Manchester Democrat., 1910-02-02
POLY PHEMus

Oee upon time tnere lived a lit
Tie orphan whose name was Poly
Phemus. She was born one golden
day IN summer in the top of lovely
maple tree. Such wee thing and
so helpless was she that the fairies
loved her, and the Queen of the
Fairies took very good care of her,
says the Circle Magazine.
When Poly opened her eyes in this
big world the Fairy Queen had sur.
rounded her with tender, juicy green
leaves for food. The warm sun shone
upon her. the breezes gently rocked
her. and she lived happily in her
tree top. eating and growing apace
from day to day.
Now 1t seems that when Poly was
born she had but one small coat to
her back, and as she grew rapidly
this little green coat got much too
snug for comfort. She would have
been In dreadful plight had not
Fairy Nature promised to attend to
ner wardrobe. So she grew and
grew, and many times her coat burst
open in the back, and each time as
she slipped out, wonder of wonders!
brand-new coat enveloped her fat
little body. s-f5
Summer advanced and Poly Phe-
mus had quite grown up. One day as
she sat upon a maple leaf, clothed
In her wondrous coat of green and
gold just fresh from the hands of
Fairy Nature, she said to the naples:
Are you not. glad that live among
your branches, for surely / have the
most beautiful coat in all the world?"
The NAPLES laughed and clapped
their hands, but answered never a
word. Then to the birds she called:
Tell me. please. you who travel far
and wide, have you ever seen any.
thing half SO beautiful as my coat of
green and gold?" The birds sang on
but answered her never a word.
Now, beneath the tree, sitting upon
the grass, Poly spied little girl.
She surely will tell me that am
beautiful, thought Poly, and she drop.
ped right down into the little girls
lap. ooh. obi" cried the little girl,
"a horrid, nasty. green caterpillar!"
and she shook her apron violently
and ran away as fast as she could
go. All curled up in little ball
among the grasses lay Poly, fright
ened and very niserable-just as
miserable as she could possibly be.
Now all of this made the Fairy
Queen sad, for she had fashioned the
wondrous coat and knew 1T to be
beautiful. All, she thought I'll make
little Poly the loveliest thing in all
the world. So delicate shall she be
that MN wiF call her the spirit Of
the flowers, and children will not
fear her. but will run after her, but.
she shall elude them.
Fairy Nature gave to Poly threads
Of silken floss and taught her to
weave them into a tiny house in
which she was to sleep while the
magic wand worked wonders And
so she slept for nine long months.
Winter had passed and a new
spring, with promise of a glorious
summer, came timidly forward. Fairy
Nature had been unfolding her secret
plans. Suddenly the voice of lit
tie girl was heard calling: Moth
er. mother, come and see this beau.
tiful thing!'
Poised upon her house of silken
threads. just ready for flight, was
the spirit of Poly Phemus-a lovely
moth. Its wings of golden brown
were touched here and there with
blue and black. and over all was a
blush of rosy pink The moth rose
upon its wings and faded from sight.
leaving upon the ground the house
of silken threads and the discard
ed coat. no longer bright with green
and gold. And this was Poly Phe-
mus.-Newark Call.