted the uncle who had said before,
"Interruptions nix nix."

"The freckles are put on," answered Wing Tip the Spick. "When a girl
goes away from the Village of Cream Puffs her mother puts on two
freckles, on the chin. Each freckle must be the same as a little burnt
cream puff kept in the oven too long. After the two freckles looking
like two little burnt cream puffs are put on her chin, they remind the
girl every morning when she combs her hair and looks in the looking
glass. They remind her where she came from and she mustn't stay away
too long."

"O-h-h-h," said one uncle. "Um-m-m-m," said the other three uncles.
And they talked among each other afterward, the four uncles by
themselves, saying:

"She has a gift. It is her eyes. They are so blue, such a clear light
blue, the same as cornflowers with blue raindrops shining and dancing
on silver leaves after a sun shower in any of the summer months."

At the same time Wing Tip the Spick was saying to herself, "I know for
sure now these are sweet uncles and I am going to have a sweet time
visiting my relations."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

How the Five Rusty Rats Helped Find a
New Village

One day while Wing Tip the Spick was visiting her four uncles in the
Village of Liver-and-Onions, a blizzard came up. Snow filled the sky
and the wind blew and made a noise like heavy wagon axles grinding and
crying.

And on this day a gray rat came to the house of the four uncles, a rat
with gray skin and gray hair, gray as the gray gravy on a beefsteak.
The rat had a basket. In the basket was a catfish. And