FOR THE CHILDREN.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 89, 14 April 1923, Page 24

FOR THE CHILDREN.

THE SHOWER. Over the purple peak of lofty Skiddaw came a great grey cloud. Darker and darker it grew, and settled on the mountain like an enveloping cloak. Then followed big drops of rain, falling on the fields of flowering yellow ragwort. Straight up from the mill-race sped a little figure, which ran and jumped and leaped in pure delight. It danced and whirled about in the ragwort, lifting its hands to catch the flashing drops. Will Ylordsworth was having a double treat to-day. He lived in a little village on the river Derwent; awd on warm summer days it was his clelight to go bathing in a small, cafe stream that branched from it. He loved to hear the murmur of the water, he loved to plunge in its cool, dark depths, and to bask in the bright sunshine on its banks. Lying on his back, he would look up at "Distant Skiddaw's lofty height." Skiddaw seemed to him like a friendly giant. Now the giant and he were •having a, 6hower bath together. What fun it was! Afterward when he grew to be a famous poet, he wrote about this hot summer afternoon, and how he and the old mountain had their shower together like good chums. And he also told how a little later, when he was only seven, he .went to school at Hawkshead, in the Vale of Estwaite.- where he had imny good times with hia school-fellows. Once in a while they rode horseback, and occasionally they went to the village shop and bought treats; but they liked best to row upon the Lake of Windermere, landing at some island to rest or gather lilies that grew under the tall oaks. When he grew up and went to college, he still loved to be out of doors, and would walk to Trompinorton, there to sit by the mill among the hawthorn blooms and read his favourite books. He became a man who loved the countryside, and lived in it all his life, writine many beautiful poems about it; but I think he never enjoyed any pleasure much more than the hot summer afternoon ■when he danced before old Skiddaw in the -rlisteninsr rain, among the yellow ragwort flowers;

A STORY OF NATURE. f VIOLET WHELAN: Age 16.) The soft pad-pad of feet over the blanket of snow drew nearer and, as it drew nearer, grew more stealthy. A dark form paused, motionless, before the white barn, then, sniffing gently, it entered. A smothered squeal—a long silence —and a dark form stole out again and disappeared into the depths of the forest. Black Wolf had found his prey. The soft pad-pad of feet over the blanket of snow drow nearer and, as it drew nearer, grew more lively. A dark form bounded into the cave and was greeted by another form and three little forms. Black Wolf exhibited his spoil I. with pride. Then indications of curiosity and excitement came from the little wolves, for before them lay a tiny, squealing puppy. But from Gray. Wolf there was not a sound.- The pathetic little object had stirred within her the dog instinct of generations past, and leaning down, she softly licked its comical little face. The soft pad-pad of feet drew nearer, and,- as it drew nearer, 'grew more stealthy. Gray Wolf crouched silently within the cave. I They were strange footsteps that were , coming nearer and nearer. The sound | of them made her stiffen and grow tense. j Suddenly a shadow fell across the entrance, and the head of a great lynx I appeared framed at the opening. | There was a flash of brown, and a huge dog appeared on the scene. But a second, and it had grasped the throat of the snarling yellow beast in a deathlike grip. That night Black Wolf returned to • find his mate standing above the body of I the brave dog. And, with that instinct born in animals, he rubbed his huge bulk : comfortingly against her, and understood. I The next day Black Wolf and Gray ; Wolf left the North Country and sped I far away. Their soft pad-pad died out I forever. Mary Muggins' mother made a mighty, monstrous, mammoth monument ot marmalade jars-mounted up, and minutely I minced the moon into a multitude of j magnificent stars.