FOR THE CHILDREN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13725, 15 April 1908, Page 9

FOR THE CHILDREN.

; TUK .MISCHIKVorS MUST.i ' ■ ■ ■ ■ T '' j ;>n- *, it. haUKR.I « , -, ; ii wan early morning on the moor, and tN' ! whole of the downs were covered, with whit* ' soft Mist. All night long it had lain on th# j ground, shrouding everything in it* thin soft I veil, hut now that it vm nearly time for the. ; sun to rwe it knew that ft would soon b&m j to depart and make it* way up to the graft*.- | hist ma -,""";. ■ i It shed its m-nature on the. leave* and flower*' ■ of the heather and gor» until each branch I had a row of glittering drops along the »tem i and every flower bore in Us heart a lr«oh,. i coo! dew-drop. It was siimnier-tiuw, and tat.: J plants were most grateful for the mowture, and all the bhwomrtried to keep their drop* j' as long as they possibly could. They folded j their petab over them, and only opened ; them when the san grew too strong, for they | did not want to part with the.. rpf'WShThf. j water. j Down in » little hollow in a quiet part o: ) the moor the Mist lay particularly thi<-k. ami hero it was in no hurry "to move. "I an ! not going to worry myself." it said, '' at »«i> j rate, not just yet! 3 can keep out of the ■«'«); I of the old sun for a good while yet, and I I mean to have a bit of fun before I get up ' to him." So it kept very t>till, and hugged ] itself dose, and did not try to >pread\ itself. j out and make toeK thin; for it knew thai 1 long as it remained pretty thick it eoule withstand the power of the sun. '"""'■' For some lime the Run paid no attention-' to that corner of the moor; he was* verj busy sending down but shafts of light '.Wic drawing up the banks of mist, sutd.it-Wiii quito beautiful to see, how readily they ah answered hi* summons, and silently and swiftly glided away up. up into the. sky until they had melted out of tight. t->">v >> At last, however, the sun sent a beam info the corner whore the little patch of thick Mist was lying, and told it that it wit* time to' be stirring. ' '; * '* "Nonsense!" said the Mist. "Why can't you leave mo alone? I'm quite comfortable here, and not doing anyone any harm." And it wrapped itself tip closer and thicker than before, and refused to move. The »tm. pour ed his rays on it for a. minute or twof-iutc then gave it up, and went on with; hi« other work. ... -..„ ■■;■ ■ »\> The. obstinate patch of Mist was delighted. When it saw that the sun was a good way off, chasing away a real cloud, it felt that it might conn? out and enjoy itself. So it began to unfold itself and spread out over the moor. '"' .',' *" "* '

First of all,, it hid a little lamb from it* mother, and made the poor, little thing think that it was lost; then it wont on to the brook and upset the fishes, 'which had ,}unt come out to got their breakfasts. ( A frog, which a moment before had been sitting on a stone sunning itself, plunged back into the water with a start, supposing that it must have got up much too early. The mischievous Mist went rolling; along the hillside laughing to itself in high glee, and presently it saw a uroall girl walking along with a basket on her arm. ( Ha, ha I" laughed the patch of Mist, "now for a fine game." It came rolling up with a cold breath of air and wrapped itself' round tho little girl and hit! the path from her most completely. -In a few minutes aha had stayed right away from the road, and was stepping into a bog. This was just what the patch of Mist had intended, and ho wk, delighted with the success of his littlo scheme.. Tho poor little girl did not know what to do; every step she took only caused her to sink deeper in the bog. Her shoes we're, covered with mud, and she had dropped he* basket, which rolled away and Was at once covered up by the mischievous Mist. '" v ßlie ; stood quite still and began to cry. But the Mist did not care; it only seemed to inook at her. Every now and then it wouldl lift *- little bit as if it were going to clear off altogether, and then it would settle- down thicket than before. ■-.'■•:/ Meanwhile, however, the sun had finished its other, business, and disposed of the real clouds entirely.. He looked around on tin.: moor and suddenly spied the little patch oi Mist, and recognised it as the piece that hat been so ( obstinate in tho early morning. "Now I'lKoe bound it's up to some tnuohiei or other," he said to himself. "I must put a stop to. this!" He sent out a good strong beam straight down into, the middle of tin mischievous .Mist, and ail the same time allied to his friend (ho Breeze, who was wandering up and down the moor, greeting th« flowers. ~ - Tho Breeze answered his call at once, an** came up with a puff and a. nidi, iti'aflorini the patch of Mist here, there, andeverywhere As noon as the sun saw what the Mist had beer doing lie was highly iudigUAilt, and shone- hii fiercest. • •?■*' -■■•" The Mist grew weaker and weaker and thinner and thinner, and gradually melted away. The littlo girl spied her lost basket, saw the path just in front of her, stepped out of the bog, and dried her shoes in the sun, and in a few moments was going merrily on her way again. v . : --.'■' ■„ But the Breeze had not done with' tin*' mischievous Mist. He blew him into tatters and chased him'all over the moor until there was nothing left of him but a few ragged ! wisps floating miserably about.' Then the aw, came and put the finishing touches. >I«" poured out Ids hot, scorching rays on ih« forlorn bite; and . in lc-,-s than no tiro* th«, -Mist had completely vanished and the whole moor lay bathed in the burning sunlight.