The Hollow Tree

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 288, 25 February 1928, Page 27

The Hollow Tree

Messages for Sunbeams Letters to the Dawn Lady are answered as under:— Rangi Bidois. Tauranga: A warm welcome to this new Tauranga Sunbeam who has passed through the magic gates. I am honoured that your first letter in ink should be written to the Dawn Lady. It. is wonderfully neat, too, Rangi, and I hope you will write me many more. Gloria Dunn, Auckland: Tour daddy was right, Gloria. The Little Thought had sped away to the Hollow Tree with last week’s messages before your letter came, this week I have two to answer. Many thanks for the photograph of you sitting in the shadow of that quaint old carving. It looks like a new version of ‘Beauty and the Beast.*' From your smile I should say that you are a very happy little girl. My best love to Gloria Evelyn Stow. Ngaruawahia: I was glad to have another letter from Mistress ISvelyn. So Sylvia Hughes, of Huntly, is your cousin? How surprised you must have been to meet her in Tiptoe Street. Best love from Happy Town to this faithful Sunbeam. Eria Arrno, Tauranga: And a very neat letter it is too, Eria. Somehow I think that you and Rangi must be friends as your letters came by the same mail and you both attend the same school. Isn’t that so? I hope I shall have plenty more letters from you. Sylvia Cross, Ponsonby: Many thanks for your wonderfully neat letter, Sylvia. I should really have a special list for the very good scribes. Thank you also for bringing me a new Sunbeam. I always

feel very happy when I find strange faces in Tiptoe Street for I know that very *oon they will be familiar ones. Best love to Sylvia. Marion Payter, Ponsonby: A warm welcome to little Miss Marion, whose name is now in the b.g Sunbeam Book. I can Picture vour excitement at finding your first message in .he Hollow Tree. Did you know that the Little Thought takes them across in a yellow and green wheelbarrow' with a squeaky w r heel? „ , , Nola Craig. Mount Albert: I to have another letter from my faithful Nola, and also your charming painting ef the little house. I have now a row ot little houses along the wall, and they look very pretty there. I shall look forward to seeing your competition entry. F. Heaslop. Cambridge: All the way from Cambridge to Happy Town, but without a Christian name and age. 1 don't know wheiher you are a Frank or a Frederick. Please will you let rae know. 1 have entered your black-out picture in the competition. . __ . Myfanwyn Thomas, Green L 30 ® 1 ,,:^ 1 come to this little lady with the Welsh name. It takes me back to the days when I used to read Allan Raine. The picture of the little house is now on the wall ana you managed to find the mistakes in those sentences. I hope I shall often hear from this new Sunbeam. Molly Antunovich, Helensville: I was glad to have another letter from little Miss Molly, and also to see your blackout picture. What a fine holiday you na\e had. Camping is great fun. Don t forget to look in the Good Scribes this week. Olga Gunning, Auckland: Oh, yes, the Sunbeams still come trooping in. 1 *} 3ve a large family about me now, haven t i. Olga? Jus", supposing I had to tuck them into bed at night. lam delighted that you are going to bring more new ones down Tiptoe Street.

Gearld Mullane, Rotorua: Another new Sunbeam from the land of fairy springs and bubbling mud pools. I have quite a number in Rotorua. Many thanks for your competition picture. I hope you will find Happy Town a very pleasant place. Jean Buckley, Mount Roskiil: I have given the Little Thought, the Doorkeeper and the Joy Shop man your greetings, and they are all looking very pleased. Jean is not able to write just now, but she still sends her weekly message to Happy Town. She will find that you have l een thinking of her. Becky Pelham, Royal Oak: I found your first attempt at blank verse very interesting, Becky. The poem I like best of yours is that prize-winning one that begins. “Is it a gull that cries landward —a grey gull crying.” We shall be having another poetry competition soon. Best love to my faithful Sunbeam and little Bill Pratt’s Fairy Godmother. Dick Stevenson, Green Lane: Welcome to Happy Town, Dick, and many thanks for your competition entry. I shall be looking forward to a long letter soon and to hearing all about you. Jean Farquhar, Dominion Road: Jean has a magic pen, I think, for it always writes neat letters. No, I am not very good at tennis, but since I was very small I have been able to swim. Where I went to school we had splendid swimming baths and used to play an exciting game called “First in.” Competition was very keen. Alice Milne, Waiuku: It is dreadful being out of water, Alice, and I hope

the rain will soon fill the tanks. Aucklanders are running short too. I am afraid before long they will be drawing on the crystal springs of Happy Town. Ada Wilkins, Mount Albert: It Is a strange coincidence that you should be acting the part of a Sunbeam in that fairy play. Could anything be more suitable. I shall be looking forward to seeing your competition entry. Much lO Je’an V< Marbeck, Green Lane: The little house to paint was not a competition, Tean but you managed it most beauti*fullv’ Thank you also for your very neat letter and for finding the mistakes in those sentences. It is splendid that vou i\re learning music. What can you play now that you have had two years’ tuition? _ , Gwenneth Hill, Rotorua: So you have been having a holiday in Auckland, Gwen? I did not know that you were so near. I am glad that you managed to see “Rose Marie ” Jean Mclndoe will find your message. Many thanks for your kind invitation to visit you in Rotorua. I hone I shall be able to call on you some day. Yours is the neatest letter this week, Gwen. -rag, Charlie Scott, Thames: I had a good 1-i.ueh when first I made the acquaintance of your comical “Horse-fish,” Charlie. 1 expect he was used as a sort of tram for the busy mer-people. Many happy returns of your birthday. I hope you had a jolly day. . _ . June Rose Betteridge. Mount Eden: \nother new Sunbeam for Happy Town. Bv which of those two pretty names are vou known? I hope I shall often hear from this little girl. _ . Jack Montague: The Giggler Bird has just left for Thames. Cissy Williamson, Mount Eden: No, 1 have not forgotten this Sunbeam, who

found her way down Tiptoe Street almost as soon as the Little Thought discovered Happy Town. You have been having a holiday at Swanson, I see. The Little Thought says he would be delighted to meet you under the Happiness Tree and will leave it to you to set a time. Much love to this Sunbeam. Ethel Goodhew, Hikurangi: The “Sterognathus” is truly prehistoric, Ethel, and I smiled when I saw him. I am delighted that you have decided to become one of my Sunbeams and hope I shall often hear from you. Lloyd Scott, Thames: Many thanks for 1 the black-out picture, Lloyd. I am always glad to hear from this little lad. ■ Are you having any swimming these warm days? Gladys Thorne, Takapuna: The Doorkeeper and the Joy Shop man are at present playing with your see-saw, Gladys. Many thanks for the little poem. Kathleen Ricketts, Takapuna: There, I almost wrote “Drummer Girl” instead of your name, but you would have found your message all the same, wouldn’t you? Thank you so much for the picture and the poems. You found the jumbled fruits, too. My best love to this keen little Sunbeam. Elaine Hopkins, Taumarunui: Elaine has found her way safely to Happy Town. I am delighted to have you for a Sunbeam. 1 like your picture very much, and have entered it in the competition. Beryl Phillipstown, Dominion Road: It seemed a long time since I had heard from Beryl, and I was very pleased to find a letter from you in the mail. Noah, himself, would have been very perplexed if he had come face to face with the fearsome “Googebar.” Mavis Cayless, Auckland: Mavis has been having a birthday, I see. Many happy returns. Did you see the Little Thought on your window-sill that day? John Jamieson, Auckland: Many thanks for your letter, John. In the next mail there was a strange creature called the “Barkity goat,” witht no name on it. Did it come from you? It looks like your work. Much love to this Sunbeam. Marjorie Emptage, Auckland: Many thanks for your interesting letter, Marjorie. I am glad that you have not forgotten Happy Town, even though you are busy at school. That competition is very popular and I shall look forward to seeing your entry. Doris Cayless, Auckland: It is very mean of sneak thieves to take little schoolgirls’ lunches, and a sharp watch should be kept. I hope they will not run off with your jam tarts and sandwiches. Norman Lydster, Takapuna: The little poem has reached me safely, Norman. If I were a bird I should not like to fall into that trap. Much love to this laddie. Chrissie Davey, Auckland: That was a happy time you had when you went for a swim at Point Chevalier, and I was amused to find that you had managed to catch a herring. Did you take it home for your tea? I am always glad when letters come from this little girl. Beatrice Emptage. Auckland: I am sorry to find that this Sunbeam has bene on the sick list and hope you are much stronger after your holiday. School days soon pass away, don’t they, Beatrice? Many thanks for your puzzlers and riddles. Edna Cayless, Auckland: It would have been sad if the Little Thought had forgotten your message, Edna, but he always l remembers the .faithful ones. What a ‘ busy time you are having at school. I 1 hope you do not have too much home- ' work. Doris Lydster, Takapuna: Many thanks l for sending me that quaint poem, Doris. I should like to spend the night in : Brow«ie Town just to see those sirange things happen. How would you like a i bed in the tree-tops? Eileen Thorne, Takapuna: Your painting of the little house Ts very well done, s Eileen, and I should like to tiptoe up the path and in at th§ teeny wee door. I Much love to this little girl. 5 Jack Lydster, Takapuna: That is a fine

little story, Jack. I should very much like to meet “Bebo, the Elf.” If he came to Happy Town he could have a teaparty with the Little Thought. Mary Cumming, Ellerslie: Your poem is very good, Mary, and I advise you to keep on with your work. The first verse is the best and you could improve the others by making the same lines rhyme. Glance at it again and you will see just what I mean. The Little Thought was delighted to find his picture at the head of your letter. Jean Mclndoe, Hamilton: It is splendid that your father is going to keep your flag flying in Happy Town until you are well enough to come down Tiptoe Street again. When another letter comes in your writing, Jean, we are going to set the Joy Bells ringing so loudly that the sound of them will even reach you at Hamilton. Do you still use your beautiful Samoan tray and did you ever hear again from the lady who sent it? The Little Thought, the Doorkeeper, the Joy Shop man, Summertime M.D., the Dawn Lady and all the Sunbeams send greetings and best love to Jean. Mary Uffindell, New Lynn: That will he a splendid trip to Bine Island, Mary, and I hope you have a happy day. Have you ever been to Greenhithe, just opposite? It is a pretty place, too. Please give my love to Desmond, and to June and Jack Gladding, when next you see them. Urban Massey, Mount Eden: Another Sunbeam for Happy Town. I am so glad that you have joined my large family. The little house is very well painted, Urban, and I hope to see more of your work. Betty Menzies. Dominion Road: Many thanks for your letter, Betty, and also for bringing another Sunbeam through the magic gates. It is unfortunate that you have lost your school bank-book and I hope you will soon recover it. Much love to my faithful Betty. Rive Mackie, Devonport: I had a good laugh over your letter. Rive. Little boys who eat up all the currants and raisins deserve plain cake, but I am very glad to hear that you are not always naughty. You know I had begun to picture you as a regular young Turk, and I am delighted to find that sometimes you are quite as good as Colin. I am sorry that you have not been very well and hope you have quite recovered. Flo. Edwards, Auckland: Flo. Is now one of my Sunbeams and here is her first message in the Hollow Tree. I hope I shall often hear from this ten-year-old. Gay du Faur, Howick: Your letters aje full of interest, Gay, and I always enjoy reading them. No, I do not remember

ever having noticed a wild carrot flower. It must be very quaint. You should keep a nature diary. It would make interesting reading when you grow up. I am glad that you have a Happy Town scrap-book. Such numbers of Sunbeams keep them. The quince tree must be feeling rather ashamed of itself. What are you going to do with its humble offering of three quinces? Jean Eyre, Herne Bay: I wondered why I had not heard from Jean just lately, and her 1 find that she has been ill. You have been having too much sickness in your family. I hope the Fairy Good Fortune will soon peep in on you again. Best love from Happy Town to this faithful Colin Mackie, Devonport: A wonderfully neat letter from Colin, this time. That is going to be a jolly picnic and I hope you manage to win some of the races. Do you think you could race me, Colin? Before long you will find that you can swim quite well and then you will never for--1 get how it is done. Much love, Colin, i Leo Jackson, Takapuna: Welcome to Happy Town, Leo, and many thanks for ' your drawing. That quaint old creature reminds me of the Snoozle Ooze, but the I Snoozle Ooze could never boast such a 5 beautiful tail. Much love to this new s Sunbeam. > Esme Peacocke, Epsom: Your wee, wee envelope came to Happy Town safely, > Esme, although a Pixie Postman con--1 fessed that he lost it twice on the way. ; I am so glad that you have become a Sun--3 beam. Your black-out picture has been » entered in the competition. Edwyna Stone, Onehunga: Away go the : messages, but a Sunbeam who wrote to t the Dawn Lady at midnight should eer--1 tainly not be forgotten. The puzzlers are correct with the exception of one 2 word. You managed to find a raspberry i growing on a strawberry plant. Much r love to Edwyna.