THE FIVE WORLDS OF LARIE 



^^Tap! tip tip!'' went Larie's knob. Then he would 

 rest, for it is not easy work hammering and pounding, all 

 squeezed in so tight. But he kept it at again and again 

 and again. And then at last he cracked his prison-wall; 

 and lo, it was not a very thick wall after all! No thicker 

 than an eggshell! 



That is the way with many difficulties. They seem so 

 very hard at first, and so very hopeless, and then end by 

 being only a way to something very, very pleasant. 



So here was Larie in his second world. Its thin, soft 

 floor and its thick, soft sides were made of fine bright- 

 green grass, which had turned yellowish in drying. It 

 had no roof. The sun shone in at the top. The wind blew 

 over. There had been no sun or wind in his eggshell 

 world. It was comfortable to have them now. They 

 dried his down and made it fluffy. There was plenty of 

 room for its fluffiness. He could stretch his legs, too, 

 and could wiggle his wings against his sides. This felt 

 good. And he could move his head all he cared to. But 

 he did not begin thumping the sides of his new world 

 with it. He tucked it down between two warm little 

 things close by, and went to sleep. The two warm little 

 things were his sister and brother, for Larie was not 

 alone in his nest-world. 



The sun went down and the wind blew cold and the 

 rain beat hard from the east ; but Larie knew nothing of 



19 



