Epaminondas put the pat of butter in his hat, put his hat on his head, and went home.

It was a hot day, and soon the butter began to melt.  Drip, drip, drip, it went into his ears.  Drip, drip, drip, it went into his eyes.  Drip, drip, drip, it went down his back.  When Epaminondas reached home, he had no butter in his hat.  It was all on him.

Looking at him hard, his mammy said, “Epaminondas, what in the world is that dripping from your hat?”

“Butter, mammy.  Granny sent it to you.”

“Butter!” cried his mammy.  “Oh, Epaminondas!  Don’t you know how to carry butter?  You must wrap it in a cabbage leaf, and take it to the spring.  Then you must cool it in the water, and cool it in the water, and cool it in the water.  When you have done this, take the butter in your hands and come home.  You hear me, Epaminondas?”

“Yes, mammy.”

The next time Epaminondas went to see his granny, she wasn’t baking cake and she wasn’t churning.  She was sitting in a chair knitting.

She said, “Epaminondas, look in the woodshed, and you’ll see something you like.”

Epaminondas looked in the woodshed, and there he found four little puppies.  He played with them all the afternoon, and when he started home, his granny gave him one.

Epaminondas remembered what his mammy had told him.  He wrapped the puppy in a big cabbage leaf, and took it to the spring.  He cooled it in the water, and cooled it in the water, and cooled it in the water.  Then he took it in his hands, and went home.

When his mammy saw him, she said, “Epaminondas, what is that in your hands?”

“A puppy dog, mammy.”

“A puppy dog!” cried his mammy.  “Oh, Epaminondas!  What makes you act so foolish?  That’s no way to carry a puppy.  The way to carry a puppy is to tie a string around his neck and put him on the ground.  Then you take the other end of the string in your hand and come along home.  You hear me, Epaminondas?”

“Yes, mammy.”

Epaminondas was going to be right the next time; he got a piece of string and put it in his pocket to have it ready.

The next day company came to see Epaminondas’s mammy, and she had no bread for dinner.  She called Epaminondas and said, “Run to ’the big house’ and ask your granny to send me a loaf of bread for dinner.”

“Yes, mammy,” said Epaminondas.  And off he ran.

Granny gave him a loaf just from the oven—­a nice, brown, crusty loaf.  This time Epaminondas was certainly going to do what mammy had told him.

He proudly got out his string and tied it to the loaf.  Then he put the loaf on the ground, and taking the other end of the string in his hand, he went along home.

When he reached home, his mammy gave one look at the thing tied to the end of the string.

“What have you brought, Epaminondas?” she cried.

“Bread, mammy.  Granny sent it to you.”