Mary’s Little Lamb – A Picture Guessing Story for Little Children
MARY’S LITTLE LAMB
CONTENTS
I.
When little Mary Moffett’s mother asked her to go up to the Clover Farm for some fresh 
, Mary felt a little sorry, for she was very busy making her 
a 
, but she laid down her 
and 
and 
, tied on her pink 
, and set off up the hill, with her little 
on her 
. As she was coming home she heard a queer little patter, patter, behind her. She looked back and saw something white! 
felt a wee bit afraid, and began to run but her 
struck a 
and down she tumbled on her 
! Before she could get up something soft and woolly was rubbing gently against her 
, saying “Ba-a-a!” “Oh you darling lamb!” cried Mary, hugging it—and the little 
snuggled close, and said “Ba-a-a! Take me home with you, little Mary.” 
was astonished.
“Whose lamb is it?” she asked. “Oh Mother, 
I think it’s just a wild lamb! Mayn’t I keep it?” begged 
. But Mother said she must ask Farmer Clover if it was one of his 
, first. So back they went, and found 
Farmer Clover mending his 
and Mary asked him. But there were two big tears in her 
—she did so want that dear 
—and the kind old 
saw them. “Well, yes,” he said, “that’s my lamb—but it’s an extra one, that I haven’t any room for. If I knew anybody who would be willing to take it and treat it well—” “Oh, Mr. Clover!” cried 
, her eyes dancing, now, and her 
dancing, too. “I’d be willing! I’d treat it well! May I have it?” So Mary and the little 
went dancing home together. And kind old 
watched them and laughed till his 
danced in his 
, and his 
danced on his 
.
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II. |
“Mother! Mother!” cried little Mary, running into the 
. “Mr. Clover says he doesn’t 
need this 
—it’s extra—and I may have it for my very own!” Yes, now it was Mary’s little lamb—and how they loved each other! They went together everywhere—in the 
and the 
, and over to Grandfathers, to play with little Aunt Hannah. Mary’s Aunt Hannah was only three years older than 
herself and they played together all the time. The two little 
thought the 
was beautiful, but it was not very clean. “I don’t want a dirty, dusty little lamb,” said Mary; “I want a nice, clean, white lamb.” “Then we must wash it.” said little 
. “Father washes all his 
in the 
every spring.” Out by the stood the 
with the big wooden
where the
drank. The was full of water, standing in the
. Mary leaned over the edge and dipped her 
. “It’s nice and warm,” she said. “Now, dear little 
jump right in!” But the lamb wouldn’t jump—so Mary and little Aunt Hannah lifted him, and dropped him into the . Then they rubbed him with 
, and squeezed his 
with their 
. The poor little lamb didn’t like it, and kept trying to get out—till, as 
tried to hold him her slipped and in she fell, 
first! Oh, how she screamed! And 
screamed, too, and the 
cried “Ba-a-a!” as loud as he could. Little Aunt Hannah’s mother came running from the 
fished them out of the water, and carried them into her 
one under each
. There she rubbed them dry, wrapped them both in 
and set them by the 
, to get warm.
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III. |
Mary’s lamb was too young to eat 
, as old 
do. He wanted milk, but he did not know how to drink from a 
. He was just a baby sheep, you see. So Mary’s 
found an old tin 
and filled it with warm new milk. Then she tied a 
over the 
, and 
held it while the little 
sucked up every drop of the milk. Three times a day they filled the 
, and he drank it all, while Mary tilted it up for him. One day 
and little 
went up Clover 
to pick 
for their mothers to put in 
. They took their luncheon in the berry- 
, and each had a tin 
to pick into. Mary’s 
went too, and of course he would want his luncheon, so
carried the old in a 
. When the 
and 
were full of 
, they started home. Along the roadside grew white 
, and they made a 
for the lamb’s 
. Then Mary said “The 
shines so, he must be hot. He shall wear my 
.” So they tied it snugly over his 
. Then they sat under a 
to finish their luncheon, and afterward Mary gave the 
the rest of his milk. Two 
came past, in a low 
, and they laughed to see the little lamb drinking from the teapot. Mary did not notice that one 
held up a little black leather 
and pointed it at her. But next week a flat, square 
came from the postoffice marked “For the Little Girl and Lamb who live near Clover Hill.”
cut the 
with her 
, and unfolded the 
—and what did she find inside it? A beautiful photograph of herself, feeding her 
by the roadside!
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IV. |
Mary didn’t like to go to school and leave her lamb at home. She knew he would not be happy all alone; and how could she study her 
and do sums on her 
, without her dear little woolly 
close beside her? But schooltime came, and she had to start. If she had looked back, she would have seen the 
trotting along behind, all so pretty, with a blue 
on his 
. He loved to follow little Mary, and he didn’t know 
mustn’t go to school. Before he caught up with her, the 
rang, the 
all ran in, and the 
was shut; but he stood on the door- 
and heard them singing. Then the arithmetic class began, and the 
said: “Mary, if you had three 
, and gave one 
to Hannah, how many would you have left?” Mary was not thinking of 
. “Four,” she said, “but please teacher, did you know I had a 
?” and the lamb heard her voice and called “Baa!” outside the , as loud as he could. “Why, there he is!” cried 
. “He must go home,” said the teacher; and she opened the 
to send him away. But the little 
came right in, and ran to 
, so glad to see her again! “Oh, please let him stay!” said she: “I am sure he will be good!” But all the other 
laughed—it was so funny to see a lamb in school—and the 
had to turn him out. But the 
would not go home. He wanted to stay near Mary; So he waited on the 
and every time he heard her voice he cried “Ba-a-a!” At last the said 
must take him home; so she put away her 
, and the little 
jumped and danced, he was so happy, as they ran home together.
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V. |
All the week the little lamb had to stay at home while Mary went to 
; but on Saturday they had such good times! First, 
had her tasks to do. She wiped all the 
and 
and 
, dusted the 
and made her own 
. Then she went out to play. The nicest place to “play house” was the 
of a 
by the 
. Mary and little Aunt Hannah climbed up by the 
, with their 
and 
but the 
couldn’t climb. They tried to carry him, but he was too heavy—and he kicked, too. So they took him up on the 
in the 
and dropped him out of a 
onto the 
. Then they all had a good time playing “party”, with some caraway
and a little 
of milk. But at noon, when Mary’s Mother blew the dinner- 
, the lamb couldn’t get down! They couldn’t lift him up to the 
, and he was afraid to jump to the ground. Little Aunt Hannah stood on the 
, but could not reach him. Then they brought out armfuls of 
and made a big soft 
and 
stood on the 
and tried to push him off into the 
but he wouldn’t budge. “Come to dinner, children,” called Mary’s 
. “It is getting cold.” “Oh dear!” said little Mary, almost crying. “He’ll have to stay up here and starve! But he’s had three 
, anyway.” At last 
big brother came out to find them. He laughed when he saw the 
and the 
but he went for a 
, and very quickly brought the little 
safely down to the ground. Then they all went in and had their dinner together.
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VI. |
“When my lamb is big enough” said Mary to little Aunt Hannah, “my father will shear him with the 
, like the old 
and Mother will teach me to spin, and knit the wool; and so my little lamb will give me my 
and 
.” “Let’s shear him now.” said 
. “I can teach you to knit.” “Well.” said Mary. “He is very little—but we will only take a little of his 
.” So she got the 
, and they cut some wool from his 
. But they found it must first be spun into 
—and they didn’t know how: so they went to ask Mary’s 
. She laughed at the poor little 
with the big bare spots in his pretty white 
. “If you are in such a hurry for 
and ,” she said, “we will begin them at once. First, you must learn to spin.” So she brought out the big 
and some tiny soft 
of wool and showed her how to spin the rolls into 
. Mary liked to walk backward and forward, and twirl the great 
with a 
; but her yarn was all uneven, and kept snarling and breaking. Soon she grew tired—and cross, too, and then the 
snarled worse than ever. As last 
gave the a great whirl, as hard as she could, and ran off to the 
. There she hid in the 
and cried, until the little 
found her and rubbed his 
against her 
. Then she stopped crying to laugh, his ragged 
looked so funny! Pretty soon she went back to the 
and said she was sorry for being cross. Then 
gave her a nice 
of yarn and some 
and 
taught her to knit a
.
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VII. |
When the time really came to wash and shear the 
, Mary’s 
said the lamb wasn’t big enough to spare any more 
—but he did get washed in the 
. Mary and little Aunt Hannah went down in the meadow to gather cowslips—not for the pretty 
but to boil in a 
for dinner. They took off their 
and 
and splashed about in the wet 
, filling their 
with 
. They picked some tall blue 
too, and pulled sweet-flag to eat. To get the sweet 
, they had to cross a little 
over the brook. The 
followed them, but he stepped on a loose 
, and it tipped him off into the water! It wasn’t deep enough to be over his 
, but he waded the wrong way and scrambled out on a little 
in the 
middle of the 
. They couldn’t coax him to wade ashore;—he didn’t like water, and would only shake his 
and say “Ba-a-a! No-o-o!” “We must build a 
for him” said 
. “No,” said 
“we will get the boat. The 
keep it at the mill.” They followed the brook up to the 
and untied the 
. There were no 
, but they found a long 
and pushed it along to the 
. The little 
was very glad to jump in with them. But they could not push the 
ashore, for the water ran too fast. So they floated along, dipping their 
in the water, and watching the little 
swimming below, till they ran into a 
across the brook. Then they climbed ashore and went back for their 
and 
. “Oh, you funny lamb!” said Mary, “What good times you do make us have!”
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VIII. |
Dollabella, Mary’s biggest doll, had had the measles, but she was getting better. “When people get better” said 
, “they always go to ride.” So she tried to give her 
a ride on the 
‘s back, but he danced up and down and she fell off. Then Mary took a 
and tied her on, so when the 
danced again he couldn’t shake 
off. He didn’t like that, so he thought he would run away from her, and off he went! The 
was shut, but he squeezed through a gap in the 
, and tore Dollabella’s 
on a 
. Mary squeezed through the gap, too, and her 
caught on the 
, and tore a great big three-cornered 
. The 
ran across a field and jumped over a 
into the 
and Mary ran after him, laughing. 
Dollabella’s 
fell off her 
, and so did Mary’s 
. The 
of the 
caught her 
and tangled them and almost pulled the 
from the lamb’s back. At last they came out into a 
field and saw Farmer Clover at work with his 
. “Hello!” said he. “Who’s running away—you or your lamb?” “Oh, we aren’t running away,” said 
, all out of breath. “We are just giving my 
a ride. She is sick!” “Well, that’s a pretty fast ride for anybody that’s sick!” said 
. “Now I am going to the 
, to get a 
of molasses. Don’t you want to ride home in my 
?” Mary and the 
were tired, and glad to have a ride—and I think the poor sick 
must have been just as glad. But when they got home 
had to take a 
and 
out of her 
and mend her 
and Dollabella’s too.
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IX. |
As the lamb grew big and strong he got very frisky, too. He found out that when he ran at things with his hard little 
down and bunted them, the things would fall down. He thought that was funny, so he bunted everything. In the 
he bunted over 
and the 
and 
, and nobody dared set a 
or 
on the floor. Outdoors, he ran at the 
and 
, to see them flutter and scream. Once he bunted little Aunt Hannah’s 
—but she didn’t fall down; she stood up and cuffed him with her 
, and scratched him! But 
fell down when he bunted her, and so did 
, although they were bigger than the 
. One night he ran at Mary’s father, bringing in the 
, and spilled all the milk over his 
. Then Mary’s 
said 
if the 
didn’t stop bunting he must be tied up. So 
tried to teach him better, but he didn’t understand it was naughty, and kept right on bunting. At last one day, he bunted the 
which was tied to the 
by a long 
. Now Bossy liked to bunt, too; so when the 
ran at her she put her 
down and ran at him! And she was the biggest, so it was the little 
himself that fell down that time! First he flew right over the 
and fell on his 
,—then he rolled over and over into the duck- 
. All the 
began to flap their 
and quack, and the big gray 
hissed at him and chased him. The poor naughty little 
was so frightened that he ran to 
, all wet and muddy, and hid his 
in her 
. After that, he didn’t bunt things any more!
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X. |
One day Mary and her lamb were playing in the 
. He would lie still as a 
while she buried him in the 
, but when she clapped her 
he jumped up and ran to her like a 
. Then 
began to pull out 
from the mow, and made a deep hole where they could both creep in out of sight. After supper they played hide-and-seek with 
. So many nice hiding-places—under the 
-bushes, behind the rain- 
, and around the 
by the 
. At last 
remembered her hole in the 
and crept in, with the 
which followed her everywhere. Then they waited, keeping very still, till by and by 
grew sleepy—for it was almost 
-time. She laid her 
on the 
‘s soft neck, as they cuddled down together in their 
, and before they knew it they were fast asleep! 
hunted and hunted, till she thought 
must have gone in the 
, to play a trick on her; so she went into her own 
a little vexed. 
-time came and her 
came to the 
to call Mary in. “I guess she’s gone home with Hannah,” said 
, as he came from the 
with his 
. The 
often slept together, and Mary’s mother didn’t hear the “I guess,” so she only said “It is naughty to go without telling me. She mustn’t again.” So nobody knew where 
was, all night! But next morning she didn’t come home—she was not at 
‘s—and how frightened everybody was! They hunted everywhere, and at last started to drive to the neighbor’s 
. The noise of the 
and of the 
trampling on the 
waked Mary—and how astonished everybody was, when she and the 
came creeping out of the
!
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XI. |
Once little Mary and her lamb really did get lost—and something dreadful almost happened! They had been picking 
in the 
up Clover 
, and couldn’t find the way out. The 
was setting, and 
thought of 
and 
! She was tired and hungry, too. She was eating 
from her 
, and crying, and the 
, who would not eat 
and wanted his milk in the old 
was crying, too—”Ba-a-a!”—when a big, tall 
with a 
in his 
broke through the bushes behind them. He sat down on a 
and stared at them, looking so white and scared that 
felt sorry for him. “Did a 
chase you?” she asked. “Oh no,” said he, “It’s only I’m so glad you are alive!” He didn’t dare tell her he had mistaken her little brown 
bobbing among the 
, for a 
, and raised his 
to shoot it when he saw a little white 
bobbing beside it and stopped to look closer! So her little 
had saved Mary’s life—but she never knew it. “Now how came you up here?” the boy asked. “Are you lost?” “Oh no,” said 
, winking away the 
, and smiling; “We aren’t exactly lost—only we can’t just find our 
. And we want our supper, too.” “You shall have it!” said the 
. “You are little Mary—I know your 
—and I’m going to carry you there, quicker than a 
can trot!” So he took 
in one 
and the 
in the other, and the 
he left hidden in the 
under a 
. Then he quickly found the 
(it was close by, after all,) and in ten minutes they were safe home again; and Mary’s 
thanked the big 
and gave them all some supper.
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XII. |
Now Mary and the big 
with the 
became great friends. He used to bring her 
in his 
; once he took her out in his 
to gather 
; and he promised to take her to the County Fair. Early on that day he came for her with his 
and 
. Mary was all ready, in her new 
, with 
on her 
. “Where is the 
?” he asked. ” 
says he mustn’t go,” said Mary sadly, “so I shut him up in the 
“. “Oh but he must go!” cried the 
. “He’s entered—they expect him.” 
didn’t understand that, but she was very glad to take her dear 
with her. They walked about the Fair grounds and saw the 
and 
and 
and 
in the 
; and visited the 
where the 
and 
were, in their 
. And everywhere 79 
that 
went the 
kept close beside her; and all the 
looked at them and smiled. At last the 
said, “Now we are going into the 
so we will leave our 
in this nice little 
beside all the other 
to wait for us.” They looked at the 
and 
and the 
and 
in the 
. Then they found Marys 
and 
and had dinner together; and afterward they saw the 
race, and the 
go up, and heard the 
play. It was a long time before they went for the 
. Some 
were looking at him, and just as Mary ran up they fastened a blue 
on his 
. “Oh, thank you! How pretty!” she said. “Hurrah!” cried the 
. “Our 
has won first prize! That means he’s the best
in town!” “Of course!” said little 
. “He’s the best 
in the whole 
!”
