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:
_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._
_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._
_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._
_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._
_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._
_I been picking blueberries all day and here's my fifty cents. Give
my regards to Misty._
_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._
_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._
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.
_For their help the author is grateful to_