The Wichita daily eagle., 1891-10-17

| Win ngnt and gliding the short hair and
puny neck of the child.
The rose knew nothing of all this. II
was expanding every hour. The next day
| 1t would be fully open, but the day after it
would begin to fade and lose its petals.
That Is the whole life of a rose. But in
that brief existence it was TO experience
many fears and troubles.
The toad had perceived it. When his
ugly eyes first rested on the flower his
heart was touched with a strange feeling.
He could not keep his face turned from
those delicate petals. The rose pleased
him. He felt an irresistible desire to be
rs near as possible to an object so beanti-
full and fragrant But to express his ten
der sentiments he found only these words:
"Waiti will eat you up"
| The rose trembled- Why was she fas
tened to the stemi
| The little birds were free and twittered
around her, hopping from branch to
branch, and at times flying far away.
The butterflies, too, were free. How she
envied theml Oh, that she had wings like
| them to escape from those mischievous
| eyesl She had not learned that the toad
sometimes lay in wait even for butterflies
II will eat you up" repeated the reptile
| in tone which he tried to render sweet
but which sounded only the harsher. He
undertook to climb and get near the rose.
u will eat you up" he kept saying, as he
| gazed increasingly at the flower. The rose
| saw with horror the clammy, repugnant
DAVIS catching on to the twigs below her,
but the toad had great trouble in climb
ing His fat body was made for crawling
and leaping on a smooth surface. After
each fruitless effort he looked up eagerly
at the branch where the flower was sway
ing and exerted himself anew.
The rose believed it's destruction near
and prayed, "Oh, that | might die some
other deathp
The toad climbed higher and higher, but
at the spot where the old wood ended and
the young branches commenced, he met
new difficulties The smooth green bark
was armed with sharp thorns. He pricked
his paws and body. and rolled down COW
cred with blood. He now stared at the
flower with venom in his heart.
Il tell you" he squeaked, that / will
yet eat you up"
Night was coming on, and It was needful
to hunt for his supper. Dragging himself
along he watched for imprudent insects
self as much as usual His scratches were
not dangerous and he resolved to take
good rest and then return to the flower
which had such a strange fascination,
though it was now odious to him.
The next morning the rose had almost
forgotten her enemy. She was approach.
ing full bloom and was the most beautiful
one in the parterre Still there was no one
helpless on his bed His sister did not
leave him, and did not appear at the win
dow. Only the birds and butterflies fut-
tered about the rose, and the buzzing bees
at times plunged into the corolla for the
honey, and few away covered with the
yellow dust of the flower A nightingale
perched on the bush and commenced
song which was quite unlike the hoarse
croaking of the toad. The rose listened
and felt happy. She thought that the bird
was singing because she was there, and
perhaps she was right
She did not notice that her enemy was
again slyly working his way up the
branches. This time the toad did not spare
his paws or sides. He mounted higher and
still higher. In the midst of the sweet
song of the nightingale the rose heard the
dreaded croaking:
II told you that I'd eat you up, and l
will eat you up"
In fact, clinging to the nearest twig, he
was devouring her already with his eyes.
One moment more and he would be able to
reach her She felt that she was about to
perish.
The young master had for long time
lain motionless. The sister, seated in an
armchair at the bedside, thought that he
was asleep For several nights her wake
ful eyes had watched over the sick one |
Little by little the hand holding the book
was relaxed, her head inclined, and she
fell into doze
''MachaI' cried the brother.
She started up. In her dream she was
sitting at the window, as the year before |
and her brother was playing in the garden. |
When she opened her eyes and saw him !
stretched on the bed. thin and feeble, she |
sighed mournfully.
"What, my dear?"
''Macha, you told me that the roses were
open. Can have one?"
Eyes, dear, certainly"
She looked out on the parterre where the |
superb rose fiourished in beauty and fra |
GRANGE.
"Ohl There is just the one for you; a /
splendid rose Shall put it in glass on |
your stand?"
'Yes | would like it on the stand"
The young girl took her scissors and /
went to the garden. She had been con-
fined to the chamber so long that she was
dazzled by the sun and benumbed by the
cool air. She reached the shrub just when
the toad was about to spring on the flower.
What horrorP' she exclaimed
Seizing the branch. she shook il smartly
The toad fell heavily to the ground. Re-
covering himself he eaped furiously at
the young girl, but could not get much
higher than the hem of her dress. She
threw it to a distance with the tip of her
shoe. He dared not come near again, and
his envious eyes beheld the watchful care
with which she removed the flower and
carried it TO the house.
AS the brother caught sight Of the rose,
the first he bad seen for so aany months,
he smiled feebly and made a painful move
ment TO reach it.
let me smell of it, he moaned-
The sister put the stem in his hand and
helped to bring the flower 70 his face He
breathed the delicious perfume and mur-
INJURED, with happy smile:
''Oh. how good it isi'
Soon his delicate face grew dark. His
heart ceased to beat 1t was sRent-and
from the Russian Of
C1arSrhinSEi for Ipdenandeut nv TheoDhfia