Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-08
THE STORY OF FLOXIE
BY ]. f. CROMWELL.

Floxie was her name, and rain could not
| wash 1t out She was very little girl and
did many wonderful things. It was strange,
to say the least, that when she went out
OF the front door, although she was ever
so much smaller than most of the people
that went through easily, she never could get
out without knocking off some of the paint.
Whyl the painter had to come three and
half times a month to paint that door! And
the wood box? the paint all fell off that ev-
cry time she came into the kitchen! Which
was strange but not so remarkable as the
fact that new coat of paint went on of
itself, when Floxie went out of the kitch-
en-!
One day Floxie was stretching her name.
Did you ever do that? I'll tell you how 1t
is done. Sit in a lame chair, cross your
feet shut your ears, open your mouth, take
your name out into your hands and stretch
1t just as hard as you can. Floxie was
playing this game, and got very earnest
about It. She gave tremendous pull when
crack, snap, something flew away. She
was frightened and quickly put what was
left back into her mouth. but she could tell
by the taste that F and x were gone,
and that was cracked
She hunted all over the room, and all
round the house, under the hen coop and in
the hay-mow but F and x could not be
found. Then 1 got so powdery, that she
had to spit it out, and only Oh and e were
left. When her mother came in and found
what had happened, the dear woman was
greatly amused. She said, "oTe'" Is quite
an unusual NAME but it must have cap
ital letter. You must try hard to earn
capital letter for your name" ''o'fe' F"
wanted very much to know how to go to
work for that purpose, but her mother
firmly but wisely refused to continue the
60 @,-4t Apt ~ ,n,t l., ,Aaf CI,.a
was really very cross, was ore, and
spiteful, too, so spiteful and naughty that
she took her mothers scissors, went into
the yard and shipped off the great elm tree
that stood by the gate! 1t fell into the
road with a loud thud. crashing down all
the telephone wires and completely block
ing the street. All this astonished 'ofe'"
very much, it was really worse than losing
me- said ore, but she did not weep; she
braced herself, steeled her eye. took a long
breath, turned over four or five new leaves
and said: "All my days have I been de-
structive, first to paint, then to my name,
and now to traffic. shall now try the re-
construction policy From this moment l
will do useful things" She went into the
house with a look of determination on her
brow; she took her toy bank down off the
shelf, she turned out the contents of PEN
MES and a handful of gold dollars; she
marched out of the house and down the
street to the paint shop. She bought some
paint and she bought brush the largest
to be found 1t had 37.000,000 of bristles
in it. and every bristle had character, but
the whole conglomeration of determination
in the bristles equaled not the determine
ton of ''o'fe'." She began with her play
house, just practiced bit Then she paint
ed the front door. She used plenty of paint
and rubbed it in well. Then she painted the
whole house. 1t took time, of course, but
her brush was large, and her determination
Well. this was the largest determination
ever seen In one little girl. 1t was such a
al N a jch hoy
gone on and painted all the neighbors'
houses and the church and the steeple. but
she found she was growing, SO she stopped
painting to grow, but she put that gigantic
determination into growing.
1t was a wonder to see her refuse choc-
olates and jams and cookies and spice
cakes, because they were not the best
growing food. She ate mush and milk seven
times day.
Apples and nice whole wheat bread and
lots Of such things. But her clothes did
had to be left behind. She gave the old
clothes to some little girls who did not
care to grow and had a fine new set for
herself with pockets in them. Now she
1t had been lying there all the time
The town officers would not remove 1t be-
cause they said 1t was not their business
and all the time the people had been climb
ing over 1t and the teams going thro' an
other street. ore" as soon as she
thought of 1t, went out, picked it up, car
ried 1t into the She'd smashed 1t and made
kindlings Of it, Then she remembered what
a nice tree 1t used to be, and what nice
shade 1t gave. So she took a slip with
nice fat bud on 1t and set II out in the
Old place 1t grew at once and became even
bigger and more beautiful than the other
Then she saw beautiful little golden bird
flying among its branches, and as she gazed
In open-mouth wonder the bird flew down.
down, right into her mouth. She shut her
lips and swallowed hard.
Just then her mother came to the door
and said, Come in, Floxie"
Then our Floxie knew that the bird she
had swallowed was the long lost letters
of her name, capital and all, and she was
happy again.
And IL you want to know any more ask
the front door or the wood box!