Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-05-13


Dorothy Dear and Mary Elizabeth
Brown were telling stories, under
tree IN the Brown back yard. AT
least, Dorothy was telling a story
to Mary Elizabeth, about a poor
but beautiful girl that lived In an
enchanted wood. with an old, old
woman who said she was her god
mother.
"She used to wander through the
woods" said Dorothy, picking up
sticks that she and her godmother
sold in the village. They bought
food with the money, but they never
had any left over for clothes, SO
Elspeth always looked very shabby.
Tier clothes were old and ragged,
and her feet were fbare, as 1 said be-
fore" Dorothy went on, gazing alb
sently at Mary Elizabeth, but she
didn't care very much, cause not
many people saw her in the wood.
and the birds and animals, even the
wild ones, were her friends.
"One day the old woman said to
her, Winter is coming, and we must
gather many sticks, for our own use
and to sell for bread. 1t will be a
hard winter with many snowstorms,
and we must prepare
"Elspeth looked at the old woman
and shivered. She always felt sure
that some day the old woman would
turn her into a chair or table, so
that she would not have to feed her
The old woman was a witch, you
know, and could do anything"
Dorothy leaned against the tree
trunk and smiled with satisfaction
as she stopped to rest Mary Eliza
beth regarded her admiringly.
Its a splendid story, Dorothy"
she declared, IT feel ever so sorry
for poor Elspeth. 1 hope some
thing nice'll happen to her fore the
end of it."
Dorothy nodded her head.
90 course, I'll have her live happy
ever after" she said, though I do
like to have sad endings sometimes.
They seem more real"
You're a funny girl" commented
Mary Elizabeth, 81 can't stand sad
endings. They make me cry and
cry. When I read Elsie Dinsmore'
I cried ever so hard. Poor Elsie!
Didn't she have time with her
cruel old father?"
"That was sad in the middle, the
end was all right" declared Dor
othy, at cried too. But her father
got nicer afterwards.
"Ye-es," agreed Mary Elizabeth,
"but he was hateful old thing, just
the same. But go on with your
story, Dorothy, If you're rested"
Dorothy frowned as she tried to
remember just where she stopped.
20, yes," said she, after mo-
lnAlrad al tho old
woman and shivered. She thought
he'd rather do most anything than
spend another winter with the old
woman in the little, cold hut.
"'Stop dreaming and go out and
gather wood said /the old woman
sharply, coming toward Elspeth
with her cane in the air. Elspeth
jumped up quickly and ran toward
the door, half crying.
''She walked through the wood
slowly, wondering why fate was so
unkind to her. But the sun was
shining brightly and the birds were
singing, so Elspeth could not stay
unhappy very long, and before she
knew 1t, she was singing softly to
herself, such a pretty song about
summer and running water.
after q while she came to her
favorite tree and climbed up into it
to rest. The tree stood by brook
and from her seat Elspeth could
look down at the dancing water. She
saw her face in the water, and it
looked very queer, because the
water kept ripping and this made
her face look ripply too. The effect
was so funny that Elspeth laughed
aloud, and forgot all about gather
ing wood.
"All the afternoon Elspeth stayed
in the tree, swinging and singing on