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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 1903)
1 'VI v I I legged, brown-Ilmbed boy who A I ann all 4m In Ka www He loved the wooda and all that wi In thorn. II used to look. not at the flowers, but dcp down into them, and not at tha singing bird, but Into 1U ayea, to Ita UUe heart; and ao he sot an Insight better than moat othera and ha quite save up collecting birds' eggs. Hut the woods were full of myateriea. He tuted to hear little burata of aonr and when be came 10 the place he could find no bird there. Noises and movements would just escape him. In the woods he aaw strange tracks and one day at length he aaw a wonderful bird making; thee very tracks. He had never aeen the bird before and would hare thought It a great rarity had he not aeen Its tracks everywhere. So he learned that the wooda were full of beau tiful creaturea that were skillful and quick to avoid him. One day aa he passed by a spot that he hud been to a hundred tlmea before ha found a blrd'a nest. It must have been there all. the time and yet he hud not seen It,, and so he learned how blind he was and exclaimed: ,"Oh, If only I could, see, then I might understand these things! If only 1 knew) If I could see but for once bow many there are and how near! If only every bird would wear over Its nest this evening a little lamp to show me!" The sun was down now, but all at ones there waa a soft light on tho path and In tha middle of it the brown boy aaw a Little Brown Lady In a long robe and In her hand rod: She smiled pleasantly and said: "Little boy, I am the Fairy of the Woods. I have been watching you for long. I like you. You seem to be different from othe.- boys. Tour request shall be granted." Then she faded away. But at once the whole landscape twinkled over with won derful llttio lamps long lamps, short lamps, red, blue and green, high and low, doubles, Dinglea and groups; wherever he looked were lamps twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, here and everywhere, until the forest ahone like the atarry eky. He ran to tha nearest and there, sure enough, waa a blrd'a neat. Ha ran to the next; yea. an other nst. And here and there each differ ent kind of lamp stood for another kind of nest. A beautiful purple blase in a low tangle caught his eye. He ran 'there and found a neat he had never aeen before. It waa full of purple eggs and there was the rare bird he had seen but once. It was chanting the weird aong he had often heard, but never traced. But the eggs were the marvelous things. Hla old egg-collecting Instinct broke out. He rushed forth to clutch the wonderful prise and In an In stant all the lights went out. There was nothing but the black woods about him. Then on the pathway again ahone the toft light. .It grew brighter till In the middle of It he aaw the Little Brown Lady the Fairy of .the Wooda. But she waa not nn.llng now. Her face waa atern and sad aa ahe aid: "I fear I set you over-high. I thought you better than the reef. Ke.p this In mind: "Who reverence not the lamp of life can never see Its light." Then aha faded from hla view. Ernest Thompson Bel on In the Century. a I'rervr loss. The clerk who was registering the pupils In the evening school waa obliged to aak each pupil hla age. "How old are your ha asked of a woman well paat middle age. "I'd rather not tell." ahe answered. "Hut every one who attenda tbla even ing high school must give hla or her ace," Insisted the clerk. "I think It's foolish to have to tell," replied the woman; "besides, I'm not really In need of a high school education. I graduated from a seminary once. I juat thought rd come to brush up my learning." "How old are your' said the clerk firmly. "Well, I gueas. thirty-eight will do," aid the woman without bluahlnc. The clerk waa used to such answers, so be wrote down thirty-eight with a question mark after it. "And when did you graduate from this seminary V "In 1871," she replied promptly. "What a precocious child you must have been," en Id the clerk gently, "to graduate from a seminary when you were only 6 yea re old." New Tork Times. Wasltlcer "Susie, what Is Ice?" the teacher said To the little girl standing at the head. Who twisted each finger and wriggled each toe. Then blushlngly said, "I guess I don't know." Then up went the hand of rosy-checked May. "Well," said the teacher, "what do you aay T" As if telling a secret that was too good to keen. May answered, "Its water that's fast asleep." A Passily geeret. Two little girls were spending the sum mer at a large hotel and were allowed for the first time the privilege of the regular table. Instead of being sent with their nurse to the children's dining room. They had been cautioned about their demeanor at the table, and had ' the subject very much at heart. After one or two meals the elder one said to the smaller one: "Don't fold your napkin when you have finished. Don't you see they always have fresh onea?" Then she turned to a strange woman at the tablo and explained: "You know, at home we use the same napkins for weeks and weeks." Afraid of the Dark. Who's afraid In the dark! "Oh, not I," said the owl. And he save a great scowl, And he wiped his eye And fluffed his Jowl "To-whoo!" Bald the dog. "I bark Out loud In the dark-Boo-oo!" Bald the cat. "Mlew! I'll scratch any one who Dar aay that I do Keel afrnld Miew!" "Afrsld." Maid the mouse, "Of dark In the house! Heur me scatter, Whatever's the matter flquirkl'' Then the toad In the hole, And the bur In the ground. They both shook their heads And passel the word around. And the bird in the tree, Ami the Huh and the bee, They declared all three That you never did see One of them afraid - In the dark! But the little boy Who had gone to bed Just raised the bedclothes And covered Ms head! Cincinnati Enquirer. A a Orange Secret. If you look at the stem-end of an orange you will see that the scar where it pulled away from the stem Is like a llttio wheel, with spokes going nut from the center. If you count the spaces between tliee spokes, you will And that there are just aa many of them aa there will be sections In the orange when you open It; and ao you can tell how many "pieces" your orange has. Perhaps you think all oranges have the same number, JuBt as every apple has five cells which hold Ita seeds; but you will find it Is not so. Why notT Perhaps, away back In the history of the orange, when It is a newer, or perhaps when It la only a bud, something may happen which hurts some of the cells or makes some of them outgrow the rest. Then the number of cells Is fixed; and, no matter how big and plump and Juicy the orange becomes, It has no more sections than it had when It was a little green button, just beginning to be an orange. -The next time you aat an orange try to find out its secret before you open it. Talk of a Two-Yenr-Old. "Pltypit, pltypat," over the floor; "Knlcka knock, knlckaknock," heard at the door ; And the small, soft tones That the Two-year-old owns Cry tho curious cry, "Dubbydo"! dubbydo'!" 'Tin a mystical tongue, but 1 happen to know That It means (as nearly as words can state; TIs a difficult thine; to quite translate), "Father dear, I am here and clalike to wait. Will you kindly open the door for me? For I can't quite reach the knob, you see." In prano3s Two-year-old, charging my knee, Ft' led to the brim with imperious glee. "Hin up!" Is her cry. Which I cannot deny. For I read what she means by the light In her eye. "Father, dear" (I lnterpct), "pray heed my behest To be p'aced on your knee, there to sit and to test. And, furthermore, do me the favor, I pray, To grant my demand with no vexing delay." I obey and the Two-year-old promptly de manda All thlns in the sweep of her plundering hand. "Taw datT' cry the Hps And the pink finger-tips. And of course it Is c.ear that they mean "Father dear. What Is that cyl ndrlcal rod In your ear? Is It merely a method of dr.siln your hair,1 Or has It some deepar significance there?" I humbly explain how a pencil Is used And Two-year-old deigns to be highly amused. "Me! me!" ahe demands. Reaching wide-fingered hands. Whose Intent, plainly meant. Is to say, 6lr, I'm sent. By the monojvllablc'at I represent To bid vou deliver that marvelous treasure. Or auffer the pain of our deepest dis pleasure." She grasps the stiletto, unsheathed from my ear, And then like a Bayard, devoid of all fear And ripe for a row. Bends back end crUB "Dow!" Wr.l:h signlie-. "Fir, 'tis my wish to retire From the throne of your knee. I've achieved my de-Ire And I crave a seclutton, with nobody nlRh To prevent me from running this point in my eye. And I also decline to allow a ompliint Bhould my pleasure Impel me to suck off the pjint." "Oh. Two-year-old, Two-year-old, hark to my cry. Prithee le'd me the weapon and poke not your eye!" "Na! na! na!" comes the word And I blench aa 'tis heard, Yet gird up my courage and do tha rash deel. As Two-yar-old curses me, root, branch and sead. To the portal she flies, as she cries "Dubbyjo!" And the pregnant portent of that accent I know, "I lo-ithe thee and leave thee," It says. "Nevermore Will I rattle the knob of the traitorous door." And 'tU fully Ave minutes, or possibly ten, Ere Two-year-old comes for admittance again. K. V, Cooke in Saturday Evening Poet. Tha Great llaaTalo la Battle. In the pitched battles which sometimes take place between the great flesh-eating animals and the largest and most powerful of the ox tribe the forces of animal courage, desperation and bodily strength must be exhibited on a scale never else where seen, says a waiter In Leslie's Weekly. Such combats do occur, but have seldom been witnessed, and still less frequently described. Two or three lions sometimes combine In such an attack, but from the marks seen on buffalo It Is probable that sometimes there is a single combat, for it can hardly be supposed that the buffalo could escape from more than, one Hon. The number of foot pounds of energy put into such a struggle must be some thing extraordinary. Tha efforts of a Hon, which can strike a man's arm from the shoulder and leave It hanging by a strip of skin, or which can carry a cow over a high stockade, endeavoring unsuccessfully, in close grips, to drag down or disable a buffalo bull, must be on a gigantic scale, and the strength which can shake him off, and, It is believed, occasionally crush the Hon afterward, must be even more amei ing. A buffalo bull has been credited with engaging three Hons In mortal combat, and making a good fight before he was disabled by one of the Hons hamstringing him by biting his legs frem behind. President's Remarkable Chart. School boys may well envy President Roosevelt -the wonderful map which repre sents the whole world and covers an entire wall In a White House office. Different colors show at a glance the possessions of the twelve powers, with the character of their principal cities. Sub marine cables, railroads, steamship lines, mall routes are all distinctly traceable. The naval and military forces of all nations are Indicated by miniature flags. Those representing the United States bear the names of commanders and are readily shifted as the forces move from place to place. The cavalry, artillery and infantry are represented by flags of their respective colors, yellow, red and white, giving the number of the regiment and the letter of the troop, battery or company. Even the smallest hospital corps is marked by a tiny red cross. Ships of every class ara shown by red. white and blue flags bear ing the name of each and the number of its guns. The week after President McKlnley'a death a clerk was explaining the great ' map to President Roosevelt and a guest. The visitor suggested: "Can you find the aon of my old cook? I know his name, because I caah the checks he sends his mother." The president stepped forward. "Let me find him," he said, and began under the clerk's guidance to consult the records and examine the little markers. "There is hit company," he soon said, touching a white flag In a small Island of the Philippines. "Tell his old mother I am keeping my eye on her soldier boy." "Bresa de Lor !" was her exclamation on hearing the story. "My name and Jack's been spoke In de White House." A HewHat. "Oh. mamma!" he cried, "teacher says X must have a new hat." "Why, Bobby, that's a nev one you have on. I bought It only last week." "I don't care, mamma; teacher told me today that I've got to get another kind." "Well, what made her say that, I'd like to know?" . Bobby pondered a moment and then said; "Why, it was this way, you know: Teacher asked me question about my lesson and I said I couldn't remember the answer. Then she said: " 'Bobby, you'd bet'er ?o "nome and get your thinking cap on. Say, mamma, buy me one, won't you, please V New Tork Times.