Children's Corner

Hutt News, Volume 3, Issue 20, 9 October 1930, Page 4

Children's Corner

NAUGHTY SAMMY.

"JL «nall somethmc; in the air thia mo«»>n» " «•"* Sammy, the Sealviuun nnnnia. uniting his little nose inxo me air ju»«* sniffing. "What ia. it*" asked all his brother: mumies- who were sitting in the kennel with him. ! "It's soan. and that means we're going to have a bath,'': cried Sammy. "I'm offl No bath for me, thank you.'' And he ran out of the kennel, and away across the fields, as far away from the house as he could. Presently he saw a big heap of jnud by the »ond. and.he jumped into it, and rolled over, and over, having such a lovely time, and when he got up all his nice white •coat was covered in mud, but Sammy didn't xj£fe*f iMt was^lMfi the fun of playing, to get dirty, he thought. After he had romped across the fields, and then into '• the mud again, he got rather tired -of playing by himself, an*d thought it would be quite safe for him to go back to the. house, to fetch his brothers to play. Just as he got to the gate of, the house, he saw the horse; and trap standing outside, with his master holding the reins, while his mistress lifted all his brothers into the back of the trap. Sammy ran quickly up to them and tried to jump into the trap but his mas-, ter saw him, and said: "Go away, we don't; wont a dirty little doggie like you; you can stay at home," and he pulled the reins, and off they all went, leaving poor Sammy standing there alone. "I'll run behind to see where they are going," he-thought, and he ran quickly after the trap. Sammy got very tired having to run so fast, and all his brothers who were sitting nice and clean in the back of the trap, kept looking down and laughing at him. Presently they stopped at a big "building that had a card on the door with "Dog Show" written •on it, but of course Sammy couldn't read, and so he didn't know what it was. Somebody opened the door of the house, and as they were going inside, Sammy tried to go in with them, but the man at the door shooed him away, and told him he "was too dirty to come in. Sammy saw a window open by the door, so he climbed on to the window sill and jumped in. When he got inside, he found there were hundreds of dogs of all kinds, all barking and making such a noise, and in one corner he saw his brothers sitting on big soft cushions, and having their coats brushed and combed by their mistress. Sammy stole quietly up to them and was just going to crawl on to n cushion when his mistress saw him, and ordered him away, and so he slunk into a dark corner where he would not be seen. In a few minutes he saw a strange man go up to his, brothers, and tie a big blue ticket on to their collars. • "Whatever is~ he doing?" thought Sammy, and he saw the man hand a beautiful silver cup to his master, and then another man went to his brothers, and game them each a lovely big bone, and a big biscuit. Sammy's mouth began to water when he saw the bones, and he nearly ran lip to one of his brothers to snatch at his bone, when he remembered that he wasn't supposed to be there, and so he got farther back into ins corner, feeling more miserable and hungrier than «ver.

When he looked again, he saw a whole lot of people standing round his brothers, making such a fuss of them, and giving them bits of chocolate, and all sorts of lovely things. Poor Sammy could stand it no longer, and he got out of the building as quickly as he could, and ran. all the way home aiid hid himself in his kennel.

Soon he heard them all come home again, and go into the house and still Sammy sat there feelinglonely and miserable, until he heard his master come to the kennel and call him. Sammy crept slowly out and stood there looking so miserable and dirty, that his master said, "Come along, cook's got a nice big bone for you and if you hadn't been 'such a naughty dog and run away, you might have won a first prize like your, brothers." . Sammy gave, a little bark to show that he was really sorry, and followed his master into the house and soon he was romping happily with his bx*other again, with a nice big bone hidden away, where he could get it^when he wanted it. After that Sammy was always the first doggie to jump into the bath tub, because he always remembered -what he had missed through, wanting to be dirty.. ■ irlXlili JfxtiJr. - . Pixie Pep was a , verry little sprite, always up to mischief,. but as he was so good-tempered and never got sulky when the other pixies played pranks on him and he got the worst of it, everybody liked him. One morning he tumbled out of his cobweb hammock, head over heels, and overturned all the acorn cups, which, had been filled with water overnight, ready for the fairies to wash in. When the fairies awoke, and found all the water spilled, some of them were going to be a wee bit cross about it, when Pixie Pep swung from a tree where he^ad been hiding, flung his arms round them and gave them a kiss, and dancirig away, called out: "I'll bring you some more! Follow me!" In a moment he was up another tree, and as the fairies followed to see what he was up to, they suddenly found themselves drenched with water. Pixie Pep was spray ing it on them from a child's watering can, which he had picked up in a garden that morning, and filled with water.' He had,hauled it up into the tree by a piece of string. "Hee! Hee! Heel" laughed Pixie Pep. '' Now you are washed all right! Hee! Hee 1 Hee! "You wicked pixie," cried the fairies, and a dozen elves who had gust come up and were quite dry, swarmed up the tree after him; but Pixie Pep was too quick for them, and he swung himself from one tree to another, just out of their reach as they followed.

Just then, a fairy aeroplane flew over the trees, and Pixie Pep, with one high spring, landed right into the middle of it. , j " Good-bye-ec! Good-bye-ec! he gaily shouted to the fairies—and dropped an orange which he picked up from a heap of. them in the aeroplane right on the head of one of the elves, and sent him sprawling. Luckily it was a fairy orange, so was not heavy enough to really hurt the elf. "Hee! Hee!" he chuckled, doubling himself. up with laughter. "There's plenty of 'pep' in Pixie Pep!" • "Hi!" shouted the pilot of the aeroplane. "What do you mean by jumping in like thai? You nearly upset me—aeroplane and all." * "Carry on, my lad," said Pep. And he settled himselt more comfortably on the heap of oranges; and b.e.gan to eat one. v r.,.,-.. " You: scamp!'' shputedr the piloj. "You'll catch it when we get to the Palace. Don't you know those oranges, are for the Queen, and I'm taking them to. her? This is a goods 'plane—it doesn't belong to the passenger service! It is just used to take fruit and goods to the Queen I-'. '' 00-er!'' exclaimed Pixie Pep —and didn't eat any more oranges. He didn't do much more, except tickle the back of the pilot's neck with some grasses he found in the 'plane until the -machine slowed down and dived to the Palace grounds. ■Watching his chance, Pixie Pep jumped from the aeroplane, and started running across the grass. *' Catch him, Gtiard!" yelled the pilot. The soldiers of the Guard, little men dressed in red and green, were playing ball at the moment, and the ball happened just theia to bounce on to Pixie Pep's tummy, | and took his breath away, That just gave the Guard time to catch him, and march him off to be tried by the Judge. "Put on your sorriest face!" said the Guard severely. i'l have,'' answered Pixie Pep meekly. "J'ni afraid I haven't got a very sorry one. My eyes are always too twinkly." The Guard grunted, but said nothing more, and in two minutes they were in the Court, and Pixie Pep was charged with eating the Queen's orange. "Why did you eat it?" asked the Judge.

'' Because I like oranges,'' replied Pixie Pep. "That's no excuse. Any other reasons for eating it?" "Oh, I just ate it for fun, and because I liked to see the aero-' plane pilot get cross. He looked so funny," said Pixie Pep, and started to chuckle at the thought. '' Silence!'' roared the usher. ' * Did you know that it was the Queen's orange?" "No, sir," answered Pixie Pep. "Hem! That mitigates the case somewhat," went on the Judge, "and you have answered my questions truthfully, and haven't whined or tried to make excuses. I shall therefore let you off lightly this time. You must pay three tinklers into^the Court, and that will buy another orange for the Queen." . . •';■. * ' Please sir, I haven't any tinklers^ btr^l .«aifc-]worfe^an<J ream some,' r said Pixie Pep. "Very good. Set to work to weed the Queen's garden.". Pixie Pep worked hard at this job all day, and at the end of it had earned three tinklers, fairy money, which he paid into Court. '' Now you may go,'' they told him. And Pixie Pep, though very tired, had to walk all the way home, and macle up his mind that he would:-not be quite so cheeky to aeroplane pilots next time.