Now Katrinka had called Matilda over to her own house to see the changes she had made and Matilda was beginning to see what she had missed all along.  And as they were talking, there came a noise at the front stoop.

“Shall I go to the door, Matilda?” asked Katrinka.

“No, I will go, Katrinka!” Matilda replied, her face alight with happiness.  So Matilda welcomed her guests as cheerily as Katrinka had done the evening before and the laughter lasted until ’way in the night.

And when the last guest had left, Matilda took Katrinka in her arms and said, “I will not need to change places with you again, Katrinka, for I have found that there is far more pleasure in being happy than in being unhappy!” “Of course there is, Matilda!” Katrinka replied.  “You see, in order to be happy ourselves we must reflect happiness to others, and the more cheer we give to others the more joy we receive ourselves, so we must continue to change from one house to another every other day so that no one will know which of us is Matilda and which is Katrinka and we will share our happiness with each other.”

So Matilda’s house was soon surrounded with beautiful flowers and her house echoed with the fun and laughter of happy children.

And the two sisters who looked alike now acted alike and could not be told apart, and they changed about so often people never knew whether they were visiting Katrinka or whether they were visiting Matilda, for one was as cheery as the other and was as happy in the love of all the people in the little village.

And, as they could not be told apart, everyone called Matilda or Katrinka the Cheery Twins whenever they spoke of either.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

LITTLE THUMBKIN’S GOOD DEED

Thumbkins lived in a tiny, cozy little house right down beneath a mushroom.  The tiny, little house was made of cobwebs which Thumbkins had gathered from the bushes and weeds.  These he had woven together with thistle-down, making the nicest little nest imaginable.

One day Thumbkins was passing through the meadow and it began to rain.  “Dear me!  I shall get soaking wet!” Thumbkins cried as he hurried along.

A mamma meadow-lark, sitting upon her nest, saw Thumbkins running and called to him:  “Come here, little man, and get beneath my wing and I will keep you warm and dry!”

So Thumbkins crawled beneath Mamma Meadow-Lark’s wings and, snuggling down close to the bottom of the meadow-lark’s nest, he found three tiny little baby meadow-larks.  It was too dark for Thumbkins to see them, but he felt that the baby Meadow-Larks were as warm as toast.

Thumbkins kept very quiet, for the baby meadow-larks were sleepy little fellows, and before he knew it Thumbkins was sound asleep himself, with an arm around one of the baby birds.

[Illustration]