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Show Fairy lalli Bonner UrW i DEPARTING LEAVES J "Yes," said the leaves, "we want to ! fall aud blow and scamper. See! Our ra. "T!T 7 . .AW fii P --r:-. I ? L .LJ "Will You Join "e a;e t0 SO to Our Frolic?" .?.'. , . "Will you join our frolic?" asked the first group of leaves. "Certainly, with pleasure," said the second group. "Although we were not up as soon as you were in the spriug we would like to Join the fun. "We are growing very sleepy, too. Our colors are becoming bright and gay and beautiful. We will join." "Why Is It," asked some of the others, "that when we are tired and want to go to bed we end off our visit in the world by such a dash and splash of color and glory and beauty? "And yet that Is what we always want to do." "You've asked a question I can answer," an-swer," said a voice from afar. "Who is that?" asked all the leaves together. "Don't you know?" asked the voice. "We don't, we're sorry," they whispered. whis-pered. "We hope you aren't a great friend of ours, for if you were It would be very rude of us to have forgotten for-gotten the sound of your voice." "Oh, I won't be insulted," said the voice. "But I am a great friend of yours." The leaves all hung their little heads. "We're most dreadfully sorry, but we really don't know you from your voice." "That's quite all right, quite all right," said the voice, which all this time had sounded a little deep and rather far away. Mr. Sun threw off his cloud blanket and then the leaves saw him shining and smiling and laughing down at them. "We are so ashamed, Mr. Sun, that we didn't know your voice," they said. "That's all right," he answered. "I helped you in the spring when you wanted to come out into the world, but the world is so full of many, many things it would be hard to remember voices." "Ah, but we should have known out first friend," they said. "Leaves aren't supposed to have such line memories," Mr. Sun said. "But I was going to tell you whj you like to go to bod, or to leave tti earth with a dash and a splash of glory and color. "You know how often I do the same thing? 1 go to bed and people say what a wonderful sunset there is. "Well. I like to make them like tue 1 like to make them remember me for they will saj what a beautiful old fellow Mr. Sun is when he I.- go ing to bed. "And so. though you don't realize I it you are doing the same. When I the leaves go away from the trees and the earth in the au- colors are turning, sleepy. "For when we turn in color it means we're all ready to put on our nightcaps and go sound, sound asleep." "W e 1 1," said some of the other leaves, "it is strange, strange and queer, to remember re-member how eager we were to get up and awaken nnd now how anxious !J-'- Vet k : ... .-! tumn they like to Thas A p.. leave in the most Ke Ansv,ered glorious fashion imaginable. Tliny want to say to (lie earth people: " 'We've been here and now we're going, but we hope we've added some-i some-i thing to the beauty of this nice old j world.'" j "That surely must be our reason." the leaves said as they blew off the trees. |