The Washington herald., 1916-03-21
TITLE Johnnie Wiseacre sat
outside the door of his dress


outside the door of his dress
ing room the other afternoon
reading lbsen's Ghosts" as l passed
by and paused to "green-room" Cos
sip with him a few minutes about the
latest avalanche of studio work.
How old are you now. Johnnie" l
asked him, after l had listened to a
long dissertation On the cult and cul-
ture of the photoplay.
Just eight, Miss Pickford, but |
think Pm rather old for my age, don't
your"
Indeed I do" and I laid lament
able stress upon my words. TOO old,
Johnnie, about sixty years too old"
Johnnie looked hurt, but only for
a moment, as real spring time youth
has the rare assurance that the opin-
ions of its elders bear very little
weight after all.
"My mother always tried TO develop
my mind in broader channels" con-
tinued Johnnie, who now studied Inc
colby. "She firmly believes that will
grow up to be clever man if | learn
TO think clearly at an carly age"
$50 that is why you read Ibsen
and" l smiled, trying to keep my
eyes from dancing.
Il enjoy Shakespeare and Suder-
,,,,n ;,,,,,.,coI,," ;,,c-r,r..J I;t,Io
Johnnie, assuming a sclf-protectivc
attitude. Some day l hope to play
Hamlet, or even Macbeth. Mother
says that if l hold to that thought
long enough, it is bound to come
true"
Undoubtedly" and I smiled again,
but aren't you a little young to be
delving into the big, dusty book
shelves? Do you ever read the Boy
Scout books or Robert Louis Steven
sons stories Of adventurc?"
boy Scouts" he cried dcrisively.
I"Advcnturc stories! They arc almost
as silly as fairy stuff! What funny
ideas you have, Miss Pickford! And
then he stared at me with Peter Pans
immortal question in his eyes: why
j-why-d-do you believe in fairies"
"Of course believe in fairy
stories, and | hope | shall never for
get the fun | had when | was your
age. In spite OF the fact that | had
been on the stage for three years,
was sure that mermaids lived happily
in their under-the-sca palaces and
that gnomcs ran taverns in the hol-
lows of every ancient oak"
Johnnie Wiseacre laughed until his
little body was convulscd with mcrri-
mcnt
"O-o-oh, Miss Pickford, I'd be
ashamed to tell it. If some Of the kids
around the studio heard you talk like
that-h'm!"
what would they say" l inter-
ruptcd eagerly. Johnnie made cir
cular motion with his hncrs upon his
temples, indicating wheels turning
with great rapidity.
Don't even the younger children
read fairy storics?" l asked him, truly
surprised, because I thought it was a
part OF every child's education. He
looked at me incredulously.
Il should say not. We think they're
|-pifflc!'
Here the director called me, and
when l returned Johnnie was gone,
lbsen's Ghosts" and all
Alone in my dressing room, I sat
for long while, weighing his words
seriously and wondering who was in
the wrong-Johnnic's mother or l.
Her belief was that children should
assimilate their knowledge only from
the world-great sages and that their
brains should not be burdened with
any impractical, useless kernels of
fact or fiction. l, on the other hand,
had always felt that the imagination
of children would be colored and
ripened by their mental voyages into
lfairyland.
When little child dreams that,