QUEER CHIMNEY BUILDERS 
Auntie and Alice had been spending the day 
in a city some miles away, going and returning 
on the trolley. It had been hot and very dusty, 
and the family were much surprised when Alice 
exclaimed eagerly: “ I do wish the rest of you 
had been along; we had the loveliest trip! Some¬ 
thing went wrong, and we had to stay quite 
a while near the most interesting little town. 
There wasn’t a soul in sight, nor a house either 
for that matter; indeed no one would ever have 
thought of the place as a town at all, but for the 
host of little clay-chimneys standing here and 
there in every direction. Auntie and I got out and 
walked all through the place, but it was as still 
as the grave. Not even a single guard challenged 
us for the countersign! Such a queer situation 
for a town it was, too, away back from the river, 
in a low moist place, right beside the track. 
What they wanted to build so close up to the 
trolley for is a mystery; not one of the citizens 
ever takes a ride on the cars. Auntie said she 
thought it was because the special kind of clay 
they need for their odd chimneys happened to be 
right there.” 
193 
