THE INCUBATOR BABY
By Ellis Parker Butler
Author Of “Pigs Is Pigs,” Etc.
Illustrated by May Wilson Preston
Funk & Wagnalls Company New York And London
1906
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
If the Day Comes when She is Entered to CreepAnd Don't
Tied Her to the Head of The Crib
On his Hands and Knees Playing Peek-boo
I
On the sunniest slope of the garden of Paradise the trees stand in long,pleasant rows. The air is always balmy, and the trees are forever in bloomwith pink and white blossoms. From a distance the trees look like appletrees, but, close at hand, you see that the pink and white blossoms arelittle bows and streamers of ribbon and that the boughs are swaying gentlywith the weight of many dimpled babies.
Walking up and down beneath the trees are kind old storks, and as theywalk they turn their heads, looking upward to see where there may be asweet pink and white baby ready to be carried away, out of the garden intothe big, strange world. It is a vast garden, and there are many trees andmany storks, and every moment there is a whirring of strong wings and astork has passed out of the confines of the garden with the dearest giftthat Heaven can give to woman.
The storks are very grave and very careful, but that is because onlystorks of mature age are allowed to carry the precious babies. The youngerstorks may stand on one leg and watch their elders, or they may hopawkwardly between the trees to amuse the babies, but they are neverpermitted to pick the babies from their leafy cradles, nor to attempt sucha delicate undertaking as flying away with them into the outside world.
But one day the very youngest of the storks got into mischief and beforeits elders knew what it was about it had flown into one of the trees. Ittried to lift one of the biggest, plumpest, prettiest of the babies, butit was such a small stork it could do no more than make the baby sway toand fro on its branch, so it picked the very smallest baby on the tree,and carried it straight to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Fielding, andleft it there rather unexpectedly.
If ever there was a surprised baby it was Marjorie Fielding. She did notcare for the Vernon Fielding home in the least. She vastly preferredParadise; it was far more comfortable, and she had just made a decision toreturn there immediately, when a very remarkable thing happened. It seemedto Marjorie that the Fieldings cared as little for her as she cared forthe atmosphere of their home, for she was rolled in soft cotton, wrap