Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1892-05-04

iano- What funny shape it was, to
De sure. One little neck of land stuck
straight out towards them, and the
mainland swept away from it in an i'm
mense circle. And in the distance the
whols island looked like a wonderful
mosaic of coloring.
Ihey drew nearer and nearer, how
ever and presently came to a little
iandlng-place. and then the boatmen
helped them to aligLt. And, touching
the ground with their heads three
times, by which they meant to say
Goodbye" sprang back into the
little boat and rowed away.
great many of the inhabitants of
the island were gathered together to
welcome the little ladies and gentle
men, for the brownies had sent word
that they We're coming. And so much
saluting went on, so much touching of
the ground with be pig-tail heads,
that Lucy felt quite giddy. Indeed,
by the time they had finished, several
OF the gentlemen had quite lost their
balance, and had turned headover-
heels into the lake.
They were tished out, however, and
did not seem to mind. And, while
they went home to change their clothes,
the rest of the party walked on into the
interior, chatterng so constantly and
and so fast that Lucy was thoroughly
bewildered. She was quite sure, too,
that they were glancing at her feet,
which really seemed enormous in COM
parison with their own. And, although
they were too polite to say anything,
she felt, certain that they must be
shocked at the vulgar proportions OF
her shoes.
However, they were very kind TO
her, in spite of her ignorant disregard
of japanese Fan etiquette, and very
soon she forgot all about her feet, in
the wonders of the islanl. For there
were in it, OH such marvellous things.
FIRST of all, they came to a quaint
little house built in a circle, and with
a golden ball whirling around on the
top. But the funniest thing about 1t
was, that it was built upon nothing at
all. 1t Just balanced itself up in the
air as comfortably as possible, and
looked down upon the world as much
as to say:
81 am no common house l am an
aeronaut. 1 hang without effort
between the earth and sky. You may
come and look at my inside if you Ii ie.
fOu will find me comfortably furnished,
and of superior attractions"
Well, while Lucy gazed at the con-
ceited little house in astOnishment, the
host came out of it. He had two pig.
tails which ached down to his heels,
and a long blue coat trimmed with
teapots. And he bent himself double
to do honor to the little ladies and
gentlemen, and invited them gracious
ly to come in and dine with him.
Well, after little consultation they
accepted the invitation. But while
they were making mp their minds, Lucy
had time to notice what she had not
observed before. And that was that q
| little stream. coming apparently from
nowhere, flowed uninterruptedly down
/ one of the chimneys, and issued from
the back door of the little house, as I'M
concernedly as if nothing had been IN
its way. The host saw her look at it,
and nodded his head with much self
satisfaction.
"Ahl" he said, ''that's fine thing
now, isn't it?"
"What is it for?" asked Lucy,
wonderingly.
"Well, it isn't for anything, exactly
he told her; sit just happened to be
there. But you've no idea how con-
venient we find it. 1t saves the water
works a tremendous lot of expense.
You see the Town Council has no need
to bother after taps and drainage, and
comfortable water supply. We've q
| good many of them in japanese Fan
| land" he added looking up at the blue
stream.
Lucy was very much impressed, and
still more so when he unrolled flight
of steps. as easily as she could have un-
rolled a reel of silk, and hung them
out over the balcony. And all the little
ladies and gentlemen tripped daintily
up them, and went inside the quaint
hanging house.
The host said dinner was ready, and
himself led the way into the dining
room. Such a pretty room, all over
fans and funny red feathers and silver
stars. And little tables were dotted
about with only two legs apiece, and
those both on the same side, SO that
the tops balanced themselves sloft in
the curious fashion peculiar to Japan
ese Farmland. The only wonder was
that the tea-trays did not fall off on the
floor, hut, somehow, they didn't.
Lucy, who was wise little morsel of
humanity, came to the conclusion that
japanese Fan land must have laws
of gravitation of its own.
The host had invited them to dinner,
but there was nothing to eat or to
drink except tea. In Japanese Fan
land they never do drink anything
except tea. 1t was very sweet and hot,
however, and Lucy enjoyed it very
much. As for the little ladies and
gentlemen, they drank cup after cup.
until Lucy grew quite anxious about
their powers of digestion.
Well, when dinner was over, they all
of them turned to her, as their most
honored guest, and asked her what she
moment. She said, that above all
things, she would love to sail away
down the little stream that flowed out
of the back door.
All the little ladies and gentlemen
looked very much pleased indeed. 1t
was Just what they had been dying to
do themselves, only they had been too
polite to say so. So the host sent q
message by one of his servants, an
very soon funny little boat was wait
| ing for them outside, 1t curled up at
| both ends, and had tiny wooden
house in the middle, painted blue, and
hung all over with silver bells.
So they said goodbye to their gentle
host, and sailed away in the little boat
down the blue stream. 1t was the
very bluest stream that Lucy had
ever seen, only varied here and there
by a streak of white running down the
middle. And, as they sailed along it.
the little silver bells played the sweet
est music in the world.
And OH what wond rful thing they
saw as they sailed along. The blue
stream zlgzagged SO delightfully."-, and
never troubled its head about the way
it went; but then there arc no boards
IN Japanese Fan n-land, with "Trespas-
sers will be prosecuted" So now and
A l.