"Ask! Ask!" the witch kept repeating, as she stood over Polly, shaking her long bony hand at her. "I give you five minutes to decide! Going--going--gone!" At the last word the old woman clapped her hands together, making sparks fly. Polly screamed with terror: "I only want to be good! Please!" Then, for a long time, Polly remembered no more. Everything became dark, and she thought she was getting smaller and smaller, until suddenly she became a pin-point and pricked herself, as if she had been somebody else! "Oh!" she exclaimed as she came to herself again. She looked about, and saw beautiful mountains all around. The valley in which she lay was green with grass and glowing with beautiful wild flowers. Not far off she could see a clear, sparkling river. She was clad in a new and lovely pink frock with stockings and shoes to match. What did it all mean? The sun was already high in midheaven. As far as Polly's eyes could see, the scenery was entrancing. Birds sang in the branches, and squirrels ran to Polly and begged for nuts. Then she heard the shout of little children, and saw twenty or more youngsters frolicking in a near meadow. When the children saw her they ran to meet her and made her very welcome. Soon she became quite at home among them. Finally a little boy named Harry pointed with his finger; "See, it is dinner-time!" he said. Polly looked where the boy pointed and was astonished to see a tall, stately clock-tower, rising high above all the mountains. The hands of the clock pointed to twelve. "Oh! Oh!" exclaimed Polly. "Isn't it grand? Why didn't I notice it before?" "Because," said Harry, "you were playing and not thinking about time." At that instant the clock struck twelve. Then it chimed forth a sweet chant, more beautiful than anything that Polly ever had heard. It made her feel as though she were in heaven. But being still a child of earth, she clapped her hands and scampered off with the other children to the tower. "How often, Harry, does that clock chime?" asked Polly. "It plays music every quarter of an hour." "How is it, then, that I did not hear the music before?" "Do you really mean that you have not heard the clock chime all the morning? It has been playing right along. You must have seen that we children stopped playing for a few seconds now and then. At those times we were listening to the music." The other children gathered about Polly, and when Harry told them about her failure to hear the chimes, they all began to laugh. Polly could not bear to be laughed at so she cried bitterly; whereupon the other children scampered off. Harry, however, tried to comfort the weeping child. "Polly," he pleaded, "never mind those children; they do not know any better." Polly suddenly drew away from him. "I guess you told them things about me! Go away from me! You are a tattle-tale!" She stamped her foot, and her eyes flashed. Harry turned and walked away sadly.