n't, and the
ball players had to admit it. "You will have to pay for my hat, Jimmie,"
grandpa continued, looking again at two ragged holes. "Have you any money
now?"

"No," said Jimmie, and he was crying real hard by this time. Then all the
other boys felt badly, too, and they were just looking in their pockets to
see if they had any money, but they hadn't. All they had was some marbles,
and tops, and broken knives, and chewing gum, all sticky, and some
strings.

Then it began to look as if Grandfather Goosey-Gander would never have a
new hat, but, all at once, there was a buzzing sound in the air, and what
should come flying along but a darning needle. You know what I mean: one
of those funny, long bugs sometimes called a dragon fly, with beautiful
wings, and long legs and body.

"What is the trouble?" asked the darning needle, and then the boys told
him about the broken hat. "Ah," said the darning needle, careless-like,
"do not distress yourself, Jimmie. I know you are a good boy. To fix that
hat is a mere trifle for me, and I'll do it."

And what did that dragon-fly-darning-needle do but buzz back and forth,
all around the holes in Grandfather Goosey-Gander's tall hat, right
through the hat itself, until he had the holes all sewed up, and you could
hardly tell where they were.

Then Mrs. Spider came along, and she spun some glossy silk web over the
places where the seams were, and presto-chango! if that hat wasn't as good
as ever!

Well, you can just imagine how glad Jimmie was that he didn't have to pay
for it. And his grandpa was pleased, too, and so were the boys. Then the
darning needle flew away, Mrs. Spider crawled off, Grandfather
Goosey-Gander went to the bank, the boys played ball some more and
everything was lovely.

Now, if the window curtain doesn't fly up lickety-split and come off the
roller, I'll tell you to-morrow night about Jimmie flying a kite.

STORY XXX

JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE'S KITE

Jimmie Wibblewobble was out flying his kite. He had made it all himself,
out of sticks, and paste, and paper and strings, and it was a very fine
kite indeed. It was nearly as large as the little boy duck, and it was the
kind of a kite that doesn't need a tail. That was good, because a tail
gets all tangled up in the weeds.

Well, Jimmie was flying his kite, and the wind was pretty strong, and the
kite was pulling real hard, just like a little dog pulls, when you tie a
rope to his collar, and he w