BIG BROTHER BILL and the BAIRNS

Evening Star, Issue 20666, 13 December 1930, Page 9

BIG BROTHER BILL and the BAIRNS

Hello Everybody!

Tbo winner'of the palindrome competition js Betty Louie, 406 Macandrew road, Dunedin. The answers are:— Eve, deed, eye, gog, gig, . peep, pup, poop, ere, pop/ nun, madam, mum, pip, refer, Shahs, sees, reviver, level. About the Recent Bazaar.—Everybody knows that £B3 was received lor. the effort, which, although not enough for all that is planned to do, was very fine indeed. It is. impossible for Brother Bill to thank personally all those who made and forwarded gifts for the effort. He is deeply grateful—very grateful intced; . Gifts came from as far north as Palmerston North, and as far south'as Bluff. Gifts were made hy sick folk, "and others were given by poor folk; it was tlio happiest exhibition of the manner m which many can help folk who are not able to help themselves. Again, many thanks to al Will Miss Vickers, of Kew, kindly call at Taylor’s, 21 Maitland street, and C. J. Robertson kindly call at the Kew Convalescent Home?

THE RADIO POSTIE 6 Scott street, St. Kilda. Dear Big Brother Bill,—l am writing you a few lines to let you know how I am getting on. I often read your page in the ■‘Evening Star’ on Saturday. We have just finished our examinations. I am looking forward very much to Christinas. _ We will soon ho getting our term holidays. I was intending to go to the bazaar, but 1 did not get. Hope you have a merry Christmas and a bright New Year.— Your loving friend, Sydney Johnson. [Many thanks for your letter, Sydney Johnson. Everybody is thinking about Christmas at the present time, just as you are, and you will see that the annual Christmas competition appears also in this issue. There is a chance of winning quite a nice Christmas box—you must try for jt. Brother Bill is sorry that you oonhT not get to the bazaar; .it was delightful weather, a fine lot of folk come to see and to buy, and everybody* says that the-result—£B2 —was a quite creditable result. The radio sets will be installed in the Fever Hospital and the Kew Convalescent: Home at once; if you; listenin you will hear the ceremony. ThankSyou for.the good wishes in your letter; Brother Bill returns them an hundred-fold.] 78 David street, Caversham. Dear Big Brother Bill, —May T join your happy family? I always readvonr columns in the * Evening Star,’ and enjoy them very much. - We have not a wireless, but I have listened in at my tinclc’a. 1 am in the .third standard. The holidays will soon be here and I may be going south.—Wishing you goodnight, I am, yours truly, Murray M'Lachlan. [You are very welcome to the family, Murray M‘Lachlan. Brother Bill scarcely, opens a letter these days without reading something about the coming holidays, together with a sigh of thankfulness that they are so close at hand. Examinations are over, and, instead of the bairn’s minds being full of vulgar fractions, grammar, wretched decimals, and other things, there are thoughts of the beach or the country, and perfectly, scrumptiious times that are just a little way ahead. . All this is very nice, of course, but there is a little matter that needs noticing as well. : Hard-working m'others say that holidays are good' for the bairns, but not good for their clothes nor any good at all far folk who like to keep a tidy housed In other words, when the bairns go holiday-making, a.little consideration for mother will make quite • difference. It will be simply delightful if we can all remember to be specially considerate and tboughtfu’ in the coming days, and will make the holiday all the" better if we have the memory that nobody had to Work harder because we had good fun. Brother Bill hopes that your southern trip will fco splendid in weather and in happiness. You must write and tell him something about it.]

3G Fingall street. Dear Big Brother Bill, —May 1 join your happy family? I am eleven years of age anti in Standard IV. at school. At Christmas time I am going to a farm in Oamaru. My morning job will bo to milk two cows—Darky and Spot. We have not got a wireless set, but every Saturday night I eagerly scan tho ‘ Star ’ for your interesting page. Just now we are engaged in our exam. My birthday was on December 2. I think this is all, so I will close, with love to the bairns and_ yourself.—Yours sincerely, Janies Williams. [Many thanks for your letter, James Williams. .You are very welcome to Brother BilIV big family. The farm trip sounds simply splendid. Brother Bill would like to drop in early one morning, and see you at the job' or milking Darky and Spot. It sounds as though Jim Williams is one of the useful sort of visitors that aro always welcome at holiday time. It is a curious thing, Jim, that when folk visit their friends they more often than not forget the extra work given to the good folk who entertain them. It is a very manly thing, indeed, to bo prepared to pull your weight wherever you go; and good fun, too. For example, Brother Bill works with his brain all tho year and delights in a holiday where he can work with his hands. He doesn’t do quite as well, of course, as tho fellow .who works that way all the time; but he thinks he_ does; and unless some person is unkind enough to criticise, thinking so goes a long way. Brother Bill wishes Jim Williams a happy ami useful holiday with after memories ot kind deeds well and truly done.] 9 Hereford street, lloslyn. Dear Big Brother Bill,—l wish to jo, a your happy family. I any seven years of age, and 1 am in class 5 at Kaikorai School. We haven’t a wireless, but ws read your columns in tho ‘ Evening Star,’ and I am going to look m cho ‘ Evening Star ’ next week to see if my letter is in. Good wishes to you and your happy family.—Your little sister, Winnie Hewitt. 9 Hereford street, lloslyn. Dear Big Brother Bill,—l wish I could join your happy family. I am in Standard IV. at Kaikorai School. 1 am eleven years of age. We have a black cat, and it weighs eleven pounds. 1 learn music, and I am hot very good at arithmetic and composition. X have just finished my examination at school. We break-up on December 18, and wo will be making our Christmas pudding soon. Wo haven’t a wireless sec, but 1 read the columns in the ‘ Evening Star.’ My birthday day is on May 18. I am going to try to answer 'your questions in the paper, and 1 am going to see if tuy letters are in the paper next week. X began.writing a letter but I did not finish because I had nothing to write about, so I had to wait for a little while to think of something else. All good wishes to you and your merry bairns. — Your loving sister, Nancy Hewitt. 9 Hereford street, Roslyn. Dear Big Brother Bill,—l would like to join your happy family. I am nine years old, and 1 am in Standard ill. at school. .1 have finished by examination. I am doing this week’s competition, and I hope to win the prize. At home we have a gramophone and piano. - Wo have a cat whose name is Nigger. Wo have had him for pearly three years. L must close now.—Yours truly, Harry Hewitt. ■ [Many thanks for your letters Winnie, Nancy, and Harry Hewitt. Brother Bill thought that ho had bettor print all the letters and answer them as though they were one; this will prevent anyone feeling that they were more fortunate than another. It very often happens that other folk begin to write a letter and discover they have nothing to put into it ; but a skilful letter writer can make quite a nice letter out of small talk. The folk who receive the letter are delighted at the thoughtfulness that inspired the writing even when it contains no news. Brother Bill is delighted that the Hewitt family thought to write him, and hopes to hear from them again. What would you think of a Thomas cat that weighed nearly twenty-five pounds? There is one in Dunedin of that weight, and ho is a tremendous fellow, very fond of bo ing nursed by his ownort Making the Christmas pudding used to be a tremendously exciting thing when Brother Bill was a bairn. There used to be small perquisites > in tho shape of odd currants and raisins, not to mention the candied peel ; but it was an awful penalty to be made to whistle all the time the preparation was going on. It is so difficult to whistle with one’s mouth full. Brother Bill hopes that npthing like that happens when the Hewitt bairns ire helping to make tho one at their house.] 4 Medway street, Gore. Dear Big Brother Bill, —Last time I wrote to you 1 had niy name in the honour square. I am glad you received our box sdfely. The bazaar is a thing of the past, but how lucky you were in every way! First, with all the parcels sent in by tho family, arid then the glorious day, one of the best for quite a long time. I know the home at Forhury Corner where the bazaar was held quite well, for we used to pass it when going into town by tho tram last Christmas. Wo listened in on Saturday night to hear what luck you had, and heard that you had taken £7O by 5 o’clock; we hoped that you would have taken £IOO before you closed down. All the time you and the aunts and Uncle Bert were speaking we could hear a canary singing. What a noise it was making, too. The High School is closing down for the summer holidays on Thursday, and the primary schools a week after-

wards. The Sunday schools also close down mexb Sunday. I have been librarian at our Sunday school all this year, and will bo going back to Bible class next year. I went in for two Pitman’s shorthand examinations a r lew weeks apo, and hope I passed. Two blackbirds build their nests in our summer house every year, and to-day we were watching the mother feeding one of her young ones out on our back lawn. All went well until another of her babies came along, and the two baby birds chased each other about the lawn for quite a long time. One would think that they were two children playing. My cousins in Balelutha have a little dog they call Fluffy. Fluffy’s pupp.y died, and my cousins -were out one day, and they brought home some little baby rabbits. Their father told them to show Fluffy the rabbits, but they did not want to as they thought lie would kill thorn. But Fluffy took them and mothered them just as she would mother her own little puppies. I am telling you this, as I heard you talking about incidents of the same kind one Wednesday. I will close now, wishing the aunts and uncles and yourself a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.—Yours sincerely, Winnie Hamilton. [Many thanks for your welcome letter, Winnie Hamilton. You received Brother Bill’s thanks for the fine parcel that came from your house. Brother Bill thanks you all very sincerely in the name of all the sick folk, who will bo made happy by our effort. Your account of Fluffy and the rabbits is most interesting. ft shows that motherly kindness is to ho found among the animals also, doesn’t it? The difference between the animals and the birds and human folk is that we can show good return for all that nmther does for us at all times. The animals follow their instincts in all things; wo can pick and choose in conduct, which makes it a very fine and proper thing when bairns who receive many benefits give back loyalty and obedience in return. Many thanks for your interesting letter, Winnie; your name is again in the honour square. A Happy Christmas to all at Medway street. Gore.] THE CHRISTMAS ESSAY COMPETITION How would you spend five shillings in giving the most happiness to the greatest number of people ? We usually ask this question every Christmas, and the winning essay is printed in the columns; The prize is five shillings in cash. Do you think that yon can win it? Brother Bill will ho glad to receive essays on this subject up till December 18, and the winner will bo announced in the columns on December 20. THE COMPETITION , The answers to the questions in this competition must be tho name of au author or a poet. It will test your knowledge of literature. Address your envelopes to Big Brother Bill, care tho ‘ Evening Star,’ Stuart street, and mark your envelopes “ Competition.” Tho prize is the usual two shillings and sixpence. (If A tasty breakfast dish? (2) Who would marry a negro? (3) A tree that blooms in the spring? (4) Something painful on your foot? (5) If you saw a house on fire what three writers would you name? (G) What did a young man in love hope to do? (7) A very tall fellow? > (3) What does a savage do to scare you? (9) A good breed of pigbons? (10) A graceful water fowl? (11) A frog does this in tho evening? (12) What does a had hoy get is a rule? (13) One of the blessings of Nature? (14) What happens to thoi bread whilst toasting? (15) If tho cake is nice what do you ask for? (16) Emma Smith got married. What would you call her baby boy? ANCIENT HELPERS OF MAN The children’s chargers are being put through their paces at the Zoo in- readiness for summer. Elephants, camels, and llamas are all in training for tho easy tasks by which they are to earn their keep and give delight to thousands of visitors. Perhaps not everybody who watches tho llamas now taking their walks abroad with their keepers realises tho astonishing fact that up to four centuries ago these ungainly animals were tho sole prime movers in tho service of man in America. In all tho fifteen million square miles of the New World there was not a single transport animal to carry a man or bear his burdens except these llamas. It is true that there were in the service of the Red Indians a few wolves domesticated as dogs, which served as haulage teams, but they were the exceptions; tho llamas were tho true steeds wherever they existed. When we reflect on tho riches and glories of Mexico and Peru, on the marvellous civilisations which existed in South and Central America, it seems incredible that tho only animal servants of these wonderful ■ peoples were tho moody, erratic, spitting llamas whose descendants carry London children in the Zoo to-day. There

was nob a horse in the whole continent. .

The horse is passing out of city service; the motor vehicle is ousting hmr from the streets as the railway ousted him from the main high roads. in may ho that creatures unknown as servants in Western civilisation will outlast this faithful- friend of humanity in the labour of the world. The cheetah, ns a man-aiding hunter, may outlast the efforts of the horse in similar tasks, men may stdl hawk with the eagle when they no longer ride the Jiorso from the Asian steppes, the Chinese may still catch their fish by the aid of the cormorant when horses no longer haul boats and barges on the rivers of the East. It will be long before tho age-old partnership between man and manserving animals, with all its strange links, is quite severed. Even to-day things of tin's sort happen of which the world at large has no knowledge. Imagine the great apes, so wild yet so near us iu and instinct, trained to serve men! Yet natives, it seems, make gibbons their faithful servants. This is one of the strange tacts appearing in a new book published by Allen and Unwin called ‘ Forest Lite and Adventure in tho Malay Archipelago. Its author, Dr Eric Mjobeig, tells ns that the natives train gibbons to climb trees, to sort oyer the cocoanuts, to reject the unripe, and pick out the ripe, aud to twist them oft and throw them down to the ground. At first the apes work with a rope attached to their waists, but soon they run free and work willingly with intelligence. . That is a curious phase of tho old tale of animal work lor mankind. The llamas, the camels, and the elephants at the Zoo have strange comrades in service elsewhere in the, world, if that mriy sweeten their innocent labours. SPRING AT THE ZOO Two interesting new animals from Madagascar aro now on, view at the London Zoo, for the menagerie has boon presented with a sifaka, or lemur-mon-key. and a tiny member of the lemur fam'ilv known as a mouse-lemur. A sifaka was exhibited in the Gardens for a short time some twenty years a tro but ho was only on deposit; the new' arrival is the first of these animals that the Zoo has possessed, for it is difficult to obtain permission to bring one from Madagascar, and more dilii-’ cult still to keep it alive during the journey. ‘ .. v As lus name suggests, this animat is half-monkey and" half-lemur, hut in spite of his undoubted relationship to tho money tribe he hears most resemblance to a lemur; and his manners, far from being lively like those of a simian, are subdued. His fur is white, but on his chest ami down his arms and legs he has broad strips of brown. His tail is Jong and bushy, aud on arms and legs ho has a fur-covorod membrane which enables Jilin to volplane from one,branch of a treo to another. He is a pretty animal and most attractive, for he.is perfectly tame and likes to he caressed. As tho sifaka is very delicate great care has had to be taken’ of him. To prevent him from catching si chill an electric radiator was placed by the side of his cage and- the cage was draped with blankets. _ • _ Ho seemed quite pleased with his new surroundings, and although lie refused ills food for a whole day ho soon developed a liking for a diet or shrimps, boiled rice, apples, and oranges. But lie refused to drink at all. He was offered milk, water, and fruit juice, but lie would not touch liquid until the keeper, worried by tho creature’s obstinacy, poured a little water into the palm of his hand and held it out. Tho lemur drank it greedily; but he still refused to drink out of a bowl, and has not yet found a drinking vessel that pleases him better than the keeper’s band. Tho mouse-lemur is a dwarf no more than 4in long, and Jives in a piece of bamboo about 2Jin across. He is about the size of a half-grown rat, and looks just like a galago except that his coat is creamy with tinges of brown at the tips of tho hairs.j lake the sifaka, lie is gentle and amiable, but ho is timid and prefers to interview admirers from the shelter of his little bamboo home.’ Other important new arrivals at the Zoo arc three Tulj-grown jaguars. They aro by far the largest and handsomest specimens of tliosb South American cats that the Zoo has' had for several years. They aro quite good-tempered ami should soon become perfectly tainc. As soon as they arrived at the Gardens the keeper was able to feed them by hand and even touch them, but the removal from travelling boxes into exhibition cages rather upset them. One of them (lew into a rage when, bo was turned out of his travelling box. and, snarling viciously, tried to attack the onlookers. Tho second sulked and retifed into his sleeping apartment, but tj* largesS settled down quickly'; and as- they are all healthy and contented’ the lion house keeper believes they will bo tame enough to be stroked by their visitors by the time Easter arrives and the Zoo’s* busy season begins. SIX SOUS FOR A BEGGAR A pretty little story is being told in the French papers with a young art student and a member of tho llotlischild family as, its heroes. It happened one evening at a dinner party that Baron llothschild, sitting opposite a famous painter whom ho Had not met before, found the artist’s eyes fixed on his own faco so persistently that after a while ho could not help asking him the reason of his interest. The artist confessed that he wps in search of a model for a picture ho was painting, and that the baron’s faco was exactly what ho was looking for. “For months I have been held up in my work and on tho verge of despair,’’ ho said, “because 1 could not find the right model anywhere. You would bo doing mo and the cause of French art the greatest possible service if you would come tb my studio and let me paint you into my picture.” “Willingly,” said the baron. “In what capacity do you wish to paint me?” “As a beggar,” answered tho painter; whereupon a shout of laughter went up. The banker, himself amused, promised to cbmo to the studio next day, and lie kept his word. Divested of his own clothes and appropriately attired in beggar’s rags ho looked tho picture of destitute misery.

So, evidently, thought a young man who entered the room while the painting was going on. Tho young man’s own coat was threadbare, and when a little later he left the studio ho slipped a few coins into the supposed beggar’s pocket. ‘‘Who was that young man?” asked the baron of tho painter. “An art student and an extremely gifted one,” was the answer. “Unfortunately lie is so poor that ho will not be. able to continue his studies. It is a great pity.” The banker made a note of the young man's name and address: and next morning the artist received this letter and a cheque;— , Sir, —All good deeds hear fruit sooner'or later. Yesterday you gave a beggar six sous. To-day those six sous have become 10,000 francs. If you will present the enclosed cheque at my banking house you will be paid tho above sum.—James Rothschild.

It was some time before the poor art student could be made to understand that the letter was not a hoax, and that the beggar to whom he iiad given alms was one of the richest men in Europe. Never had six sous been invested with better profit. He could go on witlx his studies after all. WHAT AN OWL GAN DO Aesop well knew the habits of frogs and toads when lie told his fable of the frog which tried to blow itself out to a size at which it could compete with the bull which came to quench its thirst at its pond. Naturalists of our own time have learned that this gift of inflation is not peculiar to frogs and toads; it is to bo found in several orders of life. A no wcxample is the most, surprising because the most unexpected. An owl common to Europe the Scops Owl, proves capable of an airy extension much greater than the frog’s. One whi-'i has just arrived at tho Zoo is an insignificant little fellow rather Jess than six inches high. When it becomes angry or alarmed, however, it gulps in air, blows out its body, and swells to the size of a toy balloon. This would seem incredible if it were not a fact, but, after all, we have in our common pouter pigeon a bird which can so inflate its crop as actually to hido its head from a front view; and there arc wild birds with pouches and sacs cajiable of immense distension, chiefly for tho production of sound. As fishes do not breathe air, tho gift of swelling might seem impossible to them, but it is not. They extract oxygen in solution from the water and the marvels they perform in regulating their depth and balance in seas miles deep are the result of their being able at will to increase or decrease the volume of gas contained in what children call their swim bladders. The globe fish, however, not content .with so mild a triumph, swells himself visibly to such an extent that he capsizes, reclines upon his back, and floats whither currents may carry him. There are many wonders in this subject if we care to follow them up, but perhaps tho greatest is that of a tortoise from tho Tropics discovered a few years, ago, which, in spite of its shell, is so flexible and so extraordinarily specialised that, creeping into a little cavity in. the rocks, it can blow itself out so. as to fit tho hole exactly and at the same time render its extraction impossible and tho entry of an enemy hopeless. So tho Scops Owl at the Zoo has more comrades in inflation than most of those who have at present seen it may have imagined. , SHUT THE DOOR Godfrey Gordon Gustavus Gbre— No doubt you have hoard thq name before— Was a boy who never would shut a door. The wind might whistle, tho wind might roar, And teeth bo aching, and throats bo sore, But still ho never would shut the door. His father would beg, his mother implore, “ Godfrey Gordon Gustavus Gore, Wo really wis,!i you would shut the door 1 ” When he walked forth the folks would roar, “ Godfrey Gordon Gustavus Gore, Why don’t you think to shut tho door? They rigged out a shutter with sail and oar, And threatened to pack off Gustavus Gore On a voyage of penance to Singapore. But he begged for mercy, and said “ No more! Pray do not send me to SingaporeOn a shutter, and then I will shut the door! ” “ You will? ” said his parents; "then keep on shore! But mind you do! for the plague is sore Of a fellow that never will shut the door— Godfrey Gordon Gustavus Gore.” VALOUR IN THE BED OF A RIVER A sad and splendid piece of news conics from Canada. It is the story of how Avro Silyala toiled under the falls of tho Ontrade River to save his friend Peter Trans. A great coffer dam was being constructed at the falls, and Trans w’as working there as a diver. He was a tall young Dane who had done diving work in his own country and in Germany. This spring his wife was bringing their two little boys to join him in Quebec. Unlike Trans, the expert diver, Silyala was just a labourer, a humble man, small, and nnheroic in appearance. Ho had emigrated from Finland. The diver went down, as usual, one Monday morning, and came up to ask that tho ladder should be moved. Then ho went down again. After some time the engineers grow anxious, and signalled to Trans, but lie did not answer. Then they knew that an accident had happened, and they telegraphed to Montreal for divers. At midday an aeroplane set out .with two men on board, but a snowstorm began, and instead of arriving on Mon day they arrived on Wednesday. Rescue work had been going on, how ever, since Monday. Arvo Silyala, one of the labourers, had gone to the cjiiel engineer and volunteered to go dowr to see if he could help Trans. The engineer refused because Silyala wn not n diver, and had no proper suit, but the Finn insisted, and an emergency diving suit -was rigged up for him. During a snowstorm this brave little labourer descended 20ft below the yiver. The freezing water penetrated his suit at once, and when he came up he was chilled to the bone, but triumphant. Ho had seen Trans standing upright. After wanning -himself Silyala went down again, but the cur-

rent prevented him getting close to Trans. It was decided to sink a crib round Trans and pump it out. Men worked all night making the crib. On Tuesday morning Silyala went down again, and this tiiue managed to reach Trans. There were obstructions round him which Silyala could not move, but he managed to reach the diver’s hand. Never was a stranger handclasp given. In the darkness under the tempestuous river Silyala shook the diver’s hand again and again, hoping for some least pressure in'" return. But there was no sign of life. Silyala went up with the tragic news" and rescue work continued feverishly. The labourer continued diving, in order to guide those working above. He might easily have met tho same fate as Trans, and ho knew it, but he was ready* to risk his life. A doctor was waiting above in the hope of being able to restore the diver once he was brought to the surface. The currents gradually carried Trans under the coffer dam. When at last an aeroplane brought the two expert divers Silyala worked with them to cut away the timbers, and finally, they brought Trans up. but be had long been dead. The currents and some obstruction must have trapped him, or he may have slipped in descending the ladder. No one knows how the tragedy began. _ We onlv know that the diver was sixtynine hours below the icy river, and nearly all that time a little man who had never worn a diving suit before was working to rescue his friend 20ft under the water. THE BROKEN-DOWN TRAIN If someone enchanted our battered toy train And set the old wheels on a journey again. And if we could leap on the footplate and feel The glare of tho furnace, tho quiver of steel, I wonder, 1 wonder what land we should find When chair legs and carpet were all left behind? First under the table she’d go with a roar, Then swish past the fender, and out at the door, She’d roll down the passage, and puff down tho path, And frighten tho sparrows away fi;om their bath; Then into a jungle of raspberry cane Would whistle—and never be heard of again. So, where she would take us no mortal would know, It might be the land where tho biscuit trees grow. Where animals talk and the buttercups sing, And nre-breatliing dragons are seen on the wing. It might bo the region of music and mist, Where Oberon rides with a hgwk on his . wrist, And knights all in green in his company ride, And woe to the mortal they lure to his side! It might be a country as strange as the moon, Where star-dust bepowders the wayfarer’s sboon, It might be tho Wonderland Alice explored— But no one can tell, for we can’t get aboard; The clockwork is broken, the wheels they are still, , So choose your own country and dream what you will I 1 THE MANOR HOUSE BED-TIME TALE The manor house belonging to the Rous family was old enough, dating from tho days of Henry the Eight}), but the tree which stood beside it was older still. It was one of those gigantic oaks which only Our island can grow, that stand defying the centuries, producing leaves and, acorns at the right seasons, even though there might oe a large hollow at the root and'a dead branch rising starkly from' the sea of foliage. This dak was a great favourite with the family, and one day in summer the children of the .hall were junketing beneath its shade on strawberries, 'cream, and syllabub, little maidens with bunches of fair curls hanging on either side of their round faces and tabbed bodices to their long silk gowns, little boys with falling collars and big shoe roses. Little cared the merry party for the troubles which were disturbing the country and lying heavily on the master of the hall, Sir John Rous. The biggest of the boys disregarded the beauty of his cavalier attire and scrambled up the oak,, rending his apparel like any peasant’s son. From a spreading branch he called .out: “ Maurice and Bess!' ■_ Here conies Dickon the woed-ward. riding as hard as ho can. He must bring news.” He dropped down from the bough to hear it, and the other children joined him, hut the frantic horseman swept past them; his errand was for their elders. ; , In the courtyard Dickon the woodward dismounted, and ran straight to the doorway, where Elizabeth Rous was standing, beautiful and stately in her dove grey satin gown. “My lady!” cried Dickon. “You must hide Sir John as quickly as you can. There is a troop of Roundhead soldiers on their way from Ipswich with a warrant to arrest him. My lady, you must choose the craftiest place you can,' Old Master Reynolds, the lawyer, is coming with the, party. Ho hath a hall the marrow of your own in Norfolk. They Will hunt every nook and crappy,” ' . By the time Hid Parliamentary soldiers rode up to the door Sir John’s lady had found, him a hiding place. Calm and unmoved, she sat in her panelled hall while the search for her husband went on in tho rambling manor house. Every cupboard behind _ a sliding panel was opened, the priest’s hole entered, the bats disturbed in the attics, with their three thicknesses of roof. The cellars were bunted, tho kitchens, tho barns, but not a sign of Sir John was to bo seen. The sun set arid it grew dark. The captain thought at last that the bird had flown and determined to go. Lady Rous stood beneath the oak tree, with her pale, frightened children round her, to watch the trbopei's ride by, when suddenly tho captain reined up, shouting “Halt!” “I mistrust this 1 old oak.” said ho. “ It was in such hii quo the mSlignnnt 'diaries Stnnft sheltered lit BoScobel, and escaped. I will post a compkm rcund it to keep guard all night, add on the morrenv- it must ho searched.” Night dragged along— ii lohg one for the Lady Elizabeth lying sleepless in the hall. Day came and the troopers stripped off their buff coats arid ch’Wbed the tree from base to summit. The captain felt sure Sir John was near at hand. Nobody was- to be found, though, and grudgingly ho gave tho order to ride away. His guess was right; the limited man

was near at Land, 1 only inside the oak J tree, not outside it. f Sir John Rous had used the great hollow in his oak tree as a summer ' house. With the idea of preserving ’ the shapeliness of the trunk, he had 1 had -a door made to fit the gap, faced with hark to match the oak’s.. So well had the ancient carpenter done his work that when the door was shut no joining could be seen. 1 Into this deep recess Elizabeth had thrust her husband. So, at his ease. Sir John endured the long wait in the darkness, till a muffled tapping told him that he might safely leave.

THE HONOUR SQUARE Winnie -Hamilton, Medway street, Gore, is awarded five marks for interest. James Williams, .3G Fingall street, Dunedin, is awarded five marks for neat writing.