TOM SEVEN YEARS OLD.

 

CHAP. L—TOM WANTS TO BUILD A SHIP.
“Gyasto |

EV G@SSwZ OM was growing very old in-
Bho deed. He had had seven
birthdays. He had seen the
trees and bushes and plants in
the world round him die and
live again seven times, so that
he was no longer surprised at
the sight, and could almost
tell when it was coming. He had counted up
to a hundred stars in the sky, and had found
out that there were many, many, many more
than a hundred, though there was only one
moon, and that a big one. He also knew that
this moon and these stars were not nearly as
small as they looked, and only appeared so be-