it tired, for the shingle man nailed his
shingles before he could wink, and he felt hurried all the time.

So he said that he was ready, and the foreman took him under his arm
and carried him down the ladder that way.

"Good-bye," he called to the shingle men as he was going down.

"Good-bye," the shingle men called to David. "We're much obliged."

"You're welcome," David called back to the shingle men.

Then he was set down on the ground, and he was rather glad to feel the
ground again.

And his cat came running, with her bushy tail straight up in the air,
and David started off.

"Where are you going so fast?" the foreman asked.

David stopped for a moment.

"I've got to go home now."

"To tell your mother that you've been shingling?"

David nodded, and he smiled shyly.

"Well, good-bye, Davie," the foreman said.

"Good-bye," said David.

And he turned again and ran to his cart, and he took up the handle.

And he started walking as fast as he could, dragging his cart, with
his shovel and his hoe rattling in the bottom, and his cat ran on
ahead; and she ran right up the front steps and in at the door, and
David came after.

But he left his cart in the path.

And that's all of the shingle story.

VII

THE PLUMBER STORY

Once upon a time there was a little boy, and he was almost five years
old, and his name was David. And there weren't any other children near
for him to play with, so he used to play happily all by himself.

He had his cat and his cart and his shovel and his hoe, and he always
wore his overalls when he was playing.

They were building a new house in the field next to David's house, and
it was all done on the outside, but it wasn't painted.

And the men were working inside, for David could hear the hammering,
and sometimes he could hear them sawing.

One morning, after breakfast, David went to his mother and said that
the foreman wanted him to come to the new house that morning, for the
plumbers would be there.

He didn't know what plumbers were.

"What are plumbers, mother?"

"They are men who mend the pipes, dear," his mother answered.

"What pipes?" he asked. "Are the pipes broken?"

His mother laughed. "Well, I suppose they put in the water pipes, and
the bathtubs and the basins and the hot-water boiler and all those
things."

David nodded, and let his mother kiss him, and then he went out.

And his cat was there, waiting for him, and his cart was there,