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Stormy, Misty's Foal

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<h2>Epilogue</h2> <h3>TO MAKE THE STORY COMPLETE</h3> Misty and little Stormy showed no ill effects, even the next day, because of their trip to the theater. They were, as Grandpa Beebe said, "borned actors." They seemed to burst into bloom like the daffodils after the storm. And so they traveled to more and more theaters. Each time they seemed eager to go, eager to meet their enraptured audiences, and deliriously happy to come back home. At the end of the tour there was money enough to start the Volunteer Firemen buying back the ponies sold in other years. But this is only half the story. While Misty and Stormy were doing their part, boys and girls all over the United States were helping, too. They deluged Chincoteague with a fresh tide—of letters! From big cities and tiny hamlets they came, and tucked inside were pennies, dimes, and dollars. The letters are stories in themselves: <div class="blockquot"> Here is a check for four dollars and four cents for the Misty Disaster Fund. It is an odd number because we earned it weeding dandelions and they grow odd. We hope the money will come in handy. Please excuse our poor writing. We are doing this in my tree house. <hr class="tb" /> We had a lemonade stand and Mother didn't charge us for the lemons. We made three dollars to help restore your herds. We think the new ponies will be glad to go wild again. <hr class="tb" /> I was sad to hear of your disastrous flood because I feel like Misty and Phantom and the Pied Piper are my friends. I know that a quarter is just a drop in the bucket, but I hope that enough people send in "drops" to fill it up. <hr class="tb" /> The radio said your ponies and chickens drowned. I will send you a surprise with this letter. It is one dollar. I know that isn't much, but that's how much I can give. <hr class="tb" /> We all voted to give our class treasury of five dollars to the Misty Disaster Fund so you can buy a whole pony in the name of us fifth graders. We want Pony Penning Day to go on forever. <hr class="tb" /> I been picking blueberries all day and here's my fifty cents. Give my regards to Misty. <hr class="tb" /> During our Story Hour we set out a jar marked "For Pony Pennies," and we marched around the library until 386 pennies were dropped in. <hr class="tb" /> We are a group of 4-H girls, 10 to 16 years old. Every year we have a horse show and we do all the planning, fixing rings, making jumps, and getting prizes and ribbons. From our proceeds this year we want to give a hundred dollars to help replenish the herds that were drowned. </div> Day by day the Misty Disaster Fund grew and grew. By June the firemen had bought back enough ponies to restore the herds on Assateague. And on the last Wednesday of July the annual roundup and Pony Penning took place just as it has for over a hundred years. Thousands of visitors came, and they marveled at how quickly the new ponies had gone back to their wild ways. The celebration was a rousing success. Of course Stormy and Misty were on hand where everyone could see and pet them. They were not wild at all. Yet they were the heroes of the day. <hr class="chap" /> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus64.jpg" alt=""/></div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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