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Show CROCKEYJOY ADVENTURES By BETTY BROWNE (Copyrlgrht.) A Crockey History RUTH sat at the big library tablft. Her study hour was over, and In front of her lav her history book which she had just slapped shut. Dates and names were hopping through her mind in long. Jumbled lines. "It's all so dry and useless," she complained to herself. "I like real things, not just figures ami names." Now, no sooner had she said this than she felt an odd little urge to -reopen the history book. She didn't know why, but it seemed that she just must look into it once more. She reached out her hand and in a haphazard hap-hazard way began to turn the pages. She came to a picture which she had looked at quite often before. It was of a rice field in China and in the background were tall mountains and in the foreground was a big river with a road winding along its banks. Tonight, as she looked, some one teemed to be moving down this road. A moment later she saw It was the Crockeyjoy and in the time it takes to wink seven winks he had climbed out of the book and was standing on the table. He took a little Chinese Ivory fan from his pocket and began to fan himself. him-self. He was all out of breath and his shoes were dusty. Ruth saw these things and waited for him to speak. Presently he said : "I've been in China. Some of the little girls who work In the rice fields there were very lonesome and I wanted to help them. One of them gave me this fan. I wish you could go back with me down that road beside the rice field and see what it's really like and then perhaps you wouldn't find history so dry and uninteresting." The Crockeyjoy looked down at the history book again and Ruth let her eyes follow his. Both of them saw that the pages had turned of their own accord and Instead of looking at the Chinese rice field they now looked at a diagram of a battlefield. There were many napies and dates given and the page was smudged and worn-look ing because Ruth had spent hours at diffetent times trying to learn the names and dates, and to find out. what it all meant. "It is about Indian fights," said the Crockeyjoy. "Your brother would enjoy it, and I'm going to see If I can't help you to like, or at least, to understand It." He jumped down from the table, took Ruth by the hand, walked with her to the corner where some of her younger brother's toys were kept. All the time they were growing smaller. "Stop now and watch," ordered the Crockeyjoy. Ruth saw one of the wooden soldiers and It looked very much like the soldier In her history, to get down from his wooden pedestal. ped-estal. His rifle was discarded. Then he vaulted ightiy into the saddle of a toy rocking-horse. Knd away he rode, silting erect in the saddle, ribbands fluttering, a real soldier. As he galloped down the field of carpet, one of Ruth's dolls was In his path. He stoc-ped and snatched the doll from the ground and carried her along with him and out of danger. "You see," said the Crockeyjoy, "that soldier is an old dragoon who helped the settlers fight the Indiana when grandfather's grandfather was a little hoy. He is like the soldier In your history book. When you read your history from now on try to think of the people In It who did things as real people and of the things they did as real things. If you do that, then you will find that history Is easy to learn and you'll have a lot of fun learning it." Then Ruth heard her mother's footsteps foot-steps In the hall. The toy soldier sprang from the horse's back and onto his pedestal. The Crockeyjoy waved good-by and vanished into the shadows behind a chair in the corner. The next moment Ruth's mother came in. glad you've finished your lesson." she said, "and after you get further along in your history you may like it better." Ruth thought of what the Crockeyjoy Crockey-joy had tnhl her and so she nodded her head "yes", to what her mother hail said. She felt sure she was going to like historv hotter after this, for now she knew that history It not Just a lot of dates and names, but it is a true story of real live people and of what they have d.ine. |