Danny-Do-Little
Once upon a time there was a little boy who was lazy as lazy could be, but all of a sudden one sunshiny summer day he wanted to do something.
He wanted to go to the circus?
So, he did not get out in time to see the Circus Parade, and when he got to the Circus Tent he was too late. Crowds were turned away.
He went back home and sat down on the wood pile, and was feeling very sad when to his surprise, a merry voice called:
Danny-Do-Little and the Clown
There, sure enough, stood a regular Clown on his head, beside him!
Danny-Do-Little was so surprised he did not know what to say, and waited until the Clown stood on his feet, then he remarked:
The Clown answered in a sing-song Clownish way:
Then, the little boy said:
Danced So Hard That He Kicked Off One of His Slippers
The Clown said:
Then he went through the funniest little dance and danced so hard that he kicked off one of his silver slippers!
Danny-Do-Little clapped his hands and begged him to come in-doors and perform some of his tricks.
The Clown was as thirsty as thirsty could be so he said:
Danny-Do-Little laughed and ran to the pump and filled the water pail in a hurry to please the Clown.
Then the Clown surprised him!
Then at exactly that minute, the Clown began to want a cup of tea. He wanted it so badly he could hardly wait, but there was no fire and he shouted:
Danny-Do-Little took the hint at once, and he ran out and got an armful of wood, and made a fire and put on the tea-pot, and soon the water was boiling merrily for a cup of tea.
Every time he did a trick Danny-Do-Little tried to do the same, and together, they burst into merry peals of laughter.
The Clown was hungry and he dearly loved hard boiled eggs so he shouted:
Danny-Do-Little could take a suggestion as well as any boy, so he ran and got a basket full of eggs from the chicken house.
Then the Clown threw eggs in the air and caught them.
All of a sudden he looked at the kitchen floor.
When the floor was quite clean, out from his pocket he took a wonderful red bouncing ball and performed all kinds of tricks with it.
He shouted:
“Try me and see,” cried Danny, and the Clown played ball with him and showed him one hundred and six ways of doing tricks with the wonderful red bouncing ball. Then he put up his hand, saying:
Danny-Do-Little begged the Clown to stay but he gave him two tickets to the Circus which was to be held next week in On-Time-Town. He said:
Danny-Do-Little was amused for he had not said a single word about the Clown’s suit, but he was so sorry to see him go that he looked rather sad, but the Clown tossed him his wonderful red bouncing ball and cried:
Then Danny-Do-Little began to practice all the tricks in real earnest and found his little feet began to act as though they belonged to him, and his arms and legs began to limber up and soon he was as active as could be. He learned to do many tricks well, but those he did with the bouncing ball were best of all.
Surprising things began to happen!
All the boys came to learn his tricks and hear the story of the Circus Clown!
The water pail was always full.
The wood-box was never empty!
The eggs were gathered every day!
Danny-Do-Little was busy from morning until night.
One day the greatest surprise of all came through the mail. There was a red and white box addressed to “Danny-Do-It-Now,” once called, “Danny-Do-Little.”
In the red and white box was a red and white Clown suit just his size.
On the suit was a red and white card saying:
What happened next do you suppose?
He Became the Funniest Circus Clown