Poor Little Shuffle

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22166, 20 July 1935, Page 4 (Supplement)

Poor Little Shuffle

He lived under the old fern near thn lake, poor little Shuffle. He went hop-pity-hop all day looking for tiny soft seeds to eat, and his face was even funnier than his feet. It's bad enough being an ordinary dwarf, but a dwarf elf has a dreadful time, because elves aren't half as kind-hearted as people. For instance, 1 they'd say, " This acorn's "mouldy, give it to Shuffle," and then they'd laugh when Shuffle started to eat it. And when the Sky Princess, stepping out of the rainbow, said sh<i had come to find the handsomest elf in existence to be her husband they said, sniggering behind their hands, " Oh, you're sure to like Shuffle."

They dragged him, struggling, fromj, bis little hiding-place. He cried, be- ' cause he knew how beautiful the Prin-f cess was, and ho didn't want her to f laugh at him. They took no notice of his tears, but laughed as they dragged him along. The Princess was standing waiting, as lovely as the rainbow she} lived in. She clasped her hands when she saw Shuffle, saying: " Oh, how beautiful he is!" And the other elves did get a surprise! They looked at Shuffle and saw his oddities had disappeared and he had grown taller than the tallest elves. The Princess took his hand and together they stepped into the rainbow.