The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-11-02
DID IT REALLY HAPPEN {!

Mary Jane, don't do that -
Just move little out of the way,
will you, Mary Jane Pr
=" My dear Mary Jane, if you don't
stop | shall be obliged to punish YOU p
1t was a rainy, dismal morning, and
poor Mary Jane could find nothing to
do but torment people, and get scolded
in return. Finally she stood at the
window watching the flies as they
buzzed up and down the pane, and
feeling that life was a hollow sham.
The flies, however, seemed to enjoy it,
and she was just wondering whether
perpetuai buzzing on a pane of glass
might not grow little monotOnous
when familiar voice broke in upon
her meditations.
Mary Jane, will you please not
make finger marks on the windows;
the rain makes them look badly enough
without that
This was the final straw, and the
camePs back broke. She burst into a
flood of tears:
81 wish was fly" she said, land
then should have some peace" and
she tlounced into her own room and
slammed the door. But she had no
sooner done this than she heard an
other voice in her ear /; voice she did
not know at all.
"Oho !" it said, "here's little girl
wants to be fly. Who ever heard of
such a thing. Let her try it ; let her
try it - and the first thing that Mary
Jane knew she began to shrink so fast
she was almost frightened to death.
Smaller and smaller she became, and
blacker and blacker; new legs sprang
out in all directions; her arms formed
themselves into gauzy wings, her nose
elongated itself into a sort of trunk,
and before one could count ten Mary
Jane was standing upside down on the
ceiling, in the form of a large blue-bot-
tie fly. o what queer feeling it was
She futtered, she felt of herself all
over, and finally she tried to call her
mother but instead of words there
came only great humming noise
which was anything but pleasant. The
other flies who were promenading upon
the ceiling walked up to her.
Hallo!' said they, "who is this?'
Mary Jane understood what they
meant, although they only buzzed.
Pm Mary Jane, if you please"
she tried to answer politely.
"Oho, what's that? Ma-a-ry Jane,
buzz, hum, Ma-a-ry Jane. Let's let her
alone and they all walked off, for
flies have neither brains nor manners,
which is very unfortunate people
can get along pretty well with either
one of these characteristics without the
other; but to possess neither is to be in
a sad plight.
80, dearn' thought Mary Jane,
o" how horrid they all are. | wonder
where am" You see, being a fly,
she didn't know whether she was up
side down or not, so she couldn't tell
whether she was on the ceiling or the
floor. Besides, she was rapidly forget
ting that there was such things as cell
ings and floors, and as she flew about
the once familiar room she might have
been on a desert island for all she
could recognize to the contrary. She
could distinguish huge and curiously
shaped objects, but when she alighted
on them she could only see a little way,
and they looked like great houses or
buildings. She saw something like a
large white sea and flew toward it, but
she found it was hard to walk on, as it
was full of rough places and little hills.
Really, it was the Counterpart, but she
had almost forgotten that there ever
existed such a thing as bed. She es-
pied light spot in part of the room
and felt irresistibly attracted toward
it, the sun had come out and was send
ing warm and comfortable rays into
the room. Mary Jane flew straight to-
ward the light till suddenly she was
stopped by thump from something
she didn't know what. When | Say
that it seemed to be surrounded by four
white fences you will guess that it was
the window pane. 1t felt rather warm,
and she travelled all over it, making a
tremendous buzzing, till gradually she
began to think.
Where had she heard of people walk
ing and talking on-what? o! win
dows! And it wasn't people but flies.
o, dear! She was a fly buzzing on a
window pane, and the worst of it all
was that she had liked it. All the trials
of her life dwindled into nothing now
in comparison with being a fly and
knowing it and wanting to be changed
into little girl again. What could
she doP She was motionless, thinking
disconsolately, when she was pushed
suddenly into corner by a horrid
black object, and yawning mouth be-
gan to snap, and great red tongue
licked her literally almost into the jaws
of death. 1t was Pinky, her favorite
little terrier, who was thus bent upon
her destruction; but, with a tremen-
dous struggle and hutter, she freed her.
self in rather battered condition, and,
flying distractedly about the room,
finally went out of the door leading in
to the entry which she had not shut.
But here fresh dangers. assailed her.
Alighting exhausted on the wall, she
was just daring to draw long breath
when she felt something entangling
her hind legs, and on looking round
saw-oh, horror!-that she had drop