Page:Fairy tales and stories (Andersen, Tegner).djvu/377



"Look here!" said Daddy Dustman, "but don't he afraid! Here's a little mouse." And he held out his hand to him with the pretty little creature. "She has come to invite you to a wedding. There are two little mice who are going to get married to-night. They live down under the floor of your mother's larder, and they say it is such a nice place!"

"But how shall I he able to get through the little mouse-hole in the floor?" asked Hjalmar.

"Leave that to me," said Daddy Dustman, "I will make you small enough!" And then he touched Hjalmar with his magic squirt, who at once began to grow less and less, and at last he was no bigger than one's finger. "You can now borrow the tin soldier's clothes, which I think will fit you. It looks so smart to wear a uniform when you go to a party!" 345