The Dear Little House

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23719, 27 July 1940, Page 3 (Supplement)

The Dear Little House

▼"tttELL, good-bye, Mr. Swal\X/ l° w >" sa *d the dear little VV house. "I do hope I shall have a brighter face to smile at you when you come back in the spring. I'm getting quite short-sighted—-my windows want cleaning so. And isn't my hat shabby; I haven't had a new one for six years. It's disgraceful." "It is, rather," said Mr. Swallow, "and you need a new coat of paint, too. But perhaps someone will come along soon and buy you. Anyway, 1

shall build under your eaves whatever you look like—you will always be the same dear little house to me." And with that he flew south.

The dear little house gretf shabbier than ever. Weeds grew in the garden path, and the grass grew long where flower-beds should have been. It was not till Christmas that a lady and man opened the little wicket gate. "What a dear little house!" said the lady. "It only needs freshening up a bit," said tho* man. The little house was so anxious that her door-handles rattled and her stairs creaked with excitement.

Original, by ELAINE HICKS (13)

When the lady and man came out, sh© was happy for the first time since Mr. Swallow flew away, for the words she heard were: "Then that's settled. We'll take it!" When Mr. Shallow came back in early spring, he could hardly believe his eyes. There was his dear little house, but oh! how different she looked. She had been given a new coat _of paint, a warm pink one. Her red chimneys rose proudly from a brand new hat of thatch. Her diamond-paned windows sparkled and twinkled in the sunshine. The grass was flowered with daffodils, and in the open doorway sat a blue-eyed baby playing with a fat, black kitten. .

"Well, you are a lovely home to come back to," said Sir/Swallow. "You're a perfect picture. But there* you always were a dear little house."