The St. Mary banner., 1909-08-07

ed it, explains a contributor to Little
Folks.
was finishing my breakfast one
morning when | heard little sounl
at nv elbow 1t was Martha, who
had slipped off her shoes at the outer
door. and come 50 softly through the
open hall that l had not heard her.
After l had taken the parcel OF
sewing her mother had sent, ! gave
Martha two oranges which were left
in a dish on the table. One of them
was big and the other quite small.
One orange is for you,' l said,
"and the other you may carry to
Louka Which one will you give him. ,
Martha waited long while be-
fore answering. At any time she
would have thought it rude for a liz
tie child to answer promptly or in
voice loud, enough to be easily
heard; but this time she waited even
longer than good manners required.
She looked one orange over and over
and then the other. After little
more urging lIOlIl llS SIC "'Hio PSi 49,
This one" 1t was the big one.
Curious to know of the struggle
which had made her so long in decid-
ing, l said: but why don't you givv
Louka the small orange? he is
small boy"
Martha dug her little stockinsed
toes into the carpet and twisted her
apron hem before she answered.
"Ts not Anna waiting for me at
the gate?" sic said. anna and l viii
eat my orange together. Mine has
twelve pieces and the other only
eleven. Anna would not like to take
six pieces if l had only five.''
"You cannot see through the
orange skin, Martha. to tell how many
pieces there are. How is it you
know?" l asked.
Then Martha told me the orange
secret. and it is this:
If you look at the stem-end OF an
Grange, you will see the scar where
1t pulled away from the stem like
wheel, with spokes going out from the
center. If you count the spaces be-
tween these spokes, ycu will lind tnat
there are just as many OF them as
there will be sections in the orange
when you open it; and so you can tell.
as Martha did, how many pieces
your orange has.
Perhaps you think every orange has
the same number, just as every apple
has five cells which hold its seeds;
but you will find it is not so. Why
not? Well, l do not know. But, per-
haps away back in the history of the
orange, when it is a flower, or per-
! haps when it is only a bud, something
may happen which hurts some OF
the cells or makes some Of them out
! grow the rest. Then the number OF
cells is mixed; and, no matter no"
! big, and plump, and juicy the orange
becomes. it has no more sections than
it had when it was little green but
ton, just beginning to be an orange.
The next time you eat an orange,
try to find out it's secrets before you
open it.-Home Herald.
TEDDY.
want to tell you about a cat,
named Teddy, which belonged to my
aunt and uncle. He was very intelli-
gent, and seemed to understand all
that was said to him. He disliked
strangers, and would disappear for
some time if any visited at his mas
ter's house.
Teddy was obliged to do a trick
before eating. When a plate of mea:
was held above his head he would
sit up on his hind feet like dog,
and scratch his ear with his paw.
When my uncle came up the walk
toward the house Teddy would run to
meet him, and roll over and over at
his feet
He dearly loved raw corn, and
would come running into the garden
if he heard anyone husking corn or
tearing the ears from the stalk.
When Teddy died he was mourned
as for an only child by his master
and mistress.-Marion Parker, in the
New York Tribune
A COMPOSITION ON HENS.
A little Kansas boy wrote this CON-