The first number of Our Magazine was ready on New Year's Day, and weread it that evening in the kitchen. All our staff had worked nobly andwe were enormously proud of the result, although Dan still continuedto scoff at a paper that wasn't printed. The Story Girl and I read itturnabout while the others, except Felix, ate apples. It opened with ashort
EDITORIAL
With this number Our Magazine makes its first bow to the public. Allthe editors have done their best and the various departments are full ofvaluable information and amusement. The tastefully designed cover is bya famous artist, Mr. Blair Stanley, who sent it to us all the way fromEurope at the request of his daughter. Mr. Peter Craig, our enterprisingliterary editor, contributes a touching love story. (Peter, aside, ina gratified pig's whisper: "I never was called 'Mr.' before.") MissFelicity King's essays on Shakespeare is none the worse for being anold school composition, as it is new to most of our readers. MissCecily King contributes a thrilling article of adventure. The variousdepartments are ably edited, and we feel that we have reason to be proudof Our Magazine. But we shall not rest on our oars. "Excelsior" shallever be our motto. We trust that each succeeding issue will be betterthan the one that went before. We are well aware of many defects, butit is easier to see them than to remedy them. Any suggestion that wouldtend to the improvement of Our Magazine will be thankfully received,but we trust that no criticism will be made that will hurt anyone'sfeelings. Let us all work together in harmony, and strive to make OurMagazine an influence for good and a source of innocent pleasure, andlet us always remember the words of the poet.
"The heights by great men reached and kept Were not attained by sudden flight, But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upwards in the night."
(Peter, IMPRESSIVELY:--"I've read many a worse editorial in theEnterprise.")
ESSAY ON SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare's full name was William Shakespeare. He did not always spellit the same way. He lived in the reign of Queen Elizabeth and wrote agreat many plays. His plays are written in dialogue form. Some peoplethink they were not written by Shakespeare but by another man of thesame name. I have read some of them because our school teacher sayseverybody ought to read them, but I did not care much for them. Thereare some things in them I cannot understand. I like the stories ofValeria H. Montague in the Family Guide ever so much better. They aremore exciting and truer to life. Romeo and Juliet was one of the plays Iread. It was very sad. Juliet dies and I don't like stories where peopledie. I like it better when they all get married especially to dukes andearls. Shakespeare himself was married to Anne Hatheway. They are bothdead now. They have been dead a good while. He was a very famous man.
FELICITY KING.
(PETER, MODESTLY: "I don't know much about Shakespeare myself but I'vegot a book of his plays that belonged to my Aunt Jane, and I guess I'llhave to tackle him as soon as I finish with the Bible.")
THE STORY OF AN ELOPEMENT FROM CHURCH
This is a true story. It happened in Markdale to an uncle of my mothers.He wanted to marry Miss Jemima Parr. Felicity says Jemima is not aromantic name for a heroin of a story but I cant help it in this casebecause it is a true story and her name realy was Jemima. My mothersuncle was named Thomas Taylor. He was poor at that time and so thefather of Miss Jemima Parr did not want him for a soninlaw and told himhe was not to come near the house or he would set the dog on him. MissJemima Parr was very pretty and my mothers uncle Thomas was just crazyabout her and she wanted him too. She cried almost every night afterher father forbid him to come to the house except the nights she had tosleep or she would have died. And she was so frightened he might try tocome for all and get tore up by the dog and it was a bull-dog too thatwould never let go. But mothers uncle Thomas was too cute for that. Hewaited till one day there was preaching in the Markdale church in themiddle of the week because it was sacrament time and Miss Jemima Parrand her family all went because her father was an elder. My mothersuncle Thomas went too and set in the pew just behind Miss Jemima Parrsfamily. When they all bowed their heads at prayer time Miss Jemima Parrdidnt but set bolt uprite and my mothers uncle Thomas bent over andwispered in her ear. I dont know what he said so I cant right it butMiss Jemima Parr blushed that is turned red and nodded her head. Perhapssome people may think that my mothers uncle Thomas shouldent of wisperedat prayer time in church but you must remember that Miss Jemima Parrsfather had thretened to set the dog on him and that was hard lines whenhe was a respektable young man though not rich. Well when they weresinging the last sam my mothers uncle Thomas got up and went out veryquitely and as soon as church was out Miss Jemima Parr walked out tooreal quick. Her family never suspekted anything and they hung roundtalking to folks and shaking hands while Miss Jemima Parr and my mothersuncle Thomas were eloping outside. And what do you suppose they elopedin. Why in Miss Jemima Parrs fathers slay. And when he went out theywere gone and his slay was gone also his horse. Of course my mothersuncle Thomas didnt steal the horse. He just borroed it and sent it homethe next day. But before Miss Jemima Parrs father could get another rigto follow them they were so far away he couldent catch them before theygot married. And they lived happy together forever afterwards. Mothersuncle Thomas lived to be a very old man. He died very suddent. He feltquite well when he went to sleep and when he woke up he was dead.
PETER CRAIG.
MY MOST EXCITING ADVENTURE
The editor says we must all write up our most exciting adventure for OurMagazine. My most exciting adventure happened a year ago last November.I was nearly frightened to death. Dan says he wouldn't of been scaredand Felicity says she would of known what it was but it's easy to talk.
It happened the night I went down to see Kitty Marr. I thought when Iwent that Aunt Olivia was visiting there and I could come home with her.But she wasn't there and I had to come home alone. Kitty came a pieceof the way but she wouldn't come any further than Uncle James Frewen'sgate. She said it was because it was so windy she was afraid she wouldget the tooth-ache and not because she was frightened of the ghost ofthe dog that haunted the bridge in Uncle James' hollow. I did wish shehadn't said anything about the dog because I mightn't of thought aboutit if she hadn't. I had to go on alone thinking of it. I'd heard thestory often but I'd never believed in it. They said the dog used toappear at one end of the bridge and walk across it with people andvanish when he got to the other end. He never tried to bite anyone butone wouldn't want to meet the ghost of a dog even if one didn't believein him. I knew there was no such thing as ghosts and I kept saying aparaphrase over to myself and the Golden Text of the next Sunday Schoollesson but oh, how my heart beat when I got near the hollow! It was sodark. You could just see things dim-like but you couldn't see what theywere. When I got to the bridge I walked along sideways with my back tothe railing so I couldn't think the dog was behind me. And then just inthe middle of the bridge I met something. It was right before me andit was big and black, just about the size of a Newfoundland dog, andI thought I could see a white nose. And it kept jumping about from oneside of the bridge to the other. Oh, I hope none of my readers will everbe so frightened as I was then. I was too frightened to run back becauseI was afraid it would chase me and I couldn't get past it, it moved soquick, and then it just made one spring right on me and I felt its clawsand I screamed and fell down. It rolled off to one side and laid therequite quiet but I didn't dare move and I don't know what would havebecome of me if Amos Cowan hadn't come along that very minute with alantern. And there was me sitting in the middle of the bridge and thatawful thing beside me. And what do you think it was but a big umbrellawith a white handle? Amos said it was his umbrella and it had blown awayfrom him and he had to go back and get the lantern to look for it. Ifelt like asking him what on earth he was going about with an umbrellaopen when it wasent raining. But the Cowans do such queer things. Youremember the time Jerry Cowan sol
d us God's picture. Amos took me righthome and I was thankful for I don't know what would have become of meif he hadn't come along. I couldn't sleep all night and I never want tohave any more adventures like that one.
CECILY KING.
PERSONALS
Mr. Dan King felt somewhat indisposed the day after Christmas--probablyas the result of too much mince pie. (DAN, INDIGNANTLY:--"I wasn't. Ionly et one piece!")
Mr. Peter Craig thinks he saw the Family Ghost on Christmas Eve. Butthe rest of us think all he saw was the white calf with the red tail.(PETER, MUTTERING SULKILY:--"It's a queer calf that would walk up on endand wring its hands.")
Miss Cecily King spent the night of Dec. 20th with Miss Kitty Marr. Theytalked most of the night about new knitted lace patterns and their beausand were very sleepy in school next day. (CECILY, SHARPLY:--"We nevermentioned such things!")
Patrick Grayfur, Esq., was indisposed yesterday, but seems to beenjoying his usual health to-day.
The King family expect their Aunt Eliza to visit them in January. Sheis really our great-aunt. We have never seen her but we are told she isvery deaf and does not like children. So Aunt Janet says we must makeourselves scarece when she comes.
Miss Cecily King has undertaken to fill with names a square of themissionary quilt which the Mission Band is making. You pay five centsto have your name embroidered in a corner, ten cents to have it inthe centre, and a quarter if you want it left off altogether. (CECILY,INDIGNANTLY:--"That isn't the way at all.")
ADS.
WANTED--A remedy to make a fat boy thin. Address, "Patient Sufferer,care of Our Magazine."
(FELIX, SOURLY:--"Sara Ray never got that up. I'll bet it was Dan. He'dbetter stick to his own department.")
HOUSEHOLD DEPARTMENT
Mrs. Alexander King killed all her geese the twentieth of December. Weall helped pick them. We had one Christmas Day and will have one everyfortnight the rest of the winter.
The bread was sour last week because mother wouldn't take my advice. Itold her it was too warm for it in the corner behind the stove.
Miss Felicity King invented a new recete for date cookies recently,which everybody said were excelent. I am not going to publish it though,because I don't want other people to find it out.
ANXIOUS INQUIRER:--If you want to remove inkstains place the stainover steam and apply salt and lemon juice. If it was Dan who sent thisquestion in I'd advise him to stop wiping his pen on his shirt sleevesand then he wouldn't have so many stains.