quote you tell such good stories,” said dorothy, “i would like very much to hear one to-day.”
the chair laughed merrily and said: “i think i will tell you about little miss helpful.”
little miss helpful was a dear little girl, who lived in a dear little cottage with a dear little grandmother. in front of the cottage was a pretty garden, with balsams and four-o’clocks and lazy hollyhocks basking in the sunshine. there was also a little bed of crisp lettuce, another of tender string beans, and best of all, a strawberry patch.
in the back of the cottage was a large yard where a busy mother hen and a brood of twelve downy chicks scratched and chuckled all day long. the little girl that i am going to tell you about was no larger than yourself, but she was such an industrious little body that every one called her little miss helpful. while the chicks were just toddling about in the yard, she would sit and watch them because a certain black cat in the neighborhood had his eye on them and longed to get one for his dinner. sometimes she hemmed a kerchief, or made a little duster while she was “minding” the chickens, and sometimes she read fairy stories all by herself. every day she managed to get a few minutes to weed the garden, especially the strawberry patch.
i cannot tell you about all the steps she saved her dear old grandmother. it would take too long. i will merely mention the fact that she could dust as nicely as a tidy housemaid, wipe the dishes so carefully that none got broken and she could gather a basket of chips for her grandma’s fire in the shortest possible time.
one day she was sitting in the back yard196 “minding” the chickens. it was dreamy summer weather, and soft white clouds floated in the blue sky. suddenly a bluebird lighted on a branch over her head and began to sing. the little girl listened to the bird and when he had finished he flew right down on her head. she was very much surprised and put up her hand to catch the bird. but he had flown away and on her head was a blue silk bonnet with long strings. she was so excited that she arose from her little chair and lo! her gingham dress disappeared and she had on the most beautiful blue silk frock and dear little blue satin slippers.
“are you ready?” said a voice, and little miss helpful saw a beautiful fairy sitting in a golden chariot.
“please, good fairy, i cannot leave the chicks,” said the little girl; “a cat might take one.”
“she will watch the chickens until you return,” said the fairy, and she pointed to a little197 girl in her little chair that looked just like miss helpful.
then little miss helpful stepped into the golden chariot and was soon driving through the woodlands beside the beautiful fairy.
“i am going to take you to a party this afternoon; would you like to go?”
“very much indeed, thank you,” replied the little girl, and she looked down at her blue silk dress and her little satin slippers and smiled with pleasure.
suddenly they stopped before a great golden castle, and in a few minutes little miss helpful was walking up the steps with the beautiful fairy. when they were inside the castle the fairy said: “now i must leave you, but you can find the way yourself. go down the long hall and open the golden door.”
the fairy disappeared and miss helpful started to walk down the long hall. as she went along she saw a pin on the floor, and being198 a careful little soul she stopped and picked it up. the instant she took the pin from the floor it turned into a beautiful fairy who said, “i will bestow upon thee this gift, thou shalt always be clean and bright as a new pin.”
the fairy disappeared when she had said the words and little miss helpful continued to walk toward the golden door.
suddenly she saw a half-wilted rose lying in a corner. she picked it up and it turned into a beautiful fairy who said, “thou shalt be as lovely as a rose, and thy helpful ways like its fragrance bring delight to all who know thee.” this fairy also disappeared and just then the little girl found herself before the golden door.
she opened it and entered a magnificent room where beautiful kings and queens were dancing. they were all dressed in spangled white robes, but little miss helpful had the most beautiful dress in the room.
a handsome prince came forward to meet199 little miss helpful and the next minute she was dancing around the room with him.
she was feeling very happy when all at once she heard a chicken squeal. “a cat!” cried little miss helpful, and she darted for the door, ran through the hall and out into the woodlands as fast as she could go. the wind was blowing and suddenly her blue silk bonnet fell off. she never stopped to pick it up, but ran on toward her grandmother’s cottage. she never noticed in her hurry that the minute her blue bonnet came off the silk dress disappeared and she had on her old gingham frock again.
she was quite out of breath when she reached the back yard. she hurriedly counted the chicks and to her dismay found only eleven. one was missing and she could have cried she felt so disappointed. she called, “grandma, grandma!”
“what is it, dearie?” said the old lady, coming to the door.
200 “alas! grandma, one of the chicks is missing,” cried the little girl, and two big tears rolled down her cheeks.
“don’t cry,” said her grandmother, “but look around and see if you can find it. i will watch the chickens till you return.”
little miss helpful walked all around the field, calling, “chick, chick, come chickey, chickey.” “perhaps it strayed away,” she said to herself and she took the path for the woods and looked behind the bushes, but she could not find her chicken. all at once she saw a little girl coming toward her. the girl was swinging a blue silk bonnet in her hand and as she came nearer little miss helpful saw that it was her cousin, nannie worthless, who lived in the village.
“see,” said nannie, holding up the blue bonnet, “i found it in the woods and i am going to keep it.”
“it belongs to me,” cried little miss helpful, “i lost it a little while ago.”
201 “you lost it,” said nannie with scorn. “why, you never had a bonnet like this in your life.”
“you may keep the bonnet, i don’t want it,” replied miss helpful; “but tell me, did you see a little chick?”
nannie laughed loudly and said:
“did you lose the chick when you lost the bonnet?”
then little miss helpful knew that nannie was making fun of her, so she went quietly on her way and did not answer, while her cousin continued homeward with the beautiful bonnet.
little miss helpful looked everywhere but the chick could not be found, so at last she turned her footsteps home, feeling very sad.
she had almost reached her grandmother’s gate, when she met johnny wander, a village lad.
“have you seen anything of a little chick?” asked the girl, and johnny rolled his eyes and202 said he thought he saw a chick running toward the village.
“perhaps it is mine,” cried miss helpful, and she ran toward the village, but not a trace of the lost chicken could be seen. suddenly she heard a loud trumpet call, and all the people seemed to be hurrying to the village green.
“what is the matter?” asked miss helpful of an old woman she met on the way.
“why, child,” said the old woman, “don’t you know that all the village maidens are assembled on the green by order of the prince. he is going to select a princess. i must hurry to see who is the lucky maid!”
little miss helpful thought with a pang that she might have been with all the village maidens, if it had not been for the lost chicken.
“i will go home now to grandma,” said the little girl; “the black cat must have caught it.”
just then she reached the village green and203 there were all the maidens standing in a row waiting for the prince.
they looked very pretty, especially nannie worthless, who wore the blue silk bonnet.
in a few minutes the prince drove up in his golden chariot and dear little miss helpful saw that it was the very prince that she had danced with in the golden castle. but alas! he never looked at her in her old gingham dress. he saw nannie worthless, and making a low courtesy before her, said, “ah! i think i have seen this bonnet before.”
nannie blushed and smiled at the prince, who helped her into the golden chariot. little miss helpful stood apart from the crowd and felt sad indeed when she realized that the blue bonnet had won the prince’s heart. all at once a great gust of wind came along and blew the bonnet off nannie’s head. the handsome prince jumped out of the chariot and ran to catch it. away went the bonnet with the204 prince after it until all of a sudden it dropped right on the head of little miss helpful and stayed there as nice as could be.
now a strange thing happened. no sooner did the blue bonnet touch little miss helpful, than her gingham dress changed to the blue silk frock and her feet were encased in the dear little blue satin slippers again. in fact there she stood just as she had appeared in the golden castle.
everybody was very much surprised, and nannie had to get out of the golden chariot before all the people.
the prince bowed low before little miss helpful, saying, “this is my true princess,” and he helped her into his golden chariot.
the people were all delighted because they loved little miss helpful and knew her goodness. the prince drove through the village while all the folks cheered and showed their good will. all except nannie worthless, who was very angry. as the prince approached little miss helpful’s cottage, there stood her dear old grandmother at the gate and in her hand was the lost chicken.
“why, grandma, where did you find the chicken?” asked the little girl. her grandmother laughed and said, “i found it sound asleep in my best lace cap.”
