Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1886-05-27


entered his own lungs made him cough
dreadfully.
Surer than all other evidence, however,
were the people he saw inside the mon
ster, for they were real people, and al
though none of them were crying, none
looked at all happy. The noise made by
the monster was simply terrific, and
Chippie did not dare to move until it
stopped; then hepeered carefully around,
and finally arose, but no dragon could
be seen or heard. What did it mean?
What should he have done2 If he had
| not been so scared he might have slain
the dragon, if he had been able to throw
a red scarf in its face, and if he had
owned scarf.
II wonder if my cap wouldn't have
done as well as scarf?' said Chippie.
It's made Of red flannel, and / don't
believe the dragon would have known
it from scarf. I wish I'd thought of
that
Then Chippie lay down again, and
spent some time in wishing, as great
many millions of grown people had done
before him, that he might be able to
think little quicker A few minutes
thus spent taught him that the ground
was more cold than comfortable, SO he
arose and started for home to tell his
father and mother all he had seen. Just
then, however, he again heard a noise
in the direction Of the hole in the cliff; /;
after that he heard shrek, and turning
his head, he saw again the great bright,
blazing eye.
'I'lI bet an ear of popcorn that I'll
catch that dragon this timel' exclaimed
c lippie. He runs pretty fast, but I
can head him off,"
So saying, Chippie ran as fast as he
could in the direction the dragon had
taken. His steps were suddenly stopped
by cut in the side of the hill, but by
that time the dragons head was SO far out
of the hole that it could see anything
near by, SO Chippie snatched his red cap
from his head and shook it at the mon
ster, ready to throw it as soon as he
could be sure of his aim. And all the
while he roared, as only seven-year-old
boy can: s'Be thou Destroyed"
In an instant the dragon gave two
short screams, but they were long enough
to reach from Chippie's ears all the way
to his toes. It did not seem at first as if
the monster would be killed by make
believe scarf that was only red cap,
but it seemed to slow its motion, and
just as Chippie was about to throw the
cap the dragon wheezed and groaned
and ratified, and then became as still as
death.
Instantly a number of people appeared
from the inside of the dragon. In the
fairy story these people all knelt at the
feet of the brave youth who had rescued
them from horrible fate, and they gave
him gold and jewels, and begged him to
marry the kings daughter. Chippie had
nc. desire to marry princess or any one
else, but he was just thinking how nice
it would be to carry his mother some
gold with which to buy all the things he
had heard her say she would need at the
new house, when he noticed that none of
the people who were approaching had
seemed to think Of kneeling down. Then
sharp-eyed man in a striped shirt and
dirty hands, said: "WelI, youngster,
what's the matter2"
Nothing" said Chippie, modestly,
except that I've slain the dragon"
ooh, drop yonr ancient history!" said
the sharp-eyed man. rs anything the
matter with the track around the curvel"
Track" said Chippie. He did not
know what else to say for moment, and
suddenly the sharp-eyed man took him
by the throat. Then Chippie shouted:
'sOh, please don'tl Twas I that
killed the dragon and saved your
lives"
ssDragon2-saved lives?" exclaimed
the sharp-eyed man. 81 didn't know
there was Iunatic asylum in this neigh
borhood Why, you little idiot, do you
know what you've done9 You've stopped
the Lightning Express, and she was
thirty-five minutes behind time already"
Chippie wasn't any wiser then than
before, but some one shouted: "All
aboard r upon which the people, includ-
ing the sharp-eyed man, hurried back,
and the monster started again, and in a
single minute Chippie found himself en-
tirely alone. As he could not understand
it at all, he hurried home and told the
story to his father and mother, and they
listened very kindly, and when Chippie
had finished, his father said:
ssMy dear little boy, that wasn't
dragon; it was railroad train coming
out of tunnel"
"Oh!n said Chippie.
All this happened 50 long ago that
Chippie now has some gray hairs. But
to this day he cannot look locomotive
in the face without blushing. Harper's
Young People.
A Correction.
Henry Farnham, who was for years