THE TARDY ASTER

New Zealand Tablet, 21 October 1909, Page 35

THE TARDY ASTER

Little Bessie Berry' was almost always late for. school, bhe was almost always late for everything It wasn't because she had to run errands, or mind the baby, but because she was an ' in-a-minute ' and a ' pretty soon and an ' after-a-while ' little girl, who liked to dillydally better than anything else in the world There were some other children in Bessie's room who SfJV ai d j i ts°;t s° ; SO th t teacher b °e an t0 wonder what she could do. And soon she thought of something. She went to the seedsman and bought some seeds. They were aster seeds m paper packets. 'Listen, children!' said~the teacher. 'How many of you ever had a flower garden ? ' ' Bessie had; most of the children in Bessie's class had. liien the teacher said a nice thing. ' These seeds are tor you— one little packet for each one in this room ' } Here Bessie raised her hand. 'Please, may I pass

But the teacher shook her head. ' One for each one in the room, she went on, 'who isn't tardy a single time this month.' ■

That wasn't all. They would plant the seeds and alter a while have flowers. And then the seedsman would give a prize to the boy or girl who had the finest flowers. It was really two prizes. So the children looked at the seeds longingly and promised that they wouldn't be tardy one sin°-fe time And some weren't. But Bessie was — four times. The next month was April, and the tardy ones tried again. Bessie was tardy twice. They were to try once more m May. 'Try, try again,' said Bessie's papa. So she tried again. And mamma helped. Every morning and afternoon she said ' Seeds ! ' when she kissed her little girl good-bye. Bessie said ' Seeds ' over and over all the way to school, and didn't dilly-dally once. And on the last day of May she took a packet of seeds home. Bessie and her mamma planted them right off. They didn't dilly-dally about it at all. Bessie hoped she might win the seedsman's prize. But it was late and dry, and the seeds didn't come up very quickly. Only one seedling grew. Papa callea it a dilly-dally flower. It just wouldn't catch up with - Clara Bell's across the street. But Clara Bell had won her seeds in March.

When the day for the flower show was nearly come, some of Bessie's friends had big blue and white asters in ' their gardens, and Bessie had one fine aster plant, with hard green knobs at the top. Every morning she counted the days that were left, until at last a bit of white showed in one of the knobs. ■ But then there was only one day left. So everybody, even Bessie, knew that it would be a tardy aster, just as Bessie had been^a tardy little girl. "When at last the day for awarding the prize came, it was a very, very sad Bessie who stood in the back garden looking down at a tardy aster, while all of, her little friends, with hands full of punctual asters, went- to the flower show.

Wasn't it too bad? But it must have been a good lesson for Bessie, for she doesn't dilly-dally any more.