Bumps and His Buddies

by Marie Helene Gulbransen

Then Tom went on his invisible way. Soon he arrived in front of Betty Brown’s house, where he heard sounds of laughter and music, reminding him that she was giving a party and that he had been invited. He looked down at himself. He had on his oldest suit, and he knew he hadn’t time to go home to dress, so he decided to attend the party as Invisible Tom. The guests were just eating ice cream and cake as Tom entered and he watched until he saw the maid put down a big plate of chocolate ice cream in front of Billy Bon. Before Billy had a chance to notice it, Tom reached out and snatched the dish, vanishing with it behind the piano. Betty’s mother, the hostess, was surprised to find that Billy had no ice cream, and brought him another plate, but Tom had eaten the first one quickly, and was already standing invisible beside Billy’s chair, waiting to play the trick again. This practical joke was repeated several times, and poor Billy might have gone ice cream-less if Tom had not reached the very limit of his capacity at last.

During the games which followed refreshments, Tom played many pranks on his little friends and then, politely saying good-bye to Betty, who started at hearing a voice when she couldn’t see anyone near, he skipped out the door.

As it was now getting late, Tom knew he had better hurry on home. He had enjoyed being invisible so much that he decided to remain that way as a surprise for his Mother and Daddy. Upon reaching the house he saw an enormous airplane, which had landed in a field near his home and which was about to take flight. Tom saw that it was piloted by a famous aviator of whom he had often heard his father talk, and he could not resist the temptation of climbing invisibly in beside him. Instantly there was a great roar, and they were off up into the clouds, with Tom leaning over the side of the plane to see the cities below, which looked very tiny and very far away. This was the greatest experience that Tom had ever had, and in his excitement he forgot that the aviator couldn’t see him, and shouted in his ear, “Let’s go call on the Man in the Moon!” This startled the aviator so that he lost control of the plane, which shot toward earth, twisting and turning in its terrible fall.

Over and over it went, with Tom clinging to his seat with all his might, when all of a sudden he lost his grip, and the next thing he knew he had landed flop! in the middle of a big, soft snowbank. A kindly old farmer who was traveling along on the road nearby, hurried to him, picked him up and offered to take him home in his mulecart.

“O what a day!” thought Tom, and in his heart he thanked the little elf for all his thrilling adventures.

COLETTE,
THE LITTLE DANCING GIRL

Colette, the Little Dancing Girl

Far away in a distant city where all the people love music and dancing, there was a hurdy-gurdy man whom all the children knew as Uncle Antoine. Uncle Antoine had a pet monkey called Monko, who went with him every day on his round of music-making. One day, when the sun was shining brightly, they chanced upon a pretty little blue-eyed girl with golden curls, who was sitting on a doorstep weeping. When Uncle Antoine asked her why she was crying so bitterly, she replied that she was all alone in the world and had no place to live. Poor Uncle Antoine had a great, big heart and he felt very sorry for her, so he told her that he would be her uncle and that she might join him and Monko.

Now Colette, for that was the little girl’s name, was as good as she was pretty, and when she found someone to love her and look after her, she proceeded to dance for joy. A crowd soon gathered, and everyone was so enchanted with the music and the dancing that they threw shining heaps of gold pennies into Monko’s cup. At the end of the day they had collected more gold pennies than Uncle Antoine had ever seen in his life before, and the three partners dreamed dreams of a beautiful future, where pennies would be so plentiful that they could afford to buy a nice little house of their very own and live happily ever after.

So each night found Uncle Antoine, Colette, and Monko ’way off in the country falling asleep under some nice big tree, tired but happy in their dreams of the future. And every morning they were awakened by little leaves fluttering down upon their faces, and by the chirping of the tiny birds above them. One day Colette suggested going to the Zoo to entertain the people who were watching the animals, and since Uncle Antoine and Monko were always ready to please her, they hurried across the city, pushing the big hurdy-gurdy before them.