Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-23

quiet and busy all the afternoon. II / had
known them better / should have been
alarmed at such supernatural goodness
About o'clock that evening I thought
heard a noise in the nursery. and went up
to see what 1t was. But the children were
all fast asleep Jane and Jemima lay with
their arms at their sides over the neatly
folded covers, looking as good as gold.
Dear little thingsl" ] said to myself How
sweet they arei Their hearts are good, It's
their bringing up that has been unwise."
And 1 tiptoed to little Joshua's bed. He,
teo slept peacefully. grasping In his chubby
hand large hammer and paper of tacks.
Dear boyw said to myself. How
fond he Is of his tools!" There seemed a
curious lump under the bedclothes. inyes-
tigated and discovered large pot of glue.
l shook my head severely. Amelia may
allow the children to take glue to bed with
them" / said, II certainly shall not and
I removed the hammer and lacks from
Joshua's fingers and placed them with the
glue on the martelpiece. He smiled In his
sleep. 1.-THE dear child" l said. He Is
probably dreaming of fairies
The next morning stood before the mir
ror firmly arranging my hair in its usual
simple knot at the back of my. head.
thought over Yesterdays happenings.
THE trouble with those children" said
to myself, lis lack of discipline. Amelia
simply let's them walk over her. Already
they have improved wonderfully under my
training. All day yesterday they were per-
fectly angelic. A little firmness. a little de-
cision OF character" I stopped Beneath
me the house began to sway from side TO
side, as If to tear Itself loose from the
foundation Then with the sound Of rend-
ing wood the whole house rose suddenly
and flew away into the air! l rushed up.
stairs. Janet Joshua! Je-mt-ma!' l
called, where are your" An answering
shout came from the roof: Here, Miss
semphronial Do come upr' l went. |
climbed up the ladder more quickly than
the acrobats of the circus, and poked my
head out of the attic window opening on
the roof. The three children sat IN row
on the peaked roof See where we are!
cried Jane, ciapping her hands ! gave one
look, and then shut my eyes with horror
and clutched the ladder. The house was
floating high in the air, and below stretched
on all sides the great gray ocean. Then
heard James voice saying: You neednt
pretend to be asleep. Miss semphronia. the
way we did last night when you came into
the nursery.
you weren't asleep?" I asked family
"Of course not" laughed Jane, I'VE were
busy making the machinery, and we heard
you coming. so we popped into bed
How did We get hereT l asked In
shaky voice.
1--WE did it." said the three proudly:
Look at the machinery we made!
looked. At either end OF the house was
huge pinwheel affair made of sheets and
the long poles that are used to prop sag
ging clothes lines. The pinwheelS were
connected with the sewing machine, which
the children had brought up on the roof,
and this was connected with the electric
battery that usually ran Joshuas train
of cars. The battery made the sewing ma
chine go, the sewing machine made the PIN
wheels go. and the pinwheels made the
house CO. Joshua explained this to me,
and 1 had to admit that the idea was In
genfous.
You're not going to stay with US long,
are your" asked Jane suddenly. looked
at the ocean beneath me and shuddered
MY dear young friends, l replied, SOL
EMMY. III ever l get back to earth again
nothing on earth will induce me to take
charge Of you longer"
"Then wen go right back, said Joshua,
and he manipulated the machinery SO that
the house turned and flew back toward
land In half an hour we were futeer-
merry stood. < crowd of excited people
we're collected around
Now Wen go down quite; gently" said
Joshua. and he turned handle In the
go. The house just stood still in the air
while the pinwheels went round and
round. Joshua tried again. 1t was no use.
Did you have the machine patented"
asked Jane.
NO" answered Joshua.
Then that's itl' she cried. Father said
a new invention wouldn't do you any good
unless 1t was patented"
Joshua sighed. II never thought of that"
he said.
Whatever shall we do?" eve all said to-
gether. Then looking down we saw our
friends from the life-saving station.
Shoot US the rope" shouted Joshua.
leaning over the edge OF the roof. In a
minute life line kept whizzing through
the air. Joshua caught 1t and tied 1t firmly
to the house. "Pull!' he shouted, and as
the people down below pulled. the house
sank slowly downward till 1t safely rested
on the foundation again. 1t was Just as
good ever. except that IN the confusion
of the moment 1t had been turned around
re ha1 70 bet
afterward people who came to call had to
go in at the kitchen door. But this was
minor matter. As soon the house
reached earth Joshua stopped the machin-
cry. Then. leaving the children under the
care of Sally and the life-saving crew, I
FASTENED to the telegraph office and sent
the following telegram to Amelia: "I leave
today. Come home at once and take charge
of your children