The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-08-04
How Walter Entertained the
Bows.

Boys. mu
A hearty laugh burst from the group
of boys clustered around the lamp post
at the corner, The smallest of them, Alf
Lester, exclaimed little contemptuously,
1.-The idea of fellow thirteen years old
not knowing how to make SNOWFALL
Why, I'm only ten, and l can make
splendid ones, hard as anythingl"
II should think you'd have got used to
the cold by this time, Walter" added
Alfs brother Will
Walter Perry shivered, wrapped up as
he was in overcoat, comforter overshoes,
mittens, and sealskin cap with ear-lap-
pets, as he replied good-naturedly, They
say an eel can get use to SHINING, but l
don believe l II ever get used to snow and
ice! If hadn't promised Aunt Della
that would stay out doors one whole
hour to-day you wouldn't catch me here
Ugh"
II believe you haven't got much cour-
agel You are afraid of the cold /" sneered
Joe Brainard.
Maybe ami I am not afraid of a
gun that is not loaded, as you were yes
terday. know how to handle a gun,
too, if [ didn't know how to make a snow
ball"
The day before this exchange of ban
ter these same boys and one or two others
were in Mr.. Testers house examining a
new gun, but Brainard could not be per-
suaded to touch even the stock, while
Harry Greenough was senseless enough
to hold it with the muzzle towards him.
A." l am accustomed to guns" said Will
Lester, rather pompously; =" my father is
great sportsman
$50 is mine, said Walter; "he and
brother Arthur and I often went shoot
ing
said yesterday he thought you must be a
sportsman. What did you shoot?"
40, parrots and
Parrots" exclaimed three or four.
How could you kill them?"
Easy enough-horrid nuisancesI"
why Walter Perry Parrots nui-
sances? They cost lots of money Ny
cousin Mary has one she wouldn't sell
for hundred dollars" cried Alf Lester
"You must remember that with us
In the West Indies, l mean, where my
father hves-gray parrots are as common
fields. Your cousin ought just to hear a
flock Of them screaming over the house
tops at daylight in the morning on their
way to the cofee-felds. o, don't they
make noiseI'
Something like our crows?'
"Qnly more so. ALI, does your cousin S
parrot ever scream?'
Eyes, indeed Sometimes she has to
keep Polly covered up for two or three
hours to quiet her."
"Then Just fancy twenty or thirty all
yelling at once up in the air, where you
can't cover them Then think of the
mischief they do to the coffee"
"That's SO; they always love coffee -
docs coffee grow like corn, Walter?'
asked Harry.
ooh no; it is bush with a pretty
blossom"
What color?
White and pale lavender"
Oranges grow there, don't they?" ALI
inquired
"Yes; oranges, lemons, bananas, qua
vas
"Guava jelly ?" suggested ALI.
The fruit Of which the Jelly is made. y
Does 1T grow on tree or on a vineY
asked Will
"On shrub it has pretty flower
white and pale yellow"
Bananas grow on trees, I know fol
l saw some growing in the Botanical
Gardens in Washington, when papa took
me there last year, said Joe Brainard
There was only one bunch on that tree
though.
That's the way they grow with us
A young tree comes up and flowers out
bears only once, and then dies; but from
the same root there will be young shoots
coming up all the time, so that mar
who owns banana walk always has fruit
at hand"
A banana walk-what's that?"
" Well, one root, which sending up Sc
many shoots makes sort of grove where
it is always cool and damp-and un
healthy"