The Old Mans Bag | Page 2

red policeman ran after him. When they had run about
five miles the old man dropped his bag in order that he might run
quicker. The red policeman had made up his mind to catch him; so that
he did not stop to pick up the bag but kept on running after the old man.

At length when they had run about ten miles he caught him.
[Illustration: The red policeman ran after him.]
"Now, sir," said the red policeman, "what have you got in that bag?"
"Nothing," said the old man.
"Oh, you wicked old person," said the red policeman. "You know
perfectly well that you have a hen in it. But you must come back with
me, and we will soon find out."
So the red policeman took the old man back to the place where he had
dropped the bag. The bag was there, and the red policeman picked it up
and opened it with great care. But the hen had got away. There was a
big hole in the corner of the bag, and through this the hen had squeezed
herself and run home as fast as ever she could. When the policeman
found that the bag was empty he looked much puzzled. The old man for
his part smiled a great deal. "I told you there was nothing in it," he said.
The red policeman said, "Well, I expect I shall have to let you go this
time. BUT MIND YOU DON'T DO IT AGAIN."
And the old man went home quite cheerfully with his bag under his
arm.
CHAPTER II.
When the old man got home to his house in the wood he hung the bag
up tidily on a nail. Then he sat down in a chair and began to laugh. He
laughed for nearly a quarter of an hour by the clock. At length his wife
came in to him from the garden and said,
"Whatever are you laughing at?"
[Illustration: "Whatever are you laughing at?"]
"Oh," replied the old man, holding his sides, "I am so amused!" Then

he went on laughing. He laughed so much indeed that the tears came
into his eyes and he nearly choked. His wife had to pat his back and
give him a drink of water to put him right.
Then he told her what had happened. How he had put a hen in his bag,
how the red policeman had run after him, how he dropped the bag and
let the policeman catch him, and how when the policeman took him
back to the bag, the hen was gone.
"Did she open the bag and fly away?" said the old woman.
"No," said the old man. "She got out through that hole in the corner."
"Ah," said the old woman, "I must sew up that hole."
And she took the bag down from its nail and sewed up the hole. For she
was a very neat woman and she did not like to see holes in bags.
[Illustration: She took the bag down and sewed up the hole.]
CHAPTER III.
The next day was market day. On market day people who have butter
or cheese to sell take it into the market to sell it. And people who have
money and happen to want butter or cheese go into the market to buy it.
The old man's wife had nothing to sell. Neither had she any money. But
she wanted some butter very badly. So she took the old man's bag off
the nail and carried it to market. She walked round the market with the
bag under her arm and looked at all the stalls and enquired how much
the strawberries were a pound; but she did not buy anything because
she had no money. In a little while she came to a stall on which there
were six rolls of fine fresh butter, and in front of them was a card on
which the man who brought the butter to market had written--
BUTTER IS CHEAP TO-DAY.
[Illustration: "Butter is cheap to-day!"]

"I am glad butter is cheap to-day," said the old woman to herself, and
when the man who had brought the butter to market was not looking
she picked up a roll and dropped it into her bag. Then she ran away as
fast as she could.
When she got round the corner the red policeman saw her. He shouted
out, "What have you got in that bag?"
"Nothing," said the old woman, still running.
But the policeman kept running after her. When they had run about five
miles the old woman dropped the bag, so that she might run quicker.
The policeman, however, had made up his mind to catch her, and when
they had run about ten miles he caught her.