She drew them all three into her arms, and kissed them, one by one. Then Humpty Dumpty and the Princess said good-bye, and Star cried a little. “Oh, dear!” sighed Bab. “Shall we never come back to Make Believe Land any more?” “My dears,” said Mother Goose, “I am going to tell you something which you may not understand for a great many years. But it is true all the same. The Real World, as it is called, is nothing at all but a very small corner of Make Believe Land!” Then she drew them once more into her arms, and held them close, and they felt themselves growing sleepier and sleepier, and the warm comfort of her arms seemed to wrap them round closely and happily. They felt as though they were in their mother’s arms at home, and they knew suddenly that they had become nothing but little, little babies, and that their heads were nodding against Mother Goose’s breast. And as they lay so in her arms, she began to rock them softly to and fro, and croon the queerest, quaintest little lullaby to them. They did not know in the least what it was all about, but it was drowsy and motherly, and made them think of night-lights, and bath-tubs, and coverlids pulled up close and warm on winter nights. And then they knew that, whatever it was, it was what they always seemed to hear when their mother used to creep into their room during a thunder-storm, “just to see that they were all right and not frightened!” Held so in Mother Goose’s arms, they all dreamed—for they were almost asleep, you know—that they saw a nightgowned figure, stealing close and closer, lowering the light, and softly mending the fire; and a dear dream voice whispered: “Hush, darling, hush! It’s only Mamma. Go to sleep.” And then came a kiss as light as a breath. Their minds seemed confused; was it their own mother or Mother Goose? They never knew, for the next moment, and before they had time to decide, they were all three fast asleep. * * * * * When they opened their eyes,—it seemed but one dreamy minute later,—they were all three back on the nursery hearth-rug. The fire was almost out, and Nurse was just coming in. “Bedtime, dearies,” she said. “Have you been asleep already?” The children looked at each other. Was it only fancy, or did they hear the faint whirr of Bizzybuzz’s wings as he flew away? [Illustration] Transcribers Notes Spelling isn’t always consistent. For some words several variants can be encountered e.g. “sword-fish” and “swordfish”. Principally no corrections have been made. However, there are some rather obvious printing errors that have been corrected. These are listed below. Corrections: