HAPPY TOAD

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 786, 5 October 1929, Page 35

HAPPY TOAD

Vho Upset a Garden Partv

The Queen of the Fairies was per- j fectly furious! No one liad ever s* •:i ' her really lose her temper before. But why wouldn't she be furious? For weeks the Queen, all the members of the Fairy Parliament, all the members of the Brownies' Senate, all the members of the GHomeland Cabinet, the Pixy Elks and the Elves' Assembly had been planning and getting ready for a garden party with water sports, in the pool. They had hired the entire Southern Branch of Amalgamated Fireflies to make extra light. They had engaged the best band of the Society of the Benevolent .Night Noises, ;uid all the Fairy cooks had made fudge and cakes and cookies. Mr. Black Spider had had a very special lot of spiders at work and the webs they had spun were beautiful, especially since the little Dow Men had hung them all with dewdrops that sparkled, in the moonlight, like diamonds. The Gnomes had put up hundreds <>f white tents with fluted pink linings, for the guests; the Wood Nymphs had built the Queen the most beautiful throiv of white birch bark and soft green niogs, with flowery vines for a canopy and a cushion of purple and white violets for a footstool. Then —just at the very last minute, when everything was in readiness, with the Dragon Flies acting as policemen to direct the traffic, and the Queen was pinning on her crown—Happy Toad fell into the pool! It was enough to make any Queen furious.

Happy was the youngest of a large family of toads. He was a little toad,

PUZZLE COMPETITION

The winning entries in the last picture puzzle competition were received from: —■ BRENDA HELLABW 197 Remuera Road, Auckland, aged 11. SIDNEY GEORGE BUTLER, 47 Montrose Street. Point Chevalier, aged 11. MAUD FLEURY, 39 Queen's Parade, Devonport, aged 10. The word square was composed of the following words: Boat, ogre, area, team.

but his curiosity was enormous; he had to see things; he* had to go to but this was the verv worst trouble of all. There he was in the very centre of the pool, clinging with his two pale lit 11« hands to the big leaf, on which th~ Judge was to sit during the water sports, and g&sfettß about bulgy eyes, his breath coming so i., that his pink throat was all swell. ! tit He was frightened to death, of 00i.r.-i because the water was very deep. ami llappy couldn’t swim very much: ami ns lie clung to the leaf, he w..s try to make up his mind which weald worse, drowning, or being rescued ami spanked by Mu Toad, cuffed by !\« Toad, pommelled by Brother Toad, and scorned bv Sister Toad iwho was al ; ■ before the Fairy Parliament! No won der his eyes bulged. No wonder In throat was all swelled up. but he clung to the leaf. Ma Toad found him first. ’ Ihtpp\ she shouted. Tome right out of tin rPoor Happy couldn’t obey his mother Ma Toad hopped off and got Pa Toa.i and they both shouted at him to get out. but lie couldn't. He wanted to dreadfully, too. The news spread very quickly. A Dragon Fly saw Happy. He told tin Crickets, and they told the Katydids, and soon the whole of Fairyland w; s shouting. “Happy Toad is in the pool Happy Toad can’t get out of the pool! The Queen heard the shouting ;>> she was putting ou her crown, and she asked the lady-in-waiting what was the matter. The lady-in-waiting ran to the palace window and listened. “May it please your Majesty.” sh. said, “they are saying. ’Happy Toad has fallen into the pool.’ ’* It was then that the Queen lost her temper. “Happy Toad in the pool’” she cried. ’'Go and tell the Prime Minister to get him out at once." The little lady-in-waiting ran to tell the Prime Minister, and the Queenthinking that she had better go and attend to Happy Toad herself —ran quickly down the stairs, without half pinning on her crown. "Call my carriage!” cried the Queen as she ran. and when lier beautiful gold coach, drawn by eight humming birds, deew up to the door of the palace, he: -Majesty jumped in and off they flew to the garden. When the Queen arrived at the pool, she found everything in the greatest confusion. Fairies were running to and I fro. all shouting at once, and in tin* ! middle of the pool, clinging to the leaf, was Happy Toad, very frightened, and yet rather proud to be the centre of attraction. I The Queen stood on the edge ot the , pool and said, in her grandest manner, j ilappy Toad, come out of my pool!" I T can’t,” said Happy Toad. 1 What do you mean by ’can’t*?'' said I the Queen. ' Don’t hold on to that leaf! [ That is for the Judge of the races to ; sit on. Let go and come here!” ; “I can't let go,” said Happy Toad. , If I do. I’ll sink. I can’t swim. “Then sink!'’ said the Queen in her most commanding voice. So poor llappy Toad took a long breatli. let go the leaf, and promptly sank out of sight. The minute he disappeared under the water, a loud cry went up from all the crowd. “Oh. poor little Happy Toad!” they sobbed. ”He’ll drown! ' The Queen looked very uncomfortable. She leaned over the edge of th*pool and tried to see llappy Toad, and she leaned so far that her beautiful crown <that was only half-pinned on. you remember) fell right off her head, j into the pool. “My crown, my beautiful crown!” cried the Queen, "it lias fallen into the pool.” ’’Her Majesty's crown has fallen into the echoed all the Fairies and Gnomes an 1 Pixies and Elves. ‘What shall I do?” wailed the Queen. But no one knew what to suggest; they just stood and gazed into the pool. All this time Mr. Turtle had been coming up from the pond, to be the judge of the races. He heard the shouting and was making all the hastthat lie could when he met a field mouse, who told him the trouble. Now Mr. Turtle was very fond of Happy Toad, and be knew he couldn't* live long under the water, so he fairly ran to the pool and dived in, and in one minute he rose to the top with Happy Toad, rather limp and pale, sitting on his back, and on Happy Toad’s head was the Queen’s crown! It had fallen right down on top c»f his head and stayed there Many willing hands helped pull Mr. Turtle and llappy Toad to the grass. The Queen was so delighted to have her crown, that she forgot all about scolding Happy Toad, but gave him her velvet coat to wear, so he would not feel quite so limp and cold and wet. and had him sit beside her all evening, and fed him with the nicest cake and ice cream. When the prizes were given Happv Toad got ono for rescuing the Queen's crown. It was a gold belt, but as it was made for a Fairy, Happy’ Toad couldn't wear it around his fat middle, so he wore i' for ■« ring, tnatemf. to remind him to keep away from the pool.