The Family Circle

New Zealand Tablet, 4 January 1912, Page 53

The Family Circle

PUSSY'S PLEA Now; is the season of my- discontent' v - A When summer comes and all the world is gay With Nature's smile, my mistress hies away To shore and woodland green, while I am pent In back yards lone; ; and empty. .Weak and spent 1 From lack of food, I prowl by night and , day '■■■. O'er fence and gate, and howl my doleful lay. But there are none to heed a cat's lament ! ■ Sad is my lot! Why was I born a cat ! - ':.,.i" .- My lady's ugly poodle takes his nap On some hotel verandah, in her lap. Without a care, lie feasts and waxes fat The summer long. _ Please, friends, now have' the grace '. :-■ .- >~ 5... *< -_• ' To plead the cause of my ill-treated race! THE PINK STRING :;■'.: 'Peter,' said his mother, 'I want you to do a little errand for me.' e -- v „., v r m Yes, mother, tell me quick, for it's most school time.'. : :. V,;.. ■ : ' 0 mother, Jack Ray's been telling me that whenever he has an errand to do Ins mother ties a string round his finger. That keeps mm in mind every time he looks at it that he.has. something to do. Did you ever hear of anyone doing that : , ' Yes, many a time. So you would like a string 'Yes, here's the string bag, and here's a nice piece of pink string.' , .--,i--.....- . , . Now, then'— As she tied it on.his finger mother told him what she wanted him to do. . . y _,' And, Peter,' she added, 'be sure to speak very politely when you ask it.' l ■ -■■■ A Yes, I'll remember.' .•■ :.V -■

I know you always mean to be polite, dear, but you sometimes forget, as all little boys do. Good-bye.’ What’s that on your finger?’ asked one of them. ‘ Oh, that’s because I have an errand to do, so as to make me think of it.’ But, as he gazed at it, what was the errand, anyhow? In his interest in watching the string tied on he had only half listened to what his mother had been saying, and now the most he could remember of it was that he was to be very, very polite. ‘ I can do that, anyway-to everybody. And perhaps, if I do it all the time, I shall get to thinking of the errand Oh, , please excuse me, I didn’t mean to.’ , - - . - In his hard thinking he had run against a big girl as he was turning into the school yard. . Peter,’ said she, ‘ you’re such a polite little fellow that it’s easy to excuse you.’ . ‘ A good thing to say of a boy,’ said one of the teachers who was passing in. ‘Keep it up, Peter. Good manners are always a very great help to a boy in'going through life.’ . :« "V ‘lf they’ll only help me to remember that errand,’ said . Peter to himself. . ' - He did . remember. the politeness. A He stood up to give a girl his seat on a crowded recitation bench. He said his best ‘ please ’ and ‘ thank you ’ when he went to the teacher’s desk to ask about an example, all the while thinking ; ‘ If I’m polite, p’haps I shall think of the errand.’ . . . At the Njpse of school the teacher said : r. ‘-Who win carry a book with its marked lesson around to Johnny Park’s house ? He is sick and could not come to school to-day.’ - .‘ I will,’ said-Peter', rising in his seat as he spoke. ‘Thank you, Peter. I might have known you are just that kind of a boy.’ -A. He had to go several blocks out of his way to do it. , No remembrance of his errand came into his head

as he left the book at the door with a polite inquiry tanking WalkGd ° n Sl ° wly '- doing.his best He passed a yard in which were many beautiful flowers. -:A ad w f? ; inside whom Peter had sometimes seen : totting v with his mother, so he raised his hat to ar d then Sd? *** IS *g She Smiled at for me?' V ° nder * * C ° Uldn ' fc g6t y ° U to do so ™thing his ha? f "°T U SIT ,am/ f? Peter ' a^ain takin S off ins hat., I shall be very glad to do it.' - : •. ~ ■' ■ lam cutting some flowers to send to a sick pan/ went on the lady. < Mrs. Hale told me about 'Oh that was it!' Peter flung up his hat an rl capered abtfut for joy. --- - l Jiat and J That was what?' asked the lady, with a smile. M rs ?L e J ran V- Mrs, Hale's my mother, and you're Mrs. Garde and mother told me to come here and ask you, very politely, if you would let her have some of your flowers to take to the sick woman. ShTStW But I did all but the politeness.' forge . * dld n forget ' all but the politeness.' g of flowers^pi W f rlled - She - put a wonderful bunch ot H ?^ el^ 01 Peters arm, saying as she"did so: ■-- i: .1, M Vi? adn fc taken off your hat so politely T shou ld£t have thought of.asking you ,to oCe me % Will you please to excuse me : for not tain? if off to-say good-bye? You see, my hands are full J «M : n my , bo y ' you did remember, didn't you?' sad mother, as he laid the flowers before her. ' We will try the string again.' . . - it nl'l M her ' n id Pe v er ' gravely, (it wasn't the string at all;- it was the politeness.' • --' - S ANIMAL CURIOSITIES There are many strange facts about animals which no one has ever : seemed ;ableto;understand or SSiP Here are a few of them:— explain.; awl t0 1 the tO P of a window-pane, fly back to the bottom, and, crawliup again. Hardly ever does it fly up and crawl down/ I? has been known wX^ st % r S at fomer PI ' OCeSS tMrty - tWO timfl,£He^f C ?^ for food always with the sun behind them so,th a t its rays will reflect on the tiny particles Yet a blind hen, for whom: this reason does not hold always manages to ■ get the sun behind her when .she scratches-and i she will not ; miss a single kernel either _ Cats hardly, ever lie with their .feet, to the fire ! In most cases they lie instead with their left side turned tTtSTfae Bu * do^ kvariabl y M e-with their forepaws --A. mouse overlooks a perfectly safe food supply sufficient for a meal or two, to enjoythe perilous pleasures of an unlimited store. It will hide near the food and come out to nibble When !t is for it is not true that a mouse runs to its hole at the first alarm A CARNEGIE STORY wn<™ I '™ Carne S ie > the American millionaire, 2 E„VIU n f the , readin g- ro ° m of a certain hotel, when an English family party entered, one member of which was,a..little boy of : about.ten.V Mr-Carnegie alwayl took notice of prepossessing boys. After making friends with the clnld he asked him, 'What would you like pest to have—a picture-book or an orange ?' ' Neither ' said the boy. 'I thought little boys always liked oranges, even if they did not care for picture-books ' was the amused comment, 'What I'd really like said the child confidentially, 'is a cream-colored pony : not half as big as a Newfoundland dog.' <Oh W t couldn't get :; you that. ? I- could give you an oranU or a shilling to buy a picture-book/ For several minutes the urchin scrutinised . the stranger's face a J last he remarked, 'Then I. don't think it's much ule being a mihonaire; but I'd like the shilling P l ease as you can't get me the pony.' b ' P lease >