Chapter I: Front Matter

THE WELL IN THE WOOD

_BOOKS BY BERT LESTON TAYLOR_

A PENNY WHISTLE
THE SO-CALLED HUMAN RACE
THE WELL IN THE WOOD

_And others in a uniform collected edition, to be ready later_

_New York: Alfred · A · Knopf_

The Well in the
Wood

by
Bert Leston Taylor

_With illustrations by
F. Y. Cory_

New York 1922
Alfred · A · Knopf

COPYRIGHT, 1904, 1922, BY
ALFRED A. KNOPF, INC.

_Published, September, 1922_

MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

“THE BACILLUS DEDICATORY”

I had intended dedicating this little book to Mr. Henry B. Fuller, to whose friendship and criticism I owe much; but finally I decided it were wiser to refrain. The explanation of my change of mind is contained in the paragraph which follows:

“In this part of the world,” wrote Mr. Fuller, not long ago, “the bacillus dedicatory hardly survives within us up to middle age, but there is no denying that it is terribly active in most beginners, and that the ingenuous gratitude of these gives their established elders considerable cause for embarrassment. Have I written a successful story? Then I cast about for some well-known name, ‘higher up,’ with which to adorn thy fly-leaf and to ease my overpowering sense of obligation. The effort on the part of these various celebrities to elude my homage is the liveliest side of the literary game, and not the least instructive phase of unwritten literary history.”

THE STORIED ROADS OF FAIRYLAND

The dinner done, the lamp is lit,
And in its mellow glow we sit
And talk of matters, grave and gay,
That went to make another day.
Comes Little One, a book in hand,
With this request--nay, this command--
(For who’d gainsay the little sprite):
“Please--will you read to me to-night?”

Read to you, Little One? Why, yes.
What shall it be to-night? You guess
You’d like to hear about the bears--
Their bowls of porridge, beds and chairs?
Well, that you shall.... There! that tale’s done!
And now--you’d like another one?
To-morrow evening, Curly Head,
It’s “hass-pass seven!” Off to bed!

So each night another story:--
Wicked dwarfs and giants gory;
Dragons fierce and princes daring,
Forth to fame and fortune faring;
Wandering tots, with leaves for bed;
Houses made of gingerbread;
Witches bad and fairies good;
And all the wonders of the wood.

“I like the witches best,” says she
Who nightly nestles on my knee;
But why by them she sets such store
Psychologists must puzzle o’er.
Her likes are mine, and I agree
With all that she confides to me.
And thus we travel, hand in hand,
The storied roads of Fairyland.

Ah, Little One, when years have fled,
And left their silver on my head,
And when the dimming eyes of age
With difficulty scan the page,
Perchance I’ll turn the tables then;
Perchance _I’ll_ put the question, when
I borrow of your better sight:
“Please--will you read to me to-night?”

CONTENTS

I ENCHANTER’S NIGHTSHADE 1

II ON THE WAY TO BEAVERTOWN 9

III THE LAZIEST BEAVER 17

IV “WHY DOES A RABBIT WABBLE HIS NOSE?” 27

V THE GUINEA-PIG WHOSE EYES FELL OUT 38

VI THE WHITE BLACKBIRD 47

VII A TRAVELED DONKEY 61

VIII OLD SAWS IN NEW SETTINGS 72

IX TROUBLES OF A BEAR 81

X THE WEE BEAR’S BIRTHDAY PARTY 91

XI A LONG DISPUTE ENDED 105

XII THE FLIGHT OF THE LOON 114

XIII “MARY’S LITTLE LAMB” 125

XIV “ONE FROM TWO LEAVES FOUR” 138

XV AT THE CORNER 149

XVI A FROLIC IN THE FOREST 158

XVII DOCTOR GOOSE’S LECTURE 170

XVIII THE WELL IN THE WOOD 177

XIX DISENCHANTMENT 186

FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS

AND NOW VANISHED IN THE DEPTHS OF THE WELL _Frontispiece_

AND LED THE WAY INTO A THICKET 13

WHICH GREW FAINTER AND FAINTER 25

BUT I’VE CAUGHT YOU 54

THEY SET OFF THROUGH THE WOOD 77

I MEAN I CAN’T SLEEP 89

HAVE YOU HEARD “NOBODY KNOWS”? 120

AND BEHOLD THEY _Were_ ROSES 127

THE WELL IN THE WOOD