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6 (1084) * * t
Our Boys
OUR WALK.
When father takes me for a walk, s
It makes me glad all day;
He puts his hand in mine and says,
"Now, Captain, lead the way."
I take him to the chipmunk's hole,
To ponds where fish are thick;
And. where the big boys dig for bait,
He whittles me a stick.
And makes a willow whistle, too,
That we take turns to blowr
We scatter petals in the brook
And wonder where they go.
Then, when we're tired, we start for home,
And talk of lots of things?
Wby motheT has such cuddly ways,
Why birds and bees have wings.
And father talks of business, too,
'Ana a 8KB me my aavice.
Now, wouldn't you, if you were there,
Think walks like that a*re nice?
?^Louise A. Garnett, in American Magazine.
THE LOANED PONY CART.
Richard King had several neighbor boys
whom he liked very much. They were in the
same room at school, and they always came and
went together, stopping to play marbles in the
smooth, quiet street where they lived.
But there was one boy in that block whom
none of the rest liked. It was not because Sanson
Reese lived' in a bigger house than they did,
but because he had the prettiest Shetland pony
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let any of the boys ride. Then, he seemed to
like to go by real fast, and sling dust on them.
The week that school was out for the summer
the strangest thing happened! Sanson's
father came over to see Mr. King, and said that
the whole family was going to the seashore for
the summer; that he would like to leave the
pony and cart in Mr. King's stable; that Richard
could use them all he liked for their keep.
You may be sure that the very first day Richard
learned to harness up the pony, and that
it didn't take him long to learn how to hold
the lines right and to turn corners.
Ben went with him at first, but the day he
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Logan Spear and Dee Garrett, his best friends,
playing marbles right in the middle of the
street. Just for fun ,he whipped up and drove
across their ring, knocking the kimmies and
glassies every which way! Then he looked
back, laughing; but Logan sprang up, and
shouted: "Rich King, you're hatefuller than
that Reese boy! We'll never play with you
again!"
Sure enough, the Reese boy had never broken
up a game, if he had raised a big dust on purpose
! Richard drove on slowly, thinking about
it; and the further he went the meaner he felt.
That night he dreamed that all the boys and
girls in his room at school were sent to the
blackboard to write, "Richard King is hatefuller
than Sanson Reeseand he thought that
while they were writing it the teacher stood
pointing her finger at him.
"When he opened his eyes and found it was all
a bad dream, he drew a long breath, and said:
"Well, I've got the pony for all summer, and
T will have lots of chances to be nice to the
hoys. Ill take Dee and Logan this very day;
and the?oh, there's the Sawyer boy! IH take
him first, because he can't walk & step."
K?bJS?T?KlAti or TAB ft O
and Girls
Actually, there were tears in Mrs. Sawyer's
eves when he hsIcpH her tn let Pm-v rm far* o
ride! She turned quickly, and lifted the helpless
little fellow in, saying: "Do you know
how much he has wanted this very pony and
cart? Please drive carefully, Richard; for he
is very weak, you know."
So he let the pony walk most of the way; but
Cary thought it was fine, and he laughed and
talked so much that Richard enjoyed it as well
as if they were going fast. Then, when they
got home, and Mrs. Sawyer came to carry her
son into the house, Richard said: ""We'll go
every morning, if you like."
"Oh, will we?" called Cary over his mother
shoulder. "You're the best boy in town'"
How he wished1 Logan could have heard that!
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a iic uuree imu a jouy trip aown tne piKe tnat
afternoon, bringing the cart and pony back all
trimmed up with sunflowers fit for a street parade.
"Oh, looky there! Isn't that pretty!"
the children would cry, as they passed along
the street.
And every day after that Richard found new
nice things to do. He took his big brother
down to the office, thus saving car fare, and
giving him a pleasant ride; he did errands for
his mother, carried groceries in the cart, and
even took the family washings across to Aunty
Suttles every Monday morning.
"Bress de sugah boy!" the old negro mammy
would cry when he drove up with the
clothes. "He knowed I done got rheumatics in
mah neck frum totin' dem big loads on mah
liaid! You's de bes' boy in town, you is!"
"Won't you wear that pony out, going so
muchf" complained old Uncle Nathan, his
mother's uncle, as Richard, starting out one
morning, met the old gentleman at the corner.
"Get in and ride, won't you!" asked Richard,
politely, instead of answering the question.
"Yes, I don't mind if I do. I'm pretty stiff
to-day," replied he.
So he got in, and as they went down the
street Richard told him how many nice things
he had found to do with the pony cart.
"You see, I've got to keep going, for Cary
must have his ride in the morning?it helps him
a lot, his mother says; then there are errands,
and the neighbor children begging to ride; besides.
I am delivering the Home Department
stuff for Mrs. Childs since her children are sick,
and she can't do it. Pretty soon the Reeses
will be coming home, and 111 have to give
Dandy op."
Uncle Nathan nodded and looked pleased,
but he did not say a word.
Never did a summer vacation pass so quickly.
It was time for people to be coming back from
their vacations, and every morning Richard
would look out first thing to see whether tho
Reeses' shutters were open. But instead, Mr.
Reese came back alone, saying they had decided
to live in the North, and advertising his house
and furniture for sale.
What would become of Dandy? How "Richard
wished he could buy him ! But he knew his
father could not iffor 1 the ruoriry. so he kept
still about wishing it. Fo wasn't he surprised
and happy when old lJn.de Nathan hobbled
down to their house and handed him a receipt
which meant that both the pony, and the cort
were his for always!
(And didn't he feel mean to remember how
n
0 T B [September 35, 1912
he had' been thinking all these years that Unclo
Nathan was stingy!)
"Oh, don't thank me so much!" cried the
old man, looking very much pleased. "Just
keep on doing nice things with them, and let
me ride once in a while.'.'?Herald and Presbyter.
HOW THE QUILLIES WENT EXPLORING.
By Mary K. Hyde.
It is lonesome in the park now that school
is keeping. The Squirrels miss the children,
with their coaxing ways, their cheery calls and
their fat bags of peanuts. Mopsa and Tuftsy
are more fortunate than the other "quillies,"
for their especial friends, Bess and Ben, who
come in the automobile with their nurse every
pleasant day, are not yet old enough to go to
school, and continue their visits even after the
snow flies and nuts are doubly welcome.
Such friends are the twins and the two gray
squirrels they have selected for their own park
pets, that when they play tag together on the
green lawn and asphalt walks, the "quillies"
do not hesitate to follow their playmates, even
into the automobile.
The other day there was twinkling of bright,
3 ? * " - -
ucaii,y una mrting or long, hushy tails, as
Mopsa and Tuftsy sat erect under a tree, watching
for their friends. Mischief was evident in
every twitch and jerk of their nervous little
bodies. It seemed almost as if they smiled and
nudged each other in the enjoyment of their
exciting secret, as they sat and watched.
Pouf! pouf! hrrrrr! Here it came, the big
blue auto, with Bess and Ben. The squirrels
capered and frisked and scampered about in
high glee. At the close of a happy hour, when
the children climbed into the car to go home,
in crept Mopsa and Tuftsy, slily and unseen.
They snuggled close under the skirt of nursie's
dress, and breathed hard as their little hearts
beat fast with excitement not unmixed with
fear.
"Quilly, quilly, quilly," cried the twins,
"come and say good-by! Why, where are the
quillies? Where could they have gone no
quick 1
Never a word said the "quillies," curled up
tight at nursie's heels. Never a sound did they
make, never a muscle did they move, until they
heard the chuff-chuff of the auto and knew they
were really started on their adventures.
Little by little they uncurled their furry
selves, little by little they crept out from under
nursie's skirts. My! how their eyes twinkled
as they peeped out and saw the trees and
bushes hurrying along! They never before
knew that trees and bushes whizzed ahout so
out in the big wide world! Now nnH thon t.hwv
caught fleeting glimpses of their cousins here
and there. Poor things that never knew the
fun of running away and exploring.
Now the auto sped out between the gates of
the park and carefully crossed the broad avenue.
O, bumpity-bump! What was this 1 Car
tracks! Dear me ! How uncomfortable! Mopsa
nearly tumbled out. She looked at Tuftsy, he
nodded, and with one swift scramble they
landed in the twins' laps. Of course Bess
s-r nmed and jumped, but-Ben shouted, "Don't
spill 'em! It's the quillies."
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wiiHi snouia De clone? Nursie said the "quillies"
might go home with the children, so long
as they had come all this way, and they could
come back again the next day. "What fun! a
visit from the "quillies." Did anyone ever
hear the like!
Like some other runaways, when they found
themselves really far from home, among the
strange sights and sounds of the city, they be
gan to regret their trip,' Mopsa looked at
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