Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1908-4-2, Page 2Er a up 4111A ii OM wall a ver dirty little Witln- ney-aweop. He lived in a big' ` city where there were plenty of chimneys to sweep. Tom never washed himself, for there was no water in the court where he lived. Ho cried half of his time and laughed the other half. He cried when he had to climb the dark flues, rubbing his poor knees and elbowsraw; when soot got Into his eyes; when his master beat him, and when ho had not enough to eat, which happened every day. He laughed the other half of the day, when he was tossing pennies with tho other boys or playing leapfrog. Tom never wor- ried about being a chimney -sweep, Or being hungry, or being beaten. He said to himself, 'When I am a men there la a good time coming." One day Tom's master, Mr. Grimes, got an order to clean the chimneys at a ver grand place, far out in the coun- try, owned by a very rich gentleman, So, at 3 o'clock one Bummer morning, Tom and his master started out. air. Grimes rode the donkey to front and Tom, with the brushes, walked be- hind, out of the court and up the street, 'and soon they had left the city tar be- hind. At last they came to a very grand lodge and Grimes rang ,at the gate. Out came the keeper at once. They all walked up the great avenue in front of the mansion. Tom as he woht along peeped at the sleeping deer, which he had never seen before, nor had he ever seen such big trees, It seemed to him that the sky rested on the tops of them. There was a queer murmuring noise all about, and Tom, much puzzled, netted the keeper what it was. The keeper told him it was a great many bees buzzing among the flowers. "What are bees?" asked Tom, never having heard of bees before. "They make honey," Bald the keeper. ****"What Is honey?" asked Tom. "Hold your tongue!" said Grimes. Kj fir/ r.a 111 I jC 111 1I • " AN "A JUST tell you, Skinny, he's grown so all -fired conceited that I can't stand him. What's more, Ian not going to try," firmly announced Billy. 'Oh, I say,' pleaded Skinny, "let's give Jerry one more chance. We'll see what the fellows think about it, any- way," As aresult of this conversation, a hasty and secret meeing of the "Bloody Robbers" was held in Warner's hay- loft. All were present except Jerry Coleman, and especial care was taken "Lot the boy be," said the keeper. "Ha is a aloe, civil little fellow," acid Grimes laughed. "I wish I were a keeper," said TOM, "to live in such a beautiful place and have a real dog-whlotte at my button, like you." The keeper Laughed and told Tom that some day he might be,. At last they reached the house. Tom swept so many chimney's out that he got very tired and a 1!tt10 mixed up• He came down the wrong chimney and found himself standing on a hearth In a room. the like of which he had never seen before. This room was all white and had pictures on the walls, and he 'saw a washstand with soap and towels and a largo basin full 01 water on it. Ho thought, "What a lot of things for washing; she must be a very dirty per- son who has to wash so much." And then ho looked toward the bed, and there he caw the parson and hold his breath with wonder, for there lay a most beautiful little girl. Her face was almost as white as the pillow, and she had long hair like threads of gold. EfADE RI1VE WONDER Tom wondered whether she was a real live person or a wax doll. "No, she cannot be dirty," thought Tom, and said to himself: "Are all people like that when they are wash- ed?" and he looked at his own dirty fist and tried to rub off some of the soot. "I wish I could look like she does." He looked around and saw standing close to him a little ugly black, rag- ged figure, with big eyes and grin- ning white teeth. He soon saw It was himself, reflected in a big look- ing glass. For the first time in Tom's life he found out ho was dirty, and he felt ashamed. As ho turned to sneak up the chimney to hide he upset the fender and threw the. fire -Irons down with a noise like thunder. Up jumped the little white lady in her bed and, seeing Tom, screamed. Xn rushed a stout, old nurse, and she IL. FOOL" REVENGE you're right; maybe it's best to try, out some of the others, I've had my eye on one feller In particular. He knows heaps more than any of the rest of us, an' I've no doubt he'd make a superyer sort of a leader. Fellers, I nommernate Jerry Coleman for cap- tain." Just about one minute was con- sumed in the election of Jerry. The vote was unanimous; enthusiasm was unbounded. Jerry, evidently conscious of his new dignity, strutted over to the highest JERRY THRILLS (IIS AUDIENCE that Terry should not hear of the con- ventien, There was a silence for a moment after Captain Bill Mumford had stated the purpose of the meeting. Then 31111 Kane axone. Bill always formed opin- ions mighty quickly, and olung to them, tool "Fellers," said he, "I think there's a whole lot in what 33111 gays, Jerry brags more than anybody I've ever known." Never made your own acquaintance, then," suggested Joe Stanton. "And he does less than any one else," continued 8111, disregarding the laugh which ,Toe's remark had caused. "April Fool Should be the best time of all to rook up some kind of a revenge on Jerry," remarked Skinny, reffeetive- ly: Tae added' "Wliy not hold a, Sham meeting the first of April and elect Jerry captain? 'When he finds out afterward how we fooled hlm It ought to take some of that monkey business out of film." Sltinny's plan was adopted with ao- elamntion and the members of the Bloody Robbers" adjourned to gloat over their intended revenge. Terry little suspected the gigantic con- 0ph'acy directed ngalnet litin, So lie was aurprlaed not a little eel en 13111y called the meeting to it semblance of order et the appointed time, on April 1, and began: Members of the 'Bloody Robbers; I've asked you to come here se's to elect new captain. I ain't got no spectal me - on for resignin`. :Though. I haven't ode near) he good as k g emu 1 a 1t !n 1] Y dd as a .st 1l ain't t alts ethe r ashamed m ree0r But Y d. BI t the r8 are other il e . „era bora who are much mora dervin', end I want 10 give 'em a chanes: ,"' When 11111y had seated himself at the eonelusien of this announcement, illclnny slowly raised himself to an, Upright lscaltlon, Billy.' 8010 be, "you de yourself ,fieedit. 'We've never had a bettor sari- Akin. either, " But, after all, ma„'ue part of the hayplle 1n as haughty a man, ner as the uneven and unstable sur- face of the hay would permit. As he gazed over his audience his chest swelled visibly, and, as 13111 Kane aft- erward declared, so did his head. "I am deeply 'Noted by the honor you fellers have bestowed on me in So great a quantity," he said sol- ernell. Hurray for Jerry!" yelled the band. "An' X want to say that I'm awful much obliged to you. Comin' from an- other town, as Skinny says, I've learn- ed lots o' twists that you fellers ain't accustomed to. 'Course, I ain't stuck upabout it, 'cause I know it just hap- pened se. But you can bat your life that I'm goln' to lead you tellers the very hest I know how. And When I cry, On, bravo men, an' .toiler mel' I'm dog -gone sure that evoty one of you will Yeller yer captain into the thickest of the fight. That's all I want to say, inept to thank you again." In the general hand -clapping and howling that followed this gallant Speech, Terry failed to hear Jack War- ner nutter to Skinny: Iie says he'll lead es into the fight, dons he? Whatthat guy never was In a light in '!S 11thl" Before the members of the band sep- arated Jerry pompously announced that there t til a dinne at a Meeting tel' he dew after ectnor In the Cave, a1 h" didn't "ex»act to And any feller tete." Theext afternoon, n as Seery y name from the house he mat Skinny,wh who had loiteredoutside, "Tyl e, Lieutenant Sknsold.Tarry, in a tone of Infinite eondoscon, Alen; s'»ose you're on the way to the meeting plane?" Skinny frowned in assumed perplOIity. " What meeting place?" he asked, ro the Cave, of course," sharply re - !maned Torry, But there's no mooting today,' in - ;fisted Skinny.. "No heath 1 Didn't T give Orders for one?" sputtered. the "April Fool" cap- tain, Skinny laughed carelessly. "Oh, say, Jerry; you didn't really think we elected you captain, did you? I thought you would know 1t was only an April Fool Joke." "Only a -a -a April Fool joke!" stam- mered Jerry, leaning against the fence for support. But Skinny had already darted off, merrily whistling, leaving Terry staring blankly after him, The lad who had been captain for a day sank down by the roadside. For fully five minutes he lay as though Be- numbed. Then he buried his face in ills hands and sobbed violently. Jerry was not In school that afternoon, nor was he seen by any 'Bloody Rob- ber" during therest of the day, The 'Robbers" didn't get nearly as much fun out of the joke as they had expected, Indeed, one and all confessed that It was "an awful mean thing to do." They hadn't even the satisfaction of knowing that the lesson, cruel though ita8was, had effected a cure. But it made for Tom, as she thought he had come to rob them, Tom doubled under her arm and across the room, and was out of the window in a moment. Under the window spread a tree, and down the tree he event like a cat and across the garden lawn toward the woods, leaving the old nitres screaming murder and fire at the win- dow. The gardener saw Tom and threw down his scythe and gave chase. The dairy maid got the churn between her kneea and spilled all the cream, and yet she jumped up and Joined the chase, Tho groom in the stable, the plowman, the keeper, all ran after him, all shouting "Stop thief!" And all this while Tem ran up the park and made for the woods, He heard his pursuers' shouts die away in the woods, and, chuckling to The Boy Martyr IN THE beautiful churchyard of Grantchester, near Cambridge, Eng- land, there Is a small slab about a foot square. Close under the shade of a grand old Saxon tower it stands, and it is all that remains to marls the spot where lies the heroin lad whose mar- tyrdom is pathetically told in "The Chorister." The youth was a choir boy of King's College, and was about 15 years old. Before King's College Chapel was occupledplace. by Oliver Cromwell's soldiers during the civil wars, a faithful band, among whom was the choir boy, had cut out the beautiful stained glass windows and buried them In a secret The boy was seized and brought be- fore Cromwell. Ho was ordered to re- veal the hiding place of the windows, under pain of instant death. He bravely chose death, and, Without a tele!, was mercilessly shot outside the chapel. Many visitors comp into the church- yard to examine the slab and to talk of the heroic death of the martyred choir boy. A Difference. James—Toothache again, elf?. I'd have the thing pulled out if it were mine. Joseph—So would I If it were rout". e TEDDY 10 `rood te,. ' ON UN HEAD "The old Dow jumped the moon," re- d marks Ted "Whenh I s a should have been snug in her bed; But I'm sure it is true Here's a trick she can't do--" And the Teddy stood tight on hie head, "Little boys think they're smart," said the bear, "But I won der 12they neo aware nt wl h me they've no ehOW, For they codldn.t, I know, Stand all clay with their foot 1n the air.„ Said the Fuzzy Dog, "Teddy, my. dear, ' Fray take care there are tacks scatter. ea , rioro ” "GilI'm uch not t m afraid Foil of plush I am made f" Ted replied as he spell on ills ear. "Muchmore comfort you'd find, if you rose And stood Arm and upright on your toes!" Tho W110 Fatty hacked; But the foolish Ted larked, .And tar answer just whirled on his 11050, himself, he turned away from the wall and ran on. On Ills way he saw spiders who sat On their webs, and lizards, brown and Breen, and under a rock he saw a groat, brown, sharp -nosed fox. She had five little baby cubs around her; they were rolling about and playing with each other. When they saw Torn the mother caught one up In her mouth andthe rest came after her, and Into a crack in the rook they went. Iie next had a fright ae, whirr, poof-poof, cook -kick, something Went off to his face. He thought the ground had blown tip, but it was nothing but a big bird. At last he saw, many, many feet be- low Itlm, a 0001 Stream, and by the stream he saw a cottage, Ho camp slowly up to the open door and saw inside a nice old woman. When she saw Tom she sald: "Bless your little heart, where did you come front? Come In and rest and I will give you something to eat" TOM FELL ASLEEP So Tom went in, and the woman was kind to him and gave him some- thing to eat, and put hint on a sofa to rest. Tom fell asleep and dreamed he heard the little white girl crying to him: "Oh, -you aro dirty; go and get wash- ed!" and he cried out loud, again and again: "I must be eleant" Ho got oft the sofa, half awake, and drawled out of the cottage to the banks of the brook. IIe pulled off all his clothes, which was easy enough, they were so ragged, and put his little feat into the water and then his legs. "Ah," he said, "I must be quick and wash myself." So he tum- bled himself as quick as he could right into the stream. And he had not been in it two minutes before lie fell fast asleep, and when he woke he found himself swimming about in the stream. In feet, the fairies had turned Tom into a water baby, and a merry, happy water baby he was, and ho was never tired or dirty again. TheCat Orchestra THERE web four of them—Fluffy, Snowball, Tabby and Thomas, but Thomas, the pueey with the glossy blank coat, Was the cleverest of the four. Ho it was who organized the quartet. The four pussies sang ever so nicely, under the leadership of Thomas, and surely It was only envy that made the Human Beings around them angry. However, this did not pre- vent the quartet from practicing. One evening when they had gathered In the big library for a chorus, Thomas suddenly thought that the music: was Incomplete without the accompaniment of stringed Instruments. S0 he directed the other pussies to twang the viol and violin and guitar tl at lay on the couch nearby. He had often seen Human Beings play these instruments, so he knew exactly how it was done. Iie explained it all very carefully to the other members of tiro quartet. Then Thomas waved ills paw in air as a signal for the music. to begin. The next moment, instead of sweet in- strumental' music mingling with the song of the chorus, there was a succes- sion Of snaps and whirrs as the strings broke under the sharp claws of the four pussies. , I01 Thomas never found out just what the matter was, for a human Being sent the quartet flying Inall directions, while he said very ugly things about cat choruses In general. Thomas' feelings Were greatly hurt. Rather Difficult. One of the professore absent-mindedly said the other day, while calling the roll: 'When the names are read out all the boys who are here will answer 'present'; those not present will answer 'absent.' " Magnetic Experiment LAY an ordinary one -foot rule across the top of a glass. Grasp one end of the rule between the forefinger and the middle finger. Secure a small sheet or plate of hard rubber. Rub It vigorously with a piece of silk to generale electricity. Hold the piece of rubber between the tb,umb and forefinger of the same AWAY with all sadness; Let mirth come, and gladness— Nothing but •fooling: 'Tis the one ruling Made by King Jester this day -4 Fol-de-rol, la, tool -de -ray -- '0, hail to the merry Fools' Dayl MATERIALS EMPLOYED hand 1n Which you grasp the rule. By touching the rule wiIh the rub- ber you will And that pieces of paper thrust upon the under side 0f the other end of the ruler will remain suspended without visible means of support. The paper, 01 course, 18 attracted by the magnetized rule. Marie Avoided the Tax TO DRIVE Ili the tnagnificent lan- dau with madame was a thing to be proud of, and madame's maid, Marie, was as proud a5 proud could be. • When they reached the chateau, which was madame's destination, the great lady bade Marie trudge to the neighboring town and purchase some eggs, While she herself pald her call at the chateau, Marie clutched the coin tightly - in her hand and started out upon her errand. For a wonder, she bought the eggs without mishap. Returning, however, she was stopped by the po- lice, who explained that, Inasmuch as she had crossed the border of an- other province, :she must pay duty on the eggs before she could return to the chateau at which her Mistress was visiting. Marie was in a quandary. Madame had given her just so much to spend, and she had no more money with her. But she load also been told not to re- turn without the eggs. What should she do? She retired to the -place where she had bought the eggs to think It all over. Half an hour later she again appeared before the police: This time she was permitted to pass, lnasniuelo as no eggs could be found about her person. Well, Marie, have you come back with the eggs?" asked madame, when the maid arrived at the chateau. Yea, madame, the polio° wouldn't let me pass with the eggs, they said' but t fookcd them—I ate filo eggs and got by without the least bit of trou- ble!" Marla was to pleased with what she had done that madane hadn't the heart to scold her brilliant maid. Not Treated Right. Jimmy 'was standing near a hole In thetoe, shouting at the I t0 bOf his P plaine To one who approached he ex- plained hie grievance. "Johnny's down there," said he, pointing to the hole, "and he *Sh"t give mo the skates. Boit had 'em more than hie share of time now." Fond of Solitude, Jessie—I do so like to tette long wanes all by 0015011'1 oria0this n.ttereoOnso do T. Lot's go lot tong Lives. Boastful Boy—A11 of our fonts Ilva lenger'n any one else's. My grandfather diad when he was 100 years old. Quiet ;Boy—That's nothing, My grand- father died T Boastful l Boy 0Two proveoveed and fifty? Say I'd like year loLh will at. Quiet Boy—Any one ill Colt you that grandfatlior died at 230 Main street. Tried it Before. Fortner --Yon may skate on the pond IfYo . -u t wan to, but I Warn you It Is unsafe. Smell I3nv—•What's the matter'? X 0katrd on It fast wlntet-and the lye was as right, Ellready Broken, Teacher—Sarneel, hew many cont, mandmonts did I say there were? Samuel—Not thy. Teacher—Why, Samuel! ,Don't you re- member T said d koro Wore tont Samu �l— a Yes, one but you said too,that at every one of 'om Was buatct� ionago, A Natural Supposition, Ethel (who as clever) -4)o you think it true, ea Ili'. Brown 0810, that the baby oeL today has a much better chance of Ilbo than the bah of lift 201111 y y years ago? (ala? Tho babe; of Afty 1°erg 0..tury