Newspaper Page Text
6 (490) THE]
Our Boys
THE CORN STALK.
Down in an earth row, not very deep,
Three little brothers were put to sleep
Tn o ctfao t fi r?1 rl a?a A ni41
Wiwwu- atm uuc A[/iii uaj,
And my life began in Just that way.
One little fellow ne'er woke at all,
Tho' the April winds did often call.
The other so proudly pushing thro',
Uprooted was by the hand we knew.
So, I, of all the brothers three,
Was destined to reach maturity?
To humbly, proudly hold my stand,
As member of an army grand.
I'm glad because of the dress I wear;
Im' glad because of my tasseled hair;
But gladder than all I am, I know,
I hold what will make the children grow.
?(Mrs. L.. 0. D. Edwards.
HOW QUEEN CHERRY BLOSSOM
LEARNED TO RULE. .
A Story op Japan.
"Honorable grandmother," announced
Queen Cherry Blossom, "have the jinrikisha
ready for me to-morrow morning. I am going
to the mission kindergarten, where my honorable
playmates, Miss Plum and Miss Pine Tree,
learn such beautiful things."
The honorable grandmother gasped. "Oh!"
she thought, "what a dreadful thing for my
little Cherry Blossom to go where they teach
that terrible Jesus religion!"
But there was not a word to be said, for
everything was turned topsy-turvy in the relations
of that Japanese family. Instead of
being only a little girl four years old, taught
to obey the slightest wish of her elders, Cherry
Blossom had become Okusama, "the honorable
lady of the house." This had come to
pass through some strange circumstances and
changes in the family; so that, in accordance
with ancient Japanese customs and laws, the
little child of four years must be considered
the head of the family, and honored and
obeyed accordingly. Cherry Blossom's word
was law and, as the family was wealthy, she
could gratify every wish that came into her
heart; her commands were obeyed as if she
were a little queen.
When the teachers at the mission kindergarten
heard that Cherry Blossom was going to
enter their school, they were partly glad and
partly troubled.
"Isn't it delightful," said the new teacher,
ll h 1 -1 llL~ Al_ iL.i
just iium uie noiueiaim, to uuiik. uim we are
going to have this dear little Cherry Blossom,
from a family that never would have anything
to do with the mission before? I know something
good will come of it."
"I hope so," said the older teacher, doubtfully;
"hut Cherry Blossom is accustomed to
command, like a queen. I'm afraid it will be
hard for her to learn to obey, like the other
children."
"There isn't a child in Japan that could
help loving and obeying you, you are such a
good and patient dear," said the new teaeher,
heartily. Then, suddenly, she exclaimed:
"Here is the jinrikisha; little Queen Cherry
Blossom has come! Let us go to meet her."
The older teacher gave the little girl a kind
and motherly welcome, and led her into the
room where the children's chairs were arranged
in a circle. Cherry Blossom stood very
straight and looked around the room with a
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SO
an a r. ivIo I
U1IU. van 10
haughty expression on her pretty face.
"Where are Miss Plum and Miss Pino y
Tree?" she asked.
"They haven't come yet," said the teacher,
pleasantly. "Wouldn't you like to have me
help you choose a seat?"
Cherry Blossom did not answer at once.
She looked around the room several times,
held her head on one side, and seemed to be
thinking very hard. Then she quietly walked
across the floor to one of the chairs, took her
seat, and announced:
"Cherry Blossom will sit here."
"But, dear little Cherry Blossom," said the
teacher very kindly, "that is Miss Wistaria's
chair."
Cherry Blossom sprang up and stamped her
little foot. "I choose this chair," she flamed
cut; then, suddenly, "No, I don't want a chair
that belongs to any one else; I want a chair all
my own."
"Here is a chair for you," said the teacher,
quietly, "near to me and to the window next
to the cherry trees. I think you will like it
there."
Cherry Blossom was as bright and quick to
learn as any little girl in the school, but oh,
how hard it was for her to learn to do as the
teachers told her! At home everybody
obeyed Cherry Blossom; why should it be different
at school? So she often sat in silence
and looked on while little Wistaria and Plum
nnrl T ^ i n o Trnn on/1 oil + a +
MMvft a ?uv A A. vv UUU (ill liiu V/tilCl CIIIIUI L'il >V ULi I
through their games, exercises, and everything
except the songs. The music set her little
heart to beating and her red lips to moving,
and before she knew it the song bubbled right
out, clear as a mountain brook.
"Cherry Blossom," said the teacher, "please
come out and stand by me while we sing our
marching song, 'Walk in the light;' you sing
it so clearly that your voice will help the
others as we march along."
Cherry Blossom came at once. She thought
it was very natural that she should be asked
to lead the others. So her voice rang out
through the room, and her feet kept perfect
time as she led the march.
"Thank you, Cherry Blossom; that was very
nicely done. Now, please take your place
with the others for the motion songs."
Cherry Blossom stood very straight, her lips
closed tight, her face flushed. That was a very
different thing. Somebody else was going to
ten ner wiiat motions to make. But something
said to her, "If you lead in one exercise, you
ought to follow in another," and she went and
took her place without a word.
As the days went on Cherry Blossom would
some days seem to be interested and willing,
and again she would be silent and stubborn.
One day she did not come to school at all.
"Why do you suppose Cherry Blossom did
not come T Do you suppose she is going to give
up the school? I've come to love her dearly,
and I did want her to learn the true spirit
of what we teach here," said one teacher.
"J r 1 n n ' t Vnnw T 'in auro " *Vi?
?w, -. ??4 ou4v, me uuicr rcjjueu.
"Suppose we go around by her home after
school hours."
So the teachers walked along the streets of
the city, beautiful everywhere with flowers.
The fine house where Cherry Blossom lived
was surrounded by lawns and millions of blossoms
filled the.air with perfume.
U T H [ May 1, 1912
"And not one of thein is so sweet as our
own Cherry Blossom," they said; "and oh,
look at that! What do you suppose they are
doing?"
They had reached a spot where they could
look down into the court below. There, beneath
the pink and white flowers, stood Cher
T> 1 J I * * 1
ly iJiussum, jiiui arouna ner, in a circle, stood
her whole family, from the servants to the
little old grandmother.
"Now," commanded Cherry Blossom,
"Grandmother One will be a bluebird."
"Oh, but I cannot," began the old lady;
but remembering that it was Cherry Blossom's
command, and being in truth both light and
lively, she tripped around the circle, waiving
her silken kimono.
"Very nicely, indeed," said Cherry Blossom,
with a funny imitation of her teacher.
"Now we will sing a song," announced
Cherry Blossom, and began singing like some
bird among the branches, "I am glad that
Jesus loves me." Over and over again she
made them sing it, until they did it fairly well,
and then she bowed her head, folded her
hands, and led the family in repeating the
Lord's Prayer.
"Oh," whispered the teacher, "only think
of it! right here in the shadow of a heathen
temple, almost!
When it was over Cherry Blossom lifted
her head and said very earnestly to her people:
"Now you have done all this to please me,
just as you think you must do. But 1 want to
tell you something. At the mission school iny
kind, patient teachers have taught me that I
must try to help others, not always to have
others help me. So I want you, each one, to
think of something that I can do to help you,
and I will do it if I can. To help others, my
teachers say, is pleasing to our Heavenly
Father."
"Come," said the teacher, gently, "we will
go home; we shall see Cherry Blossom tomorrow.
''?World-W ide.
A NEW GAME.
Grandfather and Aunt Mary and Cousin
Sarah and the two small boys, Lewis and John,
were sitting on the piazza. Grandfather had a
golf-stick in his hand, Lewis had some tennisballs,
and John had a racket. On the piazza
flo^r vtos a basketball, which Aunt Mary and
Cousin Sarah were idly pushing back and forth
with quick little shoves of their toes.
rru i a ~n 1 i ?
X nuy nuu. uu ueen laming aoout wnat tney
should do that afternoon. Grandfather wanted
a game of golf, but there was no one to play with
him. Aunt Mary and Cousin Sarah would have
enjoyed the lively sport of basketball, but the
friends who had played with them at other times
had driven to town this afternoon.- The boys
wanted a game of tennis, but although there
were plenty of tennis-balls, there was only one
racket. There did not seem to be anything they
could all do together. But down on the lawn,
under a large tree, stood an empty peachbasket.
"When grandfather saw it he got up, put his
golf-stick in the corner of the hall, and said,
"We will make a new game* one that all of us
TIT- -.1.-11 1- *
can i'iay. yyc hiihu niHKe our own rules to sun
ourselves, so that the game will be our very own.
We shall be the inventors and real discoverers of
it."
That is how the game "T. G. B. B." came to
be played. Those who know it' enjoy it as much
as golf, tennis or basket-ball, and play it as
often.
Grandfather first sent Lewis and Jonnie to the
shed to get some more empty peach-baskets.
They came back with five. One they were told
4