This ebook was created in honour of Distributed Proofreaders’ 25th Anniversary. By Eva March Tappan THE HOUSE WITH THE SILVER DOOR. WHEN KNIGHTS WERE BOLD. DIXIE KITTEN. AN OLD, OLD STORY-BOOK. THE CHAUCER STORY BOOK. LETTERS FROM COLONIAL CHILDREN. AMERICAN HERO STORIES. THE STORY OF THE ROMAN PEOPLE. THE STORY OF THE GREEK PEOPLE. THE GOLDEN GOOSE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. THE CHRIST STORY. OLD BALLADS IN PROSE. All of the above are illustrated. HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY BOSTON AND NEW YORK THE HOUSE WITH THE SILVER DOOR [Illustration: (p. 30) THE CHILDREN TOLD THE MOON LADY] THE HOUSE WITH THE SILVER DOOR BY EVA MARCH TAPPAN WITH ILLUSTRATIONS [Illustration] BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY The Riverside Press Cambridge 1913 COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY EVA MARCH TAPPAN ALL RIGHTS RESERVED _Published September 1913_ CONTENTS I. THE HOUSE WITH THE SILVER DOOR 1 II. KING HANSEL THE FIRST 67 III. THE STAR PRINCESS 129 ILLUSTRATIONS THE CHILDREN TOLD THE MOON LADY _Frontispiece_ SILVERBOY CALLED, “WHO’S THERE?” 52 A GREAT COARSE HAND PULLED HIM IN 94 “SHE IS FAIRER THAN ANY OF MY MAIDENS” 158 _From drawings by Emily Hall Chamberlain._ THE HOUSE WITH THE SILVER DOOR THE HOUSE WITH THE SILVER DOOR Once upon a time a man and his wife lived in a cottage in the forest, so far away that no one could think how far it was even if he tried for a month. They had two children, a boy and a girl. There was only one thing more that they wanted, and that was a silver door to the cottage. “How I should like to have a silver door,” said the goodman, “so I could see the sun shine upon it at sunset when I came in from my work!” “How I should like to have a silver door,” said the goodwife. “I should draw in the latchstring at night, and go to sleep thinking, ‘My door is made of silver, and how it will shine when the sun strikes it in the morning.’” The children had heard this every day since they could remember, and when they had grown older, they determined to go away and see if they could not find a silver door for their father and mother. Very early one morning, long before their parents were awake, Silverboy and Silvergirl, for those were their names, took hold of each other’s hand and went softly out of the cottage and far away. They climbed over fallen trees, they waded through brooks and mossy pools, they were caught in the briers, and they scrambled down breakneck cliffs. After a long time they came to the edge of the forest, but nowhere had they seen what they were looking for. “What shall we do?” cried Silvergirl, sobbing. “I’m afraid we shall never find a silver door.” Silverboy might have cried, too, if he had been alone, but now he plucked up his courage and answered bravely:-- “Oh, we’ll find it yet.”