Children's Column.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 26, 10 September 1920, Page 12

Children's Column.

"OH, DEAE!" Once three little girls named Betty, | Molly and Tiny wero sitting under a bush talking about adventures. '■ [ wish a nice adventure would happen to u s as mother and father are out," said Molly. "'A leal adventure wit.li a dragon and faiiiis in it. Don't you think that Tim looks rather like a magician? II he could wav.e his wand — his stick.I mean, aud tuni us into fairies. . . But just then they noticed that Tim tiie sliepherd bov was crying. "What is the matter, Tim?'' they asked. "My mummy's very ill," sobbed Tim, "And I've had to leave her all aloixe to come and look after the slieep." "How far is it to your horne ?" asked Betty. "Two miles away, just over the ford," said Tim, crying more than ever. Betty and Molly looked at each other. "I think we ought to go, don't you? said Molly. "Why, of course," said Betty, "and it will be ever such an adventure." They slippcd into the house and filled two little baskets and a bag, ari1 then Tim showed tiiem the way to the iord. They were rather frightened when they saw it, the river ivas so wide and the stepping-stones so big and wobbly. But Betty picked up her skirts bravely. "Never mind," sne said, "We must expect dangers on an adventure." The others foliowed, and they had all nearly got across when, plop! a big frog jumped up on the top of the very last stone. Betty' s heart went pit-a-pat very fast indeed, for she was always frightened of frogs. "Oh, dear!" she u« d, "we shall never get past this; we shall have to go back hoine." Molly was r,eady to cry. "Oh, please Mr Froggy, do go owav," she begged, "I don't like standing on this stone, and I m sure I ean't turn round. I don t like adventures." Then Betty began to laugh. "Why, don't you rernember? Molly was wishing lor an adventure with a dragon. Well, here is the dragon !" Then she waved her bag at the frog, and shouted, "be off, you old monster!" but her bag washtes 7-vFo old monster!" but her heart was going pit-a-pat all the time. The frog had never learnt how to play at heing a dragon, so he just said "croa-k" and hopped into the water. "Hurralr !" said the children, nearly tumbling oh the stones with joy. They

soon found Tim's cottage, but his mother was so ill that she did not hear them come in. \ "I wish we hadn't got these nice frocks on," said Betty, looking sadly around. It was such a poor home, with no fire and hardly any food. "I know," said Molly, "Let's take off our frocks, and work in our petticoats. And they bustled around and swept the lloor and lit the fire, and warmed some broth they had bronght, so that when Tim's mother at last looked round, she thought three little white fairies had come to wait on her. They gave her the broth, and wrapped her rfp ii? a shawl, and she felt better at once. Wmsi they got back home and told their mother all the adven. ture, she soon sent a doctor wlio made Tim's mother quite well. But to this very dav the poor woman believes that three fairies saved her life when she was so ill. / So vou see, they did turn into a

kind of fairies after all ! THE SCHOOL. "Now, girls, I have often told you that I am going to send you to a board-ing-school where you will have to behave." * These were the words Mrs E— usually said fo her two girls, Hazel and Ada, whenever they started any of their mischevious pranks. . The i'unny thing was that the two girls were longing to go to a boarding school, so they were npi in the least troubled by this threat. Mrs E— became so exasperated with their mischief that at last the longed i'or day came and they were packed off to Woodford Ilouse. When they arrived at the school, they did not feel very shy, and jumping out of the school carry-all, they foliowed the house-mistress up the broad staircase into their rooms. As Hazel was ten and Ada thirteen they were not in the same dormitory. They were soon fast friends with their bed-mates, who both sympathised with their tricks. After a few mischievous pranks they decided to have a joke on a very quiet girl who hardly ever mixed with the other scholars. Oue night, Ada, wrapped in a sheet, proceeded up the long dormitory to the victim's bed. She shook the inmate by the shoulder, and command. ed her to rise and be a follewer of the "Ghostie Gang." Out of the shadows came a row of slieeted ghosts headcd by

Hazel. The victim screamcd and fainted. When the headmistress reachej the dormitory door, she saw a sight which was ■enough to make any mistress angry. In different directions about the tloor lay the discarded gowns of the ghosts, and a group of confused girls were gathered round a bed at the end of the dormitory. The mistress soon had the girls back in their beds, and the victim of the joke was brought to her senses. Next morning, Hazel and Ada, and all the ghosts of last night, emerged from the mistress' room with shamed faces> and you may be sure they received a fitting punishment for their misdeeds. After this, they always thought before they started their pranks. When they went home for their Christmas holidays, their mother remarked to her husband that she was glad she had sent them to school. IN THE LAYENDER BUSH. Two little fairies once lived in the centre of a big pink and white poppy. Next to the poppy grew a lavender bush, and in this lavender bush dwelt two elves. Of course, elves and fairies are not often very friendly, but these four were the best of chums. The two fairies were named Poppy -lea-f and Violet-eye, and they spent their time maSThg little dew-drops to throw 011 the lawn. The two elves were named Tease and Quickear. - One morning Quiok-ear heard the two fairies crying. "What is the matter?" he called from th.e lavender bush. "Last night," Poppy-leaf sobbed, "some goblins came across the lawn and they threw thorns at us." "Threw thorns at you?" Tease cried. "Why did you not wake us up, then we could have thrown thorns at them?" "We will wake you to-night if the goblins come again," Violet-eye said, drying her tears. "You are such brave elves," Tease and Quick-ear spent the afternoon gathering handfuls of little thorns, so that if the goblins came that evening they would be ready for them. When night came and all was dark and still the elves sat quiet and listened. Suddenly a gasp came from the centre oi the pink and white poppy. "They are throwing thorns at us again," Poppy-leaf called. ' Up from the lavender bush popped the two elves, brave and eager for battle, but, alas ! they found that the goblins were hidden behind the long grass iblades on the lawn, and although they threw away all their stock of thorns' they could not

see if they were throwing them 011 the goblins or not. But the goblins knew just where to aim their thorns, for the poppy and lavender bush stood out clearly in the darkness. When morning came the two fairies were sobbing from fear and thorn-pricks, and the- elves (elve3 never cry) were sitting in the lavender bush saying furious things about the goblins. And their troubles were not yet over. Suddenly, on to the lawn came an awlul animal that snorted and rattled in a terrifying manner, and behind this animal walked a man. It.came quickly across the grass, making a' loud, hungry noise, and in a great fear the fairies jumped out of the poppy and ran into the shelter of the lavender bush, and there the four huddled together, trembling with fear. Up and down tfie lawn snorted the animal, and when at last it went away the little quartette in the lavender bush were

almost frightened to move. Long at'ter the last faint echo of the rattling bones had gon,e, Tease pushed a white, t-errified face from the bush. And then he gave such a big shout that the other three jumped. "Look! Look!" he cried. "Violet-eye, look ! All of you, see what marvellous thing haa happened." Slowly the others pushed their heads from the lavender bush. Smooth and green Ifefore their e-yes lay the lawn, with all the long thick blades of grass, behind which the goblins hid, mown right away by the big mower which had just been »on"Hoorali ! Hoorah!" cried Quick-ear, "That big animal lias eaten all the long grass. Now the goblins will come no more, for we should be able to see and kill them all." THE FAIRY SCHOOL. (By "Winifred.") "This is getting too much to be horne !"■ cried Darae Elsa, as a cake with a pink frilling to it was suddenly switched off her plate as she sat at the head of the table at the school tea. "That mischievious little Golightly is at her tricks again." Dame Elsa took another cake. \ There was a shriek of laughter. The cake was lifted off the plate and carried into mid-air. Nobody saw the hand that did it. Dame Elsa shook her head an.grily and took a slice of bread and butter. The slice had

the same fate as the cake. In a flasli, there it was poised just above the dame s head, with no visible means of support. It was too much. From somewhere came a peal of soft laughter. Then Golightly started rVobing the olher plates." "Do you hear me, Golightly?" cried Dame Elsa angrily. "Make yourself visible at once, and put the cakes back on the plates, or — or I shall expel you from the Fairy School. ®) o you hear 1116!" "Yes, please, mistress, I hear you," said Golightly, the voice sounding very meek, though there was laughter in it. "But I daren't show myself while you are so angry." Dame Elsa knew well that the invisible Golightly was simply making fun of the whole school and its mistress. The other fairies were on the titter. Making yourself invisible was strictly forbidden in the establishment, as it gave the "invisablee" an unfair advantage. One of the greediest fairies had adopted this means of getting more than her sharo of food. She had eaten her cake, then glided down the table taking all the other cakes, and the thing had proved too much to be borne. Golightly did not obey. She was somewhere cloaa at hand, Dame Elsa knew very well. She drew out a sheet of paper and picked up her pen. "I am going to write to your- aunt to fetch you away from the Fairy School, Golightly," said the mistress. She started writing but her pen waggled. Golightly was guiding it. Dame Elsa swept her hand round, but she did not hit Golightly. If you are invisible you can't be hit. The pen would not work. Dame Elsa found blots on the notepaper. It was all Golightly's doing. There was no managing such an unruly fairy, and yet Dame Elsa felt sorry for the disobedient pupil. "Golightly is such a dear little fairy," she said to herself as she started writing again, after destroying several sheets of paper. "If only she would cure herself of this siiiy trick of being invisible I should be quite proud of her." This remark pleased Golightly very much. She was sitting on Dame Elsa's shoulder at the time, though nobody could see her. It was her one de-li-ght to plague the mistress, just tlirough sheer sportiveness. The tea was over. The fairies went off to their prep., though some had a romp. In the dormitory that night, there was Golightly, perfectly visible, perched up on the rail of her cot looking as wise as possible. "Well, you take it cool!" cried Babs. "I wonder you dare show yourself at all!" "Oh, I'm not afraid of her, so far as that goes!" murmured Golightly, a-s she nibbled a cake. "She can't eatch me, and it is such fun being invisible." Then she gasped as she "saw Dame Elsa

coming into her room holding a pink candle above her head, and foliowed by Golightly's aunt, the fairy Take-'em-to- rask. "She is here somewhere!" said Dame Elsa. "I cannot have her in the school any more!" Take-'em-to-Task was saddened by this, and she ordered Golightly to show herself, which Golightly had to do. All the fairies sat up in bed looking eagerly at the scene. Golightly would be expelled for certain. Nothing of the sort. Tliey did not know Dame Elsa yet. "Y'ill you promise not to be invisible any more, Golightly, dear?" asked Take-'em-to-Task, "then perhaps, you may be forgiven." "Of course she will, if she promises!" said Dame Elsa, as she looked at the naughty litffe fairy, who was plain enough now. Well, the long and short of it was, Golightly promised, but whether she will al-

ways rernember to keep her promise remains to be seen. It is to he hoped she will be good, for there is nothing more irritating than to have your cake stolen away by an invisible fairy.