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Show i ...Our Boys ana mr$... EDIiED F.Y AUNT BUSY. . ThIs Partment Is conducted FoieK- i . rsf of cur girl ana boy reader ,Dte? then, j the JW Siy" Write on one' side of the paper only : Do not have letters too long I, be SeSUSCrlptS f Ioiu, not accepted w 1 Address all lettpr . a , M Catholic, salt r"k"Ctv. ,nhnouBtart I J EXCITING EXPERIBICE : OF NELLIE AND TOMMY . j jss rs b'rother i i- i , fetr- Aneir home was in the ritv , but when the hot dav nf Ti , 5' i laappv tamllrT.v' ,he dindr6n were too ; IT. As tt sui y ( eided to leave the citv w-Uh u ae clare on ihtl "y A"th xt? heat an dust and , Mare on the following Saturday, and bejran maK its arrangements accordingly And Se and ; Tommy were so excited over the good Win tore for hem that they could talk of nothing eli all day long, and even dreamed of it at nigM. At last Saturday arrived, though it seemed a 1 in In? tin? S t0 thG C!lildren' and the f amTy was ?? S to TS T 7 rlY' and hea tlle time came to go to the railroad station evervthing was in i!MrZaSthrPadecl&Ted- Thehoulewas 3 2 ion i?J?itl?nnks already t0 the station So all that the parents and youngsters had to do was to jump aboard a street car and ride I f 0 tlie Nation, each carrying some sort of traveling luggage. b 1 ihrlT'Ti 3t GreeiX Meadow the children I A ,S -hW had "evf.r feeu so beautiful a place i m aU their lives. 1 he little town was nestled among j trees and flowers and soft velvety grass were in the house yards, making each place a rival of its neigh-j neigh-j , bor. Children played on the shady lawns and wom-f wom-f cn sat sewing and chatting on the great broad i fl vine-covered porches. Altogether Xellie and Tommy declared Green Meadow (the name of the village) the most delightful little spot imaginable. And i when they reached the big boarding house where ) ?ere to spend a month a fine old rambling t farm house, which occupied a hill at the very border j of the town their delight knew no bounds. They hardly took time to be shown their rooms before 1 11 i an out on uie broad lawn to romp and roll like young colts. The grass was soft, green and dehciously cool, and all about the grounds were tall ? fchade trees. And pretty soon Xellie and Tommy found the garden in the rear of the house, where j an old colored gardener explained the method of j raising "garden truck" to them. And then they I visited the orchard and saw apple trees full of rich I red and yellow fruit. Oh, it was all so delightful! I And then came dinner. And such a dinner! j J1" "Sar3en : ,-k" from the old colored gar- dener's garder 1 the dessert was watermelon. And then it w b i Tommy's mamma had to hold I her little son fi. :.t- . for he wanted to ask for a j "second helpinfe' x" u-ssert. "I couJd eat a whole j melon, mamma," . iered Tommy to his mother. "You might be ; l b lo do that sonny," said his j mother in a low t,ue, "but you'd certainly suffer I : the consequence?. You know what I have told you I about the gluttcn and the gourmand?" f After d inner !NeIiie and Tommy went to their j rooms to lie down and rest a bit before "exploring" S . any more about the new grounds. They had a nice j nap in the cool room, lying on the matting-covered j floor with grass cushions under their heads. i About 3 o'clock both children awoke, and then they asked their mamma if they might go out on the lawn again. "We want to explore some more," I said Tommy. I Their mamma laughed at their "exploring" and I gave her consent to their going out to play. "But. j my dears, do not wander too far from the house," I she warned them. "You might get lost in the. wood, 1 you know. Just north of this farm house is a great t woods, reaching- so I was told by our landlady I . for about two miles in each direction. If you got : into that 5-ou might come to grief." I Xellie and Tommy shuddered at the thought of getting lost in the big woods, and promised their ' , mother that they would not go in that direction, r. ' but would play on the lawn or in the meadows that surrounded the house. So out they went, full of the idea of making some new discoveries. They played they were exploring a new and unknown land. After hunting wild animals in the garden among the chicken coops and cow sheds, they decided to extend ex-tend their travels into the deep meadow which lay round about the foot of the old farm house, which had recently been turned into a summer boarding I ; .house for city people. "Down in the meadow was a long wooden shed which had doubtless been used for horses or cattle in days gone by. But now it was an empty building, build-ing, a place for birds to build their nests. Against one side of the shed which stood about ejght feet t to the eaves was an old ladder. Tommy discovered lhat the shed was empty, and said: "We'll play we have discovered some ancient ruins, perhaps a thousand thou-sand rears old." "Yes, let's play it's Pompeii," said Xellie. "Play that we have just discovered an old castle full of gold and diamonds." But just as she said this a dog's bark was heard in the distance and both children chil-dren looked about in sudden fear. In the city dogs were never allowed to go on the street at this time if year unmuzzled, and never allowed to go about without being led by some person. So, when Xellie and Tommy saw a dog and a groat big fellow, too roming through the meadow toward them, bark- ; ing every few paces, they felt very much frightened J indeed. '"Oh, we must hide from him! lie may be IV a mad dog," cried Xellie. "Oh, there's no door J 'i abutter here, and no sashes in the windows! The I A dog could come right into.the building. What shall we do?" "Let'- get 011 the roof!" cried Tommy, starting toward the ladder which leaned against the edge f of the slanting roof. "Come, here's a ladder. Is el-lie el-lie quickly followed, and soon both frightened chi - -dren were out of danger. Hardly had they got settled set-tled when Tommy bethought him of the ladder. "Oh, I wonder if a dog can go uP a ladder? he ex-cla ex-cla med. "Of course he can," sa?d Nellie for don? vou remember the dogs in the circus climbed ladders and shot off guns?' "I hl PI! just dvop this end of the ladder to he j- . innr And before Iwil'.e cmi;(.1 ground," saK! 1 omm . in . cry 1 to. hun r,; 0 dor he wo 0(t their ne n- ' ;estej .gainst the of the end th fer t0rV into 'te fi below. "Xowthe dog crashing into Jie g ier 5n mmL can't reach us, he J'Vm cr;od Xellie, .Xo, and -r dilemma almost as much f r g h w ca a 1 gf on the roof as she had n deeidpd nt to turned tail and wsj ran through the meadow and into town. "Xow. 1 012,m' h-ow will we ever get off this roof ?" lornmys eyes grew round as the idea came to mm. How stupid he had been. "Well," he said "I f "eS" We Can,t iumP down for we might break our "Or our necks," said Xellie. "Yes, how shall we ever get down C . "Let's call for help," said Tommy. Then, giving T?i! v. ! Yes' u oalled out : "Hep ! IMp ' Help ; And elhe added her voice to her brother's, and the cry for 'assistance rang through the meadow. mead-ow. or tully five minutes the two children waited, nopmg to see some one coming from the hill. The trees cut off all view of the farm house, and" there were 110 other houses near to the meadow, the nearest near-est town houses being fully half a mile distant. As the dog had by this time disappeared down the road, the children wished they had not been so hasty m going up to the roof, and Tommy felt doubly regretful on account of the part he had played with the ladder. "Well, let's try calling again," said ellie. So they raised their voices once more, calling for help. Still no one responded and the time went on. each minute seeming like hours to the poor, suffering suffer-ing children. And to make the matter worse they were sitting on the sunny side of the shed roof, and the rays from Old Sol were perfectly scorching. Oh why did they come to explore in the meadow? W by had they not been content to 'remain on the lawn ? Thus did they mentally question themselves. f ter nearly an" hour had passed by and the children were beginning to think it meant to remain always on that roof there till starvation claimed them, or the breaking of legs and necks jumping down a wagon appeared on the road coming round the foot of the hill going toward town. The road was some distance from the shed, but the children knew their voices could reach the occupant of the wagon, for the day was so still. Indeed, as the wagon came on nearer and nearer, they could faintly faint-ly hear the rumble of the wheels and the tramping of the horses' hoofs on the hard earth. Then they called out "Ilelp, Help !" And the wagoner turned in Ins face in their direction and, hearing their cry. drew his horses to a standstill. "What's the matter, mat-ter, youngsters?" came the man's voice to Xellie and Tommy. "We want to get down, please." called back Tommy. Tom-my. "We threw off our ladder and can't get off this roof." Within a few minutes the man had reached the shed, had found the ladder and had placed it uprigi.t against the side of the shed so that the children who had been held prisoners there so long could make their escape. And after getting to the gound and thanking the good wagoner for soming to their rescue, Xellie and Tommy hurried homeward as fast as their cramped legs would permit of. "I'll never, never go exploring in an unknown place again," declared Xellie. "Xor will I," acquiesced Tommy. "The lawn and the garden are good enough for me after this." |