"I shall take mamma's red sun-umbrella, it is so warm, and none of thechildren at school will have one like it," said Lily, one day, as she wentthrough the hall.
"The wind is very high; I'm afraid you'll be blown away if you carry thatbig thing," called Nurse from the window, as the red umbrella went bobbingdown the garden walk with a small girl under it.
"I wish it would; I always wanted to go up in a balloon," answered Lily,as she struggled out of the gate.
She got on very well till she came to the bridge and stopped to look overthe railing at the water running by so fast, and the turtles sunningthemselves on the rocks. Lily was fond of throwing stones at them; it wasso funny to watch them tumble, heels over head, splash into the water.Now, when she saw three big fellows close by, she stooped for a stone, andjust at that minute a gale of wind nearly took the umbrella out of herhand. She clutched it fast; and away she went like a thistle-down, rightup in the air, over river and hill, houses and trees, faster and faster,till her head spun round, her breath was all gone, and she had to let go.The dear red umbrella flew away like a leaf; and Lily fell down, down,till she went crash into a tree which grew in such a curious place thatshe forgot her fright as she sat looking about her, wondering what part ofthe world it could be.
The tree looked as if made of glass or colored sugar; for she could seethrough the red cherries, the green leaves, and the brown branches. Anagreeable smell met her nose; and she said at once, as any child would, "Ismell candy!" She picked a cherry and ate it. Oh, how good it was!--allsugar and no stone. The next discovery was such a delightful one that shenearly fell off her perch; for by touching her tongue here and there, shefound that the whole tree was made of candy. Think what fun to sit andbreak off twigs of barley sugar, candied cherries, and leaves that tastedlike peppermint and sassafras!
Lily rocked and ate till she finished the top of the little tree; then sheclimbed down and strolled along, making more surprising and agreeablediscoveries as she went.
What looked like snow under her feet was white sugar; the rocks were lumpsof chocolate, the flowers of all colors and tastes; and every sort offruit grew on these delightful trees. Little white houses soon appeared;and here lived the dainty candy-people, all made of the best sugar, andpainted to look like real people.
Dear little men and women, looking as if they had stepped off of weddingcakes and bonbons, went about in their gay sugar clothes, laughing andtalking in the sweetest voices. Bits of babies rocked in open-workcradles, and sugar boys and girls played with sugar toys in the mostnatural way. Carriages rolled along the jujube streets, drawn by the redand yellow barley horses we all love so well; cows fed in the greenfields, and sugar birds sang in the trees.
Lily listened, and in a moment she understood what the song said,--
"Sweet! Sweet! Come, come and eat, Dear little girls With yellow curls; For here you'll find Sweets to your mind. On every tree Sugar-plums you'll see; In every dell Grows the caramel. Over every wall Gum-drops fall; Molasses flows Where our river goes Under your feet Lies sugar sweet; Over your head Grow almonds red. Our lily and rose Are not for the nose; Our flowers we pluck To eat or suck And, oh! what bliss When two friends kiss, For they honey sip From lip to lip! And all you meet, In house or street, At work or play, Sweethearts are they. So, little dear, Pray feel no fear; Go where you will; Eat, eat your fill. Here is a feast From west to east; And you can say, Ere you go away, 'At last I stand In dear Candy-land, And no more can stuff; For once I've enough.' Sweet! Sweet! Tweet! Tweet! Tweedle-dee! Tweedle-dee!"
"That is the most interesting song I ever heard," said Lily, clapping hersticky hands and dancing along toward a fine palace of white cream candy,with pillars of striped peppermint stick, and a roof of frosting that madeit look like the Milan Cathedral.
"I'll live here, and eat candy all day long, with no tiresome school orpatchwork to spoil my fun," said Lily.
So she ran up the chocolate steps into the pretty rooms, where all thechairs and tables were of different colored candies, and the beds of spunsugar. A fountain of lemonade supplied drink; and floors of ice-cream thatnever melted kept people and things from sticking together, as they wouldhave done had it been warm.
For a long while Lily was quite happy, going about tasting so manydifferent kinds of sweeties, talking to the little people, who were veryamiable, and finding out curious things about them and their country.
The babies were made of plain sugar, but the grown people had differentflavors. The young ladies were flavored with violet, rose, and orange; thegentlemen were apt to have cordials of some sort inside of them, as shefound when she ate one now and then slyly, and got her tongue bitten bythe hot, strong taste as a punishment The old people tasted of peppermint,clove, and such comfortable things, good for pain; but the old maids hadlemon, hoarhound, flag-root, and all sorts of sour, bitter things in them,and did not get eaten much. Lily soon learned to know the characters ofher new friends by a single taste, and some she never touched but once.The dear babies melted in her mouth, and the delicately flavored youngladies she was very fond of. Dr. Ginger was called to her more than oncewhen so much candy made her teeth ache, and she found him a very hot-tempered little man; but he stopped the pain, so she was glad to see him.
A lime-drop boy and a little pink checker-berry girl were her favoriteplaymates; and they had fine times making mud-pies by scraping thechocolate rocks and mixing this dust with honey from the wells near by.These they could eat; and Lily thought this much better than throwing awaythe pies, as she had to do at home. They had candy-pulls very often, andmade swings of long loops of molasses candy, and bird's-nests with almondeggs, out of which came birds who sang sweetly. They played football withbig bull's-eyes, sailed in sugar boats on lakes of syrup, fished in riversof molasses, and rode the barley horses all over the country.
Lily discovered that it never rained, but snowed white sugar. There was nosun, as it would have been too hot; but a large yellow lozenge made a nicemoon, and red and white comfits were the stars.
The people all lived on sugar, and never quarrelled. No one was ill; andif any got broken, as sometimes happened with such brittle creatures, theyjust stuck the parts together and were all right again. The way they grewold was to get thinner and thinner till there was danger of theirvanishing. Then the friends of the old person put him in a neat coffin,and carried him to the great golden urn which stood in their largesttemple, always full of a certain fine syrup; and here he was dipped anddipped till he was stout and strong again, and went home to enjoy himselffor a long time as good as new.
This was very interesting to Lily, and she went to many funerals. But theweddings were better still; for the lovely white brides were so sweet Lilylonged to eat them. The feasts were delicious; and everybody went in theirbest clothes, and danced at the ball till they got so warm half-a-dozenwould stick together and have to be taken to the ice-cream room to cooloff. Then the little pair would drive away in a fine carriage with whitehorses to a new palace in some other part of the country, and Lily wouldhave another pleasant place to visit.
But by and by, when she had seen everything, and eaten so much sweet stuffthat at last she longed for plain bread and butter, she began to getcross, as children always do when they live on candy; and the littlepeople wished she would go away, for they were afraid of her. No wonder,when she would catch up a dear sugar baby and eat him, or break somerespectable old grandmamma all into bits because she reproved her fornaughty ways. Lily calmly sat down on the biggest church, crushing itflat, and even tried to poke the moon out of the sky in a pet one day. Theking ordered her to go home; but she said, "I won't!" and bit his headoff, crown and all.
Such a wail went up at this awful deed that she ran away out of the city,fearing some one would put poison in her candy, since she had no otherfood.
"I suppose I shall get somewhere if I keep walking; and I can't starve,though I hate the sight of this horrid stuff," she said to herself, as shehurried over the mountains of Gibraltar Rock that divided the city ofSaccharissa from the great desert of brown sugar that lay beyond.
Lily marched bravely on for a long time, and saw at last a great smoke inthe sky, smelt a spicy smell, and felt a hot wind blowing toward her.
"I wonder if there are sugar savages here, roasting and eating some poortraveller like me," she said, thinking of Robinson Crusoe and otherwanderers in strange lands.
She crept carefully along till she saw a settlement of little huts verylike mushrooms, for they were made of cookies set on lumps of the brownsugar; and queer people, looking as if made of gingerbread, were workingvery busily round several stoves which seemed to bake at a great rate.
"I'll creep nearer and see what sort of people they are before I showmyself," said Lily, going into a grove of spice-trees, and sitting down ona stone which proved to be the plummy sort of cake we used to callBrighton Rock.
Presently one of the tallest men came striding toward the trees with apan, evidently after spice; and before she could run, he saw Lily.
"Hollo, what do you want?" he asked, staring at her with his black curranteyes, while he briskly picked the bark off a cinnamon-tree.
"I'm travelling, and would like to know what place this is, if youplease," answered Lily, very politely, being a little frightened.
"Cake-land. Where do you come from?" asked the gingerbread man, in a crisptone of voice.
"I was blown into the Candy country, and have been there a long time; butI got tired of it, and ran away to find something better."
"Sensible child!" and the man smiled till Lily thought his cheeks wouldcrumble. "You'll get on better here with us Brownies than with the lazyBonbons, who never work and are all for show. They won't own us, though weare all related through our grandparents Sugar and Molasses. We are busyfolks; so they turn up their noses and don't speak when we meet atparties. Poor creatures, silly and sweet and unsubstantial! I pity 'em."
"Could I make you a visit? I'd like to see how you live, and what you do.I'm sure it must be interesting," said Lily, picking herself up after atumble, having eaten nearly all the stone, she was so hungry.
"I know you will. Come on! I can talk while I work." And the funnygingerbread man trotted off toward his kitchen, full of pans, rolling-pins, and molasses jugs.
"Sit down. I shall be at leisure as soon as this batch is baked. There arestill some wise people down below who like gingerbread, and I have myhands full," he said, dashing about, stirring, rolling out, and slappingthe brown dough into pans, which he whisked into the oven and out again sofast that Lily knew there must be magic about it somewhere.
Every now and then he threw her a delicious cooky warm from the oven. Sheliked the queer fellow, and presently began to talk, being very curiousabout this country.
"What is your name, sir?"
"Ginger Snap."
Lily thought it a good one; for he was very quick, and she fancied hecould be short and sharp if he liked.
"Where does all this cake go to?" she asked, after watching the otherkitchens full of workers, who were all of different kinds of cake, andeach set of cooks made its own sort.
"I'll show you by and by," answered Snap, beginning to pile up the heapsof gingerbread on a little car that ran along a track leading to someunknown storeroom, Lily thought.
"Don't you get tired of doing this all the time?"
"Yes; but I want to be promoted, and I never shall be till I've done mybest, and won the prize here."
"Oh, tell me about it! What is the prize, and how are you promoted? Isthis a cooking-school?"
"Yes; the prize for best gingerbread is a cake of condensed yeast. Thatputs a soul into me, and I begin to rise till I am able to go over thehills yonder into the blessed land of bread, and be one of the happycreatures who are always wholesome, always needed, and without which theworld below would be in a bad way."
"Bless me! that is the queerest thing I've heard yet. But I don't wonderyou want to go; I'm tired of sweets myself, and long for a good piece ofbread, though I used to want cake and candy at home."
"Ah, my dear, you'll learn a good deal here; and you are lucky not to havegot into the clutches of Giant Dyspepsia, who always gets people if theyeat too much of such rubbish and scorn wholesome bread. I leave my gingerbehind when I go, and get white and round and beautiful, as you will see.The Gingerbread family have never been as foolish as some of the othercakes. Wedding is the worst; such extravagance in the way of wine andspice and fruit I never saw, and such a mess to eat when it's done! Idon't wonder people get sick; serves 'em right." And Snap flung down a panwith such a bang that it made Lily jump.
"Sponge cake isn't bad, is it? Mamma lets me eat it, but I like frostedpound better," she said, looking over to the next kitchen, where piles ofthat sort of cake were being iced.
"Poor stuff. No substance. Ladies' fingers will do for babies, but poundhas too much butter ever to be healthy. Let it alone, and eat cookies orseed-cakes, my dear. Now, come along; I'm ready." And Snap trundled awayhis car-load at a great pace.
Lily ran behind to pick up whatever fell, and looked about her as shewent, for this was certainly a very queer country. Lakes of eggs allbeaten up, and hot springs of saleratus foamed here and there ready foruse. The earth was brown sugar or ground spice; and the only fruits wereraisins, dried currants, citron, and lemon peel. It was a very busy place;for every one cooked all the time, and never failed and never seemedtired, though they got so hot that they only wore sheets of paper forclothes. There were piles of it to put over the cake, so that it shouldn'tburn; and they made cook's white caps and aprons of it, and looked verynice. A large clock made of a flat pancake, with cloves to mark the hoursand two toothpicks for hands, showed them how long to bake things; and inone place an ice wall was built round a lake of butter, which they cut inlumps as they wanted it.
"Here we are. Now, stand away while I pitch 'em down," said Snap, stoppingat last before a hole in the ground where a dumbwaiter hung ready, with aname over it.
There were many holes all round, and many waiters, each with its name; andLily was amazed when she read "Weber," "Copeland," "Dooling," and others,which she knew very well.
Over Snap's place was the name "Newmarch;" and Lily said, "Why, that'swhere mamma gets her hard gingerbread, and Weber's is where we go for ice-cream. Do you make cake for them?"
"Yes, but no one knows it. It's one of the secrets of the trade. We cookfor all the confectioners, and people think the good things come out ofthe cellars under their saloons. Good joke, isn't it?" And Snap laughedtill a crack came in his neck and made him cough.
Lily was so surprised she sat down on a warm queen's cake that happened tobe near, and watched Snap send down load after load of gingerbread to beeaten by children, who would have liked it much better if they had onlyknown where it came from, as she did.
As she sat, the clatter of many spoons, the smell of many dinners, and thesound of many voices calling, "One vanilla, two strawberries, and aCharlotte Russe," "Three stews, cup coffee, dry toast," "Roast chicken andapple without," came up the next hole, which was marked "Copeland."
"Dear me! it seems as if I was there," said Lily, longing to hop down, butafraid of the bump at the other end.
"I'm done. Come along, I'll ride you back," called Snap, tossing the lastcooky after the dumb-waiter as it went slowly out of sight with its spicyload.
"I wish you'd teach me to cook. It looks great fun, and mamma wants me tolearn; only our cook hates to have me mess round, and is so cross that Idon't like to try at home," said Lily, as she went trundling back.
"Better wait till you get to Bread-land, and learn to make that. It's agreat art, and worth knowing. Don't waste your time on cake, though plaingingerbread isn't bad to have in the house. I'll teach you that in ajiffy, if the clock doesn't strike my hour too soon," answered Snap,helping her down.
"What hour?"
"Why, of my freedom. I never know when I've done my task till I'm calledby the chimes and go to get my soul," said Snap, turning his currant eyesanxiously to the clock.
"I hope you will have time." And Lily fell to work with all hermight, after Snap had put on her a paper apron and a cap like his.
It was not hard; for when she was going to make a mistake a spark flew outof the fire and burnt her in time to remind her to look at the receipt,which was a sheet of gingerbread in a frame of pie-crust hung up beforeher, with the directions written while it was soft and baked in. The thirdsheet she made came out of the oven spicy, light, and brown; and Snap,giving it one poke, said, "That's all right. Now you know. Here's yourreward"
He handed her a receipt-book made of thin sheets of sugar-gingerbread heldtogether by a gelatine binding, with her name stamped on the back, andeach leaf crimped with a cake-cutter in the most elegant manner.
Lily was charmed with it, but had no time to read all it contained; forjust then the clock began to strike, and a chime of bells to ring,--
"Gingerbread, Go to the head. Your task is done; A soul is won. Take it and go Where muffins grow, Where sweet loaves rise To the very skies, And biscuits fair Perfume the air. Away, away! Make no delay; In the sea of flour Plunge this hour. Safe in your breast Let the yeast-cake rest, Till you rise in joy, A white bread boy!"
"Ha, ha! I'm free! I'm free!" cried Snap, catching up the silver-coveredsquare that seemed to fall from heaven; and running to a great white seaof flour, he went in head first, holding the yeast-cake clasped to hisbreast as if his life depended on it.
Lily watched breathlessly, while a curious working and bubbling went on,as if Snap was tumbling about down there like a small earthquake. Theother cake-folk stood round the shore with her; for it was a great event,and all were glad that the dear fellow was promoted so soon. Suddenly acry was heard, and up rose a beautiful white figure on the farther side ofthe sea. It moved its hand, as if saying "Good-by," and ran over the hillsso fast they had only time to see how plump and fair he was, with a littleknob on the top of his head like a crown.
"He's gone to the happy land, and we shall miss him; but we'll follow hisexample and soon find him again," said a gentle Sponge cake, with a sigh,as all went back to their work; while Lily hurried after Snap, eager tosee the new country, which was the best of all.
A delicious odor of fresh bread blew up from the valley as she stood onthe hill-top and looked down on the peaceful scene below. Fields of yellowgrain waved in the breeze; hop-vines grew from tree to tree; and manywindmills whirled their white sails as they ground the different grainsinto fresh, sweet meal, for the loaves of bread that built the houses likebricks and paved the streets, or in many shapes formed the people,furniture, and animals. A river of milk flowed through the peaceful land,and fountains of yeast rose and fell with a pleasant foam and fizz. Theground was a mixture of many meals, and the paths were golden Indian,which gave a very gay look to the scene. Buckwheat flowers bloomed ontheir rosy stems, and tall corn-stalks rustled their leaves in the warmair that came from the ovens hidden in the hillsides; for bread needs aslow fire, and an obliging volcano did the baking here.
"What a lovely place!" cried Lily, feeling the charm of the homelikelandscape, in spite of the funny plump people moving about.
Two of these figures came running to meet her as she slowly walked downthe yellow path from the hill. One was a golden boy, with a beaming face;the other a little girl in a shiny brown cloak, who looked as if she wouldtaste very nice. They each put a warm hand into Lily's, and the boysaid,--
"We are glad to see you. Muffin told us you were coming."
"Thank you. Who is Muffin?" asked Lily, feeling as if she had seen boththese little people before, and liked them.
"He was Ginger Snap once, but he's a Muffin now. We begin in that way, andwork up to the perfect loaf by degrees. My name is Johnny Cake, and she'sSally Lunn. You know us; so come on and have a race."
Lily burst out laughing at the idea of playing with these old friends ofhers; and all three ran away as fast as they could tear, down the hill,over a bridge, into the middle of the village, where they stopped,panting, and sat down on some very soft rolls to rest.
"What do you all do here?" asked Lily, when she got her breathagain.
"We farm, we study, we bake, we brew, and are as merry as grigs all daylong. It's school-time now, and we must go; will you come?" said Sally,jumping up as if she liked it.
"Our schools are not like yours; we only study two things,--grain andyeast. I think you'll like it. We have yeast to-day, and the experimentsare very jolly," added Johnny, trotting off to a tall brown tower of ryeand Indian bread, where the school was kept.
Lily never liked to go to school, but she was ashamed to own it; so shewent along with Sally, and was so amused with all she saw that she wasglad she came. The brown loaf was hollow, and had no roof; and when sheasked why they used a ruin, Sally told her to wait and see why they chosestrong walls and plenty of room overhead. All round was a circle of verysmall biscuits like cushions, and on these the Bread-children sat. Asquare loaf in the middle was the teacher's desk, and on it lay an ear ofwheat, with several bottles of yeast well corked up. The teacher was apleasant, plump lady from Vienna, very wise, and so famous for her goodbread that she was a Professor of Grainology.
When all were seated, she began with the wheat ear, and told them allabout it in such an interesting way that Lily felt as if she had neverknown anything about the bread she ate before. The experiments with theyeast were quite exciting,--for Fraulein Pretzel showed them how it wouldwork till it blew the cork out, and go fizzing up to the sky if it waskept too long; how it would turn sour or flat, and spoil the bread if carewas not taken to use it just at the right moment; and how too much wouldcause the loaf to rise till there was no substance to it.
The children were very bright; for they were fed on the best kinds ofoatmeal and Graham bread, with very little white bread or hot cakes tospoil their young stomachs. Hearty, happy boys and girls they were, andtheir yeasty souls were very lively in them; for they danced and sung, andseemed as bright and gay as if acidity, heaviness, and mould were quiteunknown.
Lily was very happy with them, and when school was done went home withSally and ate the best bread and milk for dinner that she ever tasted. Inthe afternoon Johnny took her to the cornfield, and showed her how theykept the growing ears free from mildew and worms. Then she went to thebakehouse; and here she found her old friend Muffin hard at work makingParker House rolls, for he was such a good cook he was set to work at onceon the lighter kinds of bread.
"Well, isn't this better than Candy-land or Saccharissa?" he asked, as herolled and folded his bits of dough with a dab of butter tucked inside.
"Ever so much!" cried Lily. "I feel better already, and mean to learn allI can. Mamma will be so pleased if I can make good bread when I go home.She is rather old-fashioned, and likes me to be a nice housekeeper. Ididn't think bread interesting then, but I do now; and Johnny's mother isgoing to teach me to make Indian cakes to-morrow."
"Glad to hear it. Learn all you can, and tell other people how to makehealthy bodies and happy souls by eating good plain food. Not like this,though these rolls are better than cake. I have to work my way up to theperfect loaf, you know; and then, oh, then, I'm a happy thing."
"What happens then? Do you go on to some other wonderful place?" askedLily, as Muffin paused with a smile on his face.
"Yes; I am eaten by some wise, good human being, and become a part of himor her. That is immortality and heaven; for I may nourish a poet and helphim sing, or feed a good woman who makes the world better for being in it,or be crumbed into the golden porringer of a baby prince who is to rule akingdom. Isn't that a noble way to live, and an end worth working for?"asked Muffin, in a tone that made Lily feel as if some sort of fine yeasthad got into her, and was setting her brain to work with new thoughts.
"Yes, it is. I suppose all common things are made for that purpose, if weonly knew it; and people should be glad to do anything to help the worldalong, even making good bread in a kitchen," answered Lily, in a sober waythat showed that her little mind was already digesting the new food it hadgot.
She stayed in Bread-land a long time, and enjoyed and learned a great dealthat she never forgot. But at last, when she had made the perfect loaf,she wanted to go home, that her mother might see and taste it.
"I've put a good deal of myself into it, and I'd love to think I had givenher strength or pleasure by my work," she said, as she and Sally stoodlooking at the handsome loaf.
"You can go whenever you like; just take the bread in your hands and wishthree times, and you'll be wherever you say. I'm sorry to have you go, butI don't wonder you want to see your mother. Don't forget what you havelearned, and you will always be glad you came to us," said Sally, kissingher good-by.
"Where is Muffin? I can't go without seeing him, my dear old friend,"answered Lily, looking round for him.
"He is here," said Sally, touching the loaf. "He was ready to go, andchose to pass into your bread rather than any other; for he said he lovedyou and would be glad to help feed so good a little girl."
"How kind of him! I must be careful to grow wise and excellent, else hewill be disappointed and have died in vain," said Lily, touched by hisdevotion.
Then, bidding them all farewell, she hugged her loaf close, wished threetimes to be in her own home, and like a flash she was there.
Whether her friends believed the wonderful tale of her adventures I cannottell; but I know that she was a nice little housekeeper from that day, andmade such good bread that other girls came to learn of her. She also grewfrom a sickly, fretful child into a fine, strong woman, because she atevery little cake and candy, except at Christmas time, when the oldest andthe wisest love to make a short visit to Candy-land.