Because he was so small, Stuart was often hard to find around the house. His father and his mother and his brother George seldom could locate him by looking for him—usually they had to call him; and the house often echoed with cries of “Stuart! Stooo-art!” You would come into a room, and he might be curled up in a chair, but you wouldn’t see him. Mr. Little was in constant fear of losing him and never finding him again. He even made him a tiny red cap, such as hunters wear, so that he would be easier to see.

One day when he was seven years old, Stuart was in the kitchen watching his mother make tapioca pudding. He was feeling hungry, and when Mrs. Little opened the door of the electric refrigerator to get something, Stuart slipped inside to see if he could find a piece of cheese. He supposed, of course, his mother had seen him, and when the door swung shut and he realized he was locked in, it surprised him greatly.

“Help!” he called. “It’s dark in here. It’s cold in this refrigerator. Help! Let me out! I’m getting colder by the minute.”

But his voice was not strong enough to penetrate² the thick wall. In the darkness he stumbled and fell into a saucer of prunes³. The juice was cold. Stuart shivered, and his teeth chattered⁴ together. It wasn’t until half an hour later that Mrs. Little again opened the door and found him standing⁵ on a butter plate, beating his arms together to try to keep warm, and blowing on his hands, and hopping⁶ up and down.

“Mercy!” she cried. “Stuart, my poor little boy.”

“How about a nip of brandy?” said Stuart.

“I’m chilled to the bone.”

But his mother made him some hot broth¹ instead, and put him to bed in his cigarette box with a doll’s hot-water bottle against his feet. Even so, Stuart caught a bad cold, and this turned into bronchitis, and Stuart had to stay in bed for almost two weeks.

During his illness, the other members of the family were extremely kind to Stuart. Mrs. Little played tick-tack-toe with him. George made him a soap bubble pipe and a bow and arrow. Mr. Little made him a pair of ice skates out of two paper clips.

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