FOR THE CHILDREN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15349, 9 July 1913, Page 12

FOR THE CHILDREN.

THE STUPID BOY.

j A cantankerotts old ; woman who lived ■in ! a little dilapidated cottage " bought a sack of coals and-gave ; a boy a penny to carry it home. . r ,j, .?'..-■ .v>-/ '±x~W ?-w-t£ %*&. Soon the • boy >; appeared*;* staggering j under -his : load, Which'-he carried ; oh'his | shoulders. ; ; • ' ' >-' .■'■' "-'!' : :' | "Stupid. lad !" snapped the old r woman. " You should v have dragged xit along j? be* hind you." ;■ : . t^g "I'm-sorry, ma'am," 'replied, the : ! boy| "I'll remember next time." V- ; ,? And he seemed so anxious to atone for, his delinquencies \ that the old woman relented, and said "While you are here you may fetch me some . water from the well." '.' ■^-v.: Z■■■■■ The. boy took the pail, and came back dragging it ■• behind - him., the ; water, splash ing out at every step he took. '•*">- f#S "Have you no sense?" exclaimedHthe I old woman T querulously. 'iZ " You shoal ; have carried the pail on your head." -$££ ! I'm •; sorry, v ma'am," , said 'r the > boy I "I'll remember next time." . * -/i^VNot long after the boy was ' passing ihS cotiage, when -the old" woman called oat : " The farmer has given v. me i a goat Run along, like 5 a good lad, and bring i home." . ,-' •"■'■.":.'.■ '" •:";■ *&•£§s ' v Away ; went ;• the . boy, and by and-by ft grotesque-looking ' figure;'" came' ; trudging; slowly along , the lane. It was the b&y bent almost double beneath the weighty! some cumbersome } load. > *-■-» "S " The lad's demented !" ejaculated tie old woman. :.y "If *he hasn't put the go* on his head; ; And, '; pushing open the door, she hurried out. Z'-$ The two reached the garden gate at the same moment, and, as the boy was too preoccupied yto .■?•; notice ■ where '::! he was going, they collided Down went the old woman, the boy rolling over on top*lf her - " - •^ V v..:^--i : .:,,;^;:v^ "I am sorry—" he began. <!$m "Cease your chattering!" screamedthe old woman, now thoroughly exasperated. " Go ! I never want to set. you again 1" jilt ; A BOY HOUSEKEEPER. \ ■ ' ', ':'. : '-"' - "■■: ■' • -.' ■ ■■■' ,:-.--:' : . :.. ,-.?.wfjglsl At Shepherd's Bush lives a 14-year-olt boy who for the last three years—since bift mother < died— kept houso, cooked for, mended for, and generally looked'after five brothers, who are all younger than himself, and his father. > '"":,'.-.'MWO His ; _i name is '/-. ; William ; Manjey. ;% H»j great ambition is to get as 'soon as possible a situation where he will be trained as a chef. t ■ {0& "My father, being an ordinary working man, could not afford to engage" fthousekeeper when mother died, so I simply; had to do the housework and look after; the children," said Willie to a friend. "I ; get up at about seven o'clock each morn-' ing, and first get my father's breakfast,'*' said Willie, "It usually consists of eggt or fish, tea and -bread. Then I get my. brothers up, give them their J breakfast,' and then we aIL have to get to school be* fere nine o'clock. -■ -/£*? "We come back at noon for dinnery win I prepare the night before, so' that it only needs warming up. Our favouri!*' dish for dinner is Irish stew. This is •the? recipe which I usually make it from W Pieces of meat cut up, potatoes, carrots, tui-iips, onions, desiccated solid powder, and peas- for thickening. On Fridays we' have fish, which I" buy already fried. have a joint, two vegetables, and * pud*! dinir for Sunday dinner. Last Sunday £ bought beef, a head of cabbage, and pirt»«j toes, and made a tapioca pudding. an " I like making pastry very much. SomeV times I make meat pie 3. . ••-;- 'iftli "I cooked our turkey myself the last two Christmases, and carved it, too. H always do the carving and serving on days. 1 really like cooking and want « become a chef if, I can. Nobody taught me anything about. cooking. •< AUjE had to go on when I started was to t*q. member what I saw my mother doing. ,■::% " I do the mending and washing— the starched things. •,< I am teaching !gijf brother Waiter to do the washing ; now*i for cooking takes up so much.of my time.l "Every night I make up my a*counfe!|j with the receipts I get from all the men 1 deal with. r I have to make aboafc 30s buy our food and pay the rent, lighting and gas for a week. It takes' some thud** .ing out."- -.:' : -:VV ; -'-••.'■ :-,; .-.;.-" :^&s3jM