HILDA GOES HIKING.

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 286, 29 August 1931, Page 21

HILDA GOES HIKING.

Hilda didn’t like the idea at all, for she was rather a lazy little girl, and wasn’t at all keen on’walking. However, her parents said that they couldn’t afford a holiday at the seaside as usual, so Hilda had to shoulder her small pack, take her stout stick, and set out with her mother and father along the broad highway. The three had got out at a small station about twenty miles from town, and because the weather was fine, Hilda’s mother and father felt very fresh, and only Hilda grumbling about the! walking, the climbing of stiles, the rough going across fields and other • little difficulties. “Can’t we stop .now?" she asked plaintively at last. ’ f Her father looked down at her and smiled. “All right, Hilda,” he said, “we’ll stop and have some sandwiches, shall we?” The . little girl nodded eagerly and later, as the little family sat on the warm, turf just inside a gate and ate their sandwiches and drank lemonade from a thermos flask, she began to feel that the holiday wouldn’t be so bad If they could stop more often and dust lie about and DO nothing. .Presently she decided to go in search of wild flowers, and after wandering about for some time in a wood, she suddenly thought about fairies and wondered if she would see any. There were no fairies to be seen, however, so Hilda threw herself on the grass under a tree and commenced to tie her flowers together. 1 The next thing she knew was that she, was very cold, very hungry and very frightened for, as she opened her eyes, she found that she was alone in .the darkness of the wood. “Oh, dear!” she wailed. “I’m lost!” And she commenced to run this way; and that..calling at the top of her voice for her mother and father. “What’s the matter with you?” asked a voice from the branches of a tree. Hilda stopped short and looked ‘up. “Who are you?” she whispered. “I’m the Hiking Fairy!” came' the reply. “Who are YOU?’’ “I’m Hilda and I’m—that is I WAS hiking, but now I’m just—just 1-lost!” The fairy threw back her head and laughed musically. “There’s no such word,” she cried, “when I’M about! You just keep your eyes on me and keep ■ on walking!” Hilda did as she was told, and as she walked, the fairy kept up a continual stream of interesting talk about flowers, birds, clouds, rainbows, insects and all manner of other exciting things belonging to the country. Presently the : fairy stopped and pointed through the trees. “You’ll find your mother and father just beyond those trees,” she said,' “it’s not REALLY night-time yet, but I had to make you believe that you were lost and everything, so that I could meet you and talk to you. You see, Hilda, you showed promise of becoming a fine hiker, but you were just a tiny bit lazy, weren’t you?”

Hilda nodded. “I’m not NOW though 1” she cried. “After what you’ve told me about the country I’m going to LOVE this holiday ALL the time, no matter how tired I get or what the weather is like. Good-bye, dear fairy, and thank you SO much!” The' fairy smiled, and as she sailed she came forward and pushed the little girl, who stumbled and fell against a tree. “Come along. Hilda!” cried a voice that Hilda knew better than any other. “Your father wants us to move on.” The little hiker opened her eyes. “I must have dropped off to sleep,” she answered, “and I’m glad I did!” She sprang to her feet and gathered up her flowers. "I’m quite ready, mummy!” she cried. And so Hilda had the most wonderful holiday of her life, and although she never met the Hiking Fairy again, she remembered ail the little creature had told, her, and spent many happy hours studying the flowers, the birds, the clouds, the insects, the trees and everything.