So they wrote twelve at the top of the circle, and six at the bottom; they wrote three at the right and nine at the left; then they put the other numbers between. The Mamma said, “Put the long hand at twelve, and the little hand at nine; now tell the time!” Not one of the Ink-Bottle Babies could tell what time it was. Could you? Then the Ink-Bottle Mamma said, “The little hand tells the hour, you know, As round and round the two hands go; The big hand never makes a sound; It tells the minutes as it goes around!” Then the Ink-Bottle Babies clapped their hands and said, “It is nine o’clock!” Then they looked up at the big clock on the mantle-piece, and just then they cried, “The big clock is nine o’clock, too.” At this very minute the big clock began to strike. The Ink-Bottle Babies held their breath and counted the strokes of the clock. They counted the strokes on their fingers! Sure enough, the big clock struck nine. “Hurrah!” cried the Babies. “We are learning to tell the time.” Just then there was heard a gentle tap at the door. The door opened and in walked an Ink-Bottle Baby. She wore a red dress and a red sunbonnet. She said, “How do you do? I am tired, too; May I come in and sit with you?” The Ink-Bottle Babies all shouted, “Can you tell the time?” The new Ink-Bottle Baby shook her head and said, “I have been walking over maps all day. The children want a red line here, and a red dot there, and I am very tired.” “Did you meet the little dwarfs in the woods?” asked Molly and Polly together. “Who are the little dwarfs?” asked the new Ink-Bottle Baby, and Molly and Polly said, “We have a picture of two little dwarfs; If you will only look, The magic pitcher, too, is seen Within our picture-book.” At the words “magic pitcher,” the new Ink-Bottle Baby sprang from her chair, and ran out of the house as fast as her legs could carry her. “Well, what do you think of that?” asked the Ink-Bottle Mamma. The Ink-Bottle Babies clapped their hands and danced up and down. They shouted, “There really must be a magic pitcher! There truly must be a magic pitcher!” Then they looked out of the window and saw the snow-men they had made. The snow-men looked very real in the moonlight. The Ink-Bottle Babies cried, “Listen! the snow-men are singing.” They kept very still and they heard this song: “Last night I saw a funny sight, Upon the ground all glistening white; Queer people standing in a row, Who told me they were made of snow! “They waved their arms so queer and long, And kept time to a winter song; And when I said I’d go away, Their frosty voices bade me stay. “I looked up at them in surprise, And each man rolled his wooden eyes; Then said if I’d excuse the joke, They’d light a match and take a smoke!