BETTSIe BOTTLE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 164, 13 July 1945, Page 3

BETTSIe BOTTLE

By 2ENA COUGHEY (12) Bettsie was a very proud bottle, although she was only an ink bottle. But I'll let Bettsie speak Tor herself:— "Just look at those beautiful drawings on the wall," she would say to herself. "They all came out of me! It's really wonderful to think of. And those hard adding-up sums, that Mary did this morning—they all mme out of me. Qh 1 . I'm a remarkable person, I ami"

So you can see whv she was proud, can't you? In fact, she was so proud that she became rather lazy and didn't even trouble to keep herself clean and smart like the other bottles. After all, she thought, she was full of black ink all day and all night, so nobody would notice whether she washed herself or not.

One morning Mary rushed into the room and took Bettsie from her shelf and began to write a letter: "Dear Uncle Ron," she wrote, "it Is my birthday tomorrow ! Please come to dinner—and don't forget my present." Then she addressed the envelope, put the letter Inside and posted it. But the next day the letter came back. Mr. Postman said he could not read the address because it was all smeared and smudged! ■ j . • • „ "Goodness ! It must be that ink bottle, said Mary, crossly. "It is simply full of grit and dirt." . ■ The little girl was upset because she had been looking forward to Uncle Rons visit very much—but he would not be coming now as he had not received the And do you know what happened then? Bettsie was put under a cold tap and. when she was thoroughly washed out. she was boiled in soapy water and then put upside down on the window-sill all night ! Perhaps you will not be surprised to hear that she is not nearly so proud now! In fact, she Is quite ashamed of herself.