The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-03-25
TOD AND THE STOLEN HOLI.
DAYS.
This Explains for the Very First Time Just
what Became of the Missing Christmas
and Fourth Of July That Upset the
Caicuiations Of some small
Boys a Few Years Ago.
Ccpyy,sAt. 1900. BY C,ayt,s HaR,R Loomt,.

nThNf anu HpV'l HuIupItu, VI w ""N ohN' WV
As an illustration OF this latter quality let me
tell an incident connected with his boyhood my
grandfather told me Years ago there Was a
kind Of candy known as the jackson ball II
was As large around a. a crab apple and as hard
a. a stone pavement il when you fall headlonR
on it. We'll, me day Timotheus Pauncetort
found 4 cent in the road, and ~ he was n most
generous little fellow he Immediately invited
Tod TO 20 with him to the little candy store on
the corner, and he'd trea, him to whatever he
wanted. Most boys would have chosen tally
a. being easy TO divide, bu, Tod. never thinking
about Timo,hehs, said he guessed he'd take a
Jackson ball, and Timothsus bought one they
cam one for q cent, But ~ there is no way To
dispose Of them bu, to suck them to their disco
luton Timotheus didn't get a taste. They came
out, Of the candy store two happy boys; limo
,heus happy because he had provided a feast
for his friend and Tod happy because the it had
been provided without costing him anything
Twas when Tod was II years old hat his reed
caused trouble To the whole Of the United States
on two very important days Just wha, year it
was I cannot say. but your gr'nt grandfather
may remember HIS PARENTS took him to a bal
loon ascension q, Rockeforl Park, a place where
they hold fairs and poultry shows every fali.
" IL I0l lr IU' w shy " ~ n'nkT W Wv
it don't think he was ever clear in his own
mind how ii came about. but i, is q well known
fac, tina, when you GU, IN. rope 'ha, holds a bal
loon n earth that balloon is gong to escape "
il, has a spark of animation suppose Tho bal
louniSt had gone To lunch. hu' wherever h" was
he was no, in the balloon whom TOD stepped into
the basket to see how the old thing worked, and
a. Tod was a perfectly fearless and reckless boy
he I'D not think Of the moral or physical cons"
arerc.s. but simply sawed away A. the rope with
his iackknitr until the balloon spranC mp like a
lark from its nest in the meNtow and was soon
out Of hearing of the angry owner
My grandfather told ms that the farmers horse
began TO cut up just as Tom was severng the
rope and that that drew away the attention OF
the sightseeTs. Certainly ther" never was a
madden man Than the owner OF that balloon, and
he called the bystanders all sorts 81 names for
not interfering 10 save his precious balloon.
As for Tod, he WAS ,irkled to death, He waved
farewell TO the crowds below he sang snatches
NJ songs and sat on the edge ot the basket with
his legs dangling over until his mother tainted,
and a. he happened 10 zee her h" drew In his legs
He did no, like 10 occasion unnecessary pain.
After he had haen in the balloon some ten hours
and had sailed I don't know how many miles.
he became very hungry, and saeing land a quarter
Of a mile above him he decided to leave III" balloon
and take a short walk for exercise " he could
n stan his anchor anywhere. TIL" hanoonist
had an emergency anchor in The balloon, and II
he hadn't. no one would ever have heard of Tod
again. So nv grandfather said.
lie wasnow some three hundred miles above the
Earth. higher than, any man Of science has ever
been. and yet he did not feel cold, nor bleed at
The ears. nor do any of ,hos, unpleasant things
that aeronauts seem Ia consider So necessary,
That there should be land mp in the air struck
him as odd a, first, and then he reflected that
there were many things connected with the heavens
that he knew nothing about, and this land was
undoubtedly one Of them.
IA he sped past a lit,l" cape Of land that iutted
out into the air he was aba 10 throw the anchor
into a tree, and a momen, later the balloon was
captive and he was sliding down The nope TO what
looked like solid earth. But 1, was no, as solid
as il looked. In fact, II was a cloud. and n a
handsome little boy clad in what looked like an
autumn sums, had not stretched out his hand
and catlght him. Tod would have ha3 a bad fall
Here, drink this aud vou'l ~ able 10 walk
without sinking said III" It'll" stranger. He
handed A golden cup to Tod as h spoke, and that
boy was only too glad to drink, cor he was thirsty
after his 900 mile flight. The liquid tasted like
all the kinds OF soda water YOU ever heard 0f,
poured into one glass and favored with essence
Of orange flower As soon as Tod hal drunk
i, he felt as light As a feather and walked on the
cloud as il il had been terra iirma, which, my
grandfather told me, is Latin Tor solid ground.
Ask your teacher whether the old gentleman
was right
What's the name OF this place and how far
Is i, to earth, and what's your name, aud what
do you do up here, and where can | get such a
pretty suit II looks like the view from our yeran-
dab when tho sun is going down
u can tell you re from the earth by the questions
YOU ask, said the other boy, laughing He
was such : pretty fellow Very much ike the
Cupids on valentines
Well. Id never learn anything If didnt ash
questions Where do you live and why don't
you fall through"
I'm the child Of sunset, but. say, you haven't
learned anything SO far by asking questions.
for you don't wait for the answers. You only
ask to keep your tongue from getting lazy"
Todlaughed and said Il he, | can beat you run
ming
q guess not, said the Sunse, Boy. and with that
both Of them began To run a. hard a. they could.
but although Tod feet hardly touched the ground,
so easily did he move through cloudlnnd, yet the
other boy moved twice A. fast and soon vanished
behind a high wall that surrounded a huge castle
tina, looked like those cloud palaces that rear
themselves on June days when you ara lying
on your back ont in the fields and wishing that the
long vacation would begin
Il wa snowy white and had towers and minarets,
and the wall Of salmon pink that surrounded it
changed It's shape continually
While Tod was wondering what castle II WAS
aud whether any giants lived within II q tall warrior
who looked exactly M II he was fashioned out Of
a silver cloud, with little flashes ri opalesc-nt
Are running through him, came to an opening
In the wall and eaid What is your name. Earth
Boy, and why have you come 10 the storehouse
of the holidays"
Before Tod could answer his friend the Sunse,
Boy, popped out from behind the wall and said
Hes all night He can run half a. fast ns
! can
The warrior seemed as,onished Why. that
is impossible. No ons In cloudlAnd can run A
quarter as fast as you"
well, he did. | leave It To him II he didn't
And he's hungry and he wnnts to know every
thing And say" this In a lower tone -"can't
you give him seven or eight holidays, We have
such n lot"
But" SAID the warrior, who all tins time hnd
been changing his shape like An April cloud and
was nv turns n Polar bear, a Hubbard squash.
a hippopotamus a load Of hay md m apple tree,
"thars ara ilst On many hnliisys II let him