Mike Mulligan and More: A Virginia Lee Burton Treasury Read online

  How are you going to get

  your steam shovel out?'

  Mike Mulligan

  looked around

  at the four square walls

  and four square corners,

  and he said,

  'We've dug so fast

  and we've dug so well

  that we've quite forgotten

  to leave a way out!'

  Nothing like this had ever happened

  to Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne before,

  and they didn't know what to do.

  Nothing like this

  had ever happened before

  in Popperville.

  Everybody started

  talking at once,

  and everybody had

  a different idea,

  and everybody thought

  that his idea was the best.

  They talked and they talked

  and they argued and they fought

  till they were worn out,

  and still no one knew how to get

  Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne

  out of the cellar they had dug.

  Then Henry B. Swap said,

  'The job isn't finished because

  Mary Anne isn't out of the cellar,

  so Mike Mulligan won't get paid.'

  And he smiled again in a rather mean way.

  Now the little boy,

  who had been keeping very quiet,

  had another good idea.

  He said,

  'Why couldn't we leave Mary Anne in the cellar

  and build the new town hall above her?

  Let her be the furnace for the new town hall*

  and let Mike Mulligan be the janitor.

  Then you wouldn't have to buy a new furnace,

  and we could pay Mike Mulligan

  for digging the cellar

  in just one day.'

  * Acknowledgments to Dickie Birkenbush.

  'Why not?' said Henry B. Swap,

  and smiled in a way

  that was not quite so mean.

  'Why not?' said Mrs. McGillicuddy.

  'Why not?' said the Town Constable.

  'Why not?' said all the people.

  So they found a ladder

  and climbed down into the cellar

  to ask Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne.

  'Why not?' said Mike Mulligan.

  So it was decided,

  and everybody was happy.

  They built the new town hall

  right over Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne.

  It was finished before winter.

  Every day the little boy goes over to see

  Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne,

  and Mrs. McGillicuddy takes him

  nice hot apple pies. As for Henry B. Swap,

  he spends most of his time in the cellar

  of the new town hall listening to the stories

  that Mike Mulligan has to tell

  and smiling in a way that isn't mean at all.

  Now when you go to Popperville,

  be sure to go down in the cellar

  of the new town hall.

  There they'll be,

  Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne ...

  Mike in his rocking chair

  smoking his pipe,

  and Mary Anne beside him,

  warming up the meetings

  in the new town hall.

  SMOKESTACK

  CAB

  COAL BUNKER

  TURNTABLE

  CATERPILLARS

  HOISTING OPERATOR MIKE MULLIGAN

  BOOM

  TEETH

  DIPPER

  TONGUE

  DIPPER STICK

  TRIP LINE

  CROWD LEVER

  HOIST LEVER

  SWING LEVER

  CROWD

  HOIST

  SWING

  THE LITTLE HOUSE

  STORY AND PICTURES

  BY

  VIRGINIA LEE BURTON

  HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY • BOSTON

  To

  Dorgie

  Once upon a time

  there was a Little House

  way out in the country.

  She was a pretty Little House

  and she was strong and well built.

  The man who built her so well said,

  "This Little House shall never be sold

  for gold or silver and she will live to see

  our great-great-grandchildren's

  great-great-grandchildren living in her."

  The Little House

  was very happy

  as she sat on the hill

  and watched the countryside around her.

  She watched the sun rise in the morning

  and she watched the sun set in the evening.

  Day followed day,

  each one a little different

  from the one before...

  but the Little House stayed

  just the same.

  In the nights

  she watched the moon grow

  from a thin new moon to a full moon,

  then back again to a thin old moon;

  and when there was no moon

  she watched the stars.

  Way off in the distance

  she could see the lights of the city.

  The Little House was curious about the city

  and wondered what it would be like to live there.

  Time passed quickly

  for the Little House

  as she watched the countryside

  slowly change with the seasons.

  In the Spring,

  when the days grew longer

  and the sun warmer,

  she waited for the first robin

  to return from the South.

  She watched the grass turn green.

  She watched the buds on the trees swell

  and the apple trees burst into blossom.

  She watched the children

  playing in the brook.

  In the long Summer days

  she sat in the sun

  and watched the trees

  cover themselves with leaves

  and the white daisies cover the hill.

  She watched the gardens grow,

  and she watched the apples turn red and ripen.

  She watched the children swimming in the pool.

  In the Fall,

  when the days grew shorter

  and the nights colder,

  she watched the first frost

  turn the leaves to bright yellow

  and orange and red.

  She watched the harvest gathered

  and the apples picked.

  She watched the children

  going back to school.

  In the Winter,

  when the nights were long and the days short,

  and the countryside covered with snow,

  she watched the children

  coasting and skating.

  Year followed year....

  The apple trees grew old

  and new ones were planted.

  The children grew up

  and went away to the city ...

  and now at night

  the lights of the city

  seemed brighter and closer.

  One day

  the Little House

  was surprised to see

  a horseless carriage coming down

  the winding country road....

  Pretty soon there were more of them

  on the road and fewer carriages pulled by horses.

  Pretty soon along came some surveyors and surveyed a line

  in front of the Little House.

  Pretty soon along came a steam shovel and dug a road

  through the hill covered with daisies....

  Then some trucks came and dumped big stones on the road,

  then some trucks with little stones,

  then some trucks with tar and sand,

  and finally a steam roller came<
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  and rolled it all smooth,

  and the road was done.

  Now the Little House

  watched the trucks and automobiles

  going back and forth to the city.

  Gasoline stations ...

  roadside stands ...

  and small houses

  followed the new road.

  Everyone and everything

  moved much faster now than before.

  More roads were made,

  and the countryside was divided into lots.

  More houses and bigger houses ...

  apartment houses and tenement houses ...

  schools ... stores ... and garages

  spread over the land

  and crowded around the Little House.

  No one wanted to live in her

  and take care of her any more.

  She couldn't be sold for gold or silver,

  so she just stayed there and watched.

  Now it was not so quiet and peaceful at night.

  Now the lights of the city were bright and very close,

  and the street lights shone all night.

  "This must be living in the city,"

  thought the Little House,

  and didn't know whether she liked it or not.

  She missed the field of daisies

  and the apple trees dancing in the moonlight.

  Pretty soon

  there were trolley cars

  going back and forth

  in front of the Little House.

  They went back and forth

  all day and part of the night.

  Everyone seemed to be very busy

  and everyone seemed to be in a hurry.

  Pretty soon there was an elevated train

  going back and forth above the Little House.

  The air was filled with dust and smoke,

  and the noise was so loud

  that it shook the Little House.

  Now she couldn't tell when Spring came,

  or Summer or Fall, or Winter.

  It all seemed about the same.

  Pretty soon

  there was a subway

  going back and forth

  underneath the Little House.

  She couldn't see it,

  but she could feel and hear it.

  People were moving faster and faster.

  No one noticed the Little House any more.

  They hurried by without a glance.

  Pretty soon they tore down

  the apartment houses and tenement houses

  around the Little House

  and started digging big cellars ... one on each side.

  The steam shovels dug down three stories on one side

  and four stories on the other side.

  Pretty soon they started building up ...

  They built up twenty-five stories on one side

  and thirty-five stories on the other.

  Now the Little House only saw the sun at noon,

  and didn't see the moon or stars at night at all

  because the lights of the city were too bright

  She didn't like living in the city.

  At night she used to dream of the country

  and the field of daisies

  and the apple trees

  dancing in the moonlight.

  The Little House

  was very sad and lonely.

  Her paint was cracked and dirty ...

  Her windows were broken and her shutters hung crookedly.

  She looked shabby ... though she was just as good a house as ever underneath.

  Then one fine morning in Spring

  along came the great-great-granddaughter

  of the man who built the Little House so well.

  She saw the shabby Little House, but she didn't hurry by.

  There was something about the Little House

  that made her stop and look again.

  She said to her husband,

  "That Little House looks just like the Little House

  my grandmother lived in when she was a little girl,

  only that Little House was way out in the country

  on a hill covered with daisies

  and apple trees growing around."

  They found out it was the very same house,

  so they went to the Movers to see

  if the Little House could be moved.

  The Movers looked the Little House all over

  and said, "Sure, this house is as good as ever.

  She's built so well we could move her anywhere."

  So they jacked up the Little House

  and put her on wheels.

  Traffic was held up for hours

  as they slowly moved her

  out of the city.

  At first

  the Little House

  was frightened,

  but after she got used to it

  she rather liked it.

  They rolled along the big road,

  and they rolled along the little roads,

  until they were way out in the country.

  When the Little House saw the green grass

  and heard the birds singing, she didn't feel sad any more.

  They went along and along, but they couldn't seem to find

  just the right place.

  They tried the Little House here,

  and they tried her there.

  Finally they saw a little hill

  in the middle of a field...

  and apple trees growing around.

  "There," said the great-great-granddaughter,

  "that's just the place."

  "Yes, it is," said the Little House to herself.

  A cellar was dug on top of the hill

  and slowly they moved the house

  from the road to the hill.

  The windows and shutters were fixed

  and once again they painted her

  a lovely shade of pink.

  As the Little House settled down

  on her new foundation,

  she smiled happily.

  Once again she could watch

  the sun and moon and stars.

  Once again she could watch

  Spring and Summer

  and Fall and Winter

  come and go.

  Once again

  she was lived in

  and taken care of.

  Never again would she be curious about the city ...

  Never again would she want to live there ...

  The stars twinkled above her ...

  A new moon was coming up ...

  It was Spring...

  and all was quiet and peaceful in the country.

  KATY

  AND THE

  BIG SNOW

  STORY AND PICTURES

  BY

  VIRGINIA LEE BURTON

  HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY BOSTON

  To John

  From Jinnee

  Katy was a beautiful red crawler tractor.

  She was very big and very strong

  and she could do a lot of things.

  Katy had a bulldozer

  to push dirt around with.

  Katy also had a snow plow

  to plow snow with.

  Katy belonged to the Highway Department

  of the City of Geoppolis.

  The Highway Department repaired the roads in the summer

  and kept them clear of snow in the winter

  so traffic could run in and out and around the city.

  MAP OF

  CITY OF GEOPPOLIS

  HIGHWAY DEP'T

  All summer Katy worked on the roads

  with her bulldozer.

  Katy liked to work.

  The harder and tougher the job

  the better she liked it.

  Once when the steamroller fell in the pond

  Katy pulled it out.

  The Highway Department was very proud of her.

  They used to say, "Nothing can sto
p her."

  When winter came

  they put snow plows

  on the big trucks

  and changed Katy's bulldozer

  for her snow plow.

  But Katy was so big and strong

  she had to stay at home,

  because there was not enough snow for her to plow.

  Then early one morning it started to drizzle.

  The drizzle turned into rain.

  The rain turned into snow.

  By noon it was four inches deep.

  The Highway Department sent out the truck plows.

  By afternoon the snow was ten inches deep

  and still coming down.

  "Looks like a Big Snow,"

  they said at the Highway Department,

  and sent Katy out.

  A strong wind came up

  and drifts began to form ...

  one foot....

  two feet.....

  three feet......

  five feet........

  The snow reached

  the first story windows..........

  the second story windows..........

  and then it stopped.

  One by one the truck snow plows broke down....

  The roads were blocked......

  No traffic could move......

  The schools, the stores, the factories were closed....

  The railroad station and airport were snowed in....

  The mail couldn't go through....

  The Police couldn't protect the city....

  The telephone and power lines were down ...

  There was a break in the water main...

  The doctor couldn't get his patient to the hospital...

  The Fire Department was helpless.....

  Everyone and everything was stopped....

  but............

  KATY

  The City of Geoppolis was covered

  with a thick blanket of snow.