at her and I said, 'Thank you, I know you are taking that to Mother
Huldah; let me carry it the rest of the way.'"

But Mother Huldah cried, "Maybe the dinner wasn't for me, and you
frightened her so she had to give it to you."

Tommie yawned again. "Don't you think that the best thing you can do with
a good dinner is to eat it?"

So Mother Huldah ate her dinner, hoping all the while that she was making
an honest meal; then, when she had fed Thomas, she asked him if
Charlemagne was on the roof. "Indeed, no!" cried he. "Charlemagne has
flown to the war country to fetch you a baby!"

"Alas!" cried Mother Huldah. "I pity the poor babes, but how can I bring
up a baby?"

"It is your granddaughter," said Tommie. "Charlemagne told me that a year
ago your son Rupert married, but he meant to bring his bride home as a
surprise to you. Then the war broke out and--"

"O poor little daughter-in-law!" cried Mother Huldah. "Did she break
her heart?"

"Yes, and so she followed Rupert to the Country of the Brave Souls; but
Charlemagne is fetching the baby in a warm woolen napkin tied up at the
four corners; and when his wings get tired from flying he puts a bit of
sugar and a drop of water in the baby's mouth and leans his feathery
breast against its little feet to keep them warm!"