Jht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1585 
“Robert Thorton, sir.” 
The naan started at this and his face 
paled. Then be said in a voice that shook 
a little, “And where do you live?” 
"186 North River Street,” was the 
quick reply. Without another word the 
stranger walked rapidly away leaving 
Bob looking wonderingly after him. 
The papers were slow in selling that 
night but at last they were all gone, and 
putting the money into his pocket. Rob 
started for home. As he walked along 
past the brilliantly lighted shop win¬ 
dows, three words kept repeating them¬ 
selves over and over in his mind-—just 
one gift—just one gift—just one gift. 
Soon he reached the tiny cottage 
where he and his mother lived. His 
father had gone away to war and had 
never returned. So his mother sewed all 
day long and he sold newspapers that he 
might go to school. But they were very, 
very poor, and this year there was not 
even any money to buy a Christmas gift 
for Bob. So no wonder he was sad as 
he faced the thought of a Christmas with 
no gift. 
As he entered the cottage his mother 
looked up from her sewing to say: 
“You’re late tonight, dear, your supper 
is waiting.” As he ate his supper of 
mush and milk he told his mother of the 
strange man he had talked with that 
night. Then he went off to bed and soon 
was fast asleep. If he could have seen 
what went on in the cottage he would 
have gasped in surprise. But he didn’t. 
Drawn by Miriam Kachel, Pennsylvania 
Early the next morning he awoke to 
find his mother bending over him. "Wake 
up, dear, wake up.” she said, “I’ve a 
wonderful surprise for you down stairs. 
Hurry and get dressed.” Bob jumped 
out of bed and dressed quicker than ever 
he had before, wondering all the while 
what could have happened to make his 
mother act so happy and excited. He 
was soon to find out, however, for as he 
entered the sitting-room whom should he 
find there but the stranger who had 
bought his paper the night before. Be¬ 
side him Bob saw his mother, looking 
younger and happier than he ever had 
seen her look before. 
“Bob,” she said, “Bob, this is your 
father, lie wasn’t killed in the war, but 
received a wound in the head w r hich made 
him forget who he was, «and when he 
finally did remember he started out look¬ 
ing for us. You—” 
But Bob suddenly ran forward into his 
father’s outstretched arms. “Oh father !” 
he cried, “Oh father! You’re my Christ¬ 
mas gift!” 
Dorothy McGeoch (14 years). 
New York. 
A Game to Play 
Here is a game that is fine during the 
Christmas vacation when a group of 
children are together: 
COMIC HISTORICAL TABLEAUX 
These tableaux are very amusing and, 
being impromptu, require no preparation 
beforehand. The company must divide 
into two parts. Each side decides w T hat 
event in history it will represent, -then 
forms a tableau to illustrate the event, 
making it as ridiculous as possible. The 
other side must try to guess what the 
tableau is. If successful it is their turn 
to produce a tableau ; if not, the first side 
must try again. Here is an example of 
a tableau on Balboa discovering the Pa¬ 
cific : Place a pan of water on the floor 
in plain sight of the audience; then let 
some one dress up in a long cloak and 
high-crowned hat. to impersonate Balboa 
and stand on a table in the middle of the 
floor, while the rest of the performers en- 
Drawn by Evelyn Underwood (14 years). 
New York 
veloped in shawls crouch around. When 
the curtain is drawn Balboa is seen look¬ 
ing intently through one end of a tin 
horn tor one made of paper) at the pan 
of water. Many other events can be 
acted out in similar ways. 
Marion Nichols (16 years). 
New York. 
Milkweed 
I am quite sure the correct answer to 
the Nature Puzzle published on our last 
-month’s page is the milkweed. In early 
Spring, after the snow is gone, the milk¬ 
weed sprouts out of the ground and be¬ 
gins to grow. The plant grows from two 
to three feet in height. The milkweed 
grows in waste places and pasture lands. 
During July and August the milkweed 
blossoms. Its flowers are very small. 
They are lavender and grow in clusters. 
The monarch butterfly lays eggs on the 
leaves of the milkweed, where they hatch 
into caterpillars that feed on the leaves 
of the milkweed. If while in bloom you 
visit the milkweed you will see a great 
variety of butterflies around it; the most 
common are the monarch butterfly and 
the swallowtail butterfly. In late Sum¬ 
mer and early Fall two or more bulgy 
green seed pods appear, and when the 
seeds ripen the pods burst. A white, 
flossy, featherlike sail is attached to each 
flat brown seed. When the pod bursts 
the sail carries the seed through the air 
until finally the seed drops to the ground 
and remains there until Spring. Then 
it sprouts and grows into another milk¬ 
weed plant. 
In the early Fall I often gather the 
pods *and separate the downy sails from 
the seeds, and out of the soft fuzz I make 
fancy pincushions of silk in which I cover 
the down with the material. I believe 
all the girl readers of Our Page would 
find interest and pleasure in doing this 
too. ' Cecelia Revoir (14 years). 
New York. 
is sure to make trouble for some one 
later on. Notice the nice drawing we 
have from Anna Graham to illustrate 
this Nature Puzzle. 
A New Nature Puzzle 
One day in November my father called 
me outdoors to see a little animal which 
he had uncovered while working on the 
woodpile near the house. It was black 
or nearly so, with small, round, yellow 
spots on each side and on its tail. I 
The flowers of the milkweed are very 
fragrant. We 'use the tender young 
shoots for greens in the Spring. We boys 
On the Dike in Holland—Drawn by 
Myrtie Hemenway, Maine 
think it was about two and one-half or 
three inches long from its head to the tip 
of its tail. It had four legs. When I 
first saw it, it acted rather stupid, but I 
picked it up and it soon began to walk 
around on my hand. Now can you tell 
what it was? Warren Brown. 
Vermont. 
Milkweed Leaves, Flowers, Pod and 
Seeds—Drawn by Anna Graham 
(15 years), Illinois 
pick them and mother cooks them. In 
the Fall it is fun to pull the seed pods 
apart and see how the seeds are packed 
in. Charles Martin (10 vears). 
New r York. 
Milkweed is very common here. When 
the seeds are all blowm out I take- the 
pods and pretend they are fairy cradles. 
The little wings on the seeds are like 
silk. The juice in the stem is w’hite and 
looks like milk, and if you get it on your 
hands it is very sticky. 
Edna Smith (8 years). 
New Y T ork. 
The milkweed plant is becoming very 
useful nowadays, because of the use of 
the down as a pad in butterfly trays. 
The pods are gathered when damp and 
are opened and the seeds removed. After 
this they are dried and then are picked 
off the sort of core in the center. The 
down makes a very pretty background 
for the butterflies under the glass of a 
tray. Mildred Wilcox (13 years). 
Connecticut. 
Our Artists 
You will enjoy the dozen drawings 
used on Our Page this month. They 
testify to the skill and enthusiasm of 
“our artists.” Under them you will find 
some names that are becoming familiar 
to us all. and some new names, as is al¬ 
ways the case. There were many other 
drawings sent in that could have been 
used had space permitted. We can at 
least give these “artists” honorable men¬ 
tion and gladly do so as follows: Robert 
Storms of California; Myra Lloyd (14) 
and Anna Mayers (16) of Connecticut; 
John Coligny (11) of Maryland; Louisa 
Skoog (12) of New Jersey; Coletta De- 
genfelder (12) of New York; and Edna 
Spencer (9), Clair Beers (10), Carl 
Gliek (11) and Helen Kauffman (14) 
of Pennsylvania. 
Next month we will have a rhyme 
drawing contest again in addition to a 
heading and any other general drawings 
you wish to send. We have an excellent 
rhyme which your editor has worked out 
with Gladys Feldberg, a New York read¬ 
er. It is as follows: 
A Winter feeding station 
In the snow beside the trees; 
Birds come for food each morning— 
Will you draw them for us, please? 
Surely this will give you a chance to 
do some fine work. Let your drawings 
be original work, on plain paper, in ink 
if possible, but if not then in clear, black 
pencil lines. 
In February we will plan to have Our 
Page illustrated with photographs in¬ 
stead of drawings. We have done this 
in the past some months, and the variety 
is pleasant. Besides, it gives those who 
have cameras but who cannot draw very 
well a chance to contribute. 
The boys and girls who read Our Page 
should remember that milkweed is a trou¬ 
blesome weed in places where it is not 
wanted. It spreads by underground 
root-stocks as well as by the wind-blown 
seeds. It is best not to help scatter the 
seeds about over clean land, because that 
A Fine Letter 
Although I have been a faithful reader 
of Our Page from its first appearance up 
to the last issue, I have never attempted 
to contribute anything to it. Its growth 
has been wonderful, and I congratulate 
you, Mr. Tuttle, for developing, in a com¬ 
paratively short time, a page with so 
many interested readers and contribu¬ 
tors. It is called the Boys and Girls’ 
page, as indeed it is, but I know that 
mother reads it with as much interest 
as my sister and I do. I think that Our 
Page is surely a fine thing, as it inspires 
boys and girls to do their best to make it 
just the finest page especially printed 
for boys and girls. 
The drawing section has always in¬ 
terested me the most. Now I am trying 
my ability as an artist by sending a con¬ 
tribution to the Christmas page. 
The letters about school being con¬ 
sidered a pleasure or a duty interested 
me greatly. I believe that Edna Wilfert 
has the right idea. I think that the let¬ 
ters which you published will do a great 
deal of good. Perhaps some of the schol¬ 
ars who think they are hurting the 
teacher if they fail to learn their lessons 
will change their opinion after reading 
those letters. 
Well, here’s wishing Our Page a long 
life, and the best of luck with a Merry, 
Merry Christmas! 
Ruth Carlson (15 years). 
New York. 
Your editor will pass on Ruth’s con¬ 
gratulations to all the boys and girls who 
have contributed to make Our Page what 
it is. Without your help all my efforts 
would have counted little in making a 
real page for boys and girls. You will 
notice that the first time Ruth wrote, 
after waiting five years, she has both 
her letter and her drawing printed. They 
were worthy of printing. Many of you 
have good things to contribute who have 
never done so. Why hesitate any longer? 
Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates 
BY MARY MAPES DODGE 
It might almost be said that last 
month's Book Puzzle was the most popu¬ 
lar of any we have had in the past two 
years. Certainly a large number of 
readers answered it correctly. Perhaps 
the most interesting letter is this one 
from a Connecticut reader, and you will 
quickly see why: 
I have been a reader of the Boys and 
Girls’ page for a long time and it’s so 
Peter 1 an Holy Witis the Race—Drawn 
by Mary Polhemus (14 years), New York 
interesting that I thought 1 would an¬ 
swer the Book Puzzle. The name of the 
book is “Hans Brinker, or The Silver 
Skates.” The book was written by Mary 
Mapes Dodge. I think that this book 
is very interesting. I have read it twice. 
Two years ago I was in Holland, and 
saw many windmills and a lot of people 
skating. They skate from one town to 
another. My mother and father were 
both born in Holland. The thing I liked 
to do best was to walk on the dike. You 
could see miles and miles away. 
Gertrude de Haas (14 years). 
Connecticut. 
We wish Gertrude miglft have gone 
on and written a bit more about her visit 
to Holland. That is just the kind of 
thing we want for Our Page-—the first¬ 
hand experiences of our readers. 
There were two drawings sent in to 
illustrate this Book Puzzle, and I have 
printed them both as you will see. From 
among other letters here are a couple : 
I have just finished reading “Hans 
Brinker.” The two children’s names 
were Hans and Gretel. They lived with 
their mother and father. He had fallen 
from the dikes while mending them. 
Since then he had never known anything. 
Drawn by Anna Graham (14 years), Illinois 
