"Wake up -- wake up!" called the voice of the BumpyMan. "Didn't I tell you winter was coming? I could hearit coming with my left ear, and the proof is that it isnow snowing hard outside."

"Is it?" said Trot, rubbing her eyes and creeping outof her blanket. "Where I live, in California, I havenever seen snow, except far away on the tops of highmountains."

"Well, this is the top of a high mountain," returnedthe bumpy one, "and for that reason we get our heaviestsnowfalls right here."

The little girl went to the window and looked out. Theair was filled with falling white flakes, so large insize and so queer in form that she was puzzled.

"Are you certain this is snow?" she asked.

"To be sure. I must get my snow-shovel and turn out toshovel a path. Would you like to come with me?"

"Yes," she said, and followed the Bumpy Man out when heopened the door. Then she exclaimed: "Why, it isn't colda bit!"

"Of course not," replied the man. "It was cold lastnight, before the snowstorm; but snow, when it falls, isalways crisp and warm."

Trot gathered a handful of it.

"Why, it's popcorn?" she cried.

"Certainly; all snow is popcorn. What did you expect itto be?"

"Popcorn is not snow in my country."

"Well, it is the only snow we have in the Land of Mo,so you may as well make the best of it," said he, alittle impatiently. "I'm not responsible for the absurdthings that happen in your country, and when you're in Moyou must do as the Momen do. Eat some of our snow, andyou will find it is good. The only fault I find with oursnow is that we get too much of it at times."

With this the Bumpy Man set to work shoveling a pathand he was so quick and industrious that he piled up thepopcorn in great banks on either side of the trail thatled to the mountain-top from the plains below. While heworked, Trot ate popcorn and found it crisp and slightlywarm, as well as nicely salted and buttered. PresentlyCap'n Bill came out of the house and joined her.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Mo snow," said she. "But it isn't real snow, althoughit falls from the sky. It's popcorn."

Cap'n Bill tasted it; then he sat down in the path andbegan to eat. The Ork came out and pecked away with itsbill as fast as it could. They all liked popcorn and theyall were hungry this morning.

Meantime the flakes of "Mo snow" came down so fast thatthe number of them almost darkened the air. The Bumpy Manwas now shoveling quite a distance down the mountain-side, while the path behind him rapidly filled up withfresh-fallen popcorn. Suddenly Trot heard him call out:

"Goodness gracious -- mince pie and pancakes! -- hereis some one buried in the snow."

She ran toward him at once and the others followed,wading through the corn and crunching it underneath theirfeet. The Mo snow was pretty deep where the Bumpy Man wasshoveling and from beneath a great bank of it he haduncovered a pair of feet.

"Dear me! Someone has been lost in the storm," saidCap'n Bill. "I hope he is still alive. Let's pull him outand see."

He took hold of one foot and the Bumpy Man took hold ofthe other. Then they both pulled and out from the heap ofpopcorn came a little boy. He was dressed in a brownvelvet jacket and knickerbockers, with brown stockings,buckled shoes and a blue shirt-waist that had frills downits front. When drawn from the heap the boy was chewing amouthful of popcorn and both his hands were full of it.So at first he couldn't speak to his rescuers but layquite still and eyed them calmly until he had swallowedhis mouthful. Then he said:

"Get my cap," and stuffed more popcorn into his mouth.

While the Bumpy Man began shoveling into the corn-bankto find the boy's cap, Trot was laughing joyfully andCap'n Bill had a broad grin on his face. The Ork lookedfrom one to another and asked:

"Who is this stranger?"

"Why, it's Button-Bright, of course," answered Trot."If anyone ever finds a lost boy, he can make up his mindit's Button-Bright. But how he ever came to be lost inthis far-away country is more'n I can make out."

"Where does he belong?" inquired the Ork.

"His home used to be in Philadelphia, I think; but I'mquite sure Button-Bright doesn't belong anywhere."

"That's right," said the boy, nodding his head as heswallowed the second mouthful.

"Everyone belongs somewhere," remarked the Ork.

"Not me," insisted Button-Bright. "I'm half way roundthe world from Philadelphia, and I've lost my MagicUmbrella, that used to carry me anywhere. Stands toreason that if I can't get back I haven't any home. But Idon't care much. This is a pretty good country, Trot.I've had lots of fun here."

By this time the Mountain Ear had secured the boy's capand was listening to the conversation with much interest.

"It seems you know this poor, snow-covered cast-away," he said.

"Yes, indeed," answered Trot. "We made a journeytogether to Sky Island, once, and were good friends."

"Well, then I'm glad I saved his life," said the BumpyMan.

"Much obliged, Mr. Knobs," said Button-Bright, sittingup and staring at him, "but I don't believe you've savedanything except some popcorn that I might have eaten hadyou not disturbed me. It was nice and warm in that bankof popcorn, and there was plenty to eat. What made youdig me out? And what makes you so bumpy everywhere?"

"As for the bumps," replied the man, looking at himselfwith much pride, "I was born with them and I suspect theywere a gift from the fairies. They make me look ruggedand big, like the mountain I serve."

"All right," said Button-Bright and began eatingpopcorn again.

It had stopped snowing, now, and great flocks of birdswere gathering around the mountain-side, eating thepopcorn with much eagerness and scarcely noticing thepeople at all. There were birds of every size and color,most of them having gorgeous feathers and plumes.

"Just look at them!" exclaimed the Ork scornfully."Aren't they dreadful creatures, all covered withfeathers?"

"I think they're beautiful," said Trot, and thismade the Ork so indignant that he went back into thehouse and sulked.

Button-Bright reached out his hand and caught a bigbird by the leg. At once it rose into the air and it wasso strong that it nearly carried the little boy with it.He let go the leg in a hurry and the bird flew down againand began to eat of the popcorn, not being frightened inthe least.

This gave Cap'n Bill an idea. He felt in his pocket anddrew out several pieces of stout string. Moving veryquietly, so as to not alarm the birds, he crept up toseveral of the biggest ones and tied cords around theirlegs, thus making them prisoners. The birds were sointent on their eating that they did not notice what hadhappened to them, and when about twenty had been capturedin this manner Cap'n Bill tied the ends of all thestrings together and fastened them to a huge stone, sothey could not escape.

The Bumpy Man watched the old sailor's actionswith much curiosity

"The birds will be quiet until they've eaten up all thesnow," he said, "but then they will want to fly away totheir homes. Tell me, sir, what will the poor things dowhen they find they can't fly?"

"It may worry 'em a little," replied Cap'n Bill, "butthey're not going to be hurt if they take it easy andbehave themselves."

Our friends had all made a good breakfast of thedelicious popcorn and now they walked toward the houseagain. Button-Bright walked beside Trot and held her handin his, because they were old friends and he liked thelittle girl very much. The boy was not so old as Trot,and small as she was he was half a head shorter inheight. The most remarkable thing about Button-Bright wasthat he was always quiet and composed, whatever happened,and nothing was ever able to astonish him. Trot liked himbecause he was not rude and never tried to plague her.Cap'n Bill liked him because he had found the boycheerful and brave at all times, and willing to doanything he was asked to do.

When they came to the house Trot sniffed the air andasked "Don't I smell perfume?"

"I think you do," said the Bumpy Man. "You smellviolets, and that proves there is a breeze springing upfrom the south. All our winds and breezes are perfumedand for that reason we are glad to have them blow in ourdirection. The south breeze always has a violet odor; thenorth breeze has the fragrance of wild roses; the eastbreeze is perfumed with lilies-of-the-valley and the westwind with lilac blossoms. So we need no weathervane totell us which way the wind is blowing. We have only tosmell the perfume and it informs us at once."

Inside the house they found the Ork, and Button-Brightregarded the strange, birdlike creature with curiousinterest. After examining it closely for a time he asked:

"Which way does your tail whirl?"

"Either way," said the Ork.

Button-Bright put out his hand and tried to spin it.

"Don't do that!" exclaimed the Ork.

"Why not? " inquired the boy.

"Because it happens to be my tail, and I reserve theright to whirl it myself," explained the Ork.

"Let's go out and fly somewhere," proposed Button-Bright. "I want to see how the tail works."

"Not now," said the Ork. "I appreciate your interest inme, which I fully deserve; but I only fly when I am goingsomewhere, and if I got started I might not stop."

"That reminds me," remarked Cap'n Bill, "to ask you,friend Ork, how we are going to get away from here?"

"Get away!" exclaimed the Bumpy Man. "Why don't youstay here? You won't find any nicer place than Mo."

"Have you been anywhere else, sir?"

"No; I can't say that I have," admitted the MountainEar.

"Then permit me to say you're no judge," declared Cap'nBill. "But you haven't answered my question, friend Ork.How are we to get away from this mountain?"

The Ork reflected a while before he answered.

"I might carry one of you -- the boy or the girl --uponmy back," said he, "but three big people are more than Ican manage, although I have carried two of you for ashort distance. You ought not to have eaten those purpleberries so soon."

"P'r'aps we did make a mistake," Cap'n Billacknowledged.

"Or we might have brought some of those lavenderberries with us, instead of so many purple ones,"suggested Trot regretfully.

Cap'n Bill made no reply to this statement, whichshowed he did not fully agree with the little girl; buthe fell into deep thought, with wrinkled brows, andfinally he said:

"If those purple berries would make anything growbigger, whether it'd eaten the lavender ones or not,I could find a way out of our troubles."

They did not understand this speech and looked atthe old sailor as if expecting him to explain what hemeant. But just then a chorus of shrill cries rose fromoutside.

"Here! Let me go -- let me go!" the voices seemed tosay. "Why are we insulted in this way? Mountain Ear, comeand help us!"

Trot ran to the window and looked out.

"It's the birds you caught, Cap'n," she said. "I didn'tknow they could talk."

"Oh, yes; all the birds in Mo are educated to talk,"said the Bumpy Man. Then he looked at Cap'n Bill uneasilyand added: "Won't you let the poor things go?"

"I'll see," replied the sailor, and walked out to wherethe birds were fluttering and complaining because thestrings would not allow them to fly away.

"Listen to me!" he cried, and at once they becamestill. "We three people who are strangers in your landwant to go to some other country, and we want three ofyou birds to carry us there. We know we are asking agreat favor, but it's the only way we can think of --excep' walkin', an' I'm not much good at that becauseI've a wooden leg. Besides, Trot an' Button-Bright aretoo small to undertake a long and tiresome journey. Now,tell me: Which three of you birds will consent to carryus?"

The birds looked at one another as if greatlyastonished. Then one of them replied: "You must be crazy,old man. Not one of us is big enough to fly with even thesmallest of your party."

"I'll fix the matter of size," promised Cap'n Bill. "Ifthree of you will agree to carry us, I'll make you bigan' strong enough to do it, so it won't worry you a bit."

The birds considered this gravely. Living in a magiccountry, they had no doubt but that the strange one-legged man could do what he said. After a little, one ofthem asked:

"If you make us big, would we stay big always?"

"I think so," replied Cap'n Bill.

They chattered a while among themselves and then thebird that had first spoken said: "I'll go, for one."

"So will I," said another; and after a pause a thirdsaid: "I'll go, too."

Perhaps more would have volunteered, for it seemed thatfor some reason they all longed to be bigger than theywere; but three were enough for Cap'n Bill's purpose andso he promptly released all the others, who immediatelyflew away.

The three that remained were cousins, and all were ofthe same brilliant plumage and in size about as large aseagles. When Trot questioned them she found they werequite young, having only abandoned their nests a fewweeks before. They were strong young birds, with clear,brave eyes, and the little girl decided they were themost beautiful of all the feathered creatures she hadever seen.

Cap'n Bill now took from his pocket the wooden box withthe sliding cover and removed the three purple berries,which were still in good condition.

"Eat these," he said, and gave one to each of thebirds. They obeyed, finding the fruit very pleasant totaste. In a few seconds they began to grow in size andgrew so fast that Trot feared they would never stop. Butthey finally did stop growing, and then they were muchlarger than the Ork, and nearly the size of full-grownostriches.

Cap'n Bill was much pleased by this result.

"You can carry us now, all right," said he.

The birds strutted around with pride, highly pleasedwith their immense size.

"I don't see, though," said Trot doubtfully, "howwe're going to ride on their backs without falling off."

"We're not going to ride on their backs," answeredCap'n Bill. "I'm going to make swings for us to ride in."

He then asked the Bumpy Man for some rope, but the manhad no rope. He had, however, an old suit of gray clotheswhich he gladly presented to Cap'n Bill, who cut thecloth into strips and twisted it so that it was almost asstrong as rope. With this material he attached to eachbird a swing that dangled below its feet, and Button-Bright made a trial flight in one of them to prove thatit was safe and comfortable. When all this had beenarranged one of the birds asked:

"Where do you wish us to take you?"

"Why, just follow the Ork," said Cap'n Bill. "He willbe our leader, and wherever the Ork flies you are to fly,and wherever the Ork lands you are to land. Is thatsatisfactory?"

The birds declared it was quite satisfactory, so Cap'nBill took counsel with the Ork.

"On our way here," said that peculiar creature, "Inoticed a broad, sandy desert at the left of me, on whichwas no living thing."

"Then we'd better keep away from it," replied thesailor.

"Not so," insisted the Ork. "I have found, on mytravels, that the most pleasant countries often lie inthe midst of deserts; so I think it would be wise for usto fly over this desert and discover what lies beyond it.For in the direction we came from lies the ocean, as wewell know, and beyond here is this strange Land of Mo,which we do not care to explore. On one side, as we cansee from this mountain, is a broad expanse of plain, andon the other the desert. For my part, I vote for thedesert."

"What do you say, Trot?" inquired Cap'n Bill.

"It's all the same to me," she replied.

No one thought of asking Button-Bright's opinion, so itwas decided to fly over the desert. They bade good-bye tothe Bumpy Man and thanked him for his kindness andhospitality. Then they seated themselves in the swings --one for each bird -- and told the Ork to start away andthey would follow.

The whirl of the Ork's tail astonished the birds atfirst, but after he had gone a short distance they rosein the air, carrying their passengers easily, and flewwith strong, regular strokes of their great wings in thewake of their leader.