HILDA’S LESSON.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 6 February 1926, Page 18

HILDA’S LESSON.

(YVritten for the Castle page by Britta Mills.) A long time ago there lived a little girl called Hilda, who was very, very untidy. Her shoelaces were never tied properly, her hair was always ruffled, and her finger-nails were never clean. One day Hilda’s mother' gave her a duster and led her to a room. “Now, dear, I want you to dust this room very carefully for me. Be sure to open the window and shake the dust from your duster every few minutes. Do try to do it properly for once!” Then she went out closed the door. Hilda looked round her and pouted. It was a windy day and the dust had blown in and lay thickly on the furniture. On the floor was a big storybook. Now Hilda was fond of reading, so she sat down on the carpet, blew the dust off the cover, opened the book and commenced to read. So interested was she that she did not notice that the cloud of dust she blew off the book was getting bigger and bigger. Presently, finding it difficult to see, she looked up. Imagine her surprise when she saw. flying about in the room, hundreds of tiny shining grey elves! They seemed to "be very angry and were flapping their tiny " wings first at one window and then at the other, as if they wished to got out. . One, larger than the rest, with a very long nose and a very high hat, flew down on to Hilda’s book. He was shaking with anger, and in his hand iie held a long sharp stick. “YVhat do you mean by keeping us shut up here?” he demanded. “The Dust Man will be very angry. He has been calling us for a long time. You are a naughty, careless girl! You should have set us free when the sun was shining, so that we could get home on the Sunbeam Railway.” Hilda looked sulky. “I don’t care,” she replied. “Get out by tin* same way you got in. I’m going to read mv book until mother comes in for me.” The little man’s eyes glistened with rage. He prodded Hilda with his stick. “Now open tlie window,” he shouted, giving her arm such a prick that she jumped up. Her book fell, scattering the dust elves who had come near. The whole army of them came at Hilda, who put her hand over her face to keep them off: and rushed to the window. As she opened it a big gust of wind carried her and the elves, away out into the street. She screamed, but people thought that it was only tin wind, and shut their eyes to keep out tlie dust. She was whirled, pushed, pulled, twisted, and at last carried far up in a whirlwind, She thought she was never going to stop. YVhen at last her flight ended, she found herself in front of a big cave. All about her were angry elves who kept prodding and pushing her until she was face to face with an old, old man with a long beard. His hair was shining newlyspun cob-webs, and his dress was sparkling and grey like the motes in i. ray of sunshine in a dusty room. He looked at her sternly. “I sent Policeman YVind to bring’you hero. You have been found guilty tf imprisoning my subjects against their wishes. • Your punishment is three days’ hard labour.” Hilda was frightened now and opened her mouth to speak. “Go!” commanded the old Dust Man, and she was dragged away by

hundreds of tiny hands to a tower that stood on a hill. A host of elves with sharp sticks followed -her. They en tered the tower with her and locked the door. The elf who had spoken to her before, now flew towards her. “You have to clean this tower from top to bottom, and if it is not done in three days you will never go back to Earth Land'. Here are dusters and mops.’ ’ He put three tiny cobwebs on a table and stood three pussy willows on the floor near her. Then in a twinkling all the elves disappeared. She was in a room full of toys —tin toys, wooden toys and paper toys —and all covered thickly with dust. There seemed to be hundreds of them pileu in disorderly heaps on the floor and on •.the shelves. She picked up a beautiful doll; but so much dust flew up and stung her eyes that she had to drop it quickly. She picked up another and another, but each time a puff of dust made her eyes smart, and she had to let the toy fall. Then she climbed the stairs to another room. Here were books of ail descriptions—heaps and heaps of them, like the toys covered thickly with dust. Hilda opened one that looked interesting, but such a puff of dust came that she commenced to sneeze. At every sneeze the dust flew in all directions, choking and blinding her. With streaming eyes she made her way to the stairs again where the air seemed more clear. In her hand she still held the cobweb duster. She wiped her eyes with it and commenced to sob bitterly. She thought of her kind mother and how she had been worried by her little daughter’s untidiness. “If I get back home, I’ll try to be tidy and please her,’’ she sobbed aloud.

‘You can learn right now,’’ said a tiny voice near her. She looked down. From the folds of the duster crept a wee silver fairy. “I am Fairy Ready Help, and as soon as you are ready to help others, I am always ready to help you,’’ she said with a smile. “So come along and meet my sisters.’’ She led the way to the table where two more tiny fairies stood on the other dusters. Ready Help pointed to one and then to the other. “This is Fairy Willing Hands and this Fairy Carefulness. ’ ’

Then she touched the pussy willows, which straightened up and grew at once into huge feathery mops.

“These are our servants —Cleanliness, Order, and Hard Work. We will all help you if you help yourself.’’ “Please, little fairies,’’ begged Hilda,’’ show me the way and I will try very hard. ’ ’ “Well, take Willing Hands and Carefulness with you and use your mops as you need them. Let us commence at this corner.’’

Together they started the cleaning. Cleanliness sent the dust flying in a stream up the stairs and out of a window at the top of the tower. Order arranged toys and books in their proper places and Hard Work polished the walls and floors. The fairies stood by advising and putting the finishing touches to everything. When all at last was bright and shining, Hilda found that three whole days had passed. “I would like to go home now,’’ she said to Ready Help, who was folding up the cobweb dusters. The fairy touched the door, which opened at once. “You are free now,’’ she said. “But when you get back to Earth Land always remember the friends who helped you. ’’ Hilda looked up. She was in her own home. The duster and the book had fallen to her feet. She looked around for the fairies, but they had all disappeared. Then she remembered what her mother had wanted her to do. She sprang to her feet and opened the window. Then she set to work with a will. Every few' minutes she shook her duster out the w-indow. How the dust danced and sparkled as it sped away on the breeze! Hilda watched the tiny particles until they disappeared far up into the sunshine. „ From that day Hilda was a different girl. She never forgot her three fairy friends and their servants, and whenever she saw any dust about she w r as most careful to gather it up in her duster and shake it out the window.