by Elizabeth Flint Wade, April 1907
This was a multi-part series, an excerpt of which I chose for Mother's Day. Oh, and St. Nicholas invents "Mad Libs" in 1907!"Oh, dearie me!" said little Polly as she stood looking into the rain-soaked garden, "I wish it did n't rain, I want to play out of doors."
"When I was a little girl and there came a rainy day," said Aunt Katie, "my mother used to tell me this verse,
"'When the rain comes tumbling down
In the country or the town,
All good little girls and boys,
Stay at home and mind their toys.'"
"But I don't want to play with my toys," said Polly.
"Neither do I," added Rob, "this is the second day it has rained and I am tired of them."
"Well, then I will read you a story if you like," replied their Aunt. "Don't you want to hear Alice in Wonderland?"
"But I'm tired of it, Aunt Katie," said Polly. "I love the story, but the people in it always do the same things every time you read the book. Why do they make stories the same? I would like one that was always different. Don't they make them that way, Aunt Katie?"
"Well, well," said Aunt Katie, "you remind me of the little girl I used to be. I liked things 'different,' too, and my mother made me a story that is never the same, no matter how many times you read it. I will get it. I have it in my 'Keepsake Box.'"
Aunt Katie left the room and presently returned with a small book of yellowish faded paper, and a little box.
"The story is called 'Fanny Frivol; Her Adventures in the Wood; At the Fair; At the School; At the Picnic; In the Meadow; By the Brook; At the Circus; In Grandfather's Barn; and At the Party.' Which adventure would you like to hear first?"
"The one by the brook," said Polly and Rob in one breath; and Polly's eyes sparkled as she added, "I love to play by the brook!"
"Very well," said Aunt Katie. "Take this box. In it you will find slips of paper on which words are printed. I will read the story and when I stop and hold up my finger you must draw a slip of paper from the box and read what it says on it; and the next time Rob will draw and read—each in turn."
This is the story that Aunt Katie read of Fanny Frivol's Adventure by the Brook, and the words in it printed in capitals are those which Polly and Rob read from the slips of paper which they drew one by one from the box:
"May I go and play by the brook?" said Fanny Frivol to her Grandmother.
Her Grandmother nodded her head on which was a large —GREEN BOTTLE.—
"Yes, but don't wet your feet, and take a —LONG WOODEN SWORD— to shield you from the sun."
On her way she met Tommy and Topsy Turvey carrying a —PLATE OF CHEESE.
When Fanny saw them she said, "Come and play with me by the brook. I have a -BOTTLE OF INK- to catch fish with, a —BAG OF CLOTHESPINS- to build a bridge, and we can hunt for crabs under stones."
Tommy and Fanny turned over stones, but Topsy Turvey, who always did things wrong, turned hers under. Fanny found a big —LEMON PIE— under a stone but the others found nothing.
"There are no crabs here," said Fanny; "let us fish." Tommy and Fanny threw their lines in the brook but Topsy threw hers out. Fanny caught a -DUSTING CLOTH,- but the others caught nothing.
"Let us build a bridge," said Fanny. "Tommy you bring a —DISH OF ICE CREAM— and Topsy a —YELLOW BOWL— and we shall soon have it done."
"What is that in the water?" said Tommy.
Fanny pulled it out and found it was a —SEWING MACHINE.-
"I will take it home to Grandmother," said Fanny, " and she will make me a —WINDOW CURTAIN- of it."
They were now tired and hungry and sat down to rest on a big —WHITE BEAR,— and when Fanny opened her lunch-box, out fell a —DOORBELL— and a —TIN SOLDIER— instead of the nice cakes her Grandmother had given her.
"Never mind," said Fanny, "I have some cookies in my pocket," but when she took them out she found they had changed into a —JAPANESE LANTERN.—
Just then the sun went down and they started for home, but Topsy ran backward and fell over a —FAT PIG.—
"I am so hungry I could eat a —KITCHEN TOWEL," said Fanny, but when she went to the supper table there was nothing there but a -ROLLING PIN- and a -BLACK KITTEN.—
When she went to her room she found a —BROWN TEAPOT— on her bed, and in every chair a big —RED HEN.—
"Dear me," said Fanny as she laid her tired head on a —STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE— which she found in place of her pillow. "What a funny time I have had at the brook.
When I go to the picnic to-morrow, with Tommy and Topsy Turvey, I wonder what strange things will happen there."
How Polly did laugh over Fanny Frivol's Adventure by the Brook! And they read it over again and nothing happened as it did before. Fanny pulled a MERRY-GO-ROUND out of the brook, and for their lunch they had a PAIR OF SHEARS and a WAX DOLL.
Aunt Katie explained how the story was made. Words were left out of the story and written on slips of paper and when one came to a place where a word was left out, one of the slips of paper was read. As the slips of paper were drawn without looking at them, the words read were always different or came in different places each time the story was read.
"The next rainy day," said Aunt Katie, "we will read the Adventures of Fanny in Grandfather's Barn."
Perhaps some other little Pollys and Robbies would like to read the story which is always different, so here is the list of words which these young folks found in the box, and you can print them for yourself on slips of paper. Or, better still, you can make up more amusing lists of your own.
Long Ladder. Paper of Pins. Window Curtain. Loaf of Bread. Pound of Butter. Sewing Machine. Box of Beads. Pink Shoe. Green Bottle. Paint Brush. Comb with no Teeth. Dusting Cloth. White Bear. Red Hen. Fat Pig. Plate of Cheese. Black Kitten. Basket of Apples. Letter Box. Pound of Candy. Japanese Lantern. Kitchen Towel. Rubber Ball. Croquet Set. Merry-Go-Round. Yellow Bowl. Bottle of Ink. Brown Teapot. Strawberry Shortcake. Lemon Pie. Rocking Chair. Tall Clock. Doorbell. Bag of Clothespins. Dish of Ice Cream. Rolling Pin. Baking Tin. Chicken Pie. Pepper Box. Wax Doll. Glass of Soda Water. Pair of Shears. Paint Box. Tin Soldier. Long Wooden Sword. Folding Fan. Pair of Gloves. Jumping Jack. Chocolate Cake.
When the rainy days came Polly heard about all the other Adventures of Fanny Frivol, and if you ever meet Polly she will be glad to tell them to you.
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