The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-08-26
THE THREE GENES Or !
The AAhO-gRtIADE
Written for the United States School
Garden Army Department OF the In
terror, Bureau OF Education
CART 1.

SART i.
See this picture" said the Garden
Lady one bright morning as she came
up to a group OF United states school
garden army soldiers, who were At
work in Tommy Thoughtfurs garden.
"Ho! rs a hand-grenade," said
Billy, the boy next door. why. IT
looks Just IKE the vases In the Arabi-
an Nights--the queer, squat-shaped
vases and jars out Of which the
Genics came-just like those that
helped Aladdin, you know"
Yes. indeed answered the Garden
Lady, "anG the spirits OF fame that
cam" out of these wonderful little
grenades were just as powerful In
fighting wrong as the marvellous genies
Of the Oriental stories. iF
And better still" added the Car
den Lady, her bright blue eyes twink :
ling like dewdrops on blue fax blos-
SONS "Uncle sam Is going to give one
of these hand -erenades as a savin gs
hank to every soldier of the United
States school garden army who joins
in haccpamif- :uar 'locksshrdiuuuu
in the campaign to buy War Savings
Stamps"
Gee. believe I'll enlist right
now cried Harold Hardy. who had
come by to try to persuade some of
the garden soldiers to go on hike.
The Garden Lady and the fellows were
equal TO the occasion. and in just a
minute or two Harold had signed an
enlistment blank and was ready to
work in a garden. forgetting all about
his nike. -
"Of course" said the Garden Lady.
there will he no explosives In your
hand grenade banks, but yous by your
savings. viii conjure up the most pow
rrful genies In the world and cage
them in your hanks, ready to serve
Won ~ a moments notice. You will
har.' as wOur share of the grenade the
mrst powerful forces in the world
forces that will help to drive out pow
erty and want from this fair country
Of ours. Just as the hand grenades> in
the hands of our soldiers helped to
drive back the Huns.
Tommy Thourhtful held the fasci-
mating picture of the hand grenade II,
his hand for n moment. and looked at
II dreamflv. Il was Just thinking"
he said. ''of the Genie in Kipling's
story of How the Camel Got His
Hump. You remember. fellows. that
when the Genie in that story started
the beginners of his magic he drew a
line in the air with his finger, and
them he made cloud. and then ne
made an egg. and then there was a
magi, pumpkin that turned into a bis.
white Nane. Well. we've got magic
pumpkins in our gardens. too and
Tommy Thoughtful chuckled.
That night Tommy Thoughtful
couldn't got the idea OF the Genie and
the bottle shaped hand grenade out OF
his mind
When he drfted of to sleep he was
still thinking about 1t, He was
startled out of deep sleep by loud,
cracking voice that seemed to come
from his own head, yet seemed also
to fill the room.
Tommy put his fingers in his ears,
but ne still heard the voice which
seemed everywhere at once. Then he
blinked and looked around.
On his table in the middle of the
room where his school books and the
Spring, Manual of the u. S. s. G..
army were piled az he had left them
stood hand grenade which had not
been there when he went to bed. II
was exactly like the one In the picture
which the Garden Lady had shown
/ him--a bottle-shaped, dark colored
object, full of deadly meaning