The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1905-11-29
Dumping and the Dragon.

A boy who was nicknamed Dump
ling had a new sword. II had a sharp
point and a bright shining blade which
slipped with rattle and tinllle into
a tin sheath. The sheath 'hung from n
fine red belt; and when Dumping
huckled on his sword he felt big-vely
big. Indeed he left like a giant. And
If there was one thing which he de-
sired more than another it was that
he might some day encounter drag
on.
Dumping had never seen real
dragon, but he had seen plenty of pic
lures of them, and he had heard many
stories about them. He knew that
brave princes and bold warriors nearly
always came out victorious in their
battles with dragons. And so should
he Every weed and bush that he had
attacked had gone down before his
conquering sword
Well, one night after Dumping had
been snugly tucked under the covers
| he shut his eyes and began to think
| about dragons. He never wished quite
| so much for them on a dark night as
| he did out in the bright sunshine, how
| ever.
But anyway, he suddenly woke M
| and found that his wish had come true.
| Out on the lawn, right in front of the
| house, standing straight up on his tail
| and trying to look in at the window
where Dumping slept was huge
| dragon. 1t made the young warrior
| shiyer at first, but the moment he
thought of his sword his courage rose.
Quickly buckling the belt on, he
rushed TO the window, raised it, drew
the sword and aimed at the monster 4
mighty blow. The blade merely rat
| tied on the horny hide, and Dumping
was glad enough to draw back into
| the room. Then he thought he might
have done better if he had used the
sharp point to stab the beast instead
of merely whacking him.
| So he reached out again and gave
| the dragon a furious thrust. He must
have just touched the tender spot, for
the sword went in half wait to the hlt
With a roar of pain the beast bound
ed away. Dumping cried, MY Sword!
My sword" But no attention did the
dragon give to the cries.
What to do Dumping certainly did
not know. The dragon was gone, his
new sword was gone. In little while
he thought of Bacchus the old black
ram who always made war upon every
thing that came near him.
Rushing down the back stairs and
out to the barn, wearing only his pa
jamas, Dumplin loosened the stable
door, went up to the old black ram,
Jumped on his back, seized his horns
and turned his head In the direction
the dragon had gone.
To follow the trail was easy enough.
because the monster in his mad fight
brushed away fences and other things
that stood in his way as if they had
been so much straw. So there was a
straight open path for the ram.
1t was a wild chase. Dumping dug
his heels viciously into the rams sides
to urge him on. Every dig increased
the rams ire. His bleating was almost
like the below of an angry bull.
Hearing this, the dragon turned
sharply around, opened his wide jaws
and waited. The sight struck Dump
ling dumb with terror. He saw the
dragons plan; they both would be
swallowed at one gulp. But Bacchus
had a plan, too, remembering his sharp
straight horns. This plan was no
sooner made than it was carried out.
Rushing straight into the Dragons
mouth he gave him a terrific butting
and struck his horns fast in the mon
sters throat before the powerful jaws
had time 20 close.