Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-11
Ralph Of the Woods In the Sage Brush
By CHARLOTTE TELLER.

feel very lonely, ftr the trees had always
been his friends. They had always spread
their branches S,'er him II 1t rained or II
the sun sLone toe, hot They had given him
their worn-out branches for a fire when he
was cold. and scattered their leaves on him
for blanket and given him nuts to eat
And whenever he had wanted to look afar
of they had let him climb into their very
tops. Sometimes he used to sit up there
and swing In the wind and watch the birds
But from where he stood he could not
see single tree. not even when he stood on
tiptoe. He could see nothing but short,
icke4llooking bushes. gray and twisted
Everywhere these bushes q foot two feet
and three feet high were scattered over
plain as gray as the sky. And the sky over
him was a heartless gray, with no crack
in 1t for the sun to shine through. The
gray of the sky and Of the plain stretched
SO far that his eyes ached as he looked TO
the edge, where he could just see purple
band like ribbon tied about the plain to
separate it from the sky. The wind was
not there to tell him that the purple RIBBON
was line of mountains. where he might
find some trees. If the wind had been
about and told him that he would have
started off al once to find his friends. But,
as 1t was, he was very tired, ana SO ne
curled up on the ground near one OF the
gray bushes to go to sleep. Before ne smut
his eyes for sleep to come he ate some OF
the nuts in his pocket, for he was hungry,
having come so far into this strange World
of sage brush. The trees had taught him
how wise 1t was to carry nuts in his pock-
cts; pocketful of nuts would last for
whole day, whereas a pocketful OF bread
and butter was hardly enough for one meal
They made good supper for him as he sat
there all alone.
Very soor Ralph of the Woods was fast
asleep. although he had pillow but his
own little arm for his head, and no blanket
over his little legs. He never knew that the
rain came out of the gray sky and fell on
his eyelids Nor did he know that when
the wind came to scatter the clouds they
tried to waken him and tell him the way
to the woods he loved
But when Ralph of the Woods did wake
up he was so surprised he could hardly
keep his eyes open. Instead OF the gray
sky and the gray plain with its far-away
purple band. it was glowing win color an ~,
about him-rose, yellow. lilac and green-lt
dazzled his sleepy little eyes. The colors
hung right over him and changed the
brown of his dusty coat to radiance he
could feel the colors on his face and see
a many-colored sky when he looked up.
After he had looked a moment he had TO
shut his eyes tight to let them draw
breath of darkness before he looked again.
his face to the ground, and then just peep
ed now and then into the moving hghts'
for he could not get over his surprise
Il must be in Dream" he said. w
''Oh, no, you are NOT, d queihy ae''S
voice answered. Ralph sat UP quickly.
BE careful, Be CAREFUL! said the voice;
You will upset the bucket of gold, and
this is August.
The voice came from under the sage,
brush nearest Ralph and he had to lie fiat
on his stomach again to look under. There
sat little old man no bigger than emp
munk. Tufty white hair hung all around
his head even over his eyes, that were as
bright as a chipmunk's. His face was as
wrinkled as an English walnut, and he had
a very pointed chin, but 10 beard. He was
dressed in a sage-green jacket and trousers,
that were tucked into little boots of sage
green leather. Underneath the Jacket he
wore a purple blouse, his round cap was
purple, and SO was the cover of the thick
book that he held He looked rather wor-
ried as he seated himself cross-legged and
opened his book.
They have ordered more goldenrod than
ever before he said. and the bucket is
not nearly so full as usual. You haven't
been taking any, have your he asked, look
ing at Ralphs yellow hair.
why, of course, not" said Ralph, laugh
ing. Il had this when I was born. They
say got 1t from my grandmother. l must
have taken it all, for hers Is as White as
yours is now"
II don't wonder" said the old man, IF
she has to worry over your getting lost. But
mine is white from worry over these orders.
Now, don't disturb mel! He opened his
book and read aloud: Fourteen million.
five hundred thousand and forty-nine stalks
of golden rod must be in full yellow tomor-
row." he said. knitting his brows. Isn't
that an extravagant order? Think Of the
work. Have you ever thought how much
work 1t took to paint the goldenrod? To be
sure" he went on, without waiting for
Ralph to answer, they had two coats Of
yellow already; we have worked nights to
finish them. But they are not deep gold
yet They don't really shine as they must
The yellow makers are tired out; they may
strike for shorter hours
ba bic honk IN no on
and looked still more worried. People are
SO unreasonable. There are complaints that
the August skies not blue enough in the
east Well, I cannot see to everything
personally. The skies are all right. Let
them come west. 1t is probably the fault
of the cloud makers. They have left some
Of their mists scattered about. But the
goldenrod! Do you think you could get the
the rainbow" he asked.
Ralph Of the Woods shook his head 81
have often tried to get to the end Of the
rainbow" he said. but never could"
''Why, you are there nowr' said the old
man, without trying. You would only
have to climb up and slide down the other
side-stil," he paused thoughtfully ''you
rather dusty and you might spoil some
Of our colors.
While Ralph was wondering II the rain
bow Were slippery and hard to climb he
heard hundreds of little chuckles and soft
grins. and he looked up into the briIIiance
above him. There, sliding down the rain
bow. were hundreds of little creatures much
like the old man. only young.
They'll bump fearfully at the bottom"
said Ralph, but they did not Each one
jumped high just before he got to the bot
tom and landed with a low bow before the
old man. They were dressed like him. in
sage-green Jackets and trousers that were
tucked in sage-green leather boots but their
blouses and caps were not all alike; some
were yellow, some were rose, some green
all the colors of the rainbow. The sack that
each one carried over his shoulder matched
his blouse. Their faces had the pointed
chins, but not the wrinkles and their hair
was as golden as Ralph's where it stuck out
beneath the round caps They were all
chuckling or grinning softly.
Splendid exercise. sliding rainbow" one
said.
1T wasn't quite dry this morning." said
another, rubbing the seat of his little sage
green trousers.
"Purple-makers!' called the old man sud
denly. A hundred little fellows in purple
blouses stepped into circle about him. He
tested his pointed chin the top of his
book and looked at them. why did you
take some of the purple out Of the thistles
yesterday? 1t isn't time for them to fade"
Sage one." they answered in chorus, Two
needed it to put into the air around those
mountains over there An artist came out
fn inf no tofn