The Detroit times., 1913-10-29

IfBCence-fOr tnere nau come 10 MIN
at that moment the dearest OF all
those memories-a play OF his child
hood
- He saw himself seated on 4 low
stool. watching a funny old clock
with a moon.face, whose smiling lips
curved up like military mustachios,
and wishing the lazy long hands
would hurry He saw himself steal
ing down a long corridor to the door
OF big room strewn with books aad
papers, that through some baleflil and
myst erious spell could not be made
to open at all hours. When the
hands pointed right, however. there
was the Open Sesame"-his own Sc
cret knock, two fierce twin raps. with
tone little lonesome one afterward--
aud this was unfailing. Safe inside.
he saw himself standing on big, POI
lar bear skin rug. the door tightlocked
against all corners, an expectant baby
| figure. with his little hand clasped in
his fathers. The white rug was the
magic entrance to the NeverNever
county. known only to those two.
He could hear his own shrill treble: :.
Wishing House. Vlshing-FIouse.
| where are YOU"
Then the deeper vote, quite I'M
rec ognisable as his fathers, answer.
ing:
Here I Pm, Master; here ] am"
And instantly the room vanished
| and the, were IN, the Never Never
I land, and before them reared the big
fsest house In the world, with row
of white pillars across Its front a mile
high,
Valiant drew a deep breath. Some
| magic OF time and place was repaint-
ing that dead and dusty infancy In
sudden delicate lights and flmy col.
ors. What had been but blurred I'M
lder-expoeures on the retina OF his
brain became all at once elfln pic.
lures, weird and specter-like as the
dissoIving views OF a camera obscura.
He and his father had lived alone
| in Wishing House. No one else had
possessed the secret Not HIS moth.
err Not even the more portentous
person whom he had thought must
own the hast hotel In which they
lived Tin such respect did she seem
| to- be held by the servants) who
wore cracking black silk and big
bunch of keys for sole ornament
and who had called him her lamb"
No. in the Never-Never Land there
had been only his father and he.
Yet they were anything but lone
| iy, for the country was Inhabited by
good natured friendly savages, as
black as a lump OF coal, most of them
With curly white hair These talked
a queer language. but Of course his
father and he could understand them
perfectly. These savages had many
curious and enthralling customs and
strange cuddling songs that made one
sleepy, and all these his father knew
by heart. They lived In little square
huts around Wishing House, made OF
sticks, and had dozens and dozens OF
children who wore no clothes and
| liked to dance In the sun and eat
| cherries. They were very useful bar
f, barians, too for they chopped the
wood and built the fires and made
! the horses coats shine--for he and
! his father would have scorned to
walk. and went galloping like the
wind everywhere The forests about
were filed with small brown cats.
tremendously furry, with long whis-
heiS anu sinai ~, Occuy DiuNh Csco'
and sometimes they would hunt these
on horseback; but they never caught
them. because the cats could run Just
little bit faster than the horses.
Christmas time at home was not so
very exciting. but at Wishing House
what time they had, Then all the
savages and their wives and children
received presents, and he and his
father had a dreadfully scary shivery
time remembering them all, because
some had SO many children they ran
out of names and had to use numbers
instead. So there was always the
narrowing fear that one might mad
vertently be left out. and sometimes
they couldn't remember the last one
till the very final minute After the
Christmas turkey, the oldest and
BLACKLIST savage Of all would come
In where his father and he sat at the
table with q pudding as big as the
gold chariot in the circus, and the
pudding by some magic spell. would
set itself on fire, while he carried II
round the table, with all the other
savages marching after him This
was the most awe-inspiring spectacle
OF all. Christmases at other places
were long way apart, but they came
as often as they were wanted at
Westinghouse, which. he recalled.
was very often indeed.
John Valiant felt an odd beating
OF the heart and tightening OF the