Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-15

up his mind to lie awake all night. and
come to breakfast wan and pale. How
ever. in the middle of the night Regi-
maid awoke-he was hungry. That made
him cross, and his crosSnesS made him
naughty.
IF they don't give me any hay" he said.
I'll have to eat my straw bed. AND
he began eating and eating Until he
had eaten up every bit of his bed. He
knew he was naughty and he knew he
would be scolded in the morning. but
then. the morning was long way on
However, as the hours wore on and ne
couldn't get to sleep he began to feel
unhappy. In the first place he had no
bed to lie on and the ground was hard
and uncomfortable. In the second place
1t was getting near morning, and he
would be, and in the third place he was
hungry again. He gave a deep, deep
sigh. Just then he heard voice near
him. what's the natter" it said.
Reginald turned and looked There
before him was a cockatOo. a beautiful
bird with green tailfeathers yard and
half long.
I'm hungry" said Reginald.
Are you?" said the cockatoo. po-
litely
Very" said Reginald
Indeed" said the cockatoo.
"Of course" said Reginald.
Really" said the cockatoo.
Yes" said Reginald
oh" said the cOckatOo. .
imp. said Reginald.
Well said the cockatoo. II You re
fond of straw 1 can tell you where
there's a great quantity. Reginald
opened his eyes and sat up.
II am fond of straw. he said.
Are you?" said the cockatoo.
Very" said Reginald.
.Indeed?" said the cockatoo.
Never mind that said Reginald
where's the straw,
Well" said the cockatoo. there's
.little village about five miles from here
twhere all the roofs are made Of straw,
and if you're really hungry there's no
reason why you shouldn't go ard eat
the roofs
And Reginald got riest up. ana said,
I'm going. Which way is it?
That way" pointed the 1 ,Sa at 90
Along the river till you get to the ne No.
and then about two miles to the left
So Reginald splashed into the water as
quietly as he could. and swan OF TO
the river bank Then he started on. as
the cockatoo had told him. along the
river to the bend and two miles to the
left Surely enough. there before him
we're the native huts. 1t was quite light
now and the straw did look tempting,
nicely spread out on the roofs
Reginald began to gloat as ne saw IL
He hurried up to the first house and
pulled a delicious mOuthful from the roof.
Then he closed his eyes and munched 1t
and felt happy But the people inside
the house didn't feel happy at all. They
rushed right out. and when they saw
Reginald they screamed and ran down
the village. They were black people with
fuzzy hair. and petticoats made out OF
red and white beads. But Reginald dldn I
care if they ran away. He kept on eating
until he had eaten off the whole roof,
and then he commenced on the next
BY this time all the people had run out
of their homes and were collected In
little groups at safe distance from the
hungry Reginald. Reginald felt quite
proud TO think that they were all so afraid
of him He kept on eating until he had
finished the third and fourth roofs. and
then he saw two men coming In the dis
tance They were white men. and they
carried long coil of rope that MADE
Reginald a little nervous.
Il wonder IL it's almost time for me to
60 home?' he said But the fifth roof
was so particularly nice that he decided
to finish it. They wouldn't dare to come
near me,'' he told himself. And SO he
pulled III that luscious straw and sWal-
lowed mouthful after mouthful-and a
hippopotamus' mouthful is a large piece!
Well he actually managed to finish the
fifth roof and then he looked up and saw