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Show ..Our Boys and rl$.. j Edited by Aunt Busy.' This department Is conducted solely in the inter-j inter-j ests of our girl and boy readers. I Aunt Busy is glad to hear "any time from the ; r.ieces and nephews who read this page, and to give them all the advice and help in her power. ' Write on one side o the paper only. Do not have letters too long Original stories and verses will be gladly received and carefully edited. ! The manuscrirs of contributions not accepted will be returned. ' ) . . AUNT BUSY HAS HER SAY. Dr-nr Xioccs. and Xpph'pws Aunt Euv 11HS mtlunp tos ya tliis woolc, only to loll hor troubles Mi.- 1ms Ja ?nPI-, and 5s silling at her dok with :i ;miphor hottlo ,n one hand juul a bottle nf much .vr..P in the other. Her funny old noso is as rod a, a tomato, and in poneral she is a queer looking old woman, so he will not write anv more this time, but remains lovinply, AUNT BUSY. LETTERS AND ANSWERS. Glcmvood Springs, Colo., Feb. 5, 1!05. My cDarf Aunt Busy I hope you are well. We Bio all well just now. How is Uncle Busy? We have lots of snow and mud in (Jlenwood. I have iw pots, one old hen and a young one. Babv HMids her love to you. Willi much love 1 remain your little iiit-o, MARY' CRADDOCK. Yes, Aunt Busy is well and very, pleased to hear a-ain from the little nieces in pretty Glcmvood. Give Aunt Busy's love to the darlin baby. (ik n wood Springs, Colo.. Feb. 15. 190.",. Dear Aunt Busy I am going to write a few lines to you to let you know we haven't forgotten Y..U. 'My little brother wants to know if can write t you: as he is little he thinks you don't want, him to write to you. My mamma is writing for us. I hope you won't care if she does. 1 must close now. ith best love I remain vour loving niece. MAGGIE CRADDOCK. Aunt Buy has a warm welcome for the little nieces. Margaret and Mary Craddoek. Of course she would like to hear from the little brother. Aunt, Busy neer thinks anyone is too young or too old to write to her. Indeed, Aunt Busy does not object V t 1 .v""r mamma writing for you. On the contrary 4 thinks she must be a dear, kind, good mother, Margaret. Yoight, Xev., March 0, 1905. IVar Aunt Busy It has been a -very long time since I have written to you. But still I have not forgotten you. I often wish I was one of your more fortunate nieces who live close to you. for I know you arc a dear, good lady. My brother, James, thinks he is getting too old to -write to you. Goodbye. Good-bye. Your loving niece, : , . . EMlfA SCRAN TOX. Aunt Busy is glad that you have not forgotten her, dear. She never forgets one of her little nieces or nephews. She is very pleased to read your good opinion of her, too, Emma, and she is just as fondof you as if you lived right here. Give Aunt Busy's Jove to the big brother who thinks he is "too old" to write to her. Montrose, Colo., Feb. 5 l!)05. Dear Aunt Busy This is my first letter to you. I was 12 years old Oct. 4. I am in the sixth grade. My teacher is Miss Russell. Father Fefarri is our priest. I have three brothers and I am the only girl. I live across th'e street from the church, so I don't have far to go. I have three cousins who live here. They are Catholics, too. Your loving niece, SARA KYLE. Aunt Busy hopes to receive many letters 'from you, Sara. You are very well advanced for a 12-ycar-old, dear. You must have a very happy time being the only girl, and you must be an unusually good sister. Sara. Imitc the little cousins to write I to Aunt Busy, and write often yourself. THE REFORMER REFORMED. By Hilda Richmond. i "That man ought to be reported!"' said Clare, 1 wratlifully. "He had had his big, clumsy thumb in my soup." I "Take mine,"' taid l'riscilla, soothingly. ''Maybe the follow is new at the business and hasn't learned to manage his thumbs yet." 1 "If that isn't just like you, Triseilla Morgan! I ; have ikct yet heard you complain about anything, . iio matter how trying. This morning when that i I J brakeman hustled us off the car, you said almost the same thing that you did just now about the ; v;,ii or. I believe you've formed the habit of saying pleasant things about everybody, whether you mean ; them or not. If that man doesn't bring me a dinner I'll report him to the proprietor. Xo, of course I 1 win't take your soup! The idea! Eat it yourself before it gts cold." f The unfortunate man did not know of Clare's I resolution, or he probably would not have joggled tin- cup till the coffee formed a little brown lake ;i' Ut its base, or tipped the platter till three drops A f r of gravy trickled over the cloth. I Clare looked at hor friend -with a glance that J noko volumes; but the new waiter did not under- j stand the language of girls' eyes, and stood back to j - if the table lacked anything. "Thank you! The dinner was very good," said T'riscilhi; but Clare only frowned at the spots on j ill- -iolh. "j CLre and rrisoilla had been visiting a school ud. and had missed their train in a small town v li re ihey changed cars. The long, dreary wait I made Clare impatient, the rain was falling j 'i:-iimI1v. and oho felt it necessary to vent her spite ' ii oir. l'riscilla hastily paid for her dinner I ' ' '1 -' ;i pod into the rain outside, while her friend 1 complaining io the proprietor of the rcstaur- " ho looked os gloomy as the weather, j "There! I told you so!" said Clare, coming out I ''"liam. "He thanked mo for telling him about i l f (,up and cvoffee. That's the only way to teach I I'''op(, a lesson." J "We have only ten minutes to get to the station." i.j Pris'-illa, "so I think we had better start while j 'lie rain is holding up a bit." "After this," said Clare, telling of their ad- ventures when she reached home that afternoon, "I I intend to stand up for my rights. The idea of allow- i ' everybody 10 jmjxise upon you! I'll venture to I j-' y that waiter wil Ikeep his thumbs where they j '" i"ir hereafter." "' od for you, sis!" applauded her twin brother. ) "1 wi-h you had been at the game this afternoon. A I , 't"ci of girls sat right in front of us in great j tig. flapping hats, and we had to squirm and dodge ,:'l 'Ii'' time." j "At a football game you must expect such I iliiii." said Clare, remrinberiiig certain occasions Mlien she, too, wore a picture hat, "but you want I "Dear! dear! dear!" exclaimed Trs. Beach, t rounding ou the window with a cauc. "That-miser- I nble dog is back again! Clarence, run and chase j him away from my late chrysanthemums. That is I i- fifth time this afternoon that he has torn them I out in his play. I do wish " The rest of her speech was lost in her wonder j t her daughter's actions. Before clarence could ' Pt as far as the door to do her bidding. Clare ha.d;. I hcbly rushed to the cherished flowers and per- - suaded the playful dog to accompany her to the woodshed, where she immediately locked him in. "I'm going to telephone to the policeman to come and take care of him," she announced, breathlessly, breath-lessly, as soon as the reached the house. "There's an ordinance about dogs destroying property, and we'll see if it can't be enforced." "I'm glad you are going into the "reforming business," said Clarence, leisurely putting on his slippers. "Ivc been trying for the last hour to get off my wet togs, but that dog has kept me running after him." "Hurry, children, and get ready for supper," said Mrs. Beach. "It will be ready in ten minutes, and you know Mary doesn't, like to wait." "If I were you mother, I'd discharge Mary," said Clare, with determination. "If you'd stand up for your rights once in a while, you'd he bettor off." "The rheumatism keps me from standing up for. necessary duties," said Mrs. Beach, tranquilly, "so it, is hardly likely that 1 shall try 'standing up for my rights.' as you call it. When you get older, dear, you will find that the wheels of everthing else, for that matter, run better for a little of the oil of patience and forbearance. It is a good thing to be a reformer in a righteous cause, but the reformers re-formers who try to straighten up the petty affairs of everyday life usually accomplish very little beyond be-yond becoming chronic grumblers." "The policeman is leading your captive away, Clare," announced Clarence, as the street lamps suddenly sud-denly flared up. "I wonder what he'll do with him." "Supper!" said the grim voice of Mary, and the dog was forgotten for the time. "What do you think, mamma?" cried Clare, coming com-ing home from school one afternoon a few weeks later. "Mr. Bancroft wants me to help in the post-office post-office till after the holidays. The mail is unusually heavy at that time, he says, and I am to do odd jobs at the rate of $7 a week. Isn't that lovely? The other girls are green with envy, but Mr. Packard Pack-ard recommended me oil account of my good standing stand-ing at school." "Arc you sure you can do the work?" asked Mrs. Beach. "Perfectly," said Clare, in a tone of complete confidence. "If that little Xellie Carter can do it, I can. and she's been in there two years. I'm to go after school every evening this week to learn all I can before vacation begins, but 1 had to stop and tell you first." "Xo watching Xellie to learn this evening," said the postmaster, as Clare donned a white npron and prepared to make herself generally useful. "The deputy was called home by his mother's serious illness, ill-ness, and Xellie will have to stay at the money-order , window. Here's the sheet with the price of the stamped envelopes, and this case has the general delivery letters. You see, it is arranged i,n alphabetical alpha-betical order, and you can easily find the letters. I must run up to old Mr. Crane's office to explain why this register was delayed, so you do your best till 1 come back." With these vague instructions Clare was left to fight her own battle. She lamented the day "that she laughed at the old-fashioned notions of her father, who insisted that children should he made to learn the alphabet first. Clare did not know whthr G was at the top of the case or the bottom. In her very leisure moments she studied the intricate thing, but' was forced to admit that algebra was as an open book compared with tho mvstcries of the unknown quantity before her. "You're not likely to find 'Ford' down at the bottom of the case," observed a sarcastic old lady, after Clare had frantically taken out package after package of letters. "I suppose I shan't have any supper tonight if I wait for you to hunt up my Tribune and the Jlome Star. I do think the postmaster post-master might get somebody that knew something. For half a cent I'd report him to the president. He's got no business keeping a body waiting like this." "You've given me every Smith but the right one," said a man, thrusting a bunch of letters over the old lady's shoulder. "I said John R. as plain as anything, but look at this mess of stuff, young woman. ''Where's that little girl that stays herd She's the one that knows this place." Clare cast a despairing glance at Xellie. perched on a high stool, and longed to call upon her for aid, but that young lady was too busy to be disturbed. Clare sold stamped envelopes and wrappers at unheard-of prices, because her eyes usually straggled strag-gled from one line to the other across the printed page, instead of keeping to the right one; but the patrons complained only when they were cheated. When the unexpected prices were in their favor, they concluded that a reduction had suddenly been made by the government, and asked no questions. "That girl in there charged nic 10 cents for seven wrapping papers," said an indignant woman, after vainly trying to get to the window to toll her troubles to Clare. "If she doesn't make it right I'll report her to the postmaster." "Well, I declare! If it ain't that Clare Beach!" said her companion, craning her neck to get a glimpse of the distracted clerk. "I wonder how on earth she got Xellie Carter's place?- Charged you too much, did she '. Well, what can you expect of a girl that, will have a little crippled girl's pet dog shot ? Mrs. Toles told me with her own mouth that Clare shut their clog into the woodhouse oho night and telephoned for the policeman to come and shoot him. You know how Bessie was just crazy about Fido. and she still cries every time he is mentioned. A girl who would do that would do anything." "You don't tell me!" said the woman with tho paper wrappers. "What was the poor dog doing ?" 'Xot a thing but running over their lawn. Of course there is an ordinance about letting dogs go without muzzles, but who would think a girl would have a cripple's pet killed ?" "Tired out?" said the postmaster, coming to relieve Clare after a period that seemed to the girl interminable. "What is it, madam? Charged you too much for wrappers? All right; here's your money! Ten stamps, Mr. Jones? Xo mail this evening, Mrs. Perkins. Your son got the paper, Jim. You may run home now, Clare, but we'll be glad to have you tomorrow, in the morning, if possible." pos-sible." How easily Mr. Bancroft shifted the letters to their proper places and handed out stamps and made change! Clare watched with fascinated eyes but determined de-termined to learn the alphabet before she slept that night. , ,The postmaster cast a comprehending glance at his new assistant's drooping face, and said heartily: "Don't be discouraged, child. Everybody makes mistakes, and the fact that you were here two hours alone is evidence that you'll get along. Get a good night's rest and you'll be all right." The hearty tones warmed Clare's heart, and she hurried homeward. She even had a. smile on her lips as she recalled the struggles of an Italian to make her understand his name; but the smile faded when she met meek little Mrs. Toles. Suddenly there came to the girl's mind what the woman in the office had said. -All the light died out of her eyes and the spring from her walk as she half stopped to call after the good woman and tell her she had never dreamed that dogs were shot for running unmuzzled; but that seemed an inadequate inade-quate excuse, so she slowly went home to answer "her mother's questions and eat the delicious supper Mary had saved for her. Mary's tooth had ceased to give its owner trouble, and she was her own sunny self again. Clare was thankful her mother had not discharged her, 'as she herself had, advised a few weeks before. , "Everybody had something to report!" sobbed I poor Clare, after an arduous morning spent in try-I try-I ing to handle the mail and answer questions. "I ' can't do anything to suit them, and they think I ought to know everything right on the spot." "Let them report," said the wise Xellie. "When 'they come to me with reasonable complaints 1 look them up, but the unreasonable people 1 urge to report re-port their cases to headquarters. That gets them out of the notion at once, where, if you try to explain, ex-plain, they think you really are at fault." "I've" "bought Bessie Toles a dog as nearly like her pet as possible, and she says she forgives me," said Clare, counting up her money when she left the office to go hack to private life, "and I've just got enough to take me to Smithville to tell that restaurant, restaur-ant, man I ought not to have reported that waiter the day Priscilhi and 1 wore there. Yes, 1 am going to do it. It will teach me to let the reforming busi-' nos salone forever and ever, unless there is something some-thing a great deal worse than thumbs in soup." "Oh. I never said anythrng o hiiu about it." laughed the restaurant man, when she had finally convinced him that she was not crazy, "lie was new then, and everybody has to learn. Pleasant day, isn't it ?" Tin? Companion. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A J. P. Perhaps when you hear my marvelous career you will wonder that I have not, long ago, appeared as j an autobiograher. I can assure you it was not lack of ambition that prevented my glib tongue from extolling ex-tolling my own deeds, it was merely the thought of my jowly origin, for I certainly cannot lay claim to a noble ancestry. So far from being noble or gifted in any way, my kindred have always been re-1 garded as a cackling set. In fact, they are looked upon by the eyes of the world as having little sense, their lack of this quality being so patent that their foolishness is proverbial. But notwithstanding my lowly birth, men court my favor, and yeayu to secure my. friendship as though I were to the manor born. Is it any wonder that little insignificant "1" have become- inflated with my own importance? Though my entrance into the world was rather modest, being limited to the narrow confines of a country barnyard, my entrance into society was hailed with wildest acclamations. Having cast aside the cumbrous portion of my appareUI spent night and day in giving expression to thought, yet my efforts proving inadequate to the demand, my cruel wielders. in order to facilitate my utterance, formed the barbarous design of splitting ray tongue. ' . It is true I possess very little beauty, nor can I boast of having a graceful form, yet my fluent tongue has won for me a host of admirers. Usually I appear in a garb of sombre black and white, thought occasionally I don scarlet and at rare intervals in-tervals I even assume the royal purple. Some may think me insincere and inconsistent, and I must frankly admit the charge; for one day I protest my fidelity to one party, while the next, perhaps the same evening. 1 strenuously uphold the principles of the opposite side. Xow, I praise the justice of the laws of a nation, again I denounce them as cruel and barbarous. Indeed, so great is my influence in matters political, that I might justly just-ly be styled the maker, and destroyer of kingdoms. Do you wonder that I am proud of the power I exercise exer-cise on this mundane sphere? Really it is strange that my head is not turned at the thought of the knowledge I impart to all! With wondrous daring I delve into tho very bowels of the earth, where I scan the rocks and fossils that I may reveal to mankind its buried secrets, then I soar aloft to starry realms and descant On the marvels of the glorious orbs of heaven. More than once have I enctrated. the gloomy depths of Pluto's abode and held converse with the departed shades, nay, even with his Plutonic majesty. "i ou have perhaps read by account' of the debate in Pandemonium and been somewhat shocked ut the way in which I lionized Hades' satanic ruler. Day after day I unfold the doings of life for the curious multitude. Xo incident is too petty for me to detail, no crime too base to hold my tongue in check, no deed too noble for mc to record. With awful punishment I lash wicked actions, with meet rewards I crown noble deeds. I disclose the secrets of the cabinet and the court and even bring forth the family skeleton from many a closet. A few. words fromJme and lo! families quarrel, nations arc rent ' ustflider and hearts' are broken. But, oh! what peace and joy I can import! L flatter, I chide, I scold just as the mood strikes me. King and peasant alike pay me homage, for I am mightier than the mightiest king. You will be curious to learn the identity of one that claims to wield such influence but I think you will acknowledge that my power has swayed the, whole world when you hear that I am no other than a Quill Pen. MABEL SIIEPERU. Class "00, Sacred Heart Academy, Ogden, Utah. , A MUSIC HINT. When I have a particularly difficult piece of music to learn I always begin with the very last measure. I thoroughly master that and then take the next to the last, and so on. By the time I have reached the first measure I have the whole piece not only at my fingers' end, but by memory as well, and all I have then to do is tnstudy the proper cxecu-tinon. cxecu-tinon. Try it, but conquer as you go. CONUNDRUMS. Why is Westminster Abbey like- a fireplace? Because is contains the ashes of tho grate (great.) What is that which everybody has seen but will never seen again ? Yesterday. Wh at is the keynote of good manners? B natural. na-tural. What is the best land for little kittens? Lapland. Lap-land. What roads are ill natured? Crossroads. What plant is fatal to mice? Catnip. What kek is a poisonous one ? - Whiskey. "What is the noisest pet in the world ? Trumpet. What does the evening wear? Close of day. Whrt letter is twice your size? W (double you.) When is love like a chicken bone? When hidden hid-den in the breast. with the fist; wit, like the prick of a needle; irony, like the sting of a thorn; -and humor, the plaster that heals all the wounds. There will be little gleams of sunshine now and then, no matter how cloudy the outlook; and even if the day is stormy and hard there is always a i bright tomorrow to be hoped for'. I God gives up our heads to think with, not to loaf with. But many a man. and a woman, too, for that matter, who sneers at the sillyfolk who hang around street corners, loafing and simpering, go themselves mooning after all sorts of ' curiosities and seances, loafing with their brains Rev. L. A. Banks. True love is always mortified. It is sham love, for the most part, that does not deny itself, at least sometimes. If our own love proves so weak in the hour of temptation, we shall wisely seek the reason of it in our own want of cheerful self-denial. Father Fa-ther Dignam, S. J. -fr .. : God loves to enter souls that are humble, kind, prudent, penitent and devout. But He abandons hearts that are cold and barren, hearts loving only their own ease and shrinking before the least sacrifice, sacri-fice, and that have no relish for prayer or meditation. medita-tion. St. Anthony of Padua. Is it not curious that the follies wo delight for ourselves should seem so stupid, so absolutely vulgar, vul-gar, when practiced by others? The hist illusion to forsako a man is absolute belief in his own de-finemenr. de-finemenr. - It is in lulls of life that great things art! lost and won. You struggle against the tides that beset you, but those tides never rest. ; Many mothers of the old daya in England were in the habit of weighing their new-born babes and then. of giving the poor an equal weight of bread, meat, clothing or even coin, in honor of our Blessed Mother and in memory of her Little Child. : Oh! you are still young upon whom God has lavished all these gifts which I have lost candor, simplicity, innocence, friendship, devotion guard, guard these treasures well; and that they may not die, place them under the protection of prayer. f We should always have in our hoad.-f ono free and open corner, where wo can give place, or lodging lodg-ing as they pass, to tho ideas of our friends. It really becomes unbearable! to converse' with men whose brains are divided up into well-fillrd pigeon holes whereinto nothing can enter from the outside. Let us have hospitable hearts and minds. Joubert. Show a helpful spirit toward everybody and a willingness always to lend a hand. Everyone despises de-spises a man or woman who is always thinking of self. . . r- Xo man can even begin to please God who does not renounce sharp practices, give up unfair dealings deal-ings and start out to act equitably, to render to other? their just, dues and determine to be in all matters an honest man. That is the very beginning of religion, the elemental buttress of a devoted life Jesse Bowman Young. |