eA GREAT DISCOVERY.

And it was a discovery, 1 can tell you. A very great discovery indeed,
for three little children and one small dog to make, without anybody to help
them. It not only astonished the children who made it, not only their fathers
and mothers, but everybody else in the village, and people have not finished
talking about it to this day.

It happened just like this. Bob and Ethel and Sybil and Toby were
having a picnic on the sands. They were sitting down resting for a little
while, and from where they sat the children threw pebbles in the sea.

‘“ Bob,” said Sybil suddenly, ‘‘ what would you like to be?”

Bob, after thinking a little, said he thought it would be jolly fun being a
pirate with a fine ship, and a cave full of barrels of gold and silver and pre-
cious stones.

‘\ [ don't: think J should’ care: to: be a~ pirate,”
said Ethel, ‘ because you have to rob other people,
and then you might get shot.”

“Of course you might, that’s half the fun,”
replied Bob, and added rather scornfully: ‘“ But
who ever heard of a girl-pirate, I should

 
 
  
  
 
 
 
  

like to know.”

“Sybil and I,” continued
Ethel, ‘‘ think we should like to
be mermaids.”

 

“That wouldn’t be bad,” said Bob, “only you see there are no such
things: we might just as well wish to be giants, or fairies, or goblins, or
anything.”

‘Yes, Bob,” argued his sister, “but while we are wishing things, why
shouldn’t we wish for lovely things, even if we can’t get them?”

‘“Come on, and let’s look for shrimps,” cried Bob, getting up, and not
being able to answer the last question to his satisfaction.