ous Trifles
II A Piece of Chalk
III The Secret of a Train
IV The Perfect Game
V The Extraordinary Cabman
VI An Accident
VII The Advantages of Having One Leg
VIII The End of the World
IX In the Place de la Bastille
X On Lying in Bed
XI The Twelve Men
XII The Wind and the Trees
XIII The Dickensian
XIV In Topsy-Turvy Land
XV What I Found in My Pocket
XVI The Dragon's Grandmother
XVII The Red Angel
XVIII The Tower
XIX How I Met the President
XX The Giant
XXI The Great Man
XXII The Orthodox Barber
XXIII The Toy Theatre
XXIV A Tragedy of Twopence
XXV A Cab Ride Across Country
XXVI The Two Noises
XXVII Some Policemen and a Moral
XXVIII The Lion
XXIX Humanity: An Interlude
XXX The Little Birds Who Won't Sing
XXXI The Riddle of the Ivy
XXXII The Travellers in State
XXXIII The Prehistoric Railway Station
XXXIV The Diabolist
XXXV A Glimpse of My Country
XXXVI A Somewhat Improbable Story
XXXVII The Shop of Ghosts
XXXVIII The Ballade of a Strange Town
XXXIX The Mystery of a Pageant

I. Tremendous Trifles

Once upon a time there were two little boys who lived chiefly in the
front garden, because their villa was a model one. The front garden was
about the same size as the dinner table; it consisted of four strips of
gravel, a square of turf with some mysterious pieces of cork standing up
in the middle and one flower bed with a row of red daisies. One morning
while they were at play in these romantic grounds, a passing individual,
probably the milkman, leaned over the railing and engaged them in
philosophical conversation. The boys, whom we will call Paul and Peter,
were at least sharply interested in his remarks. For the milkman (who
was, I need say, a fairy) did his duty in that state of life by offering
them in the regulation manner anything that they chose to ask for. And
Paul closed with the offer with a business-like abruptness, explaining
that he had long wished to be a giant that he might stride across
continents and oceans and visit Niagara or the Himalayas in an afternoon
dinner stroll. The milkman producing a wand from his breast pocket,
waved it in