Arizona republican., 1922-06-03
Little Stories For Bedtime
BY THORNTON w. BURGESS
LITTLE MITES GREATEST
ADVENTURE
BY THORNTON W. BURG

Blacky The Crow and his equally
black Relatives We're having a per-
fectly glorious time in Farmer
Browns cornfield. You know there
is nothing that Blacky likes more
than he does newly sprouted corn.
He always has a glad feeling when in
the early spring he sees Farmer
Brown ploughing up the brown earth
of the cornfield, because he knows
that in few weeks he is going to
have a feast. Farmer Brown knows
it, too, and so does Farmer Browns
boy. They have sat up nights trying
to think of some way to prevent
Blacky from having that feast. They
have tried all sorts of plans for
frightening Blacky away from the
cornfield, but he is so smart that he
soon sees through their plans and just
laughs at them. He never yet has
failed to have at least one good feast
when Farmer Browns corn was
young and tender.
That was what he was doing now
and all the time he was eating he
was making fun of the scarecrow
that Farmer Browns boy had taken
such pains to make look like q man,
with a gun. Blacky had been quite
sure from the beginning that it was
perfectly harmless, but it is not
Blackys way, to take any chances
and so he had weaitd to be positive
about it. 1t was little Mite. the lost
baby of Danny Meadow Mouse, who
had made Blacky positive that that
scarecrow was harmless. Mite had
made a bed for himself in a pocket
of the old coat which the scarecrow
wore and Blacky had seen him rum
ming in and out of it. He had known
right away then that this was only a
make believe man and at once he had
called all his relatives to the feast.
Little Mite never had heard such
a noisy crew and as he timidly peeped
out at the big black birds having
such a good time he had a queer feel
ing that something was going to hap
pen. All of a sudden Blacky, who
was sitting on a fence post taking
his turn at keeping watch, shouted
Cav, cav. c-a-w." There was a
great Tapping of wings and all talk
ing at once and laughing, and having
a great time Blacky and all his reala-
tives flew away. Mite didn't know
just what to make of it, He crept
out of his hiding place and watched
them settle down over on the Green
Meadows still talking and laughing
as if they thought it all great
Joke. He wondered why they had
left when they were having such a
feast and good time. He was so busy
watching them that he didn't notice
anything else Without any warning
a great voice cried, "Hai'
Little Mite looked up to see a great
giant on two legs close beside the
scarecrow. Without Waiting for
second look he scrambled into the
pocket of the old coat and burrowed
down under the grass and cotton
padding of which he had made his
aed his little heart humping with
fright so that it almost hurt. He
hoped with all his might that he
hadn't been seen and he held his
breath as he waited for what would
happen next. He didn't have long to
wait. The pocket was opened and
great hand slipped in and lifted him
out, bed and all.
Mite was too frightened TO move.
He just sat perfectly still except that
he trembled all over. He couldn't
help that, you know. What possible
chance had a wee, frightened Meadow
Mouse with such a huge creature as
now held him? He was perfectly
helpless, and he knew it. He just
shut his eyes and waited for some
thing terrible to happen. But notn-
ing terrible did happen. Instead he
felt something stroking him. Very
gently. BY and by he ventured TO
open his eyes. A freckled face was
bending over him and somehow it
didn't look fierce or cruel at all.
You little rascal exclaimed
great voice That is, it seemed a
great voice to Little Mite. You little
rascal You knew good thing
when You saw it, didn't you? don't
believe any of your enemies would
ever think of looking for you in
scarecrow's pocket. / believe III take
you home with me-.
Then Mite and his bed were put
| into another pocket just like the one
he had been taken from. only this
one was the pocket of Farmen
Browns boy. He didn't know where
he was going or what was gong 70
happen. but somehow he didn't feel