self.

And where was Grannie all this time, you will say? Well, we shall see
presently.

"Come and sit down beside my bed, dearie," wheezed the Wolf, "and let
us have a little chat." Then the Wolf stretched out his large hairy
paws and began to unfasten the basket.

"Oh!" said Red Riding-Hood, "what great arms you have, Grannie!"

"All the better to hug you with," said the Wolf.

"And what great rough ears you have, Grannie!"

"All the better to hear you with, my little dear."

"And your eyes, Grannie; what great yellow eyes you have!"

"All the better to see you with, my pet," grinned the Wolf.

"And oh! oh! Grannie," cried the child, in a sad fright, "what great
sharp teeth you have!"

"All the better to eat you with!" growled the Wolf, springing up
suddenly at Red Riding-Hood. But just at that very moment the door
flew open, and two tall wood-cutters rushed in with their heavy axes,
and killed the wicked Wolf in far less time than it takes me to tell
you about it.

"But where is Grannie?" asked Little Red Riding-Hood, when she had
thanked the brave wood-cutters. "Oh! where can poor Grannie be? Can
the cruel Wolf have eaten her up?"

And she began to cry and sob bitterly--when, who should walk in but
Grannie herself, as large as life, and as hearty as ever, with her
marketing-basket on her arm! For it was another old dame in the
village who was not very well, and Grannie had been down to visit her
and give her some of her own famous herb-tea.

So everything turned out right in the end, and all lived happily
ever after; but I promise you that little Red Riding-Hood never made
friends with a Wolf again!

* * * * *

THE NAIL

A tradesman had once transacted a good day's business at a fair,
disposed of all his goods, and filled his purse with gold and silver.
He prepared afterward to return, in order to reach home by the
evening, so he strapped his portmanteau, with the money in it, upon
his horse's back, and rode off. At noon he halted in a small town, and
as he was about to set out again, the stable-boy who brought his horse
said to him: "Sir, a nail is wanting in the shoe on the left hind foot
of your animal."

"Let it be wanting," replied the tradesman; "I am in a hurry and the
iron will doubtless hold the six hours I have yet to travel."

Late in the afternoon he had to dismount again, and feed his horse,
and at this place also the boy came and told him t