Children's Column.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 35, 12 November 1920, Page 12

Children's Column.

(By "Vera").

(By A. R. Jackson.)

MATER'S LETTER BOX. Mater invites children to send in stories for this column, or correspondenee which will ~be replied to through these columns. All matter to be clearly v.ritten in ink, and one side of the paper only. Name, age, and address, must be always given, and correspondenee directed to "Mater," care of Editor, "The Digger," Box 310, Invercargill. OLAF'S REINDEER. ^

Olaf lived in the far north, where there is snow and frost and ice for half the year, and reindeer are used as we use horses. Olaf had never driven a reuideer, because his father said he was too young for such things ; but he longed to drive one. One white, cold morning, he stood at the house-door, Iooking at the tall pines that rose like Christmas tree.s, in the snow. "I will go into the forest," he said to himself. -"Perhaps I shall be able to catch a wild reindeer. I will tanie him and bring him home and then no one will be able to say I am too young to drive. Olaf set out .and walked as far as his little legs would carry him. After a time he felt very tired. He could no longer see his home, but the forest was no nearer. He was feeling quite hopeiess when suddenly he saw a reindeer. His heart beat fast as he went up to it, but the reindeer did not rim away. It looked at him solemnly, and Olaf looked back. "Come with ine," he said taking hold of one of iis horns. The reindeer walked quietly along with Olaf. "What a clever boy I am,'* thought Olaf. He took home his reindeer and harnessed it- with the things he found in the stable. Then he took his little sisters for a ride. Olga and Chrisuna were pleased. "How clever Olaf is!" thev said. But Olaf did not feel quite so clever when his father came home, for this is what his father said : "Everyone in the village has been hunting for neighbour Thorssen's o'ld reindeer that can't do any work, and here he is, ali the time, in our stable ! " TW INKLIN G BLUE-EYES.

In the days of long, long, long ago there lived a little boy nained Blue-eyes, who loved the bright, twinkling stars. Every night he kissed them all good-night from his bedroom window, but there was one star he, loved above all, becuse it twinkled so much more brigMly than the others. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are," he used to say, then he would jump into his cosy little bed and fall asleep. But one night a strange thing happened. He had just jumped into bed, when suddenly the room was filled with a bright light, a rat-ta-ta-tap sounded on the window pane, and from outside a voice called to him, "Little Blue-eyes, Little Blueeyes — Let me in?" "Who are you?" said said Blue-eyes. "I am your friend Twinkle, Twinkle," answered the voice. "You said you wondered who I was, so I just dropped down from the sky to show you." Little Blue-eyes sat up in bed. "Oh! won't you come in Twinkle, Twinkle?" he said politely.

And in through the window danced the most beautiful little golden-liaired boy that ever wag seen, but instead of twinkling he just sat down on the side oi the bed and cried as if his little heart would breftk. "What is the matter?" questioned little Blue-eyes, as he flung his arms round the boy's neck and tried to comfort him. "I have lost my twinkle," sobbed Twinkle, Twinkle. "I must have dropped it on the way down, and now I can never be a twinkling star again." "But where did you keep your twinkle?" questioned Blue-eyes. "I carried it in my ev'es," answered the star visitor, "and every time I laughed my eyes twinkled so brightly that they could be seen miles away." "Well, cheer up," said little Blue-eyes, "if your twinkle is so bright we can easily find it, pcrhaps you dropped it in our garden. 1 shali run and see. ' ' But though little Blue-eyes searched till his eyes were tired, he could not find that twinkle. As he was coming in he met the" pussy cat. "Pussy cat," he cried, "Twinkle, Twinkle, has lost" his twinkle, and cannot twinkle any more. Will you help me to find it?" "Me-ow, Me-o-w," answered the pnssy cat crossly, "I)on't bother me about Twinkle, Twinkle's twinkle. I am busy

' liaving a cat's party in the garden, ask I the dog about it." So little Blue-eyes went and found the dog. "Boggie," he said, "Twinkle, Twinkle, has lost his twinkle and cannot twinkle any more. Will you help me to find it?" "Bow-wow w-o-w," snapped the doggie. "I am too sleepy to bother about Twmkle, Twinkle's twinkle." "No one will help me. Oh, poor Twinkle, Twinkle, what will he do!" sobbed little Blue-eyes, and he shed so many tears that a river rau down the garden path, and wet the feet of the little Grey Mouse as she was taking her evening walk. "Dear me, whatever is the matter with Blue-eyes? 1 thought someone had j spilled a can of water," she said to herseif ; aloud she said, "Little Blue-eyes why j are you spilling so rnany tears on the garden path?" "I am unliappy," cried Blue-eyes. "My friend Twinkle, Twinkle, has lost his twinkle and cannot twinkle any more." "I do not like to see people unhappy," said the little Grey Mouse. "I was in trouble myself this morning when that cruel pussy cat of yours ate my Tavourite daughter for her breakfast." "1 am sorry," said little Blue-eyes. "So was I," said the little Grey Mouse. "That is why I am going to help you. Now 1 have a twinkle in my own eyes, but I will give it to you for Twinkle, Twinkle, it you will give me your Teddy Bear to sit at the^door of my mouse hole, and frighten away those cruel cats who want to eat up my babies." "Gli! but I have only one Teddy," said little Blue-ey.es. "And I have only oue twinkle," said the little Grey Mouse. Then Blue-eyes thought of his poor little star boy, and how badly he wanted a twinkle. "I will give you my Teddy," he said. So the little Grey Mouse gave him her twinkle, and Blue-eyes ran and gave it to the star boy, Twmkle, Twinkle. But Twinkle, Twinkle, said, "I watched you from the window, little Blue-eyes, and I $aw what you did for me, and now I am going to give you a present." So he cut the twinkle in two, and gave one-half of it to Blue-eyes, then he put the other half into his own eyes, and laughing and twinkling danced out of the nurscry window, back to his Ifome in the sky, while little Blue-eyes jumped into bed again and fell asleep. The next morning, when little Blue-eyes' mammie came to call him, she found that her little son had a twinkle in his laughing blue eyes, and ever since all the little blue-eyed boys in tho world have had a twinkle in their eyes. I wonder have the twinkling stars anything to do with it? What do you think ?—