YES,
           they called him Little Tuk,
         but it
            was not his real name;
        he had called himself so
             before he could speak plainly,
           and he meant
               it for Charles.

    It was all very well
           for those
         who knew him,
           but not for strangers.

    Little Tuk
        was left at home
              to take care
                   of his little sister,
           Gustava,
         who was much younger
               than himself,
           and he
            had to learn his lessons
                   at the same time,
         and the two things
            could not very well
                  be performed together.

    The poor boy
        sat there
               with his sister
             on his lap,
           and sung
               to her all the songs
             he knew,
         and now and then
             he looked
                   into his geography lesson
             that lay open before him.

    By the next morning
         he had
              to learn
                   by heart all the towns
                       in Zealand,
           and all
          that could be described
                     of them.

    His mother came
         home at last,
           and took little Gustava
               in her arms.

    Then Tuk
        ran to the window,
           and read so eagerly
             that he nearly
                  read his eyes out;
        for it had
             become darker
                   and darker every minute,
           and his mother
            had no money
                  to buy a light.

    "There goes the old washerwoman
           up the lane,"
          said the mother,
               as she looked
                   out of the window;
            "the poor woman
                can hardly drag herself along,
               and now
                 she had
                      to drag a pail
                           of water
                         from the well.

    Be a good boy,
           Tuk,
         and run across
              and help the old woman,
           won't you?"

    So Tuk ran across quickly,
           and helped her,
         but when
             he came back
                   into the room it
                was quite dark,
           and there was
               not a word
             said about a light,
         so he
            was obliged
                  to go
                      to bed
                           on his little truckle bedstead,
           and there
             he lay and
                  thought of his geography lesson,
         and of Zealand,
           and of all the master
            had told him.

    He ought really
          to have read it
               over again,
           but he
            could not
                   for want of light.

    So he put
           the geography book
               under his pillow,
           for he had heard
             that this
                was a great help towards
                      learning a lesson,
         but not always to be
             depended upon.

    He still lay
           thinking and thinking,
         when all
               at once it seemed
             as if some one
                  kissed him
                       on his eyes and mouth.

    He slept and yet
         he did not sleep;
        and it appeared
             as if the old washerwoman
                  looked at him
                       with kind eyes and said,
         "It would be
               a great pity
             if you
                did not
                      know your lesson to-morrow morning;
            you helped me,
               and now
                 I will help you,
             and Providence
                will always keep those
                 who help themselves;"
         and at the same
              time the book
                   under Tuk's pillow
            began to move about.

    "Cluck,
           cluck,
         cluck," cried a hen as
             she crept towards him.

    "I am a hen
           from Kjoge," and then
         she told him
           how many inhabitants
               the town contained,
           and about a battle
             that had been fought there,
         which really
            was not worth speaking of.

    "Crack,
           crack," down fell something.

    It was a wooden bird,
           the parrot
              which is
                  used as
                       a target as Prastoe.

    He said
        there were
               as many inhabitants in
         that town as
           he had nails
               in his body.

    He was very proud,
           and said,
         "Thorwalsden lived close to me,
               and here I am now,
             quite comfortable."

    But now little Tuk
        was no longer in bed;
           all in a moment
             he found himself on horseback.