“Why,” she exclaimed, smiling again, “I can sew them on, of course!” Then

    She heaved a sigh and wiped her eye
    And ran o’er hill and dale, oh. 
    And tried what she could
    As a shepherdess should,
    To tack to each sheep its tail, oh.

But the very first sheep she came to refused to allow her to sew on the tail, and ran away from her, and the others did the same, so that finally she was utterly discouraged.

She was beginning to cry again, when the same old woman she had before met came hobbling to her side and asked,

“What are you doing with my cat tails?”

“Your cat tails!” replied Bo-Peep, in surprise; “what do you mean?”

“Why, these tails are all cut from white pussycats, and I put them on the tree to dry.  What are you doing with them?”

“I thought they belonged to my sheep,” answered Bo-Peep, sorrowfully; “but if they are really your pussy-cat tails, I must hunt until I find those that belong to my sheep.”

“My dear,” said the old woman, “I have been deceiving you; you said you knew all about your sheep, and I wanted to teach you a lesson.  For, however wise we may be, no one in this world knows all about anything.  Sheep do not have long tails—­there is only a little stump to answer for a tail.  Neither do rabbits have tails, nor bears, nor many other animals.  And if you had been observing you would have known all this when I said the sheep would be wagging their tails behind them, and then you would not have passed all those days in searching for what is not to be found.  So now, little one, run away home, and try to be more thoughtful in the future.  Your sheep will never miss the tails, for they have never had them.”

And now

    Little Bo-Peep no more did weep;
    My tale of tails ends here. 
    Each cat has one,
    But sheep have none;
    Which, after all, is queer!

The Story of Tommy Tucker

The Story of Tommy Tucker

    Little Tommy Tucker sang for his supper. 
    What did he sing for? white bread and butter. 
    How could he cut it, without any knife? 
    How could he marry, without any wife?

Little Tommy Tucker was a waif of the streets.  He never remembered having a father or mother or anyone to care for him, and so he learned to care for himself.  He ate whatever he could get, and slept wherever night overtook him—­in an old barrel, a cellar, or, when fortune favored him, he paid a penny for a cot in some rude lodging-house.

His life about the streets taught him early how to earn a living by doing odd jobs, and he learned to be sharp in his speech and wise beyond his years.

One morning Tommy crawled out from a box in which he had slept over night, and found that he was hungry.  His last meal had consisted of a crust of bread, and he was a growing boy with an appetite.