| Show s p 1 Q sEEk si- si THE LITTLE STICKS STICK'S STORY It was only a tiny Little Stick But It set Out ut in life with a resolve to be I useful Up above it towering to the clouds was the tre huge elm The Little Stick SUck I gazed upward with awe How flow fine it must be to stand so I tall taU to look over the hills and see Bee fardown far fardown I down into the valley vaney I am sure this elm has a great re t soul he sighed I Iam l lam am but a tiny Stick And what car can I Ido Ido Ido I do Nothing Just then an ant came by dragging I I laboriously a tiny grain of wheat The ant hauled and pulled and pulled and I hauled till finally he had carrl carried d the grain into the ant hill That made the Little Stick think If an ant could I do such work Why hy not he attempt I something I As he lay in the sun he be decided to try to do the best belt thing that came in I I his power N Not t far off he could h hear ar I the rushing of or f a stream which tore toro down the hillside Far down clown below I shone the roofs of ot a mining village Above him s swung ung the giant tops of the big trees trees singing singing in the wind as their big limbs danced to and fro Inthe in inthe inthe the light tight My they seemed to chant we are great fellows How lIow our heads rear I up to the sun Bun How lIow we lift them in inthe inthe the storm unafraid We Ve made tim tm- timber I ber her for houses and of us are fashioned I the sides of ships that plow the waves That was the song they S seemed emed to hum as the breeze swept by And the I poor Little Stick IO UP-I UP t t his humble bumble crooked form and sighed I r am hidden en here len 11 n ii trash I I. I cat can I hardly s see e a ray toy of light ho lie murmured mur mur- All the tho big world moves s on I unaware of my existence I r am a useless useless use use- less thing I Then the sky grew dark High In Inthe inthe the west piled pled black clouds douds and out of I their inky depths came great flashes of lightning JIg The thunder rolled in I crashes that shook the hills Down r poured the flood and onward swept the stream now a facing river It tt caught the Little Stick up ant anc hurried it if down the hill hm Fast bast and ano faster it sailed knocking and beating about In a wild tumult of broken trees fences and sheds which were carried carrle on top of the sweeping waters At last It reached the dam which overhung the town In the side of the dam about a third of the way to the top was a tiny hole Through it the Waters had already begun to sweep Every moment the break would grow bigger then at l last st it would widen s s- that the flood would pour our down an un and destroy the tho village Here is my chance sang the Little Stick SUck I will creep into this hole ano anc this will help Other sticks sUcks stronger than I will come after me then bl bK logs logs we we will hold back the floo flood Bravely he stuck himself in th the crack The muddy water pressed on onward onward onward on- on ward but he stood still sUlI Other bits bit Of stick heavy timbers logs and plank planks all stood by him tin tilt at last there wa was waa wasa waFa a solid bit of wall wan that the water could not enter On top Of the dam stood the ma mayor ol olIf If it will only hold haM an hour longer longel the higher water will subside hi ht shouted to the frightened people below be be- low low for for the storm had ceased Boom Boon boom boom came the roaring flood up and up the walls of ot the dam data it rose ros for almost an hour But It did not nor break through The Little Stick held and back of of- him all the others bl bit big stout fellows Held la lIt their turn Then The the water began to go go down The flood died aWay the thc the danger v. v u over oven oV We e will see what saved us said the mayor Ah here it Is a Tiny Stick which got in the hole hale in the dan and stopped the tho break We will keep keel keepit jt it in a It elas Ilas case ns forever |
