THE RUNAWAY SHOES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 156, 4 July 1931, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE RUNAWAY SHOES.

(By ALICE A. KENNY.)

Geoff had new shoes in which to go to school. Ho was only a little boy and had not been going to school long, but he had already learned that it was nice to be neat and tidy. Every evening lie cleaned his new shoes and put them ready to wear next day, and every morning lie found them muddy or dusty. It was a puzzling thing. How coiild shoes that had been polished and put away get dirty in the night when he was asleep in bed' ? He decided to stay awake one night and see if he could catch anyone creeping in to borrow his shoes. It was very hard to stay awake, in fact he kept-drop-ping off, but suddenly he heard a slight shuffling and tapping sound under the end of his bed. Up he started at once. The room was full of moonlight, and there under his bed he saw a little goblin man just putting on his shoes. He had thin legs, knobbly knees, and big floppy ears. He peeped at Geoff with eyes like little black buttons, and as soon as ho saw the little boy move, off he went at a run. "Stop, stop! You are stealing -my shoes!" cried Geoff. He ran so fast, and the shoes made such a terrible clatter as the goblin jerked them along, that the little thief became frightened. He had only got the shoes as far as the back door step,' but. he'sprang out of them and scampered off. Geoff slipped his feet into his shoes meaning to go back to his bedroom, but do you think he could! Away went the shoes, running, running, so fast after the goblin, and they never stopped until they tumbled Geoff head over heels into a group of goblins sitting round a mossy stone. '*Oh! Oh!" cried Geoff, standing on his head and hands for a minute before he could get right side up. "Hi! Hi!" cried all the goblins, and they stood on their heads, too, out of politeness. Geoff had fallen out of his shoes because they had not been laced up, and now he saw the goblins arranging them carefully on the mossy stone. Then they took hands and danced all round the stone. It was such a wild dance that they looked rather like dead leaves wheeling around. As they dancing they sang in shrill grasshopper voices: Tic tac two! Each lovely shoe Has come again, We see tliem plain. Brother /roblins sec them there, Shoes that little mortals wear! And then they danced more slowly and each one sang just two or three words one after the other. "Leather soles," sang one; "Eyelet holes," sang the next. "Sides that shine, laces fine, heels and toe, here we go."

Then they all sat down and stared hard at the shoes, and the leader said: "Now brother goblins we must try all together, and do better than wo did last night, because this little boy won't let us have his any more." "What arc yon trying to do?" asked Geoff. "Is it magic V" "Oh, shoo!" .cried tlie goblin and spun over and over in a rage. "Now you have put us quite off. Paws up! little brothers, show him!" In a twinkling they all turned over and there was nothing to be seem but a number of little skinny legs waving in the air "Look at our shoes!" shrieked a little voice from underneath. Geoff looked and saw that they were wearing the queerest little shoes on their feet. No two were alike, they were all colours, and all shapes. One or two were black and a very little bit like hie own shoes, but most of them were blue, yellow, green, lilac and red, and more like socks. "Isn't it a sad sight," said the chief goblin as they all came right side up again. "I think they are pretty," said Geoff. "Pretty!" shrieked the goblin, and turned three somersaults. "You can say that, you, who own these priceless, perfect, noble shoes. But wait—wait. For six nights we have tried to copy them by using our strongest magic and all trying together. One more try, and you will see us yet the smartest group of goblins to be found anywhere." He then gave his goblin friends some instructions, and they all joined hands again and began to stamp solemnly round tho stone. "If you would move further off, little mortal," said the leader, "our magic would work better." "All right," replied Geoff, "but please don't put magic in my shoes because we don't have magic at our school." "Not have magic!" exclaimed the goblin. "Not have magic! You can't mean that. Don't they even teach you to become invisible?" "No. they only teach us to spell c-a t cat, and to count one, two, three." "Do they, indeed!" said the goblin, quite overcome. "That must be very strong magic." Then they began to march and shi£ louder than before. Oh! the little shoes That goblins use Are made of grasshopper wings; Of web and flowers, That won't stand showers, And other flimsy things. The shoes we need Are made for speed, Are made with a great big tool; Shoes that stamp, And run and tramp, Like little boys wear to school. "Black! bright! strong! tight! heel! toe in a row!" The last words were shrieked by the leader, and all the little goblins fell over on their backs and held their feet up in the air. Yells of delight burst from them for now all their shoes were black, and nearly all were just the same shape as Geoff's shoes. But one of the group had forgotten to make heels, another had no laces or lace holes, and a third had the heel in the middle of the sole. "Pish! Wiggle! and Prang!" shriek .1 the leader. "You weren't attendii:-. Your 3 spoil the whole set." He pinched them till they squeaked and made them,go up on the stone and examine the shoes carefully alt over again. • He was certainly a very painstaking goblin. Nothing would satisfy him but to have the whole of his company fitted out with little black lace-up shoes like Geoff's, and he was so proud when all was complete that he swelled to twice his usual size. When Geoff got up to run home to bed they all went with him. They divided themselves into two bands, each carrying a shoe, and singing a song in praise of it. All of a sudden there was a dash and a scuffle. A black goblin of a very low kind had come creeping after them and tried to steal one of the shoes just to annoy the well-brought-up goblins. Such a shrieking, scratching and scrambling went on. The bad on© had to drop the shoe and run for Ids life, and all the other goblins tore after him as fast, as their new shoes would let them. Meanwhile Geoff picked up his shoes and crept inside. He tumbled into bed, and from that, day .his shoes never ran away at right any more.*.