The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-03-11

family of children and grandchildren
was no believer in fairy tales. Its a
waste of time" she had said to a caller
who had asked her whether she read
Alice in Wonderland to Sydney. at
all seems very nonsensical to me- What
is the use of filling the poor boys
brain with stories that are not only
untrue. but are silly? 1t isn't easy for
him to learn, so / believe in reading
only those things that will do him
good"
eyes" the visitor had said, "but if
you don't exercise his imagination you
are going to give him a cherries old
age
But grandma had laughed in her
cherry way and had said: We'll, I'm
old enough, conscience knows, and I've
had enough to try me, but / find life
pleasant and that without any fairy
stories. either"
So the caller had changed the sub
ject.
You see, therefore, that Sydney did
not Immediately wonder as an imagin-
alive boy would have wondered what
the jar was good for and whether 1t
was one of the kind told about in the
Arabian Nights.
But it is peculiar thing about
fairies and their ways that 1t doesn't
make bit of difference. to them wheth-
er you believe in them or not. If they
think that you need them they will
come to you and force you TO believe in
them.
AS soon as Sydney kicked the jar he
rubbing the sand from it, and 10 and
behold. beautiful fairy came out of it
and flew before him like a butterfly;
talking as she flew. If
What do you want of me, my dear?"
she said in the sweetest voice imagin-
able.
But Sydney only stared in amaze
ment.
You called me, my dear, and here
am. l can do anything for you that you
wish done. Make you rich. make you
wise, make you good"
Now, there are number of boys in
the Malburn school who would have
said: "Oh make me rich but dear
little Sgd. hardly ever thought of money.
He did want to know something, so he
said:
81 wish that l could learn easily"
You see, he didn't even ask to know
everything without study; he merely
wanted to learn easily, and as he had
asked so he received.
The fairy fiuttered UP to him and
kissed him on each cheek, and he told
me afterward that it was as if warm
sonwfiake had touched him, which was
not a bad idea for a fellow like Sydney.
Then the fairy and the jar vanished,
but Sydney walked home as happy as
if he had never been bothered at school.
He had his school books under his arm,
for he had determined to have good
lessons next day if it took him all night
to learn them.
/ think that he fancied his grand
mother would not believe that he had
met a fairy, so he said nothing to her
about it, but eager to test his new
power he sat down at the center table
in the sitting room and began to study
his history lesson. The boys had studies
far beyond their ages in that school, Sgd
ney was only ten, and as you have seen
he could hardly read, and yet he had
history, geography, spelling, arithmetic,
grammar and physiology.
day was about the battle of Concord,
and Sydney began to read it out loud,
as was his habit, and to his great as
constituent he read it as glibly as Bob
Addoms, and to his greater astonish-
ment remembered every word of it,
and when he had shut the book up he
found himself repeating the whole
chapter, word for word and with as
much expression as Lorimer Halstead
put into his reading, and Lorimer was
the star "elocutionist' of the school.
Grandma came into the room just as
he was finishing his recitation, and she
was astonished enough. ''Why, my boy,
you are improving a great deal. / al
ways said you had it in you. Your
dear father was as smart as steel
trap and / knew you'd inherit some of
his smartness. That's an interesting
part OF history. My grandfather was
at the battle of Concord. He was a
cousin of Paul Reveres. Do you know
about Paul Revere? There are some
very pretty verses about him by Long
fellow, the poet, in this box See if
you can read them to me-"
She handed a volume of Longfellow' S
poems to the boy and he read Paul
Reyere's Ride as easily as if he had
known it by heart. Not only that, he
shut the book up and recited it with
appropriate gestures, and his grand
mother caught him up in her arms and
said: Just like your father. He
could recite that SO that people always
watned him to repeat it Immediately
You can imagine how pleased Sydney