Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-23
The Little LadyAsr Book.
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By Albert Bigelow Paine.
. THE MOON AND THE SEA.

Copyright, 1901 Henry k1temus co.,
By Albert Bigelow Paine.
THE MOON AND THE SEA.
Papa" says the Little, Lady. few days
after their trip to the beaeh, what made
the tide come up higher and higher on the
sand until it caught me and made me run
to keep of its way?'
1.-THE moon, DEAR"
The Little Lady laughs quite loud.
THE moon! Oh, papa. how does the
moon do it?"
II think I'll tell you a story that Fred's
mother told him about It, l wrote it down
then. and had it printed SO that some
time I could read it to you"
The Big Man gets theT paper and the Lit
tie Lady draws up her chair, ready to lis
ten. The Big Mans story is called
AT HIGH TIDE.
One day, when little Fred and his mother
were spending the day at the seashore they
sat watching the big waves rolling In, and
there on the horizon.
They sat in the shadow of big rock that
had partly broken away and toppled over
into the sea.
What made this rock tumble over like
that?" asked little Fred, after sitting for
some time without saying anything.
Why" replied his mother, 1.-The tide did
that, and 1t took years and years.
Then 1t must be story. Please, mamma.
tell it to me- said little Fred
His mother thought very quickly for a
few minutes, then she said:
why, yes, it Is like a story. 1t goes this
way:
"Once upon time-I don't know how
long ago, but 1t must have been in the
Days of the Great Beginning-when this
rock was very tall and grand, 1t looked out
over the sea and was proud and naughty:
The sea was meek and calm then and USED
to look up to the big rock and wish to De
on the same level with it, so that they
might talk socially together and be equals.
But the big rock laughed at the idea,
and made so much fun. of the sea for want.
ing to rise higher in the world that the
poor sea when 1t went to sleep that night
in it's big bed"
oh mamma. does the sea have bed?'
why, yes We often hear about the bed
of the ocean, which Is the same tnlng,
and when the sea was lying asleep In IL
that night 1t grew restless, and tossed
about and turned over because 1t was
dreaming about climbing up as high as
the rock. and by and by it got moaning IN
its sleep, and moaning so loud that the
moon heard 1T, and came with light to
see what was the matter"
"Ho!' said little Fred, did the moon
carry a lamp"
well, the moon always has light with
1t, you know. l don't suppose it was just
exactly lamp, but 1t answers just as well,
and when it shone on the seas face the
sea woke up a little, and told the moon all
about the big rock and how much the rock
had laughed at the sea for wanting to rise
and be on level with it.
Then the moon looked right down into
the face of the sea for a while and reflected
that is, 1 mean 1t thought and thought
what to do-and by and by told the sea to
get up and come along then, and 1t would
help it to get up even with the rock.
80 then the sea reused up little and
smiled at the moon, and they went together
to the big rock.
when the big rock saw them together 1t
laughed louder than ever, and told the sea
that If it wanted any help it had better get
one of the immense big whales they used
to have then, and not a poor, weak crea-
ture like the moon, that couldn't hurt even
a fly.
But the moon and the sea didn't mind
that, and, taking hold of each others hands,
they backed away little and then ran for
the old rock as hard as ever they could
They didn't get very high the first ume
but they tried it again, and kept on trying
1t for several hours, getting a little higher
each time. Then they began to grow tired.
and by and by the moon went away and
the sea crept back to bed, with the big old
rock laughing to see them go. But the
next night the moon came once more to
the sea, and they went to the big rock and
Joined hands again and tried just as hard
as ever to get to the top, and splashed and
dashed around it until the big old rock
thought maybe 1t had made fun of them
little too soon
And so they kept on coming year after
year. Then, by and by, the wind got SO 1t
helped too, and when all three joined to-
gether they almost reached the top Of the
big rock; but every time the big rock would
laugh at them when they went away, and
kept making fun of the poor sea when there
was nobody there to help 1t. 1t had got all
over being the least bit scared, because so
many years had passed and the sea was still
just where 1t was before, only when the
moon and the wind helped 1t, and even then
1t had never quite reached the top.
But there was one thing the big old rock
did not know. You see, rock can't feel
anything, and 1t didn't know that the sea,
dashing against 1t year after year, had
crumbled and followed out a great place
a small hill with your fingers. 1t didn't
know anything about this. and one night
when the sea and the moon and the wind
had Joined hands and made a great rush
on it together, the proud old rock felt itself
begin to tremble, and them all Of a sudden,
it broke right in two, and with great loud
crash and a splash the upper part tumbled
and rolled over and over, right down into
the sea.
Then the wind and the sea shouted and
the moon laughed, and they all danced
about the fallen rock. 1t was so low, now,
that the sea could wash right over 1t al
moon and the wind both helped the poor
old rock did not show at all. 1t had taken
a very long time, of course-a good many
thousand years, l suppose. but that only
shows what perseverance will do"
Did the old rock laugh at the sea any
more after that?' asked Fred.
mo, and the sea felt sorry for 1t, and
twice every twenty-fOur hours it leaves 1t
uncovered just as it Ia now. Then 1t comes
and covers it all up again, and the moon
got so In the habit of helping the sea that
1t helps it still. Once during the day, and
once during the night, the sea comes and
covers the old rock, and the moon always
helps, though sometimes 1t stays where you
can't see it,
Perhaps it gets behind then and pushes"
Perhaps so; anyway, 1t helps and that Is
what people call, now, the tide. Some
times the wind comes, too. just as 1t used
to, and they have great dance together
about the old rock"
Just then the breeze freshened and a
wave ran so far up the sand that little
Fred and his mamma had to scramble back
to keep from getting wet.
THE wind is helping the sea today, man.
ma" laughed the little boy, as they ran.
yes, and we will stay and see them cover
the old rock. The moon is here, too
Fred looked up into the blue sky and
there was a big, white day moon, looking
down at the sea and sand.
By and by, as the wind from the sea
grew stronger and the tide rose higher,
they moved further and further back Just
before sunset the sea dashed and whirled
over the big rock and hid 1t from view