Burlington weekly free press. [volume], October 25, 1917, Image 11

About Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928

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I.
In the Field With the Hallowe'en Pumpkin
D
.OWN In a deep furrow of Farm- two sisters.
er Brown's rolling cornfield, Maryl It's
DasKln in uio bright Fail Sun
shine, lay a big, fat, lazy pump
kin, its round, yellow sides bulging
with Its meaty contents that gave such
splendid promlso of yellow pumpkin
pics.
Around It, hero and there down the
long furrows, the corn stood In shocks,
and tho pumpkins, clearly visible be-
"Mere Is a great big one,
Just what we want for
the table."
Mary came running to see. And
she, too, approved.
"Now," continued Ellon Joyously,
"we will have John come down and
carry It to tho barnyard for us; and
there we'll cle.. 1 It out and cut two
big eyes and a nose and a mouth In'
It and and oh, Mary, won't it look
causo of the cutting and stacking of hnat too searV for unvthlni when we
Vim corn, Kiy iiko so many Drigm yel
low dots over the brown field.
Presently, came 'Ellen and Mary,
Farmer Brown's pretty daughters,
Into tho cornfield. Their eyes were
dancing and they wero laughing and
tthoutlng In high gleo. Alas for the
poor pumpkins! Could they have
known tho reason for the merry
maids' trip over tho rugged furrows
their sleek sides doubtless would have
lost their sleekness. For, you see,
Ellen and Mary had come to pick
put a lighted candlb Inside It!
Just then bellevo It or not, as you
please Just then a strange thing .hap
pened. Tho pumpkin rolled over on
its side and back again; then its thick
green stem suddenly broke off' from
the vine and began to spin round and
round as though somo ono were mov
ing It in a circle.
Presently a bit of tho stem flew oft
and fell to the ground; Instantly there
sprang up from where It had fallen
a queer creature nearly as large as
Ellen.
The two little girls stood and looked
in horror, their eyes fairly popping
outof their sockets; they wanted to
run but couldn't.
This strange creaturo had on a
hat of green moss which camo to a
peak on top, out of which a cluster of
dandelions seemed to be growing.
His Jacket, laced tightly about his
"Ah! So You Like It?" Cried Tho Queer Creature.
out their Hallowe'en pumpkins! And,
of course, they wero looking for big,
fat. laz ones!
Skipping along up ono furrow and
down another they came, after a
while, to our big, fat, lazy friend
basking iri the bright Fall Sunshine.
"Oh!" cried Ellen, the eldest of tho
thin chest, was fashioned by Autumn
leaves, red and brown and gold; and
his trousers were the raggedest ones
imaginable and made of some green
material.
But the queerest thing about him
was his funny face; his ears came to
a sharp point far above tho brim of
his hatj and when he grinned which
he did continually his mouth seemed
to extond from ear to car.
Ho grabbed up tho pumpkin, stood
a moment and grinned at the terrified
little girls, and then drove a queer
shaped knife straight Into the yellow
heart of tho pumpkin. Thj pumpkin
squccled. Tho little girls shivered.
And tho queer creature' with the knife
grinned!
"That's tho way1 to stab 'eml" he
croaked in a high, squeaky voice,
"Plug 'em to tho heart, say I"
Then ho withdrew his knife,
plunged it In again and again and
once more and, lo and behold, he had
made an eye. Rapidly, and chuckling
to himself all tho while, he made the
other eye, then the nose and the
mouth. And, lastly, with a deft scoop
of his knife he cut a tooth In the
mouth ono tooth that stuck out like
soro thumb. And all the while as
he worked a strange, ghostly light
grew and grew and shone within the
pumpkin which by this time had left
off squealing.
"There." he exclaimed. "That's
done! I guess you kids won't have
that pumpkin for your Hallowe'en
party!" And he laughed so hard that
his nine-stem legs fairly rattled
against each other.
Poor Ellen and Mary. They tried
to run, but their feet seemed rooted
to the ground. Thoy tried to scream,
but they had lost their voices. All
they could do was to stand and cling
to each other in terror.
Then, to make matters worse, a
black cat suddenly sprang up out of
nowhere.
"Hoy! How's that, Jerry!" de
manded tho fellow, addressing the cat
and holding the pumpkin up so the
cat could see It.
Jerry opened his mouth and wiggled
his whiskers knowingly.
"Ah! So you like It!" cried the
creature, "well, we did a lot of
damage here, didn't we. you old black
rascal, you!"
Ellen made a brave effort and final-
lv managed to speak. "Go away! Go
away!" she whispered.
The queer fellow grinned.
"Humh!" he said decisively. "You
hear that, Jerry? Fine chance she
has of making us go away! 1 guess
she doesn't know that I am the Spirit
of Mischief, licensed to stalk abroad
on Hallowe'en, and that you are sec
ond cousin, thrice removed, to old
Nick himself. And that we try to
'ralso the mischief wherever we can!
They thought they were going to have
this fat pumpkin for a Hallowe'en
Jack-o-lantern, didn't thoy but wo
spoiled it for 'em, eh, Jerry!"
And tho queer creature fell to
laughing so hard that presently the
pumpkin slipped from his hand and
fell to the ground where, with a loud
report, It exploded, scattering Its seeds
and yellow meat all over everything.
Tho Spirit of Mischief happened to
have his mouth open and the way his
laugh changed to an expression of
surprise when he found his mouth full
of pumpkin seeds was ludicrous. Jerry
seemed changed from a black to a
yellow cat in the twinkling of an eye.
Then came a trembling, squeaky
voice from one of the pieces of pump
kin on the ground. "Now, now," It
walled "Just see what you've gone
and donet Horo I am all busted to
smithereens Just In my prime, too.
Why, they can't even make plo out
of mo now! And, besides "
Ellen sat up In bed. Mary was
sleeping peacefully beside her.
The Hallowe'en Witches and Their Pranks
AST thou not a bag full yet,
Evildays?" Impatiently asked
tho old witch with the long
hooked nose and tho skeleton
arms, from her porch on top tne
tumble-down fenco at the corner of
tho cornfield.
"Aye, nearly so," answered Evil-
days. Tho two witches, Evildays and
Blackntght, wero preparing for their
mischievous Hallowo'cn night. And
Through tho window she could see tho thoy had mot In tho corner of the old
dawn coming. Sho breathed a sigh cornfield to gather seeds from a
of relief. She had been dreaming. pumpkin and, as they sailed along
AEJTOPlf
RETOLD
GARRETT
NEWftlRK
Copyright, 1916, by Qarrctt Noickirk, Pasadena, Cal.
THE FIRST REPORTED BABY SHOW.
w
HEN Jupiter was god on And then a funny thing took place;
earth, A monkey, ugliest of her race
O'er all the men of Grecian Came all in earnest, not in jest.
birth; To show her baby with ihe rest.
He thought of many things to do, A most ungainly looking brat,
And tome that seem quite modern, too. With hairless head and visage flat.
Distorted limbs, a crooked spine,
He sent a proclamation out
To all the animals about.
That there should be a baby show
Where he the prizes would bestow,
On those of perfect form and grace;
Eugenic children of each race.
And so they came as they were bid,
With cub or kitten, lamb or kid,
From field or forest, tame or wild,
Each mother with her youngest child,
In turn the candidates were shown
To Jupiter upon his throne.
And of intelligence no sign.
When they within the line appeared
The people only laughed and jeered ;
"Wh bring this imp?" they cried to
her,
"Before a judge like Jupiter?
"I know not what his thought will be.
Of this my lovely child, said she,
"But this I know he is to me
Most beautiful to say the least
Of all young creatures, man or beast
overhead, to drop them down the
necks of those unfortunate people
who happened to be passing under
neath. It was dark, but the moon
was not yet up and they wero In a
hurry to get an early start.
"Ah! 'Tls theyl" cried Blacknlght
suddenly and Joyously. "Methlnks
they fly well tonight, oh, sister?" And
she pointed with her evil wand at a
number of black creatures which
could bo plainly seen flying toward
them. They were bats and, as ev
eryone knows, when broomsticks aro
not available witches always ride
through the air on tho backs of bats.
"So!" echoed Evildays, delightedly.
" 'Tls far Indeed thoy shall carry us
tonight and 'tis well they fly well
and strong. Come, sister, we have
much work ahead of us let us be
off!"
Accordingly, each of them Jumped
upon tne Dack 01 a bat and were
borne away, the other bats following
to bo used as fresh mounts when the
ones already carrying them should
become tired.
To narrate all the evil deeds those
two witches performed that night, to
tell of the thousand and one mis
chievous pranks they played would be
to fill a book with many, many pages;
so, let ut speak of Just a fow.
First of all, as they neared the out
skirts of the town toward which they
were flying, they came upon an old
farmer In a rickety, ramshackle
wagon driving a lean white horse.
His wagon was loaded with pumpkins.
The witches. Invisible to the human
eye, swooped down upon him. Sud
denly the poor old white horse qoso
up on his hind legs, snorted In terror,
kicked up his heels and ran as fast
as his decrepit old legs could carry
him. And at the same moment the
farmer let out a wild yell of surprise
and clutched at the back of his neck.
Presently they came to the residen
tial seotlon of the town, where the
streets were but dimly lighted. A
group of small boys were trying to
tie a bag of flour across the sidewalk
at Just the proper height so that the
head of a passerby would strike It
and cause the flour to spin all over
him.
Tommy Jones was putting the last
knot In the cord when Evildays gave
the bag a quick poke with her wand
and lo and behold Tommy Jones re
ceived the contents of the bag right
In his face. Which, no doubt, served
Tommy Jones Just right. But Tommy
didn't think so.
A little farther on the witches
espied an open window and flew In.
The room was darkened but was filled
with children who were having a Hal
lowe'en party. A large washtub, filled
with water, reposed on the floor In
the center of the room; and a num
ber of apples were floating around on
the surface of the water. The chll
dren, on their knees, were grouped
about the tub "bobbing for apples"
a game you and every other child
has played on Hallowe'en.
Evildays peered at Blacknlght and
grinned; and, straightway, each of
the witches seized a child by his hair
and pushed his head down under the
water. Bobby Jones went In up to
his collar, and Wlllto Barnes, right
next to htm, all but fell Into the tub.
Moreover, each boy said the other
had shoved him and, but for the In
terference of tho hostess, there would
have been a fight right there. The
"Ah! Tls They!" Cried Blacknlght
Joyously.
wicked witches, needless to state, en
Joyed It immensely.
After a fow more pranks In this
house the witches sallied forth again
to the streets. And presently they camo
across some boys trying to take a
gato off Us hinges. Now, Just why
boys should consider this a proper
way of celebrating Hallowe'en is In
deed beyond reason; so, after all, no
matter what happens to them while so
engaged It Is not a thing to cry about.
Just as Arthur Brown was lifting
the gate. Evildays seized his coat,
wrapped it around the gate post and
held It tight while Blacknlght pound
ed so loudly on the front door that
the owner. In a towering rage, came
running, threw open the door, saw
poor Arthur tampering with his gate.
grabbed him and "tanned his hide"
until Arthur promised never, never
again to play such a Hallowe'en prank
on anyone.
Then but surely we have followed,
them far enough-In their BAstftifyous
adventures. Sufficiently far, at any ,
rate, to show that perhaps these
witches, or others like them, are re
sponsible for many of the ' strange
things which happen on Hallowe'en
night everywhere.
Of course, much depends upon
whether or not you believe In witches.
In tho old, old days, poople believed
In witches, but 'we are enlightened
now, and we know that It Is all mere
ly a foolish superstition.
Bunny Bob's Good Luck
ONE day Bob Cottontot, nick
named Bunny Bob, humped
along In hi3 own bunnysome
fashion, up Fern Lane, down
Mayapple Court and into Woodsy
Place, when what did ho spy right in
front of him but a largo, perfect four-leaf-clover!
"Good Luck!" cried Bunny Bob.
"Well, well, wellt I'll take you right
along with me."
So down he sat and nibbled and
nibbled until not a scrap of the leaf
wan lift
Now, one would think that a little
rabbit with a four-leaf-clover inside
nf him nntrht in hn nnpnlnllv lucky all
day, and Bunny Bob felt suro as euro
can bo of It; In fact, he was so sure
that he decided to wander on and find
mif tnat hnw ltir.kv he could be.
"T wouldn't hn Burnrlsed." said he.
"If I should find a big patch of par
snips; or mayhe I'll find a new hole,
better than tne one wo uvo in now.
or perhaps I'll una a carrou -
Cn nn hn skinned.
Rnnn ha stonncd and sniffed the air.
What was that delicious odor? Only
nn, thine could smell so sweetl Car
rots! Ho hopped and peeped and soon
saw a lovely carrot hanging up like a
long comet. Not growing on anything
Just hanging. That was rather
queer. Bunny Bob looked a little
closer and saw that the carrot was
hanging to a nail In a box. The box
itsolf was cleverly hidden In tho
tangled raspberry bushes.
"Aha!" thought Bunny Bob. "Some
good fairy put It horc for me!"
It wasn't as If Mrs. Cottontot,
Bunny Bob's mother, had not warned
him over and over; but Bunny Bob
never stopped to think. Ho Just saw
the beautiful carrot, and thought
about his four-leaf-clover and into the
box he hopped. When Bang! the
trap shut on him and there he was!
Just then he heard a terrible bay
ing sound, hollow and fierce, and ho
knew that dogs and hunters were In
the woodB. So frightened was he that
every ono of his whiskers, let alono
each Individual tuft of fur, quivered
and shook. He crouched down In his
dark prison and listened to the bay
ing coming nearer and nearer. At last
the dogs reached the trap. They had
been following Bunny Bob's track, al
though he did not know it. Buch a
furious barking was nover heardl
They turned the box over and over,
Jumped on it and tossed It up, trying
to got their prey. But the trap was
strong. Bunny Bob shut his eyes and
tried not to think what would happen
If It should give way.
Suddenly he felt himself begin fall
ing down hill; over and over he turned
with tho carrot, until he was so dlszy
and tangled up with long carrot roots
that ho could not have told his head
from his heels If asked to suddenly.
Then the trap reached the bottom of
the hill, and, strangely enough, be
gan gently bobbtng up and down.
"Where on earth am I?" thought
the poor little rabbit. "Can It be
that one of the dogs Is carrying me
off In his mouth? Oh dear! Oh
Dear!"
On wont tho box gently rocking and
swaying, and Bunny Bob noticed that
tho floor of his .prison was getting
very damp.
"I knowl" thought he. "I've rolled
Into tho Stream and am drifting away,
Oh Dearl Suppose I drift out Into
tho big Ocean that Walla Gog, the
Wild Goose, was telling us about 1"
On went the box, gently rocking
and swaying. Bunny. Bob began to
feel quite seasick, but at last his little
boat stopped with a sudden bump.
"I've run aground," thought he.
Soon he heard human voices and
felt himself lifted and carried away,
"You open it," said a little volco.
"Oh, but 1 don't want to," said an
other sweet, little voice, "I'm 'frald
someflng might Jump out.'
"Well, you needn't not be 'frald,"
said the first little voice, "I'll save you.
g Qurpuzzle Comer
BEHEADINGS.
1. Behead a precious metal and get
not young.
2. Behead something regarded as
a prophetic sign and get members of
the male sex,
3. Behead one of the Inferior ani
mals and get a point of the compass.
4. Behead to mark and get a char
acter In the Bible.
6. Behead moved to anger and get
to estimate.
. Behead refined or delicate and
get frozen water.
7. Behead to hit with a missile and
get to Jeer or mock.
The beheaded letters spell some
thing associated with Hallowe'en.
SEXTETTE OF MOVIE ACTORS
No. 1. "Sue, stop here." No. 2.
"Call war, Edle." No. 3. "No farm,
Tom." No. 4. "Rosa R drugged Al."
No. E. Tom lathers us. No. 6. Feed,
Cram I
ANBWERB.
BEHEADINGS Goblins. 1. O-old
2. O-tnen. 3. B-eaif. 4. IrAbtl. ,5
T.rnf fi. N-lce. 7. E-hoot.
MOVIE ACTORS No. i 1. House
Peters. No. 2. Wallace Held, No. 3.
t Am fnrman. No. 4. Doualas Oerrard.
No. 6. Btuart Holmes. No. 6. Fred
HALLOWE'EN PUZZLE.
mUneA 111 An aiA ni-Ana n rr frw thnln T.T n1l i. mi - ...
going to cut eyes, nose and mouth In this big pumpkin. See If you can make
nnmnktn fa.cn hv euttinnr out thn hlnnlr mnti unit flt4ln v.. .
"Oh, let's get him some more car
rots and lots of lettuce and vegetables
out of our garden," said the little girl,
Jumping around with glee, "then let's
put them In his ship again and send
I'-'iil -OH'OHi"
THEV CRIED
J
cause you're only a little girl."
"Well then," saia tne second uttie
voice, 'you ougm to open it -cause
you're a dreat, big boy and you aren't
not 'fraia.
"But, "a,a lao nrBl le voice, -i
can't open n, ior -cause i nave 10
save you and If I'm opening boxes I
can't save you wlf bof hands, see?"
There was a little pause, then tho
second little voice said: "All right,
Hut vou musn't not run away turn
me."
" 'Course x won v ma mo nrui lit
tle voice.
Bunny hod hui iremuioa, out soon
he heard hands fumbling at the door
of hi trap. Then the door opened
and he heard a rush of foet, as tho
children scampered off to a safe dis
tance. 0ut ho crePt and looked
around. There stood the two little
children holding hands, their eyes big
and scared.
"Oh! Ohl" they cried, "A cunning
little bunnyt"
And look, he's got a carrot," said
(k, uttle boy, "and he came all tho
wax t0 eS UB ,n hls mtIe BhP!"
him sa-a-alllng home!"
"Yes, let's!" cried the little boy, and
off thoy ran.
Bunny Bob sat still a while, col
lectlng his Uttle wits, which feere sad
ly scattered by his adventures, then
he thought:
"They mean well, and I don't like to
disappoint them, but then I only ate
ONE four-leaf-clover so I had better
go home bofore I use up all my good
luck."
So ho winked his ears and twlnked
his ridiculous Uttle tall and oft he
humped.
That evening as the seventeen little
Cottontots and tholr parents sat
around their Mayapple leaf table at
supper, Bunny Bob told them his ad
ventures, and they all agreed that he
had been very lucky, most remark
ably lucky. Ho had escaped the hunt
ers, the dogs, the unknown seas, and
tho trap all In ono day! Now If that
wasn't luck enough for one Uttle rab
bit! Which all goes to show that
Good Luck Is not always Just getting
what you want, sometimes It Is NOT
getting what you DON'T want. Bee?
ERE are a few good ways of en
tertaining your friends when
they meet at your house next
Tuesday to celebrate All Saints'
Day. From olden times this last day
of October has been associated with
superstition and mysticism.
We have long since emerged from
the belief In witchcraft and ghosts,
but we still enjoy playing games that
remind us of the dark and Middle
Ages.
Begin your party by pairing your
guests In this way. Fill a pumpkin-
rind with nuts, which have been
opened, have the meat taken out, some
token of fate placed Inside, and glued
together again with a ribbon attached
to each. There must be always two
nuts with the same tokens In them.
and the persons drawing the same
will be partners.
In addition to the old "Bobbing for
Apples" game there are the following
out of which much fun can bo gotten,
A horseshoe Is hung In a doorway,
and each set of partners Is given thrco
lady-apples. Each In turn tries to
throw the apples, one at a time,
through tho shoe. The one who suc
ceeds, wins the prise; or If you do
not want to give prizes, she will be
pleased to be told that she will marry
young. Hang a ring from the gas fix
ture and ask your guests to try to run
a pencil through the ring while walk
lng toward It. The winner will be
the next to be married. Nearly all
Hallowe'en games have to do with
love and marriage.
Another game Is played by hanging
a bag of nuts from a curtain and ask
ing a blind-folded person to strike
the bag with a cane. When he suc
ceeds, he scatters the nuts, and the
others try to gather them as quickly
as possible. The one who picks up
the most will have the greatest good
fortune during the year.
Ask the boys and girls to seat them
selves in a circle on the floor, and
then pass, from hand to hand, a ball
of different colored yarns. The first
one begins a ghost-story, unwinding
the yarn as he proceeds, until he
comes to a different color and then
he tosses It to a girl in the circle,
and that one must continue the story
until she comes to a different color,
and so on, until the ball Is unwound
and the story ended.
A large cake with as many different
colored candles on it as there are
guests, Is passed around and as each
ono helps herself to a piece the hostess
reads aloud the following prophecies,
having prepared these verses beforehand:
"You who hold the candle green,
Will win great fame that's easily
seen."
"Oood luck will ever follow you.
Since you have wisely chosen blue."
'He Who holds the candtn rnd
Will e'er by fortune's sweets bo fed."
"She who holds a candle yellow,
Marries soon a Jolly fellow."
"Happy, lucky, pretty she.
if white candle hers should be.
If the hostess wants to start hei
party with a vim she will request hei
guests to come dressed as ghosts, and
have for the first game the task of the
guests finding out the others by the
senso of touch.
A QUEER CURE FOR ILLNESS.
Did you ever see a real live Croco
dile? If you did, did you think the reptile
much to look at?
Can you Imagine a people believing
a Crocodile could bring luck?
The Egyptians bellevo that the mora
Crocodiles the better the luck, there
fore when a baby Is born In Egypt
the parents eagerly wait for the time
when the child can bo carried for the
first time down to the edge of the Nile
to tako its initial peep at this large
reptile.
One of tho first lessons taught the
children of that country Is to gase
at as many Crocodiles as 'they are
fortunate enough to see. Their elders
firmly bellevo that looking Intently at
his Royal ugliness will cure the child
of any kind of Illness.
Babies are often carried for miles
and miles to take a look and that
look, they think, will restore the suf
ferer to health and appetite.
We Americans think a look at the
iifflv thine la nnnuah tn rnh a wall
person of his appetite, let alone, going'
'miles out of ones way to see one.
Solution to Hatlovrfen JHurl.
Mace.