they will not think upon their ways! How he keeps the music and
the dazzle going so they will not see they are bumping themselves!
Consider the Sticky Flypaper
Did you ever watch a fly get his Needless Knocks on the sticky flypaper?
The last thing Mamma Fly said as Johnny went off to the city was,
"Remember, son, to stay away from the sticky flypaper. That is where
your poor dear father was lost." And Johnny Fly remembers for several
minutes. But when he sees all the smart young flies of his set go over
to the flypaper, he goes over, too. He gazes down at his face in the
stickiness. "Ah! how pretty I am! This sticky flypaper shows me up
better than anything at home. What a fine place to skate. Just see how
close I can fly over it and not get stuck a bit. Mother is such a silly
old worryer. She means all right, of course, but she isn't up-to-date.
We young set of modern flies are naturally bright and have so many more
advantages. You can't catch us. They were too strict with me back home."
You see Johnny fly back and forth and have the time of his naturally
bright young life. Afterwhile, tho, he stubs his toe and lands in the
stickiness. "Well, well, how nice this is on the feet, so soft and
soothing!"
First he puts one foot down and pulls it out. That is a lot of fun. It
shows he is not a prisoner. He is a strong-minded fly. He can quit it
or play in it, just as he pleases. After while he puts two feet down in
the stickiness. It is harder to pull them out. Then he puts three down
and puts down a few more trying to pull them out.
"Really," says Johnny Fly bowing to his comrades also stuck around him,
"really, boys, you'll have to excuse me now. Good-bye!" But he doesn't
pull loose. He feels tired and he sits down in the sticky flypaper. It
is a fine place to stick around. All his young set of flies are around
him. He does like the company. They all feel the same way--they can
play in the sticky flypaper or let it alone, just as they please, for
they are strong-minded flies. They have another drink and sing, "We
won't go home till morning."
Johnny may get home, but he will leave a wing or a leg. Most of them
stay. They just settle down into the stickiness with sleeping sickness.
The tuition in The College of Needless Knocks is very high indeed!
"Removed" or "Knocked Out"?
The man who goes to jail ought to congratulate himself if he is guilty.
It is the man who does not get discovered w
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