The Snyder signal. (Snyder, Tex.) 1887-????, 1915-12-17
THE STORY OF A POSTAGE STAMP.

Inside the letter which the postnlan handed
to Dinah for Master Tom Was carefully wrap
ped piece Of gold, and when the boy saw 1t he
gave a whoop OF delight that brought his mother
running down the front stairs.
From Uncle Bob i" he shouted. All the way
from Egypt mother-see, it's marked Sudan
postage How bully in uncle to remember me
Christmas, way off there
Indeed it is" said Mrs. Howard, and her eyes
filled with tears, for she had not seen her brotherN
Toms beloved Uncle Bob, for several years anil
always at Christmas time she missed him most. y
Left alone, Tom drew great armchair up
before the open fireplace and began to plan the
spending of his uncles generous present.
The heat made him drowsy and his head
swayed a little as his eyes rested first on the
stamp and then travelled to the glowing embers.
Then wonderful thing happened. The stamp
flew from the letter and moving film spread
itself over the fireplace.
Tom saw his uncle come out from queer,
foreign-looking place with letter in his hand.
From his pocket he drew a stamp very pretty
stamp, the one Tom had seen upon his letter, IL
bore picture OF camel at full trot, striding
swiftly across the desert with a native upon its
shoulders This stamp Uncle Bob affixed upon
the letter and glanced about for the postman,
meanwhile consulting his watch. Presently up
came the postman, on a camePs back. Toms
letter was placed among others in bag slung
over the postman's shoulders. The camel was
urged forward again, and Uncle Bob watched
till it was out of sight.
The hot sun beat down upon the riders head,
dry sand blew into his face, but all that afternoon
bis camel was speeding along, sometimes pass
ing fields where natives were growing cotton,
and at other times travelling through stretches
where there was nothing but sand and rocks.
C,,ddapI,, tho in the distance n
great dark cloud moving toward him across the
desert In moment he knew II to be an ap-
preaching whirwind of sand, and he at once
dismounted Tom held his breath to watch more
closely. The camel was made to lie down and
bury its head, and the postman also buried his
face against the shaggy side OF the camel till the
sandstone had passed over. And all the time
the postage stamp was lying safe in the post
mans bag.
Up again and on toward Khartoum the post
man sped. Here Tom saw the letters in the bag
sorted and the camel stamp marked with post
mark to show that il had passed through the
Khartoum postoffice. Then Bob's uncle's letter
was made up with others into a package and
carried through queer streets filled with duslIy
natives, with here and there the whittier saces of
some English people. The package was placed
on a railway and passed through district fa-
nous in history. Close by was the River Nile,
and at one point the letter passed near the place
where the ancient Hebrews once toiled in bond
age At no very great distance, too, were the
pyramids and the Red sea. Then it reached
great seaport town on the Mediterranean, and
was placed aboard a mail steamer. The steamer
touched at Malta, where other letters were taken
on board; also at Gibraltar the great rock which
guards the entrance to the Mediterranean; then
passing through the stormy bay Of Biscay it was
landed at Southampton, and swift mail train
hurried It up to London. Here it was again han
died by a sorer and then placed on board ship
bound for New York.
Then the film vanished and the fireplace re-
appeared. Tom sat up, rubbing his eyes. Very
carefully he placed the stamp in his album, and
many times afterward he told the story Of the
stamp that bore his Christmas present over the
seas, Of the strange lands it had visited and the
curious sights it had seen in its travels.
.tk!el