“Now I’m not so mighty1 certain that that is a real tale after all,” said Mr. Rabbit, “although it took two to tell it. There’s something the matter with it somewhere. The running-gear is out of order. I’m not complaining, because what might suit me might not suit other people. It’s all a matter of taste, as Mrs. Meadows’s grandmother said when she wiped her mouth with her apron2 and kissed the cow.”
“Well,” remarked Mr. Thimblefinger, “there’s no telling what happens in a Looking-glass when nobody is watching. I’ve often wanted to know. The little that I’ve heard about the Woog and the Weeze will do me until I can hear more.”
“I remember a story that I thought was a very good one when I first heard it,” said Mrs. Meadows. “But sometimes a great deal more depends on the time, place, and company than on the stories that are told. I’m such a poor hand at telling tales that I’m almost afraid to tell any that I know. I’ve heard a great many in my day and time, but the trouble is to pick out them that don’t depend on a wink3 of the eye and a wave of the hand.”
“Give us a taste of it, anyhow,” suggested Mr. Rabbit. “I’ll do the winking4, the Tar-Baby can do the blinking, and Mr. Thimblefinger can wave his hands.”
“Well,” said Mrs. Meadows, “once upon a time there lived in a country not very far from here a man who had a wife and two children,—a boy and a girl. This was not a large family, but the man was very poor, and he found it a hard matter to get along. He was a farmer, and farming, no matter what they say, depends almost entirely5 on the weather. Now, this farmer never could get the weather he wanted. One year the Rain would come and drown out his crops, and the next year the Drouth would come and burn them up.
“Matters went from bad to worse, and the farmer and his wife talked of nothing else but the Rain and the Drouth. One year they said they would have made a living but for the Drouth, and the next they said they would have been very well off but for the Rain. So it went on from year to year until the two children,—the boy and the girl,—grew up large enough to understand what their father and mother were talking about. One year they’d hear they could have no Sunday clothes and shoes because of the Drouth. The next year they’d hear they could have no shoes and Sunday clothes because of the Rain.
“All this set them to thinking. The boy was about ten years old and the girl was about nine. One day at their play they began to talk as they had heard their father and mother talk. It was early in the spring, and their father was even then ploughing and preparing his fields for planting another crop.
“‘We will have warm shoes and good clothes next winter if the Rain doesn’t come and stay too long,’ said the boy.
“‘Yes,’ replied the girl, ‘and we’ll have good clothes and warm shoes if the Drouth doesn’t come and stay too long.’
“‘I wonder why they’ve got such a spite against us,’ remarked the boy.
“‘I’m sure I don’t know,’ replied the girl. ‘If we go and see them, and tell them who we are, and beg them not to make us so cold and hungry when the ice grows in the ponds and on the trees, maybe they’ll take pity on us.’
“This plan pleased the boy, and the two children continued to talk it over, until finally they agreed to go in search of the Rain and the Drouth. ‘Do you,’ said the boy, ‘go in search of Brother Drouth, and I will go in search of Uncle Rain. When we have found them, we must ask them to visit our father’s house and farm, and see the trouble and ruin they have caused.’
“To this the girl agreed; and early the next morning, after eating a piece of corn bread, which was all they had for breakfast, they started on their journey, the boy going to the east and the girl to the south. The boy traveled a long way, and for many days. Sometimes he thought he would never come to the end of his journey; but finally he came to Cousin Mist’s house, and there he inquired his way.
“‘What do you want with Uncle Rain?’ asked Cousin Mist. ‘He is holding court now, and he is very busy. Besides, you are not dressed properly. When people go to court, they have to wear a certain kind of dress. In your case, you ought to have a big umbrella and an oilcloth overcoat.’
“‘Well,’ replied the boy, ‘I haven’t got ’em, and that’s the end of that part of it. If you’ll show me the way to Uncle Rain’s house, I’ll go on and be much obliged to boot.’
“Cousin Mist looked at the boy and laughed. ‘You are a bold lad,’ he said, ‘and since you are so bold, I’ll lend you an umbrella and an oilcloth overcoat, and go a part of the way with you.’
“So the boy put on the overcoat and hoisted6 the umbrella, and trudged7 along the muddy road toward the house of Uncle Rain. When they came in sight of it, Cousin Mist pointed8 it out, told the boy good-by, and then went drizzling9 back home. The boy went forward boldly, and knocked at the door of Uncle Rain’s house.
“‘Who is there?’ inquired Uncle Rain in a hoarse10 and wheezy voice. He seemed to have the asthma11, the choking quinsy, and the croup, all at the same time.
“‘It’s only me,’ said the boy. ‘Please, Uncle Rain, open the door.’
“With that, Uncle Rain opened the door and invited the little fellow in. He did more than that: he went to the closet and got out a dry spot, and told the boy to make himself as comfortable as he could.”
“Got out a—what?” asked Buster John, trying hard to keep from laughing.
“A dry spot,” replied Mrs. Meadows solemnly. “Uncle Rain went to the closet and got out a dry spot. Of course,” she continued, “Uncle Rain had to keep a supply of dry spots on hand, so as to make his visitors comfortable. It’s a great thing to be polite. Well, the boy sat on the dry spot, and, after some remarks about the weather, Uncle Rain asked him why he had come so far over the rough roads. Then the boy told Uncle Rain the whole story about how poor his father was, and how he had been made poorer year after year, first by Brother Drouth and then by Uncle Rain. And then he told how he and his little sister had to go without shoes and wear thin clothes in cold weather, all because the crops were ruined year after year, either by Brother Drouth or Uncle Rain.
“He told his story so simply and with so much feeling that Uncle Rain was compelled to wipe his eyes on a corner of the fog that hung on the towel rack behind the door. He asked the boy a great many questions about his father and his mother.
“‘I reckon,’ said Uncle Rain finally, ‘that I have done all of you a great deal of damage without knowing it, but I think I can pay it back. Bring the dry spot with you, and come with me.’ He went into ............