Page:The Children Who Followed the Piper.djvu/158

THE CHILDREN "You will make patchwork dresses for the ladies of the court to wear in Lent," said the Piper.

"I'd just love to do that," said Meg.

"And what will I be?" said Tom-Tom, the Piper's son.

"You will be the one who will play the geese home in the evenings," said the Piper.

"I'd love to do that," said Tom-Tom.

It was settled that every child should have something very nice to do in the country that Prester John ruled over. The baker's thirteen children, boys and girls, were to bake buns with currants in them for the pages in the court and tarts with damsons in them for the maids of honor; Angelus and Angelica were to ring the silver bells that were in the kiosks in the King's eastern garden; Elizabeth, Betty, Betsy, and Bess were to mind the cats and the kittens; Jack and Jill and Wee Willie Winkie were to keep guard on the gallery of parrots; Jack Sprat, Jack Snipe, and Jack Horner were to keep the