ONE summer Ray went to the country to visit Uncle Josiah. At first he was so much interested in everything around the farm that he did not find time to take any walks in the pleasant fields and woods.  
He liked to watch the busy hens and the downy little chicks. Every day he talked to a dear little bossy¹ calf² that had great soft velvety³ eyes. But after a while, when he had become well acquainted with the plump little rabbits and Bonnie Bess, a good old horse, he started in to see some of the pretty places around him. Not far from the house was a long shady lane path called “Lovers’ Lane,” and one summer afternoon Ray found himself sitting on the grass in Lovers’ Lane with his back against a large rock. It was a very warm day and Ray felt so116 sleepy that his eyes began to close in spite of himself.
 
Suddenly something tickled⁵ his nose and he brushed it away. He closed his eyes again to have a little nap when something tickled his ear and he quickly brushed that off. Once more he settled for a sleep when a very pronounced tickling⁶ at his neck made him jump to his feet.
 
“I wonder what is tickling me so?” exclaimed Ray, looking around.
 
All at once he caught sight of a little man so tiny that you could have taken him up and put him in your pocket. He stood right on the top of the rock and as his clothes were just the color of it, you could not see him unless you looked sharp. But there stood the tiny little fellow with his hands in his pockets, his legs far apart and a broad smile on his face as he winked⁷ at Ray.
 
“Did you tickle⁴ me when I was trying to go to sleep?” asked Ray.
 
The grin on the face of the little man broadened and he began to shake all over, he laughed so heartily⁸.
 
“Excuse me,” he said; “I was only putting in my winter coal.”
 
Ray was greatly surprised, he didn’t know just what to think of the little fellow. He thought he had better introduce himself, so he said,
 
“My name is Ray, and I live in that white house with Uncle Josiah and Aunt Prudence⁹.”
 
“My name is Pebble¹⁰ and I live in this brown rock with Mrs. Pebble and all the little Pebbles¹¹,” said the tiny man, laughing harder than ever.
 
In fact he laughed so heartily that he began to slap his knee with his little fat hands. Ray laughed too and slapped his knee and shook all over like the little man. Every now and then in the midst of the laughter Mr. Pebble would catch something that flashed like sunbeams in his hand, but he did it so quickly that Ray could not make out just what he was doing.
 
“It’s really very funny,” said Ray; “but I’m not laughing at you, Mr. Pebble.”
 
“I’m not laughing at you,” returned little Mr. Pebble.
 
“What are you laughing at, may I ask?” said Ray politely.
 
“This is my busy season,” replied the little fellow; “that is why I laugh.”
 
Ray did not quite understand, but thinking he would find out later on in the conversation asked, “Did you say you lived inside this rock?”
 
“Yes, my boy, that is where we live.”
 
“Isn’t that strange?” murmured Ray to himself.
 
“Not at all,” replied Mr. Pebble, “my family—that is the entire Pebble branch—always live in rocks.”
 
“I’d like to see the inside of your house,” exclaimed Ray.
 
“Well, come home to dinner with me,” said Mr. Pebble, and he gave three little taps on the rock.
 
All at once it opened and before Ray knew it he was inside. A tiny fat woman with a crowd of children tugging¹² at her skirts, came up and greeted Mr. Pebble. The little Pebbles skipped and hopped¹³ about, cutting up all sorts of capers¹⁴. It was all so funny that Ray was laughing all the time and Mr. and Mrs. Pebble and all the little Pebbles laughed too.
 
“How about the coal, my dear,” said Mrs. Pebble suddenly; “did you get any this morning?”
 
“Oh, yes,” replied her husband, “I have been very busy.”
 
“Well, I hope you will get a good supply, because I think it is going to be a hard winter. Don’t you think so, Ray?”
 
“I don’t see what you want coal for,” said Ray; “inside a big rock I should think it would be nice and warm.”
 
“So it would be, my dear,” returned Mrs. Pebble; “but there are two great cracks in this house and they let in all the cold air. Why, last winter Tommy Pebble had the measles¹⁵.”
 
“Which is Tommy?” asked Ray, looking around at the brood of Pebbles.
 
“I’m Tommy,” shouted a pompous¹⁶ little fellow standing¹⁷ on his tiptoes and throwing out his chest.
 
“Well, you needn’t feel so stiff about it,” said Ray, “you’re not the only Pebble;” whereupon Mr. and Mrs. Pebble and all the children except Tommy roared with laughter.
 
Suddenly Ray noticed a coal-bin in one corner of the house, and taking up a piece he cried, “What queer-looking coal, it doesn’t look like the kind we use.”
 
“It’s not the same kind, you know,” said Mr. Pebble; “my coal is made from laughter.”
 
“How funny!” exclaimed Ray. “I don’t quite understand.”
 
“Well,” said Mr. Pebble, “if there is any laughter going around I catch it and turn it into coal. I’ll throw a piece into my fire and you will see what I mean.”
 
The coal burned with a blue flame, and all at once Ray could see in the midst of the flame his Uncle Josiah holding a horse and talking to a strange farmer as plainly as if they were standing before him.
 
Suddenly the farmer led the horse away and when they were out of sight Ray could hear his uncle laugh—
 
“Haw, haw! haw, haw, haw!
Best trade I ever saw!
Haw, haw, haw, haw!”
Ray laughed aloud, although he really didn’t know why, and all the Pebbles shook with laughter.
 
“Did my uncle sell that horse to the farmer?” asked Ray.
 
“Yes,” said Mr. Pebble, “the bargain was made sitting on this rock and I got in a good load of coal that day.”
 
“But I don’t see anything to laugh about in that,” exclaimed Ray.
 
“The farmer that got the horse didn’t either,” cried Mr. Pebble.
 
Ray was puzzled, but he took up another piece of coal and threw it on the fire. It burned with a beautiful rose-colored flame, and Ray could see two lovers sitting on the rock looking into each other’s eyes.
 
Suddenly he heard a giggle¹⁸ and then:
 
“He, he, ha, ha, ha! You are, you know you are!”
 
Ray was laughing again. “What does it all mean?” he asked.
 
“I’m sure I don’t know,” said Mr. Pebble, who was almost doubled in two laughin............