THE MORNING POST: SUNDAY? DECEMBER 11? 1904.1; Fred's and Nell's Visit to Fairy land. " BY FLORENCE MAT.' Sre teas teMngr Ms ItttTe sister Nell & fairy story, one he had heard at his grandmamma's when he was visiting her In the summer. One of grandmam ma's gardeners had repeated it to Fred as a real experience of his own. "Just think!" said Fred, looking va cantaly into the cheerful blaze of the gas grate, "a real chariot of gold, drawn by snow-white doves, came through the clouds, down a rainbow, and in it were a fairy queen and fairy king, with diamond crowns on their heads. They beckoned the poor old gardener to come and ride with them. .He did so, and as soon as they were in the sky they, landed on top the clouds that are beautiful streets on the top side. They " "Was it just ijp.e common white clouds that rain in summer and the everyday black sort what snows in winter?" broke in Nell, inquiringly. ' "Yep, the very same kind," said Fred. 'But we can't see the streets and cities and and and ail the fine other things Through Frecl'u mind flew the Inhabited tlie woods and hills. that's up on the on-top side. They're just plain clouds on the underneath, you know; we just see the lining." "Ch o o!" ejaculated Nell, always credulous when her brother told a story. "What kind of people lived up there?" "Fairies, of course!" explained Fred. "What'd you suppose'd be there if it wasn't fairies? And they live oh the most beautiful fruit that has'nt any seeds or peelings; it is always ready to eat. and is all sweet juice, like su gar. It tastes just like perfume smells. The gardener said so." "Oh o oh!" again ventured Nell. "It muft taste like taffy candy!" "Taffy!" exclaimed Fred, with con tempt at the thought:' "The idea af fair viand fruit tasting like cheap, old taffy made on dirt earth! No, sir-ee, it tasted just like fine perfumery smells, I told you. And it is all the colors of the rainbow, red and yeller arid green and blue and " "Does it grow on trees?" broke in Nell, deeply interested. "W'y, I guess not," replied Fred, not quite sure on that point, the gardener not having told him just how the royal Iruit of fairyland grew. "I think. though." he quickly aMeS, not wlsMng to be thought ignorant of anything per taining to the subject uader discussion, "that it drops at night, from the stars, just like dew." "Oh-9-o-oh!" was Nell's exclamation of surprise, as usual. "How awf un funny! Wish we could go to Fairyland, don't you Fred?" "That'd be easy nough," her brother declared, with assurance in his voice. "I wouldn't wonder if we could go any day, if we could go to the country when the rainbow comes down. Out at grand ma's there was a rainbow often, some times very, very close to the house. It looked as though I could put my hand out and touch it pretty nearly." "Oh-o-oh! S'posen we go to the coun try out near grandma's arid get on the rainbow?" suggested Nell, her eyes wide and full of eagerness. "You'd be afraid!" said Fred, shaking his head. "You wouldn't dast to go." . "Yes I would," vowed Nell, rising up from her seat on the fur rug. "111 go, tales of terrible wild animals that ask mama right now if we may go." "'araa's out," said Fred. "She went far a drive with Mrs. Smith. It was while you were takin' your nap after luncheon that she wer.t. I watched 'era. from the parlor window." "Then we'U ask Bertha," suggested Nell. "If she says yes, will you go?" "I don't care," agreed Fred. "Run. ask Bertha. She's the same as mama in a case like that." So N,ell ran to Bertha, their trusted housemaid, who often served as nurse to the children during the mother's ab sence. Bertha was very busy arranging some new curtains in the library, and paid slight attention to Nell's question, "May Fred and I go to the rainbow in the country, near grandma's?" "Yes. skip to the rainbow and find the pot of gold,' she answered, attaching little im portance to the question of the child and none to her own answer. "When you get it you must bring me a fifty-dM-"iar coin, though." she coneli"i ., mount ing the sttpiaddcr to adjust the curtain pole. "The pot of gold?" questioned Neil, her eyes opening wide with wonder. "Is there a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Bertha?" 'Sure there is. Hahv." replied Bertha. "Now, skip and bring It home." Nell ran to her brother, exclaiming, "Bertha says we may go, and she says, too, that there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and we're to bring her a fifty-dollar coin!" "Mercy me, I'm bo tired!" walled lit tle Nell, trudging wearily along the country road. "Are we most there, brother?" . . "I think grandma's oft that way." an swered ' Fred, stopping and pointing down a Jane, bordered on each side by tall trees, their bare, winter branches standing out bleak and black against a winter sky. Though no snow lay on the ground the air was full of frost, and it bit the noses, fingers and toes of the two little wanderers who were In search of the rainbow, the road to Fairyland. They had taken Bertha at her word, and putting on their wraps had slipped unnoticed from the house and set off merrily toward the long line of wooded hill3 which pronounced the beginning of that country they were in quest of. Hand in hand they had gone on and on till at last they got beyond the bor ders of tlie town and were surrounded by woods and country, with only here and there a house to denote life. The sky was getting bluer and bluer, the light of day dimmer and dimmer, and the cold bit fiercer and fiercer into their tender flesh. And wearier and wearier became the two pair of little feet, for they were hot accustomed to walking so far on rough country roads. They turned into the road, or lane, rather, which led in the direction of the p!ace where Fred thought their grand ma lived. On they pushed a little further when Nell gave1 out. "Oh, I'm so tired, so tired, brother," cried the poor child, dropping on the road side to rest. "I wish we'd stayed at home, so I do." Fred paused and looked about and above him. "Wish the rainbow'd hurry up and drop down," he ventured, feeling for the first time in his short life of eight summers that he had perhaps act ed unwisely. Could it be possible that they would fail to find the coveted prize? the beautiful path to Fairyland and the pot of gold. "Let's go back home," pleaded Nell, her little body shivering with cold. "Let's go back and come sometime when its warm. I don't like the winter time to travel to the rainbow in. Let's go home." "Nell, I'll go for jour sake," said Fred, as anxious to retrace their steps as Nell was, but not wishing to betray his feel ings that way. "If I was alone may r. j I'd just keep right on. But if you'i j cold we'll go back." Nell rose from the road and the two grasped hands hands cold and red and turned their faces about. For sev eral minutes they pursued their way in silence. Then they came to a place where two roads led off from the one' they traveled, one right, one left. Fred hesitated in taking one, not remember ing which, road had led them thither. 'I believe it's this one," he said, point ing to his right. "No, it's that one." said Noll, desig nating the road, to the left. "I remember that big tree with the warts on it." "And I remember that bunch of dead grass." declared Fred, pointing to a tuft of weeds and grass which grew near the side of the road leading to the right. "That'll surely take us home." "I want to go this way." said Nell, starting down the left-hand road. Then she began to ci v. "Oil. I wish I had my mamma; I wish I had my mamma!" And she sobbed aloud. "Oh, don't cry. sister, begged Fred, nuttinsr his arm protect ingiy round his little sristr-r, who was stiil quite a baby, . being only' six. "I'll take you straight , home, so I will." ' j "Wlr'-ti - way shall we go?" sobbed i Noll letting the "big brother" decide. ; "I'think this is tlie right way, sister,' ! and the poor fellow, on the point or j tears himself, turned the weeping Nell into tlie rignt-nana roan. Thev walked wearily along, Nell s tra'- fall'ng to the sound of their foot-.-. The darkness of early winter tv-i coming down very fast, and to Fred's astonishment and terror the stars began to peep out of tlie heavens. Both cbp'rtn were becoming numb with the CO! and I ear was taKing pubMMnn t'1-.r.Tii Through Fred's mind Hew Of the tVh s of terrible wild animals that - habited the woods and hills, and he ; -oked cautiously uuuul ihh., imu ii'ctirg to see the burning eyes of a pint'oer readv to spring from the bushes which grew along the roadside. Occa sionally the wind would sigh through i,P bare branches, or stir the dead weeds and grass, causing the children svdden fear. Then they would cling the more tisrhtly to each other, and Nell's tc-ir would flow afresh. Just as Neil was again on the point of failing down with fatigue, the sound of wheel's behind them caused them to look back with hone. "Maybe it's somebody from town," eagerly sa'd Fred. "We'll ask 'em to take us in with cm, if there's room. Both children stepped outside the beat en road to let the coming vehicle pass. It came living .-.long in a cloud of dust, and. as it drew alongside the little way farers, thev heard a familiar voice ex claim: "V.'hv, there're two little chil dren bv the roadside: Stop, please" to the driver "and let's ask them where they are going, so late as this and so far from habitation." Oh. the ioy of it! There was the mother of Fred and Nell, driving with, Mrs. Smith. The carriage came to a standstill, and the instant its occupants saw who' the cliildn-n were, the driver was on the ground in an instant, and in another instant Nell was in her mother's arms, while Tied was on the scat by the driver. "My darling babies!" exclaimed 'heir mother, as soon as the little ones were pr-ated." where on earth were you going? How came you here? Why, you're fully three miles from town." "We were going to find the rainbow." explained Fred. "But we'd rather go Lack homo." "Yes. Bertha said w1 might, go, and there's' a -pot of gold at the end of the rainbow." atld-d Nell, cuddling close to her mother. "But I'm glad you came lust now, mamma, for we were awful cold and and seared, too." "Vcs, an. I I thank fortune to have found my little birdies who have stolen from their nest," said their mamma. Then. . turning to Mrs. Smith, she con tinued speaking: "How- strange that I advised our taking a drive over this un frequented road. Something seemed to lead me this way." ."It was us that called you mamma," said Fred, looking back from his.front seat; "we didn't call your name fn our mouths but we called for you in our hearts, you know, and a good fairy must have heard us and sent you to us." "Yes the good fairy was mother's love," said their mamma, in a tender voice. "She always hears the cry of her little ones." And so ended the Journey toward Fairyland, bv the rainbow route, started on so joyously and so innocently by the two little would-be explorers of un known lands that exist only in the imag ination of children. LETTER ENIGMA. My first is in sick, but not in well; Mv second is in ask. but not in tell; My third is in new, but not in old; My fourth is in tin, but not in gold; My fifth is in author, but not in book; My sixth is in carry, but not in took; My seventh is in land, but not in sea; My eighth is in oak, but not in tree; My ninth is in under, but not in on; My tenth is in sunrise, but not in My whole spells the name of a dear old man; . . Whom the children all love tell his name if you can. Answer given next week. aL DANDY, the OUTCAST. The snow was falling thick and white over everything. So heavy was it that children who were on their way home from school soon looked like snow spec ters, clad in soft, feathery down from head to foot. "I'm glad we've a good home to go to out of the storm," said Charlie Andrews to his sister Flossie, as they plowed their warmly clad feet through the great drifts that formed at the sides of fences and around street corners. "I'd. hate to have to stay out all night in such weather, wouldn't you?" "Mercy goodness, yes!" exclaimed Flossy, in answer, hugging her pretty white' fur muff to her face to keep away the cold; for, although the snow was falling in big white Hakes of feathery softness, the air was nipping, and by nightfall the temperature would be far below the freezing point. Charlie and Flqssie Andrews did not live directly in the town, their home be ing situated just outside its limits, and when the weather was severe they got a good taste of frost going to and from school, which was almost a mile distant from whore' they- lived. At'thp- suburb line the other school children dropped, away, one by one, till Flossie and Charlie wore the only two going in, their direction. Then it was that Charlie addressed the above remark to his sister. "Wouldn't you hate to be a tramp and have jto eat a "handout' and sleep in a stnbfo?" Charlie asked, continuing the sub feet. '"I wouldn't be a tramp." argued Flos- sie "1'd work and earn monev and have a homo. Nobody's got an excuse to be a tramp." ! "Well, that -all depends." replied Charlie. ".Sometimes riroumstanees al ters cases." While the children chatted and trudged along the snow-filled road leading to their cheerful home. that i stood a short distance ahead of them, j they did not know they had a com ! panion one who followed close to Charlie's, heels. They had gone quite a way before Charlie felt conscious of the j presence of a stranger, and, turning j quickly to glance behind him. lie was somew hat surprised "to see a fine New- toumtiaiiu (lor Kt-eping step with him.' "Well, hello! Wh-reVl you come from, old chap'?" he ashed, stopping short and addressing the .four-footed follower. The t'og halted, too. and wagging his tail looked kindly and inquiringly into Charlie's face. "W'y. w'nere'd that great big dog j come from?" exclaimtd Flossie, in sur- I prise. "He looks like an immense white j sheep with all that snow in his fur." ; "I never ssw hira about town, and I j guess he must he a newcomer." said ; Charlie, holding out a co!d. red hand j toward the dog. "Wish he belonged to j me. Come here, fellow," he went on. : coaxing the dog to him. "Gee, but you I are a beauty! Uook at his height. JL-Io.s; ain't he a dandy?" "Yes; but I'm afraid of him." an swered Flossie. , "He's so big ' he' could take us down in a minute if "he wanted to. Wonder Whose he is, anyway?" "Bet he's a stray." paid Charlie, feel ing about the dog's neck to ascertain if he had a collar. No, sir; he hasn't collar on. I on. He's a tramp as sure as my r's Andrews. I mean to take him nam? li"lI 1) 1 111 IWO. "Now. don't you know papa won't al low him to stay?" said Flossie, shaking j i . . . i .... , -. . . , i . ... home by a ferocious dog . once, and he lias j never had any love for the animal since. I : But I'm going to go on home. It's too j cold to stand here in this snow to make friends with a tramp dog." ; So paying Flossie turned her face J homeward, and left Charlie with his new-found companion. ... j "Well; l'-n going to risk taking you home, old feliow," Charlie said in a ' friendly voice, patting the big dog af- I fectionately. "Come right along and be my pal, for I'm sure you're worthy a good, true friend." Tlie big dog looked his approval of Charlie's suggestion, and, wagging his tail till it seemed it must become loose from the exertion and fall off, he trotted along beside the friendly boy in an ap parently happy frame of minL FlosBie had prepared her mother for the arrival of Charlie's new-found com panion, and that good lady met her boy at tlie hall door, saying: "Now. son. you must not bring that dog in the house. You know your father's dislike to dogs, and I am quite sure he would disap prove of one being kept on the place." Iin..t .ii n llftOr " Tl7 1 0 I Vl O T ' 1 T O "this is a poor outcast, and just see how i . - , -- 1 v... i it is snowing: xou wuumii i iuiii a. Hu man being away on a day like this, and this fine old fellow is just as susceptible to cold and hunger as a person is. Please give your consent for him to stay. He may sleep in the barn." "Oh, he has a home, of course," said Mrs. Andrew's. "So fine an animal as he is need not be a wanderer on the earth. If you drive him away he'll go home, the right place for him." "If he has a home -he wouldn t be out in this storm," urged Charlie. "No dog would be such a fool. See how he wants to make friends!" and Charlie called at tention to the dog's very sociable man ners He 4 was looking at Charlie with The Story of a Tramp Dog. BY M. B. DAVIS. all the tenderness oi a human being In his great, friendly eyes, and stood wag ging his tail furiously. Occasionally he turned his look on Mrs. Andrews, as If he also wished to appeal to her gener osity. "Well." said Mrs. Andrews, her sym pathetic heart won by both her boy and the dog, "I cannot promise to let the poor fellow stay, but you may take him around to the barn and let him find a warm place on the hay tibVyour papa comes home. After you've put him in the barn come to the kitchen and get something for him to eat.'" ft Very joyously Charlie t ok his new . . .' "Well, hello! Wliere'd you come from! partner of the hour to the barn, where a little later he carried a goodly supply of food and water to him. "Now, old chap," he said, as he watched the dog cat. "vou must have a name. W hat shall we call vou, anyway? O, I have it, I'll call vou Dandy, for you're such a line, dandy fellow, you are " i That evening wnen wmiws , u -I came home "Dandy's" case was laid-be-I fore him. With all his powers of per- suasion Charlie argued in favor or trie ! stray dog; but Mr. Andrews would not ; consent to keep him on the Place -No, ! son" he said, shaking his head de- riively, "I've made it a rule ever since j I "was dog-bitten to never have one I about. One can never tell when a dog i will turn vicious. This one must be a bad fellow or he'd never nav home. A good dog makes a good mas ter; a good master makes a good home. "And a bad master makes a bad horn" and a dog with spint-hlce a human 'beingents ill treatment id Charlie in defense of his caning. 1 ! f" vo,,.u only get acquainted v-ith ivindv, "the new dog. papa, you ill know that there's no viciousness n him Why. he's half as big as a colt-net. '"'It'mav all be as you ay," agreed Mr Andrews, "but I shall feel that it is n-ir to be on the safe side. No dog. no 'bites. I am sorry to deny you this plavfellow, but I must do so. Where is ' this dog IIe-Si'n the barn, where, Mamma per mitted me to put mm v V'nd ChiemSiaedrd-anI1 ? Maytat?7 "'".crtainlv," promised Mr. Andrews; "1- t him ierp in the hay tonight, give him something to eat. too; but tomor row morning you must take him to town, as you go to school, and drop hTnuethe matter was finally settled, and Charlie went to bed suffering a keen disappointment. . If such a thins as affinity can exist between human and animal, surely such a bond holds together the mutual affec tions of boy and dog. ,irl in the manger on the hay lay on D-tndv well-fed and sheltered from n ,1 tfovm Contentedly he dozed, blmk his eves at Dexter, the fine buggy fee that occupied the second stad from T him. As tho night wore . away Utno-v began to feel at home in the comSrtabhf tern and the dogfnaU,re KdS tord morning a sound as of' vo'meone trying the paolock on the I oorroused him 4hloud?v h lipn-aii barking touusj. 'lis noise awakened Mr. Andrews vo leaning from his bed, ran to a overlook! rg the barn and saw bvntbc Tlight of the" stars and the snow two men prowling about the barn. door, two men i.io lr ,mcn In an Instant he tion was iu"'"' '"'.; ' U.mtrv iiove m tnai pao ui m..w...., . ill? IlU'y " , ;jt,r .IroTtr nr hici xin- 1 Aff hn"5TI V IllL ilS ill KITwen lS STe To .fficoyir who th. n-r?N I were but he felt relieved to git metSlV. a,-he crawled took Into Crlfnefound ffiSSf'i. w?r?h tfi itmoin& as soon as Mr An drews and Charlie were out of bed and dreed they went to the barn to Investi gate the amount of damage done to the ?o Indoor lock, and to track the thieves ti roifgh the snow if possible. They found the Padlock completely broken away, ana had it not been for Dandy's inter ? ro nexter would now have been JomS Pla?e else than in his comfortable Punching his breakfast. x "That old fellow's worth while I think papa." said Charlie, patting the dog on the head. "He certainly was worth -while last nisht." admitted Mr. Andrews. But I ye no doubt he has an owner who will claim him, or to whom he will go soon, lie has doubtless strayed away from home But, look .at these tracks they lead toward the river. Let's see whether they cross or turn toward town. They set off, Dandy following, to trace Wa route taken bv the thieves the night before The tracks led directly to a clump' of bushes on the river bank There they seemed lost. "Ah, just as I iunposedV" said Mr. Andrews.. "They 2 haVe crossed on the ice. They came from the herdlands of the county weTt See-here are their tracks down on the ice of the. river! I had no idea that the water had frozen over suf ficiently to bear up a man s weight. As Y Y he spoke, Mr. Andrews- -ttepped boldly on the frozen surface of the water. "Well," he remarked, looking about him. "they seenv to have stopped here and tried the strength of their bridge; their tracks are very confusing." , Charlie, with -Dandy at his side, also ventured on the ice. As he did so the combined weight of the boy and man cracked the ice and before they could save themselves the ice gave way in one great sheet, broke up into a hundred pieces, and Charlie and Mr. Andrews round themselves struggling in the cold, deep water. Being heavily clad, booted and overcoated. they were as helpless as x -r 1 chunks of Iron, and it must have ended disastrously for them (for in all probar bility they would have been carried by the current under the ice), had not old Dandy been there and proved himself equal to the emergency. Almost the mo ment when Charlie struck the water, struggling in his heavy clothes, the brave dog, who had gone down with him, grabbed him by the coat collar and swam to the nearby shore with him. As soon as he regained his feet Charlie looked about for his father. To his terror he saw that gentleman beating the water and broken cakes of ice with his gloved hands in a helpless, frantic PERFECTION Little Miss Perfection Is never late at school Little Miss Perfection Will never be a tool. For; " She can cipher, spell and write And read long words quite well at sight, She. is her mamma's darling toy, Her papa's only, only joy! . Small Mr. Stupidity Is always late at school; Small Mr. Stupidity Will surely be a fool, a. For :r.i He can neither spell nor write. Nor read long words light off at sight; v WtWdixrA n ' '. . manner. But befor oi.TT: a command tr n ," 4X11 e coultl w.ti iaiiiers rescue, the shi . KJ to his animal bravely plUrKr.d ,"lnS- dripping; the man ir r-ii ?ca Jn and s-wam .ll . . - -il.il V t.- . . . .V...CT oraveiy plurtrr-d tripping; the man in peril, it and s-r'am to for the poor fellow to kSVPV8 t!Ut den through the floaw k heavy ux the shore, but he rev?; kea lce to ground was reached and x??Ve HP ni1 dripping and shiverl w ' A,ndres. his feet by Charlie. " listed to "Let's hurry to tv-vr,, speed," said Mr. Andrew. 9 ' yith Dandy f oi ilowin? an l?e two tlulr rapidly freersn- J?JLZ fast a allow. n Garments would Wlten thev reaches tv k turned In arid leaned into hf ln manger, but his p&sence in, th" by Mr. Andrews ani C ih .016"4 dashed into the house like two ii "ho ters. to the great anon ShmPnt T,60" Andrews and Flossie. Wh wLJ Mr donning dry, warra " cloAuV Z ,7 warmth of a eheerv fire Ch-irP exclaimed "Where's Dandy" F-J13 k? all about inM een. Flossie was Bent to the hiVi V" fetch him, IX he should be founfei0 in a minute half-frozen i V m invitation to co right in and dry himself by the .ry.uicnra, aim i IlopO We'll have thm v pleasure of yourcompany ihonritMv Come right in and bs one of the 'f am- but Fapa s life and mine. We owe yr more of a debt than w enn co- "If a good barn, tender care and ro'-l affection can repay the debt of gratt ?Vae. to ,thl-fr poor tramP- they nre his AS she wiped some cf the moisture from UiLimy 9 wim a towel. See ROW grateiui me gooa ieuow is ror my at- v ' " ' . ' w xv v .lliuijf 1 II vO i the eyes of the old dog, who wagged I 's tail and lay his head against her knoe wiLu i.uo aiircnuiidio ana trusting ir.w, ner of a child. And so it came to pass that no oi ever claimed Dandy, who became In every respect one of the Andrews fanw Ily. His comfort,, was considered in everything, and he was not only the trusted watchdog In the manger, but the companion of Charlie and Flossie on any of their excursions away from home, and always met them as they came from school in the evening, wait ing for them at the very place, where on that winter day he had by chance fallen -in.. their company. BEHEADED WORDS. . f . 1. Behead a verb to perceive by sound and you will leave the noun which re ceives the sound. 2. Behead a verb meaning Joy and you will leave a noun which signifies youth. 3. Behead a noun meaning something of a very hard substance and you leave a word meaning sound. ,. Answers given next week. . :. THE JOKING CROCODILE, j." "Why do you open your mouth hw wide?" Said the sucker-Ash to the crocodile; "To give you plenty of room inside." -The saurian, answered with a smile. - And then he lay in the steaming sand With his mouth wide open an hour oi two. And a thousand files flew in and down To the kingdom-come of Tipu-Tu. PUSH. AND STUPIDITY. He does his mother much annoy; Is never called his papa's joy. Little Miss Perfection " T npvpr snanlcpd. VOU KllOW. ' v Little Miss Perfection p'T. Does as she's told to do; . While ' Small Mr. Stupidity Is spanked from noon till nlgntf Small Mr. Stupidity ' '- Does everything for spite. ' , 4' Now, here's a warning to you all. If you'd be good-why, be a girl. ; For you can't help but to annoj The whole bi" world if ' vmi re a hoyT ine wnoie di0 vjhu WALKEH she returned with Matnal Admlratloar