The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1909-04-21
A
Happy Friendship
Tho Pretty Story of How "Alice in
WonGeriand" Came to Be Written.
Helen Marshall Pratt in st. Nicholas.


Can you imagine time when "Alice
IN Wonderland" had not been heard
OF! When no one knew the story of
the White Rabbit and the Cheshire
Cat, of the March Hare and the Mad
Tea party? When you are old, Faith
er William" and How doth the little
busy bee" read only one way, and when
there was no Mock Turtles story, no
Lobster chadlille, and the Red Queen
and the Duchess and Tweedledum and
fweedledee had not yet been made to
live for the pleasure of children, large
and small?
l fancy that every one who loves the
Alice books must pity those unfortu-
nate children who lived before they
were written, and who thus missed so
much that makes the reading hours of
childhood bright today.
In the great quadrangle or court of
Christ Church college, in Oxford, Eng
land, many stirring event has taken
place, and many distinguished man
has lived and died. OF all these, no
can children than the writing of "Alice
IN Wonderland" and no person of
greater interest than its author, the
Rev. Charles Dodgson, whom we know
better under his pen-name, Lewis Car
roll" In the same quadrangle, which
every one in Oxford calls the "Tom
Quad" from the bell named Great Tom
which hands in the Gateway tower,
mved the real Alice, sweet, merry lit
tie Oxford girl, one of Lewis Carroll's
earliest and best child friends.
Nothing in the dignifed appearance
Of the quadrangle suggests the gro
sesque creations and the merry fancies
Of these wonderful nonsense books
All doorways open into homes of grave
professors and students. In the north
west angle the author of Alice found
his home in 1862, few years after he
had come to be lecturer ON mathe-
mates in the college.
He seems to have been very quiet,
orderly, reserved young man, fond Of
1ong walks OFF in the country by him.
self; fond Of books and study; shy and
retiring with grown people, except
those that he knew very well; but hap
py and free and merry with all chill
dren, whom he tenderly loved. He was
nhe oldest in big family of eleven
children of whom he was very fond
as they were of him. He made friends
~uitb obildran oc lono oc ha liyod ond
was never too tired or too busy to en-
tertain them.
A little Oxford girl-but she is now
q lady, and you can see the roof Of
her beautiful home in the quadrangle
who was one of Lewis Carroll's best
Bee," says: "If you went to see Mr..
Dodgson in the morning you would
and him, pen in hand, hard at work
on neat packets carefully arranged
around him on the table; but the pen
would be instantly laid aside, and the
most cheerful of smiles would well
come you in for chat as long as you
Mixed to stay"
! suppose that no children ever had
. more delightful playfellow than did
these little friends. A story is told of
a famous general who went to call at
a house in the Quad and was ushered
into a room where no one seemed to
be present, but great commotion was
going on under the table. The gen.
eral, who loved romp with his own
children, got on all fours and rushed
under the table, where he found to his
great surprise the Rev. Charles Dodg-
son surrounded by the children of the
family.
But of all the little friends whom
Lewis Carroll loved, none were dearer
than the daughters of Dean Liddell;
LORNA, Alice and Edith. They lived
on the same side of the quadrangle
with him, but at the opposite corner;
that is, they lived at the east end of
1orth walk and he lived at the west
end, so that they could run along the
Aags and visit him and have cozy
dime, even on rainy day. Their faith
q was dean Of the cathedral, and one
Of the authors of the great Greek die
Nonary which your older brother
Knows very we'll, no doubt The dean
cry Is a beautiful old home with ivy
and trees and fine garden at the
hack, and this was the home of Alice
She was not the Oldest. but the sec
snd daughter, and In the verses at the
beginning Of the Wonderland book she
= called "Secunda" (SeDond); LORNA,
n eldest, is called 'F1ima" (First).