Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1904-05-14

~
~1cr You may come with me
in ,I.e oppy Boat" he said, gracious
ly. The Poppy Boat is his, and it tray
els between here and the Land of
Dreams. Thomas has such queer no
lions about dreams. He thinks,
among other things, that you can al
ways choose the people who are going
with you, and he never fails to make
up his own party every night. This
night he chose me, which was q great
honor.
And I'll wait for you at the Bridge"
he added, as his mother drew him out
of the room. The Bridge is just where
you begin TO think that in Il few min
utes you will be asleep. Thomas al
ways plans to meet his Dreamland
guests at the Bridge, but sometimes
they are so long in coming that he has
to go on without them.
thought perhaps he would not wait
for me tonight, because first had to
talk little with his father, and then
his mother came and talked to me; and
after all that, l had to go home and
get ready for the journey-and it was
late-O! so late-before l came to the
Bridge.
But although Thomas was impatient,
he waited for ne.
And where are we going frst?"
| asked him.
ITO the Baby Land" he said, his
face aglow, Ito find q baby sister,"
And SO we started off.
The Poppy Boat is like a poppy
flower. You sit in the middle and
then, il you are cold, you draw the
petals up over your head. The river
is blue and quiet, and there are many
other Poppy Boats which are gliding
| around here and there all over it. One
of them drifted up by us. In the mid
| die of it was something very tiny and
very fair. L held my breath when L
saw what it was. Thomas" / whis-
pered, shes from the Baby Land.
Perhaps she's a little sister"
Thomas waved his hand to her, and
she waved hers back very prettily. SO
| Thomas guided our boat until it came
closer to hers. wish you could have
seen her boat It was pinE-not red,
J like ours-and the petals were soft
and satiny and SO delicateiy shaded.
And they were drawn UP close around
her, us If she felt that the night was
! cold.
Thomas leaned over gently and
pushed the petals back. Are you a
baby sister?' he demanded, eagerly.
She nodded baby head at him.
'Im just going home" she told him.
1--WE are just going there, too" he as
sured her. Come on along home with
u.s." She said she would, and Thomas
clappcd his hands.
Lets find my mother and tell her.
ne suggested.
"She's around here somewhere. "
and Thomas held his hand out 10 the
little sister, who put dear baby hand
into his. And so the two boats came
together, and we drifted or.
DO you know where your mother
goes in her Poppy Boat?' 1 asked
Thomas.
| He thought q moment. Sometimes
she goes with me-" he said, land some
times with father. Sometimes she
goes where they build houses, and
sometimes where they make dresses
and sometimes
IF she goes to so many places, wei
have to hunt all over to find her."
said, land SO we better begin right
away"
Thomas drew his forehead into
Fuckers, which means that lie is think
ing hard "Dresses first" he an
nouneed. finally; she's been talking
about them"
Sure enough, so she had, and to me
that very night. "Do you know where
they make dresses 1 asked the baby
sister.
Yes. she did. and IL we wanted TO 20
there. all we had to do was 10 say
Dresses! Three dresses. 10 dresses
l want TO go" and then we'd be there
but IL we didn't say it just right-if W.
should get ii all mixed up and say. fol
instance, Dresses! Two dresses
Three dresses / want to go.' or -Four
dresses"' or anything like that, Their,
was no telling where you'd go to, tht
baby sister said.
Thomas picked il up Immediately
without a bill of trouble. and bafor,
she had fairly finished telling me abou
IL, lie had said the vhole thing. jus
exactly right, and was drifting away
from me in his boat. and / was floatin,
away from him in another boat whiel