THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND. SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 2, 1915.
Bill (Plays Hookey but Hie
't Escape His Thoughis
Bill
Squigps
of Squash
Center
is ten
years old
and no
one could
accuse
him of
being the
teachers
pet
no sirree,
not Bill
DEAR MISS FAULKNER:
Will you please teell the
story of Zirac and his friends ?
I like your stories -very much.
Your friend, ;
CAROLINE M: KNEUZ.
By GEORGENE FAULKNER.
"3 NGE upon a time a
" Tflvpn. fL rat anil a
v
, tortoise, who were
1 i all friends, were
- J havlnar a 1 1 f 1 1
XS'-jf--5--A' 2 friendly chat tn-
'4 tL'''.rl.,- -' srether. ' when
jfgether, when they
KflCT a TlfrilI imiit
- u guab
niTinTi!
toward
They took it for
them with great speed.
Kranieu . mat me goat was pursued by a
hunter and so they all hid themselves. The
tprtoise slipped into the water, the rat
creptlnto a hole in the ground and the
raven' flew up Into, a tree and hid in the
t luck branches. The i goat came rushing
along and suddenly she stopped to rest
liy a fountain, when ihe ' raven, ; ;who had
looked all around and could see no one,
called-out to the tortoise, "The goat Is
afraid-to take a drink of water!" The
tortoice . then peeped out from ; his shell
arid, seeing the frightened goat, he said,
"Drink boldly, my friend, for the water is
'very clear!" . . i.
. "
, After the goat took a drink he looked
about and trembled so that the ' tortoise
said, "Pray tell ; me the reason that you
seem to be in such distress." ; "Reason
enough, said the goat, "for I have Just
escaped from a hunter and even now he
may be upon me." i . Vj..:
"I am glad your are safe," said the tolrv
toisevbut do not be. so frightened; you
are among friends ; now and if you caie
for our friendship stay here with- us and
we will try to help you.' The wise .men
Bay that a number of friends will lessen
.trouble." - ' .-' 1 ; ,. ' y '
Then the ravenflew down from the tree
and the rat crawled out from his hole, and
they both told the ' goat that they would
like to have him for a. friend. The goat
then promised to become one of them and
each promised the other to prove himself
a true friend whatever might happen to
them in the future. After this agreement
the friends lived in peace and harmony for
a long time and they spent many 1 happy
days together. e ! i '
One day the tortoise, the raven and the
rat met together by the side of the foun
tain, but the - goat was - missing and ; they
were greatly, troubled about him. "Maybe
the hunter has caught our friend V said the
tortoise. "Let us go out and seek .for him,"
said the raven, and he flew through the air
looking for the goat. At length, to his
great sorrow,; he saw down beneath him
the poor goat, entangled In a hunter's net
The raven then flew, back to the fountain
and flew down and told the tortoise and
the raven what he had seen. "What shall
we do to help him?" they cried In great
grief. . !
"We have promised our friendship, and
that we would try to protect one another
In time of trouble; It would be shameful
to break our bond and not live up to all
we said," said the tortoise. . "Yes," said
the raven, "we must find some way to de
liver our poor friend goat out of his cap
tivity," and. this is for you to do, Zirac."
Now, the rat was nicknamed Zirac, and
he said, "I willbe glad to do all In my
power to help our poor friend, but how
shall It e done?" Let us go at once," said
the raven. I will carry you - In my bill
and take you to the place where our poor
friend,' the goat,: is a prisoner, and : then
you must set him free."
, So the raven took' the rat in his bill and
carried' him to the place where the goat
was entangled in the net. When Zirac came
down to the ground tie said, "Have patience,
my friend, and I will soon set - you free,
and then .the, rat began , to gnaw and gnaw
at the rope until at; last he cut the rope
that held the foot of .the goat and the goat
was free.
" "Thank'you, my mall friend,' I shall al
ways be grateful to you," said the goat
Just then they looked up and saw their
friend the tortoise creeping slowly ; toward -them,
and the goat cried out, "Oh, 1 why
have you 'come hither, friend tortoise?" ,
"Because I could no longer endure
f ' " -llVLl. '1
.And ji Ky ,0 j
mhe If : p
mother K ' W '
iwuld -vA Wi W 14
also r i - '
intake- : .. ; ,: ;
; milk lt l ' 3 ! ''
' old " prU III f--;
never v
gets to
school
on. time
and a
few days
ago the '
teacher:
scolded
him for
being
late.
Then she
told him
to go home.
Now
there
are a
lot of
things
BiU likes
better
than work
so lets
add a few
lines to
the piclures
and see
what
Bill did.
' " . l.i Hi' i- u rr ' , " ' '" ,"' "' m,m '" 'f " "'T :-.
;T7f - l-'- :
tt 1 1 ' i
t . C7 vx 1 ! i
f ' i. V 1 j ,
I I;gAAa4-4MaMrn4!i:--, ' jf mutin n. . ii i in-i .. . . r I
v . . - . - -
wm '-'WJi'ywiiy'Wn',w II..II.IIH- i i ii inn '
vis.. " fe-
.if -w.tKaWk4Aar!Wr.sr . -h " - t .-.;. :',
i ' in ii i ,-i. i, i , - s yjasa;griASfc" I
Bill
knew
that. If ,
he " went
home", his
mother,
too, jWould
. scold
Kim
and
put
to
him
work
feeding
chickens.
1 ' n n - f - . ' " I?.' .. j ' ' " pi .iwii. iihipiii fci
j'J , . i M
Ui'Mft'i'lS Li . ') ' '.
Just us we
expected.
BiUi went
down to
.the old -'crick
not
far from
9the school
house but
far enough
so the
teacher
couldn't
see him.
Theft he
threw;
in a line t
and waited
for something
to turn up.
r
I - , i . r-;-
, , - ' r , iris
r -;. Af- (r : ! TS '
. v , 4ir4 XU Pf- ' K ' '.
: : ----' . ;;.v 'Jtr 77v v " 1 ;
.. rJ f . I , v.--s- - ' ' , - ,r . J
i ;, , '"' 'I -" "" '-" t
The Raven Took Zirac to Rescue the Goat.'
your absence, replied the tortoise, x "Dear,
faithful .friend,, said the. goat, your com-l
I nor hura frnnhlAn m aa milch AS th6 lfuyi!
of my own liberty,. for if the hunter should
come, j how; could .you make your escape?
I can run very fast and escape from him
the raven can find safety In flight and
Zirac, the rat, can .creep Into some hole,
but you who are so slow of foot, how can
you be safe? I am very-much afraid that
you will become his prey." i
No sooner had the goat spoken these
words than the hunter suddenly appeared.
The goat, being free, ran away as fast as
he 'could run, the raven flew Into the air
'and Zirac slipped Into a hole and hid, and
Just as the goat had said, the slow-paced
old tortoise remained without any help.
I When the hunter" saw that his net was.
broken and that the goat was missing he
was very angry.. He began to look about
on the ground to see who had done this
mischief, and unfortunately, in this search
ing he discovered the poor, slow tortoise.
"Oh, oh!", exclaimed the hunter, "this is
very -good; here Is a plump tortoise,' and
that Is worth something. I sha. not have
to go home empty-handed after Jail." The
poor tortoise tried to hide in hl shell, but
the man picked him up, put him in a sack,
threw the sack over his shoulder and
started for home. - , , i.
; After he had ' gone ' the three . friends
came out from their hiding places and met
together, and the raven said: While I
was flying overhead I saw the hunter pick
up the tortoise and carry him away In a
sack. The friends all began to cry at tMJs
sad news, but the: raven said :' "Dear
friends, our tears , and; moans , cannot help
the tortoise; we must find out some way
to save his life. We can only prove that
we are true friends by our actions. ; Our
dear companion, the tortoise. Is a prisoner ; .
;now we must And some way of setting him ,
free, if 'that Is possible." 'This is good
advice," replied Zirac, "and' I think I know
how it can be done. , Let our, friend, the
goat, show herself to the, hunter and he
will then put down his sack and run after
her." i "All right," agreed xthe goat, "that
Is a good plan.- I will pretend to be very
lame and - go limping before the hunter
and then he will think that he can overtake
me. and thus I can' draw; Mm Xar away;
from the sack, while the rat will ha
time to knaw a hole in the sack, so th
our f rlendj the tortoise, may escape."
This plan was such a good 'one jthat tJ
three friends immediately put it ihto pra
ticer The goat ran in front of the hunt
and began, to limp as though be were bad
wounded; he apieared.at every step to lf
so feeble and faint that the hunter though
that he could catch him easily. " .So, la.
lng down the sack, he ran after the go,
with aU his might. . j J
i That cunning creature led him on arv
on, and Just as the hunter would come net
him ' he would spring away. He led tl:
hunter a ild' goose chase, until at lal
he had lured him out ot sight Kow, t
this time Zirac, the rat, was gnawing tl.
string that tied the mouth of the sack, an
by ana by ne sec rree me poor lorvcnso, wl.
went at once and hid himself in a bush.
- At length the hunter- became tired
running after the goat and gave j tip h
chase and returned to pick v9. his. sac!
"WelL" he said, "at least have- sotnethin
here, even if It is not a goat, and I ar
so'weary from running after that goat, j
know a tortoise cannot make use of his 11
tie legs and run away." But when he care
. to the bag he was amazed to find that tt
rope had been gnawed and the tortoise ha
escaped.-' ! - ' ' . ' -'
"There must be hobgoblins and spirit
in this forest," gasped the hunter, or bo'j
could I ' have lost' the goat, and then it
tortoise in this mysterious manner? Toj
see, the hunter did not know what wonder
true friendship can ' work, when all ar
pledged to help one another. i ' j
When the four friends met again the
thanked each ' other - for help given whe
It was needed and they congratulated on'
another- upon - their, escapes ; then the
made" 'fresh'?!vows!"bfl3endshipiad d(
clared that they -would never separate unt
death parted them.. So if we could go I
that forest, we might find those four friend
still living In peace and harmony togethe:
' (This is on old oriental tale retold fror
Tales of Laughter" by . Kate Douglas 172;
Sin and Laura Archibald Emlth.