The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-06
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 tercups and sweet clover to eat, painted a picture of a field with a haystack in 1t, and, walking into that field, began to eat the hay. Her friend, Bill Mos quito, could not enjoy hay very much, so the old COW painted for him nice tender, pink baby lying on the hay. Bill Mosquito had taken only one tiny bite when the baby began to cry; and at the very first 'Y-a-a-a -a-a- -uck-a-a-h the baby's mother ran around from behind the haystack with a rolling pin in her hand. She smacked Bill Mosquito in the face and jerked up her baby, then she began to beat the old COW with the roll ing pin. So the old COW ran and ran and ran until finally she came to the cave of the bear with the sore head. She was just going to hide in that cave when she heard the bear growl, and of course she ran right out again. She knew that the bear would be after her, so she hurried up and painted tree. and as soon as she had it painted she climbed the tree in a rush"
 A slight gigg1e interrupted Uncle Joe
 'T am very much annoyed, said he, looking approving1y at Miss Elzner.
 Miss Elizabeth meek1y stihed her un- seemly mirth-
 q beg your pardon said she, most humbly, ''but it was so sudden. And doesn't it seem, even to you, to be rather, well-say, unconventional-for a COW to climb a tree?"
 "Oh, this COW could'' put in Skeezicks, with the solemnly unquestioning faith for which he had such marvellous capacity. -Tt could do anything it wanted to, couldn't it, Uncle Joe?''
 Exactly replied Uncle Joe, feasting his eyes with much pleasure upon his two auditors
 Miss Elzner sat in a big leather chair with Skeezicks snuggled affectionately on her lap, and Uncle Joe sat before them in a hassock, so near that he could oc- casion1ly-jnst by accident of course touch the white hand that hung over the arm of the chair He could even if he felt so disposed, brush his cheek against tHe hand by leaning over trifle. Whether he did this, now and then, is none of our affair.
 And then what happened?'' Skeezicks asked with eager impatience-
 q hesitate to tell you,'' replied Uncle Joe casting at Miss Elzner another severe glance, though really not too severe, for fear there might be other interruptions The adventures of the old COW who paint ed pictures with her tail are too fragile and evanescent to deserve being shat tered by trivial doubts, or bubbles as to mere verity. Anyhow, the vast moral and instructive underlying truths that form the foundation of this remarkable narrative are past the comprehension Of any boy who wears long trousers or any girl who has outgrown pigtails
 Miss Elzner, who would soon have to dress for luncheon anyhow, quietly reached up and with tantalizing deftness of tapering white fingers, took out any where from to Il hairpins letting long brown, shining pigtail drop over her shoulder. Much modified by this mute apology, Uncle Joe laughed as gleefully as any boy, and patted the white hand approvingly. Moreover, he was compelled to give the pigtail an affectlonate tug pe- fore he could proceed, much to the unrest of Skeezicks, who regretfully saw good time going to waste
 .Before I go on," said Uncle Joe, With gracious allowance for grown-up ignor- ance of unnatural history, 'is there any thing else you would like to know?
 "since you ask me- replied Miss Elz- ner q must confess to an intense curlos- ity as to what the old COW painted her pictures upon
 trite reply "Why-er-why-ah- she painted them on the easel bird, of course It's careless in me not to have told you about that. The easel bird. as you probably know, is good deal like the lyre-b bird, only, in place of bearing a useless and musicless musical instrument spread out behind sheets of nice gray canvas. and as fast you use up one canvas another one grows in It's place If always goes around with the pecu- liar species of cows that paint pic lures with their tails, and is never found anywhere else. It's like the pilot fish and the shark. And now nope that you are satisfied
 "I am." agreed Miss Eizner; and presume that the paint-birds furnish the paint; the redbirds and the blue- birds and the yellowbirds, the canaries and"
 Mrs.-Freeman-that-i is -to-be,'' said Uncle Joe Freeman, sternly there are limits beyond which
 "Oh, you may go one." hastily inter- posed Miss Elzner.
 "Yes. please, Uncle Joe, do tell what hapnened next" exclaimed the almost despairing Skeezicks
 well of course, the bear with the sore head came out ana cllilDeu tHc tree after the COW; but the COW was away ahead of him in the top branches, so she hurried him up and painted a railroad train and got on it, and it started whizzing away with her before the bear got up to her. The bear grabbed the hind coach as it went past, and he began to go lickety-bowlegs a through the train up to the baggage car, where the COW was, so the COW hurried up and painted lake with boat on it and got on the boat. The bear jumped in the water and swan after the boat, but before he could catch 1t the old COW had painted balloon; then, seeing that she still had little time left, she thought an air ship would be better, and painted that. Sine was just putting on the last strokes when the bear climbed on deck after her, so she wasted no more time, but Jumped into the picture and took whichever came handiest. She happened to get the balloon, and went sailing up. but the bear got the airship, and. ,-4iptin9 its brow straight at the hal-