The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1871-02-10
BURLY BONES.
G. P. CRANCH.

c. P. CRANoH.
Burly Bones was the name of a big
young fairy who had idle habits, and
who got into difficulty, because he
wouldn't occupy himself usefully like
the other fairies. 1 am going to tell
you some of his adventures.
One day, while he was wandering
through a neighboring wood, he found
under O tree q bottle which had been
left behind by some picnic party, which
had been feasting there a few days be-
fore. The bottle had held punch, but
was now empty, except a few drops at
the bottom. 1t lay half hidden in the
grass, and Burly Bones, looking in to
see what was there, for the first time
in his life perceived the odor of punch.
Foolish fairy 1t was a luckless day
for him. No fly was ever more faci-
mated with a lump of sugar than the
elf was with this punch-bottle.
So he did not pause to reflect,
but crawled in, and drank and
drank. 1t was but a drop, but il
was q drop too much for a fairy. The
result was that Burly Bones soon reel
ed away, addressing very foolish speech
es to the flowers, and trampling them
down, or knocking off their heads, be-
cause they did not not reply to him.
He tried to fly, but his wings seemed
glued to his back. He could hardly
raise one foot after another to walk. In
this state, he stumbled along, talking
to himself; and trying now and then
to sing; and not having the least idea
where he was going, he stuck fast in a
marsh.
Becoming alarmed, he roared fo1
help in vain. Presently some frogs
came to see what was the matter, but
finding him in a tipsy candition, they
didn't treat him with much respect, but
Jumped over him, and splashed him
with muddy water, and made mouths
at him, and awful cultural noises.
Thenthe mosquitoes fiocked around and
stung him, and the great dragon-iies
darted by him in a threatening way.
Fiercelooking birds, with long bills
and legs, seemed ready to devour him,
and sometimes a gigantic COW came
crashing through the flags, and several
times he thought he should be trodden
to death.
After suffering horribly from his
fears, he at length succeeded In draw
ing out one leg and then another; and
a little sobered by the cold marsh wa
ter, he made out to get almost home
but in what q condition He was COW
cred with clay and mud, which rem
dered his wings quite useless. He tried
to avoid being e by the other fairies,
and was making his way toward a little
brook that ran through the wood, in
order to quench his thirst (for the
punch had made him very thirsty, as
well as to wash off the mud which
disfigured him. But he had the i'll
luck to meet a party of merry elves
near the brook, who, as soon as they
saw him, greeted him with a greatshout
of laughter. Burly Bones tried to re-
treat, but the fairies surrounded him,
and determined to have some fun out
of him. Among them was a pretty lit
tie maiden fairy, a little wild coquette
of a thing, whom Burly Bones had
made love to without success. Her
name was Whirligig. She was a great
dancer and waltzer, and was eagerly
sought as a partner by all the young
gentlemen fairies in their moonlight
dances and revels. Now, Burly Bones
was a clumsy, big, awkard elf, and his
attempts at dancing were quite ridicu-
lous. He usually tumbled down, or
got tripped up, and skulked home very
much mortified, and sorely Jealous of
all the gay and graceful cavaliers who
@A&-a1 AZ la.1 4f Me- UTHs~1.--
In the dance.
So, though Miss Whirhgig did not
smile upon him, she could afford some
times to laugh at him. And this was
now the case on the present. occa-
sion. She encouraged the fairies to
tease him. Whereupon, some of them
ran under his legs and tripped him up.
Some splashed him with water. Some
pricked him with thistle thorns.
Some pulled his hair. Some pelted
him with acorns. Burley Bones grew
desperate, and plunged and k cked and
threshed about like a mailman, declar-
ing that he would be revenged. At
last, one of them plucked a large ripe
raspberry, and coming behind him,
clapped it over his head, completely
covering it, and looking like a red full
bottom wig He tried in vain to pull
it of. Then the wasps and flies at
tracted by the raspberry, flew upon
him and almost knocked him over. In
his desperation, he ran, but, blinded
and half-smothered, he stumbled over
a stone, and lay onthe ground exhaust
ed-the raspberry being halfbroken by
the fall. The elves then few away and
left him.
There Burly Bones lay till the shades
of evening fell upon the woods, when
it CHANGED that there came along a So
Der, benevolent old fairy named Hol-
lyhock, who sometimes went by the
name of Deacon Hollyhock. He was
very busy gathering flower seeds in the
woods. Seeing a brother elf lying mo-
tionless, and his face and head smeared
with what seemed to be blood, though
it was only raspberry juice, he took
him up softly, and few away with him
to q beautiful large garden (of
which he was the GUARDIAN
where, having consulted old Mrs.
Pansy, his little wife, they washed
the stains off his face, and put him to
bed in q splendid mess-rose, where they
left him. Here he slept soundly. But
earlyin the morning, a great grumbling
bumble-bee came to make a call upon
the flowers, and tumbled into the fra
grant bed Of roseleaves right alongside
of him. This sudden unceremonious
visit, accompanied with the tremendous
buzzing of the bee, frightened Burly
Bones so (for he was hardly awake, and
was just beginning to wonder where he
was) that he scrambled out of bed, and
fell into the grass. He fell upon the
back of q stout grasshopper, who, not
knowing it "a afairy, gave him a great
kick in the ribs with his strong bony
legs, as he jumped away out of sight.
Rolling over on the grass, he encoun-
tered a toad, who was looking out for a
cool place tospend the day in Burly
Bones was somewhat alarmed, and
crept under astrawberry-vine. But the
toad, or rather the fairy, for it was a
fairy in disguise, hoped off to tell the
guardian Of the garden that there was
q stranger elf. whose looks he did not