v - IVr if
r','.s . Ati , .,.-'- ..-.!
"THAT GAME OF FOOTBALL"
JIMMY never ceases to talk of the
r time when his luck changed.
"Tes, sir," said he; "I had bad
luck from the time I could tod
dle. Always on the losing side. H
w asn't until I won my first pmi of
rootball on Chimney-Pot j. Common
hat Fortune faced around and came
my way."1;, r'V; 'a-''-;
"Chimney-Pot 'Common," you must
snow, is on the roof of the school
or chorister attached , to St. Paul's
: thrAV-LondonJEJil jchoo!twhlch
a exclusively for the usa Of the chor
sters, 1 situated In Carter lane, not
ar from Dean's court, and separated
rom the Cathedral "by several mer
untile warehouses, i It was built by
jean Collett in 1874. . ' -When
Jimmy said hs never had good
uck he forgot that It was a bit of
Ortune to be admitted to. the school,
le received board and education free
,l charge in consideration of his
ervlce In the choir; and, as his par.
nts were poor, this was veritable
i odaend to them. ; Jimmy forgot hs
vas fortunate to have at good voU;e.
But It was true that he. was always
n the losing side. All sorts of games
vera engaged in by the choristers,
ut. try as be would, Jimmy never
eetned to be able to do anything for
lis comrades or for .himself.- It came
o be a recognised fact that whicK
ver side possessed Jimmy was sure
o lose. . You may be sure that al
ways he was the last - chosen, and
hen only when he was needed to
nake p the required number.
As Jimmy says, that memorable
rame of Association football marked
TDittccar,
Peppet
Wepper!
reaper
r. I ;
4
a turning point in his career.. Jimmy
at that time was a senior In the
school," but hard luck still pursued .
him. When he was chosen to play his
comrades groaned. They knew they
would lose; they were sure of It!
But they didn'tand, what is more.
It was the skill of Jimmy that won
the garnet Never was there a greater
surprise for the choristers or, indeed,
for Jimmy himself.
And he soon found that his luck
had come to stay. For the Very next
" day afteiTlfir garae'ne war Iflf srpi
that his singing showed such prdm
lse that a scholarship to complete his
education elsewhere bad been grant
ed him.
But Jimmy still insists it was that
game of football that "did it"
parting From Maria
A QUEEN of Italy was visiting ons
of the children's hospitals. While
there she met a little girt who wished
very much to have a doll. When the
queen mother reached home, she tried
to persuade her little girl to send the
sick child one of her many dollies. The
little princess, at first, could not decide
with which one she could part, for each
one needed her care so much. One was
just learning to walk; one was too sick
to be away from home, and another
was cutting its teeth. Finally a doll
was packed up. with all its pretty
. dresses, and sent away to the hospital
to gladden the heart of the little in
valid who wanted it so much. But the
little princess, though she had so many
other dollies, shed bitter tears, because,
as she said, she would never see poor
Maria again.
pi
R3. BARN-OWL rested In an al
most erect position, . her. droop
ing eyelids indicating that she
was asleep. -Wttle-Peter,; too.
sat stiffly upright, .endeavoring in every
" way to Imitate the . manners of. bis
. mother. Peter was trying very, very hard
' to be dignified, and to set a good example
, for his two younger brothers, who were
several weeks younger. But the tiny
brothers were not thinking of manners
3 list then. - Wee balls of down were
they, nestling cosily beside their moth
er. Daylight had corns upon Mr. Barn
Owl during his adventures begun the
' preceding evening, so he . had been
forced to take refuge In another hiding '
' place some distance from his own nest. "
Mrs. " Brn-Owfs concern did not pre
' vent her from taking a hap, however,
and. as it was broad daylight, she and
her little ones : were very sleepy In-r
; deed. '? y-
Meanwhile, a Boy was painfully
clambering up the sides of the oll ,tow-,
er. almost ridden with vines and creep- -ers
of refreshing green. It woul seem
that he must surely fall and break)' his
neck, but ha appeared not to rntnd the
. danger. - Working his way steadily up
ward; gaining a foothold In crevices of
the mouldering ruins grasping a sturdy
vine on be climbed until, with a mighty
effort, he drew himself up to a level
with the tower where was the home
of Mr. and Mrs. Barn-Owl and the lit
tle Barn-Owls.;
The Boy's eyes gleamed wickedly as
they fell upon Peter Barn-Owl. Truly,
the little fellow was as cunning as an
owl could be and that, you must know.
Is ... very . cunning . Indeed. . . Perfectly
marked a bright yellow on the upper
parts of his head and hack, with
gray and brown slgxag lines, and a
plentiful sprinkling of small whitish
dots; face' and throat a beautiful white;
and underneath, whits with brownish
points.
What a lovely pet he would make!
But the Boy reckoned without bis host
or, rather, his hostess. Mrs. Owl had
no intention of permitting Peter to be.
carried away. She flew In the face of
the intruder and.' although halt blinded
Vy the daylight, succeeded In making
him draw back from the nest Little
Peter,' too, hissed and snapped and
flapped in the most approved style. At
last the Boy gave up bis evil purpose
and withdrew.
The baby Barn-Owls slept through the
fight ' Peter and his mother were too
excited for further slumber. Said Mrs.
Barn-Owl in great indignation:
I "Now,-my son, you have made the ae
guahvtance i of Man a big sort of brute
who repays with svli all the good we
do for him."
"Isn't he a horribly big animal, moth
er?" remarked Peter.
"Some men are much bigger," Mrs.
Barn-Owl continued; "the one you saw
Is only a Manlet, or a Boy. As I was
saying, they are very, very ungrateful
1 beasts. We catch for them mice, moles,
insects, many of which are exceedingly
harmful to Man. Tet they reward us
by accusing us of all klnds'of witchery;
they say bad things about us, and some-'
times they kill us. , In only one part of w
the world do Men treat us justly. That
Is in Tartary. One Man, speaking of
the Owl who lives there, savs:
"The Moguls and natives almost pay
it divine honors.
Decausa tney attribute
F
ROBABLT the first resolution Jeff
made was that some ' day " he
would be a railroad man. His
training tot that end began at a
very early age, for bis father held a
responsible position in a great locomo
tive building works, and many a visit
Jeff paid there. Hardly a detail es
caped his observation. .
- Jeff still remembers his awe and grat
itude when he was permitted to enter
the cab of a locomotive while It waa
being tested. The engine was placed
on a treadmill; but while the body of
the locomotive was upon rails, the driv
ing , wheels - rested upon large - steel
wheels which were connected with
various kinds of measuring apparatus.
Thus the engine might "go" at the rats
of a mile a minute and ' yet not move
from Its' position. All the other ar
rangements for testing the pulling pow
er, the dial records of steam and water
gauges, and starting under all sorts
of unfavorable conditions. . were ex-
. plained to the boy. , Tou may know that
there was little Jeff did not understand
about a locomotive. , .;
When a , western , vacation trip was
broached to the lad he did not take a
kindly to the Idea as might have been
expected. The truth of the matter was -that
he did not wish to be away from
his beloved engines even for a short
time. But he yielded, and journeyed to -a
little station in the Rockies, where
his cousin, a mining operator, was sta
tioned., . -'v.. . - , '-. - . , .
TTf TITf Tir TlilTITlTNftAlfi.tiO TT v"eT ITB T T HOT ffl
Mysterious Pocket-Money
"W
HAT'S the use of being so' '
studious, Ned? ; Summer
vacation will be here be
fore ,: you're half ready
for it. I don't see how a fellow could
be so crasy over birds' eggs anyway."
A peculiar smile, appeared on Ned's "
face. He knew Dick was afraid that :
, unless birds' eggs were .lef J; alone and
money earned the two would be unable '
to go canoeing and camping that sum
mer. . ...... ; f, .,
"How are your rabbits selling? asked
isea. "- v. . .. -,."
,'Oh, rm making piles of money."
Dlckt replied; "but I aay, . old chap,
you'll have to hustle." ,
The other smiled again as he said:
- "Don't worry about me. . tmi t
: to bear my share of the expense of the '
trip," ,.-- -! .r .- . .. ... , , . ... ...
Dick shook his head doubtfully, but
. be said nothing further, nor did be again
. mention the subiect. . i
At last came the time for their outing.
Dick had purchased all the equipment
and previslcns, a.id he now invited his
: brother to accompany him to the ship
dealer's office, where final arrangements"
regarding the buying of a canoe wre to
be made. Tbey had selected a desirable -
to It the preservation of the founder of
their empire, Genghis , Khan. The
prince, with his small army, happened
to be surprised and put to flight by. his
enemies, and forced to conceal himself
la a little coppice: an owl settled on
an owl settled on
the bush under which he was bid., and
Induced his pursuers, not to search "'
there, as . they !; thought It ' Impossible " '
that any man could be concealed In a'
place where - that bird '.would ' perch.
Thenceforth they held It to be sacred, ;
and every, one wore s.; plums of thf
feathers of this species upon his head. .
To this, day the Kalmucks continue the
custom on all. great' festivals, and some v.
tribes have an 'Idol In the form of aa "
owL to which they fasten the real legs
of one,' . i w t ' ' '
- '' ' . . rr.
aflr,-,.v
BMIIiilifillliiiSI
kf v , ,'.N
MR. BARN-OWL DESCENDED ON HIS FRET
"I would rather that we were Vener
ated everywhere, my son as of right
we should be. But here comes your
father."
As she spoke Mr. Barn-Owl came flit
ting through the heavy dusk, and greet
ed his loved ones affectionately. Mrs.
Barn-Owl related the Incidents of. the
day, warmly praising Peter's part in
putting their enemy, the Boy. to fllgot
"Well, well, my son," announced Mr.
Barn-Owl, with a proud smile, "since
you are coming along so rapidly with
your education, I think I shall take you
mouse-hunting tonight
THREfi WIDE THE THROTTLE. AND DASHED AHEAD"
Ons afternoon Jeff sauntered up to
the little railroad station.- While in con
versation with the telegrapher, he re
marked: - ,'
. "I see there's a private car on the
siding Just below.".
"Kn owned by the president of the
road,' began the telegrapher-whehhe
turned suddenly, srrasped Jeff by tbs
shoulder and exclaimed: -
"Tou don't mean the nearest siding,
do yout" -
Jeff nodded.
The operator stared wildly. "Jeru
canoe on a former visit
For some reason Dick looked perturb
ed. ; However, he did not . reveal v the
cause for his unwonted silence, and soon
the two were enthusiastically examining
the canoe. : ' . .
"And. now, Mr. Grim," said Dick, "we
will pay you."-
"Pay met Why, your brother has al
ready, settled ' the bill," returned the
shipbuilder, laughing. . - .,
Dick, greatly surprised, glanced at
Ned, but the lattar made no explanation
until they were oa their way - home.
Then he said: -
"Tpu see, Ned, searching for birds'
eggs' may be a source of profit as well
as education. Tou .wow how early I
rose every morning during the spring
apd went out into the fields. Well, the
eggs I then found weren't added to my
collection. I spent all the time hunting
on the ground for plovers' -eggs, and-so
skilful did I become vln finding large
numbers that I made quite a fortune
from them. -ntco one orougm me six
shillings In town.. It was only because I
wished to' surprise you that I paid for
the canoe in advance.. , . t
"But really, Dick," continued ; the
brother, teaaingly. "selling plovers' eggs
Is much more profitable than raising
rabbits, even If It Is a crazy pastime."
"But you ' must wait awhile until X
have satisfied the hunger of these clam
: oroua little babies," said he, as the two
little owlets began to make queer little
s, noises Just like the snores - of Man.
Don't tmgaine, however, that Owls
really snore. ; Oh, dear no they're to
well bred for that"
Father Barn -Owl then . gracefully
swooped, down Into a barnyard nearby.
Boon be ;e turned with at mouse. Back
and forth he flitted, bringing a mouse
at' least once In tea. minutes, until the)
hunger of all was satisfied. Then he
beckoned Peter to follow him, and the
two made their : way together to the
barn. Mr.. Barn-Owl explained how,
their soft feathers permitted them to fly.
so noiselessly, and how. without ay
sound, they could drop down upon their
prey. . . ' .
. Peter' was crouching In a little hollow,
watching his father tan upon a mouse
that scuttled from bis hole, when he
heard two rats squeaking behind him. ;
One said to the other;
; "The Farmer Man has Just stocked
his granary with delicious, grain; and
our leader has planned for us to attack
it in a body tomorrow night"
Peter Barn-Owl heard ho more, for
the rats disappeared, and he afterward
forgot to mention the matter to hie
father.
Mr. Barn -Owl was greatly pleased
salem" ha gasped; - "there's some
thing wrong with the engineer's instruc
tions. The local train is due on that
siding In five minutes in 'order to give
the right of way to the express, which,,
follows close behind."
Jeff understood the situation in sv
moment With a bound he was out
- the -door 'and dashing-toward -the de
P
.ERHAPS : the lady wafN sasliy
frightened, but then, said she,
when one lives Quite a distance
frnm tha nearest neighbor it is
well to be careful 1 So she had a great f
hole dug before the door, and Into this
: she 'sank a stout-cage; open at the top.
In daytime the hole and cage were cov
ered by a strong board, but after night
fall a very.jCrall covering was substl
. tuted. . . -'"
One reason for the lady's alarm wae
the fact that Black Ruf us. known far
and wide as a terrible criminal, - was
-plundering and burning . houses round
t
N
'I
'.--y-;;;.:Svr JR. -'Oww MJ, ,,.. . j I
lr 'J
- ,1
This fact, too. It was that Inspired the
Joker to disguise himself as Black
Kuius, to attend a tnasQuerade 9&
II
with r his son's aptitude for huntlnr.
I "Tomorrow," said be, "you shall try it
; alone." . . i . '
v Of course: Peter was full of exclte
ment. At last hs was going to become
a mighty hunter like father. Just aa
he was about to set out he happened to
remember the conversation between the
two rata on the night before. . - :
"I'll go straight to the granary. said
Peter to himself. And with great speed
and suddenness the vcourageous little
Owl swooped down upon a great army
of gnawing rata One after another he
killed with remarkable swiftness. Then
back to tbs nest he carried a rat His
: mother : nodded approvingly. Again
PeterT started - for - the-! granary, and i
brought another of the slain rats to the
, . nest; and so be returned with one after '
: another, until Mother Barn-Owl was al-
most overcome with amassment;
, . And you should havs seen Father
' Barn -Owl when ho came home from his
night's hunting.' and saw that Peter
bad provided twice the amount of hls
. spolL :He would have turned his eyes
round and round, only for the fact that
- the Owl's eyes can't turn. As It was,
he gave ons long, astonished hoot, and
. then gasped:
. "Tou'll do, Peter: I cant see that you
need much more, training." - - ,
The "Porcupine"
a T THE beginning of hie reign.
- Li Louis XII o,f France directed that
the crown of gold then in use be
replaced by ano'ir coin. This piece of
money was promptly styled a "porcu
pine, and such was the name by which
"" It was recognised. ,7"' :-'"' "." T ;
In 1501 Lord Pulsard de Glacis waa
appointed governor of Maoon. Hs ar- '
rived at this city with his wife, who
v was very haughty and dignified. The
balllle was there to ; greet him, to
gether with the chief men of the city.
After mutual salutations were over,
three farmers appeared before the Gov
' ernor,-saying they wished to purchase
tracts of royal land. :
"Very wsll. replied the Governor;
"each of you bring me a porcupine to
morrow, I shall give the three of you
an audience tomorrow morning."
Once outside ' the castle, the three
farmers scratched their heads in perl
plexlty. "A porcupine apiece!" What a
strange request! And porcupines were
animals not readily found. (Tou see,
the worthy farmers bad never beard of
a coin by that name.) So tbey hunted
sealoualy in the woods for their porcu-
JUlllDeVa j .
ariJriifiiw
punctually arnvn niw vjuci a -
dlence chamber.. Each carefully bore a
porcupine In his arms. Seeking to rid
themselves of their charges until the
Governor appeared, they deposited the
little animal on chairs.
Soon the lord entered with his lady,
the balllle bringing up the rear. Ac-
knowledging the humble bows of the
farmers, the nobis party seated Itself
but. alas; upon the chain already pos
sessed by the porcupines. My lady
fainted, and waa supported by the ball
lie, who was himself suffering from
numerous wounds indicted by the
spines of the porcupines. As for the
Governor-he was too angry to think '
of anything but the stupidity of the
farmers. Needless to say, they were
not granted the land they sought
tached engine of the "special." which
stood near the station. To his aston
ishment hs found no one in the cab.
Doubtless the engineer and' fireman
were so indiscreet aa to both slip
away for something to eat
"There's not a moment to lose,
muttered Jeff. .
Without an Instant's delay he back
ed the engine oft the siding, past the
tatlotf and. toward the private car on
the. siding below:
The whistle of the local train was
sounding beyond the curve close to
ihe elding -when Jeft.xoupled Athelear,
threw open the throttls and' dasnei
ahead. '; " .
Hardly did he place the car out of
danger, at the extreme end of the sid
ing, than the local ewept around the
curve and on to the siding directly be
hind the private car, while a moment
later the express thundered by on the
main track. . "
The president and his party were
much surprised at their sudden re
moval. When , the great man learned
of the danger Just escaped, however,
be was warm in his praise of Jeff. Hs
chatted with the boy for aome time,
learned of his ambition and made a
promise that set the lad's cheeks
aglow. Jeff's future as a railroad man
jnow.geem assured, . -. ; ;. -: .. - K:
' The- joker ' strods sally on his way,
chuckling at the . surprise he would
doubtless cause when be presented him
self. At a lonely place on the road he
stopped to ask a passerby which direc
tion he should take.. - .
No sooner did the woman see this des
perate looking man than she Imaglnea
ft was Black Rufus. - Trembling , with
fear, she pointed toward a bouse in the
LwISfinf to hn,self at thajueceas of
his disguise, the Joker followed the path
pointed out to him. He wondered at the
absence of lights as he approached the
door. All at oncer the grouno apj",D ,
to Hlnk from under mm. .
his"
When the Joker recover irura
fall. "It was to find Wpisfii. m -.
with granna aU-ahput hitn and the air
tLTnDml- ear, don't you think
you'd best put away your em
broidery so the cat won't spoil
. it, as she did your last work 7"
A frown appeared on the girl's face
as she heard her mother's voice from '
the .adjoining room.
"Oh, pshawl': she murmured.
"At your service, my dear," said soma
one behind her. . . ,
The girl turned to see a funny little)
man, all gnarled and crooked and wob
bly like a tree that had been twisted
and bent by stormy winds, s ,
" !e!,J,our: Pardon sir," she stam
mered, ,7'but I don't think I have had
THE CROOKED TURNSTILE
the pleasure of meeting you before."
"Oh, you know me very well! My
name is Pshaw, a name that la con
stantly on your lips, although perhaps
you have never seen me. But come; I
wish to Introduce you- to others of your -old
friends." ,
So great was her curiosity that Edith
followed the funny old man toward the
side of the room, where a door opened
mysteriously, permitting them to pas
through Into a land sha had never seen
before.
Along a crooked, winding lane they
proceeded.
"It's Just like a figure 8." commented
Edith.
The crooked roan replied: "Yes; it
was made carelessly; no one took the
trouble to have it straight."
Then they passed through 4 crooked
turnstile,
"The one who constructed this," ex
plained her guide, "took the first tim
ber that came to hand and it happened
to be crooked."
On . and on they walked until they
came Into the strangest sort of a town.
The houses were built crookedly.; the
streets slgzagged this way and that;
even the people were twisted out of pro
portion. - ' :
''They all grew up carelessly," was
the remark of Edith's companion.
"But" continued he, "they are nice
people Just the same; and I'm sure
you'd be pleased to see Put-it-off, Don't
Care, No-Matter and I'U-Do-lt-Tomor-
- " - - w v - viiivi
iy iuiiu at you, ray near, xney say
are Just like one of them in your dis
position, althoueh thev can't Imairlnit
why you didn't grow up carelessly in
crooked sort of way."
'I don't want to meet them," said
Edith, mo t ungraciously, "and I don't
CROOKED HOUSES EVERYWHERE
care to be like them. Indeed, hereafter
I shall not be careless and. happy-go-lucky."
,
Pshaw stopped suddenly and looked
at her In amasement. "Dear me," said
he, rubbing his chin, reflectively, "f
surely cwn't introduce them to you If
you're going to be careful. Tbey don't
like persons wttrt nay nabits.
"It's too1 bad,"- went on the crooked
little man and then, more hopefully:
"But perhaps you'll grow careless again
and then you 11 be able to meet these
good people."
- By this time they had retraced their
steps back to the room from wljere tha
walk had begun, . and as Edith bade
good-bye to Pshaw, she said, emphat
ically: "While I appreciate your Intentions,
Mr. Pshaw, 1 : must say that such a
meeting will never take place If I can
help it?' -
And looking; at him steadily, she
added. "I think it is more than prob
able w two will never see each other
ag-Un."
From that time Edith avoided a
meeting With the careless Inhabitanta
of Crooked Town, and so earnest were
her attempts at self-improvement that
all danger of It was averted. 1 -
far above. He bad come to the wrong
lHU shouts aulckly woke the cautious
old lady. She screamed when first she
discovered a man n her trap. Then she
telephoned fcr the police, who were
overjoyed to learn that the captive was
none other than "Black Rufus' blm-
,eThe' cage was hauled to the surface of
the ground, and, as the news of the Im
portant capture spread, it was quickly
surrounded by people, t . -
Jn vain the Joker insisted hs waa only
masquerading. They aughed at him.
nmmntlv ' elaoDed htm Into lail.
where he remained until his friends
came on the morrow to release him, .
- The disguise raa neen buccbwslui, h .
had exoectcd.