Evening star., 1912-11-04
At the End Of the Rainbow.
LITTLE SUNBEAMS.
BY WALT MASON.
By WALT MASON.

"Mr. Myth was here this afternoon
to engage board and rooms for himself
and his two children announced the
landlady. Il have to take his applica-
ton into consideration for day or two
before / can give him a definite answer.
Id dearly love to have them, for Mr..
Myth is q perfect gentleman and his
two little boys are angels. But the house
is so crowded that / hardly see how l
can accommodate them
IF you give Mr.. Myth and his Off
spring shelter under this roof Mrs. Jig
gers" said the star boarder, sternly, III
pack my few collars and socks into
grip and vanish N the gathering dark
ness, and | have no doubt that other
boarders will accompany me. have moth
ing to say against Mr.. Myth and his
angel boys as individuals. | have no
doubt that he is one Of natures noble
men and that his children are wellsprings
Of pleasure but a boarding house is no
place for such wellsprings. Let Mr.. Myth
constructed a lodge in some vast wilder
ness and take up his abode there.
Children. taking them by and large.
are an excellent institution. Mrs. Jig
gers, and the man is considered heart
less who points the finger of scorn at
them: but children, like other blessings,
should be kept in their proper sphere, and
their proper sphere is not such an estab-
lishment as this, filled with grave and
reverend boarders, who desire peace
above everything. The proper place for
which we read in the books. 1 have often
felt that such vine-covered cottages. un-
less they are filled with the harmless
prattle of childhood, are whited sepul-
chers. But it is a far cry from a vine
covered cottage to red brick boarding
house wearing an iron roof.
Before coming to this chaste resort l
boarded with Mrs Cushion, who for
long time treated me with the consid-
Grafton due one of my august appearance
and incorruptible virtue. l was consulted
about everything. ! was called upon to
decide as to the eligibility of prospective
bOarderS. / was a sort of supreme court
in that establishment, and 1 expected to
spend the rest of my days there, loved
and honored. But one day there came
a widower with a seraphic son Of seven or
eight years. The arrival ct that youth
marked change in the demeanor of Mrs.
l was no more than an ordinary boarder.
Mrs. Cushion was so infatuated with
that child that she didn't seem to care
whether my coffee was hot or cold.
I'm the halycon days the boarders used
to assemble In the sitting room after
supper and discuss the living issues, and
the words Of wisdom that fell from my
tongue were listened to with profound
upon those words. All the boarders
agreed that our little discussions We're
uplifting and profitable, and they looked
forward to those helpful evenings. But
these seances were broken up when that
small boy invaded the house.
LAS soon as we adjourned to the sitting
room after supper Mrs. Cushion would
insist upon placing that little angel child
on exhibition. She had taught him to
recite 'Casabianca' and 'Mary's Little
Lamb and he had to recite them for us.
II there is anything that sets my teeth
on edge and fills my mind with homicidal
impulses it is listening to child reciting
poetry. especially when he doesn't know
the words.
"Then the childs parent would take
the floor, in the fatuous way of parents,
and repeat cunning things the child had
said when he was five years three months
two weeks and six days old. He could
always give the exact date when any
given bonmot was handed down by that
prodigy.
"The infant was given the run Of the
house. and would enter the boudoirs
Of the boarders and break their cher
ished meerschaum pipes and spill their to-
bacco, and when accused of such van
dalism would deny 1t, and Mrs. Cushion
always believed him and held that there
was a conspiracy against him. The child
was given the best doughnuts and the
choicest pieces of pie and the richest Of