Little Mr. Thimblefinger and His Queer Country   By: Joel Chandler Harris (1848-1908)

What the Children Saw and Heard there

BY

JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS AUTHOR OF "UNCLE REMUS," ETC.

ILLUSTRATED BY OLIVER HERFORD

[Illustration]

BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY The Riverside Press, Cambridge 1895

Copyright, 1894, BY JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS AND HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.

All rights reserved.

The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A. Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton and Company

Books by Joel Chandler Harris.

NIGHTS WITH UNCLE REMUS. Illustrated. 12mo, $1.50; paper, 50 cents.

MINGO, AND OTHER SKETCHES IN BLACK AND WHITE. 16mo, $1.25; paper, 50 cents.

BALAAM AND HIS MASTER, AND OTHER SKETCHES. 16mo, $1.25.

UNCLE REMUS AND HIS FRIENDS. Illustrated. 12mo, $1.50.

LITTLE MR. THIMBLEFINGER AND HIS QUEER COUNTRY. Illustrated. Crown 8vo, $2.00

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. BOSTON AND NEW YORK.

[Illustration: MR. RABBIT FELL KERTHUMP. Page 41.]

A LITTLE NOTE TO A LITTLE BOOK.

The stories that follow belong to three categories. Some of them were gathered from the negroes, but were not embodied in the tales of Uncle Remus, because I was not sure they were negro stories; some are Middle Georgia folklore stories, and no doubt belong to England; and some are merely inventions.

They were all written in the midst of daily work on a morning newspaper, a fact that will account in some measure for their crude setting.

J. C. H. WEST END, ATLANTA, GA.

CONTENTS.

PAGE I. THE GRANDMOTHER OF THE DOLLS 5

II. MR. THIMBLEFINGER'S QUEER COUNTRY 17

III. MR. THIMBLEFINGER'S FRIENDS 33

IV. TWO QUEER STORIES 47

V. THE TALKING SADDLE 61

VI. THE TALKING SADDLE AND THE THIEF 73

VII. THE LADDER OF LIONS 86

VIII. BROTHER TERRAPIN'S FIDDLE STRING 101

IX. THE LOOKING GLASS CHILDREN 110

X. MR. RABBIT AS A RAIN MAKER 121

XI. HOW BROTHER BEAR'S HAIR WAS COMBED 131

XII. A SINGING MATCH 139

XIII. THE STRAWBERRY GIRL 147

XIV. THE WITCH OF THE WELL 155

XV. THE BEWITCHED HUNTSMAN 165

XVI. THE THREE IVORY BOBBINS 175

XVII. "KEEN POINT," "COB HANDLE," AND "BUTCH" 185

XVIII. MRS. MEADOWS RESUMES HER STORY 195

XIX. A STORY OF THE RIVER 215

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE MR. RABBIT FELL KERTHUMP (Page 41) Frontispiece

RAG TAG ROLLING OUT OF THE CORNER 10

THE GRANDMOTHER OF THE DOLLS AND THE BIG BLACK CAT 14

SWEETEST SUSAN WAKING UP 18

FOLLOWING LITTLE MR. THIMBLEFINGER 24

MR. RABBIT AND MRS. MEADOWS 36

MR. BILLY GOAT AND MR. WOLF 52

MY MOTHER WASHING THE OLD MAN'S COAT AND WAISTCOAT 56

DRUSILLA WAITING ON MR. RABBIT 62

TIP TOP AND THE MAYOR 68

THE MAYOR PARDONING THE THIEF 82

CHICKAMY CRANY CROW AND TICKLE MY TOES 84

MR. RABBIT BANDAGING BROTHER LION'S PAW 92

THE LADDER OF LIONS 98