Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-03-03
Little Stptle,
10 Bedtime
By THORNTON w. BURGESS.
Copyright. 1915, BY ]. G. Lloyd-)
What Farmer Browns Boy Did
With the Weasel.
Ribble. dibble, dibble dab!
Some people have the gift Of gao.
Some people have no tongues at all
To trip them up and make them fall.


| 1t is fact, one of the biggest facts in all
! the world, that tongues make the great
est part of all the trouble that brings I'M
comfortable feelings and bitterness and
sadness and suffering and sorrow. If it
wasn't for unruly, careless, mean tongues.
| the Great World would be a million times
better to live in. a million times happier.
1t Is because Of his unruly tongue that
Sammy Jay is forever getting into
trouble. 1t is the same way with Chat
! terer the Red Squirrel. And 1t Is just the
same way with many little boys and girls,
and with grown-ups as well.
| When the little people of the Green
Fore and Green Meadows who fear
Shadow the Weasel found that he was a
prisoner many of them took particular
pains to visit him when the way was
clear just to make fun of him and tease
him and tell him that they were sure
something dreadful would happen to him.
and they hoped 1t would. Shadow said
to do that. He just turned his back on
them But all the time he was storing
up in his mind all these hateful things.
He meant that il ever he got free again
| for those whose foolish tongues were try
| ing to make him more miserable than he
already felt.
But these little people with the foolish
| tongues didn't stop to think Of what
might happen. They just took it for
granted that Shadow never again would
run wild and free in the Green Forest,
and SO they just let their tongues run.
and enjoyed doing it. Perhaps they
wouldn't have If they could have known
( just what was going on in the mind of
! Farmer Browns Boy. Ever since he had
/ found Shadow in the trap which he had
set for him in the henhouse Farmer
Browns Boy had been puzzing over what
! I~ rxYtf h nS
he had thought he would keep him in a
cage the rest of his life. But somehow
| whenever he looked into Shadows fierce
little eyes and saw how unafraid they
looked he got to thinking of how terrible
| it must be to be shut up In a little mar
row cage when one has had all the Green
Forest in which to go and come. Then
he thought that he would kill Shadow and
put him out of his misery at once
HE killed my pulletS and he is alwa VS.
| hunting the harmless little people of the
Green Forest and the Green Meadows,
| SO he deserves to be killed." thought
Farmer Browns Boy. Hes pest"
Then he remembered that after all
Shadow was one of Old Mother Natures
| little people. and that 1t must be that he
served some purpose in Mother Natures
great plan. Bad as he seemed, she must
| have some use for him. Perhaps it was
to teach others through fear of him how
to be smarter and take better care of
themselves, and SO be better fitted to do
their parts. The more he thought of this
| the harder it was to make up his mind
to kill him. But If he couldn't keep him
prisoner and he couldn't kill him, what
could he do?
he was scowing down at Shadow one
morning and puzZling over this when a
! happy idea came to him. II know what
I'll dor he exclaimed. Without another
word he picked up the cage with Shadow
in 1t and started on across the Green
Meadows. which now. you know. were not
Happy Jack Squirrel watched him out
! of sight. He had gone in the direction of
the Old Pasture. He was gone a long
time. and when he did return the cage
| was empty.
Happy Jack blinked at the empty cage
| Then he began to ask in a scolding tone:
"What did you do with him? What did
you do with him?''
Farmer Browns Boy just smiled and
tossed a nut to Happy Jack. And far
up in the Old Pasture Shadow the Wea-
sci was once more free. 1t was well for
Happy Jacks peace Of mind that he
didn't know that.