“Yes, Mammy,” said Epaminondas.

Then Epaminondas’ Mammy put on her bonnet and her shawl and took a basket in her hand and went away to see Auntie.  The six mince pies sat cooling in a row on the doorstep.

And then,—­and then,—­Epaminondas was careful how he stepped on those pies!

He stepped (imitate)—­right—­in—­the—­middle—­of—­every—­one.

* * * * *

And, do you know, children, nobody knows what happened next!  The person who told me the story didn’t know; nobody knows.  But you can guess.

FOOTNOTES: 

[19] A Negro nonsense tale from the Southern States of America.

THE BOY WHO CRIED “WOLF!”

There was once a shepherd-boy who kept his flock at a little distance from the village.  Once he thought he would play a trick on the villagers and have some fun at their expense.  So he ran toward the village crying out, with all his might,—­

“Wolf!  Wolf!  Come and help!  The wolves are at my lambs!”

The kind villagers left their work and ran to the field to help him.  But when they got there the boy laughed at them for their pains; there was no wolf there.

Still another day the boy tried the same trick, and the villagers came running to help and got laughed at again.

Then one day a wolf did break into the fold and began killing the lambs.  In great fright, the boy ran for help.  “Wolf!  Wolf!” he screamed.  “There is a wolf in the flock!  Help!”

The villagers heard him, but they thought it was another mean trick; no one paid the least attention, or went near him.  And the shepherd-boy lost all his sheep.

That is the kind of thing that happens to people who lie:  even when they tell the truth no one believes them.

THE FROG KING

Did you ever hear the old story about the foolish Frogs?  The Frogs in a certain swamp decided that they needed a king; they had always got along perfectly well without one, but they suddenly made up their minds that a king they must have.  They sent a messenger to Jove and begged him to send a king to rule over them.

Jove saw how stupid they were, and sent a king who could not harm them:  he tossed a big log into the middle of the pond.

At the splash the Frogs were terribly frightened, and dived into their holes to hide from King Log.  But after a while, when they saw that the king never moved, they got over their fright and went and sat on him.  And as soon as they found he really could not hurt them they began to despise him; and finally they sent another messenger to Jove to ask for a new king.

Jove sent an eel.

The Frogs were much pleased and a good deal frightened when King Eel came wriggling and swimming among them.  But as the days went on, and the eel was perfectly harmless, they stopped being afraid; and as soon as they stopped fearing King Eel they stopped respecting him.