ou wait here till I come
back!"

Very slowly he walked to the door. His heart beat so hard he could hear
it thumping. As he stood in the door-way, a shame-faced little Billy,
his mother looked up and said, "Did you come to help mother shell the
peas?" For that is what she was doing. But Billy did not answer. He
walked up close to her. "Mother," he said, "I--I bwoke a cup!"

"Yes, darling," she said, putting her arm around him, "Mother knows
it. She found the pieces. And she's been wondering if her little boy
wouldn't come in and tell her all about it."

Billy looked up and saw on her face the wonderful smile that he loved.

"I thought you would be sorry!" he said.

"I am sorry, Billy, that you broke the cup but I am glad--so glad--that
you were brave enough to tell Mother the truth about it. Mother wants
you to grow up to be a brave man." She raised his face and kissed both
his flushed little cheeks.

"I'll be back in a minute, Mother," he said, as he drew away and ran
out of the door. There was the grasshopper, hopping around. When he saw
Billy, he stopped.

"Didn't I tell you!" he said, for he saw Billy's smiling face and knew
he was happy again.

"How did you know?" asked Billy.

The grasshopper put his head on one side and said,

"Oh, I am a grasshopper, very, very wise!
I know about everything underneath the skies!"

At that he hopped such a big hop, Billy could not see where he went.
So he called out, "Good-bye, Grasshopper!"

Then he looked at his sad little toys, lying on the ground, and said,
"I'll be back after while to play with you! I am going in to help my
mother shell the peas!" And away he ran as fast as his little legs would
carry him.

A HAPPY DAY

Billy was off for a walk. He had kissed his mother good-bye; he had
stood his toys up in the corner; and now, with his little lunch-basket
in his hand, he was running down to the gate when somebody said,
"Good-morning, Billy! Where are you going?"

[Illustration: The grasshopper hopped such big hops.]

He looked around and there sat a grasshopper on a blade of grass.

"Good-morning, Grasshopper," said Billy. "I'm going for a walk."

"I should like to go with you," said the grasshopper. "May I?"

"Of course!" answered Billy. "Shall we run a race?"

They were off like the wind, but the grasshopper hopped such big hops,
he had to wait for Billy to catch up after each hop.

"Stop running!" he called out as he sat waiting.