AT THE END OF THE RAINBOW
I
Once upon a time there was a little girl, named Letty, who had a little crippled sister.
Letty loved her little sister very dearly and wished that she might be cured.
But her father and mother were so poor that they could not afford to send for the great doctor who could make their little girl well.
So, during the summer vacation Letty worked for a neighbor and saved all the money she earned. She hoped that if she kept every penny she would soon have enough to pay the doctor for curing her sister. But her little hoard grew very slowly, because, you see, she earned only fifteen cents a week.
One day there was a heavy thunder storm; and when the storm was over, a beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky. Letty stood on the neighbor’s porch and watched the rainbow.
“I wonder what is at the end of the rainbow,” she said to herself; but Mrs. Harrison—for that was the neighbor’s name—overheard her.
“Why,” she exclaimed, “don’t you know? There is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I have always heard that. If anyone takes it away, another pot of gold comes in its place. But no one is permitted to take more than one pot of gold.”
Letty said nothing, but she began to think very hard. “If I could find that pot of gold,” she thought, “I could use it to have my little sister cured.”
And then and there Letty decided to do a very daring thing. So, early the next morning, just as soon as she could see, she got out of bed and went noiselessly downstairs. She packed a lunch and started out to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
She remembered quite well where the rainbow had seemed to end—in the forest half way up the distant mountain. In the bright morning sunlight, it appeared to be much nearer than it really was. She was sure she could find the way.
After she had walked a long time, however, she came to a place that she had never seen before.
It was a swampy, marshy meadow; and her feet sank deep into the miry mud as she splashed along.
“Oh, dear!” she thought. “I almost wish I hadn’t come! I shall have to turn back!”
What Do You Suppose Made that Noise?
II
Then suddenly, she thought of the little lame sister who could not run and play.
“I will go on,” Letty said; “I must!”
Just then, she saw in front of her a grassy little island, or hummock, quite large enough for her two feet. She managed to step on it; and—what do you think? She saw before her a whole row of hummocks all the way across the meadow!
“How nice that will be for any one else who looks for the end of the rainbow,” thought little Letty, as she sat down on the last hummock to rest.
The next minute, she heard a loud Hiss-s-s!
What do you suppose made that noise? Yes, a big black snake.
My, but Letty was afraid of snakes!
There it lay, all coiled up, not five feet from her.
“Oh, dear!” she thought, shuddering. “Oh, I must run back! I cannot go on! Snakes are too dreadful!”
Then again she thought of her little sister.
“I must go on!” she whispered. “I cannot go back! I will run on with all my might.”
So she ran on with all her might; and what do you think happened?
When she turned around to see if she was far enough away from the snake, she saw, instead of the big black snake, a little curly-haired dog where the snake had been!
He bounded up to her and barked Boof! Boof! in the friendliest kind of way.
“Dear little doggy!” exclaimed Letty, patting his head. “How do you do? I believe you must be hungry! So am I. Let us eat breakfast.”
Boof! Boof! barked the little dog, as much as to say, “Thank you!”
“I haven’t very much,” said Letty, “but I will give you part of what I have. We must save some for our supper, you know.”
III
They enjoyed their breakfast and started on again much refreshed.
Pretty soon they came to a place filled with thorny brambles. The brambles tore Letty’s stockings and they scratched her legs and arms, and they hurt her so very much that at last it seemed as though she could go no farther.
“Oh, doggy,” she said with tears in her eyes, “I do believe we shall have to go back!”
But once more came the thought of her little lame sister.
“We must go on!” she exclaimed. “I know what I can try! I will try to cut the briers with the knife in our lunch box.”
And what do you think happened then? The little dog ran ahead, and the brambles opened into a pathway before them. When Letty looked back, she saw that they did not close again.
“I am so glad,” she thought, “for it will be easy for other people who try to find the end of the rainbow, and it will be easy for us to come back, too.”
After a while Letty and the little dog came to a deep dark river.
“Now,” sobbed Letty, “now, I am afraid we shall have to give up! Oh, dear! Must I go back without the pot of gold for my poor little sister?”
Then she saw a log near the water’s edge.
“Oh, I know what I can do!” she whispered. “I can roll the log into the water and paddle my way across with my feet! Little doggy can swim across.”
So she rolled the log into the water and sat upon it; and what do you think happened?
The little dog caught a branch of the log in his mouth and towed her safely to the other side!
And when she looked back, what else do you think had happened?
There was a narrow bridge across the river!
After Letty and the little dog had rested a while, they went on their way once more.
It was getting quite dark in the forest, and a heavy storm was gathering.
“Oh, little doggy, it is getting late,” said Letty; “and it is going to rain. We must find shelter.”
IV
Boof! barked the little dog, and ran to the mouth of a cave near by.
Letty was afraid to enter.
“It might be the den of a wolf!” she thought. “I wish I could see inside!”
“Come, little doggy,” she said, “let’s look in.” They peered into the darkness and, suddenly, everything seemed light; for the little dog’s eyes were so bright that they made the cave as light as a lamp would.
Letty had no sooner lain down on a pile of dry leaves in the corner of the cave than she heard the growl of a wild animal.
My, she was frightened! She and the little dog ran to the mouth of the cave, and they saw a big wolf not ten feet away.
And what do you think happened that time?
As soon as the little dog looked into the wolf’s eyes with his own bright shining eyes the wolf was so scared that he ran away as fast as he could scamper.
Then Letty and the little dog ate their supper and went to sleep.
Letty was dreaming of how lovely it would be to have her little sister play with her like other children, when she was awakened by a sweet voice. “Little Letty,” it said, “you have found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!”
Letty sat up. There before her stood a beautiful lady.
“The pot of gold is in your own loving heart, dear child,” said the lady. “I am the Lady of Golden Deeds. I have watched you all the way of your journey, for I feared that you might stop trying; but when I saw how you persevered, I went to your home and cured your little sister.”
Can you imagine how happy that made Letty?
She Was Awakened by a Sweet Voice
At first she could scarcely speak, but after a moment, “Oh, thank you! thank you!” she cried. “I want to go to her right away!”
“That you shall,” said the lady. “Just sit on the back of your little dog and he will take you in five minutes.”
Then she lifted Letty on the back of the little dog, who trotted and skipped out of the cave, through the woods, over the bridge, through the bramble patch, over the hummocks, and up the roadway to Letty’s home. And there Letty saw her little sister skipping toward them! Jumping off the little dog’s back, she ran to meet her.
“Where have you been?” cried her little sister, hugging and kissing her. “The most wonderful thing has happened! See, I can run and jump!”
“I know!” said Letty, laughing. “I know all about it, dear little sister. I’ve just come from the end of the rainbow!”
QUESTIONS
Little Letty had to be pretty brave to start out alone to find the end of the rainbow, didn’t she?
Do you remember how many times she was discouraged?
Each trouble seemed harder than the last, didn’t it?
How many people were helped because she didn’t give up?
Can you remember some time when you had to try and try again?
Did you succeed at last? Tell about it.
MEMORY GEMS
Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
—Longfellow.
“I would if I could,” though much it’s in use,
Is but a mistaken and sluggish excuse;
And many a person who could if he would,
Is often heard saying, “I would if I could.”
—Selected.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
He has not learned the lesson of life who does not every day surmount a fear.—Emerson.
