LETTER HOLIDAY
As we are having a Letter Holiday at present, Circlians are asked not to write for several weeks. »:♦ * * ** »>* **** THE DRAGON’S DEN. Mr. Perrigrew’s rosy face popped over the garden fence, a cheery face adorned with an old, floppy straw hat. “Good-morning!” he said, beaming at Bob and Biddy over his glasses. “And how’s the land?” “Oh, we’re getting along fine,” answered Biddy; “those plants you gave us make all the difference. Look!” Mr. Perrigrew’s face disappeared as he said, “One moment! Let me get my stool—better view—not so painful leaning over,” and his voice trailed away as his feet pattered up the path. Bob and Biddy bent again to their task, eager with finishing touches before Mr. Perrigrew returned, for what they wtre doing was Mr. Perrigrew's idea. This corner of their garden had been an untidy jumble of bits of brick and stone dug out of the rest of the garden, odds and ends of builder’s rubbish that had been trampled into the ground, lumps of wood, broken tiles, pipes, and scraps of other material. Bobby and Biddy often played among the stones, building forts and houses and shops, and Mr. Perrigrew often popped his head over the fence, and offered suggestions. Then one day Mr. Perrigrew had said, “Why not make those bricks into a castle, with a drawbridge and turrets
and all the things a real castle ought to have?” So the castle was made, and its wobbly parts were stuck together with cement kindly supplied by Mr. Perrigrew. The next idea was to make a road from the castle, a “Road of Fortune (Mr. Perrigrew said), with adventures all along it.” Gradually from this idea the stony corner grew into Fairyland; the Road of Fortune wound through Haunted Glens, by Witches’ Houses, over Dead Man's Gulch, past Goblin's Tree, and near a cave that was a Dragon’s Den. Mr. Perrigrew’s face popped up again, higher this time, for he had brought his stool. He learned over the fence and surveyed the kingdom. “Wonderful! Wonderful!” he said, and his whiskers widened in a happy smile: “but there’s just one thing lacking,” he added. “What is that?” asked Bob and Biddy together. “Dragons!” replied Mr. Perrigrew with a hiss; and he handed over a cardboard box which Biddy took. Bob looked over her shoulder, and they both read the label which said Dragons, With Care. “Put it beside the Dragon's Den and open it,” said Mr. Perrigrew, “with care!” They knelt down and slowly undid one end. Out came two large armoured beetles! Biddy dropped the box, Mr. Perrigrew shouted “Hooray!” and slipped off his stool, while the two dragons, alarmed at the hubbub, scurried into the Den. and lived there happy ever after.
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Bibliographic details
Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19668, 9 December 1933, Page 13
Word Count
458LETTER HOLIDAY Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19668, 9 December 1933, Page 13
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