The Family Circle

New Zealand Tablet, 17 June 1915, Page 61

The Family Circle

,"'. 7.:-'-V • : JOLLY TREE. ..' :,.^-.,-..;. > If you never have planted a Jolly. Tree'. Don't wait for an Arbor Day, 't \ But take a. bit of. advice from me, - And do it without delay. It starts from, a little, smiley seed, .. And quick as a flash 'twill sprout, And when you have tasted the fruit indeed, You' will never be without. As soon as the smiley seed is in At once it begins to grow; And the dear little giggle-buds begin Their gay little heads to show. And truly amazing it is to see, How, in less than a wink and a-half, A giggle-bud can grow to be The jolliest kind of a laugh. FINDING FRIENDS.

There were two in the office waiting for the surgeon, a girl whose beautiful gown and pale face told of wealth that had not been able to win for her the gift of health, and a young woman a few years older, plainly, almost shabbily, dressed. The younger waited passively, but the older walked back and forth with uncontrollable nervousness. Finally she stopped beside the chair of the other.

Please forgive me,’ she said, ‘but I’m so frightened. I’ve got to have an operation—l’ve come for the last arrangements. I suppose I’m a coward, but I feel as if I must run out that door in one minute more.’

The girl looked up at her, smiling. ‘ They will be very good to you,’ she said. ‘ I’ve been through it.’ ‘You?’ Then slowly, ‘lf you stood it, I suppose I can.’ ‘ You will be surprised,’ the other told her. ‘ You will be glad in ways you don’t guess. I was.’ ‘ But you weren’t alone Oh, I haven’t any right to bother you, I know, but it— it smothers me to think of it! I suppose it’s my fault. I haven’t a soul belonging to me, and I didn’t make friends with the others in the shop. I wish now that I had. It’s so terrible to think that there won’t be a soul to care !’

The girl with the beautiful gown smiled again. ‘ That is what you have to learn,’ she said—' that people care. It’s worth the suffering. When do you “go to sleep” To-morrow? You will not be told, but lam going to come and inquire for you ; you may know that I shall have been here.’

But I’m a stranger!’ the other cried. ‘No,’ the girl answered, ‘ you are not a stranger. You’ll understand after to-morrow.’

She had been ‘to sleep.’ As the confused dreams passed something still persisted— pink, like sunrise and fragrant. . Finally, with a gasp of wonder, she realised. They were —such roses as she had never seen in her life. She closed her eyes to keep back the weak tears. The girl had kept her promise. Later there were questions to askvery slowly. Those pansies ? A little boy in the opposite room sent them in, the nurse told her. And the little country roses ?

'An old lady in Ward B. She is coming in to see you as soon as you are ready for visitors.' The girl thought over it two thinking was very slow work yet. • Then she beckoned the nurse. 'I want to send some of my flowersto somebody that's lonely,' she said. " THRILLING ESCAPES. I In Russia it is the practice to hunt bears ; just as the animals are creeping out after their long hibernating sleep. As .things are managed, the most timid

person may go bear hunting with perfect impunity. Armed with, a good ; ; rifle, accompanied ; f by a y friend and a guide similarly equipped, the most "unpractised hand; can usually get |his,quarry,; before the half-awake creature has proceeded far from his lair. - And yet occasionally ;the unforeseen occurs, as it '. did :in'•; an adventure ; related by ; Mr. Whishaw in Out of-Doors in :,Tsarland.r~ % .-;,,./. ~ --^■:■■--":■■. \,.-\ :y: L,;'.v■■ i / : .■"'':;' v-fj

The Baron and the Colonel had purchased rights over a hibernating hear, declared to be- one of the largest ever. seen. When the animal- was fairly dislodged from his place of concealment the Baron, who had secured - the first shot, fired, and the enormous creature fell prostrate and motionless. . - The Baron was jubilant. Handing his rifle to the keeper, he seated himself on a fallen tree. " It’s a magnificent specimen,’ said the Colonel. ‘ Wouldn’t it be awkward.if it should get up?’ ‘ Get up exclaimed the Baron. ‘ He’s as dead as Caesar. Look !’ And going up to the prostrate creature, he gave it a kick with his heavy shooting boot.; To his horror the bear roared and rose to its full height. With blood pouring out of its mouth, it fell, bodily on the Baron, forcing him to his back, and pitching on top of him. The Colonel took one step toward his rifle, but the movement caused the bear to place one huge paw on the Baron’s chest and to fix its wicked eyes on the Colonel. ‘ For pity’s sake, don’t move !’ said the Baron. ‘lf you do, he’ll murder me. Let him fix his attention on you. He suspects you, and won’t move if you don’t.’

The moment seemed interminable. At last the keeper aged to edge near enough to receive the Baron’s whispered instructions. c , - ’ ; ‘ Creep up behind the Colonel,’ gasped the poor man, take his rifle and shoot the bear behind its shoulder !’ '

Luckily the keeper was an excellent marksman, and shot the bear through the heart. The creature loosed its hold, shivered, and rolled off the half-stifled Baron.

'A BEAUTIFUL FATHER.' x ' Tell your mother you have been very good boys to-day,' said a school teacher to two little new scholars. ' Oh,' replied Tommy, ' we haven't any mother.' 'Who"takes care of you?' she asked. 'Father does. We've got a beautiful father; you ought to see him I'

‘ Who takes care of you when he is at work?’ ’ ‘He takes all the care before he goes off in- the morning, and after he comes back at night. He’s a house-painter, but there isn’t any work this summer, so he’s doin’ laborin’. He leaves us a warm breakfast when he goes off, and we have bread and milk for dinner, and a good supper when he comes home. Then he tells us stories, and plays on the fife, and cuts out beautiful things for us with his jack-knife.’ Before long the teacher did see the home of that father. The room was a poor one, graced with cheap pictures, autumn leaves, and other little trifles that cost nothing The father, who was at the time preparing the evening meal for his motherless boys, was, at first glance, only a rough, begrimed laborer but before the stranger had been in the -place ten minutes the room became a palace, and the man a magician. His children had no idea they were so poor, nor were they so, with such a hero as this to fight their battles for them. '

A MERRY GIRL'S OPINION. . ' The queer thing about the people who boast of always speaking their minds,' said the merry girl, 'is that they nearly always have such very disagreeableminds to speak. Did you ever hear any one preface a compliment, a commendation, or anything gracious or pleasant, by saying,.' I always must sneak mv mind?' } c: ,, si ' When any one begins that' way, ;• I wonder whether it is my conduct, my friends, or my last new gown that

*S9& t- W.-.- •• <■;, -•„ . ..vr - is coming up for., adverse criticism. Of course, if : it is some :of your relatives or acquaintances who have the habit, you i; can only be as resigned and respectful as possible, but I had a schoolfellow, a girl no older than myself, who had exactly the same. kind of a mind. She .had jconfrented me with it on several occasions, and so one day she- began, ‘ You know I must speak ’—l interrupted her. . “Must you ? Well, then, I’ve just come from the elocution class, and! I’ll tell you what the professor \ said: ‘ Never speak anything until you have studied it, and feel, sure that it is worth speaking, that you are the person to .do it properly, and that it will suit your audience.’ ” ’

A DISAPPOINTMENT. Arthur sat on the front doorsteps crying softly. 'What is the matter, little boy?' asked a kindhearted woman who was passing. ' Ma's gone an' drowned all the kittens,' he sobbed. ' What a pity I'm awfully sorry.' - ' An' she promisedboo-hoo—'at I c'u'd do it.'

THE MOTHER'S CHOICE, i • - i A mother lost her soldier son. The news came to her in despatches from the war. He had fallen fighting nobly at the head of his regiment. She was inconsolable. 'Oh, that I might see him again!' she prayed. 'lf only for five minutes—but to see him I'

An angel answered her prayer. ‘ For five minutes,’ the angel said.

‘ Quick, quick !’ said the mother, hqr tears turned to momentary joy. ‘ Yes,’ said the angel: ‘ but think a little. lie was a grown man. There are thirty years to choose from. How would you see him V The mother paused and wondered. ‘ Would you see him,’ said the angel, ‘as a soldier dying heroically at his post? Would you see him as he left you to join the transport ? Would you see him as you first saw him in his uniform ? Would you see him again as on that day at school when he stepped to the platform to receive the highest honors a boy could have?’

‘How did you know?’ the mother asked, her eyes lighting. The angel smiled. 1 Would you see him as a baby at your breast? Would you’ ‘No,’ said the mother, ‘ I would have him for five minutes as he was one day when he ran in from the garden, to ask my forgiveness for being naughty. He was so small and so unhappy, and he was very hot, and the tears ere making streaks down his face through the garden dirt. And he flew into my arms with such force that he hurt me.’

THE LESSON OF THE SEVEN 'WISE MEN. Most people have heard of the Seven Wise Men of Greece—Pittacus, Bias, Solon, Thales, Chilon, Cleobulus, and Periander. Here is then- story; and the moral of it is worth remembering, if the names are not. As some Coans were fishing, certain strangers from Miletus bought whatever should be in the nets without seeing it. . ■ _ When the nets were brought in they were found to contain a golden tripod. A dispute arose among the fishermen and the strangers as to whom it belonged; and as they could not agree, they took it to the Temple of Apollo and consulted the priestess there. She said it must be given to the wisest man in Greece and it was accordingly sent to Bias, who declared that Thales was wiser, and sent it to him. Thales sent it to another one, and so on until it had passed through the hands of all the men, distinguished afterward as the Seven Wise Men ; and as each one. claimed that the. other was wiser than \ he, it was finally sent to the Temple of Apollo, where it long remained to teach the lesson that the wisest are the most distrustful of their wisdom; ' -:' v --.•-• '-V w*^v.-- <i ;

L MADAME AND THE SURGEON., :.J:; 1, Velpeau, the eminent French surgeon, successfully performed ; a perilous operation on a little child five years old. The : mother, overjoyed, called at the surgeon's office. and said to him: - A '. " ~_ , r ••'- "; * Monsieur, my son is saved, and I really know not how to express my gratitude. ; Allow me, however, to present you this pocket-book, embroidered by * my own hands.' ; : v ' '•' ; ; L;i "-"'' : -y;'-i -*-'; r-'.-yi* \?V?t •-.--'•:• "-:\'V-

, ‘ Madame,’ replied Velpeau, in a somewhat bitter tone, / my art is not merely a. matter of feeling ; my life has its necessities like yours, and sentiment 'must give way to these requirements. Allow me, therefore, to decline your charming little present and, if agreeable to you, to request a more substantial remuneration.’ ‘ But, monsieur, what remuneration do you desire Fix the fee yourself.’ Five thousand francs, madame.* Madame very quietly opened the pocket-book, which contained ten one-thousand franc - notes, counted out five, and, politely handing them to Velpeau, retired.

THE SHORT DAYS. ' The teacher was trying to explain to her class the effects of heat and cold, says Pearson's Weekly. She told her little charges that an iron bridge would expand several inches in hot weather and contract a like amount in cold weather.

She then asked a little girl for another instance of the expansion and contraction caused by heat and cold. The child hesitated for a minute or so, and then replied:

‘ln hot weather the days are long ; in cold weather they are much shorter.’

AT A SAFE DISTANCE. One day a boy was playing with a cricket ball, when it went through a large pane of colored glass in the library. His mother discovered it, and asked, in her sternest voice, 'Who did that?' ' I did, but I didn't mean to do it. The ball slipped. ' Well, what do you suppose your father will say when he knows it?' ' He knows it now, I told him.' ' You told him ? Do you mean that when you saw what you had done you went straight down to his office and told him ' No, I didn't go to the office. I called him up on the telephone.'

NOT FOR THE CONSULATE. The schoolmaster wanted to know whether the boys had an understanding of the functions of a consulate. ' Supposing,' he began, framing his question in the likeliest way to arouse "the interest of his hearers, 'supposing some one took you up in an aeroplane, and after a long, exciting nigfnf "dropped you down thousands of miles from home in a country quite foreign, what place would you-seek out first of all?' \ ■ An eager hand was instantly uplifted. 'Well, Willie, what do you say?' 'Please, sir, the hospital.'

AN APT DESCRIPTION. Very apt was a description of the wilds of a certain part of Ireland given by an English jarvey. He had two passengers with him, one of whom lived in a * Jfc rich grazing district. This man was astonished at the bleak, miserable aspect of the country they were passing through, and so began questioning the driver as to its quality, powers of production, and what it would feed to the acre. 'Well, sir, replied the driver, '.it might feed a hare to the acre in summer, but in the winter she would have to run for her life.' •! »(' '*';;-^'