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                         THE CANDY COUNTRY

                                BY

                         LOUISA M. ALCOTT


 AUTHOR OF "LITTLE WOMEN," "LITTLE MEN," "AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL,"
          "AUNT JO'S SCRAP-BAG," "LULU'S LIBRARY," ETC.


                           Illustrated


                             BOSTON
                   LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY




                      _Copyright, 1885,_
                      BY LOUISA M. ALCOTT

                      _Copyright, 1900,_
                     BY JOHN S. P. ALCOTT


                       University Press
            JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.


              *       *       *       *       *




[Illustration: "Hollo, what do you want?" he asked, staring at her.
                PAGE 10.]


THE CANDY COUNTRY


"I shall take mamma's red sun umbrella, it is so warm, and none of the
children at school will have one like it," said Lily, one day, as she
went through the hall.

"The wind is very high; I'm afraid you'll be blown away if you carry
that big thing," called Nurse from the window, as the red umbrella went
bobbing down the garden walk with a small girl under it.

"I wish it would; I always wanted to go up in a balloon," answered Lily,
as she struggled out of the gate.

She got on very well till she came to the bridge and stopped to look
over the railing at the water running by so fast, and the turtles
sunning themselves on the rocks. Lily was fond of throwing stones at
them; it was so funny to watch them tumble, heels over head, splash into
the water. Now, when she saw three big fellows close by, she stooped for
a stone, and just at that minute a gale of wind nearly took the umbrella
out of her hand. She clutched it fast; and away she went like a
thistle-down, right up in the air, over river and hill, houses and
trees, faster and faster, till her head spun round, her breath was all
gone, and she had to let go. The dear red umbrella flew away like a
leaf; and Lily fell down, down, till she went crash into a tree which
grew in such a curious place that she forgot her fright as she sat
looking about her, wondering what part of the world it could be.

The tree looked as if made of glass or  sugar; for she could see
through the red cherries, the green leaves, and the brown branches. An
agreeable smell met her nose; and she said at once, as any child would,
"I smell candy!" She picked a cherry and ate it. Oh, how good it
was!--all sugar and no stone. The next discovery was such a delightful
one that she nearly fell off her perch; for by touching her tongue here
and there, she found that the whole tree was made of candy. Think what
fun to sit and break off twigs of barley sugar, candied cherries, and
leaves that tasted like peppermint and sassafras!

Lily rocked and ate till she finished the top of the little tree;
then she climbed down and strolled along, making more surprising and
agreeable discoveries as she went.

What looked like snow under her feet was white sugar; the rocks were
lumps of chocolate, the flowers of all colors and tastes; and every sort
of fruit grew on these delightful trees. Little white houses soon
appeared; and here lived the dainty candy-people, all made of the best
sugar, and painted to look like real people. Dear little men and women,
looking as if they had stepped off of wedding cakes and bonbons, went
about in their gay sugar clothes, laughing and talking in the sweetest
voices. Bits of babies rocked in open-work cradles, and sugar boys and
girls played with sugar toys in the most natural way. Carriages rolled
along the jujube streets, drawn by the red and yellow barley horses we
all love so well; cows fed in the green fields, and sugar birds sang in
the trees.

Lily listened, and in a moment she understood what the song said,--

    "Sweet! Sweet!
     Come, come and eat,
     Dear little girls
     With yellow curls;
     For here you'll find
     Sweets to your mind.
     On every tree
     Sugar-plums you'll see;
     In every dell
     Grows the caramel.
     Over every wall
     Gum-drops fall;
     Molasses flows
     Where our river goes.
     Under your feet
     Lies sugar sweet;
     Over your head
     Grow almonds red.
     Our lily and rose
     Are not for the nose;
     Our