Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1918-10-02
THE BABY WITCHES BALL.

THE BABY WITCHES BALL.
Once upon time the witches decided
10 give their babies a ball. Of course,
witches have "a bad name all over the
world. and il is hard to get anyone to say
n kind word for them But the truth is
that in their own families they are most
generous and hard working. There mny
be few who spend their time at broom
stick races and midnight meetings. Hut
most of them keep pretty steadily Mt
home when their babies are young
Now this particular ball was TO he
given to the babies who were just toddi'ng
around There were about dozen OF
them and each had little gnome ior
nurse. The little baby witches were thin,
dark and very spry, and the gnorne nurses
were light and like fairies, but they all got
along nicely together.
The ball was To be given in grove Mt
midnight on the first day Of April There
was one very old witch: her age WAS about
10000 years and she was as cross rs two
sticks. When shc heard the mother witch
es planning the party she SAID IT must be
at dawn and not in the night.
"rhC idea Of having babies up at such
late hours'" she exclaimed, knocking on
the ground with her stick.
1T would hc much worse 10 get them
up Mt dawn" replied the mothers Most
MI Of us prefer midnight, and those who
do not like it can stay away
80 YOU mean to insult mel shr'ekcd
tho old witch Her tiny eyes shot fire and
she trcmblcd with rage Il will show those
impudcnt Youngsters what Will do,
she muttcred. as she tottered away.
There is plenty of life IN me even IT ! am
5000 wears old
All The week this mean old witch. who
was known rs Weeny. sat up brewing
some horrid Kind of liquid in her black
pot II would smoke and boil till yellow
and rod flames leapcd ont Of II; then she
would stir IN more powder and mumbie
strange Latin words ovrr tho broth. AZ
last II was finished and she PLACED II IN a
small pail
Whom the ball comes of tomorrow
night | will pay tho gnome nurses To hattie
the babies IN water. which has drop OF
this fluid IN II, = she said, And that viii
, make them all sick. too sick to go Ia any
ball Maybe then their mothers will listen
to a wiser head than their own.
Early the next morning Neeny went
to all the gnome nurses and promised
them candy and money Il they would put
few drops of her stuff into the baby
witches bath water
1T will lust make them hIt sick for =
Flew hours. she said Md not harm them
~ All OF course Won must not put much
or there might bc some strange results.
Be careful 10 put only three drops in each
| TUT
Al Of the nurses except ono promised
| This little gnome was named Goo She
| had kind heart and knew that old Weeny
was a mean creature ta> I've playing such q
trick 50 Goo hid while Neenv was talking
| 10 the other nurses
Il don't mean 10 do any such thing as
| she asks us 10 do. said Goo TO tho other
| snomeS when Weeny had hobbled of
She wants Ia act unkind and make the
kids suffer for spite
OH she won't hurt the babies. reality
sang out tho others See what nice
boxes of candy she has left us. and she
promises each of IFS three more next week
and 10 pieces Of gold
Goo SAID nothing. hu, shc crepf IN 20
the nom in which tho bathiubs were kept.
II WAS Just over the stable IN which the
mother witches kept their broomstIck
sfeeds On a shelf she saw the pa;l ot stuff
made by Ncenv NJ! waiting 80 bc used.
II was sweet smelling and hrownlsh Goo
poured II all into bucket she had with
! her, then bllcd up the wltch $ pan with
water sveetened with molasseS.
Presently the baby witches and tho
nurses came in, Goo Ind behind screen
Then in tramped old Wecnv She poured
tlscc drops If the molaSscs water into
| each tub, thinking Il was tho liquid she
had made
Goo seized her pail. which held the real
stuff WccnN had made
1. l..
| pen she cried rs she sprinkled LOT Of II
| on the nurse. but | guess it will be some
/ thing YOU deserve Then she poured
| about quart right down on the head OF
Nccnv herself
And something did happen The gnome
nurses all turned snow white. then they
became round. fluffy balls Just like those
YOU see that have once been dandellon
blooms Away out Of the window they
floated on the breeze till they were lost to
sight But far worse happened TO the old
witch When Goo poured the stuff on her