THE "GOOD ENDEAVOUR" LEAGUE FOR YOUNG READERS ONLY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 197, 9 August 1940, Page 3

THE "GOOD ENDEAVOUR" LEAGUE FOR YOUNG READERS ONLY

What ho, what ho, ma hearties. How do you like life in the briney at Key West? \fes ecm to have done nothing but surf-bathing since we've been here. I don't think I've seen sand more golden or sea water so blue as it is off the Florida coast. It even seems better than Ohope. But that may be because we' arc so. far away from home.'Well we will be having a few more delicious days here, and then off we go for New Orleans and later straight into Old Mexico. Still that will be next week and. in the meanwhile I want y"ou to thank our kind host and hostess Mr and Mrs Arty Choke for their hospitality and the use of their seaside bungalow. Its a pretty large house as bungalows go, but still you must remember that you are in America now and the people here do things in a big way. Now, you had better get your kits ready for .'he lorg train journey and. remember when in Mexico that the larger your sun-hat the. better —in fact, its the fashion. :

OUR STORY THE GOLDEN FEATHERS Once upon a time there were two brothers, Sim and Noll. They had a sister Tina who kept house for them and was always ready and waiting to welcome them on their return from work. Each night, too, the brothers brought her something they had found on their way. Sometimes it was a spray of berries or a handful of nuts, or, more often, a bunch o! wild flowers, for never one? did they cc.me home empty-handed. One night, however, they were latc*r than usual, and when they arrived fhey brought with them a golden bird, for which they had made a rough wicker cage. "How ever did I manage to do without you. you pretty creature?" ■ Tina cried, for the bird was company for her, and now even when her brothers were aAvay she was nevI er lonely. But there came a day when the golden bird drooped and sat listless in its cage and, try as she would, she could not coax it to sing. "What can be the matter with it? 1 " she asked her brothers anxiously. "Sec, it is losing its feathers fast!" "Oh, that is nothing!" they told her. "ft has begun to moult, that is all. By and by it will have new feathers and be as bright and gas r as ever it was." Their words cheered Tina a little, for she had been afraid of losing her playmate. "All the same," she thought, "perhaps it would be happier out of doors, where it can sec and hear its comrades," and she hung the cage outside the cottage door. "Oh-ho!" said her brothers, when they cflme home and saw it there. "That may be all right for the bird, but others will see it now and maybe want it as well." But Tina only laughed and thought no more of it I ill one day she caught sight of Morg, the witch, in her black coat and tall hat, hanging over the gate and staring hard at the bird "What will you take for your pretty toy, my dear?" she croaked. "Let me have it and I will give you this golden ring," and she drew one from her finger. "It is very beautiful," said Tina, "but I do not want it." "How stupid you are!" cried th o witch, "not to know a bargain when you see one!" And as Tina said nothing she went off in a bad temper, vowing to herself she would get the bird by hook or by crook. But Tina did not hear her, and thought no more about he.* for the time being, as she had her hands full with keeping house and looking after the golden bird to see it wanted for nothing. She had almost firgotten Morg's visit when one morning, hearing a sligM noise, she looked out of the winrrw and saw the witch with her hand, in the cage. "Stop!" cried Tina. "The bird is mine!" And she ran out after her. But Morg could run, too, when she chose, though she Avas only just in time to reach her hut when Tina caught her up and laid hold of her cloak.

.Aboard for the Goodwill Cruis THE WHALER _ of WHALE ISLAND

THIS WEEK'S COMPETITION

"Give me back the golden bird!" she panted, reaching' for it, but in the struggle the bird escaped and, angry at having lost her prize, , the witch dragged Tina indoors and kept her a prisoner. That evening, when the brothers came home, there was no Tina to, j welcome them. "That's odd!" said Sim. "Here's something that's odder still," put in Noll, and he pointed to the open cage door and the golden bird preening its feathers on its percli. "She must have gone off in a great hurry not to shut, it," said Sim. "Do you sec this?" he cried, as he stooped down and picked something up. "A golden feather! The bird has been out of its cage or it would not be on the ground. If it was carried off it must have escaped and come back, and may even now help us to find Tina/' So, shutting the cage door, the two brothers went in search of their sister, and they knew they were on the right track by the golden feathers they came across here and there, which in time led them to the ■ witch's door. Together they burst the door open, and in a few minutes 1 ina was fiee. "The bird is safe and sound," they told. her. "It's lucky it Avas moulting, though,"' added Noll, "or we might never have found you." "It's the nicest present I ever had" she said happily, "and T wouldn't be without it for the.world!"

LAST WEEK'S COMPETITION NOT MANY ENTRIES There were only five entries for this competition, and four were so poor that I am only giving one prize. Come along you sailor lads and lassies. Let me see where your artistic talents are. Tackle the next one, even though you know you're not so good at colouring. It will make you a better sport and a more likeable shipmate. The winner is Midshipmaid May Hanharn. \

ANOTHER COLOURING SET Here is yet another picture. This is a test to try you out. Colour it in and send in your result to Peter the Whaler, Beacon Office. The best three will win free picture tickets Avith my best compliments. PETER THE WHALER. RIDDLE POT What is the blackest thing in the world? A nigger on n black night, fishing down a black hole for a black cat, which isn't there. What pies can fly? Magpies. Why are soldiers tired on April 1? Because they've just had a march of ;*1 da.ys. JOKE CORNER Mother fto son wandering around room): What are you looking for? Son: Nothing. Mother: You'jl (ind it in the box .'.hero the candy v.-as.