Evening star., 1942-03-21

Bedtime Stories
BY THORNTON w. BURGESS.

BY THORNTON w. BURGESS.
When Old Mr.. Toad saw Mr..
Blacksnake and turned his back on
Buster Bear and the fine dinner to
which Buster Bear had invited him,
he had but just one idea in his head,
and that was to get out of sight of
Mr.. Blacksnake as soon as possible.
He forgot to ask Buster Bear to
excuse him. He forgot that he was
tired and hot He forgot all the
pride with which he had been so
pulled up. He forgot everything but
the need of getting out of sight of
Mr.. BlackSnake as soon as ever he
could. You see, Mr.. Blacksnake has
a fondnesS for toads when there Is
nothing better to fill his stomach.
So away went Old Mr.. Toad, hop,
hop. hipperty- hop. hop, hop, hip
perty hop! He heard Peter Rabbit
and Jimmy Skunk and Johnny
Chuck and others of his old friends
and neighbors shouting with laugh
ter, Yes, and he heard the deep,
grumbly- laugh of Buster
Bear. But he didn't mind it. Not
then. anyway. He hadn't room for
any feeling except fear-fear of Mr..
BlackSnake.
Hop Hop, hop hipperty-hop!
and he lost all his pride. 1 S''''
And away down inside
do haor
But he had to stop after a while.
You see. his legs were so tired they
just wouldn't go any longer. And
he was so out Of breath that he
wheezed. He crawled under a big
piece Of bark and there he lay fiat
on the ground and painted and
painted for breath. He would stay
there until jolly. round. bright Mr..
Sun went to bed behind the Purple
Hills. Then Mr.. Blacksnake would
go to bed, too, and it would be safe
for him to 60 home. Now, lying
there in the dark, for it was dark
under that big piece of bark, he had
time to think. Little by little he
began to understand that his invi-
tation to dine with Buster Bear had
been part of a plan by his old
friends and neighbors, whom he had
so snubbed and looked down on
when he had been pulled up with
pride, to teach him a lesson. At
first he was angry, very angry, in
deed. Then he began to see how
foolish and silly he had been, and
shame took the place of anger. AS
he remembered the deep, grumbly-
rumbly laughter of Buster Bear the
feeling Of shame grew.
Il deserve it, thought Old Mr..
Toad. Yes, sir, I deserve every bit
of it. The only thing that I have
to be proud of is that I'm honest
and work for my living. Yes, sir,
that's all"
When darkness came at last and
he crawled out to go home he was
feeling very humble. Peter Rabbit
happened along just then. Old Mr..
Toad opened his mouth to speak,
but Peter suddenly threw his head
up very high and strutted past as if
he didn't see Old Mr.. Toad at all
Mr.. Toad gulped and went on. Pretty
soon he met Jimmy Skunk. Jimmy
went right on about his business and
actually stepped right over Old Mr..
Toad as II he had been a stick or a
stone. Old Mr.. Toad gulped and
went on. The next day he went
down to see Danny Meadow Mouse.
He meant to tell Danny how ashamed
he was for the way he had treated
Danny and his other friends. But
Danny brushed right past without
even a glance at him. Old Mr.. Toad
gulped and started up to see Johnny
Church. The same thing happened
again. So it did when he met
Striped Chipmunk.
At last Old Mr.. Toad gave up and
went home, where he sat under a
big mullen leaf the rest Of the day,
feeling very miserable and lonely.
He didn't have appetite enough to
snap at single fly. Late that after
noon he heard a little noise and
looked up to find all his old friends
and neighbors forming circle
around him. Suddenly they began to
dance and shout:
odd Mr. Toad is Jolly fellow
His temper is sweet; disposition Is mellow!
And now that his bubble OF pride is quite
busted
I'VE know that he knows that his friends
can be trusted "
Then Old Mr.. Toad knew that all
was we'll once more and presently
he began to dance. too, the funniest
dance that was ever seen.