RUBBER 



CHAPTER I 



THE ROMANCE OF RUBBEB 



There is a wish that has so taken possession of us 

 that it is beginning to make our hearts ache. Happily, 

 we are living in the everything-is-possible days of Once 

 Upon a Time. Directly that wish begins seriously to 

 worry us, Mother Witch realizes that here is a case in 

 which her services are needed, and forthwith she hurries 

 to our midst to see what she can do to make us happy 

 and content. 



" Carry us away on your broomstick," we beg, " to 

 some new land, where we can see people using some- 

 thing which we know nothing whatever about at present, 

 but which will one day bring to pass a great revolu- 

 tion throughout the whole wide world." 



Says Mother Witch : 



" You civilized mortals have yet so many lands to 

 discover, so much to learn from the folk who dwell 

 therein. I could take you to many a strange country 

 where you would see the mere savage turning the 

 simplest of Nature's gifts to marvellous account. 

 Some day more extraordinary uses will be found for 

 these same things by the only kind of people you think 

 clever. But when that day dawns, such things will soon 



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