The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-27
The Elfin Automobile.
BY EDWIN ]. WEBSTER.

Tommy Tucker thought his fate the sad dest of any small, fat boy in the town of TuEsyille It was vacation time, but that morning his father had said to him:
 since there Is no school, Tommy, yoh might as well put in the day weeding the garden. It will give you something to do and keep you out of mischief"
 Tommy hated to weed the garden. While he was wondering about the matter he hap pened 10 remember that he had read In one of the magazines which tell boy how to he successful and how to start in as errend boy and buy ont the proprietor In a. few i years that every boy should devote a lit- tie time every day to thinking up plans for self-lmprovement When Tommy remem- bered this hc was pleased and happy
 ''lnstead of weedlng the garden" he said to himself. "l will 20 ont into the field, back of the harm. and try to think up ways of selflHorovement How pleased my father wfl be when tell him about 1t. Then, too, If l happen 10 meet MT Good Fairy per haps he will be able to tell me some way Of getting the garden weeded without work ing out tn the hot sun and running chapee of having a sunstroke, for lt would grievea my mother if should get sunstruck. And wouldn't like if mvselfr
 ] Sc Tommy went to the field back of his fathers barn and rapped three times on the big fiat stone near which MT. Good Fairy had always appeared.
 A few seconds after Tommy had rapped he heard the sdueaky voice of Mir. Good Fairy behind him., but never had he seen him loeking s0 eross MT Good Fary's tall wbitc hat waa dentcd aud his clothes looked as if he had been in scrlmmage. as indeed he had with Iot of miSchievous elves.
 Well what Is If you want of me to- day?" he luouired of Tommy in hls cross est tones. ~ do hope If Is nothing narea- sonahle for I've heen having troubles of my own with those terrible elves and their fear ful electric automobile"
 ]. The moment Tommy heard this he forgot all about the weeds In his fathers garden aud wanted 10 hear bout he elves md their automobile. How even mischtevons dives would dare to bring an electric automobile Into Gnomeland- where the good fairies llve-hc could not understand The good fairies hate electricity worse than they do steam, since before electricity was discov cred every one believed In fairies and elves and Rnomee
 '1t wns all Mrs Good Fniry's fault" said MT. Good Fairy He always laid the blame on his wife, unless she haDpened 10 be around. Theu-hnt thnt is ouother story "I toin her. he confirmed. in saidenod tones 'that there was no use in giving the dives in her School for Elves a vacation. The elves are always in mischief when they are not busy. Like some boys know" he add ca, staring hard ai Tommy ln what Tommy thought very lmnolite manner
 'Gnomes are good, told her. and there Is no harm In my closing my School for Gnomes for few waeks You can trust T Enome In the dark And anyway, need little vacation myself"
 'But, no Mrs Good Fairy wouldn't listen to me. She said she needed vacation more than did She had been teaching the elves standardization for year. and that was enough to wear any one ont So she warned the elves that if they did anything mschiev- ous they would suffer for it. Then she closed her school for vacation.
 "As soon as the elves were released from school" continued Mir Good Fairy, they, were up 10 all kinds of mischief The elves hate the gnomes becomes the gnomes are well behaved, and do their work faithfully and mind their own business. Even the knowl-. edge of enchanti1cat ton the elves had learned from Mrs Good Fairy they turned to bad use. The first day of vacation they caught three of my best and most faithful gnomes and tried to turn them Into canary birds Of course, they didn't succeed very well, for it takes an expert in enchantfncation to make canary bird out of T gnome. But they were partly successful. They turned the smallest gnome into a half canary, bird-that Is, canary from his feel 10 his waist. heard the rnmpus and came running up. The elves scampered away when they saw me, and