The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1922-03-26
Me WATER-LILY TEA HOUSE

ono day as Mary EuDu was wall
ing down the street abe 90" I'nL
dancing ahead OF ho. iu the most
poruIlor v4yI She tsur quit" sure
shC had mover scou % leaf dance Ike
that before su she walked uV u"1t
Il and discovered thri instead ut
turning over and over us most l"nN'H
do when they scud along tho ground
10 stood straight up ana hupp'u
along ON ua stem. lr"TluY it- point
up. This puzzled NurF Ellon
good deal She wondered why the
leaf Ild not IAN over. ana so she
Kept looking nt it ana following II
down the street
Rcfor, long she saw why the louf
danced along ON ltH stein. lnWuad
of nuglc stem the fcnf had two
no. not stems. hut little loga Ana
then she euw that the point on ton
wasn't o. lear point ut all but n
fcather.-a tiny rcd feather stuck
jaunulv I'm o. little green cap. Ana
under the cap n rOplush fnCo smiled
Rt her ana tiny arms bcCkOned her
on Mary Ellen rubbed her cyoH.
thinking that she must bo Imagining
81 an. hut no. blink her eyes ~
she would. the leaf remained "A most
mischicvous- looking little elf Tie
n
did not dare 80 apenk flrat 80 they
went on and on through the village
and out 10 the river that runs
through the meadows beyond the
town Then Mary ellen began to
worry n little about going so fnr,
and no she mustered up her cour-
age and spoke
Whore are you solng'" she
asked
Follow me. We are nearly
thcro," answered the clf, In a voice
like tho voice OF u tiny silver bell
50 Mary Ellen followed closely as
The eli skipped along the river bank
until they camc TO little Htronm
that flowed into tho river Here the
elf stopped and picking n small yell
low flower that grew close "a tho
ground handed Il to Mary Ellen
and told her 20 eat IT,
No sooner had she swallowed u
than she began TO have n most pc
culiar fooling In her arms ana legs.
she thought 10 herself that she folt
as n flannel shirt must feel whom It
bCgls 10 shrink.
"Oh! oh" she criod. "wha, IN the
matter with me7 Please, MIR. Eli,
what have you done 90 me?"
you'll feel all right In Just n mo
ment. why don't you look about
you y bit ?" answered tho elf.
Mary Ellen did no and was start
led 20 find that the grasB, which =
minute before had reached only 10
her knees, now reached TO her
shoulders.
MY goodnessl" she thought.
"what queer grasal I wonder what
makes It grow so fast?"
Then sho suddenly realized that
n was not the grass that was grow
ing. but that she was shrinking. and
would soon bo so small there would
be none of her left.
Please. dear Mr.. Elf" she cried
Don't let me shrink any moro,
don't want TO disappear. What will
my mother do II sho has no one tc
go to the store for herr Please
stop me now before II Is too late"
Now, ,nowl" said the elf, smiling
ly. "can't you trust me any moro
than that2 / don't want to make
you disappear. Tou're not n bat
little girl I'm fact, It's because yot
have been so good lately that
planned this surprise for you. Yo,
see you're getting pretty large nov
tshe was going to be eight the mex
week.. and the bigger you get th'
harder Il Ia to DO anything for you
/ couldn't make n grown-up little a
you are now at all. Now look Yol
are just tho same size as ] an"
Sure enough while ha had beef
talking, Mary Ellen had stoppe,
shrinking and was now Just az tai
as the little man before her.
"Now." he said, 'it's getting late
and II we want To have any fun W
must hurry Soon you'll have to b
going home"
with that he seized her hand an
gave u great leap, pulling Mar
Ellen after him. They landed on
large leaf that was floating dow
the rVCr.
"Quickl" cried the elf, take this
stick" Looking whore he pointed