3) ***




Produced by Al Haines.




[Illustration: Cover]



                            LULU'S LIBRARY.


                                   BY

                           LOUISA M. ALCOTT,


    AUTHOR OF "LITTLE WOMEN," "AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL," "LITTLE MEN,"
         "EIGHT COUSINS," "ROSE IN BLOOM," "UNDER THE LILACS,"
             "JACK AND JILL," "HOSPITAL SKETCHES," "WORK, A
                STORY OF EXPERIENCE," "MOODS, A NOVEL,"
                 "PROVERB STORIES," "SILVER PITCHERS,"
                         "AUNT JO'S SCRAP-BAG."



                                VOL. I.

                           A CHRISTMAS DREAM.
                           THE CANDY COUNTRY.
                             NAUGHTY JOCKO.
                          THE SKIPPING SHOES.
                               COCKYLOO.
                            ROSY'S JOURNEY.
                           HOW THEY RAN AWAY.
                             THE FAIRY BOX.
                          A HOLE IN THE WALL.
                            THE PIGGY GIRL.
                            THE THREE FROGS.
                               BAA!  BAA!



                                BOSTON:
                           ROBERTS BROTHERS.
                                 1886.




                           _Copyright, 1885,_
                          BY LOUISA M. ALCOTT.



                           University Press:
                    JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE.




                                PREFACE.


All but three of these stories were told to my little niece during our
quiet hour before bedtime.  They became such favorites with her and her
friends that I wrote them down in several small blue books, and called
them LULU'S LIBRARY.  Having nothing else to offer this year, I have
collected them in one volume as a Christmas gift to my boys and girls
from their old friend

AUNT JO.
CONCORD, August, 1885.




                               CONTENTS.

      I. A Christmas Dream
     II. The Candy Country
    III. Naughty Jocko
     IV. The Skipping Shoes
      V. Cockyloo
     VI. Rosy's Journey
    VII. How They Ran Away
   VIII. The Fairy Box
     IX. A Hole in the Wall
      X. The Piggy Girl
     XI. The Three Frogs
    XII. Baa!  Baa!




[Illustration: She actually stood in "a grove of Christmas trees."--PAGE
30.]



                                   I.

                A CHRISTMAS DREAM, AND HOW IT CAME TRUE.


"I'm so tired of Christmas I wish there never would be another one!"
exclaimed a discontented-looking little girl, as she sat idly watching
her mother arrange a pile of gifts two days before they were to be
given.

"Why, Effie, what a dreadful thing to say! You are as bad as old
Scrooge; and I'm afraid something will happen to you, as it did to him,
if you don't care for dear Christmas," answered mamma, almost dropping
the silver horn she was filling with delicious candies.

"Who was Scrooge?  What happened to him?" asked Effie, with a glimmer of
interest in her listless face, as she picked out the sourest lemon-drop
she could find; for nothing sweet suited her just then.

"He was one of Dickens's best people, and you can read the charming
story some day. He hated Christmas until a strange dream showed him how
dear and beautiful it was, and made a better man of him."

"I shall read it; for I like dreams, and have a great many curious ones
myself.  But they don't keep me from being tired of Christmas," said
Effie, poking discontentedly among the sweeties for something worth
eating.

"Why are you tired of what should be the happiest time of all the year?"
asked mamma, anxiously.

"Perhaps I shouldn't be if I had something new.  But it is always the
same, and there isn't any more surprise about it.  I always find heaps
of goodies in my stocking.  Don't like some of them, and soon get tired
of those I do like. We always have a great dinner, and I eat too much,
and feel ill next day.  Then there is a Christmas tree somewhere, with a
doll on top, or a stupid old Santa Claus, and children dancing and
screaming over bonbons and toys that break, and shiny things that are of
no use. Really, mamma, I've had so many Christmases all alike that I
don't think I _can_ bear another one."  And Effie laid herself flat on
the sofa, as if the mere idea was too much for her.

Her mother laughed at her despair, but was sorry to see her little girl
so discontented, when she had everything to make her happy, and had
known but ten Christmas days.

"Suppose we don't give you _any_ presents at all,--how would that suit
you?" asked mamma, anxious to please her spoiled child.

"I should like one large and splendid one, and one dear little one, to
remember some very nice person by," said Effie, who was a fanciful
little body, full of odd whims and notions, which her friends loved to
gratify, regardless of time, trouble, or money; for she was the last of
three little girls, and very dear to all the family.

"Well, my darling, I will see what I can do to please you, and not say a
word until all is ready.  If I could only get a new idea to start with!"
And mamma went on tying up her pretty bundles with a thoughtful face,
while Effie strolled to the window to watch the rain that kept her
in-doors and made her dismal