THE WIND AND THE BAIN

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 70, 23 March 1935, Page 14

THE WIND AND THE BAIN

(For Last-of-Sumraer Days, by "Lassie," Kelburn.) >/n_S_&-S!" hissed the Kain, as it stung the faces and soaked the shoes of hurrying people. "Ah-e-e-e-!" shrieked the Wind, as it *** tore at their hats and umbrellas, buffeting bent shoulders and making progress extremely difficult. "This is our chance—Summer has overslept—and until she wakes we can, do as we like!" "O-o-o-h! Yes, and she might sleep so long that Autumn would come and banish her until next year! We'd have a great time then!" and together they raced along at a tremendous pace. . ■ But the Wind and the Rain were mistaken. Summer had not overslept —far from it! It's true that when the sun rose she was not dancing on the hilltops to greet him as usual. , And it is true that the rose-petal curtains to her windows were not drawn back as usual; But Summer herself was busy'indeed, behind those very windows. From a pixie pedlar one sunshiny day she had bought an ancient book of special magic. She knew some magic, of course, but here were ideas that, as the book said, were very special. For instance, "How to make the silken wishing curls that grow behind babies' ears." And "How to count the diamonds on the waves of,the sea." But the one that Summer was so busy preparing was "How to make a cloak in which no one can see you. It had to be woven of starshine and bloom-of-a-peach and steeped in morning mist-o'-Pearl for three days. It was almost ready to wear when Summer realised the mischief the Wind and the Rain had been up to while she Hastily she fastened the cloak round her shoulders as she went to set matters right. "It's just as well I looked up when I did," a little bird heard her say to herself, "or else the flowers and the trees and the pixie people might have thought I'd been banished, or, worse still, gone away without saying good-bye. But in my cloak-in-which-no-one-can-see-me I'll soon First she called the Wind and. the Rain. Tired out with puffing and blowing, the Wind stood meekly before her, and Summer, said, "You will dry the wet pavements and fold away the grey clouds and bring out some small white ones, please, Wind." And to Rajn; whose noisy shouting had died- down to a soft sobbing, she- said, "To show me: you're sorry, I want you to find enough'sunbeams to make, a rainbow to delight those pixies who-have had to stay inside for these three days." ,_ . Summer herself then sped froni garden to garden,, gathering the scattered petals of flowers, coaxing open the little late buds, and folding a veil of extra brightness over sky an 4 sea and hills. Her cloak, of course, was a great help. It enabled her to bring a breath of verbena perfume right into the open window of the House-in-the-Hollow, so -that someone sniffed it and said, "That's a wonderfully summery scent; I do love it. And it helped her to put an extra deep coat of tan on the folk bathing in the sea, so that they said, ''This is'the best swim of the season-rwe were afraid Summer had gone." ; (They little knew, that she was laughing beside them, riding the: crest of thebiggest wave!) . ~,,,' .... At last, when evening-time came, and her cloak had taken on all the hues of the sunset, she folded it away ,in a little gold cloud and fastened it with a star.; Then sHe lay dowii to,rest, with a lullaby and; gentle rocking to send her to sleep provided; by the Wind and the Rain.