Chatterbox, 1905 Part 41

'So it is,' cried Daisy, in great excitement. 'Now we will race them, Steve, and give them a surprise.'

'Ship ahoy!' called Daisy as they flew past, and her brothers were indeed astonished to see their sister steering the boat like any old salt. After that they never said that a girl was 'a bit in the way.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Daisy soon grew clever at keeping the head to the wind."]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ON A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "She managed to drag her on sh.o.r.e."]

THE GIRL WHO DID NOT RUN AWAY.

A little French girl only seven years old, named Eudoxie, was playing with tiny Philomene in a field, when the young child made two stains on her pink pinafore.

'Mother will scold,' thought the little maid, and trotted off to the river to wash them out.

A plank stretched out from the bank to make it easy for people to draw water, and on this Philomene stepped, but she did not know how rotten it was. Before she could touch the water there was a splash, and the little girl was in the river.

Eudoxie heard her cry out, but did not run away as some children have been known to do when a companion was in danger. She ran at once to the bank, and caught her little friend by the foot, nearly losing her own balance in doing so.

Though Philomene, all wet and breathless, was a heavy weight for Eudoxie, still she managed to drag her on sh.o.r.e, kiss her, and try to console her.

But poor little Philomene was frightened at the idea of facing 'Maman'

after her sc.r.a.pe; she must have been rather a scolding mother, as the little girl was afraid to go home in her wet clothes.

So Eudoxie partly undressed in the sunshine, and wrapped her in her own frock, while she ran to beg a change of clothes from the sharp-spoken Madame.

The mother asked why they were wanted.

'Promise not to scold, and I will tell you,' said the child. The promise was given, and Eudoxie told the adventure. 'It was not Philo's fault,'

she said.

'Oh, then! my wicked, naughty, precious, darling Philo! take me to her,'

said Madame.

Poor Philomene was sitting smiling in the sunshine when the two reached her, Eudoxie with her garments, the mother with tears and kisses all waiting to be showered on her tiny daughter.

Some one told the story in Paris, and many people were pleased with Eudoxie's presence of mind, and the French Humane Society presented the brave girl with a medal for saving the life of her friend.

THE HARDEST WORK.

A Fable.

A famous Persian king once called around him all the wisest men in his kingdom, and put the following question to them: 'What is the hardest work in the world?'

Some answered one thing and some another, but it was thought that still harder work might exist.

At last a sage came forward and said, 'I have lived many years and seen a great many things. I have come to the conclusion that the hardest work in the world is to be forced to do nothing at all; and no one can spend the whole day without doing something or other.'

The king, anxious to prove the truth of it, tried his best to find out whether this were so or not, as did also his courtiers, but they were obliged to own that what the sage had stated was the truth. Hence the proverb: 'No work, the hardest work.'

PUZZLERS FOR WISE HEADS.

6.--DOUBLETS.

Changing one letter at a time, in as few steps as possible, make

1. Cat into Dog.

2. Yes " No.

3. Will " Won't.

4. Pony " Cart.

5. Dry " Wet.

7.--ARITHMOGRAPH.

_A Short Proverb._

1.--9, 10, 12, 11, 8. A French city.

2.--9, 7, 10, 12. A delicious fruit.

3.--12, 10, 8, 9. A kind of file.

4.--3, 2, 4, 5. To turn in different directions.

5.--12, 11, 9. To tear, to cut asunder.

6.--1, 2, 10, 5. Close at hand.

7.--1, 2, 5, 3, 4, 8. Organs of sensation.

8.--8, 9, 10, 11, 1. A country in the south of Europe.

9.--8, 9, 10, 1. A very short s.p.a.ce.

10.--6, 5, 11, 9. To fall in drops.

C. J. B.

[_Answers on page 167._]

ANSWER TO PUZZLE ON PAGE 98.