1 8 The Straw, The Coal, and The Bean. 



" I might have been burned," said the straw, " for 

 all my brothers were pushed into the fire and smoke 

 by the old woman. She packed sixty of us in a 

 bundle, but I slipped through her fingers." 



" Well, now, what shall we do with ourselves ? " 

 asked the coal. 



" I think," answered the bean, " we may as well 

 travel away together to some more friendly coun- 

 try." 



The two others agreed to this, so they started on 

 their journey. 



After traveling a little distance, they came to a 

 stream over which there was no bridge. They were 

 puzzled to know how to get over to the other side. 



Then the straw said, " I will lay myself across the 

 stream, so that you two can step over me, as if I 

 were a bridge." 



So the straw stretched himself from one shore to 

 the other. The coal tripped out quite boldly on the 

 newly-built bridge. But when he reached the mid- 

 dle of the stream and heard the water rushing under 

 him, he was frightened. He stood still and dared 

 not move a step farther. 



Then a sad thing happened. The straw was 

 scorched in the middle by the heat still in the coal. 

 It broke in two from the weight of the coal and fell 



