THE STOLEN NEST.

Otago Witness, Issue 3768, 1 June 1926, Page 79

THE STOLEN NEST.

By Ruth Hertslet.

(Illustrated bt Dumbi-e.) ' (Copyright.—For the Witness.) "Well! well! what’s the matter?” said the Spirit of the Hills kindly. Tinkle, the little grey warbler, dried her tears, and looked up sadly.

Oh! sir!” said she, “my beautiful nest, that swung in the breeze, has gone, and. my three babies are inside. I have looked everywhere, and cannot find it. It cannot have been a cat, she would have left the nest behind. Someone has stolen nest, and babies, and all,” and Tinkle wept bitterly. “Dry your eyes, little lady,” said the Spirit of the Hills. “I did not think any of my Hill People could he so unkind. But do not worry. I’ll lind your babes for you before night-time,” and off he went. First he came to the rippling creek, and to it he said, “Water, singing as you flow, Tell me, truly, do you know i Where the warbler’s nest did go?" "Mighty Spirit of the Hills, Who tended all the brooks and rill*, We cannot help you in your quest, Wc have seen no warbler’s nest," sang the waters. Then to the bell-birds went he. “Birds with notes like sounding bell, Tell me truly, can you tell What the warbler’s nest befell?" and the bell-birds answered, “We will tell you, if we can, We sav one of the furry clan ; He took the vraibler’s nest, and ran.’’ “Thank you,” said the. Spirit of the Hills, “so that’s who it was.’ Off he went again, and found old man Possie sitting where the branches of the tree forked. “Mr Tossum, I am grieved That you the warbler's nest have thieved," said he sternly, and old man Possie looked up in surprise.

“Spirit, you my friend have been, I ?ould never be so mean. Honour bright, no nest I’ve seen." “Well,” raid the Spirit of the Hills, '‘if it wasn’t any of your tribe, it could onlv have been a wallaby or a rabbit. A rabbit could not reach so high, so it must have been a wallaby. Well, thank you, old man Possie,” and off he went again. This time to the tussocky ridges pf the hills. “Hoppitv! Hoppityf Hoppity! Three grey wallabies were taking long easy leaps through the tussocks. Suddenly Wobble, the father of the two smaller ones, sniffed the air. Thump! thump! went his hind

leg, and, at this danger signal, off the three went at lightning 6peed. Wobble had taught his children well. Using their tails and powerful hind legs, they could leap a tremendous distance.

The Spirit of the Hills looked round, and there, behind a flax bush, were Johnny and his greyhound, Fly. But tha wallabies had too big a start, so Fly did not give chase. The Spirit of the Hills did, however, and it was not long before he had overtaken the three grey, leaping figures. “Hi! Wobble! It’s only me,” he laughed. “That gTeyhound isn’t chasing you, so you can rest.” The three wallabies sat down and wiped their hot faces, and the Spirit of the Hills eyed them sternly. Hoppit, the smallest, moved uneasily, and at once the Spirit of the Hills knew. “Hoppit! Hoppit! You arc bad, You've made the little warbler sad. You stole her nest, and babies three, You naughty little wallaby.” Hoppit looked very frightened. “Oh, gentle Spirit of the Hills, "Who saves his people from all ills, It looked so templing hanging there, I thought it was a juicy pear. So, on my hind legs, high, I stood, And reached it, quickly as I could. A nest I didn’t know 'twould be, For it was hanging from a tree." Then the Spirit of the Hills laughed. “Well, Hoppit, I’ll forgive you this time. You are young and did not mean any harm, and certainly, Tinkle, the grey warbler always builds a nest that looks like a big pear. But you must return the nest and babies at once. I will meet you at the tree in twenty minutes, and will hang the nest from the bough again. Now, hurry off.” Half an hour later the nest, with it’s precious burden, was again swinging on the bough of a tree, and Tinkle was besido heisclf with joy. She fed and warmed her babies, and, perched on a branch nearby, sail" sweetly: “Oh! Spirit, hear my notes of glee, Gladly 1 give thanks to thee. For thou hast brought my babies three, Back from the naughty wallaby."

Johnny, returning from the bush with Fly. his greyhound, stopped to listen. “Just hear’, Fly,” said he, “how that grey warbler is singing. I expect she’s got a nest somewhere handy ; she sounds so happy. - ’

A D.L.F. WEDDING, A very pretty wedding and one of much inteiesl to Little Folk was solemnised at Knox Church, Dunc-din, on April 28, the contracting parties being Miss Margaret S. Croft (Captain Jackson Barry’s Daughter), and Mr Hugh W. Sprott (Black Watch), of Moegiel. The bride, who entered the church on the arm of her cousin, Mr Walter Gibbs, wore a charming "frock of white satin brocaded marocain, made cross-over effect with a knife pleated georgette apron at the front and georgette sleeves. A pearl design was worked on the left shoulder, and a large pearl ornament and sprays of orange blossoms were placed low on the left side. Her tulle veil, which was mounted on a coronet of pearls and orange blossoms, was embroidered with silver, and hung in graceful folds to the ground. The bridegroom’s sister, Miss Lilian Sprott, acted as bridesmaid, and was attired in a powder blue georgette frock trimmed with beads. She wore a black georgette hat relieved with blue. Both carried shower bouquets finished with streamers to tone with their frocks. Mr Cecil Sprott acted as best man, and the Rev. Kinmont, of Roslyn, was the officiating minister. After the ceremony, a reception wa9 held in Somerset Lounge of the Savoy, where the guests were received by the bride’s mother. Later in the dky Mr and Mrs Sprott left, midst showers of confetti, for Queenstown, where the honeymoon was spent, prior to taking up their residence at Otokia. Amongst the Little Folk present were ’Pea Cosy, Yellow Car nation, Oamaruite, Morning Star, Jeannie Deans, E. O. A., Sea Froth, and Mother's Only Girl.

LETTERS FROM THE LITTLE FOLK.

Motto.— We write for the benefit of others, not for ourselves. Dear Dot, —Was there any in Dunedin last week? I shall be glad when the ice is strong enough to slide on. I do not like the winter, as it is so cold and miserable. I am in Standard V this year at school. The inspector was here on hie surprise visit on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. We have Girl Guides twice a week now, and we have our uniforms to wear. We are trying to have our second patrol, which I think we will manage. There is a friend of mine who writes to your page. Her nom de plume is Monica’s Mate. Does Princess Olga still write to your page? Love to all and yourself.— lours trulv, RED TULIP (Waipiata). [There was snow on the hills, Red Tulip. I have not heard from Princess Olga for some time. —DOT.] Dear Dot,—May I join your happy band of Little Folk? 1 am very interested in reading your letters, so I thought I should like to become one of your members. This week it has been very cold in the mornings. I have one brother and one eißter. My sister is not very well. It has been quiet in Dunedin ’ since the Exhibition.—i ours truly, MOONLIGHT FAIRY (Dunedin).

[Yes, you may join, Moonlight Fairy. 1 hope your sister is well, soon.—DOT.] Dear Dot, —I am at home again for two weeks’ holiday from school. I am progressing well at music. Teacher said I shall win a prize next Christmas. I have sent a snap of myself to show you what I am like. I am seven on the 28th of this month. I have passed into class five. Mum came down twice and took me to the Exhibition It was so lovely, lit up at night. I shall be going back to the college next Monday. Love to the Little Folk and vourself.—Yours truly, TESS OF THE STORM COUNTRY (North Otago). [I am pleased you are doing well at music, Tess. Thank you for the snap, You look very happy.—DOT.] Dear Dot,—l was staying the week end at some friend’s place, and I took a few snaps. I took A Hookite, and A Darkeyed Lassie, and their two little brothers. I tried to snap Dad's Ploughman and Captain Jackson Barry, jun, but it was impossible. I sincerely hope the others will turn out a success, i have been to a good few dances lately. The Foresters of St. Andrew’s one was* good. The grand inarch looked beautiful. The Foresters all had their sashes on, and the* frocks were very pretty. Best lovCVto • all the Little Folk and your own dear self. — Yours truly, MORYEN LASS (St. Andrews). [Are you a good photographer, Morven La 33 ? Why could you not snap Captain Barry, junr?—DOT.] Dear Dot, —We have had no rain yet, and this is the ninth month of drought. i wonder will it ever rain I Our well is almost empty now. Now that our hall is burned down, we miss our weekly break in the monotony. The usual weekly pictures are ofi for a while. A temporary building is being erected, so before long* thev will be in full swing again. The hall was burned down three weeks ago. Everyone was at the pictures as usual. It was almost the end of the interval, when sudden screams of “Fire! Fire!" rent the air. The film had caught alight, and in five seconds the operating box was a mass of flames. The folks made their exit from the hall the quickest they had ever clone, I think. There was absolutely no dangei though, as the fire was up in the ceiling. 1 wasn't a bit scared, didn t even have a thrill! Of course, we all stood and watched the fire fiend do his work. The fire was a very pretty sight, beautifully coloured flames shot up towards the sky. So now we have no hall. We were going to have a hockey dance the week afterwards, but had to postpone it. I am playing hockey this year, and like it very much. We played a match with Gisborne High School Old Girls a week ago, and were beaten two goals to nil. We had had only two practices, so did not do so badly. They have a very good team. Last Thursday, when I went to practice, I tied Terence op, and told the boys to let him off later. The Cub let him off too soon, and he came over to the ground looking for me. I couldn’t have him there, for he would chase the ball, so I took him to a house near by and tied him up with a rope. He sat on the end of that rope and barked all the time we were playing. He evidently thought he should be playing too. A Little Bush Maid went to Motu on Saturday morning to spend a week’s holiday. Love* to all the Little Folk and yourself.—Yours truly, RED RAGGER (Te Karaka). [You must be a cool person not to be afraid, Red Ragger. What place do you play in the team?—DOT.] Dear Dot, —It is now the last day of the holidays. I am very glad to say that I led our class by well over a hundred marks, gaining 2175 marks out of a possible 3000. I felt very pleased with myself when we were given our reports, as I did not expect to gain half that. I spent most of my holidays in Matawai, where we used to live before we went to Kanakanaia. It is a lifeless place now, but I had a good time. I went with my friend on the Friday night after school, so it was late when we arrived. VVe went as far as the friend's shop and stayed there for a while to become warm and recover from the exertions of walking along bad roads. After that we went to tile house. When we opened the door we thought something was wrong, but when we opened tho kitchen door, well we went out again. The room wan full of smoke, and it was just pouring out of the oven and flames were crawling all over the range. We soon guessed that the kindling, which had been put in the oven to dry, had dried. We couldn’t find anything but a cup each to carry water in, so we used them. There were three of us so we soon had it out, but by the time we had finished we were all gasping and choking, and tears were running down our cheeks. 1 could hardly sleep that night, because my eyes were smarting. The night before that we had been to a dance, a send off to the head master at the primary school. We had to hold it in the school room, as the ball had just been burnt down, but I think I enjoyed it more than if it had oeen in the hall. We will be having another one soon, as our head master is leaving in a fortnight. It is a shame he is leaving, as we all like him so much, but we will not altogether lose him, as he will be a science inspector for northern Hawke’s Bay, and we are in that district. When I was in Matawai, I took a walk down as far as our old car shed. I did not go over to the house, because the bridge over the river might have been unsafe and also because of some cattle I didn’t like the look of. They were grazing in the bush. To-day there are only three of us home, and it does seem strange not to have the whole family here, as it is Sunday. Love to all the Little Folk and yourself.—Y'oura truly, A LASS FROM THE LAND OF LOGS (Te Karaka). [We are proud of your school report, Lass from the Land of Logs. In a big family, even one person is missed.—DOT.] Dea? Dot, —I went to the Exhibition after all. We went for rides in the cars, but 1 did not see the Witness office. We went as far as St. Kilda. It has been the best sight I have ever seen. We stayed in Christchurch all Anzac Sunday, and saw the parade, in which thousands of people were marching up and down the street. We have had bad weather lately, and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders’ Band was held up by floods. They could not send word through, because all the telegraph lines were broken down. About two hundred people went into town, but there was no band. We broke up for our holidays yesterday, and we had a party, where we sang songs and played games. That is a beautiful picture of the Exhibition which was sent to us, and we are going to frame it. I can remember some of those pictures of the Exhibition in the Witness, but I shall never forget tho days when I went to Dunedin.—Yours truly, SAMSON SAWDUST (Westport). „ [I did not send you the picture, Samson Sawdust. I suppose the people were very disappointed at not hearing the band.—

Dear Dot,—As I am a friend of Just Sixteen, I should very much like to join your page. I am sixteen years of age, and work with two oi your correspondents. There is

a queen carnival in aid of th® Anglican Church. There are plenty of raffles and amusements in aid cf it. I am going to a “hard up" bail on Wednesday, and a conceit on the following Friday. I suppose Dunedin will be very quiet now, after the Exhibition. I have not been down since it has closed. Love to all your Little Folk and yourself.—Yours truly, PATRICIA MAUD (Palmerston). [Yes, you may join, Patricia Maud. Are you entering for any raffles?—DOT.] Dear Dot-I haven’t seen a Witness for such a long time. I have been so busy at work while the Exhibition was gn, but now it is over I have more time. One of the gn?B from here is being married next month. We shall miss her very much, as she is such a good sport. There is a carnival here just now. As one of my work mates is one of the queens, I am taking a great interest in it. I still have a number of my old correspondents, but some of them have dropped off. I hear from The Night Rider and I Aint Nobody's Darling regularly- I was at the Exhibition with Paddy the Next Best Thing, and she was there at Easter too. I suppose there would be some meetings between Little Folk while the Exhibition was on. I have been to a good number of dances lately. There is one on Wdnesday night, so I’ll go to that. Love to all the Little Folk and yoOrself.—Yours trulv JUST SIXTEEN (Palmerston), Ll hope your queen is successful, Just Sixteen. Many of the Little Folk met one another.—DOT.] Dear Dot, —We have our school holidays, because there are six inches of snow.’ I thought the Exhibition was lovely, but I didn't go to .the closing, but my sister and two brothers went, and my sister .was on the scenic railway twenty-five times. I have not seen Exhibition’s or Brave Joan of Arc’s letters in for a long time. Love to all the Little Folk and yourself.—Yours truly, GLORY’ (Ida Valley). [Certainly you may correspond, but write your auto on a separate piece of paper, Glory. Your sister must have a good know ledge of scenic railways now.—DOT.] Dear Dot,—May I join your happy band? I am eleven years old. We have two and ahalf miles to go to school. We have four cows milking, and one of them is a heifer Yours trulv, A LASS* FROM SUNNY SOUTHLAND (Waihoaka). [Welcome, Lass from Sunny Southland, but write in ink. Do you walk to school?— DOT.] Dear Dot, —Dunedin will be very quiet now that the Exhibition has closed. Hockey and football are in full swing. I like hockey very much, although I have some very bad smacks. I know a good few Little Folk about here. I have three relatives from Balfour, who write to the page, but they won’t know who I am. My little sister is ironing her doll’s clothes on the Bame table and is bumping it. The Clifden Hunt was a week ago, and I went. Although it was wet, there was a big crowd of people there, and l also went to the dance at night and had a lovely time. My brother is cutting a hedge at the side of the house to allow the sun to shine in a little bit. Kindest regards to all and your own dear self.—Yours truly TAMBOURINE DANCER (Southland). _ [Every hockey player is "knocked” at one time or another, Tambourine Dancer. Has the doll many dresses?—DOT.] Dear Dot,—We have a new heifer cal 4 . Will you please give me a name for it? My father and brother went pig hunting to-day, but they did not have any luck. We were at the Exhibition for two weeks at Christmas time. I go to school with a Tame Robin and Whirlywind. We are having our holidays. Daddy-Long-Shanks is my brother. I am sitting for my proficiency at the end of the year. We had about two inches of snow the other day, so we had a good time snow-balling each other. 1 suppose it takes a good while to read and answer all the Little Folk letters. One of my sisters was married last February, and I was at the wedding. I thought the best part of the wedding was the dinner. All my sisters and my mother are busy knitting slippers. Do you read many books? I do, I am alwavs reading.—Yours truly, MIGHTY DEEKFOOT (Waihoaka). [Call the calf Bridget, MightyiDeerfoot’. I have put in the auto.—DOT*] Dear Dot, —We have eight partridge game hens and one Rhode Island hen. 1 was at the Exhibition. I think it was beautiful. I was on the scenic railway and it gave me the shivers. I was at my grandmother’s for a fortnight, because she was ill, and I was helping my aunt. My father has not started work yet, having met with an accident last June. —Yours truly, SEXTON BLAKE (Nightcaps). [I am sorry your father has been ill, Sexton Blake. Scenic railways are built to give people “shivers”.—DOT.] Dear Dot,—We are having a social here or. Tuesday night, and we have to take a boy, so I suppose I will have to take one. We are having our examination at school, and I just hate it. We are having a carnival here to make enough money for a grand stand, and there are three queens, Winter, Summer, and Band. They have every night Chocolate Alleys, and we have great fun, but I have not won a box of chocolates yet.— Love to the Little Folk and your own* dear self.—Yours truly, MALONE MOLLY (Balclutha). [Examinations have to be passed, Malone Molly. Perhaps you will win some chocolates soon.—DOT.] Dear Dot,—Dunedin will be very quiet now, and I guess a good few of the people will miss the Exhibition. I was not in Dunedin for the closing of the Exhibition, but the weather wasn’t very good. It might have been fine for once for such a great occasion. I have been housekeeping for a fortnight, as mother has not been well. She is a little better and is home from the hospital. I think the Balclutha Hospital is a lovely building, and everything inside is so nice and white. Dances seem to be in full swing now, and I have been to about four this year, and quite enjoyed myself. Deirdee II came to see me one Sunday, and I quite enjoyed her visit, but when she left to go home it began to rain, and by the time she arrived home she was quite wet. I do not always see the Witness, hut we generally have two or three given to us at a time. The chaffcutter was here to-day, but has finished and is away again. With all the rain we have had thero is a good deal of mud about, and it is hardly safe to go any distance from the house without gum boots. I think the winter is going to be very long and cold this year, as there has been snow on the t hills already. All the cows seem to be going off now-, what with the cold and no feed. Moet of the farmers are feeding their cows on turnips and hay now. Best love to all and yourself.—Yours truly, MISS WEE PINNY (Kaitangata). tl hope mother will soon be quite better, Miss Wee Pinny. Hospitals should be "nice and white,” —DOT.] Dear Dot, —May I join your happv band of Little Folk? I am twelve years old, and