Page:St. Nicholas, vol. 40.1 (1912-1913).djvu/191

Rh friend. But the porcupine said again: “Pull as hard as you can, I tell you; never mind me!”

So again the boy pulled, and he felt the quill come out in his hands. Then the porcupine said: “Open your eyes, little brother, and let us see what we have here.”

So the boy opened his eyes, but, to his astonishment, instead of a porcupine’s quill in his hands he found a long, keen, steel needle that he, somehow, knew was just the thing to mend the wizard shoemaker’s leather apron.

So he said to the porcupine: “Thank you, good porcupine, for giving me this splendid needle.”

But the porcupine replied: “Thanks should be from me, for I surely should have drowned if you had not come to my aid. Besides, I go up and down in the world quite a bit, and I have always seen you helping some one; and I am sure that a boy who helps others will find help himself.”

So the boy stuck the needle carefully under the lapel of his coat, and went on his way. He had passed many a sunny hollow and many a shady wood, when he heard a deep “Moo-oo” of distress, and ran in the direction whence the sound came. Soon, in a sunny glade, he found a big mother-cow, calling loudly and looking this way and that, while tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Why, good mother-cow!” the boy cried, “what is the matter?”

“Alas!” said the cow, “I have lost my little calf. Always he waits for me in this sunny glade, but to-day I came back, and he is not here. I do not dare go to hunt for him lest he come while I am gone, so I can only stand here and call.”

“Be of good cheer,” said the boy, “I will help you find your little calf. Wait here, and I will bring him back to you’; and off he ran as fast as he could.

He had passed many a flowering shrub and many an ancient tree, when he came to a dark space in a tall wood whence came a faint cry of “Ma-a! Ma-a!” and he knew that he heard the voice of the little calf. Out of a big box-trap it came, one that men had set to catch a bear alive. Into this the little calf had wandered, and had sprung it.

“Be of good cheer,” called the boy, “I will soon let you out.” And he pulled with all his might at the door of the trap. But it had been made strong enough to hold a bear, and he could not move it. So he said again: “Be of good cheer, I will find some one stronger than I am to help me pull, and we will let you out.” And on he ran as fast as he could.

As he ran, he heard a sound of laughter coming from a sunny glade, and there he saw a big donkey, sitting down in the grass, his hind legs sticking straight out in front of him, his front hoofs planted between them, and his head wagging up and down, and his ears flopping. Every time he wagged his head he laughed, “Hee ha-aw! Hee ha-aw!” and, seeing him, the boy looked about in astonishment.

“Why, good donkey,” he said, “what is the joke?”

“I am,” replied the donkey, “and I am laughing at myself. Every day I draw big loads and love to do it, for I am quite the strongest donkey anywhere about. But to-day I thought I would have a vacation and rest here in the sun, and, do you know, I am so homesick for a good load to pull, that I do not know what to do.”

“Good!” said the boy, “come with me, and I will find for you the hardest pull you ever had.” Whereupon the donkey leaped to his feet, and ran with the boy toward the bear trap, laughing, “Hee ha-aw! Hee ha-aw!’’ as he went, so glad was he that he was to find hard work once more.

At the bear trap, the boy fastened the donkey securely to the door, took hold himself, and both pulled as hard as they could. It was a strong door, but nothing could withstand the joyous pull of that donkey, and with a crash they ripped it off the trap. The calf trotted out immediately, but neither he nor the boy had time to properly thank the donkey, who went right on, up the hill and through the wood, dragging the door after him, and laughing all the way in his joy at finding such hard work to do.

But the boy and calf ran as fast as they could to the sunny glade where the big mother-cow was waiting for them. Very glad, indeed, she was to see the calf, and soon he was eating his dinner while the mother-cow cried a little still, but now for joy, and smoothed his ruffled fur with her big red tongue.

“Thank you, kind boy,” she said, “for finding my little calf. I do not know what I should have done without your help. Now tell me, what can I do to help you?”

“I am glad to have aided you,” replied the boy, “but I fear there is nothing you can do to help me. I am journeying far to find a certain kind of thread. This morning I shot my arrow at a tree, but it glanced, and tore a big hole in the wizard shoemaker’s leather apron. I must mend this, or he will do me harm, and to do it I must have a certain kind of thread which neither man can give me, nor woman can give me; so I do not see how I am to get it.”

Then the cow smiled. “Perhaps I can help you in that, little brother,” she said. “Take hold