FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62  
63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   >>   >|  
Their late lunch over, Grandpa was strong in his appeals for a journey as far south as Island Number 10. But now Johnnie had no heart for any trip into distant country. The realm of China was about him. He wheeled the chair up and down, but he sang to soothe Grandpa to sleep. And this time his song was all of his great new happiness: "Oh, I got a book! I got a book! I got a book! Oh, Mrs. Kukor, she give it t' me! And it's awful grand! Once it was a man's, and his name was Hunter-- I wonder if he lost it, or maybe somebody sold it on him. I'm goin' t' read it till I know ev'ry word! I'm goin' t' read it ev'ry day--ev'ry day! Go t' sleep, 'cause I want t' read some more! Go t' sleep! Go t' sleep! Go t' sleep!" On and on he caroled, like a bird on a branch. At last Grandpa, after some mild protesting, was lulled by the rhapsody, and dozed once more; when Johnnie adroitly tapered off his song, brought the chair to a cautious stop, drew the book from its warm hiding place, sank into the morris chair, and again there swept into the kitchen, as on the crest of a stream, the glorious, the enchanting East. He saw the dull, old lamp rubbed for the first time, and the genie come. And he rejoiced with Aladdin as the poor Chinese boy attained the knowledge of the lamp's peculiar virtue. Only once did he emerge from the thralldom of the tale by his own will. That was when he read of the wonderful Buddir al Buddoor: "_The princess was the most beautiful brunette in the world; her eyes were large, lively, and sparkling; her looks sweet and modest; her nose was of a just proportion and without a fault, her mouth small, her lips of a vermilion red and charmingly agreeable symmetry_----" Here he paused, lifting farseeing, shining eyes. Many a time he had spied a slim little girl who came out upon one of the fire escapes opposite. The little girl's hair was black and wavy, and the wind tossed it upon her shoulders as she looked around. She seldom glanced over at Johnnie, and to gain her attention he had to Hoo-hoo to her. Once he had shown her that pillow so cherished by Cis, which was covered with bright cretonne. He had seen the little girl's white teeth flash then, and knew that she was smiling. She was like the Princess Buddir al Buddoor, dark, and red-lipped. And how kind she was! For she had never seemed to notice anything wrong with either his ha
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62  
63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Johnnie

 

Grandpa

 

Buddoor

 

Buddir

 

brunette

 

lifting

 
paused
 

princess

 

wonderful

 
shining

symmetry

 

farseeing

 

beautiful

 

thralldom

 
modest
 

proportion

 
emerge
 

vermilion

 

lively

 

charmingly


sparkling
 

agreeable

 

smiling

 

covered

 

bright

 
cretonne
 

Princess

 

notice

 

lipped

 

cherished


opposite

 

virtue

 

escapes

 

tossed

 

shoulders

 
attention
 

pillow

 
looked
 

seldom

 

glanced


happiness

 
soothe
 

Hunter

 

Island

 

Number

 

journey

 
appeals
 

strong

 
wheeled
 
country