sweet fresh butter for her. Get a basket in which to carry them, put on your hood and run along to your grandmother's." 5. Little Red Riding Hood put the things in her basket, her hood on her head, and started down the path through the woods. 6. She had not gone very far before she met a Great Gray Wolf sitting by the side of the road. He called out, "Good morning, Little Red Riding Hood." 7. He would have liked to spring upon her and eat her up on the spot. He did not do so because some men were cutting wood near by and he feared they would kill him. 8. Little Red Riding Hood thought no evil of anyone and had no fear for herself. She said in a most friendly way with the dimples playing in her cheeks, "Good morning, Master Wolf." 9. "Where are you going?" asked the Wolf. "I am going to my grandmother's," said Little Red Riding Hood. "She is sick and I am taking her some cake and butter." 11. "Where does your poor, sick grandmother live?" asked the Great Gray Wolf. 12. "The first house the other side of the mill beyond the wood," said Little Red Riding Hood. 13. "If she is sick I will go to see her too," said the Great Gray Wolf. "You go by that road and I will take this and we will see which of us gets there first." 14. The Great Gray Wolf knew that his way was the nearer. He ran through the woods, crossed the bridge over a stream, swam the pond, and then he was at the old mill. 15. He walked up to the grandmother's door and knocked with his great paw, Thump! Thump! "Who is there?" called grandmother. 16. The Great Gray Wolf tried to make his voice soft and clear. "It is Little Red Riding Hood. I have come with some cake and butter that mother sent you." 17. "Pull the string and the latch will fly up and the door will open," said grandmother, in a feeble voice. 18. The Great Gray Wolf pulled the string and in he went. Without a word he sprang upon grandmother and ate her up. 19. He was still hungry, for he had not eaten anything for three days. He shut the door, put on grandmother's cap and gown and got in her bed. Then he laughed to think what a trick he would play on Little Red Riding Hood. PART TWO 20. All this time Little Red Riding Hood was on her way through the wood. The sun shone brightly, the air was warm and soft and the child was happy. 21. In a shady place she plucked some flowers and laid them in her basket. A little bird flew around her head and sang to her. She gave him some crumbs from her basket and sang, as happy as he. 22. Soon she came upon an old woman who was digging plants from the ground. "Let me fill your basket," said Little Red Riding Hood. She gave her the bread and butter she had brought to eat on the way. 23. "Thank you, Red Riding Hood," said the old woman, "you are a dear, kind child. If you meet a hunter, dressed in green, tell him I told you there is game abroad." 24. Soon she came to a pool of water so green that it looked like grass. By it stood a man dressed in green clothes, with a green cap on his head and green leaves in his cap. In his hand was a bow and an arrow. He smiled in a friendly way as Little Red Riding Hood came up. 25. "Good morning, Mr. Green Hunter," she said. "I met a kind old woman in the forest who told me to tell you that there is game abroad." 26. The hunter nodded. He put his ear to the ground to listen. Then he put an arrow in his bow, Then he walked away through the forest. |