THE CASTLE PLEDGE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 28 May 1927, Page 18

THE CASTLE PLEDGE.

I promise to smile every time I can, and to chase all the ftowns into the dark cave, -where the Smile Giant will kill them with his Magic Sword Happiness.

» MY Dear Smiles, — Have you ever seen.a hedgehog? The other evening I was nearly frightened out of my wits. Darkness had fallen and I had just stepped outside, to make sure all the .Smiles that dwell in the Castle were indoors, when 1 knocked my foot against something hard. I turned a light on the object, for I thought one of the fairies must have forgotten the tidy rule and left a toy on the lawn. Just, imagine the shock I felt when I beheld a small round ball, a mass of sharp spikes, which seemed to move ever so slowly. It was some minutes before I realised that this % prickly, spiky affair was 'a young hedgehog. I had never seen them within our Castle walls before, but I had often • seen them in England.. Over there we often found these queer little creatures in our vegetable gardens.. They nibble the plants around the roots, but they are quite good at clearing the garden of beetles, bugs .and grubs. When they are resting they look for all the world like a small cone-shaped wire brush, but really it is only the body that is like this, and it has four short legs and feet, and at one end a long snout something like a pig. In fact, baby hedgehogs are called pigs. When they are first born they are blind like puppies, and their spikes are white and soft. However, it only takes a few days for the prickles to become stif enough to draw blood. If you ever have an opportunity of examining a baby pig you will notice tiny hanging ears, which are very hard to find in the fully grown hedgehog. Also the babies cannot contract themselves into a ball like the older ones do, for the sake of defence. I suppose this is because the muscles that enable the peculiar creatures to roll themselves up into a ball are not fully developed. I don't suppose we shall see any more hedgehogs for a while, because in winter they usually conceal themselves in a deep, warm bed of moss and leavas. I often wonder"what food they eat during the cold months they are in hiding. Perhaps some of you Smiles know and could tell me. I suppose you are all back at school now working hard at your second term work and looking forward to the AiTgust holidays. . The reason I love your holidays is because most of my Smiles write such delightful accounts of them. I'm looking forward to lots this mail, but now it is late, so with love good-night. I am, Your affectionate, SMILE QUEEN.