The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-12-26

whereof they grind their -four, and which Fan
ta-si-a's people, when they are hard bestead,
sometimes gather during the Indian summer,
because it is light work and may be turned into
a picnic whenever they like.
well, children, now you know as much about
these two tribes of native fairies as can tell
you. You have had the matter offact or body
OF my story, and now you ahal have the wings,
by which mean the fanclfu or truer part there
of. I think 1t will be as useful to you as the
bugs and things they try to make you learn
about now adays, because every one of US has
two pair of eyes, one withinside and the other
without. This you do not know anything about
as yet, but if you ask me to tell story, must
tell il in my own way. When / was of your age
no boy thought he had real good election day
unless his money would buy him two severe
stomach aches one for the forenoon, and the
other to carry home at night. just in that way
have divided my story giving you, first, the
facts. which you may get rid of as soon as you
please, for they are only the shell, and the next
the unreal kernel. which you may take to bed
with you Ii you find that you don't forget 1t too
soon"
20. Uncle Cobus do please tell us the story,
for don't think this part is pretty Bit" sighed
Lightioot pushing the yellow hair back from her
eyes. where she had not minded it till now
''N'r nother!" erowled Coppertoes. sturdily.
"'Taint any more like real story than the sur
face OF the country in the Biography at school is
like the fields in the way home"
you should say 'neether' and tisn't my
boy said. trying to put him down.
That amt nothin' to do with the story re-
torted he, in triumph getting deeper into his
nursery dialect than ever.
saw it was Of no use to parley. 80 went on.
'Of course, one or other of these two head
fairies must be by whenever a baby is born.
And this keeps them pretty busy, can tell you,
for the population of this country increases az
ratio of-what's the ratio. CoppertoesP
Dunno. and don't care snorted this young
lnfidel to the GOSPEL Of Buckle
30. Uncle threatened Lightfoot 81 believe
your doing this on purpose, as to get time to
make up story. Now, don't like the made-up
ones; l want real one, and, if you do SO any
more. won't kiss you when go to bed-see if
do"
"Well, there must be great many born, or
there wouldn't be SO many parsley beds, lshould
think" said !, gravely.
Now. you must know that it makes all the
odds in this woods which of the two fairies gets
TO the baby first if it is man-ch;ld For,
though both of them have very good wills in the
matter, and mean to do the little fellow good,
Yet it is found that where El-bo gres brings mis-
gifts soonest the child is apt to grow up into
man more willing to work, and therefore. on the
whole, better fitted to live happ in that ant-hill
OF ours. After that is made of, what Fan
ta-si-a gives does him more good than harms but
II she came earliest, the child would turn out to
have too much girl in him. and would not find
his right place easily in this rough and -tum-
BILE life. For the two fairies are very much I'M
like each other in what they bestow. Ell bo-gres
to rub the little pink palms of the babys
hands with the Juice of q weed called good-speed-
wort i cannot find the name in any book, but
the birth fairies know very we'll where to get it
when they want it. The good of this juice is
that it makes the hands handy. so that they
turn readily to any kind of work; for you know
that there are two kinds of hands-those that
are good at anything, and those that are good
for some things"
UNDERGRADUATES broke in Coppertoes,
all in ore word Of that nimble lingo of his.
Il would rather have the first kind, unless /
had pair of the second that were the very best
in their way like Mr.. Rowse'e, who drew your
little. scrubby noodle, and made YOU look as
your guardian angel would like TO you, and
as your mother sees you all the time, in spite of
everything can saw" Coppertoes wagglcd his
ciose-cropt head at me go like little ram that l
took M my story again at once
$50 when there was a boy baby brought into
certain house in a certain village not far from
here the mother could not help hoping that Ell
bo-eres would get there before Fan ta-s-a did.
But it CHANGED that he had been very busy all
that day, because, for some reason or other,
great many babies had chosen it to be born on,
and so Fantasia slipped into this house before
him. She came In very softly, indeed. and,
gliding up to where the little newcomer lay,
making very queer faces at the world he had
come into, she put the end of thin reed
into his little roseleaf of an ear and blew
bubble inside his head, Just behind his eyes.
Before long in comes Ell DO gres in great hustle,
but he saw at once, by the strange way in which
the baby smiling, that Fantasia had been
there before him. However he rubbed his won
derful juice if nothing had happened,
though he feared it would do no great good"
What was that baby's nameP demanded Cop.
peroes sharply.
"He was christened John, but his name was
first Bobo. then Bosom. and then Jacko, and
then Jack, and at last, when he grew up John
again Now, this bubble that had been blown
-. - G1c1 4 Al. - 49,
he looked at seem to have rim of rainbow
round it, which, YOU know, 1t never really has,
and it gave him the power of dreaming when he
wide awake. SO that it was almost good
as a wishing-cap, for he could be, and do and
have whatever he liked SO long MS the dream
lasted"
Really and truly, unclel" said Lichtfoot. with
plaintve doubt
mo, my dear child, not really and truly IN
one sense, but really and truly in another which,
far as this world is concerned, comes TO very
much the same thing But you will understand
better one of these days
$50 when Jacky said to himself, Lets play;
In king or captain, or what not he would
not have given fig to be what he fancied. for
any odds that he could between the real
thing and his dream of it. Now on this earth. and
especially in our part OF 1t, everybody must be
good for something that 49, he must be willing
and able to do as we'll as to sit and think how
nice it would be to have it done. Perhaps Jacky
might have made pretty good poetn
What like Mr. Longfellow uncle9" asked
Lghtfoot, awefully.
mo. my child, not quite like him; for think
that Elbogres must have got to him before
Fan ia STA, he had so much work in him, and
his hands are always so ready to do good.
mot that there was any harm in Jacky; but
he could see we'll what might be done that he
never cared much to do anything in particular;
and then, if he did anything, 1t always had such
a rainbow about it that 1t looked finer to him
than to other people. And, indeed, it seemed
of no great consequence at first whether he did
anything or not, for Jacky's father was rich,
and, of course, he would never need to do any
thing you know. But people have trick in
America Of being poor one day and rich the
next, or the other way. just as it happens and
it fell to the lot of Jackys father to be one of
the second sort When this took place, how
ever. 1acky had grown up to be young man,
and was called John But, long before this,
JackY's mother had begun to think sorrowfully
about him; and, at last, when his father began
fO how nd IN 1akA n~A