lpdal P(2ig ior The: B'(s Bmisy Littl
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I Stories by Our Little Folks
(Prize)
Hindy' Air CaitU.
By Pan! Thompioa. Age 11. Alliance. Nah.
Sid Hindy to Bill when the war
tint broke out
Let' first wipe out France and then
England rout.
And then go to Italy and capture
- her kinsr. j
And last in the United States make
our cannons ring. ...
' And then you can lit on a throne
. all jof bow.
And make the whole world do just
s, they're told. i -So
they waited four years and still
- France dldnt nre In.
But Hindy was stir m the end they
would win.
And then he got reckless with' an
old submarine
And said of our vessels the ocean
. . he d clean. '
He killed women and children and
.. A, -
vuc ,iai uajr,
We made old Bernstoff "beat it"
without delay. ,
Then we began saving ' sugar and
. making transports.
And eating less wheat and making
hew ports," --.j..
And when our boys got over there
. - and went over the top
Hindy saw his recklessness would
surely have to stop.
The Yanks kept on advancing al
ways beating the Hun.
They captured Sedan and went to
wards Met! on a run.
And then old Hindy began to get
wiser
And saw all was lost for him and
the kaiser, v
And. then the allies made him an
armistice sign - v
Giving up his territory from France
' to the Rhine,
And then he and the kaiser got it
into their head 1 - .
That, it wasn't them, so from Gerv
many they (led, - ' ?..:.
But the Yanks are behind him and
they'll catch htm sure
And then of his fighting spirit they'll
him cure.
t (Honorable Mention.)
Trying to Fly. t
Sy Bllaabeth Spear, in It, tit Street,
- , , , rlfbury. 9b.
Little Aileen was sittinsr in a hiar
ppie tree in xneir orcnara looking
at her picture book.
. Now Aileen loved to pretend and
so just now she wasxsayh "I
know what I'll do. I'll pretend I'm
a robin and then I'll fly." And fly
she did, but instead of flying up,
she flew down. . She wasn't a bit
hurt, but she thought she was, so
she reasoned, 'Well,. I fell out of
the tree and when people fall cut
of trees, thev usually they usual
ly," she liked that word, it WM so
big and long, "they usually go to
the hospitable."
Aileen loved to use long words,
hut sometimes she didn't get them
just right, "And," she continued,
"when people are m the hospitable
everybody is nice fc them and give
them nice things to eat.'so" I guess
111 go.".-. r,-:;v?.
Therefore she marched down the
road at a. very rapid pace fori so
tinv a stirl. i Presently she met old
Mr. Wilkins, who was driving to
ward her. : "Wal.'hello Miss Aileen.
Where you a goin' all bv yerself ?"
; "Good , afternoon," she , answered
grandly. "I'm going to the ho
pitable." -
He looked puzzled, hut suddfnly
his face brightened. "Goin' to the
hospital air ye? Well, yes, you hop
in and I'll take ye." . .
f She obeyed. , and ' they merrily
went down the 'rotii"-"----,-.
Suddenly, "Why, r Mr, Wilkins,
. that's my house. What did - you
bring me home for?"
"Wal, ye. see, I thought as how
it was a gittin' late and maybe
your mother would be gittin' wor
ried about ye." ; ' -i-,
"Well.' maybe you're right," she
answered as they stopped. "Thank
you. Mr. Wilkins."
Needless to say she soon forgot
all about it and when she did re
member she didn't care to go. '
By Q. Martin Otter. At tt. 1521 Beuth
5 . Seventh Street, Omaha.
; Jack lived with his parents on a
' large clearing in a forest. Jack,
who was 13 years old, knew almost
all the work to manage a farm.
His parents died whenjie was il.
Another farmer lived nearby." This
farmer was a good friend of Jack's
father. He adopted Jack until he
was old enough to sell his farm.: ,
r This farmer had three sons,
Frank,,; Joe and Edward. They
often played with Jack and helped
him with his work. ;
Many years passed. He was 19.
There was a call t&- arms, for all
young men bad to go to war. Tack
answered the call proudly, received
training and went to the battelfront,
where he was severely wounded. He
had to go back to his native .oun
try Jor medical care., t When he was
well he. went back to the battle
front, but was not wounded.
He returned to his native coun
try and met a crl his age. A little
later he married this girl. He lived
happily with his wife until all died.
I hope the Busy Bees accept my
: story, as this is the first time I have
: written. .,-. .
"Original" v
Jtllth Anderson, Am 11, Weston, Neb.
B. F. D. No. 1. Box 45.
"Tht Gate City of the West," I
wish to become junior of The Bee.
One Saturday afternoon we took a
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iiij, iu viuaua in uui l uiu. vvc were
going to take our aunt home, who
lives in Omaha on- Decatur street.
After we had-been there a while we
went to our uncle's home on Corby
street..' My brother and I went to
the street car track and took tha
Florence car .to our other uncle's
home en Grebe street in Florence.
I' stayed there, but my brother went
back to the other'a at Corby street.
sunaay my cousin took ma to Flor
ence park. Afterwards we went to
Sunday school. In the afternoon we
went to my uncle on Corby street
and my' aunt came and took my
cousin and me ta Riverview park.
There were many animals in the
park and it was tht prettiest one I
have seen. Florence park was pret
ty, too, it had a slide and a flower
bed in it. I have also been to Hans-
corn park, which is better than the
other two narks. I have been on ton
oi tne woodmen of the World build
ing. 1 1 have been, to the movies in
the Strand theater and like it fine,
Omaha is worthy of its name, "The
Gate City of the West." I hope this
letter escapes the waste basket.
By Asmes Holden. A( 14, Petersburg, Neb.
Dear BUSY Beet! This, ia mv sornnrf
letter to the junior page and I hope
to see my letter in print.
Once there was a little girl named
Margaret, who was the nnlv rhHH
of the family. Her mnther via nM
and had very poor health. Margaret
naiea to worK at nome but delighted
in working for some one else. When
her mother would a sir hi An
something for her she would get
angry and begin to pout and say, "I
Qon i nave to.
The older she got the worse she
was. When she was abnut 12 vara
old she got angry one night and ran
away to work for, someone else.
""re was coia ana snowing outside.
When it was dark she tried to find
a nlaca to itav all niarht - hut tvurr
body refused her a bed, so she stayed
outside an nignt ana returned Home
in the mnrniner ' y ......
When she reached hom she found
her mother dead.: She started to
cry and her father said to her, "You
will always have something to re
member, how you treated your
mother." And this was true, for
atter that she changed altogether!
She was good-hearted to everybody
and always stayed at home. She
lived with her father and kept house
for him.
Br louts Zeleny, Ase f. Llnwsod, Neb. --
Dear Busy Bees: This is my (irst
time I have written to your page.
I read your stories every week and
enjoy them very much. I walk two
and one-half miles to school and go
nearly every "day. I don't go now
on account of the 'flu." ;
I m 9 years -old an4 in the sec
ond grade. I have one brother and
one sister that go to school with me.
Well, dear "Busy Bees," I think
111 close, for my letter i getting
long. 1 hope MrWastebasket has
gone for a visit and hope to see my
letter in print. So, goodby.
'V My Pet. ' ' iJ-
" EMroa Smith, Age 12, Crete, Neb."
Dear Busy Bees: As I dida't see
my first letter in the paper I will
write again. Once we had three lit
tle pigs; two of them died. . I asked
pa if I could take it. He said I
might, I fed it milk and it soon be;
came big and fat. It was so tame
that it would follow me. When it
was almost 6 months old It weighed
over 200 pounds. Then I sold it and
got almost $40. Good-by, Busy Bees.
A Surprise.
Lucil Bauer; Age It, Atwood, Kan. " -
TorlTlTl! went the door bell. Bes
sie shut the book she was reading
and went to the door..
"Miss Bessie Devd-raii?" hlimtl
asked the messenger boy.-
xes, this is she,", said Bessie, her
heart in her mouth.
Message for you," and disap
peared. Bessie opened the envelope
with tremhlinof finarera Was if
the War department announcing that
ner orotner was lulled t Killed f She
shuddered. Many thoughts raced
through her mind as she opened it.
When she got it open it read: -
"Will arrive next Friday.- Have
surprise for you. Brother," V
She read it with a sigh of relief
and ran to tell 'her grandmother.
It Seemed an ftirnitv until VriAav
The' train was an hour late but Bes
sie was there to meet her brother.
The crowd was so dense Bessie
could hardly get through; but 'she
must see her brother? Who was
that man nv,r rhrit in uniform with
a black-eyed baby in his jrmsr in
a nasn sne reanzect it was ner broth
er, ane ran to him. r- '
"See here, look at thr surnriae Tt'a
a little French orphan found in a
aesenea village. -
"O, isn't she cute? She's bretty.
too. Let's go take her to grand
mother. -
"All's well, let's go, Nannette, and
see grandma." i
Thrilline ; Story' of. A n
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"Yes, it's true," sighed the fire
horse mournfully. "There aren't
many of us left.. That hideous red
and gold demon out there in the
middle of the fire house floor has
put an end to our Ions . rears of
faithful and untiring service; so wtl
have literally been put on the shelf.
For a moment' he thoughtfully
munched the lump of sugar I had
given him. - --
"How is it that they keep you and
the fire demon which you describe
in the same fire house?' 'J asked,
. The fir chief says when they get
rid, of me they have to accept his
MfiirnirtAn a latt 'ncumrsil aIsJ
a viriajiiwiiun tmjf atp TT V VU , j 4 s
horse, tossing his head proudly;
"and as he 1 a very good hre chief,
I am still here."
Are you his soecial pet? I
asked.
"Well, I didn't us tobe. In fact
the chief seemed to have a gru
against me in particular when I
first cam on the force, but after
that time when- oh, but that'
another story I"
"Pleas tell me about it," I beg-
ged, scenting something interesting
to narrate t$ my juinor readers.
"I don't mind telling you' said
the horse, "if you will promise not
to think that I apt blowing my own
horn." He was really a very modest
animal.;, f . .- ; .K : , : J. ,'v-r
"I promise not to think any such
thing," I eagerly assented, ''if you
will just promise to begin at the be
ginning and go right through to the
end, and not stop one till you
finish." . - ;! ...'.
, "I'll do my best," agreed the horse
with a little neigh. -
"Well, here goes. I was born on
a farm in Massachussets, where I
remained until I .was about 2
years old- All I had to do all day
long was to race about the green
fields with my' mother, and taking
my young mistress, Elizabeth Tal
bot, out for a ride every morning
before lunch, which in itself was no
effort at all, because Miss Betty, as
everyone called her, was such a lit
tle thing that I scarcely felt her
weight on my back at all. She was
a sweet little girl of about 12 years
of age, and even at that time, was
an excellent horsewoman. -She and
I tpgether have jumped more fences
and raced down more long stretches
oflevel road than many an older
peVson. Betty' brother, Richard,
was a lad of about 16 years, and he
used to teach me how to do-all sorts
of thines. From him l learned to
pick up handkerchiefs in, my teeth!
while at a ganop ana to touow mm
down the lane . when t he carried
lumps of sugar and juicy apples in
his pockets., v - I
. Life was all a path of roses then,
and I had all I wanted to eat of
sweet cloyer and juicy young grass
that grew rank in the broad mea
dows on the farm, I loved the chil
dren with all my heart, and they
loved mc in return. We played out
of doors every day when it was
sunshiny, and when it rained, the
children came into the stall where
I was and climbed on my back and
played hide and go seek in and out
between my long legs. :
"Mr. and Mrs. Talbot were also
very good to me, and once when I
cut my leg on a sharp stone, Mr.
Talbot put a soothing salve on it
and bound it np carefully with soft
rags, as if I had been one of his own
children. The days flew by like
lightning and I paid small attention
to them as they passed. We were
all so perfectly happy that there
seemed no need to look into' the fu
ture, when one .night M. Talbot
came home with i heavy cold from
f
, . i, ,,. -V, . 't ...... ... .1 . '' ..... .
By the Horse Himself
the city where he had taken some
-i I " 1 , . , , r i i
oi ins produce to market, ior wnicu
he retused to do anything on the
plea that 't was nothing and would
soon pass off. The cold soon devel
oped into pneumonia, and in three
days he died. He had invested a
good, bit of the - money realized
from the crops of his prosperous
farm in some mining venture out
west, and six weeks after his death
poor Mrs. Talbot read in the paper
of the failure of the whole scheme!
with the result that hundreds ot peo
ple had lost everything in the final
smash. The Talbots had only the
farm property and a few hundred
dolalrs of insurance money left be
tween them and starvation. Richard
and Betty at that time were 18 and
14, respectively. Richard wa eager
to leave school and (tart into work
in order to help out. but his mother
put her foot down, saying that his
CUUtauuil iijusi tuinc ins,.,
Betty in a vague sort of way real
ized that something serious had
happened to the family fortunes,
but her mother aid not aiscuss tne
'The terror-rtricken child
was directly in 4he path'
subject with her little daughter very
much for feat! of worrying the child
and endangering her healthy They
say it never rains. but it pours. Just
one week after Mr. , Talbot's death,
Richard wok up up one night to
find himself coughing and choking
in the thick smoke that filled his
room. Darting from the bed he
rushed out into the hall, and aroused
his Wther and sister. The fir had
evidently started in th kitchen
from some clothes that had been
hung too near the stove to dry and
which had caught fire during the
night, spreading the flames to other
parts of the lower floor and cutting
off escape from above..
"Bv clambering out on the roof of
the veranda, and - descending by
Home James!
This tiny miss is one of the Bel
gian refugee children who have been
sheltered during the war in Switzer
land. She is enjoying her final
"piggy-back ride" on the shoulders of
an American Red Cross worker be
fore leaving for the train that will
carry her back to her old home it)
Belgium.. Giddapl .
. .. . . .. i-Xa "vm'V
"V -iff
01 d Fire
means of a trellis at the side, the lit
tle family reached safety only to
watch their home burn before their
eyes. The night was cold witii a
promise of snow, and the children
ami their mother not being any too
heavily clad, heavy Colds resulted
irom the exposure. The children's
strong, animal spirits pulled them
through, but Mrs. Talbot was not
long in following her husband to
the grave,'! '
"How very sad," I murmured.
"Indeed it was," answered the
horse, shaking his head slowly. "I
don't belive lever aw a more for
lorn jpair of children than Richard
and Bettv when they came out to
my stall after' the funeral. The
Talbot had no relatives nearer than
Flint, Mich,, so it meant the parting
of the way for the children ana
myself. A very sad parting it was,
too, for we had been together so
long that the thought of separation
seemed almost unbearable, I was
sold to a neighboring farmer, and
the children cried little, salty tears
on my neck when my new owners
came to take me .away, i never saw
my little playmates again."
The old horse paused thought
fuly for a moment and then went
on. - '.' -'
My new owners soon found that
I was not of much use to them. I
had never done any very hard work,
my job having been that of play
mate for Jhe children rather than
of a farm animal, so 'when Bing
Bing Brothers Greatest Show on
Earth came through the town, I
was made to show my tricks and
accomplishments to the manager of
the'show, with the ultimate result
that I was resold to the circus peo
ple and loaded on a box car bound
for, Nashville, Tenn., the following
night, x
"The next six months 'were a
nightmare which it is painful to re
call. My suffering during that per
iod of enforced training accoraea
performing animals in the circus
was almost more than flesh and
blood could bear. At nisht. when I
was driven into my narrow, - all -
smelling stall, or even into the foul
er box car enroute, i ten as it my
spirit would leave 'my ; tired body
and T would just lie down and die
right then and there. ..
"I was taught tq.. go round and
round a small - rinj while tulle
skirted """bareback v riders jumped
through hoops to my tired back. I
was put through all my old tricks
of picking up handkerchiefs and
opening barred gates with -tny hose
until I was so tired that I could have
dropped where I stood. Oneof the
circus clowns was my special ene
my, or so it seemed, for he never
lost an opportunity to teas me
or cause me to rear on my hind
legs. He Stuck me with pins to make
me caper so that the audience would
laugh the harder, and once when he
was riding me around the arena, h
put a 'great burr underneath the
blanket so that I bucked and kicked
with all my might to rid myself of
the horrid,, stinging pain. - -
One day during : the afternoon
performance, I lost my temper com
pletely, and with a mad lunge, threw
the offending clown over my head
and into the sawdust of the arena.
He , being . an acrobat, however;
turned a somersault and landed on
his feet to the intense enjoyment of
the crowd. After that my suffering
increased ten-fold, for the clown, in
order to avail . himself of the ap
plause which always followed an
exhibition of temper on my part,
took pains to torment me in order
to make me prance and throw him.
One day during the parade through
a small western city where our
company was playing, I heard the
clatter and clang of a fire-engine
on the way to a fire and a thrill of
excitement filled me as I watched
Horse Told
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the flying manes and distended nos
trils of the three huge gray horses,
who flew down the street dragging
behind them the brilliant red en
gine. A stream of smoke, and cin
ders followed in their wake, and
like magic the street cleared before
them in order that nothing should
obstruct their passage.
"What a glorious feeling it would
be, I thought, to tear along like that
with the wind whistling through
my mam; as it did when Miss Betty
and I Vaced Master Richard on the
bay mare up at the old farm. What.,
wonder to feet that perhaps the
safety pf a home depended on the
fleetness of one's limbs. If only I
could have been able U race down
the night of the fire on the 'irm
dragging great engine behind me
and nave arrived in the nick of time
to save the duelling of those w'lom
I loved from destruction by the
flames,
: Before I thought what was do
ing I reared on my hind feet and
threw off my rider, and before the
bewildered clown could collect his
wits, I was off down the street like
a shot after the fast disappearing
engine. I finally caught up with
them and tore along beside them
until the scene of . the fire was
reached. Flames were spouting from
the" roof of a two-story and jase
nient building, and on the top floor
a frantic mother was crouched in
the window with a 6-months'-old
child in her arms. I fairly quivered
with excitement as the brave fire
fighter adjusted their ladders and
clambered to the rescue. Never
could I return to the sordid drudg
ery of the circus routine when I
might share in work as thrilling as
this. The woman and child- were
wrapped in blankets by one of the
firemcn and brought down the long
ladder to safety. The flames died
down" under the force of the stream
of water that was turned on the
heart of the conflagration and within
an-hour the fire was practically out.
Several of the engine crew remain
ed to watch the smouldering ember
in case they should be rekindled by
a vagrant breeze, and the tired
horses on the engine were turned!
ana siowiy anyen oacn to mc nrci
house,, while I trotted along after
a thing in the world to do.
The firemen'were so amused at
my apparent attraction to their out
fit .that theyv forthwith made me
one of them,v'and when the circus
people appeared to demand that I
be returned to their rightful pos
session, the hre company ciubbea
together and bought me for the de
partment at my former owner own
price. ., -v ; 1 ;
My new work proved fully a fas
cinating as I had anticipated, the
excitement even during the period
of training, which, needless to say,
was not quite so gruelling as that
undergone with the circus, the mad
dashes for the harness at the sound
of the gong, the thrilling race down
through the crowded streets of the
city, and the throb of the pump as
they forced the water into the great
coils of hose, eventually became the
very breath of life to me. I entered
into the routine of the department
and became part of it, The men pet
ted me and the children of the
neighborhood came into my stall
4
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Our Ricture Puzzle
IS & V5 - ' V
K 25
" -54 " V
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5J - 32
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to 8 rS 1
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75
What is hidden in this space, ,.
That lights up old Rastus' face? '
Complete th picture by drawing a line through the dot beginning
at Figure 1 and taking -them numerically. -
with offerings of sugar and apples,
and the gentle pats of countless lit-,
tie, grimy hands. I loved them all.
for they. brought back to me memo
ries of the good old days when Mr.
and Mrs. Talbot were ; alive, and
Betty and Richard playefrwith me
in the meadows of the Massachu
setts farmstead. ' ;
One of my most frequent visitors
was little Bobby Shea, the S-year-old
son of the chief. The little fel
low came in nearly every day with
a pocketful of apples and one or
two of sugar, and one of themen
would hoist him onto my back and
walk me around the floor of the
fire house, .while my rider screamed
with delight. He would put his two
arms around ; my neck and sty:
"Dear old horse, Bobby's ' horse
someday, when Bobby grows up to
be fire chief, Won't jfou dear old
horse?" And I would whinny byway
of, ; answer. Whenever we swept ;
down the thbroughfare Bobby would
always run out of the house to see
us go by, and would shout himself
hoarse as we flew past on our way
to a fire, and so the time passed.
Day grew into weeks, weeks info
months, and months into years. I
began to get old, but had by -no
mean begun to lose my fleetness
of foot and strength of. muscle.
However that might be, the fire de
partments of both New York and
Brooklyn were undergoing many
radical changes. Under the new. re- .
gime the fire horses became a thing
of the past, to be replaced in i all
possible haste by the new tangiea -motor
trucks that roared like 40 of
the lions and tigers from th cir-.
cus.' Much as; the men hated to part'
with me, who had become their pe
dal pet. the day came when one of
the huge trucks was mstaiieo in e-n-erine'
House No. 12, and the chief
put an ad in the paper for my d-
posal. , . ' '
F.ach time the eonir rana: I suffer
ed the most terrible agony, for, in
stead, of having the iron chain
dropped from before my stall, so
har I could dart toward the- sus
pended harness, the crew slid down
the pole from above and mounted
the red and gold usurper without
an much as a nod in mv oirection.
The other two horses had been sold.
So my loneliness was even worse
than if they had been there to bear
me company in my misery. Bobby
still continued his visits, I am thnk
ful to say, and-this helped somewhat
t9 while away the. long, lonely
hours of waiting? ..: ; ? !
s One hoi. sultrv nicrht in July,
about 7 .o'clock,, when dusk was just
falling, a triple alarm sounded that .
caused even those hardened old
fire fighters a twinge of uneasiness.
The location was in one of the ware
houses along the water front, so
there would not be much rescue
work to be done, but the danger lay
in the fact that, quantities of paints
and varnishes, piles of canvas and
sacking and hundreds of empty
barrels were stored there, The
place had 'not been open in some
time, so fhat there was the added
risk of back draft and suffocation
from the fumes of the burning chem-
icals.
The men came down the pole
like greased lightning and leaped
into, their places on the truck." I
neighed and whinnied to be taken
along, but to no effect. In two min
ute the truck, rattled out of the
door and down the street toward
the spot from which the alarm had
been sent.
: (Concluded Next Sunday.)
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