Polk County news. [volume] (Benton, Tenn.) 191?-1983, 1920-07-01

some things 10 eat. The chief thin
was bread and butter. but that was no
the most curious thing. There was
large dish Of beechnuts. alread!
shelled.
The squirrels shelled those nut,
for themselves" said the tree man
But l gathered them for myself and
made all the squirrels shell some more
1 make all the squirrels work for me
but as never shoot any of them, they
don't mind much. And / do kill the
blacksnakes. so the snakes in this
woods never get a chance TO eat the
baby squirrels. The old squirrels are
grateful to me for this, and do not
mind being robbed"
at saves you a great deal of work, ("
said Sister, as politely as she could
with mouth full of beechnuts and
bread and butter. ut must be a great
bother for man to shell beechnutS."
She wanted to say "an old man." but
she thought that it would be rude to
! say that.
For dessert they mad wild honey.
The tree MAJ had got it out of bee
| trees. He said that he could do moth
ing in return for the bees, but that
the bees had got so in the habit of
working that they didn't mind gather
ing extra hOrey. He said that bees
do not know how to play, anyhow. The
only play they have is their work.
After supper the children curled up
in the rounding bed, just like two
curly bananas in a bunch, or two
curly filbert nuts in shell, and went
to sleep. Outside it rained and rained,
but they paid no attention.
In the morning they had blackber-
rfeS for Breakfast, and some pOpOvers
that the tree man made in his cunning
little stove He could make only six
popoyers at a time, but that was two
apiece.
The rain had stopped, and Aristotle
went off little way and hunted till
he caught a chipmunk and ate it. He
was so very quick that the chipmunk
never knew what hit him. Still it is
too bad that dogs can't always have
dor biscuit to eat.
The children saw n tiny lathe up in
the second story of the tree, and they |
asked the man what that was fox
II will tell you" said the little old |
man, with a shy look, "if you will |
promise not to tell"
The children promised.
Il put a little stick of wood in this
Z, tsak4 LOT I
treadle go, like a sewing machine
treadle. Then | hold a chisel against
the wood until I shape it into little
round balls. Then l take my knife
and shape these balls to look like nut
megs Then rub them with white
roSder TO make them look exactly like
IL (assg Then sell them 10 ped
6efs who sell them to the farmers
wives for real nutmegs. I make
wooden nutmegs."
When the children heard this as.
story, they simply had moths
ng to say. Now they knew why the
nutmeg man lived in tree. 1t was
20 that the policemen could not catch
him. He made wooden nutmegs and
heated the farmers wives. He was
/ cheat and a fraud.
They We're very sorry, because he
lad been so exceedingly kind to them.
They did not like to think that they
lad eaten popovers that were made |
With flour that was bought with money
hat was got from the farmers wives
" peddlerS that sold wooden nutmegs {
hat were made by the man who lived q
n the tree. $
but | am sick of this nutmeg BUSH t
ess," said the nutmeg man. ANY t
oE. there's no money in it. Almost {
X the farmers wives know wooden
utmegS when they see them, and so
hey won't buy them. Besides, they
ave pure food law now. so that it o
J wrong to sell wooden nutmegs." a
''Why," said Sister, wasn't Il wrong q
, sell them before that?" Il
SWELL" said the nutmeg man, per l.
APPS 1t wasn't just right, but then il 5
asn't just wrong, because there were D
hers who did it. OF courscs if just
had done it, ii wouldn't have been
ght. But Nthen if l hadn't done it, o.
e others would" p
But the children were quite sure y
at IT never could be right to sell =,
Doden nutmegs. -
The nutmeg maa gave Aristotle q 80
OGDEN nutmeg to play with, and Arts =,
tie chewed on it and carried 1t all
e way home. The man took them to
Q edge of the woods and showed NJ
EN- the right path. di
The children's parents were greatly of
ghtened and had been hunting for re
EN- all night. The children told them V;
nj they had stayed all night IN Il II
How tree. That was true, but 1t wi
Is not the whole truth. They had co
omised the man not to tell about
, nutmegs, and they thought that II
~ told anything about the tree they at
uld have to tell ABOUT the Dutmegs. ne
10 not know whether they did right co
not. Wis
When Aristotle Came into the house gu
dropped what he had in his mouth Co
then began 10 paw II and bite 1t. III
What Is Aristotle playing within" IRA
n fha childrpn's mnthar pld