The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1871-02-25

Tie Vi pllC W ClueHCu VI uScsy duu
l heard him groan, 81 am dead, am dead"
And poor little Daily was under the hamper,
white, stiff and motcnless.
"Come here, Can't you?" l cried out to her
brother. Then lifted her up and B. b. cried.
80 dear, dear! What do? What shall 1
do?"
Feel her pulse, or her heare, or some
thing"
So he began pulling poor Daffy Dill about
and feeling for her heart, and just then we
heard voice say,
90 stoouldsw That was Kit, to be sure.
She was all right. 20, stoopids, feeling for
the heart on the right side! The right sides
the wrong side! Don't you know? HereP'
and Kitty sent b. B. off to the beach with
cocoanut she'll and back he came with water
and flung 1t in Deedys face, and then got an
orange AMI squeezed the juice into her eyes
and That cured her. She wasn't dead at all
only dead faint.
Wen, what do you suppose it was? Kit
saw. She wasn't hurt 1t was one OF those
strange Longo animals, Kitoln said.
You know those little black ants at
hone?"
Yes"
"Such as build little piles of sand houses
out on the front walk ?"
Yes, indeed" put in; "and we used to
have such jolly fun going out mornings, and
stepping on the houses they had built up IN
me night. My! how the little black things
did scamper about!"
noW 1t must have hurt them" sighed
Dany, whose foot had been sprained in our
accident.
SWELL" said Kitolin, "what do you think
stepped on us? IL was great big giant amp
why, Kit how do YOU know it WASP"
II know like Chicken Little. Because l
heard it with my ears and saw it with my
eyes,"
"Saw what?"
1t was b. b. who asked this. And be was
so astonished that for once his eyes and
mouth were both open at the same time,
which was as great a wonder as any. Then
Kitty went on to tell how she saw this great
black creature, with ever so many long, hor-
rid legs, zach as big as log, walking off across
the island, stepping over from one hilltop TO
another, above the valley, and, finally, going
ont of sight in an ant hill as large as Mount
Washington.
no You suppose he thought it was fun ?"
1t was Daily Dill who asked this, with her
head on my shoulder and her eyes shut up.
Thought what was fun, learie?" said Kit.
why, stepping on US, and seeing us scam
per. and spraining my loot and ALL"
"Contound him. l dare say be did," cried
y. b.. He was SO much in earnest that be
dropped ginger cracker, and didn't SO much
as miss 1t. but know one thing. know
how good it is to have a Zig giant come and
set his great loot right on YOUR house, ana
tell you never will do it again."
We all agreed with Blue Boy. Then we
had talk how we could get away out of this
creatures, and we we're AFRAID of the water
and we could only walt for the princess TO
come back. But you may believe we were a
good deal frightened We found out, pretty
soon, that the whole island was given up to
animals, big and little. You've no notion
how much we suffered from them.
II there were big ants, there were little
horses, no larger than cats; but so sagacious,
and, IT you eau believe it, and, ii you can't,
those same small horses rode in cushioned
carriages and made us draw them in harness.
That OF itself wouldn't have been SO bad
Blu: they didn't let us have enough to eat. and
when roads and loads were hard, and we fell
down, they got out and beat US, and kicked
US almost to death. You may be sure Kit and
! agreed it ever we got home, we'd treat our
old pony better. -
1hen there was great bird, yellow and
green. like parrot, with head as high as
church steeple, who one day grappled B. B.
in bis hooked claws, and clapped him into 4
wicker cage, and made him 70 without his
dinI er-Poor Blue Boy-unless he would
learn to say, "Itgh ga wa ka ia ky nee," or
something that sounded like that. and ii the
poor fellow didn't say it right he made him go
without his supper, and boxed his ears so that
they smarted. o, you can't think! And
when We got him out-for Daily Dill enawed
The wicker work with her teeth-we didn't
know him, him his eyes stuck out so and bis
cheeks didn't show bit. You know B. B.
had parrot at home.
l can't tell you all. But the worst was the
CATS. Now 40 vuop ,oA
house. And l do remember that B. B. and I
did drag kitten up hill and down dale, once.
at the back OF our pony carriage, with a
string round her neck, till she died And we
did tie two cats together and sling them over
a fence TAIL, to scratch each others eyes out,
But Tor once, never knew how it hurt, until
"ne day whole drove OF cats, as big as IL
gers, came racing down the mountain upon
us.
., how green their eyes were, and what red
tongues they had, and how they dashed their
tails about.
"Ha, here's fun!" said the biggest cat, and
be seized B. B. and began to tie Linn to his
own hind leg, to race over the rocks with
him.
"And here'Il be play for u.s." Kissed an old
yellow-eyed tabby rod long, And be seized
Kit and Daily Dill. o, how they cried, and
the Old tabby was so happy that her purr
sounded like ten coffee mills running at once
and she tied them together by their sashes,
and flung them across the Nautilus, and lett
them to drown and she sat by on the shore
and kept that awful coffee-mill prrr, and Ian.
ped her chops with her horrid tongue.
perhaps. you'll remember the cats YOU
drowned in Chickle's creek" she said. How
did she know. wonder?
But the worst came to me when growing,
bowling old fellow, v itn whiskers like the
q m wbQoI
hung me up by the heels. "See if you'll hang
up any more of my little cat cousins, and
leave 'em to stranee!' the whiskered fiend
cried. "Therew
All me. Hung up by the heels. was Just
saying good bye TO the world, bottom upward,
when heard a rush and a voice of wrath
"Thank tortune," said. mo worse thing
can come to us wretches." l Gid not dream
of better. But, in an instant some one
cried out, cha! an what is this? Fire,
food and furyp'
., Rose of-the-World! o princess of Lon.
go! Q, woman and sister! Weren't eight
eyes glad to see youl black face that moment!
u Well, we come home.
The dark blrd drew us across the water like
lightning and shooting stars again, and again
we Cast our fish hook in Chickle's creek
Would you believe? 1t was only O'Clock:
ana when We got bone my mother said:
have finished my story. But B. B. says
the girls wait to put poster on me. Tom
says woman always ha, the richest thought
in the postscript. So, if you, Mr.. Editor, will
print that, too, you will oblige your friend,
Turvey top.
Poslscrlpt.-We, the undersigned, wish to
explain that, on the day we went to Chckle's
creek to the picnic, our friend Turvey did
drink glass OF currant wine, and did GO to
be talked queer. and asked Rosamond if she
was going to be woman or bird"
We thought this was strange. But he was
all right pretty soon, and now he's the same
as ever, only one thing. He won't let us tor
ment the dog, or kick the cat, and if any one
beats the pony. be is, o, so angry. It's as
though he would kill them for an instant, He
says animals can feel as well as we. Perhaps
they can. Wasn't it droll about Turyey's
dream, though?
Very truly yours, DAFFY DILL,
KIToLINE,