With furious energy, he tore up
all his old vines, flung them over the fence, and, after that, spaded
up the melon-bed with the greatest care. Then he opened the paper and
poured the magical seeds into his hand.
There were only _four_--four wee seeds, each no bigger than a pin's
head! His first impulse was to fling them away in wrath, for he
thought such little things couldn't possibly make as big a fortune as
he wanted. But then he reflected, "Fairies are little, so I suppose
their seeds are little, too. I'll try them, anyhow." And with that he
put them in the ground and carefully covered them.
In an instant, the ground burst open in four places, and up shot four
sturdy melon-vines, that grew east, west, north, south!
Grew? No! they raced, they tore, they dashed through the country far
and wide! In no time, before Nimble Jim could get back to the house
door, the whole yard was full of melon-vine, and one great big melon,
bigger than the cottage itself, blocked the door-way.
[Illustration: THE MAGIC MELON OVERRUNS THE COUNTRY.
Pages:
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142