Dr. Carey began to repair the car, and Stuart went shopping. He decided to buy clothes for his long travel. He went to a doll's shop, and bought some new suits and shirts. He was very pleased with all his new things, and put his luggage in the automobile. That night he slept in the doctor's house.
The next morning Stuart got up early. He thanked Dr. Carey and decided to start at once. He wanted to get out of town before there were many people, cars and trucks in the streets. He drove through Central Park to One Hundred and Tenth Street, then north to the river. The car ran very fast. People sometimes stopped and looked at it, but Stuart did not mind. He did not want to press the button which made the car invisible. He could not forget how much trouble it had caused the day before.
Suddenly Stuart saw a man sitting by the side of the road. It was a tall, thin man, and he looked very sad. Stuart stopped his car and put his head out.
"Good morning, sir! Why are you so sad?" he asked.
"Because everything is bad," said the man.
"Can I help you?" asked Stuart in a friendly voice.
The man shook his head. "Nobody can help me," he said. "I am the director of School Number Seven in this town, and I always have a lot of problems. Today one of my teachers is ill. Her name is Miss Gunderson. I must find a teacher who will take her place." "What's the matter with her?" asked Stuart.
"I don't know. The doctor says that she has a bad cold," said the director.
"Can't you find another teacher?" asked Stuart.
"No, I can't. Nobody in this town knows anything. Nobody can teach at school. The lessons must begin in an hour."
"I shall be glad to take Miss Gunderson's place for a day," said Stuart.
The director looked at him. "Can you do it?" he asked.
"Of course," said Stuart. "I shall be glad to help you." He opened the door of his little car and stepped out. "I must put on another suit," he said. "This motoring suit is not good for a classroom."
He took out his suit-case from the car and went into the bushes by the side of the road. When he came back he had on a grey coat, striped trousers, a black tie and spectacles. Then he took his motoring suit, and put it in the suit-case.
"Do you think you can maintain discipline?" asked the director.
"Of course I can," said Stuart. "I shall make the lessons interesting and the discipline will take care of itself. Don't worry about me."
The man thanked him and they shook hands.
Chapter XVII
IN THE CLASSROOM
At a quarter to nine the schoolchildren gathered in School Number Seven. When they learned that Miss Gunderson was ill and heard about a new teacher they began to whisper to each other: "A new teacher! We shall have a new teacher!"
The news travelled fast. The children were very glad to have a teacher whom nobody knew.
Stuart came at nine. He parked his car at the door of the school and boldly entered the classroom. He found a ruler near the teacher's desk, climbed to the top of it, and then to the desk. There he found a bottle of ink, a pointer, some pens and pencils, a piece of chalk, two hairpins, and three or four books in a pile. Stuart climbed up to the top of the pile of books and said: "Attention, please!"
The boys and girls gathered around the desk to look at the new teacher. Everybody talked at once. The girls giggled and the boys laughed. They were happy to see such a small teacher, so nicely dressed.
"Attention, please!" repeated Stuart. "As you know, Miss Gunderson is ill and I am taking her place."
"What's the matter with her?" asked a boy called Roy Hart.
"Vitamin trouble," said Stuart. "She took Vitamin D when she needed A, and Vitamin В when she needed С Let it be a lesson for all of us!"
He looked angrily at the children and they did not ask about Miss Gunderson any more.
"Now everyone will take his or her seat," commanded Stuart. The pupils obediently sat down and in a moment there was silence in the classroom. Stuart got down from the pile of books, walked to the front of the desk, cleared his throat and asked:
"Anybody absent?"
The children shook their heads.
"Anybody late?"
They shook their heads again.
"Very well," said Stuart. "Now we begin. What is the first subject that you usually study in the morning?"
"Arithmetic!" shouted the children.
"Bother arithmetic!" said Stuart. "Let's skip it."
At these words the children shouted with joy. Everybody in the class was glad to skip arithmetic for one morning.
"What is the next subject?" asked Stuart.
"Spelling," cried the children.
"Well," said Stuart, "of course, people must spell correctly. It is dreadful when people make mistakes in spelling. I advise you to buy a Webster's Dictionary and consult it when you have doubts. So much for spelling. What is next?"
The children were very glad to skip spelling too, and again shouted with joy. They looked at each other and laughed and waved their handkerchiefs and rulers, and some of the boys threw paper balls at the girls. Stuart had to climb to the top of the pile of books again.
"Order, please!" he said. "What is next?"
"Drawing," cried the children.
"Oh, dear," said Stuart angrily, "don't you know how to draw yet?"
"Of course we do!" cried the children.
"So much for that, then," said Stuart.
"History comes next," cried a girl called Elizabeth Gardner.
"History? I don't like this subject," said Stuart. "I don't like to talk about the past. Let us talk about something interesting."
The children looked at each other.
"What shall we talk about?" they asked.
"Let us talk about snakes," said Arthur Green.
"I don't like snakes," said Stuart.
"Can we talk about Miss Gunderson?"
"No, we can't," said Stuart.
"Then maybe we can talk about the circus?" said Harry James.
"No," said Stuart. "Let us talk about the King of the World." He looked at the children.
"There is no King of the World," said Harry James. "Kings are out of fashion. "
"All right," said Stuart. "Then let us talk about the Chairman of the World. The world often gets into trouble because it has no chairman. I would like to be Chairman of the World myself."
"You are too small," said Mary Smith.
"Nonsense!" said Stuart. "Size has nothing to do with it. The Chairman must be clever and he must know what is important. How many of you know what is important?"
All the children raised their hands.
"Very good," said Stuart. "Jimmy Rock, tell us what is important."
"Sunlight, blue sky, and a bird's song," answered Jimmy.
"Correct," said Stuart. "These things are very important. But you forgot one thing, Jimmy. Mary Smith, what did Jimmy forget?"
"He forgot ice-cream with chocolate on it," said Mary quickly.
"You are right," said Stuart. "Ice-cream is very important. Well, I shall be Chairman of the World this morning. But we need some laws if we are going to play this game. Can anybody think of any good laws for the world?"
The children began to think. Stuart wiped his face with his handkerchief, because he was very tired, and said:
"Let us have a break now, and after the break we shall continue our lesson."
And he sat down to have a little rest.
Chapter XVIII
GOOD LAWS FOR THE WORLD
When the bell rang all the children came back into the classroom and took their seats.
"Now, who wants to be the first?" asked Stuart.
Arthur Green raised his hand.
"Don't eat mushrooms, because there are many toadstools in the forest," he said.
"That's not a law," said Stuart. "It is a piece of friendly advice. Very good advice, Arthur, but advice and law are not the same. Law is much more important than advice. Who else?"
"Don't steal," said Roy Hart.
"Very good," said Stuart. "A good law."
"Never poison anything but rats," said Harry James.
"That is not good," said Stuart. "It is unfair to rats. A law must be fair to everybody."
"Why must we be fair to rats?" asked Harry. "Rats are very unpleasant."
"I know that they are," said Stuart. "But from a rat's point of view, poison is very unpleasant, and a Chairman has to see all sides of the problem."
"Have you a rat's point of view?" asked Harry. "You look like a little rat."
"No," said Stuart. "I have a mouse's point of view, but I think that everybody must have his rights in the world. Who else?" Mary Smith raised her hand. "A law against fighting."
"It is impractical," said Stuart. "Boys like to fight, and they will fight all the same. Elizabeth Gardner, your law!"
"Not to be mean to one's comrades," said Elizabeth.
"A very fine law," said Stuart. "But I must say it will be difficult to keep this law. There are many mean people in the world. But if you, children, are not mean to each other, and teach all the other boys and girls not to be mean to anybody, perhaps we shall make the world a better place."
He wiped his face with his handkerchief again because he was very tired. It was not an easy job to be Chairman of the World.
"Now, children, I wish you all a good summer. Summer is wonderful and summer is very important."
"Like the sunlight!" said Roy Hart.
"Like the blue sky!" said Harry James. "Like a bird's song!" said Mary Smith.
"That's right," said Stuart. "It has been a pleasure to know you all. The lesson is over."
Stuart got down from the teacher's desk, went quickly to the door, climbed into the car, waved his hand and drove off to the north. The children ran along the road after his car and shouted, "Good-bye, good-bye! Good-bye!"
Chapter XIX
IN THE GENERAL STORE
Stuart stopped to get a drink of lemonade in a very beautiful town. The houses in this town were white and high and the elm-trees were green and higher than the houses. The streets ran down to the river, and the river flowed quietly under the bridge. The gardens ended in fields and the fields ended in green pastures and the pastures climbed the hills. Stuart parked his car in front of the general store and got out. The sun was bright and it was pleasant to be in a new place on such a fine day. Stuart sat down on the steps to have a little rest. He thought that he could spend all his life in this beautiful town. But then he remembered New York City and his family, Mr. and Mrs. Little, and his brother George, and the bird Margalo. "I must find Margalo first!" he thought.
After a while the storekeeper came out to smoke a cigarette and he sat down on the steps beside Stuart. He wanted to offer Stuart a cigarette, but when he noticed how small Stuart was he changed his mind.
"Have you lemonade in your store?" asked Stuart. "I want to have a drink."
"Of course," said the storekeeper. "Gallons of it. Lemonade, Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, Dipsi Cola, Pipsi Cola, Popsi Cola. Anything you want."
"Give me a bottle of lemonade, please," said Stuart, "and a paper cup."
- The storekeeper went back into the store and brought the bottle. He opened it, poured some lemonade into the cup and put the cup down on the step below Stuart. Stuart took off his cap, lay down on his stomach and dipped out the cool lemonade with his cap.
"That's very nice," said Stuart. "It is so pleasant to drink some cool lemonade in the heat of the day."
"Are you going far?" asked the storekeeper.
"Perhaps very far," said Stuart. "I am looking for a bird. Her name is Margalo. Haven't you seen her?"
"I don't know," said the storekeeper. "What does she look like?"
"She is very beautiful," answered Stuart and wiped his lips with his sleeve. "She is a wonderful bird. Anybody would notice her. She comes from a place where there are ferns and thistles."
The storekeeper looked sharply at Stuart.
"How tall are you? " he asked.
"Two inches and a quarter," answered Stuart. "Father measured me last week. But maybe I have grown a bit since. "
"You know," said the storekeeper, "I advise you to meet Harriet Ames. She lives in this town."
"Who is she?" asked Stuart.
"She is a young girl, and she is just your size — maybe a little shorter."
"What is she like? I hope she is not fat?"
"No, Harriet is very pretty and she has the best dresses in this town. Her parents are very rich. They live in a fine big house. Harriet will be glad to meet you."
"That's very kind of you," answered Stuart. "But I never stay long anywhere. I travel from town to town and look for Margalo. Sometimes I feel that I am quite near to her, and sometimes I feel that I shall never find her and never hear her voice again. Now it is time to go."
Stuart paid for the lemonade, said good-bye to the store-keeper, and drove off to the north.
But in the afternoon the town was even move beautiful. Stuart reached the end of the main street, turned to the left and drove down to the bank of the river. He wanted to have a rest. He swam and lay on his back on the soft bank with his hands under his head. He thought about the conversation with the storekeeper, "Harriet Ames," he murmured.
Chapter XX
HARRIET AMES
When evening came, Stuart still sat by the river. He had a light supper: a cheese sandwich and a drink of water. He slept that night in the warm grass, and the sound of the river was in his ears.
In the morning the sun was warm and bright and Stuart went to swim again. After breakfast he left his car under a cabbage leaf and walked to the post-office. He wanted to fill his fountain-pen from the ink-well in the post-office. When he climbed to the table where the ink-well was, he saw that the door opened, and a girl came in. She was about two inches high. She wore a pretty dress and walked with her head held high.
"That must be Harriet Ames!" thought Stuart and hid behind the ink-well.
The girl went to the mail-boxes, opened her mail-box and took out her letters. She was very pretty and it was the first time that Stuart saw a person who wasn't taller than himself. He wanted to get down to the floor and speak to her, but he was afraid to speak to a girl whom he didn't know.
Аll his boldness left him, and he stayed behind the ink-well. Only when Harriet was out of sight Stuart went out of the post-office and ran to the store.
"Have you any letter paper?" he asked his friend the storekeeper. "I must write a letter."
The storekeeper helped Stuart to climb up to the counter and found some nice letter-paper for him. Stuart took out his fountain-pen, set down on a box of matches and began a letter to Harriet.
"MY DEAR MISS AMES," he wrote. "I am a young person of modest proportions. I was born in New York City, but at the present moment I am travelling on business. My travels have brought me to your town. Yesterday the storekeeper in the general store told me about you."
At that moment Stuart's pen ran dry. "Oh, dear! I have forgotten to fill my fountain-pen!" cried Stuart. "Please give me a bottle of ink," he said to the storekeeper. The storekeeper brought a bottle of ink, but it was so big that Stuart could not reach the top of it. So the storekeeper took Stuart by the tail and lowered him, head first, into the bottle. Stuart filled his pen and went back to his letter.
"Forgive me, Miss Ames, for my boldness, but there are very few people in the world who are only two inches high. I say 'two inches', but I am a little taller than that. My only drawback is that I look like a mouse. If you want to meet me, come to the river tomorrow about five o'clock. Don't tell anything to your parents about my letter. I am afraid that they won't like my letter and my mouselike appearance. But you know better your father and mother than I do and I need not give you advice.
"I am staying by the river in a beautiful place at the foot of the hill. Would you like to go for a row in my canoe tomorrow afternoon? At sundown the river flows quietly in the long shadows of the trees and these spring evenings are the best time for boatmen. I like the water, dear Miss Ames, and my canoe is like an old good friend."
Stuart forgot in his excitement that he had no canoe. "So I shall wait for you at the river about five o'clock. And now I must finish my letter.
"Yours very truly,
STUART LITTLE."
Stuart put the letter into the envelope and turned to the storekeeper.
"Where can I get a canoe?" he asked. "Here," said the storekeeper. He went to the souvenir counter and took down a little birchbark canoe. Stuart looked at it for a long time.
"Does it leak?" he asked.
"It is a nice boat," said the storekeeper. "It will cost you seventy-five cents."
Stuart took out his money and paid the man. Then he looked inside the boat, but did not see any paddles. "What about paddles?" he asked.
The storekeeper searched among the souvenirs, but he could not find any paddles. So he went to the ice-cream counter and came back with two little cardboard spoons for ice-cream.
"You can use these spoons instead of paddles," he said.
Stuart took the spoons, but he did not like them.
"Of course, I can use them instead of paddles, but I don't want to meet an American Indian when I have one of these things in my hand," he said.
The storekeeper carried the canoe and the paddles out in front of the store and set them down in the street. Stuart took a piece of rope from his pocket, tied the paddles to the canoe, put the canoe up on his head and walked away. He was proud that he could handle boats so easily, and liked to show off.
Chapter XXI
AN EVENING ON THE RIVER
When Stuart came back to his camp by the river, he was tired and hot. He put the canoe in the water and saw that it leaked. In a few seconds it was half full of water.
"Oh, dear," he said, "the canoe leaks! I paid seventy-five cents for it, and now I shall not be able to take Harriet out in this boat."
Then he pulled the canoe out on the bank for repairs. He found a hole in the bottom. Then he climbed a fir-tree and found some gum. With this gum he stopped the leak. Stuart was a good seaman but he was afraid to get into trouble.
He carried stones from the bank down to the water and put some into the boat for ballast. Then he decided to try the canoe. It was all right, but Stuart was sorry that he did not have anything better than a cardboard spoon for a paddle.
All that afternoon Stuart worked on the canoe. In the evening he opened a can of ham, cut a dandelion and had a light supper of ham and dandelion milk. After supper he lay down under a flower, shut his eyes and dreamed about his trip with Harriet.
"I shall swim and get her a water-lily and she will see what a good swimmer I am," he thought.
Suddenly Stuart opened his eyes and sat up. He remembered his letter to Harriet.
"I dropped it into the. letter-box but it was so small! Perhaps the postman did not see it!" he thought.
He lay for a while and listened to the sound of the river, then he fell asleep.
The next morning was cloudy. Stuart hid the canoe under a cabbage leaf, tied it to a stone and went to the town to buy some new shirts.
Stuart returned from the town with a headache. He was nervous. He spent the afternoon trying on different shirts and combing his whiskers. He put on a clean shirt at two o'clock, another at three o'clock, and another at a quarter 
past four. About five o'clock he began to look at his watch nervously. He combed his whiskers once more and looked at the sky. The sky was rainy.
Stuart was so tired that he decided to lie down for a moment and have a little rest. But as soon as he closed his eyes he heard a voice behind him.
"Hello," said the voice, "are you Mr. Little?"
It was Harriet!
"Hello," said Stuart and got up quickly. "Yes, I am Stuart Little. It's nice of you to come."
"It was very good of you to ask me," said Harriet and smiled. She looked very nice. She wore a white sweater and a black skirt and carried a box of peppermints in her hand.
"Not at all," said Stuart. "I only wish we had better weather. I am afraid it is going to rain."
Harriet looked at the sky. "Oh, well," she said, "if it. rains, it rains."
"Of course," repeated Stuart, "if it rains, it rains. My canoe is not far from here. May I help you?" And he offered her his arm. Stuart was a very polite mouse, but Harriet said that she did not need any help. She was a strong girl and was not afraid to fall.
"I'll show you my canoe," said Stuart. "It is there, under that cabbage leaf. I have hidden it in the morning. This way, please... But where is it?"
Stuart's heart sank.
"Somebody has stolen the canoe!" he said with tears in his eyes.
Then he began to run up and down the bank. He looked for the canoe everywhere. Harriet helped him in his search. At last they found the canoe. It looked awful.
"Some big boy took it and played with it!" thought Stuart.
Mud was all over the boat, one of the paddles was broken, and a long piece of rope was tied to one end. It looked just like a birchbark canoe looks when big boys play with it.
Stuart was heart-broken. He did not know what to do. He sat down on the bank and buried his head in his hands.
"What's the matter?" asked Harriet.
"Miss Ames," said Stuart in a trembling voice. "I prepared everything so beautifully. And now look!"
"Oh, we can repair this canoe and go out in it," said Harriet.
But Stuart did not like the idea.
"It's no use," he said. "Look at that rope! I shall never be able to get it off."
"Never mind the rope!" said Harriet. "We can pretend that we are fishing." She could not understand why Stuart was so heart-broken.
"I don't want to pretend that I am fishing," cried Stuart. "Besides, look at that mud! Look at it!"
Harriet sat down beside Stuart. She offered him a peppermint but he shook his head. He could not eat.
"Well," she said, "it is beginning to rain. If you are not going to take me out in your canoe, I shall go home. I don't understand why you are so heart-broken. Would you like to come up to my house? After dinner you may take me to the dance. It will cheer you up."
"No, thank you," said Stuart. "I don't know how to dance. Besides, I am going to get up early in the morning. I'll be on the road at daybreak."
"Are you going to sleep out in all this rain?" asked Harriet.
"Certainly," said Stuart. "I'll sleep under the canoe."
Harriet shrugged her shoulders.
"Well," she said, "good-bye, Mr. Little."
"Good-bye, Miss Ames," said Stuart. "I am sorry that our evening on the river had to end like this."
"So am I," said Harriet. And she walked away, leaving Stuart alone with his broken dreams and his broken canoe.
Chapter XXII
TO THE NORTH
Stuart slept under the canoe that night. He woke up at four o'clock. The rain had stopped. The birds began to sing in the trees. Stuart looked up. He always looked at all birds because he hoped to find Margalo among them. But Margalo was not there.
He got into his car and drove off. At the end of the town he found a filling station and stopped to buy some gas,
"Five, please," he said to the owner of the filling station.
The man looked at the tiny automobile in surprise.
"Five what?" he asked.
"Five drops," said Stuart. But the man shook his head and said that he could not sell five drops of gas.
"Why can't you?" asked Stuart. "You need the money and I need the gas."
The owner of the filling station thought a little, then he went inside and came back with a dropper. Stuart opened the tank of his car and the man put in five drops of gas. "I have never done such a thing before," he said.
When everything was over, Stuart paid the money. Then he got in the car, pressed the starter button and drove off.
The sky was bright, and a cloud of morning mist hung over the river. The town was still asleep. Stuart's car went fast along the streets and Stuart was glad to be on the road again.
When he drove out of town he saw two roads. One road led to the west, the other road led to the north. Stuart decided to think the situation over. He stopped his car and got out.
Suddenly he saw a man sitting in a ditch by the side of the road. The man had a heavy leather belt on, and there were spurs on his legs. So Stuart understood that he was a repair-man of the telephone lines.
"Good morning," said Stuart in a friendly voice. The repair-man raised one hand to his head in a salute. Stuart sat down in the ditch beside him and took a deep breath of the fresh, sweet air. "It's going to be a fine day," he said.
"Yes," answered the repair-man, "a fine day. It is nice to climb poles on such a fine day."
"I wish you good weather," said Stuart. "By the by, do you ever see birds at the tops of your poles?"
"Yes, I see a lot of birds," said the repair-man.
"Well, if you meet a bird named Margalo," said Stuart, "please write to me. Here's my card."
"What does she look like? Describe her," said the repairman and took out a pencil and a notebook.
"She is brown," said Stuart. "Brown with a yellow breast."
"Where does she come from?"
"She comes from fields once tall with wheat, from pastures deep in fern and thistle; she comes from vales of meadowsweet and she loves to whistle."
The repairman wrote it all down quickly: "Fields—wheat— pastures, fern and thistle. Vales, meadow-sweet. Likes to whistle." Then he put his notebook and Stuart's card back in his pocket.
"I'll keep my eyes open," he promised.
Stuart thanked him. They sat for a while in silence. Then the man spoke.
"Which way are you going?" he asked. "North," said Stuart.
"North is nice," said the repair-man. "I always like to go north. Of course, south-west is good, too."
"Yes, I think it is," said Stuart thoughtfully.
"And east is also good," continued the man. "But I think you are right if you go north. There is something about north, something unusual. I think that a person who is going north is not making a mistake."
"I think so, too," said Stuart. "From now on I shall travel north until I find my friend Margalo."
"You are a brave fellow," said the repair-man. "By the by, when I am repairing a broken telephone line, I sometimes find wonderful places," continued the repair-man. "Swamps where cedars grow and turtles lie in the sun. I go across fields, and I eat my lunch in pastures covered with fern and thistle, under blue sky. I have spent winter nights in thick woods, where the snow was deep and soft. I know lakes in the north where there is nothing but fish and birds and, of course, the telephone lines. I know all these places well. They are a long way from here, don't forget that. And a person who is looking for something does not travel very fast."
"That is true," said Stuart. "Well, it is time to go. Thank you for your friendly talk."
"Not at all," said the repair-man. "I hope that you will find that bird."
Stuart got out of the ditch, climbed into his car, and drove along the road that led toward the north. He saw the rising sun above the hills on his right. As he looked ahead into the great land that lay before him, the way seemed very long. But the sky was bright, and Stuart felt that it was the right way to go.
