Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-07-09
Bedtime Stories
BY THORNTON w. BURGESS.

LEU tf1tEC StOIAC9
BY THORNTON w. BURGESS.
The Merry Little Breezes of Old
Mother West Wind did not let
Grandfather Frog forget that he
had promised them story. One
afternoon when they had grown
tired of romping on the Green
Meadows they danced over to the
Smiling Pond and settled around
the big, green lily pad on which
Grandfather Frog was doing. All
together they shouted:
I'VE know you're old;
We know you're wise;
And what you say
We dearly prize.
So tell tale
OF olden days
And then, mayhap,
Wen go our ways"
"Chugarum! What shall it be
about?" demanded Grandfather
Frog.
Tell us why Filter the Bat can
fly when none of the other animals
can" cried one of the Merry Little
BreezeS.
Grandfather Frog cleared his
throat several times and then he
began. This is the story he told:
once upon a time, when the
world was young, old Mr.. Bat, the
many times great-grandfathe of
Filter, whom you all know, lived in
cave on the edge of the Green
Forest. Old Mr.. Bat was little,
quite as little as Filter is now. He
didn't have any wings then. No,
sir, old Mr.. Bat had no wings.
Now old Mr.. Bats teeth were
small and not made for cracking
hard seeds and things of that sort,
so he lived mostly on insects. He
used to hunt for them under sticks
and stones. Sometimes he had hard
work to find enough for a meal, be-
cause, you know, so many other
Green Forest people were hunting
for them, too.
Nov old Mr.. Bats eyes were very
small, very, very small indeed. They
| were so tiny that the bright sun
hurt them. So old Mr.. Bat used to
stay in his cave all day and hunt
| for his meals only after jolly Mr..
Sun had gone down behind the
Purple Hills. When he did come out
most of the crawling bugs had gone
| to bed and it was hard work finding
them. So often Mr.. Bat went
| hungry.
"One night old Mr.. Bat noticed
that at twilight great many bugs
| fly about. He sat on big stone at
the mouth of his cave and watched.
1t seemed to him that the air was
full of bugs. BY and by a big fat
fellow came so near that old Mr.
Bat forgot where he was and
jumped for him-jumped right off
the top of the big stone! Of course
he got hard tumble, but he didn't
mind it a bit, for he had caught
the bug. After that old Mr.. Bat
used to spend more of the time he
was awake jumping for bugs.
"One night he made very long
jump from very high stone and
got such a fall that all the breath
was knocked out of his funny little
body. When he had got his breath
back he discovered that some one
was looking down and smiling at
him. 1t was Old Mother Nature.
pretty hard work to get din
ner that way, isn't it, Mr.. Bait?
asked Old Mother Nature
Mr.. Bat allowed that it was.
How would you like to f1y?'
asked Old Mother Nature
MIR. Bat allowed that that would
be very fine, indeed, but was quita
out of the question because, as you
know, he hadn't any wings.
"Old Mother Nature said no more,
but something seemed to be tickling
her greatly as she left Mr.. Bat. The
next evening when old Mr.. Bat
awoke he really didn't know whether
he was himself or not. His legs
were much longer than they used to
be and really of no use at all for
walking. Between them was queer
thin skin. He couldn't run. He
couldn't even crawl very we'll
AT last, after much work, he
managed to get to the top of big
rock. He was very hungry, and
when big fat bug came along he
forgot all about his troubles and
tried to jump. But instead of jump
ing, as he always had, he just tum-
bled off the big rock. AS he fell he
spread out his legs. What do you
think happened? Why old Mr.. Bat
found that he could fly.
and ever since that long ago
time the Bats have lived in dark
caves and have been able to fly"
concluded Grandfather Frog.
N@gAF-~ FAN ~ rkI-~