A CLEVER ESCAPE!

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 705, 3 July 1929, Page 6

A CLEVER ESCAPE!

Edward, the intrepid son of Henry 111, was long kept a prisoner by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. Though the young prince was treated with respect and was apparently free, a troop of guards on fleet horses was always near at hand to prevent any attempt at escape. The Earl of Gloucester, who took up the prince’s cause, made him the seemingly guileless gift of a horse, but actually the steed was the fastest racehorse in the country. The young prince watched his opportunity, and one day, when out alone with his guards, made the welcome suggestion that they should race against one another for a prize. The guards saw no danger in this arranging to race in turn, so that the prince was never left alone. Bui of course, when the competition wa„ over, the horses of the guards were all tired out. It was then that the clever young prince waved them good-bye, and dashed off on the fastest horse in England. What chance had his attendants of overtaking him? *v, So T P dward es ? a P e d. He soon crushed the Earl of Leicester, restoring the power to his father, and then went to Palestine to gather laurels in the Crusades. But when he returned to England and was crowned as Edward I at Westminster, perhaps he remembered what he owed to a horse. For during the celebrations, which lasted a fortnight, he set free 500 of them to b« had for the catching. THE PARTING OF THE WAYS Bo you remember my telling you about Benjamin, my little wild rabbit? Well, I have let him go up in the hills. It took me a whole fortnight to decide but he was growing very big, and I hate to see wild things tamed. It was a glorious day when I took him up the hill snuggled inside my coat. I just put him down in some long grass and then hurried down the hill because I wasn’t quite sure whether or not I'd take him back with me again. I miss him very much —his little sniffy nose against my coat sleeve and his long ears, one up and one down like a “Stop-Go” signal. I do hope he manages to find food enough. —From a Wigwam letter. FOR WISE HEADS Word Square: 1. —To rob. 2. —Slow. 3. —A mistake. 4. —To love. 5. Ancient musical instruments. Answer to last week’s “missing consonants”: Tiger, Lemon, Father, Mosquito, Heron, Anemone. RESOURCEFUL The inquisitive onlooker was questioning the parachute jumper about his experience and sensations while falling through the air. But what do you do if your parachute refuses to open while you are falling?" he asked, finally. "Take It back and change it,” was the answer.

LITTLE DEAR AND THE MAKER-OF-THE-STARS Because Mother was Bearest, and Baddy was Bear One, and because she was such a dear thing herself, they called her Little Bear. Little Bear lay in a little white bed in a Little White Room all day long, from year's end to year’s end. One day, she knew, she would be able to walk, as other children did, and to run through the deep green fields amidst ; the crisp brown leaves.* So there was always something to lof>k forward to. Each day Bearest would come into the Little White Room, and be a Princess or a Knight-in-Shining-Armour, or a Wee-Poor-Thing, or anything Little Bear wished. One day she was lonely, and did not know what to do. “Bo tell me a story, Bearest,” she begged. “Just a teeny one, so that I may have many things to think about.” So Bearest, being rather a dear herself, told her a story: “Long, long ago, when there was magic in the world—away beyond the farthest mountain where no man had ever been, there was a wood, and in this, lived the Maker-of-the-Stars.” “On the earth?” asked Little Bear. “On the earth,” said Bearest. “He made wonderful Stars—big ones and small ones and beautiful shining ones . . . all out of a mixture of flower petals and butterflies’ wings and sunshine. Each morning he took them down and polished them with a Special- Sort-of-Polish, and hung them on the trees; and each night he strung them on a long vine, and carried them with him to the sky. where he placed them as soon as Bay had gone. On each one he hung a little lantern, which bobbed and twinkled in the Barkness. “One day the Maker-of-the-Stars fell ill, and there was no one to polish the stars or light the lanterns. “ ‘My children,’ he sighed to his stars, ‘if I do not light your lanterns tonight, you will never shine again, and the world will ever be in Barkness.* “Then there came to him the little Spirit of the Woods. ‘Master,’ she said, ‘I will carry them to the skv, and light the lanterns. I will be * very careful to put them in their right places. . . . Will that do?’ “‘Yes, kind little one,’ cried the Maker-of-the-Stars eagerly. “So that night the Wood-Spirit hung out the Stars, and lit their lanterns. She was such a little thing, and the stars were very heavy, but she went on bravely, until the very last star on the vine string. This was such a heavy star, and she was so verv tired, that in lifting it to its place, she slipped, and the Star hurtled down to Earth. “ ‘Oh,’ cried the Wood Spirit. ‘lt v ill break! It will break! . . And she hid her eyes, and did not look. “ ‘Poor little Spirit,’ whispered the Maker-of-the-Stars. as he watched the star fall. ‘She does not know that Stars cannot break.’ And when she came sadly to him, he comforted her. ‘Why, look,’ he said, pointing to the shimmering pieces of the star. ‘lt is not broken—it has just dissolved. It will now brighten the leaves and flowers. Men call it Bew, when a star falls. I will soon make it into a star again.’ “The Wood Spirit touched the dewdrops gently. ‘Poor dear star,’ she said. ‘I am glad you did not break. You will soon be hung in the sky again, with your little shining lantern. . . “And the Maker-of-the-Stars smiled as the Wood-Spirit crept awav into the Forest.” “Is that all?” asked Little Bear, her eyes shining like two bright stars themselves. “That is all.” said Bearest softly. “Oh,” whispered Little Bear” “I loved the Star-Maker and the Spi’rit-of-the-Woods, and I shall a 1 wavs love the stars.” And Little B<#ar was asleep. Harvest Moon (.Alma Chamberlain)