The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1882-01-19
! THE BABYS ESCAPADE.


Once upon time call on sum
mer's day''-a small white bundle nigh
have been seen half lying on q grassy
bank. in a certain garden in the north
ern part of Germany. We all know thai
/ appearances is deceitful;' but thi.
small white, bundle certainly looked
nothing more NOR less than baby's pill
low a good deal trimmed with lace anC
embDidery, on which was tied with two
or three straps of scarlet ribbon, Ger
man fashion, something that looked very
like baby. 1t looked very like baby
and it cried very like baby. suppose
| you would have called it a baby.
| 1t was a pretty little thing, whatever
ycu would have called it. The small
| pink face shown forth from daintily
embroidered cap. 1t had two great eyes
;is blue as pimpernels, pair of the
sweetest dimples in the world, and g
! perfect little rosebud of mouth, that
could open into q full-blown rose at the
shortest notice, as you will see before
this story is done.
1t was all alone in the garden. 1 dc
not know whether the baby knew she
| was all alone in the garden or not, but
she seemed very happy and contented.
| She sat perfectly still, much engaged,
apparently, in watching some long will
low-branches that went swaying back
and forth i'm the lazy breeze.
r"O1,U! Cart CdW!" screamed a
hoarse black crow overhead. There was
| n .swhir-r.r'' in the air, and down
| swooped the crow, lighting-now where
do you think? Right on top of that baby.
| i shall always maintain that she be-
haved very well under the circumstances
She did not so much as open her lips
till the bold creature began pecking at
! the scarlet ribbons. You can hardly
blame her for giving such scream then
that the unweIcome visitor flew off in a
hurry.
A stork that happened to be passing
heard the, commOtiOn, and felt obliged
to stop and see whatwas the matter. So
she flew down to the garden, and it was
not long before she too spied the little
white bundle sitting there under the
trees. .H SIZE .f
The baby had stopped crying by this
time, and, all being quiet, Mrs. StOrk
stepped cautiously forward, every min
ute stepping nearer and nearer, till at
last she could look straight down into
the pair of blue eyes.
Gravely the stork surveyed the baby,
and gravely the baby surveyed the stork.
Neither seemed to know quite what to
make of the situation, although soon it
began to dawn upon Madame Longlegs
that maybe she had the best of it, and
giving her head toss, her wings gen.
tie flap, and opening wide her bill, she
said softly to herself:
..Hurray! this is lucky day for you,
Mother Storkr'
Casting another glance at the baby.
who still did not offer to resent all this
familiarity on the part of a stranger,
Mrs. Stork, like Master Crow, next con-
cluded to try a taste of those gay red
ribbons.
The pimpernels shut up in twink
ling. The rosebud kept opening wider
and wider. And alas! the harder the
baby cried this time, the more delighted
the visitor seemed to grow.
'.Ahem; it's real baby and no mis-
take." whispered the stork. dancing on
one leg III high glee and making noise
enough with her wings to have been a
dozen of her sisters and brothers; '.hur-
ray! hurray!'
The sound of voices could now be
heard i'm the distance. If the children
only needn't have dawdlcd for once! If
the butterflies hadn't led them such a
chase through the 1lower-beds! H-if-
if But then there would have been
no story to tell.
And rs usual the children did dawdle.
They ran from one rOsebush to another
in pursuit of a yellow butterfly; they
held buttercups under their chins to see
whether they liked butter or not; they
stopped for y peep at their silly little
faces in the clear waters of the foun-
tain, and meanwhile Mrs. Stork had
been making up her mind to great
things. She had snatched up the little
white bundle, and serenely sailed off
through the bright summer sky.
'.My baby! my baby! why, that ,cick-
cd, soickcd creatures got my baby!"
was the agonized cry that rose from
the garden.
If Mother Stork heard, she did not
heed. On she flew with her burden,
never resting once till she came to her
own home-nest on top of a high barn
in n village ever SO many miles away.
As for the three young storks, they
were very much fiuttered indeed at the
sight of such an unexpected guest.
The first thing they did was to hop out
of the nest as fast as they could and
having arranged themselves gracefully
on one leg in semi-circle, they gaZed
solemnly down at their mammals big
prize, while that delighted lady, wish
ing TO show off all its beauties and ac-
complishments, began pecking again at
the scarlet ribbons.
For the third time that day the baby
cried. She cried with such II will that
the village-seXton forget to play his
usual hymn-a thing he had not done
in the course of sixty years.
fhaf fhnxr
all very good pious people who lived
church had been built, as regularly rs
two O'Clock came round, come rain,
come shine, the sexton had climbed the
tower-stairs, and there on the little
balustrade had played Il hymn in Gods
praise. And on this particular after
noon the sexton was just in the act oi
raising the old brass trumpet to his
lips when for the third time that day
the baby cried.
The sexton was old and he was rath-
| er deaf, but he heard her; he was old,
| and he was rather blind. but he saw
her-the little white bundle, crying
| away among the storks. His precious
trumpet dropped from his fingers. He
seized the rope of the alarm bell behind
him, and pulled with all his might.
The baby told the sexton.
And the sexton tolled the bell.
Well, the people came running out OF
their houses in terror. The cry of fire
was spreading up and down the quiet
| street. Men hurried out of the barns
with ladders and pals of water. Some
of the women appeared armed with
brooms, though what they were going
to do with them I'm sure don't know.
Not seeing any fire, they looked bewild.
cred.
..Where's the fire, sextonp" they
shouted wildly.
ats worse than fire." was the an.
swer from the top of the tower "The
storks have got child in the nest over
yonder. Quick. quick, or they'll bt
OFF with it againt''
: Ladders were AassaI heaaa >oes,As'