THE "GOOD ENDEAVOUR" LEAGUE FOR YOUNG READERS ONLY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 68, 29 September 1939, Page 6

THE "GOOD ENDEAVOUR" LEAGUE FOR YOUNG READERS ONLY

- V. jm* for the Goodwill Cruise PETER THE WHALER % c/WHALE ISLAND

Heave to, m;< hearties! And how do ye all like Hawaii. You know, .this is the place from whence the Maoris came ages and ages ago. in fact one of their first giant canoes, the Matatua landed at Whakataue, and the people from it were the i! 1'" cestors the present Maori tribes living on the Kanuitaiki Plains. Interesting isn't it! you can see that they left Ji very beautiful place Here the mountains arc tall, but not quite so high as those in Taliitj,

Neither do tliev rise up so abruptly from the beach. Plawaii, to-day belongs to the United States of America. Thej' have built a busy and very fine looking down called Honolulu here, and have fortified the bar hour, until it has become an important naval base. But in spite of all the model buildings, I don't think Hawaii will ever loose its charm. On the northern side of the Island there is the very beautifail Waikiki beach. Here you can see miles of palm bordered walks. Many wealthy Americans have built summer residences there, but the beach remains a very lovel.v spot. The Hawaiians or what are left of them, are a smiling 5 happy race. They were definitely the finest looking race of brown people in the wide Pacific. Look at them closely boys and girls, and Pin sure you will agree. Now for the next port. I have a hunch that we ought to see the Dutch Indies— Java, Sumatra, Bali. What about it? Righto then Sail trimmers and Midshipmen, clap on all the canvas you can and oil we go. Yours tiil next Aveek Peter the Whaler.

OUR STORY

PEDRO'S CAT

A man once lived on the e:lge of a little town. The Pacific Ocean itself was only a mile away, and there-

wore more eucalyptus trees growing along the streets of the town than there were people going up and down. The man was a brown littlo man, but strong in the arms and legs - , and his eyes wore the kind of ej r es that children like to look into This man lived alone. His house "was small but fitted him exactly as •well as turtle shell fits a turtle. But though his house was a small white-washed house his garden was large. It was a vegetable garden. Red peppers and green peppers and artichokes grew big in the garden, almost as big as the. cabbages and potatoes and heads of lettuce there: And the man had a field beyond 'garden -where nothing at all grew cxcept the wild musky grass. the very rich filaree grass of California, under clumps of pussywillow trees. Tlie man had neither vegvtabJe seed* enough to plant this field, nor time enough to care for a larger .garden.

Pedro Lazo was the man's name. And now you know everything he had in the world: a name, a small white-washed house, a vegetable garden and a field beyond that.

Pedro took two enormous baskets like a flower vendor's baskets on hr.> arms each morning and sold his vegetables through the back streets, and alleyways of the town. Down each and every street that was not a shov

ping street he went, crying out, "Ripe peppers! Artichokes! Baby squash!" or whatsoever vegetables happened to he filling up hi-; baskets that special morning. And his v<ni • had the ringiiu; out of belis to it*, so Kiuch so that people often <'xpccted to see a burro coming 011 liehind him, wearing a be!l or two. One night, and a. very rainy nigh' it v.as, because of a heavy slot-a o:it on the ocean Pedro La/o sat i:i hi; kitchen keeping warm. A fire mad. 1 out o!l eucalyptus bark was burning in his stove, and Pedro's feet were in the oven !*nr the drvness hiv.) warmth lie found there. He. thought of nothing very special, being too much aware of the nice fee-ii'iy in Jiis feet to take on anything. I *nt t»f a sudden he hoard a meowing fit the door, "Cat!" he said. "But this is no place for a cat. A house with plenty of vegetables—yes; but no milk in it." "Meow!" cried fhc cat. "Teasing to come in." said i-vdro I/izo. "Meow!'' cried the cat, ami kept

box-cabin.

that lip, making each meow morq pleading tluui the one that went before it. Pedro Lazo could endure this meowing no longer. II C ifelt that he must answer it, just ns people often ft. el thej must answer a telephone. He took his feet from the oven, bounced up hurriedly, and opened the ctoor. A cat, grey and large, came in. Tlie fur on her was Avct and tigM--°nJ-;!;'ig, but her yellow Cye.s had n sun brightness to then! Very welcome on, a wet night. She walked to the fire Avith stood there until her coat had dried, then Settled herself at Pedro's feet and sang herself to sleep with an endless purring song; Purr-im, purr-er, purr-im, | I know no kitchen hymn; So sing, purr-im ? purr-er. And settle in my fur. "This is all very nice.," thought Pedro, "but in the morning she will be hungry and "meow for her milk. T know, I know, she will start that meowing again; "Well,'' he sighed. "I shall give her tlie little milk I have to drink Tor my breakfast and for the corn mush. Then Ave shall have to look further.-' And he Avcnt to bed that night wondering Avant to do. For in spite of all his toil, trudging the streets, his baskets heavy with vegetables, squatting for days to weed, standing for days to irrigate his vegetable garden, Pedro had only pennies enough to pay tlie rent of his lanti, Avitli little enough left OA-er for jeans, shirts, Avide hats and Avood for himself, seed and Avater for his A'egetablcs.

ITe lived chiefly on his vegetables, saving out the smaller ones for himself, and laughed often because housewives looked always for the larger carrots squashes, cabbf'ges, radishes, cucumbers, while he, himself, knew the smaller A r egctables were more tender, fine in fibre and richer in flavour. "But now a cat!"' he said to himself when he got up next morning. "Well, I must think what to do. Aye, aye, she is already meowing!'' A.ud Pedro hastened to gis r e her the milk intended for his own breakfast and ale his corn mush dry. r lhe cat thanked him by purring and rubbing herself; against his legs.

"Xow that you have had breakfast you should have a name/' he told her. "There is little sense in a cat going round without a name. •

"Pussywillow," lie said, to h'niself; ''yes, that is what children call those trees in my great fields. Every February they come here and say to me, 'Could Ave please have a few of your pussywillows?''

So he colled her "Pussywillow," and shortly after Pedro had a wonderful stroke of luck, ifior a man came and asked him to sell his vegetable garden lor a big sum of money. He did so and after that went oil a

lovely trip to his native land, but lie did not forget to take "Pussyw'How" who travelled in a special

RIDDLE POT Sent in by Midshipman Keith Linsell What four (4) letters may frighten a thief?—O.T.C.U.

What relation is a door mat to a door?—A st epfa ri he r.

Do you know how to get* fat?— Buv it from the butcher.

What is that which is invisible yet never out of: sight?— The letters From what Irees do we get appletarts? A pantry. Which is the oldest settler in the west? —The sun. Which sheep eat most grass, black or white? —White, because there is more of them. JUNIOR COMPETITION Sir Archibald Wheeze 'Gave a terrible sneeze And immediately aGtcr said "iilow it!'' But what he said then You must guess it, my fric'vls, For I, Whaler Peter don't know it. Guess what Sir Archibald said after bis sneeze aiid win a free picture ticket.