There stood a very, very old woman, tall but bent, leaning on a stick, and dressed as the old picture-books always show Mother Goose. She wore a flowered gown, and a ruffled cap under a tall, black sugar-loaf hat, a white kerchief, and mits. Her shoes had big buckles and high heels, and she wore a pretty apron with pockets in it. Her hair was very white, and her face was the sweetest that the children had ever seen, but just now she looked rather stern. At her side stood an enormous, snow-white goose. “Enter,” she said again; and they all went into the cottage,—except the owl, who had gone to sleep outside. Inside everything was so clean and bright that it looked as though it must be a brand-new doll-house. Mother Goose was evidently a very neat, even a fussy old lady; for each little thing was in place, and scoured, and polished, and rubbed, and scrubbed, and brushed, and cleaned, and dusted, and washed, and generally taken care of, until it shone. Mother Goose’s feather duster hung on the wall, her gleaming kettle was boiling busily, and her big china teapot and funny old-fashioned cups were so clean that they caught the light and glittered like something much finer than mere china. In the smoky little fireplace was a crane, with a pot hanging on it; a pair of quaint old bellows were fastened to a peg near by. In the little latticed windows were fresh white muslin curtains and some pots of flowers. Overhead a little bird sang gaily in a cage. “Stand in a row,” commanded Mother Goose. They all obeyed, feeling a tiny bit afraid. She sat down with her foot on a footstool, put on her spectacles and gazed at them. “And now,” she said, very solemnly and reproachfully, “what have you to say for yourselves,—three little mortal children who have never believed in ME?” For a moment they were silent, not knowing what to say; then Dick exclaimed: “Gracious! Are you really real, after all?” “I am one of the queens of Make Believe Land,” answered Mother Goose, looking at him very steadily out of her bright dark eyes, “and my kingdom stretches far, far into the Real World. All the children of the world are my rightful subjects and entitled to my protection. But you—you are outlaws! You have committed the crime of Unbelief and you must suffer! That is why you have been brought to Make Believe Land.” The three children were more frightened than ever. What would their punishment be? Then Bab looked up into Mother Goose’s face, and saw the really kind look that was shining in her eyes, back of the sternness. Suddenly Bab felt that she loved her, and she cried out impulsively, “Oh, I’m glad you’re real, after all!” Mother Goose smiled the loveliest sort of a smile.