The San Francisco call., 1910-05-22
ny PERRY NEwBERRY

In the forests, giants in the mountains
and mermaids in the sea. She was too
lazy to sew, too lazy to do her lessons,
too lazy to knit. too lazy to keep clean
and neat and almost too lazy to
breathe. Her mother would say, Alice,
you must do thus or so,v and Alice
would answer, II am SO tired, mother."
Fairies simply detest laziness. They
are always : busy, either working to
help others or dancing to make them
selves into pretty pictures. Giants
hate laziness. They are usually busy
at some cruel thing, 1t is sad to say,
but they are active at il or they would
grow so fat they could not climb over
the mountains. Mermaids, as is we'll
known, are so opposed to laziness that
they spend their leisure hours combing
their hair on low rocks that have been
uncovered by the ebbing tide. So little
Alice Gilmartin, living in a country
where fays, elves, pixies, gnomes,
dryads, ogres, witches, mermaids and
giants were thick as butterflies are to-
day, was bound to get into serious
trouble over this grave fault OF being
too tired to do anything.
Mrs. Gilmartin lived on the edge of
forest at the foot of mountain over
1ookinto the sea- There was plenty of
work to do about the house, even for
little Alice, If she would only work
She could have helped her mother in a
thousand ways.
Now, one day Mrs. Gilmartin said to
Alice. IF you will only go to the foot
of the mountain and pick about two
quarts of wild strawberries which grow
so abundantly there, Alice, I will build
the incest kind of q strawberry short
cake for our supper" This should GER
tainly have tempted Alice to work, for
She was rather fond of strawberry
shortcake, especially as her mother
made it, with the two layers very
cakey and very thick, with plenty OF
berries in between, and nice, rich
syrup Of the juice of the berries to
pour over it, Alice should have an
swered promptly, Yes, dear mother.
but she did not. NO, indeed.' she
said, Il am so tired, mother. Please,
no.
"Alice." her mother said, and she
spoke with some asperity, which in an
other might be called crossness, you
are always tired. You have not done
thing all day. while 1 have been work
ing hard. Now, put on your pink sun
bonnet and take the half gallon milk
pail and do as / say"
But I do not want to pick straw
berries, mother"
Not another word! Col" and her
mother pointed at the foot of the noun
tain. where the berry patch was, with
the stick end Of her broom. and Alice
went, shuffiing her feet.
There was. just by the merest
chance, q sprite sitting on the hob at
the fireplace, who overheard this con-
versation. He, usually so merry, was
much panied by such a state of affairs,
and he Immediately whisked up the
chimney and flew away over the forest.
Meeting a couple of gnomes, who were
doing the assessment work on min
ing claim on the mountain side, he re-
lated to them this astounding matter
of the little girl who would not pick
strawberries for her mother to make
shortcake, and they. shaking their
heads gravely, for they are very dig
nified people, went into their hole in
the mountain and told an old kobold.
This kobold was great gossip and he
hurried out with this newest bit of
news and straightway told 1t to a
passing sprite. two pixies and an elf.
Before an hour had passed 1T was
known to the fairy folk all over the
countryside, so rapidly does bad news
travel. Even the lady mermaid, who
had just taken her afternoon bath and
was climbing up a slippery, wet rock
with her tortoise shell comb in her
hand, was given the complete story
somewhat exaggerated in passing from
lip to ear. by a will-o' they Wisp who
was hurrying to his evening work In
the salt marsh. Mercy mel" she ex-
claimed, such laziness is sinful!" and
she swan home to tell her husband
and the children, who were having
swimming races with band of por-
poises.
OF course the giant heard about IL.
When he said what he thought OF
Alice's conduct Alice thought it was
laundering up in the mountains, and
although she had picked but just
enough berries to cover the bright
bottom of the pail she decided she had
better start for home. Amy excuse for
stopping work is good excuse to lit
tie children who are lazy.
So kAlice started for home. 1t was
barely a quarter of a mile to Mrs.
Gilmartin's cottage, and she could see
the manSard roof from Where the har