TOWSER TALKS.
: Cinderella The Little Glass SlipperI am not a big dog and I don't know very much, but I know more
than I used to. The reason why I know more than I used to is
because I asked Carlo some questions once. I asked him what made
him so gaunt and thin and why he had such an enquiring expression
on his face and such a hump on the top of his head. He didn't
answer right away, and--I noticed the enquiring expression
vanished. He looked quite decided. Then someth
don't know exactly what, but Mary, the cook, told the butler that
it made her dizzy just to look on. And then Carlo said:--
"One reason why I am gaunt and thin is because I am not a little
up-start of a pug,--of no earthly use under Heaven, and nothing
to do but waddle around and accumulate fat.
"The reason I have an enquiring expression on my face is because
I am ever on the outlook to anticipate my master's will and do
his slightest bidding.
"As for the hump on the top of my head, that is a mark given by
the Creator only to dogs that have intellect. Pray that yours may
grow!"
That is all he said, but it was enough for one day and has
furnished me food for thought ever since.
More
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THE WOODPECKER AND THE LION
One day while a Lion was eating his dinner a bone stuck in his throat. It hurt so that he could not finish his dinner. He walked up and down, up and down, roaring with pain. A Woodpecker lit on a branch of a tree near-by, and hearing the Lion, ... THE WOODPECKER, TURTLE, AND DEER
Once upon a time a Deer lived in a forest near a lake. Not far from the same lake, a Woodpecker had a nest in the top of a tree; and in the lake lived a Turtle. The three were friends, and lived together happily. A hunter, wandering about in th... THE WORLD TURNS WHITE
After he outwitted the strange dog, Tommy Fox became more of a braggart than ever. He thought that he knew just about all there was to know. But with the coming of winter Tommy found that he had many things to learn. It was almost like living in a... THE WRECK OF THE HESPERUS
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow It was the schooner _Hesperus_, That sailed the wintry sea; And the skipper had taken his little daughter, To bear him company. Blue were her eyes as the fairy-flax, Her cheeks like the dawn of day, And h... THE WRONG BLACK BAG
It was the eve of Good Friday. Within the modest parlour of No. 13 Primrose Terrace a little man, wearing a gray felt hat and a red neck-tie, stood admiring himself in the looking-glass over the mantelpiece. Such a state of things anywhe... THERE IS NO FUN UNTILL I CUM.
The other man, nothing loath, raised the mug to his lips, and drank on and on and on, till a curious blueness overspread the countenance of the shepherd's wife, who had regarded with no little surprise the first stranger's free offer to the second o... THOR GOES A-FISHING
Hamilton Wright Mabie Midway between Niflheim and Muspelheim lay Midgard, the home of men, its round disk everywhere encircled by the ocean, which perpetually rushed upon it, gently in still summer afternoons, but with a terrible uproar in wi... TIMOTHY AND HIS MOTHER EUNICE.
Timothy was a youthful and earnest disciple of Jesus Christ, whom Paul loved dearly. Paul had found him during one of his missionary journeys, and, discovering how highly he was esteemed as a Christian, had selected him as his assistant. Afterward... TO A WATERFOWL
William Cullen Bryant Whither, midst falling dew, While glow the heavens with the last steps of days, Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue Thy solitary way? Vainly the fowler's eye Might mark thy distant flight to do thee ... TO LUCASTA, ON GOING TO THE WARS
Richard Lovelace Tell me not, Sweet, I am unkind, That from the nunnery Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind, To war and arms I fly. True, a new mistress now I chase, The first foe in the field; And with a stronger faith embrace A ... TO THE FRINGED GENTIAN
William Cullen Bryant Thou blossom bright with autumn dew, And colored with the heaven's own blue, That openest when the quiet light Succeeds the keen and frosty night. Thou comest not when violets lean O'er wandering brooks and springs uns... TOINETTE AND THE ELVES
The winter's sun was nearing the horizon's edge. Each moment the tree shadows grew longer in the forest; each moment the crimson light on the upper boughs became more red and bright. It was Christmas Eve, or would be in half an hour, when the su... TOMMY BECOMES BOASTFUL
When Johnnie Green turned Tommy Fox loose, out in the meadow, in the moonlight, Tommy hurried across the fields as fast as he could go. You remember that he heard a fox barking, near the foot of Blue Mountain, and he thought it sounded like his mo... TOMMY CHASES MR. WOODCHUCK
Tommy Fox went up into Farmer Green's back-pasture, which, lay even nearer Blue Mountain than the field where Tommy and his mother lived. He skulked along among the rocky hummocks, and the old stumps which dotted the pasture thickly. His ears and ... TOMMY ENJOYS HIMSELF
Tommy Fox was having a delightful time. If you could have come upon him in the woods you would have been astonished at his antics. He leaped high off the ground, and struck out with his paws. He opened his mouth and thrust his nose out and then cl... TOMMY FOX IN TROUBLE
A few days after Tommy Fox caught old Mr. Woodchuck, something happened that set him thinking. Perhaps I should say _"a few nights"_ instead of _"days."_ For one night his mother came home with a fat hen slung across her shoulders. She had been do... TOMMY FOX IS HUNGRY
Tommy Fox kept a sharp look-out to see what he could capture to eat. But he could discover nothing at all. To be sure, there were birds in the trees, and birds' nests too, and Tommy was very fond of birds' eggs. But he couldn't climb trees. The bi... TOMMY FOX LEARNS A NEW TRICK
Now, there was a road that ran through the valley, along the bank of Swift River. And when Mrs. Fox reached it, with Tommy close behind her, she turned again--this time to the left--and ran along in the beaten track which the horses and sleighs ha... TOMMY FOX LEARNS TO HUNT
Tommy Fox was hunting crickets in the field near his mother's house. Being a young fox, not much more than half-grown, Tommy knew very little of hunting. In fact, crickets were about the only thing he could hunt and _catch_. Of course, any one can... TOMMY FOX MAKES A STRANGE FRIEND
There was one thing, especially, that surprised Tommy Fox. And I think it surprised the dog Spot even more. Tommy and Spot became friends. At first, whenever Spot came near, Tommy would run into his hole, as far as his chain would allow him. But... TOMMY FROST SEES A BEAR.
Tommy Frost was making his first visit in the country. He was enjoying it very much. He liked to ramble about in the woods close by the house of his aunt, Mrs. Drew. Tommy had never even seen any birds before this, but pigeons and sparrows. That is,... TOMMY GROWS TOO CARELESS
By the time summer was nearly over, Tommy Fox was much bigger than he had been in the spring. So many things had happened, and he had learned so much, that he began to be quite bold. And he had grown so saucy that his mother often had to scold him... TOWSER TALKS.
I am not a big dog and I don't know very much, but I know more than I used to. The reason why I know more than I used to is because I asked Carlo some questions once. I asked him what made him so gaunt and thin and why he had such an enquiring expre... TWO LITTLE RIDDLES IN RHYME
There's a garden that I ken, Full of little gentlemen; Little caps of blue they wear, And green ribbons, very fair. (Flax.) From house to house he goes, A messenger small and slight, And whether ... TWO STRANGE SIGHTS.
"Oh come into the dining-room!" Cries Fred, "come, grandma, dear. For something very strange indeed Is going on in here!" And sure enough, when grandma comes, Perhaps at first with fright, She stands quite still, astonished at An unexpected sigh... UPON THE ROAD TO ROCKABOUT
Upon the road to Rockabout I came upon some sheep-- A large and woolly flock about As wide as it was deep. I was about to turn about To ask the man to tell Some things I wished to learn about Both sheep and wool as well, When I beheld a rou... VIOLA ROSEBOROUGH
... WALDO GOES FISHING.
It was with stronger forebodings than he dared acknowledge even to himself, that Professor Featherwit watched the two young men out of sight in the early gloom, and scarcely had his nephew passed beyond hearing than uncle Phaeton would gladly have ... WATER-LILIES
The stream that crept down from the hills, three miles away, has worn a smooth bed for itself in the gravel; has watered the farmer's fields, and turned the wheel of the old grist-mill, where the miller tends the stones that grind the farmer's cor... WEEPING
"Well, Hermod, what did she say?" asked the AEsir from the top of the hill as they saw him coming; "make haste and tell us what she said." And Hermod came up. "Oh! is that all?" they cried, as soon as he had delivered his message. "Nothing can ... WHAT HAPPENED CHRISTMAS EVE.
It was Christmas Eve and the frost fairies were busy getting ready for Christmas Day. First of all they spread the loveliest white snow carpet over the rough, bare ground; then they hung the bushes and trees with icicles that flashed like diamonds... WHAT HAPPENED IN THE SNOW QUEEN'S PALACE AND AFTERWARDS
<table><tr><td><img src="/images/plate08-th.jpg" alt=""></td> <td>The Snow Queen sat in the very middle of it when she sat at home</td></tr></table> The Palace walls were made of drifted snow, and the windows and doors of the biting winds... WHAT IS IT?
What is that ugly thing I see Which follows, follows, follows me, Which ever way I turn or go? What is that thing? I want to know. If I but turn to left or right It does the same with all its might; It looks so ugly and so black When o'er my s... WHAT THE FROST GIANTS DID TO NANNIE'S RUN
... WHAT WAS THE END OF THE HEROES
And now I wish that I could end my story pleasantly; but it is no fault of mine that I cannot. The old songs end it sadly, and I believe that they are right and wise; for though the heroes were purified at Malea, yet sacrifices cannot make bad ... WHICH DEALS WITH A MIRROR AND ITS FRAGMENTS
<table><tr><td><img src="/images/plate02-th.jpg" alt=""></td> <td>One day he was in a high state of delight because he had invented a mirror with this peculiarity, that every good and pretty thing reflected in it shrank away to almost nothing</td>... WHO KILLED THE OTTER'S BABIES?
Once the Otter came to the Mouse-deer and said, "Friend Mouse-deer, will you please take care of my babies while I go to the river, to catch fish?" "Certainly," said the Mouse-deer, "go along." But when the Otter came back from the river, wit... WHY DID MAMMA CHANGE HER MIND?
Mamma Miller told Fay and Lonnie that they might have a party, so they tried to get ready for it. But the party was very different to what they expected. It always happens so about everything, if we pay no regard to one another's wishes. Mrs. Mil... WHY THE EVERGREEN TREES KEEP THEIR LEAVES IN WINTER
One day, a long, long time ago, it was very cold; winter was coming. And all the birds flew away to the warm south, to wait for the spring. But one little bird had a broken wing and could not fly. He did not know what to do. He looked all round, to ... WHY THE MORNING-GLORY CLIMBS
Once the Morning-Glory was flat on the ground. She grew that way, and she had never climbed at all. Up in the top of a tree near her lived Mrs Jennie Wren and her little baby Wren. The little Wren was lame; he had a broken wing and couldn't fly. He ... WHY THE SEA IS SALT
Once there were two brothers. One was rich, and one was poor; the rich one was rather mean. When the Poor Brother used to come to ask for things it annoyed him, and finally one day he said, "There, I'll give it to you this time, but the next time yo... WINDY NIGHTS
Whenever the moon and stars are set, Whenever the wind is high, All night long in the dark and wet, A man goes riding by. Late in the night when the fires are out, Why does he gallop and gallop about? Whenever the trees are crying aloud, ... WOOLLOOMOOLOO
Here's a ridiculous riddle for you: How many o's are there in Woolloomooloo? Two for the W, two for the m, Four for the l's, and that's plenty for them. * * * I wonder what the Jacks have got to laugh and laugh about I'm sure the wor... YOU AND I
They say the eagle is a bird That sees some splendid sights When he soars high into the sky Upon his dizzy flights: He sees the ground for miles around Our house, and Billy Johnson's; But we cannot be eagles, for That would, of course, be nonsen...