rockers with flecks of paint adhering 

 sufficiently to indicate a tone of blue or 

 green, high mahogany bureaus, odd ht- 

 tle stands and several old mirrors have 

 been discovered and placed so as to give 

 a seeming, good effect. Brass candle- 

 sticks and a pair of snuffers have also 

 been presented to me, and every now and 

 then a neighbor, friend, or even some- 

 times a stranger, brings or sends an old 

 bit of china or a piece of furniture, and 

 so the joy of collecting and of the reset- 

 ting of my ever increasing wealth goes 

 on. And the charm of the old rooms 

 and the trees and the flowers and the 



birds and the restful, happy days go on, 

 until some morning a breath of winter 

 creeps in with an October rain storm. 

 Then we draw down the curtains, bolt 

 the doors and leave the "Old House" 

 nestling by the old orchard, whose 

 branches cast gaunt shadows along its 

 roof, and make odd, creaking music as 

 they toss back and forth against the 

 clapboards. 



But when the buds are bursting and 

 the birds are calling and the grass is 

 showing the greens of springtime, we 

 always plan to go again to summer in 

 the ''Old House." 



Ellen Robertson Miller. 



THE HORNED TOAD 



He is a wonderful little creature. Al- 

 though called a toad, he is shaped more 

 like a lizard, having a broad flat back 

 which tapers down to the tail and is cov- 

 ered with sharp points something like a 

 rose thorn, and there is a crown of points 

 about his head. 



The largest Horned Toads are often 

 six or eight inches long, but the babies 

 are only an inch in length. Their backs 

 are mottled brown and tan, and the un- 

 der part of the body is lighter in color 

 and has no spines on it. It is a curious 

 fact that the Horned Toad is always the 

 color of the ground on which he lives. 

 Thus the kind All-Father takes care of 

 this helpless little creature, for being the 

 color of his background he is not so eas- 

 ily seen, and thus escapes from his ene- 

 mies. Take a toad which is yellow and 

 whose home is on yellow sand, and put 

 him in a place where the ground is 



darker in color and in a short time he 

 will turn dark. 



Many people believe that when the 

 toad is angry he will spit blood and 

 poison, but this is not true. He is the 

 most harmless and gentle of creatures, 

 and if teased will run away. 



I have been told that when he is 

 frightened one of his eyes will swell un- 

 til blood spurts in a stream from it, but 

 I have never known this to happen. 



These helpless little creatures are 

 caught in great quantities and chloro- 

 formed, then stuffed and sold to curio 

 dealers. 



Many boys are on the lookout for them, 

 as by catching and selling them they can 

 make a little money. 



A family of Horned Toads lived under 

 the hedge at Los Gatos, California, where 

 I spent last summer. It was a very inter- 

 esting to watch them. 



Henrietta Lee Coulling. 



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