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diff --git a/17466-8.txt b/17466-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2eefeb1 --- /dev/null +++ b/17466-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5981 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, +Vol. 5, October 1878, No. 12, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. 5, October 1878, No. 12 + +Author: Various + +Editor: Mary Mapes Dodge + +Release Date: January 5, 2006 [EBook #17466] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ST. NICHOLAS MAGAZINE *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, LM Bornath, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +[Illustration: THE NOON ENCAMPMENT. [See Violin Village.]] + + + + +ST. NICHOLAS. + +VOL. V. +OCTOBER, 1878. +No. 12. + +[Copyright, 1878, by Scribner & Co.] + + + + +THE VIOLIN VILLAGE. + +By Edith Hawkins. + + +On the borders of the Tyrol and the lovely district known as the +"Bavarian Highlands," there is a quaint little village called +"Mittenwald," which at first sight appears shut in by lofty mountains as +by some great and insurmountable barrier. The villagers are a simple, +industrious people, chiefly occupied in the manufacture of stringed +musical instruments, the drying of which, on fine days, presents a very +droll appearance. The gardens seem to have blossomed out in the most +eccentric manner; for there, dangling from lines like clothes, hang +zithers, guitars, and violins, by hundreds, from the big bass to the +little "kit," and the child's toy. + +In this valley, one clear morning in August, as the church clock struck +five, a lad issued from the arched entrance of one of the pretty gabled +houses along the main street. He was not more than twelve years of age, +yet an expression of thoughtfulness in his clear, blue eyes, gave and +added an older look to his otherwise boyish face. His costume was a gray +suit of coarse cloth, trimmed with green; his knees and feet were bare, +but he wore knitted leggings of green worsted. A high-crowned hat of +green felt, adorned with some glossy black cock's feathers, a whip and a +small brass horn slung by a cord from his shoulder completed the outfit +of the village goatherd. He hastened along by the green-bordered brook +crossed by planks, over one of which Stephan--for that was our hero's +name--leaped as he came up to the simple wooden fountain, which, as in +most Bavarian villages, stood in the middle of the road. + +A piece of black bread and a long draught from the fountain was +Stephan's breakfast, which being speedily finished, he broke the morning +stillness with repeated blasts from the horn, which seemed to awake the +valley as by magic; for scarcely had the more distant mountains echoed +the summons, than from almost every door-way scampered one or more +goats. All hurried in the direction of the water-tank, where they stood +on their hind legs to drink, jostled one another or frisked about in the +highest spirits, till fully two hundred were assembled, rendering the +street impassable. A peculiar cry from the boy and a sharp crack of the +whip were the signals for a general move. Away they skipped +helter-skelter through the town, along the accustomed road, high up the +rocky mountain-side. The little animals were hungry, so stopped every +now and then to nibble the attractive grassy tufts, long before the +allotted feeding ground was reached. There was, however, little fear of +losing them, as each wore a tiny bell round the neck, which, tinkling at +every movement, warned the boy of the straggler; a call invariably +brought it back, though often by a circuitous route, enabling the animal +to keep beyond the reach of the whip, which Stephan lashed about with +boyish enjoyment. + +Noon found the goats encamped under the shade of some tall pine-trees, +and Stephan Reindel was busily arranging a bunch of bright red +cranberries at the side of his hat, when a shot arrested his attention. +He jumped up, and with boyish curiosity explored the pine wood; but +fearing to go too far on account of his flock, he was returning, when a +second shot followed by a sharp cry, convinced him it was some hunter +who had driven his game much lower down than was at all usual. The +second report had sounded so near that he continued his fruitless search +till it was time to go home, when, as usual, he drove his flock back by +five o'clock. + +Directly they entered the village, each goat trotted off to its own +abode, and Stephan to his, where, after eating his supper of black bread +and cheese, he sat listlessly watching his mother varnish violins, by +which she earned a trifle every week. This was due to the kindness of +the chief manufacturer in the village, who, since her husband's death, +had supplied her regularly with some of the light work usually performed +by women, and to which she was well accustomed, having frequently +assisted her husband, who had been one of Herr Dahn's best workmen, and +whose death had left her entirely dependent on her own exertions for the +support of herself and child; for the last two years, however, Stephan +had bravely earned his mite by taking daily care of the goats belonging +to the whole valley. He was now discussing with his mother the +possibility of his ever being able to maintain them both by following +his father's trade of making guitars and violins, when a loud knock put +the future to flight, and caused Stephan to open the door so suddenly +that a very excited old woman came tumbling into the room. + +"Oh! Bridgetta, how could you lean against the door?" said Frau Reindel, +hastening to her assistance. "I hope you are not hurt, and do pray +remember, in future, that our door opens inside, and that you must step +down into the room. Sit down, neighbor," she added, placing a stool for +the old woman, who was, however, far too angry to notice it; but turning +toward Stephan, whom she unfortunately caught smiling, she pointed to +her large fur cap, that had rolled some distance across the floor, +saying: "Pick it up, boy, and don't stand grinning like that, especially +as you must know why I have come here so late in the evening." Then +snatching it from him, without heeding his apologies, she added: "Yes, +indeed, you have more cause to cry than laugh. A pretty herd-boy you +are, to come home without people's goats! sitting here as contentedly as +if you had done your day's duty! You had better be more careful or you +will certainly lose your work, if I have a voice in the village!" + +Stephan and his mother stood aghast at this angry tirade, and it was +only after repeated questions, sulkily answered, that they finally +understood that her own goat was really missing. She had, as usual, gone +into the stable to milk it, and after waiting in vain till past seven +o'clock, she had come to tell Stephan he must at once seek for it among +the neighbors' goats. He was quite willing, nay, anxious to do so, being +unable to account in any way for its absence; for he could not remember +having noticed the little gray goat with the white face since the early +part of the morning. There was consequently nothing left to be done that +night but to make an immediate inquiry at every house in the village. He +did not return till past nine o'clock,--a very late hour in that +primitive spot, where people usually rise at four or five and go to bed +at eight. No one had seen the goat, but almost all blamed his +carelessness, so that he was too unhappy to sleep, especially as he +could not forget how distressed his poor mother looked, knowing, as she +did, that somehow or other she must pay the value of the goat, though +how such a sum was to be earned was beyond guessing. + +A week passed, nothing was heard of the strayed one; Stephan had +searched every possible spot up the mountain, and inquired of every +person he met coming from the neighboring villages or beyond the +frontier of the Tyrol,--but all in vain. A report had spread in the +valley that he had lamed the goat with a stone, and so caused it to fall +over a precipice. Many people believed this, which greatly increased the +unhappiness of Stephan and his mother, though he had denied the charge +most positively. + +"I, at least, believe you, my son," said his mother, one day, when +Bridgetta was present. "You never told me a lie, and I thank God for my +truthful child, more than for all else." + +"You can believe what you like," said Bridgetta, angrily; "but, as your +boy has lost my goat, and as I am poor, and have already waited longer +than I can afford, I must ask you to pay me by to-morrow evening, so +that I may buy another, for you forget that I have done without milk all +these days." + +"No, I do not forget," said the widow, sadly. "I will do my best to get +the money for you. It is right you should have your own, and you know I +would have paid you at once had it been in my power. I will, however, +see what I can do by to-morrow, so good-night." + +As they walked home, they discussed for the hundredth time the +impossibility of getting five florins; they could not save that sum in +six months. "There is nothing to be done unless Herr Dahn would lend it +to us," suggested Stephan. "We could pay him by degrees, and he is so +rich that I dare say he would be satisfied with that." + +"I have thought of asking him," replied the mother, "and, even if he +refuses, he will do so kindly." + +As she spoke, they saw the important little gentleman coming out of a +house, and hastened to overtake him. He greeted them with the extreme +politeness so noticeable among all classes in Bavaria, even in the +remote villages. After hearing the widow's request, he stood musing a +minute, looked up and down the street, took off his hat, and polished +his bald head, ejaculating the usual "So! so!" then, as if a bright +thought had cleared up all doubts, he said: "Now, don't you think it +would be pleasanter and more independent if you gave something in +exchange for the five florins? Something that can be of no use to +yourself--your husband's tools, for instance? I will give you a fair +price,--enough to pay for this unlucky goat, and something over for a +rainy day. But, my good woman, what's the matter?" he added, seeing +tears in her eyes and Stephan eagerly clutching her arm, as if to get +her away. + +"Nothing, sir, nothing; you are quite right; I had forgotten the tools +would bring money; but you must excuse me if I do not decide till +to-morrow, for my boy here has set his heart on being a guitar and +zither maker, like his poor father, and always fancies he would work +better with those tools." + +"What! Stephan make violins? How is he ever to do that, when he spends +all his days up the mountains? Have you not told me yourself that you +cannot manage without his earnings?" + +"Neither do I think we could, sir, or I should have tried it long ago, +for it is hard for him to be minding goats, when he might be earning +something to help him on in life." + +"Can he do anything? Has he any taste for the work?" + +"Yes, I think so; he generally works at it in the evening, and has made +several small violins for Christmas gifts to the neighbors' children. +But they are toys. Perhaps you would allow me to bring one to show you +to-morrow," she ventured to add. + +"Certainly, neighbor, but I don't promise anything, mind, except about +the tools. I shall be at the warehouse at six o'clock. Be punctual. +Good-evening." + +"O, mother! Don't give him the tools. Give him anything else. There's my +new green hat--my best jacket--I can easily do with the one I have on," +said Stephan, anxiously, as he watched the receding figure of the rich +man of the village. + +"My dear child! of what use could your clothes be to the gentleman? He +wants the tools. I am very sorry, but there is really nothing else of +any value, and we have no right to borrow money when we can obtain it by +the sacrifice of something we should like to keep. We must never +hesitate to perform a plain duty, however disagreeable. So, now show +yourself a brave boy, and help me to do this one cheerfully." + +The next day, Stephan began his day's work with a determination to look +on the bright side of his troubles. His goats, however, had in some way +become a greater charge than he had ever felt them before. He feared to +lose sight of one for an instant; so, what with racing after the +stragglers and searching, as was now his habit, for the lost one, he was +so tired and worn out by noonday, that instead of eating his dinner, he +threw himself on the ground and cried bitterly. The goats sniffed round +and round him, as if puzzled at the unwonted sounds. He often sang and +whistled as he sat among them carving some rough semblance of animals +with his pocket-knife, but these unmusical sounds were new to them and +seemed to make them uneasy. A sudden pause in the monotonous tinkle of +the little bells caused Stephan to raise his head, and he encountered +the amused gaze of two gentlemen in the Bavarian hunting costume of +coarse gray cloth and green facings; thick boots studded with huge nails +and clamps to prevent slipping in the dangerous ascent after game; +high-crowned hats, with little tufts of chamois beard as decoration and +proof of former success; the younger of the two having, in addition, a +bunch of pink Alpen-rose showing he must have climbed high up the +mountains. + +"What sort of music do you call that?" asked the latter, resting his +gun-stock on the ground. "If you howl in that way, there will be no use +hunting in your neighborhood for a month; you would frighten the tamest +game over the frontier in five minutes. A little more of this music and +there wont be a chamois for miles round. But what's the matter? Have you +had a fight with your goats and got the worst of it? How many horns have +been run through your body, and where are the wounds?" + +Stephan had fancied that his goats were his only auditors, so felt +thoroughly ashamed of himself, but jumping up, he answered with some +spirit: + +"I have not any wounds, sir, and should never cry if I had. I lost a +goat some days ago and now my mother has to pay for it by giving up the +only valuable thing she has in the world." + +"That can't be yourself, then," said the young man, laughing; "for such +a careless little chap would not be of much value, I should think. But +tell us the story. When did you lose it?" + +After listening to Stephan's account, the hunters spoke apart with each +other for some minutes, and then the young one took out his purse and +gave the astonished boy six florins--about ten English shillings. + +"There, you can get a very good goat for that, but remember, no more +howling, and if you ever find your own again, I shall expect you to +repay me this money." + +"That I will, indeed, gentlemen, and I thank you heartily," said the +boy, so earnestly that both laughed, as, nodding him an adieu, they +began descending the mountain, and were soon lost among the trees. + +Stephan threw his hat into the air with a joyous cheer, and the echoes +repeated his gleeful shout. + +The day appeared very long, and glad enough he was when the sinking sun +warned him that it was time to return. He found his mother dusting the +tools, and looking sadder than he had ever seen her since his father +died. + +"We wont sell them, dear mother," he cried exultingly, dancing round the +table and shaking the florins in his hat. "See what luck your blessing +brought me this morning!" and he related his adventure with the hunters. + +They at once started off to pay Bridgetta the five florins, and, as +compensation for the loss of the milk for so many days, they offered her +the extra florin, which she coldly and decidedly refused, asking no +questions, and appearing very anxious to get rid of them. As they walked +home, they entered the church for a few minutes, and, after reverently +kneeling at one of the side altars, the widow dropped the remaining +florin into the poor-box. It was the largest thank-offering she had ever +been able to make in her life. The warehouse was at the corner of the +street on the south side of the church, and as the clock struck six they +hurried up the stairs of the long, low building, and entered a small +room fitted up as an office. Herr Dahn was busily writing in a large +ledger, but quitting it as they entered, he said approvingly: + +"So here you are! That's right; business people should be +punctual--never get on otherwise! But where are the tools?" + +The widow told him all about the six florins, and then placing a toy +violin on the counter, she asked him to give his opinion of it. He +twisted the little instrument about, carefully examining the workmanship +while he talked, and finally declared that it was a very fair specimen +for a self-taught lad. He evidently thought more of it than he chose to +say, for after some conversation with his foreman, to whom he showed the +violin, he greatly astonished the poor woman by offering to take Stephan +at once and place him under one of his best workmen if she could do +without his earnings for a time, as of course the goats must be given +up. Then, noticing the boy's delight and the mother's anxious, undecided +countenance, he added before she could reply: + +"Perhaps, if Stephan is steady and careful enough, I can trust him here +alone every morning to sweep and dust the warehouses, for which I will +pay him thirty kreutzers a week (nearly a shilling). I suppose he gets +little more than that for tending the goats." + +"Oh! thank you, sir," said the boy eagerly, anticipating his mother's +reply, "I will, indeed, be careful and steady." + +"Gently, boy, your mother is to decide." + +"I cannot thank you enough, sir," she quickly answered. "Your offer is +more than we had ever hoped for, and I trust my child's conduct will +prove how grateful we both feel. He would like to begin at once, I know, +but must, of course, wait a few days till another boy is found to take +his place as herd-boy." + +Herr Dahn nodded approvingly, and told them to let him know as soon as a +substitute was found. How thankful they were that evening as they talked +over the happy termination of their troubles, and still more so when a +neighbor came in to tell them that Bridgetta and some others of the +village had voted against Stephan continuing his post as herd, alleging +that they feared to trust him any longer with their goats. This was, of +course, very unpleasant news, for it was a sort of disgrace to be thus +displaced, however undeserved. It also explained the cause of +Bridgetta's extreme coolness and indifference as to how they had +obtained the money. No wonder she was unfriendly after her action, +which, but for the fresh turn affairs had taken, would have seriously +injured them. + +However, Stephan was now free to begin his new work the next day, when +all arrangements were made, and he was introduced as an apprentice to +his new master, Heinrich Brand. + + + +PART II. + + +Stephan had been with the violin-maker about six weeks, when one day the +little Gretchen, his master's daughter, rushed in to tell them the cows +were coming down from the Alp. + +It is the custom in the Bavarian Tyrol to send the cows to small +pastures high up among the mountains where the grass is green and +plentiful, being watered by the dews and mists, and less exposed to the +scorching sun. Here the cows remain all the summer under the care of two +or three men, called "senner," or women, called "sennerinnen," who are +always busily engaged making butter and cheese, and rarely come down to +the valley, even for a day, till the season is over, when, collecting +their tubs, milk-pans, and other dairy utensils, they descend the +mountain with great rejoicings and consider the day a festival. + +This return is an event of importance in every village. Brand, like his +neighbors, hastened out with his little daughter, and told Stephan to +follow them. The gay procession wound slowly along the main road, +accompanied by a band of music playing a cheerful Tyrolese air. The cows +came trooping along, decorated with garlands of wild flowers, preceded +by peasants in their gayest costumes, carrying blue and white flags. The +"sennerinnen" wore their brightest neckerchiefs and gowns, and seemed +quite rejoiced to be down among their friends again. + +Stephan joined his mother in the crowd, and they were in the full +enjoyment of the scene when he suddenly exclaimed: "See, mother, there's +the lost goat!" and sure enough there it was, limping along by the side +of a "sennerin." One leg was evidently broken or severely injured, but +otherwise the little animal looked well and fat. + +Old Bridgetta had likewise seen it, and the three hastened to question +the "sennerin," who seemed very glad to find the owner, and told them it +had been brought to the Alp by a peasant, who gave her a florin to take +care of it and bring it down to the village as soon as she could. He did +not tell her where he had found it, or indeed any particulars, so she +supposed the poor little thing had fallen over some precipice and broken +its leg, which was, however, nearly well. + +[Illustration: STEPHAN SHOWS THE BARON'S LETTER TO GRETCHEN. [SEE PAGE +775.]] + +"Goats don't often fall in that way,--stones are much more likely to +have caused the mischief," said Bridgetta, with a meaning look at +Stephan, which was, however, only noticed by his mother, who replied: + +"Well, Bridgetta, if you still think so badly of my boy, you can keep +the money as a recompense for the damage done to your goat, though I am +quite convinced he has had nothing to do with it Some day we shall hear +the truth of the whole affair, and of that I make no doubt." + +"I don't want your money," said the old woman, testily, "and shall +return it as soon as I have sold the other goat;"--whereupon, she took +the leading-string from the "sennerin" and hobbled off with her +new-found property, apparently as little pleased as possible. + +The next day, the five florins were sent back, and then Stephan told his +mother, for the first time, how he had promised to return the money if +he ever found the goat again. This now seemed impossible, for he knew +neither the name nor address of the gentleman. The money was, therefore, +put away safely, and the savings of a few months soon made up the +original sum of six florins, but still nothing could be heard of the +giver. + +Time wore on, and the boy was rapidly becoming an expert workman. He had +regularly swept the warehouse for three years, then finding he could +earn more by violin-making during the time so occupied, he resigned in +favor of a boy as poor as he had been. Brand had pronounced him quite +worthy of regular work, having often tested his ability by leaving to +him the most difficult parts of the instruments. He had made himself a +zither, and could play all those national airs so peculiarly the +property of the mountaineers, and which are so suited to the plaintive +sweetness of that instrument. + +Before Stephan was eighteen, his fame as a zither-player had spread far +and wide; no marriage, or festival of any kind, was complete without his +well-looking, good-humored face. + +One day, Stephan was putting away his tools when he was sent for by a +nobleman, who had stopped overnight at the village, and he soon came +back with the news the Baron Liszt had engaged him to act as guide to +the Krotten Kopf mountain the next day, and Brand was also wanted to +help to carry the wraps and needful provisions. + +Early in the morning the party started. The Baroness accompanied her +husband, and there were one or two gentlemen with their wives. Stephan +and Brand, laden with shawls, umbrellas, and knapsacks, then led the way +with the slow, steady pace always adopted by the mountaineers, who know +that speed avails nothing when great heights have to be climbed, as it +cannot possibly be kept up, and only exhausts the strength at the onset. +After climbing two hours, a turn in a very steep portion of the path +brought them suddenly upon a green plateau, walled in, as it were, by +mountain peaks, which looked of no particular height till the ascent +began. Though the sun had scarcely set, yet, at such an elevation, the +air was more than chilly, and as the Baroness put on a warm shawl she +said, one could easily account for the fresh looks of the "sennerinnen," +who spend the intensely hot months in so cool and healthful an +atmosphere; for the Alps are never scorched and dried up as elsewhere +during the summer. The Esterberg Alp, as it is called, consists of two +large tracts of rich meadow, green and fresh as in our own fertile land, +with a border of underwood straggling some distance up the mountain, and +whence at midday issue the clear sounds of the musical cow-bells, the +only signs of life in that wild, solitary spot. + +They soon came in sight of a long low house, one-half of which was +devoted to the cows and the hay. The earth around was trodden down and +bare; a few flowers grew against the house-wall, and some milk-pans were +ranged along it to dry. The door was opened by a wild-looking man devoid +of shoes and coat; his long, shaggy hair looked as if it had never +experienced the kindly influence of a comb or brush. He had evidently +been roused from a heavy sleep, but soon understanding that they wished +to spend the night in the hut, he told them, in a most singular German +dialect, that the "oberschweizer," or chief, was away, but that he alone +could arrange all that was needful; for he was accustomed to attend to +the visitors who came there in the warm weather. + +The "senner" prepared the meal, consisting of a large bowl full of a +dark chopped pancake called "schmarren," often the only food of the +cowherds for weeks together. + +The next consideration was a resting-place. They had been warned that +they would get nothing but hay, so it was no surprise when the "senner" +led the ladies out to one side of the house, where, mounting a short +ladder, he placed his lantern in the center of a large hay-loft, one +side of which was open to the free air of heaven, which blew in, fresh +and cool, as also it did from numerous chinks in the roof, through which +the clear moonbeams shone, rendering the lantern a matter of form. The +man proceeded to arrange the hay in heaps, so that each person could +recline or sit, as most conducive to rest. Only those accustomed (as, +indeed, most mountain climbers in Bavaria are) to spending a night +half-buried in hay, can sleep. The hours of the night were spent by the +ladies in laughing at one another and discussing the absurdity of +spending a night ranged against the sides of a hay-loft, with heads tied +up in handkerchiefs, like wounded soldiers in a hospital. + +Meantime, the gentlemen sat outside enjoying their cigars by moonlight, +and relating their hunting adventures. "Ah," said the Baron, after one +of the stories, "that reminds me of a northern friend of mine who was +staying with us some years ago. He was very short-sighted, but +passionately fond of a hunt, so we made up several parties, at which he +appeared in spectacles, to the great amusement of us all. He took our +jokes in good part, and enjoyed himself without doing any mischief for a +time. One unlucky day, however, I missed our path, and had to descend +the mountain in search of some landmark from which to start afresh. +Suddenly, with the exclamation: 'Hush! a chamois!' he leveled his rifle, +and before I could say one word he had shot----a goat! He was too much +vexed to laugh, so I had it all to myself, and it was some minutes +before I could assist him to raise the little animal, whose leg was +broken. The flock was not far off, and the herd-boy was evidently +searching the wood, having heard the shot. Now it never would have done +to let such an unsportsmanlike event get wind, so we carried the goat to +some distance, when, meeting a peasant, we paid him to leave it at a hut +on a neighboring Alp, and request it should be taken down to the valley +at the first opportunity. I never mentioned the subject to any one but +my brother Heinrich. Some time after, he was hunting in the same +locality, and came upon a lad who was crying, with a regular mountain +voice, for the loss of that very goat, for which it seemed his mother +had to pay. I must confess, the consequence of kidnapping the animal for +a time had never struck me, and I was therefore glad to know that my +brother had given the lad money enough to pay all damages. But come, it +is time we tried our hay-berths, for if we can't sleep we can rest." + +Stephan, who had been eagerly listening, exclaimed: "Oh, please sir, +wait a moment. I was that boy to whom the gentleman gave the money, and +he told me he should expect it returned if I ever found the goat. Some +time afterward I did find it, and I have always carried the money sewn +into my coat-pocket in case I should meet the gentleman again when I am +away from home, but I never did so; perhaps, sir, you will be kind +enough to give it to him," he added, beginning to unfasten the little +packet from the lining of his side-pocket. + +Turning to Brand, the Baron asked if he knew anything of this romantic +goat story. + +"Yes, indeed, sir, and so does every one in the village, for the boy got +into trouble with the neighbors, who all thought he had been throwing +stones at the animal, and they even turned him out of his situation, +but, as luck would have it, something else was offered the same day, so +that it did not hurt him or his mother either." + +"It was the best thing that ever happened to me. I had always wished to +make violins and zithers, and owing to that accident I got my wish," +said Stephan, in reply to the Baron's expressions of regret. + +"As to the money," said the Baron, "we will make an exchange; you shall +have my purse, which contains about ten florins, and I will take your +little bag, just as it is, as a proof of Bavarian honesty and honor. We +shall see more of one another," he added; "meantime, don't forget that +we must be off by four in the morning. Good-night!" + +The moon still shone when the travelers commenced their mountain +journey. Slowly they wound their way round the ever-ascending path. +About half-way up they came to a small rocky plain, where some young +cattle were grazing. Their alarmed wild movements proved how rarely +human beings passed their high-walled prison. From this point their +climbing became a real labor, but before long they arrived at the +summit, where, amidst much laughter and want of breath, they all threw +themselves on the ground and gave vent to their satisfaction at being +nearly 7,000 feet above the sea, and to their admiration of the glorious +view. + +But their stay on the summit was short, as they wished to make the +descent of the mountain in one day. They did not reach Partenkirchen +till nearly midnight, nor Mittenwald till the following day, where, of +course, their adventures were related, and Stephan's story was soon the +talk of the village. He became a perfect hero for the time, and many a +neighbor shook hands and hoped he would forgive the doubt cast upon his +word, although years had since passed and the goat of contention had +been gathered to its fathers. + +Some time after, a letter came to the Post Inn for Stephan, causing much +curiosity in the village, as it was the first he had ever received. It +came from the Baron, who offered him an excellent situation on his +estate, under the forester, who, being childless and old, would not only +instruct Stephan in his duties, but would soon leave the management in a +great measure to him; moreover, he himself might hope to succeed as +Forester, if he found the life suited to his taste. A week was given him +for consideration. He did not at all like the idea of leaving his native +place, to which he was attached with that intensity of feeling said to +be peculiar to the mountaineers; but so good an offer was not to be +refused, especially as Herr Dahn and Brand both approved of his going. +So the letter was written to tell the Baron he would come in a few +weeks, as requested. Meantime his old master gave him an order for a +zither of the best quality, to be made of handsome wood, inlaid with +mother-of-pearl, and as the price was of no consequence, he was to make +it quite a specimen instrument, to show how well he could work. Stephan +was very much pleased with the commission, and when, at the end of three +weeks, it was finished, his delight was great when Herr Dahn pronounced +it "One of the very best he had ever had in his warehouse, and quite fit +for the king." The day came for Stephan's departure, but it was not a +sad one, as everything was arranged for him to return in three months to +fetch Gretchen, his old master's daughter, who had promised to marry +him, and Stephan's mother was to live with them. + +Stephan's letters were most satisfactory. He liked the new life and the +old Forester, and was sure Gretchen would admire the pretty houses, the +large balcony, along the rails of which he was growing some of the +beautiful dark carnations she was so fond of, and he knew she would +rejoice to see the glowing mountain-peaks rising from the dark pine +woods at sunset. + +The wedding-day arrived at last, and in the course of the second +evening,--for the festivities lasted two days,--some strangers staying +in the village came up to see the dancing, which took place in a very +large room in the inn. Among them was the Baron Liszt, who, after +dancing the last waltz with Gretchen, requested the visitors would +remain a few minutes, as he had something to show them. + +A box was then brought in by the hostess, dressed in her best costume +and fur cap. She placed it with much solemnity before the Baron, who +lifted the lid, took out the beautiful zither that Stephan had made with +such care, and handing it to the pretty, blushing Gretchen, he said he +could offer her nothing better as a wedding gift than this specimen of +her husband's talent, which he hoped she would always keep and use as a +token of his respect and admiration for Bavarian honesty and truth. +Then, shaking hands with them both, he took leave amidst loud +acclamations and waving of hats; and so ended the wedding of Stephan and +Gretchen. + + + + +TROUBLES IN HIGH LIFE. + +BY MRS. J. G. BURNETT. + + +[Illustration] + + + Two miniature mothers at play on the floor + Their wearisome cares were debating, + How Dora and Arabelle, children no more, + Were twice as much trouble as ever before, + And the causes each had her own cares to deplore + Were, really, well worth my relating. + + Said one little mother: "You really don't know + What a burden my life is with Bella! + Her stravagant habits I hope she'll outgrow. + She buys her kid gloves by the dozen, you know, + Sits for _cartes de visites_ every fortnight or so, + And don't do a thing that I tell her!" + + Those stylish young ladies (the dollies, you know) + Had complexions soft, pearly and waxen, + With arms, neck and forehead, as white as the snow, + Golden hair sweeping down to the waist and below, + Eyes blue as the sky, cheeks with youth's ruddy glow,-- + Of a beauty pure Grecian and Saxon. + + "Indeed!" said the other, "that's sad to be sure; + But, ah," with a sigh, "no one guesses + The cares and anxieties mothers endure. + For though Dora appears so sedate and demure, + She spends all the money that I can secure + On her cloaks and her bonnets and dresses." + + Then followed such prattle of fashion and style + I smiled as I listened and wondered, + And I thought, had I tried to repeat it erewhile, + How these fair little Israelites, without guile, + Would mock at my lack of their knowledge, and smile + At the way I had stumbled and blundered. + + And I thought, too, when each youthful mother had conned + Her startling and touching narration, + Of the dolls of which I in my childhood was fond, + How with Dora and Arabelle they'd correspond, + And how far dolls and children to-day are beyond + Those we had in the last generation! + + + + +A TALE OF MANY TAILS. + +BY KATHARINE B. FOOT. + + +Carry stood in the door-way with her dolly on one arm and her kitten +hanging over the other. Kitty didn't look comfortable, but she bore up +bravely, only once in a while giving a plaintive mew. Carry gazed into +the bright white sunshine. + +"It's melting hot," she said. "I guess, grandma, I'll take my doll and +Friskarina out to the wash-house and have a party." + +"Well," said grandma, looking over her spectacles, "I've no objection; +only there's a black cloud coming up, and you may get caught out there +in a thunder storm." + +"If I do, can Jake come for me with an umbrella, and can I take off my +shoes and stockings and come home barefoot?" + +"Yes; I don't believe it would hurt you." + +"Then I'll go;" and Carry picked up a box with a little tea-set in it, +and started off, saying: "Do you believe it'll rain cats and dogs and +pitchforks, grandma? That's what Jake says." + +"No, my dear. You'd better ask him if he ever saw such a rain." + +"So I will," and away went Carry through the sunshine. And she said to +herself: "Wouldn't it be funny if it did rain so? I guess grandma +wouldn't like it much if cats rained down, 'cause she says five cats are +too many now." + +The tea-party on an old chair without a back wasn't much of an affair, +after all; for, although the doll--Miss Rose de Lorme--was propped up +against a starch-box more than half a dozen times, she would keep on +sliding feet first until she came down flat on her back and thumped her +head. The kitten went to sleep in the corner just as Carry put her down. + +"Oh, dear!" sighed the little girl. "It's so lonely with cats and dolls +and things that can't talk!" And then she sat down in a corner by the +old wash-boiler, where she could see out of the open door, and took +Kitty into her lap. + +The great fluffy clouds banked up higher and higher, and from being +white and dazzling they began to grow black at the edges; and the black +masses rolled up and up, until the sun was all hidden and the sky was +dark. Then came the rain, gently at first, in drops far apart, but soon +it fell faster and faster, and the little leaves on the currant-bushes +jumped up and down and seemed to enjoy the shower-bath. To Carry's great +delight, little streams began to creep over the path, now in separate +little trickles, and presently with sudden little darts into one +another, as they came to uneven places in the walk. She watched it all +with great wide eyes, and felt quiet and cool just to smell the damp +earth. + +But soon the drops grew bigger, and all at once they weren't drops of +rain at all! + +"Good gracious!" cried Carry. "Kittens,--little blind kittens! It'll +rain dogs next, I suppose!" + +That's exactly what did happen; for down came puppies along with the +kittens. They squirmed and mewed and hissed and yelped, and all the time +kept growing bigger and bigger. Some came head first pawing the air as +they fell; some tail first, looking scared to death; but most miserable +of all were those that came down tumbling over and over. It made them so +dizzy to come down in that whirligig fashion, that they staggered about +when they tried to stand. Carry felt truly sorry for them, and yet she +couldn't help laughing. And the cats and dogs who had come first laughed +too. + +"Dear me! That's sort of funny, isn't it?" she thought; but the surprise +didn't last long, for, in the midst of a tremendous shower, down came +two most remarkable figures, and, with them, what at first sight +appeared to be several long sticks; but, on looking again, Carry saw +these were pitchforks! + +"Oh!" said she, "I thought they'd come." + +Then she stared for a minute at the two odd figures, and cried: "Why! +it's Mother Hubbard's dog and Puss in Boots!" And sure enough, so it +was! + +Puss had a blue velvet cloak on his shoulders, large boots, and a velvet +cap with a long plume. He turned toward Carry and made her a low bow, +gracefully doffing his hat. + +"You are right, Mademoiselle," said he. "I am that renowned personage, +and your humble servant. Permit me to add, Mademoiselle, that my eyes +have not beheld a fairer damsel than they now rest upon, since last I +saw my beloved mistress, the charming Marquise de Carabas." + +Mother Hubbard's dog was dressed in a suit of fine old-fashioned +clothes, and held tightly between his teeth a very short stemmed pipe +from which he puffed great clouds of smoke. + +He came up beside Puss, and said, without removing his pipe: "Stuff and +nonsense! We don't talk so stupidly in our village. Don't waste your +time in silly yarns, but let's settle this fight at once." + +Puss turned away and, addressing Carry, said: + +"Mademoiselle, this plebeian does not understand the language of court +circles, to which I have been used for many years. Mademoiselle will +pardon his ignorance." And here Puss rolled up his eyes and placed his +hand upon his heart and bowed so low that he was actually standing on +his head before he had finished. But he turned a graceful somersault and +came right side up again in half a second, without looking at all +disturbed. + +"Sir!" said the dog, with dignity, "this matter should be settled at +once, or the sun will be out, and then----" he stopped short and winked +at Puss in a very knowing manner. + +"Ah! that is true," replied the cat, "I had forgotten. Shall it be a +general or a single combat?" + +"Well," said the dog, gravely, sitting down on a large flower-pot +nearby, "I think, as we have been wanting to fight this out for some +time,--indeed, I may say, almost since time began,--we had better allow +every one to have a tooth and a claw in it. Then, perhaps, this matter +will be settled forever." + +"Quite my opinion," responded Puss. "But first the ladies, infants, and +weak and wounded, must be removed from the field." + +"All right!" said the dog. "But look here. You first stop that, will +you?" and he pointed to a fine gray cat that was rubbing herself against +a large, comfortable-looking Newfoundland. + +"Immediately," said Puss, and he bawled in a loud voice: "There is to be +no friendly intercourse between soldiers of the two armies. It is in the +highest degree detrimental to military discipline." + +And the dog shouted: "Stop being pleasant to each other, right off. I +can't have it. You always have fought, and you've got to fight now." + +The big Newfoundland at once made a snap at the gray cat, and she put up +her back, spit and clawed at him, and ran off as fast as she could. + +Then Puss waved his handkerchief, as a flag of truce, and said in a loud +voice, "There will be a cessation of hostilities for five minutes, until +the non-combatants are removed." + +The able-bodied cats arranged themselves in rows, and the dogs did the +same. The two generals stepped grandly in front of the lines, and the +battle seemed about to begin, when a young and frisky cat, at the far +end of the front rank, took advantage of a dog opposite who had turned +his head, and jumped upon his back, clawing him in so cruel a way that +he howled dreadfully. + +At this, Mother Hubbard's dog advanced angrily, and taking the cat by +the nape of the neck, threw her among the cat army, saying: "The trumpet +hasn't sounded, and we haven't begun yet. That was a real sneaky trick, +just like a cat." + +"Sir!" cried Puss in Boots, loftily, "Do you mean to insinuate that I am +a sneak?" + +"I didn't say so precisely," returned the dog. "But if you want me to, I +will." Then he added, in a taunting tone, "You are a sneak!" + +Puss trembled with rage at this insult, and drew the little sword he +wore at his side. + +"Prove it!" he cried, brandishing his blade. + +"Didn't you sneak yourself and your master into a castle and fine +clothes that you had no right to?" + +"Didn't you pretend to be dead once and frighten your poor mistress +nearly out of her wits? Take _that_, sir!" and he made a furious cut at +him. + +But the dog dodged the weapon, and, with a cutlass suddenly pulled from +behind him, made a fierce blow at the cat. Puss leaped nimbly away, with +a scream of triumph and defiance. Then they set to with all their skill +and hate and cunning. + +Presently Puss fell, apparently dead, and Sir John Hubbard, the victor, +was leaning on his cutlass, looking sorry, when suddenly Puss jumped up, +grasped his sword and made a savage lunge at the dog. "That was only one +of _my_ lives!" he screamed. "I have eight left. Cats have nine lives, +but you--you miserable dog--have only one." + +Then they fought worse than ever, and neither seemed willing to yield. + +[Illustration: RAINING CATS AND DOGS.] + +But the fight ended in a strange way. Just as the dog again laid Puss +low, a tremendous shower of pitchforks fell, beating on everything with +dreadful effect. Sir John saved himself by getting under a tree, but +poor Puss couldn't move to a shelter, and his remaining seven lives were +being rapidly knocked out of him, when the brave dog rushed out into the +storm and proved himself a generous foe by shielding Puss from the +pitchforks with his own body. + +"You are a dear good dog!" cried Carry. "I always loved you the best!" +But even as she was speaking there came a terrific clap of thunder, and +her own cat, who had been trembling with fear, sprang to her shoulder +and buried her claws there and as Carry shrieked with fright and pain, +Jake was holding her in his arms. + +"Were you frightened, out here all alone?" said he. "I was busy and I +didn't think you'd mind the rain; but when the thunder began I came out +quick." + +"Rain?" said Carry, "I don't mind rain, Jake; but I don't like it to +rain cats and dogs when they fight. Why, where are they?" She lifted her +face from Jake's shoulder, and looked about her amazed, for not a cat +was to be seen nor a dog, but only the steady rain, pouring straight +down. + +"Cats and dogs!" said Jake, laughing. + +"And pitchforks, too, Jake,--yes, really!" + +"Well," said Jake; "if you aint the most _curious_ little gal!" + +But Carry don't think she is half as curious as other people are who +wont believe what she saw with her own eyes. + + + + +[Illustration: WE CAME,--WE SAW,] + +[Illustration: WE LEFT.] + + + + +UNDER THE LILACS. + +BY LOUISA M. ALCOTT. + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +SOMEBODY COMES. + + +Bab and Betty had been playing in the avenue all the afternoon, several +weeks later, but as the shadows began to lengthen both agreed to sit +upon the gate and rest while waiting for Ben, who had gone nutting with +a party of boys. When they played house, Bab was always the father, and +went hunting or fishing with great energy and success, bringing home all +sorts of game, from elephants and crocodiles to humming-birds and +minnows. Betty was the mother, and a most notable little housewife, +always mixing up imaginary delicacies with sand and dirt in old pans and +broken china, which she baked in an oven of her own construction. + +Both had worked hard that day, and were glad to retire to their favorite +lounging-place, where Bab was happy trying to walk across the wide top +bar without falling off, and Betty enjoyed slow, luxurious swings while +her sister was recovering from her tumbles. On this occasion, having +indulged their respective tastes, they paused for a brief interval of +conversation, sitting side by side on the gate like a pair of plump gray +chickens gone to roost. + +"Don't you hope Ben will get his bag full? We shall have such fun eating +nuts evenings," observed Bab, wrapping her arms in her apron, for it was +October now, and the air was growing keen. + +"Yes, and Ma says we may boil some in our little kettles. Ben promised +we should have half," answered Betty, still intent on her cookery. + +"I shall save some of mine for Thorny." + +"I shall keep lots of mine for Miss Celia." + +"Doesn't it seem more than two weeks since she went away?" + +"I wonder what she'll bring us." + +Before Bab could conjecture, the sound of a step and a familiar whistle +made both look expectantly toward the turn in the road, all ready to cry +out with one voice, "How many have you got?" Neither spoke a word, +however, for the figure which presently appeared was not Ben, but a +stranger,--a man who stopped whistling, and came slowly on, dusting his +shoes in the way-side grass, and brushing the sleeves of his shabby +velveteen coat as if anxious to freshen himself up a bit. + +"It's a tramp, let's run away," whispered Betty, after a hasty look. + +"I aint afraid," and Bab was about to assume her boldest look when a +sneeze spoiled it, and made her clutch the gate to hold on. + +At that unexpected sound the man looked up, showing a thin, dark face, +with a pair of sharp, black eyes, which surveyed the little girls so +steadily that Betty quaked, and Bab began to wish she had at least +jumped down inside the gate. + +"How are you?" said the man with a good-natured nod and smile, as if to +re-assure the round-eyed children staring at him. + +"Pretty well, thank you, sir," responded Bab, politely nodding back at +him. + +"Folks at home?" asked the man, looking over their heads toward the +house. + +"Only Ma; all the rest are gone to be married." + +"That sounds lively. At the other place all the folks had gone to a +funeral," and the man laughed as he glanced at the big house on the +hill. + +"Why, do you know the Squire?" exclaimed Bab, much surprised and +re-assured. + +"Come on purpose to see him. Just strolling round till he gets back," +with an impatient sort of sigh. + +"Betty thought you was a tramp, but I wasn't afraid. I like tramps ever +since Ben came," explained Bab, with her usual candor. + +"Who's Ben?" and the man came nearer so quickly that Betty nearly fell +backward. "Don't you be scared, Sissy. I like little girls, so you set +easy and tell me about Ben," he added, in a persuasive tone, as he +leaned on the gate, so near that both could see what a friendly face he +had in spite of its eager, anxious look. + +"Ben is Miss Celia's boy. We found him almost starved in the +coach-house, and he's been living near here ever since," answered Bab, +comprehensively. + +"Tell me all about it. I like tramps too," and the man looked as if he +did, very much, as Bab told the little story in a few childish words +that were better than a much more elegant account. + +"You were very good to the little feller," was all the man said when she +ended her somewhat confused tale, in which she had jumbled the old coach +and Miss Celia, dinner-pails and nutting, Sancho and circuses. + +"Course we were! He's a nice boy and we are fond of him, and he likes +us," said Bab, heartily. + +"'Specially me," put in Betty, quite at ease now, for the black eyes had +softened wonderfully, and the brown face was smiling all over. + +"Don't wonder a mite. You are the nicest pair of little girls I've seen +this long time," and the man put a hand on either side of them, as if he +wanted to hug the chubby children. But he didn't do it; he merely rubbed +his hands and stood there asking questions till the two chatter-boxes +had told him everything there was to tell, in the most confiding manner, +for he very soon ceased to seem like a stranger, and looked so familiar +that Bab, growing inquisitive in her turn, suddenly said: + +"Haven't you ever been here before? It seems as if I'd seen you." + +"Never in my life. Guess you've seen somebody that looks like me," and +the black eyes twinkled for a minute as they looked into the puzzled +little faces before him. Then he said, soberly: + +"I'm looking round for a likely boy; don't you think this Ben would suit +me? I want just such a lively sort of chap." + +"Are you a circus man?" asked Bab, quickly. + +"Well, no, not now. I'm in better business." + +"I'm glad of it--_we_ don't approve of 'em; but I do think they're +splendid!" + +Bab began by gravely quoting Miss Celia, and ended with an irrepressible +burst of admiration which contrasted drolly with her first remark. + +Betty added anxiously, "We can't let Ben go, any way. I know he wouldn't +want to, and Miss Celia would feel bad. Please don't ask him." + +"He can do as he likes, I suppose. He hasn't got any folks of his own, +has he?" + +"No, his father died in California, and Ben felt so bad he cried, and we +were real sorry, and gave him a piece of Ma, 'cause he was so lonesome," +answered Betty, in her tender little voice, with a pleading look which +made the man stroke her smooth cheek and say, quite softly: + +"Bless your heart for that! I wont take him away, child, or do a thing +to trouble anybody that's been good to him." + +"He's coming now. I hear Sanch barking at the squirrels!" cried Bab, +standing up to get a good look down the road. + +The man turned quickly, and Betty saw that he breathed fast as he +watched the spot where the low sunshine lay warmly on the red maple at +the corner. Into this glow came unconscious Ben, whistling "Rory +O'Moore," loud and clear, as he trudged along with a heavy bag of nuts +over his shoulder and the light full on his contented face. Sancho +trotted before and saw the stranger first, for the sun in Ben's eyes +dazzled him. Since his sad loss Sancho cherished a strong dislike to +tramps, and now he paused to growl and show his teeth, evidently +intending to warn this one off the premises. + +"He wont hurt you----" began Bab, encouragingly; but before she could +add a chiding word to the dog, Sanch gave an excited howl, and flew at +the man's throat as if about to throttle him. + +Betty screamed, and Bab was about to go to the rescue when both +perceived that the dog was licking the stranger's face in an ecstasy of +joy, and heard the man say as he hugged the curly beast: + +"Good old Sanch! I knew he wouldn't forget master, and he doesn't." + +"What's the matter?" called Ben, coming up briskly, with a strong grip +of his stout stick. + +There was no need of any answer, for, as he came into the shadow, he saw +the man, and stood looking at him as if he were a ghost. + +"It's father, Benny; don't you know me?" asked the man, with an odd sort +of choke in his voice as he thrust the dog away, and held out both hands +to the boy. + +Down dropped the nuts, and crying, "Oh, Daddy, Daddy!" Ben cast himself +into the arms of the shabby velveteen coat, while poor Sanch tore round +them in distracted circles, barking wildly, as if that was the only way +in which he could vent his rapture. + +What happened next, Bab and Betty never stopped to see, but, dropping +from their roost, they went flying home like startled Chicken Littles +with the astounding news that "Ben's father has come alive, and Sancho +knew him right away!" + +Mrs. Moss had just got her cleaning done up, and was resting a minute +before setting the table, but she flew out of her old rocking-chair when +the excited children told the wonderful tale, exclaiming as they ended: + +"Where is he? Go bring him here. I declare it fairly takes my breath +away!" + +Before Bab could obey, or her mother compose herself, Sancho bounced in +and spun round like an insane top, trying to stand on his head, walk +upright, waltz and bark all at once, for the good old fellow had so lost +his head that he forgot the loss of his tail. + +"They are coming! they are coming! See, Ma, what a nice man he is," said +Bab, hopping about on one foot as she watched the slowly approaching +pair. + +"My patience, don't they look alike! I should know he was Ben's Pa +anywhere!" said Mrs. Moss, running to the door in a hurry. + +They certainly did resemble one another, and it was almost comical to +see the same curve in the legs, the same wide-awake style of wearing the +hat, the same sparkle of the eye, good-natured smile and agile motion of +every limb. Old Ben carried the bag in one hand while young Ben held the +other fast, looking a little shame-faced at his own emotion now, for +there were marks of tears on his cheeks, but too glad to repress the +delight he felt that he had really found Daddy this side heaven. + +Mrs. Moss unconsciously made a pretty little picture of herself as she +stood at the door with her honest face shining and both hands out, +saying in a hearty tone, which was a welcome in itself: + +"I'm _real_ glad to see you safe and well, Mr. Brown! Come right in and +make yourself to home. I guess there isn't a happier boy living than Ben +is to-night." + +"And I _know_ there isn't a gratefuler man living than I am for your +kindness to my poor forsaken little feller," answered Mr. Brown, +dropping both his burdens to give the comely woman's hands a hard shake. + +"Now don't say a word about it, but sit down and rest, and we'll have +tea in less 'n no time. Ben must be tired and hungry, though he's so +happy I don't believe he knows it," laughed Mrs. Moss, bustling away to +hide the tears in her eyes, anxious to make things sociable and easy all +round. + +With this end in view she set forth her best china, and covered the +table with food enough for a dozen, thanking her stars that it was +baking day, and everything had turned out well. Ben and his father sat +talking by the window till they were bidden to "draw up and help +themselves" with such hospitable warmth that everything had an extra +relish to the hungry pair. + +Ben paused occasionally to stroke the rusty coat-sleeve with +bread-and-buttery fingers to convince himself that "Daddy" had really +come, and his father disposed of various inconvenient emotions by eating +as if food was unknown in California. Mrs. Moss beamed on every one from +behind the big tea-pot like a mild full moon, while Bab and Betty kept +interrupting one another in their eagerness to tell something new about +Ben and how Sanch lost his tail. + +"Now you let Mr. Brown talk a little; we all want to hear how he 'came +alive,' as you call it," said Mrs. Moss, as they drew round the fire in +the "settin'-room," leaving the tea-things to take care of themselves. + +It was not a long story, but a very interesting one to this circle of +listeners: all about the wild life on the plains, trading for mustangs, +the terrible blow that nearly killed Ben, senior, the long months of +unconsciousness in the California hospital, the slow recovery, the +journey back, Mr. Smithers's tale of the boy's disappearance, and then +the anxious trip to find out from Squire Allen where he now was. + +"I asked the hospital folks to write and tell you as soon as I knew +whether I was on my head or my heels, and they promised; but they +didn't; so I came off the minute I could, and worked my way back, +expecting to find you at the old place. I was afraid you'd have worn out +your welcome here and gone off again, for you are as fond of traveling +as your father." + +[Illustration: MRS. MOSS WELCOMES BEN'S FATHER.] + +"I wanted to, sometimes, but the folks here were so dreadful good to me +I _couldn't_," confessed Ben, secretly surprised to find that the +prospect of going off with Daddy even cost him a pang of regret, for the +boy had taken root in the friendly soil, and was no longer a wandering +thistle-down, tossed about by every wind that blew. + +"I know what I owe 'em, and you and me will work out that debt before we +die, or our name isn't B.B.," said Mr. Brown, with an emphatic slap on +his knee, which Ben imitated half unconsciously as he exclaimed +heartily: + +"That's _so!_" adding, more quietly, "What are you going to do now? Go +back to Smithers and the old work?" + +"Not likely, after the way he treated you, Sonny. I've had it out with +him, and he wont want to see _me_ again in a hurry," answered Mr. Brown, +with a sudden kindling of the eye that reminded Bab of Ben's face when +he shook her after losing Sancho. + +"There's more circuses than his in the world; but I'll have to limber +out ever so much before I'm good for much in that line," said the boy, +stretching his stout arms and legs with a curious mixture of +satisfaction and regret. + +"You've been living in clover and got fat, you rascal," and his father +gave him a poke here and there, as Mr. Squeers did the plump Wackford, +when displaying him as a specimen of the fine diet at Do-the-boys Hall. +"Don't believe I could put you up now if I tried, for I haven't got my +strength back yet, and we are both out of practice. It's just as well, +for I've about made up my mind to quit the business and settle down +somewhere for a spell, if I can get anything to do," continued the +rider, folding his arms and gazing thoughtfully into the fire. + +"I shouldn't wonder a mite if you could right here, for Mr. Towne has a +great boarding-stable over yonder, and he's always wanting men," said +Mrs. Moss, eagerly, for she dreaded to have Ben go, and no one could +forbid it if his father chose to take him away. + +"That sounds likely. Thanky, ma'am. I'll look up the concern and try my +chance. Would you call it too great a come-down to have father an +'ostler after being first rider in the 'Great Golden Menagerie, Circus, +and Colosseum,' hey Ben?" asked Mr. Brown, quoting the well-remembered +show-bill with a laugh. + +"No, I shouldn't; it's real jolly up there when the big barn is full and +eighty horses have to be taken care of. I love to go and see 'em. Mr. +Towne asked me to come and be stable-boy when I rode the kicking gray +the rest were afraid of. I hankered to go, but Miss Celia had just got +my new books, and I knew she'd feel bad if I gave up going to school. +Now I'm glad I didn't, for I get on first rate and like it." + +"You done right, boy, and I'm pleased with you. Don't you ever be +ungrateful to them that befriended you, if you want to prosper. I'll +tackle the stable business a Monday and see what's to be done. Now I +ought to be walking, but I'll be round in the morning, ma'am, if you can +spare Ben for a spell to-morrow. We'd like to have a good Sunday tramp +and talk; wouldn't we, Sonny?" and Mr. Brown rose to go, with his hand +on Ben's shoulder, as if loth to leave him even for the night. + +Mrs. Moss saw the longing in his face, and forgetting that he was an +utter stranger, spoke right out of her hospitable heart. + +"It is a long piece to the tavern, and my little back bed-room is always +ready. It wont make a mite of trouble if you don't mind a plain place, +and you are heartily welcome." + +Mr. Brown looked pleased, but hesitated to accept any further favor from +the good soul who had already done so much for him and his. Ben gave him +no time to speak, however, for running to a door he flung it open and +beckoned, saying, eagerly: + +"Do stay, father; it will be so nice to have you. This is a tip-top +room; I slept here the night I came, and that bed was just splendid +after bare ground for a fortnight." + +"I'll stop, and as I'm pretty well done up, I guess we may as well turn +in now," answered the new guest; then, as if the memory of that homeless +little lad so kindly cherished made his heart overflow in spite of him, +Mr. Brown paused at the door to say hastily, with his hands on Bab and +Betty's heads, as if his promise was a very earnest one: + +"I don't forget, ma'am, and these children shall never want a friend +while Ben Brown's alive;" then he shut the door so quickly that the +other Ben's prompt "Hear, hear!" was cut short in the middle. + +"I s'pose he means that we shall have a piece of Ben's father, because +we gave Ben a piece of our mother," said Betty, softly. + +"Of course he does, and it's all fair," answered Bab, decidedly. "Isn't +he a nice man, Ma?" + +"Go to bed, children," was all the answer she got; but when they were +gone, Mrs. Moss, as she washed up her dishes, more than once glanced at +a certain nail where a man's hat had not hung for five years, and +thought with a sigh what a natural, protecting air that slouched felt +had. + +If one wedding were not quite enough for a child's story, we might here +hint what no one dreamed of then, that before the year came round again +Ben had found a mother, Bab and Betty a father, and Mr. Brown's hat was +quite at home behind the kitchen door. But, on the whole, it is best not +to say a word about it. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE GREAT GATE IS OPENED. + + +The Browns were up and out so early next morning that Bab and Betty were +sure they had run away in the night. But on looking for them, they were +discovered in the coach-house criticising Lita, both with their hands in +their pockets, both chewing straws, and looking as much alike as a big +elephant and a small one. + +"That's as pretty a little span as I've seen for a long time," said the +elder Ben, as the children came trotting down the path hand in hand, +with the four blue bows at the ends of their braids bobbing briskly up +and down. + +"The nigh one is my favorite, but the off one is the best goer, though +she's dreadfully hard bitted," answered Ben the younger, with such a +comical assumption of a jockey's important air that his father laughed +as he said in an undertone: + +"Come, boy, we must drop the old slang since we've given up the old +business. These good folks are making a gentleman of you, and I wont be +the one to spoil their work. Hold on, my dears, and I'll show you how +they say good-morning in California," he added, beckoning to the little +girls, who now came up rosy and smiling. + +"Breakfast is ready, sir," said Betty, looking much relieved to find +them. + +"We thought you'd run away from us," explained Bab, as both put out +their hands to shake those extended to them. + +"That would be a mean trick. But I'm going to run away _with_ you," and +Mr. Brown whisked a little girl to either shoulder before they knew what +had happened, while Ben, remembering the day, with difficulty restrained +himself from turning a series of triumphant somersaults before them all +the way to the door, where Mrs. Moss stood waiting for them. + +After breakfast, Ben disappeared for a short time, and returned in his +Sunday suit, looking so neat and fresh that his father surveyed him with +surprise and pride as he came in full of boyish satisfaction in his trim +array. + +"Here's a smart young chap! Did you take all that trouble just to go to +walk with old Daddy?" asked Mr. Brown, stroking the smooth head, for +they were alone just then, Mrs. Moss and the children being upstairs +preparing for church. + +"I thought may be you'd like to go to meeting first," answered Ben, +looking up at him with such a happy face that it was hard to refuse +anything. + +"I'm too shabby, Sonny, else I'd go in a minute to please you." + +"Miss Celia said God didn't mind poor clothes, and she took me when I +looked worse than you do. I always go in the morning; she likes to have +me," said Ben, turning his hat about as if not quite sure what he ought +to do. + +"Do you want to go?" asked his father in a tone of surprise. + +"I want to please her, if you don't mind. We could have our tramp this +afternoon." + +"I haven't been to meeting since mother died, and it don't seem to come +easy, though I know I ought to, seeing I'm alive and here," and Mr. +Brown looked soberly out at the lovely autumn-world as if glad to be in +it after his late danger and pain. + +"Miss Celia said church was a good place to take our troubles, and to be +thankful in. I went when I thought you were dead, and now I'd love to go +when I've got my Daddy safe again." + +No one saw him, so Ben could not resist giving his father a sudden hug, +which was warmly returned as the man said earnestly: + +"I'll go, and thank the Lord hearty for giving me back my boy better'n I +left him!" + +For a minute, nothing was heard but the loud tick of the old clock and a +mournful whine from Sancho, shut up in the shed lest he should go to +church without an invitation. + +Then, as steps were heard on the stairs, Mr. Brown caught up his hat, +saying hastily: + +"I ain't fit to go with them, you tell 'em, and I'll slip into a back +seat after folks are in. I know the way." And, before Ben could reply, +he was gone. + +[Illustration: BEN AND HIS FATHER OPEN THE GREAT GATE.] + +Nothing was seen of him along the way, but he saw the little party, and +rejoiced again over his boy, changed so greatly for the better; for Ben +was the one thing which had kept his heart soft through all the trials +and temptations of a rough life. + +"I promised Mary I'd do my best for the poor baby she had to leave, and +I tried, but I guess a better friend than I am has been raised up for +him when he needed her most. It wont hurt me to follow him in this +road," thought Mr. Brown as he came out into the highway from his stroll +"across lots," feeling that it would be good for him to stay in this +quiet place for his own as well as for his son's sake. + +The bell had done ringing when he reached the green, but a single boy +sat on the steps and ran to meet him, saying with a reproachful look: + +"I wasn't going to let you be alone and have folks think I was ashamed +of my father. Come, Daddy, we'll sit together." + +So Ben led his father straight to the Squire's pew, and sat beside him +with a face so full of innocent pride and joy that people would have +suspected the truth if he had not already told many of them. Mr. Brown, +painfully conscious of his shabby coat, was rather "taken aback," as he +expressed it, but the Squire's shake of the hand and Mrs. Allen's +gracious nod enabled him to face the eyes of the interested +congregation, the younger portion of which stared steadily at him all +sermon time, in spite of paternal frowns and maternal tweakings in the +rear. + +But the crowning glory of the day came after church, when the Squire +said to Ben, and Sam heard him: + +"I've got a letter for you from Miss Celia. Come home with me and bring +your father. I want to talk to him." + +The boy proudly escorted his parent to the old carry-all, and tucking +himself in behind with Mrs. Allen, had the satisfaction of seeing the +slouched felt hat side by side with the Squire's Sunday beaver in front, +as they drove off at such an unusually smart pace that, it was evident, +Duke knew there was a critical eye upon him. The interest taken in the +father was owing to the son at first, but, by the time the story was +told, old Ben had won friends for himself, not only because of the +misfortunes which he had evidently borne in a manly way, but because of +his delight in the boy's improvement, and the desire he felt to turn his +hand to any honest work, that he might keep Ben happy and contented in +this good home. + +"I'll give you a line to Towne. Smithers spoke well of you, and your own +ability will be the best recommendation," said the Squire, as he parted +from them at his door, having given Ben the letter. + +Miss Celia had been gone a fortnight, and every one was longing to have +her back. The first week brought Ben a newspaper, with a crinkly line +drawn round the "marriages" to attract attention to that spot, and one +was marked by a black frame with a large hand pointing at it from the +margin. Thorny sent that, but the next week came a parcel for Mrs. Moss, +and in it was discovered a box of wedding-cake for every member of the +family, including Sancho, who ate his at one gulp and chewed up the lace +paper which covered it. This was the third week, and as if there could +not be happiness enough crowded into it for Ben, the letter he read on +his way home told him that his dear mistress was coming back on the +following Saturday. One passage particularly pleased him: + +"I want the great gate opened, so that the new master may go in that +way. Will you see that it is done, and all made neat afterward. Ronda +will give you the key, and you may have out all your flags if you like, +for the old place cannot look too gay for this home-coming." + +Sunday though it was, Ben could not help waving the letter over his head +as he ran in to tell Mrs. Moss the glad news, and begin at once to plan +the welcome they would give Miss Celia, for he never called her anything +else. + +During their afternoon stroll in the mellow sunshine, Ben continued to +talk of her, never tired of telling about his happy summer under her +roof. And Mr. Brown was never weary of hearing, for every hour showed +him more plainly what a lovely miracle her gentle words had wrought, and +every hour increased his gratitude, his desire to return the kindness in +some humble way. He had his wish, and did his part handsomely when he +least expected to have a chance. + +On Monday he saw Mr. Towne, and, thanks to the Squire's good word, was +engaged for a month on trial, making himself so useful that it was soon +evident he was the right man in the right place. He lived on the hill, +but managed to get down to the little brown house in the evening for a +word with Ben, who just now was as full of business as if the President +and his Cabinet were coming. + +Everything was put in apple-pie order in and about the old house; the +great gate, with much creaking of rusty hinges and some clearing away of +rubbish, was set wide open, and the first creature who entered it was +Sancho, solemnly dragging the dead mullein which long ago had grown +above the top of it. October frosts seemed to have spared some of the +brightest leaves for this especial occasion, and on Saturday the +gate-way was decorated with gay wreaths, red and yellow sprays strewed +the flags, and the porch was a blaze of color with the red woodbine, +that was in its glory when the honeysuckle was leafless. + +Fortunately, it was a half-holiday, so the children could trim and +chatter to their hearts' content, and the little girls ran about +sticking funny decorations where no one would ever think of looking for +them. Ben was absorbed in his flags, which were sprinkled all down the +avenue with a lavish display, suggesting several Fourth-of-Julys rolled +into one. Mr. Brown had come down to lend a hand, and did so most +energetically, for the break-neck things he did with his son during the +decoration fever would have terrified Mrs. Moss out of her wits if she +had not been in the house giving last touches to every room, while Ronda +and Katy set forth a sumptuous tea. + +All was going well, and the train would be due in an hour, when luckless +Bab nearly turned the rejoicing into mourning, the feast into ashes. She +heard her mother say to Ronda, "There ought to be a fire in every room, +it looks so cheerful, and the air is chilly spite of the sunshine," and +never waiting to hear the reply that some of the long-unused chimneys +were not safe till cleaned, off went Bab with an apron full of old +shingles and made a roaring blaze in the front room fire-place, which +was of all others the one to be let alone, as the flue was out of order. +Charmed with the brilliant light and the crackle of the tindery fuel, +Miss Bab refilled her apron and fed the fire till the chimney began to +rumble ominously, sparks to fly out at the top, and soot and swallows' +nests to come tumbling down upon the hearth. Then, scared at what she +had done, the little mischief-maker hastily buried her fire, swept up +the rubbish, and ran off, thinking no one would discover her prank if +she never told. + +Everybody was very busy, and the big chimney blazed and rumbled +unnoticed till the cloud of smoke caught Ben's eye as he festooned his +last effort in the flag line, part of an old sheet with the words +"Father has come!" in red cambric letters, half a foot long, sewed upon +it. + +"Hullo, I do believe they've got up a bonfire without asking my leave! +Miss Celia never would let us, because the sheds and roofs are so old +and dry; I must see about it. Catch me, Daddy, I'm coming down!" cried +Ben, dropping out of the elm with no more thought of where he might +alight than a squirrel swinging from bough to bough. + +His father caught him, and followed in haste as his nimble-footed son +raced up the avenue, to stop in the gate-way, frightened at the prospect +before him, for falling sparks had already kindled the roof here and +there, and the chimney smoked and roared like a small volcano, while +Katy's wails and Ronda's cries for water came from within. + +"Up there, with wet blankets, while I get out the hose!" cried Mr. +Brown, as he saw at a glance what the danger was. + +Ben vanished, and, before his father got the garden hose rigged, he was +on the roof with a dripping blanket over the worst spot. Mrs. Moss had +her wits about her in a minute, and ran to put in the fire-board and +stop the draught. Then, stationing Ronda to watch that the falling +cinders did no harm inside, she hurried off to help Mr. Brown, who might +not know where things were. But he had roughed it so long that he was +the man for emergencies, and seemed to lay his hand on whatever was +needed, by a sort of instinct. Finding that the hose was too short to +reach the upper part of the roof, he was on the roof in a jiffy with two +pails of water, and quenched the most dangerous flames before much harm +was done. This he kept up till the chimney burned itself out, while Ben +dodged about among the gables with a watering-pot, lest some stray +sparks should be overlooked and break out afresh. + +While they worked there, Betty ran to and fro with a dipper of water +trying to help, and Sancho barked violently, as if he objected to this +sort of illumination. But where was Bab, who reveled in flurries? No one +missed her till the fire was out, and the tired, sooty people met to +talk over the danger just escaped. + +"Poor Miss Celia wouldn't have had a roof over her head if it hadn't +been for you, Mr. Brown," said Mrs. Moss, sinking into a kitchen chair, +pale with the excitement. + +"It would have burnt lively, but I guess it's all right now. Keep an eye +on the roof, Ben, and I'll step up garret and see if all's safe there. +Didn't you know that chimney was foul, ma'am?" asked the man, as he +wiped the perspiration off his grimy face. + +"Ronda said it was, and I'm surprised she made a fire there," began Mrs. +Moss, looking at the maid, who just then came in with a pan full of +soot. + +"Bless you, ma'am, I never thought of such a thing, nor Katy neither. +That naughty Bab must have done it, and so don't dar'st to show +herself," answered the irate Ronda, whose nice room was in a mess. + +"Where is the child?" asked her mother, and a hunt was immediately +instituted by Betty and Sancho, while the elders cleared up. + +Anxious Betty searched high and low, called and cried, but all in vain, +and was about to sit down in despair, when Sancho made a bolt into his +new kennel and brought out a shoe with a foot in it, while a doleful +squeal came from the straw within. + +"Oh, Bab, how could you do it? Ma was frightened dreadfully," said +Betty, gently tugging at the striped leg, as Sancho poked his head in +for another shoe. + +"Is it _all_ burnt up!" demanded a smothered voice from the recesses of +the kennel. + +"Only pieces of the roof. Ben and his father put it out, and _I_ +helped," answered Betty, cheering up a little as she recalled her noble +exertions. + +"What do they do to folks who set houses afire?" asked the voice again. + +"I don't know; but you needn't be afraid; there isn't much harm done, I +guess, and Miss Celia will forgive you, she's so good." + +"Thorny wont; he calls me a 'botheration,' and I guess I am," mourned +the unseen culprit, with sincere contrition. + +"I'll ask him; he is always good to me. They will be here pretty soon, +so you'd better come out and be made tidy," suggested the comforter. + +"I never can come out, for every one will hate me," sobbed Bab among the +straw; and she pulled in her foot, as if retiring forever from an +outraged world. + +"Ma wont, she's too busy cleaning up; so it's a good time to come. Let's +run home, wash our hands, and be all nice when they see us. I'll love +you, no matter what anybody else does," said Betty, consoling the poor +little sinner, and proposing the sort of repentance most likely to find +favor in the eyes of the agitated elders. + +"P'r'aps I'd better go home, for Sanch will want his bed," and Bab +gladly availed herself of that excuse to back out of her refuge, a very +crumpled, dusty young lady, with a dejected face, and much straw +sticking in her hair. + +Betty led her sadly away, for she still protested that she never should +dare to meet the offended public again; but in fifteen minutes both +appeared in fine order and good spirits, and naughty Bab escaped a +lecture for the time being, as the train would soon be due. + +At the first sound of the car whistle every one turned good-natured as +if by magic, and flew to the gate, smiling as if all mishaps were +forgiven and forgotten. Mrs. Moss, however, slipped quietly away, and +was the first to greet Miss Celia as the carriage stopped at the +entrance of the avenue, so that the luggage might go in by way of the +lodge. + +"We will walk up and you shall tell us the news as we go, for I see you +have some," said the young lady, in her friendly manner, when Mrs. Moss +had given her welcome and paid her respects to the gentleman, who shook +hands in a way that convinced her he was indeed what Thorny called him, +"regularly jolly," though he was a minister. + +That being exactly what she came for, the good woman told her tidings as +rapidly as possible, and the new-comers were so glad to hear of Ben's +happiness they made very light of Bab's bonfire, though it had come near +burning their house down. + +"We wont say a word about it, for every one must be happy to-day," said +Mr. George, so kindly that Mrs. Moss felt a load taken off her heart at +once. + +"Bab was always teasing me for fire-works, but I guess she has had +enough for the present." laughed Thorny, who was gallantly escorting +Bab's mother up the avenue. + +"Every one is so kind! Teacher was out with the children to cheer us as +we passed, and here you all are making things pretty for me," said Miss +Celia, smiling with tears in her eyes, as they drew near the great gate, +which certainly did present an animated if not an imposing appearance. + +Ronda and Katy stood on one side, all in their best, bobbing delighted +courtesies; Mr. Brown, half hidden behind the gate on the other side, +was keeping Sancho erect, so that he might present arms promptly when +the bride appeared. As flowers were scarce, on either post stood a rosy +little girl clapping her hands, while out from the thicket of red and +yellow boughs, which made a grand bouquet in the lantern frame, came +Ben's head and shoulders, as he waved his grandest flag with its gold +paper "Welcome Home!" on a blue ground. + +"Isn't it beautiful!" cried Miss Celia, throwing kisses to the children, +shaking hands with her maids, and glancing brightly at the stranger who +was keeping Sanch quiet. + +"Most people adorn their gate-posts with stone balls, vases, or +griffins; your living images are a great improvement, love, especially +the happy boy in the middle," said Mr. George, eying Ben with interest, +as he nearly tumbled overboard, top-heavy with his banner. + +"You must finish what I have only begun," answered Miss Celia, adding +gayly, as Sancho broke loose and came to offer both his paw and his +congratulations, "Sanch, introduce your master, that I may thank him for +coming back in time to save my old house." + +"If I'd saved a dozen it wouldn't have half paid for all you've done for +my boy, ma'am," answered Mr. Brown, bursting out from behind the gate +quite red with gratitude and pleasure. + +"I loved to do it, so please remember that this is still his home till +you make one for him. Thank God, he is no longer fatherless!" and Miss +Celia's sweet face said even more than her words, as the white hand +cordially shook the brown one with a burn across the back. + +"Come on, sister. I see the tea-table all ready, and I'm awfully +hungry," interrupted Thorny, who had not a ray of sentiment about him, +though very glad Ben had got his father back again. + +"Come over, by and by, little friends, and let me thank you for your +pretty welcome,--it certainly is a warm one;" and Miss Celia glanced +merrily from the three bright faces above her to the old chimney, which +still smoked sullenly. + +"Oh, don't!" cried Bab, hiding her face. + +"She didn't mean to," added Betty, pleadingly. + +"Three cheers for the bride!" roared Ben, dipping his flag, as leaning +on her husband's arm his dear mistress passed through the gay party, +along the leaf-strewn walk, over the threshold of the house which was to +be her happy home for many years. + +The closed gate where the lonely little wanderer once lay was always to +stand open now, and the path where children played before was free to +all comers, for a hospitable welcome henceforth awaited rich and poor, +young and old, sad and gay, Under the Lilacs. + +[Illustration] + + + + +HAPPY LITTLE FROGGY. + +BY E. MÜLLER. + + +[Illustration] + + + Happy little Froggy, he + Was proud enough + Of his trousers and his coat, + Green and buff. + + Came and caught him Rob and Bess, + Quick as flash, + Dressed him up in Dolly's dress, + And her sash. + + Froggy gave a frantic leap, + And in three springs + Took into the water deep + All Dolly's things. + + + + +HOW TO KEEP A JOURNAL. + +BY W. S. JEROME. + + +Autumn is as good a time as any for a boy or girl to begin to keep a +journal. Too many have the idea that it is a hard and unprofitable task +to keep a journal, and especially is this the case with those who have +begun, but soon gave up the experiment. They think it is a waste of +time, and that no good results from it. But that depends upon the kind +of journal that you keep. Everybody has heard of the boy who thought he +would try to keep a diary. He bought a book, and wrote in it, for the +first day, "Decided to keep a journal." The next day he wrote, "Got up, +washed, and went to bed." The day after, he wrote the same thing, and no +wonder that at the end of a week he wrote, "Decided not to keep a +journal," and gave up the experiment. It is such attempts as this, by +persons who have no idea of what a journal is, or how to keep it, that +discourage others from beginning. But it is not hard to keep a journal +if you begin in the right way, and will use a little perseverance and +patience. The time spent in writing in a journal is not wasted, by any +means. It may be the best employed hour of any in the day, and a +well-kept journal is a source of pleasure and advantage which more than +repays the writer for the time and trouble spent upon it. + +The first thing to do in beginning a journal, is to resolve to stick to +it. Don't begin, and let the poor journal die in a week. A journal, or +diary, should be written in _every day_, if possible. Now, don't be +frightened at this, for you do a great many things every day, and this +isn't a very awful condition. The time spent may be longer or shorter, +according to the matter to be written up; but try and write, at least a +little, every day. "_Nulla dies sine linea_"--no day without a line--is +a good motto. It is a great deal easier to write a little every day, +than to write up several days in one. + +Do not get for a journal a book with the dates already printed in it. +That kind will do very well for a merchant's note-book, but not for the +young man or woman who wants to keep a live, cheerful account of a happy +and pleasant life. Sometimes you will have a picnic or excursion to +write about, and will want to fill more space than the printed page +allows. Buy a substantially bound blank-book, made of good paper; write +your name and address plainly on the fly-leaf, and, if you choose, paste +a calendar inside the cover. Set down the date at the head of the first +page, thus: "Tuesday, October 1, 1878." Then begin the record of the +day, endeavoring as far as possible to mention the events in the correct +order of time,--morning, afternoon and evening. When this is done, write +in the middle of the page, "Wednesday, October 2," and you are ready for +the record of the next day. It is well to set down the year at the top +of each page. + +But what are you to write about? First, the weather. Don't forget this. +Write, "Cold and windy," or "Warm and bright," as the case may be. It +takes but a moment, and in a few years you will have a complete record +of the weather, which will be found not only curious, but useful. + +Then put down the letters you have received or written, and, if you +wish, any money paid or received. The day of beginning or leaving +school; the studies you pursue; visits from or to your friends; picnics +or sleigh-rides; the books you have read; and all such items of interest +should be noted. Write anything that you want to remember. After trying +this plan a short time, you will be surprised at the many things +constantly occurring which you used to overlook, but which now form +pleasant paragraphs in your book. But don't try to write something when +there is nothing to write. If there is only a line to be written, write +that, and begin again next day. + +Do not set down about people anything which you would not wish them to +see. It is not likely that any one will ever see your writing, but it is +possible, so, always be careful about what you write. The Chinese say of +a spoken word, that once let fall, it cannot be brought back by a +chariot and six horses. Much more is this true of written words, and +once out of your possession, there is no telling where they will go, or +who will see them. + +The best time to write in a journal is in the evening. Keep the book in +your table-drawer, or on your desk, and, after supper, when the lamps +are lighted, sit down and write your plain account of the day. Don't try +to write an able and eloquent article, but simply give a statement of +what you have seen or done during the day. For the first week or two +after beginning a journal, the novelty of the thing will keep up your +interest, and you will be anxious for the time to come when you can +write your journal. But, after a while, it becomes tedious. Then is the +time when you must persevere. Write something every day, and before long +you will find that you are becoming so accustomed to it, that you would +not willingly forego it. After that, the way is plain, and the longer +you live the more valuable and indispensable your journal will become. + +But some practical young person asks: What is the good of a journal? +There is very much. In the first place, it teaches habits of order and +regularity. The boy or girl who every evening arranges the proceedings +of the day in systematic order, and regularly writes them out, is not +likely to be careless in other matters. It helps the memory. A person +who keeps a journal naturally tries during the day to remember things he +sees, until he can write them down. Then the act of writing helps to +still further fix the facts in his memory. The journal is a first-class +teacher of penmanship. All boys and girls should take pride in having +the pages of their journals as neat and handsome as possible. Compare +one day's writing with that of the one before, and try to improve every +day. Keeping a journal cultivates habits of observation, correct and +concise expression, and gives capital practice in composition, spelling, +punctuation, and all the little things which go to make up a good +letter-writer. So, one who keeps a journal is all the while learning to +be a better penman, and a better composer, with the advantage of writing +original, historical, and descriptive articles, instead of copying the +printed letters and sentences of a writing-book. + +But, best of all, a well-kept journal furnishes a continuous and +complete family history, which is always interesting, and often very +useful. It is sometimes very convenient to have a daily record of the +year, and the young journalist will often have occasion to refer to his +account of things gone by. Perhaps, some evening, when the family are +sitting and talking together, some one will ask, "What kind of weather +did we have last winter?" or, "When was the picnic you were speaking +of?" and the journal is referred to. But the pleasure of keeping a +journal is itself no small reward. It is pleasant to exercise the +faculty of writing history, and to think that you are taking the first +step toward writing newspapers and books. The writer can practice on +different kinds of style, and can make his journal a record, not only of +events, but of his own progress as a thinker and writer. + + + + +SIMPLE SIMON. + +[Illustration] + + + "Simple Simon went a-fishing, + For to catch a whale, + And all the water that he had, + Was in his mother's pail." + + + + +PRINCE CUCURBITA. + +BY EDITH A. EDWARDS. + + +[Illustration: PRINCE CUCURBITA ON THE TRELLIS.] + +Prince Cucurbita was very unhappy. His smooth, shiny face was all +puckered up into little wrinkles, every now and then a big sob shook his +jolly little person till you really felt like crying yourself at the +sight of him. Here was a prince living in a lovely garden full of birds +and flowers, surrounded by a large family of brothers and sisters, and +always dressed in a pretty green jacket, which could not get soiled or +torn. In spite of all this, he was not happy, for Queen Cucurbita, in +order to keep her children out of harm's way, had hoisted them all up on +a high trellis, and would never let them get down. + +You may think the Prince might have been smart enough, or naughty +enough, to have jumped down when his mother's back was turned, but, +alas! how could he? for she held tightly to the tassel of his cap, and +his cap fitted so closely to his head that no effort of his was ever +able to get it off. Across the way lived another big family, the +Filberts. They were just the merriest set that ever was seen, nodding +gayly to Cucu now and then when they could spare the time from their own +fun, and telling stories to each other, which must have been very +amusing; for sometimes they all laughed together till they nearly fell +out of bed, and their mother was obliged to shake them all round. One +day, there was a great commotion among the Filberts. The eldest brother +had determined to go out into the world and seek his fortune, so he +climbed out of bed and quietly dropped to the ground. + +"Oh, dear me!" cried Cucu; "it is too mean that I should have to stay up +on this old trellis." + +"Naughty boy!" scolded his mother. "What are you talking about? That +ever I should be afflicted with such a fractious child; 'tis enough to +turn me yellow;" and she spread out her pretty green apron, and waved +her ribbons in the air, while she took a firmer hold upon the poor +little Prince's cap. + +"Don't you know that if I were to let go, off you would fall flat on +your back upon the nasty wet ground, and very likely lie there all the +rest of your life, growing wrinkled and yellow and sickly, while great +ugly worms crawled over you, and everybody blamed me for a careless +parent? No! no! I shall take good care you don't get away from me, you +may be sure." + +So, Cucu had to accept his fate as best he might, and amused himself +watching his neighbors. Every day, now, one or more of them left home +and disappeared among the grass and flowers below. Cucu imagined them as +traveling off around the garden, but if he had seen them lying half +buried in the earth, their bright brown faces dirty and streaked with +tears, their merry little hearts nearly broken with woe, he would not +have envied them so much. + +Day after day passed, and the month of October came with its clear and +cool nights. Queen Cucurbita did not relish this at all, and, every +morning, when the sun peeped at her, he wondered how he ever could have +admired such a dried-up yellow old creature. Cucu's heart, on the +contrary, grew happier all the time, he lifted up his heavy head that +seemed to be lighter each day, and when the wind blew, he rattled +against the trellis and wondered how it was he could move so easily. +"Poor Prince!" the Cat-bird whistled, as she perched above him, "your +face is getting as brown and shining as one of those little Filberts, +your cap is no longer green and pretty, and you look so light that a +breath might blow you away." + +"I don't care," returned Cucu, "for I feel delighted, and so long as I +can't see my own face, what's the odds?" + +The next night was clear and very cold. The people to whom the garden +belonged brought out sheets and covered over the tender heliotropes and +other flowers they valued, but they couldn't have cared much for Queen +Cucurbita, for they never gave her a thought. When Cucu woke up bright +and early and said good-morning to his mother, she did not reply. He +turned his head to look at her. Oh, frightful sight! she hung to the +trellis wilted and dead; her green dress was brown and torn, but her +hard and wrinkled hand still grasped poor Cucu's cap. + +After the sun had been up some hours, a lady came into the garden and +approached the home of the Cucurbita family. + +"Oh, you beauty!" she cried, "what a lovely basket I shall make of you!" +and, placing a hand on each of Cucu's cheeks, she gave him a slight +twist,--his mother's fingers let go; he was free. The lady put him in +her basket, and now he was really setting off on his travels. + +This was, in fact, only the beginning of his career. The lady with a +sharp knife lifted his cap from his head; then she painted him all over +a pale green. After the paint was dry, she bored three holes in his +sides. My! how it hurt! but it was soon over, and she had fastened three +slender chains through them, and hung the little Prince up in a sunny +window. "What next?" he wondered. If he had got to hang here all his +life, it wouldn't be much better than the old trellis. But that wasn't +the end, for his mistress filled him with nice black earth, and planted +delicate little ferns and runaway-robins which climbed over and twined +lovingly round his face. They patted his cheeks with their soft little +hands, and whispered pretty stories of the woods they had come from. + +"Dear Cucu," said they, "how much we love you, and how kind you are to +hold us all so carefully!" When they said this, he felt so proud and +happy that he could not contain himself any longer, and sang at the top +of his voice; but the people in the house did not hear him, for mortal +ears are not adapted to such music. Only the Cat-bird flying past +understood and stopped to congratulate him. + +"Plenty to do, and plenty to love," she sang; "that is the way to be +happy. I found it out last spring when it took me from morning till +night to find food for my four hungry babies. Good-bye! I am going south +with them to-day. I haven't a bit of time to lose," and away she flew. + +[Illustration: CUCURBITA IN THE WINDOW.] + +And the ferns and the runaway-robins clapped their hands and sang, "Yes, +that is the secret. Good-bye! Good-bye!" + + + + +MRS. PRIMKINS' SURPRISE. + +BY OLIVE THORNE. + + + Our older readers will remember Nimpo, whose "Troubles" interested + them in ST. NICHOLAS'S first year. To our newer friends it is only + necessary to say, that Nimpo and Rush were boarding with Mrs. + Primkins during their mother's absence, by Nimpo's own desire, and + were very unhappy under the care of that well-meaning--but very + peculiar--person, who was so greatly surprised on the occasion of + the Birthday Party. + + +One morning, Mrs. Primkins received a letter. This was a very unusual +occurrence, and she hastened to wipe her hands out of the dish-water, +hunt up her "specs," clean them carefully, and, at last, sit down in her +chintz-covered "Boston rocker," to enjoy at her leisure this very rare +literary dissipation. + +Nimpo, who was boarding with Mrs. Primkins while her mother was off on a +journey, was engaged in finishing her breakfast, and did not notice +anything. Having found her scissors, and deliberately cut around the +old-fashioned seal, Mrs. Primkins opened the sheet and glanced at the +name at the bottom of the page, then turned her eyes hastily toward +Nimpo, with a low, significant "Humph!" + +But Nimpo, intent only on getting off to school, still did not see her. +Mrs. Primkins went on to examine more closely, covering with her hands +something which fell from the first fold, rustling, to her lap. Very +deliberately, then, as became this staid woman, did she read the letter +from date to signature, twice over, and, ending as she had begun with a +significant "Humph!" she refolded the letter, slipped in the inclosure, +put it into her black silk work-bag which hung on the back of her chair, +and resumed her dish-washing, for she was a genuine "Yankee housekeeper" +of the old-fashioned sort, and scorned the assistance of what she called +"hired help." + +Meanwhile, Nimpo finished her breakfast, gathered up her books, and +hurried off to school, though it was an hour too early, never dreaming +that the letter had anything to do with her. After the morning work was +done,--the pans scalded and set in the sun; the house dusted from attic +to cellar; the vinegar reheated and poured over the walnuts that were +pickling; the apples drying on the shed roof, turned over; the piece of +muslin ("bolt," she called it) that was bleaching on the grass, +thoroughly sprinkled; and, in fact, everything, indoors and out, in Mrs. +Primkins' domain, put into perfect order, that lady sat down to +consider. She drew the letter from the bag, and read it over, carefully +inspecting a ten-dollar bill in her hands, and then leaned back, and +indulged herself in a very unusual, indeed totally unheard-of, luxury--a +rest of ten minutes with idle hands! + +If Nimpo had chanced to come in, she would have been alarmed at such an +extraordinary state of things; but she was at that moment in her seat in +the long school-house, with wrinkled brow, wrestling with sundry +conundrums in her "Watts on the Mind," little suspecting how her fate +was hanging in the balance in Mrs. Primkins' kitchen at this moment. At +last, Mrs. Primkins' thin lips opened. She was alone in the house, and +she began to talk to herself: + +"Wants her to have a birthday-party! Humph! I must say I can't see the +good of pampering children's folks do nowadays! When _I_ was young, now, +we had something to think of besides fine clothes, unwholesome food, and +worldly dissipation! I must say I think Mis' Rievor has some very +uncommon notions! Hows'ever," she went on, contemplating fondly the bill +she still held in her hand, "I do' know's I have any call to fret my +gizzard if she chooses to potter away her money! I don't see my way +clear to refuse altogether to do what she asks, 's long 's the child's +on my hands. Ten dollars! Humph! She 'hopes it'll be enough to provide a +little supper for them!' It's my private opinion that it will, and a +mite over for--for--other things," she added, resolutely closing her +lips with a snap. "I aint such a shif'less manager's all that comes to, +I _do_ hope! 'T wont take no ten dollars to give a birthday-party in +_my_ house, I bet a cookey!" + +That night, when supper was over, Nimpo sat down with the family by the +table, which held one candle that dimly lighted the room, to finish a +book she was reading. Not that the kitchen was the only room in the +house. Mrs. Primkins had plenty of rooms, but they were too choice for +every-day use. They were always tightly closed, with green paper shades +down, lest the blessed sunshine should get a peep at her gaudy red and +green carpets, and put the least mellowing touch an their crude and +rasping colors. Nimpo thought of the best parlor with a sort of awe +which she never felt toward any room in her mother's house. + +"Nimpo," said Mrs. Primkins at last, when she had held back the news +till Nimpo had finished her book, and was about to go upstairs, "wait a +bit. I got a letter from your Ma to-day." + +"Did you?" exclaimed Nimpo, alarmed. "Oh! what is the matter?" + +"Don't fly into tificks! Nothing is the matter," said Mrs. Primkins. + +"Is she coming home?" was the next eager question. + +"No, not yet," fell like cold water on her warm hopes. "But she says +to-morrow's your birthday." + +"Why, so it is!" said Nimpo, reflecting. "I never thought of it." + +"Wal, she thinks perhaps I'd best let you have a few girls to tea on +that day, if 't wont be too much of a chore for me," went on Mrs. +Primkins, deliberately. + +Nimpo's face was radiant. "Oh, Mrs. Primkins, if you _will!_" But it +fell again. "But where could they be?"--for trespassing on the dismal +glories of the Primkins' parlor had never entered her wildest dreams. + +"I've thought of that," said Mrs. Primkins, grimly. "Of course, I +couldn't abide a pack of young ones tramping up my best parlor carpet, +and I thought mebbe I'd put a few things up in the second story, and let +you have 'em there." + +The second story was unfurnished. + +"Oh, that will be splendid!" said Nimpo, eagerly. "But,--but,"--she +hesitated,--"could they take tea here?" and she glanced around the +kitchen, which was parlor, sitting-room, dining-room, and, in fact, +almost the only really useful room in the house. The front part Mrs. +Primkins enjoyed as other people enjoy pictures, or other beautiful +things,--looking at, but not using them. + +"No; I shall set the table in the back chamber, and let you play in the +front chamber. We can put some chairs in, and I'm sure a bare floor is +more suitable for a pack of young ones." + +Mrs. Primkins always spoke of children as wild beasts, which must be +endured, to be sure, but carefully looked after, like wolves or hyenas. + +"Oh yes! We wouldn't be afraid of hurting that. Oh, that'll be +splendid!" continued Nimpo, as the plan grew on her. "I thank you so +much, Mrs. Primkins!--and we'll be so careful not to hurt anything!" + +"Humph!" said Mrs. Primkins, not thinking it necessary to tell her that +her mother had sent money to cover the expense. "You're a master hand to +promise." + +"I know I forget sometimes," said Nimpo, penitently. "But I'll try +really to be careful, this time." + +"Wal," said Mrs. Primkins, in conclusion, as she folded her knitting and +brought out the bed-room candles, "if you don't hector me nigh about to +death, I'll lose my guess! But as I'm in for 't now, you may's well +bring the girls when you come home from school to-morrow. Then you'll +have time to play before supper, for their mothers'll want them home +before dark." + +"Do you care who I invite?" asked Nimpo, pausing with the door open on +her way to bed. + +"No, I do' know's I do. Your intimate friends, your Ma said." + +"Oh, goody!" said Nimpo, as she skipped upstairs, two at a time. "Wont +we have fun! How nice it'll be!" + +The next morning she was off, bright and early, and, before the bell +rang, every girl in the school knew that Nimpo was going to have a +birthday-party, and was wondering if she would be invited. At recess, +she issued her invitations, every one of which was promptly accepted; +and in the afternoon all came in their best dresses, ready to go home +with Nimpo. + +At four o'clock, they were dismissed, and Nimpo marshaled her guests and +started. Now, the truth was, that the girls had been so very lovely to +her when she was inviting, that she found it hard to distinguish between +intimate friends and those not quite so intimate, so she had asked more +than she realized till she saw them started up the street. However, she +had not been limited as to numbers, so she gave herself no concern, as +she gayly led the way. + +Meanwhile, the Primkins family had been busy. After the morning work was +done, Mrs. Primkins and her daughter Augusta made a loaf of plain, +wholesome cake, a couple of tins of biscuits, and about the same number +of cookies with caraway-seeds in them. After dinner, they carried a +table into the back chamber and spread the feast. Nimpo's mother had +sent, as a birthday-present, a new set of toy dishes. It had arrived by +stage while Nimpo was at school, and been carefully concealed from her; +and Augusta, who had not yet forgotten that she was once young (though +it was many years before), thought it would be nice to serve the tea on +these dishes. Not being able to think of any serious objection, and +seeing advantage in the small pieces required to fill them, Mrs. +Primkins had consented, and Augusta had arranged a very pretty table, +all with its white and gilt china. The biscuits and cookies were cut +small to match, and, when ready, it looked very cunning, with tiny +slices of cake, and one little dish of jelly--from the top shelf in Mrs. +Primkins' pantry. + +During the afternoon, a boy came up from the store (Nimpo's father was a +country merchant) with a large basket, in which were several pounds of +nuts and raisins and candy, which her father had ordered by letter. + +Everything was prepared, and Mrs. Primkins had put on a clean checked +apron, to do honor to the occasion, and sat down in her rocker, feeling +that she had earned her rest, when Augusta's voice sounded from +upstairs: "Ma, do look down street!" + +Mrs. Primkins went to the window that looked toward the village, and was +struck with horror. + +[Illustration: "DO LOOK DOWN STREET!"] + +"Goodness gracious! Why, what under the canopy! Did you ever!" came from +her lips in quick succession, for there was Nimpo, the center of a very +mob of girls, all in Sunday best, as Mrs. Primkins' experienced eye saw +at a glance. + +"Ma!" exclaimed Augusta, rushing down, "I do believe that young one has +invited the whole school!" + +"The trollop!" was all Mrs. Primkins could get out, in her exasperation. + +"I'd send 'em right straight home!" said Augusta, indignantly. "It's a +burning shame!" + +"Mercy on us! This is a pretty kettle of fish!" gasped Mrs. Primkins. + +"I wouldn't stand it! So there!" said Augusta, sharply. "I never did see +such a young one! I'd just send every chick and child home, and let Miss +Nimpo take her supper in her own room--to pay her off! Things have come +to a pretty pass, I think!" + +"I never did!" ejaculated Mrs. Primkins, not yet recovering her ordinary +powers of speech. + +"Shall I go out and meet them, and send them packing?" asked Augusta. + +"No," said her mother, reluctantly, remembering the unbroken bill in her +"upper drawer." "I do' know's I have a right to send them back. I didn't +tell her how many, but--mercy on us!--who'd dream of such a raft! If +there's one, there's forty, I do declare!" + +"That's the meaning of those enormous packages of nuts and things from +the store," said Augusta, "that we thought were enough for an army." + +"But the table!" gasped Mrs. Primkins. "For such a crowd! Augusta," +hastily, "fly around like a parched pea, and lock the doors of that +room, till I think what we can do. This is a party with a vengeance!" + +Augusta obeyed, and was none too quick, for the girls crowded into the +front chamber before she had secured the doors. + +Being a "party," of course they had to go into the house. But as soon as +they had thrown off their slat sun-bonnets,--which was in about one +second,--and began to look around the bare room, to see what they should +do next, Nimpo was seized with a bright idea. + +"Girls, let's go out in the yard, and play till tea-time," she said; and +the next moment sun-bonnets were resumed, and the whole troop tramped +down the back stairs, Nimpo not daring, even on this festive occasion, +to disturb the silence of the solemn front hall, and the gorgeous +colored stair-carpet. In two minutes, they were deep in the game of +"Pom-pom-peel-away," and now was Mrs. Primkins' chance. + +She hastily sent Augusta out to the neighbors, letting her out slyly by +the front door, so the "party" shouldn't see her, to beg or borrow +something to feed the crowd; for, the next day being baking-day, her +pantry was nearly empty, and there was not such a thing in the village +as a bakery. As soon as she was gone, Mrs. Primkins cleared the table +upstairs, hid the small biscuits and minute slices of cake, and brought +tables from other rooms to lengthen this. She then carried every cup and +saucer and plate of her own up there, and even made several +surreptitious visits herself to accommodating friends, to borrow, +telling the news, and getting their sympathy, so that they freely lent +their dishes, and even sent their boys to carry them over, and their big +girls to help arrange. + +For an hour, the games went on in the side yard, while a steady stream +came in by the front door--the grand front door!--and up the august +stairs, carrying bread, cake, dishes, saucers, etc., etc., till there +was a tolerable supply, and Mrs. Primkins was in debt numerous loaves of +bread and cake, and dishes of "preserves." + +At five o'clock, they were called in, and, before their sharp young +appetites, everything disappeared like dew in the sunshine. It was a +queer meal,--bread of various shapes and kinds, and not a large supply; +cakes, an equally miscellaneous collection, from cup-cake which old Mrs. +Kellogg had kept in a jar two months, "in case a body dropped in +unexpected," to bread-cake fresh from some one else's oven; cookies of a +dozen kinds; doughnuts and ginger-cakes, and half a dozen dishes of +sweet-meats, no two alike. + +But all deficiencies were forgotten when they came to the nuts and +candies, for of these there was no lack. Augusta had filled every extra +dish in the house with these delightful things, and I sadly fear the +children ate shocking amounts of trash. But they had a good time. The +entertainment was exactly to their liking,--little bread and butter, and +plenty of candy and raisins. It was incomparably superior to ordinary +teas, where bread predominated and candy was limited. + +After eating everything on the table, putting the remainder of the candy +in their pockets, as Nimpo insisted, they flocked into the front room, +where Mrs. Primkins told them they might play a while, if they would not +make a noise, as a little sprinkle of rain had come up. To insure quiet, +each girl took off her shoes, and played in stocking-feet on the bare, +rough floor, "blind-man's-buff," "hunt the slipper," and other games, +for an hour more. + +Suddenly, Nimpo held up her foot. + +"Girls! look there!" Nimpo's tone was tragic. + +The soles of her stockings were in awful holes! All eyes were instantly +turned on her, and forty feet were simultaneously elevated to view. The +tale was the same,--every stocking sole was black as the ground, and +worn to rags! + +"What will Ma say?" rose in horror to every lip. + +This awful thought sobered them at once, and, finding it getting dark, +shoes were hastily sought out of the pile in the corner, sun-bonnets +donned, and slowly the long procession moved down the back stairs and +out again into the street. + +Nimpo flung herself on to the little bed in her room, and sighed with +happiness. + +"Oh! wasn't it splendid?--and I know mamma'll forgive my stockings. +Besides, I'll wash them myself, and darn them." + +(While I am about it, I may as well say that every girl who went to +Nimpo's party had a long and serious task of darning the next week.) + +When it was all over, and Mrs. Primkins and Augusta, assisted by two or +three neighbors, had washed and returned dishes, brought down tables and +chairs, swept out front hall, and reduced it to its normal condition of +dismal state, to be seen and not used, and the neighbors had gone, and +it was nine o'clock at night, Augusta sat down to reckon up debts, while +Mrs. Primkins "set the bread." + +Augusta brought out her account, and read: "Mrs. A., blank loaves of +bread, ditto cake, one dish preserves; Mrs. B., ditto, ditto; Mrs. C., +ditto, ditto." + +Mrs. Primkins listened to the whole list, and made a mental calculation +of how much of the ten-dollar bill it would take to pay up. The result +must have been satisfactory, for her grim face relaxed almost into a +smile, as she covered up the "sponge" and washed her hands. + +"Wal, don't let your Pa get away in the morning till he has split up a +good pile of oven-wood. We'll heat the brick oven, and have over Mis' +Kent's Mary Ann to help. I guess the money'll cover it, and I can pay +Mary Ann in old clothes." + + + + +THE LINNET'S FEE. + +BY MRS. ANNIE A. PRESTON. + + + Once I saw a wee brown linnet + Dancing on a tree, + Dancing on a tree. + How her feet flew every minute + As she danced at me-e-e; + How her feet flew every minute + As she danced at me! + + "Sing a song for me, wee linnet, + Sing a song for me, + Sing a song for me." + "Oh, Miss, if you'll wait a minute, + Till my mate I see-e-e; + Oh, Miss, if you'll wait a minute, + He will sing for thee." + + "Thank you, thank you, wee brown linnet, + For amusing me, + For amusing me; + You have danced for many a minute, + You must tired be-e-e, + You have sung for many minutes, + You must tired be." + + "Thanks would starve us," cried the linnets,-- + As he sung at me, + As she danced at me. + "Should you sing like this ten minutes, + You would want a fee-e-e; + Should you dance like this ten minutes + You would want a fee." + + "Pardon me, I pray, dear linnet, + Fly down from your tree, + Fly down from your tree. + I will come back in a minute + With some seed for thee-e-e; + I will come back in a minute + With some seed for thee." + + + + +DAB KINZER: A STORY OF A GROWING BOY. + +BY WILLIAM O. STODDARD. + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +Dismally barren and lonesome was that desolate bar between the "bay" and +the ocean. Here and there it swelled up into great drifts and mounds of +sand, which were almost large enough to be called hills; but nowhere did +it show a tree or a bush, or even a patch of grass. Annie Foster found +herself getting melancholy as she gazed upon it and thought of how the +winds must sometimes sweep across it, laden with sea-spray and rain and +hail, or the bitter sleet and blinding snow of winter. + +"Dabney," she said, "was the storm very severe here last night and +yesterday?" + +"Worse here than over our side of the bay, ten times." + +"Were there any vessels wrecked?" + +"Most likely; but it's too soon to know just where." + +At that moment the "Swallow" was running rapidly around a sandy point, +jutting into the bay from the highest mound on the bar, not half a mile +from the light-house, and only twice as far from the low, wooden roof of +the "wrecking station," where, as Dab had explained to his guests, the +life-boats and other apparatus were kept safely housed. The piles of +drifted sand had for some time prevented the brightest eyes on board the +"Swallow" from seeing anything to seaward; but now, as they came around +the point and a broad level lay before them, Ham Morris sprang to his +feet in sudden excitement as he exclaimed: + +"In the breakers! Why, she must have been a three-master. All up with +her now." + +"Look along the shore!" shouted Dab. "Some of 'em saved, anyhow. The +coast-men are there, life-boats and all." + +So they were, and Ham was right about the vessel, though not a mast was +left standing in her now. If there had been, indeed, she might have been +kept off the breakers, as they afterward learned. She had been dismasted +in the storm, but had not struck until after daylight that morning, and +help had been close at hand and promptly given. No such thing as saving +that unfortunate hull. She would beat to pieces just where she lay, +sooner or later, according to the kind of weather and the waves it +should bring with it. + +The work done by the life-boat men had been a good one, and had not been +very easy either, for they had brought the crew and passengers from the +wreck safely to the sandy beach. They had even saved some items of +baggage. In a few hours, the "coast wrecking tugs" would be on hand to +look out for the cargo. No chance whatever for the 'longshoremen, good +or bad, to turn an honest penny without working hard for it. Work and +wages enough, to be sure, helping to unload, when the sea, now so very +heavy, should go down a little; but "wages" were not what some of them +were most hungry for. + +Two of them, at all events--one a tall, weather-beaten, +stoop-shouldered, grizzled old man, in tattered raiment, and the other, +even more battered, but with no "look of the sea" about him--stood on a +sand-drift gloomily gazing at the group of shipwrecked people on the +shore, and the helpless mass of timber and spars out there among the +beatings of the surf. + +"Not more 'n three hunder yards out. She'd break up soon 'f there was no +one to hender. Wot a show we'd hev." + +"I reckon," growled the shorter man. "Is your name Peter?" + +"Aye. I belong yer. Allers lived about high-water mark. Whar'd ye come +from?" + +The only answer was a sharp and excited exclamation. Neither of them had +been paying any attention to the bay side of the bar and, while they +were gazing at the wreck, a very pretty little yacht had cast anchor, +close in shore, and then, with the help of a row-boat, quite a party of +ladies and gentlemen--the latter somewhat young-looking--had made their +way to the land, and were now hurrying forward. They did not pay the +slightest attention to Peter and his companion, but, in a few minutes +more, they were trying to talk to those poor people on the sea-beach. +Trying, but not succeeding very well, for the wreck had been a Bremen +bark with an assorted cargo and some fifty passengers, all emigrants. +German seemed their only tongue, and none of Mrs. Kinzer's +pleasure-party spoke German. + +"Too bad," Ford Foster was saying, when there came a sort of wail from a +group at a little distance, and it seemed to close with--"pauvre +enfant." + +"French!" he exclaimed. "Why, they look as Dutch as any of the rest. +Come on, Annie, let's try and speak to them." + +The rest followed a good deal like a flock of sheep, and it was a sad +enough scene which lay before them. No lives had been lost in the wreck, +though there had been a great deal of suffering among the poor +passengers, cooped up between-decks with the hatches closed, while the +storm lasted. Nobody drowned, indeed, but all dreadfully soaked in the +surf in getting ashore; and among the rest had been the fair-haired +child, now lying there on his mother's lap, so pinched and blue, and +seemingly so lifeless. + +French, were they? Yes and no; for the father, a tall, stout young man, +who looked like a farmer, told Ford they were from Alsace, and spoke +both tongues. + +"The child, was it sick?" + +Not so much sick as dying of starvation and exposure. + +Oh, such a sad, pleading look as the poor mother lifted to the moist +eyes of Mrs. Kinzer as the portly widow bent over the silent boy. Such a +pretty child he must have been, and not over two years old; but the salt +water was in his tangled curls now, and his poor lips were parted in a +weak, sick way, that spoke of utter exhaustion. + +"Can anything be done, mother?" + +"Yes, Dabney; you and Ham, and Ford and Frank, go to the yacht, quick as +you can, and bring the spirit-heater, lamp and all, and bread and milk, +and every dry napkin and towel you can find. Bring Keziah's shawl." + +Such quick time they made across that sand-bar! + +And they were none too soon; for, as they came running down to their +boat, a mean, slouching sort of fellow walked rapidly away from it. + +"He was going to steal it." + +"Can't go for him now, Dab; but you'll have to mount guard here while we +go back with the things." + +He did so, and Ham and Frank and Ford hurried back to the other beach to +find that Mrs. Kinzer had taken complete possession of that baby. Every +rag of his damp things was already stripped off, and now, while Miranda +lighted the "heater" and made some milk hot in a minute, the good lady +began to rub the little sufferer as only a mother knows how. + +Then there was a warm wrapping up in cloths and shawls, and better +success than anybody had dreamed of in making the seemingly half-dead +child eat something. + +"That was about all the matter," said Mrs. Kinzer. "Now if we can get +him and his mother over to the house, we can save both of them. Ford, +how long did you say it was since they'd eaten anything?" + +"About three days, they say." + +"Mercy on me! And that cabin of ours holds so little! Glad it's full, +anyhow. Let's get it out and over here at once." + +"The cabin?" + +"No, the provisions." + +And not a soul among them all thought of their own lunch, any more than +Mrs. Kinzer herself did; but Joe and Fuz were not just then among them. +On the contrary, they were over there by the shore, where the "Jenny" +had been pulled up, trying to get Dab Kinzer to put them on board the +"Swallow." + +"Somebody ought to be on board of her," said Fuz, in as anxious a tone +as he could, "with so many strange people around." + +[Illustration: "WHOM DO YOU THINK I'VE SEEN TO-DAY?"] + +"It isn't safe," added Joe. + +"Fact," replied Dab; "but then I kind o' like to feel a little unsafe." + +And the Hart boys felt, somehow, that Dab knew why they were so anxious +to go on board, and they were right enough, for he was saying to himself +at that moment, + +"They can wait. They do look hungry, but they'll live through it. There +aint any cuffs or collars in Ham's locker." + +All there was then in the locker, however, was soon out of it when Mrs. +Kinzer and the rest came, for they brought with them the officers of the +wrecked bark, and neither Joe nor Fuz had a chance to so much as "help +distribute" that supply of provisions. Ham went over to make sure it +should be properly done, while Mrs. Kinzer saw her little patient with +his father and mother safely stowed on board the "Swallow." + +"I'll save that baby, anyhow," she said to Miranda, "and Ford says his +father's a farmer. We can find plenty for 'em to do. They'll never see a +thing of their baggage, and I guess they hadn't a great deal." + +She was just the woman to guess correctly, but at that moment Dab Kinzer +said to Annie Foster in a low tone: + +"Whom do you think I've seen to-day?" + +"I can't guess. Who was it?" + +"The tramp!" + +"The same one--" + +"The very same. There he goes, over the sand-hill yonder, with old +Peter, the wrecker. We've got to hurry home now, but I'm going to set +Ham Morris on his track." + +"You never'll find him again." + +"Do you s'pose old Peter'd befriend a man that did what he did, right on +the shore of the bay? No, indeed, there isn't a fisherman from here to +Montauk that wouldn't join to hunt him out. He's safe whenever Ham wants +him, if we don't scare him now." + +"Don't scare him, then," whispered Annie. + +The wind was fair and the home sail of the "Swallow" was really a swift +and short one, but it did seem dreadfully long to her passengers. Mrs. +Kinzer was anxious to see that poor baby safely in bed. Ham Morris +wanted to send a whole load of refreshments back to the shipwrecked +people. Dab Kinzer could not keep his thoughts from that "tramp." And +then, if the truth must come out, every soul on board the beautiful +little yacht was getting more and more aware, with every minute that +passed, that they had had a good deal of sea air and excitement, and a +splendid sail across the bay and back, but no dinner. Not so much as a +herring or a cracker. + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +As for the Kinzers, that was by no means their first experience in such +matters, but their friends had never before been so near to a genuine, +out and out shipwreck. Perhaps, too, they had rarely if ever felt so +very nearly starved. At least Joe and Fuz Hart remarked as much a score +of times before the "Swallow" slipped through the inlet and made her way +toward the landing. + +"Ham," said Dab Kinzer, "are you going right back again?" + +"Course I am, soon as I can get a load of eatables from the house and +the village. You 'll have to stay here." + +"Why can't I go with you?" + +"Plenty for you to do at the house and around while I'm gone. No, you +can't go." + +Dab seemed to have expected as much, for he turned to Ford with, + +"Then I'll tell you what we must do." + +"What's that?" + +"See about the famine. Can you cook?" + +"No." + +"I can, then. Ham'll have one half of our house at work getting his +cargo ready, and that baby'll fill up the other half." + +"Mother wont be expecting us so soon, and our cook's gone out for the +day. Annie knows something." + +"She can help me, then. Those Hart boys'll die if they're not fed. Look +at Fuz. Why, he can't keep his mouth shut." + +Joe and his brother seemed to know, as if by instinct, that the dinner +question was under discussion; and they were soon taking their share of +talk. Oh, how they wished it had been a share of something to eat! The +"Swallow" was moored, now, after discharging her passengers, but Dab did +not start for the house with his mother and the rest. He even managed to +detain some of the empty lunch-baskets, large ones, too. + +"Come on, Mr. Kinzer," shouted Joe Hart, "let's put for the village. +We'll starve here." + +"A fellow that'd starve here just deserves to, that's all," said Dab. +"Ford, there's Bill Lee's boat and three others coming in. We're all +right. One of 'em's a dredger." + +Ford and Frank could only guess what their friend was up to, but Dab was +not doing any guessing. + +"Bill," he exclaimed, as Dick's father pulled within hearing,--"Bill, +put a lot of your best pan-fish in this basket and then go and fetch us +some lobsters. There's half a dozen in your pot. Did those others get +any luck?" + +"More clams 'n 'ysters," responded Bill. + +"Then we'll take both lots." + +The respect of the city boys for the resources of the Long Island shore +began to rise rapidly a few minutes later, for not only was one of Dab's +baskets promptly provided with "pan-fish," such as porgies, black fish +and perch, but two others received all the clams and oysters they were +at all anxious to carry to the house. At the same time, Bill Lee +offered, as an amendment to the lobster question, + +"Ye 'r' wrong about the pot, Dab." + +"Wrong? Why--" + +"Yes, you's wrong. Glorianny's been an' b'iled every one on 'em an' they +'re all nice an' cold by this time." + +"All right. I never eat my lobsters raw. Just you go and get them, Dick. +Bring 'em right over to Ford's house." + +Bill Lee would have sent his house and all on a suggestion that the +Kinzers or Fosters were in need of it, and Dick would have carried it +over for him. + +As for "Gloriana," when her son came running in with his errand, she +exclaimed: + +"Dem lobsters? Sho! Dem aint good nuff. Dey sha'n't hab 'em. I'll jist +send de ole man all 'round de bay to git some good ones. On'y dey isn't +no kin' o' lobsters good nuff for some folks, dey isn't." + +Dick insisted, however, and by the time he reached the back door of the +old Kinzer homestead with his load, that kitchen had become very nearly +as busy a place as Mrs. Miranda Morris's own, a few rods away. + +"Ford," suddenly exclaimed Dab, as he finished scaling a large porgy, +"what if mother should make a mistake?" + +"Make a mistake? How?" + +"Cook that baby! It's awful!" + +"Why, its mother's there." + +"Yes, but they've put her to bed, and its father too. Hey, here come the +lobsters. Now, Ford--" + +The rest of what he had to say was given in a whisper, and was not heard +by even Annie Foster, who was just then looking prettier than ever as +she busied herself around the kitchen fire. As for the Hart boys, Mrs. +Foster had invited them to come into the parlor and talk with her till +dinner should be ready. + +Such a frying and broiling! + +Before Ham Morris was ready for his second start, and right in the midst +of his greatest hurry, word came over from Mrs. Foster that "the table +was waiting for them all." + +Even Mrs. Kinzer drew a long breath of relief and satisfaction, for +there was nothing more in the wide world that she could do, just then, +for either "that baby" or its unfortunate parents, and she was beginning +to worry about her son-in-law, and how she should get him to eat +something. For Ham Morris had worked himself up into a high state of +excitement in his benevolent haste, and did not seem to know that he was +hungry. Miranda had entirely sympathized with her husband until that +message came from Mrs. Foster. + +"Oh, Hamilton, and good Mrs. Foster must have cooked it herself!" + +"No," said Ham, thoughtfully; "our Dabney went home with Ford and Annie. +I can't stay but a minute, but I think we'd better go right over." + +Go they did, while the charitable neighbors whom Ham had stirred up +concerning the wreck attended to the completion of the cargo of the +"Swallow." There would be more than one good boat ready to accompany her +back across the bay, laden with comforts of all sorts. + +Even old Jock, the village tavern-keeper, not by any means the best man +in the world, had come waddling down to the landing with a demijohn of +"old apple brandy," and his gift had been kindly accepted by the special +advice of the village physician. + +"That sort of thing has made plenty of ship-wrecks around here," +remarked the man of medicine; "and the people on the bar have swallowed +so much salt-water, the apple-jack can't hurt 'em." + +May be, the doctor was wrong about it, but the demijohn went over to the +wreck in the "Swallow." + +Mrs. Foster's dining-room was not a large one. There were no large rooms +in that house. Nevertheless, the entire party managed to gather around +the table,--all except Dab and Ford. + +"Dab is head cook and I'm head waiter," had been Ford's explanation, +"and we can't have any women folk a-bothering about our kitchen. Frank +and the boys are company." + +Certainly the cook had no cause to be ashamed of his work. The coffee +was excellent. The fish were done to a turn. The oysters, roasted, +broiled or stewed, and likewise the clams, were all that could have been +asked for. Bread there was in abundance, and everything was going finely +till Mrs. Kinzer asked her son, as his fire-red face showed itself at +the kitchen door: + +"Dabney, you've not sent in your vegetables; we're waiting for them." + +Dab's face grew still redder, and he came very near dropping a plate he +had in his hand. + +"Vegetables? Oh yes. Well, Ford, we might as well send them in now. I've +got them all ready." + +Annie opened her eyes and looked hard at her brother, for she knew very +well that not so much as a potato had been thought of in their +preparations. Ford himself looked a little queer, but he marched out, +white apron and all. A minute or so later, the two boys came in again, +each bearing aloft a huge platter. + +One of these was solemnly deposited at each end of the table. + +"Vegetables?" + +"Why, they're lobsters!" + +"Oh, Ford, how could you?" + +The last exclamation came from Annie Foster as she clapped her hands +over her face. Bright red were those lobsters, and fine-looking fellows, +every one of them, in spite of Mrs. Lee's poor opinion; but they were a +little too well dressed, even for a dinner-party. Their thick shoulders +were adorned with collars of the daintiest material and finish, while +every ungainly "flipper" wore a "cuff" which had been manufactured for +very different uses. Plenty of cuffs and collars, and queer enough the +lobsters looked in them. All the queerer because every item of lace and +linen was variegated with huge black spots and blotches, as if some one +had begun to wash it in ink. + +Joe and Fuz were almost as red as the lobsters, and Mrs. Foster's face +looked as severe as it could, but that is not saying a great deal. The +Kinzer family knew all about those cuffs and collars, and Ham Morris and +the younger ladies were trying hard not to laugh. + +"Joe," said Fuz, half snappishly, "can't you take a joke? Annie's got +the laugh on us this time." + +"I?" exclaimed Annie, indignantly. "No, indeed. That's some of Ford's +work and Dabney's. Mr. Kinzer, I'm ashamed of you." + +Poor Dab! + +He muttered something about "those being all the vegetables he had," and +retreated to the kitchen. Joe and Fuz were not the sort to take offense +easily, however, and promptly helped themselves liberally to lobster. +That was all that was necessary to restore harmony at the table; but +Dab's plan for "punishing the Hart boys" was a complete failure. As Ford +told him afterward, + +[Illustration: "VEGETABLES?" "WHY, THEY'RE LOBSTERS!"] + +"Feel it? Not they. You might as well try to hurt a clam with a pin." + +"And I hurt your sister's feelings instead of theirs," replied Dab. +"Well, I'll never try anything like it again. Anyhow, Joe and Fuz aint +comfortable. They ate too many roasted clams and too much lobster." + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +Ham Morris did not linger long at the dinner-table, and Dab would have +given more than ever for the privilege of going with him. Not that he +felt so very charitable, but that he did not care to prolong his stay at +Mrs. Foster's, whether as "cook" or otherwise. He had not lost his +appetite, however, and after he had taken care of that, he slipped away +"on an errand for his mother," and hurried toward the village. Nearly +everybody he met had some question or other to ask him about the wreck, +and it was not to have been expected that Jenny Walters would let her +old acquaintance pass her without a word or so. + +Dab answered as best he could, considering the disturbed state of his +mind, but he wound up with: + +"Jenny, I wish you'd come over to our house by and by." + +"What for?" + +"Oh, I've got something to show you. Something you never saw before." + +"Do you mean your new baby,--the one you found on the bar?" + +"Yes; but that baby, Jenny!" + +"What's wonderful about it?" + +"Why, it's only two years old and it can squall in two languages. That's +more'n you can do." + +"They say your friend, Miss Foster, speaks French," retorted Jenny. "Was +she ever shipwrecked?" + +"In French? May be so. But not in German." + +"Well, Dabney, I don't propose to squall in anything. Are your folks +going to burn any more of their barns this year?" + +"Not unless Samantha gets married. Jenny, do you know what's the latest +fashion in lobsters?" + +"Changeable green, I suppose." + +"No; I mean after they're boiled. It's to have 'em come on the table in +cuffs and collars. Lace around their necks, you know." + +"And gloves?" + +"No, not any gloves. We had lobsters to-day at Mrs. Foster's, and you +ought to have seen 'em." + +"Dabney Kinzer, it's time you went to school again." + +"I'm going in a few days." + +"Going? Do you mean you're going away somewhere?" + +"Ever so far. Dick Lee's going with me." + +"I heard about him, but I didn't know he meant to take you along. That's +very kind of Dick. I s'pose you wont speak to common people when you get +back." + +"Now, Jenny----" + +"Good afternoon, Dabney. Perhaps I'll come over before you go, if it's +only to see that shipwrecked baby." + +A good many of Mrs. Kinzer's lady friends, young and old, deemed it +their duty to come and do that very thing within the next few days. Then +the Sewing Circle took the matter up, and both the baby and its mother +were provided for as they never had been before. It would have taken +more languages than two to have expressed the gratitude of the poor +Alsatians. As for the rest of them, out there on the bar, they were +speedily taken off and carried "to the city," none of them being much +the worse for their sufferings, after all. Ham Morris declared that the +family he had brought ashore "came just in time to help him out with his +fall work, and he didn't see any charity in it." + +Good for Ham! but Dab Kinzer thought otherwise when he saw how tired +Miranda's husband was on his late return from his second trip across the +bay. Real charity never cares to see itself too clearly. They were +pretty tired, both of them; but the "Swallow" was carefully moored in +her usual berth before they left her. Even then they had a good load of +baskets and things to carry with them. + +"Is everything out of the locker, Dab?" asked Ham Morris. + +"All but the jug. I say, did you know it was half full? Would it do any +hurt to leave it here?" + +"The jug? No. Just pour out the rest of the apple-jack, over the side." + +"Make the fish drunk." + +"Well, it sha'n't bother anybody else if I can help it." + +"Then, if it's good for water-soaked people, it wont hurt the fish." + +"Empty it, Dab, and come on. The doctor wasn't so far wrong, and I was +glad to have it with me; but medicine's medicine, and I only wish +people'd remember it." + +The condemned liquor was already gurgling from the mouth of the jug into +the salt water, and neither fish nor eel came forward to get a share of +it. When the cork was replaced, the demijohn was set down again in the +"cabin," with no more danger in it for anybody. + +Perhaps that was one reason--that and his weariness--why Ham Morris did +not take the pains even to lock it up. + +Dabney was so tired in mind if not in body, that he postponed until the +morrow anything he may have had to say about the tramp. He was not at +all sure whether the latter had recognized him, and at all events the +matter would have to wait. So it came to pass that all the village and +the shore was deserted and silent, an hour or so later, when a stoutly +built "cat-boat" with her one sail lowered, was quietly sculled up the +inlet. There were two men on board,--a tall one and a short one,--and +they ran their boat right alongside the "Swallow," as if that were the +very thing they had come to do. + +"Burgin," remarked the tall man, "what ef we don't find anything arter +all this sailin' and rowin'? Most likely he's kerried it to the house. +In course he has." + +The keenly watchful eyes of Burgin had followed the fortunes of that +apple-jack from first to last. To tell the truth, he had more than half +tried to work himself in as one of the "sufferers," but with no manner +of success. He had not failed, however, to see the coveted treasure +stowed away, at last, under the half-deck of the "Swallow." That had +been all the inducement required to get Peter and his boat across the +bay, and the old "wrecker" was as anxious about the result as the tramp +himself could be. It was hard to say which of them was first on board +the "Swallow." + + * * * * * + +A disappointed and angry pair they were when the empty jug was +discovered; but Burgin's indignation was loudest and most abusive. Peter +checked him, at last, with: + +"Look a yer, my friend, is this 'ere your boat?" + +"No, I didn't say it was, did I?" + +"Is that there your jug? I don't know 'at I keer to hev one o' my +neighbors abused all night jest bekase I've been an' let an entire +stranger make a fool of me." + +"Do you mean me?" + +"Well, ef I didn't I wouldn't say it. Don't git mad, now. Jest let's +take a turn 'round the village." + +"You go and I'll wait for ye. 'Pears like I don't keer to walk about +much." + +"Well, then, mind you don't run away with my boat." + +"If I want a boat, there's plenty here better'n your'n." + +"That's so. I wont be gone a great while." + +He was, however, whatever may have been his errand. Old Peter was not +the man to be at any loss for one, even at that time of night, and his +present business kept him away from the shore a full hour. When at last +he returned he found his boat safe enough, and so, apparently were all +the others; but he looked around in vain for any signs of his late +companion. Not that he spent much time or took any great pains in +looking, for he muttered to himself: + +"Gone, has he? Well then, a good riddance to bad rubbidge. I aint no +angel, but he's a long ways wuss than I am." + +Whether or not old Peter was right in his estimate of himself or of +Burgin, in a few moments more he was all alone in his cat-boat, and was +sculling it rapidly up the crooked inlet. + +His search had been indeed a careless one, for he had but glanced over +the gunwale of the "Swallow." A second look would have shown him the +form of the tramp, half covered by a loose flap of the sail, deeply and +heavily sleeping at the bottom of the boat. It was every bit as +comfortable a bed as he had been used to, and there he was still lying, +long after the sun looked in upon him, next morning. + +But other eyes were to look in upon Burgin's face before he awakened +from that untimely and imprudent nap. + +It was not so very early when Ham Morris and Dabney Kinzer were stirring +again; but they had both arisen with a strong desire for a "talk," and +Ham made an opportunity for one by saying: + +"Come on, Dab; let's go down and have a look at the 'Swallow.'" + +Ham had meant to talk about school and kindred matters; but Dabney's +first words about the tramp cut off all other subjects. + +"You ought to have told me," he said. "I'd have had him tied up in a +minute." + +Dabney explained as well as he could, but, before he had finished, Ham +suddenly exclaimed: + +"There's Dick Lee on board the 'Swallow.' What's he there for?" + +"Dick!" shouted Dabney. + +"Cap'n Dab, did yo' set dis yer boat to trap somebody?" + +"No. Why?" + +"Well den, you's gone an' cotched um. Jes you come an' see." + +The sound of Dick Lee's voice, so near them, reached the dull ears of +the slumbering tramp and, as Ham and Dabney sprang into a yawl and +pushed alongside the yacht, his unpleasant face was slowly and sleepily +lifted above the rail. + +"It's the very man!" excitedly shouted Dabney. + +"The tramp?" + +"Yes, the tramp." + +No one would have suspected Ham Morris of so much agility, although his +broad and well-knit frame promised abundant strength, but he was on +board the "Swallow" like a flash and Burgin was "pinned" by his iron +grasp before he could guess what was coming. + +It was too late, then, for any such thing as resistance, and he settled +at once into a dogged, sullen silence, after the ordinary custom of his +kind when they find themselves cornered. It is a species of brute, +animal instinct, more than even cunning, seemingly, but not a word did +Ham and Dabney obtain from their prisoner until they delivered him to +the safe keeping of the village authorities. That done, they went home +to breakfast, feeling as if they had made a good morning's work, but +wondering what the end of it all would be. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +The other boys were very much interested in the story of the tramp, and +so was Mr. Foster when he came home, but poor Annie was a good deal more +troubled than pleased. + +"Oh, mother," she exclaimed, "do you suppose I'll have to appear in +court as a witness against him?" + +"I hope not, dear. Perhaps your father can manage to prevent it." + +It would not have been easy for even so good a lawyer as Mr. Foster, if +Burgin himself had not saved them all trouble on that score. Long before +the slow processes of country criminal justice could bring him to actual +trial, so many misdeeds were brought home to him from here and there, +that he gave the matter up and freely related not only the manner of the +barn-burning, but his revengeful motive for it. He made his case so very +clear that when, in due course of time, he was brought before a judge +and jury, there was nothing left for him to do but to plead "guilty." + +That was some months later, however, and just at that time the manner of +his capture--for the story of the demijohn leaked out first of all--gave +the village something new to talk about. It was as good as a temperance +lecture in spite of old Jock's argument that: + +"You see, boys, good liquor don't do no harm. That was real good +apple-jack, an' it jist toled that chap across the bay and captured him +without no manner of diffikilty." + +There were plenty who could testify to a different kind of "capture." + +One effect of the previous day's work, including his adventures as an +ornamental cook, was that Dab Kinzer conceived himself bound to be +thenceforth especially polite to Joe and Fuz. The remaining days of +their visit would have been altogether too few for the various +entertainments he laid out for them. + +They were to catch all that was to be caught in the bay. They were to +ride everywhere and see everything. + +"They don't deserve it, Dab," said Ford; "but you're a real good fellow. +Mother says so." + +"Does she?" and Dab evidently felt a good deal better after that. + +Dick Lee, when his friends found time to think of him, had almost +disappeared. Some three days afterward, while all the rest were out in +the "Jenny," having a good time with their hooks and lines, "Gloriana" +made her appearance in Mrs. Kinzer's dining-room with a face that was +darker than usual with motherly anxiety. + +"Miss Kinzer, has you seed my Dick dis week?" + +"No, he hasn't been here at all. Anything the matter with him?" + +"Dat's de berry question. I doesn't know wot to make ob 'im." + +"Why, is he studying too hard?" + +"It aint jist de books. I isn't so much afeard ob dem, but it's all +'long ob dat 'cad'my. I wish you'd jist take a look at 'im, fust chance +ye git." + +"Does he look bad?" + +"No, taint jist altogeder his looks. He's de bes' lookin' boy 'long +shoah. But den de way he's goin' on to talk. 'T aint nateral. He use to +talk fust rate." + +"Can't he talk now?" + +"Yes, Miss Kinzer, he kin talk, but den de way he gits out his words. +Nebber seen sech a t'ing in all my born days. Takes him eber so long +jist to say good-mornin'. An' den he don't say it like he used ter. I +wish you'd jist take a good look at 'im." + +Mrs. Kinzer promised, and gave her black friend such comfort as she +could, but Dick Lee's tongue would never again be the free and easy +thing it had been. Even at home and about his commonest "chores," he was +all the while struggling with his pronunciation. If he succeeded as well +with the rest of his "schooling," it was safe to say that it would not +be thrown away upon him. + +Gloriana went her way, and the next to intrude upon Mrs. Kinzer's +special domain was her son-in-law himself, accompanied by his rosy +bride. + +"We've got a plan!" + +"You? A plan? What about?" + +"Dab and his friends." + +"A party!" exclaimed Dab, when his mother unfolded Ham's plan to him. +"Ham and Miranda give a party for us boys! Well, now, aren't they right +down good! But, mother, we'll have to get it up mighty quick." + +"I know, but that's easy enough with all the help we'll have. I'll take +care of that." + +"But, mother, what can we do? There's only a few know how to dance. I +don't, for one." + +"You must talk that over with Ford. Perhaps Annie and Frank can help +you." + +Great were the consultations and endless were the plans and +propositions, till even Mrs. Kinzer found her temper getting a little +worried over them. + +"Miranda," she said, on the morning of the day, "all the invitations are +sent now, and we must get rid of Dabney and the boys for a few hours." + +"Send 'em for some greens to rig the parlor with," suggested Ham. "Let +'em take the ponies." + +"Do you think the ponies are safe to drive just now?" + +"Oh, Dab can handle 'em. They're a trifle skittish, that's all. They +need a little exercise." + +So they did, but it was to be doubted if the best way to secure it for +them was to send them out in a light, two-seated wagon, with a load of +five lively boys. + +"Now, don't you let one of the other boys touch the reins," said Mrs. +Kinzer. + +Dab's promise to that effect was a hard one to keep, for Joe and Fuz +almost tried to take the reins away from him before they had driven two +miles from the house. He was firm, however, and they managed to reach +the strip of woodland, some five miles inland, where they were to gather +their load, without any disaster, but it was evident to Dab all the way, +that his ponies were in unusually "high" condition. He took them out of +the wagon while the rest began to gather their very liberal harvest of +evergreens, and did not bring them near it again until all was ready for +the start homeward. + +"Now, boys," he said, "you get in. Joe and Ford and Fuz on the back seat +to hold the greens. Frank, get up there, forward, while I hitch the +ponies. These fellows are full of mischief." + +Very full, certainly, nor did Dab Kinzer know exactly what the matter +was, for a minute or so after he seized the reins and sprang up beside +Frank Harley. Then, indeed, as the ponies reared and kicked and plunged, +it seemed to him he saw something work out from under their collars and +fall to the ground. An acorn-burr is just the thing to worry a restive +horse, if put in such a place, but Joe and Fuz had hardly expected their +"little joke" would be so very successful as it was. + +The ponies were off now. + +"Joe," shouted Fuz, "let's jump!" + +"Don't let 'em, Ford," exclaimed Dab, giving his whole energies to the +horses. "They'll break their necks if they do. Hold 'em in!" + +Ford, who was in the middle, promptly seized an arm of each of his +panic-stricken cousins, while Frank clambered over the seat to help him. +They were all down on the the bottom now, serving as a weight to hold +the branches, as the light wagon bounced and rattled along over the +smooth, level road. + +In vain Dab pulled and pulled at the ponies. Run they did, and all he +could do was to keep them fairly in the road. + +Bracing strongly back, with the reins wound around his tough hands, and +with a look in his face that should have given courage even to the Hart +boys, Dab strained at his task as bravely as he had stood at the tiller +of the "Swallow" in the storm. + +No such thing as stopping them. + +And now, as they whirled along, even Dab's face paled a little. + +"I must reach the bridge before he does. He's just stupid enough to keep +right on." + +And it was very stupid indeed for the driver of that one-horse "truck +wagon" to try and reach the narrow little unrailed bridge first. It was +an old, used-up sort of a bridge, at best. + +Dab loosened the reins a little, but could not use his whip. + +"Why can't he stop!" + +It was a moment of breathless anxiety, but the wagoner kept stolidly on. +There would be barely room to pass him on the road itself; none at all +on the narrow bridge. + +The ponies did it. + +They seemed to put on an extra touch of speed, on their own account, +just then. + +There was a rattle, a faint crash, and then, as the wheels of the two +vehicles almost grazed one another in passing, Ford shouted: + +"The bridge is down!" + +Such a narrow escape! + +One of the rotten girders, never half strong enough, had given way under +the sudden shock of the hind wheels and that truck wagon would have to +find its path across the brook as best it could. + +There were more wagons to pass as they plunged forward, and rough places +in the road, for Dabney to look out for, but even Joe and Fuz were now +getting confidence in their driver. Before long, too, the ponies +themselves began to feel that they had had nearly enough of it. Then it +was that Dab used his whip again, and the streets of the village were +traversed at such a rate as to call for the disapprobation of all +sober-minded people. + +"Here we are, Ham, greens and all." + +"Did they run far?" asked Ham, quietly. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + + +The boys had returned a good deal sooner than had been expected, but +they made no more trouble. As Ford Foster remarked, they were all +"willing to go slow for a week" after being carried so very fast by Dab +Kinzer's ponies. + +There was a great deal to be said about the runaway, and Mrs. Foster +longed to see Dab and thank him on Ford's account, but he himself had no +idea that he had done anything remarkable, and was very busily at work +decking Miranda's parlors with the "greens." + +A very nice appearance they made, all those woven branches and clustered +sprays, when they were in place, and Samantha declared for them that, + +"They had kept Dab out of mischief all the afternoon." + +At an early hour after supper, the guests began to arrive, for Mrs. +Kinzer was a woman of too much sense to have night turned into day when +she could prevent it. As the stream of visitors steadily poured in, Dab +remarked to Jenny Walters: + +"We shall have to enlarge the house after all." + +"If it were only a dress, now?" + +"What then?" + +"Why, you could just let out the tucks. I've had to do that with mine." + +"Jenny, shake hands with me." + +"What for, Dabney?" + +"I'm so glad to meet somebody else that's outgrowing something." + +There was a tinge of color rising in Jenny's face, but, before she could +say anything, Dab added: + +"There! Jenny, there's Mrs. Foster and Annie. Isn't she sweet?" + +"One of the nicest old ladies I ever saw----" + +"Oh, I didn't mean her mother." + +"Never mind. You must introduce me to them." + +"So I will. Take my arm." + +[Illustration: "MAY I HAVE THE HONOR?"] + +Jenny Walters had been unusually kindly and gracious in her manner that +evening, and her very voice had much less than its accustomed sharpness, +but her natural disposition broke out a little some minutes later, while +she was talking with Annie. Said she: + +"I've wanted so much to get acquainted with you." + +"With me?" + +"Yes. I've seen you in church, and I've heard you talked about, and I +wanted to find out for myself." + +"Find out what?" asked Annie a little soberly. + +"Why, you see, I don't believe it's possible for any girl to be as sweet +as you look. I couldn't, I know. I've been trying these two days, and +I'm nearly worn out." + +Annie's eyes opened wide with surprise, and she laughed merrily as she +answered: + +"What can you mean? I'm glad enough if my face doesn't tell tales of +me." + +"But mine does," said Jenny, "and then I'm so sure to tell all the rest +with my tongue. I wish I knew what were your faults." + +"My faults? What for?" + +"I don't know. Seems to me if I could think of your faults instead of +mine, it wouldn't be so hard to look sweet." + +Annie saw that there was more earnestness than fun in the queer talk of +her new acquaintance. The truth was that Jenny had been having almost as +hard a struggle with her tongue as ever poor Dick Lee with his, though +not for not the same reason. Before many minutes she had frankly told +Annie all about it, and she could never have done that if she had not +somehow felt that Annie's "sweetness" was genuine. The two girls were +sure friends after that, much to the surprise of Mr. Dabney Kinzer. + +He, indeed, had been too much occupied in caring for his guests to pay +special attention to one of them. His mother had looked after him again +and again with eyes brimful of pride and of commendation of the way he +was acquitting himself. + +Even Mrs. Foster said to her husband, who had now arrived: + +"Do you see that? Who would have expected as much from a raw, green +country boy?" + +"But, my dear, don't you see? The secret of it is that he's not thinking +of himself at all. He's only anxious his friends should have a good +time." + +"That's it; but then that too is a very rare thing in a boy of his age." + +"Dabney!" exclaimed the lawyer in a louder tone of voice. + +"Good-evening, Mr. Foster. I'm glad you've found room. The house isn't +half large enough." + +"I understand your ponies ran away with you to-day?" + +"They did come home in a hurry; but nobody was hurt." + +"I fear there would have been, but for you. Do you start for Grantley +with the other boys to-morrow?" + +"Of course. Dick Lee and I need some one to take care of us. We never +traveled so far before." + +"On land, you mean. Is Dick here to-night?" + +"Came and looked in, sir, but got scared by the crowd and went home." + +"Poor fellow! Well, we will do all we can for him." + +Poor Dick Lee! + +And yet, if Mr. Dabney Kinzer had known his whereabouts at that very +moment he would half have envied him. + +Dick's mother was in the kitchen helping about the supper, but she had +not left home until she had compelled Dick to dress himself in his +best,--white shirt, red neck-tie, shining shoes and all,--and she had +brought him with her almost by force. + +"You's good nuff to go to de 'cad'my and leab yer pore mother, an' I +reckon you's good nuff for de party." + +And Dick had actually ventured in from the kitchen through the +dining-room and as far as the door of the back parlor, where few would +look. + +[Illustration: "PINNED!"] + +How his heart did beat as he looked on the merry gathering, a large part +of whom he had known "all his born days!" + +But there was a side door opening from that dining-room on the long +piazza which Mrs. Kinzer had added to the old Morris mansion, and Dick's +hand was on the knob of that door almost before he knew it. + +Then he was out on the road to the landing, and in five minutes more he +was vigorously rowing the "Jenny" out through the inlet toward the bay. + +His heart was not beating unpleasantly any longer, but as he shot out +from the narrow passage through the flags and saw the little waves +laughing in the cool, dim starlight, he suddenly stopped rowing, leaned +on his oars, gave a sigh of relief, and exclaimed: + +"Dar! I's safe now. I aint got to say a word to nobody out yer. Wonder +'f I'll ebber git back from de 'cad'my an' kitch fish in dis yer bay? +Sho! Course I will. But goin' away's awful!" + +Dab Kinzer thought he had never known Jenny Walters to appear so well as +she looked that evening; and he must have been right, for good Mrs. +Foster said to Annie: + +"What a pleasant, kindly face your new friend has! You must ask her to +come and see us. She seems quite a favorite with the Kinzers." + +"Have you known Dabney long?" Annie had asked of Jenny a little before +that. + +"Ever since I was a little bit of a girl, and a big boy seven or eight +years old pushed me into the snow." + +"Was it Dabney?" + +"No, but Dabney was the boy that pushed him in for doing it, and then +helped me up. Dab rubbed his face for him with snow till he cried." + +"Just like him!" exclaimed Annie with emphasis. "I should think his +friends here will miss him." + +"Indeed they will," replied Jenny, and then she seemed disposed to be +quiet for a while. + +The party could not last forever, pleasant as it was, and by the time +his duties as "host" were met, Dabney was tired enough to go to bed and +sleep soundly. His arms were lame and sore from the strain the ponies +had given them, and that may have been the reason why he dreamed half +the night that he was driving runaway teams and crashing over rickety +old bridges. + +But why was it that every one of his dream-wagons, no matter who else +was in it, seemed to have Jenny Walters and Annie Foster smiling at him +from the back seat? + +He rose later than usual next morning, and the house was all in its +customary order by the time he got down-stairs. + +Breakfast was ready also, and, by the time that was over, Dab's great +new trunk was brought down-stairs by a couple of the farm-hands. + +"It's an hour yet to train-time," said Ham Morris; "but we might as well +get ready. We must be on hand in time." + +What a long hour that was, and not even a chance given for Dab to run +down and take a good-bye look at the "Swallow!" + +His mother and Ham and Miranda and the girls seemed to be all made up of +"good-bye" that morning. + +"Mother," said Dab. + +"What is it, my dear boy?" + +"That's it exactly. If you say 'dear boy' again, Ham Morris 'll have to +carry me to the cars. I'm all kind o' wilted now." + +Then they all laughed, and before they got through laughing, they all +cried except Ham. + +He put his hands in his pockets and drew a long whistle. + +The ponies were at the door now. The light wagon had three seats in it, +but when Dab's trunk was in, there was only room left for the ladies; +Ham and Dab had to walk to the station. + +It was a short walk, however, and a silent one, but as they came in +sight of the platform, Dab exclaimed: + +"There they are, all of them!" + +"The whole party?" + +"Why, the platform's as crowded as our house was last night." + +Mrs. Kinzer and her daughters were already the center of the crowd of +young people, and Ford Foster and Frank Harley, with Joe and Fuz Hart +were asking what had become of Dab, for the train was in sight. + +A moment later, as the puffing locomotive drew up by the water-tank, the +conductor stepped out on the platform, exclaiming: + +"Look a here, folks. This aint right. If there was going to be a picnic +you'd ought to have sent word, and I'd have tacked on an extra car. +You'll have to pack in, now, best you can." + +He seemed much relieved when he found how small a part of the crowd were +to be his passengers. + +"Dab," said Ford, "this is your send-off, not ours. You'll have to make +a speech." + +Dab did want to say something, but he had just kissed his sisters and +his mother, and half a dozen of his school-girl friends had followed the +example of Jenny Walters, and then Mrs. Foster had kissed him, and Ham +Morris had shaken hands with him, and Dab could not have said a loud +word to have saved his life. + +"Speech!" whispered Ford, mischievously, as Dab stepped upon the +platform; but Dick Lee, who had just escaped from the tremendous hug his +mother had given him, came to his friend's aid in the nick of time. Dick +felt that "he must shout, or he should go off," as he afterward told the +boys, and so at the top of his shrill voice he shouted: + +"Hurrah for Cap'n Kinzer! Dar aint no better feller lef' along shore!" + +And, amid a chorus of cheers and laughter, and a grand waving of white +handkerchiefs, the engine gave a deep, hysterical cough, and hurried the +train away. + +The two homesteads by the Long Island shore were a little lonely for a +while, after the departure of all those noisy, merry young fellows. Mr. +Foster had enough to do in the city, and Ham Morris had his farm to +attend to, besides doing more than a little for Mrs. Kinzer. It was much +the better for both estates that he had that notable manager at his +elbow. The ladies, however, old and young, had plenty of time to come +together and wonder how the boys were getting along, even before the +arrival of the first batch of letters. + +"They must be happy," remarked kind Mrs. Foster, after the long, boyish +epistles had been read, over and over; "and such good letters! Not one +word of complaint of anything." + +Mrs. Kinzer assented somewhat thoughtfully. Dabney had not complained of +anything; but while he had praised the village, the scenery, the +academy, the boys, and had covered two full sheets of paper, he had not +said a word about the table of his boarding-house. + +"He is such a growing boy," she said to herself. "I do hope they will +give him enough to eat." + +It went on a good deal in that way, however, for weeks, even till the +Fosters broke up their summer residence and returned to the city. There +were plenty of letters, and all his sisters wondered where Dabney had +learned to write so capitally; but Mrs. Kinzer's doubts were by no means +removed until Ham Morris showed her a part of a curious epistle Dabney +had sent to him in a moment of confidence. + +"I tell you what, Ham," he wrote, "mother doesn't know what can be done +with corn. Mrs. Myers does. She raised a pile of it last year, and the +things she makes with it would drive a cook-book crazy. I've been giving +them Latin names, and Frank, he turns them into Hindustanee. It's real +fun, but I sha'n't be the boy I was. I'm getting corned. My hair is +silkier and my voice is husky. My ears are growing. I'd like some fish +and clams for a change. A crab would taste wonderfully good. So would +some oysters. They don't have any up here; but we went fishing, last +Saturday, and got some perch and cat-fish and sun-fish. They call them +pumpkin-seeds up here, and they aint much bigger. Don't tell mother we +don't get enough to eat. There's plenty of it, and you ought to see Mrs. +Myers smile when she passes the johnny-cake. We are all trying to learn +that heavenly smile. Ford does it best. I think Dick Lee is getting a +little pale. Perhaps corn doesn't agree with him. He's learning fast, +though, and so am I; but we have to work harder than the rest. I guess +the Hart boys know more than they did when they came here, and they +didn't get it all out of their books, either. We keep up our French and +our boxing; but oh, wouldn't I like to go for some blue-fish, just now! +Has mother made any mince-pies yet? I've almost forgotten how they +taste. I was going by a house here the other day and I smelt some ham, +cooking. I was real glad I hadn't forgotten. I knew what it was right +away. Don't you be afraid about my studying, for I'm at it all the +while, except when we're playing ball or eating corn. They say they have +sleighing here earlier than we do, and plenty of skating. Well, now, +don't say anything to mother about the corn; but wont I eat when I get +home.--Yours all the while. DABNEY KINZER." + +"Why, the poor fellow!" exclaimed Mrs. Kinzer, and it was not very many +days after that before young Dabney received a couple of boxes by +express. + +There was a boiled ham in the first one and a great many other things, +and Dab called in all the other boys to help him get them out. + +"Mince-pies!" shouted Ford Foster. "How'd they ever travel so far?" + +"They're not much mashed," said Dabney. "There's enough there to start a +small hotel. Now let's open the other." + +"Ice. Sawdust. Fish, I declare. Clams. Oysters. Crabs. There's a +lobster. Ford, Frank, Dick, do you think we can eat those fellows?" + +"After they're cooked," said Ford. + +"Well, I s'pose we can; but I feel like shaking hands with 'em, all +round. They're old friends and neighbors of mine, you know." + +"I guess we'd better eat 'em." + +"Cap'n Dab," remarked Dick Lee, "dey jest knocks all de correck +pronounciation clean out of me." + +Eaten they were, however, and Mrs Myers was glad enough to have her +boarders supply such a remarkable "variety" for her table, which, after +that "hint," began to improve a little. + +And so we leave Dab Kinzer, still, in mind and body, as when first we +saw him, a growing boy. + + + + +WHERE? + +BY MARY N. PRESCOTT. + + + Where does the Winter stay? + With the little Esquimaux, + Where the frost and snow-flake grow? + Or where the white bergs first come out, + Where icicles make haste to sprout, + Where the winds and storms begin, + Gathering the crops all in, + Among the ice-fields, far away? + + Where does the Summer stay? + In distant sunny places, + 'Midst palms and dusky faces, + Where they spin the cocoa thread, + Where the generous trees drop bread, + Where the lemon-groves give alms, + And Nature works her daily charms, + Among the rice-fields, far away? + + + + +[Illustration] + + +PARLOR MAGIC. + +_(Pleasing, Harmless, and Inexpensive Experiments, chiefly Chemical, for +Young People.)_ + +BY LEO H. GRINDON. + + +This series of experiments is designed for the use of young people who +are interested in the wonders and the beautiful realities of nature, and +who delight to observe for themselves how curious are the phenomena +revealed by scientific knowledge. Simple instructions are given for the +performance of a number of pretty experiments, all of which are +perfectly safe, and cost very little money. For "evenings at home," it +is hoped that these experiments will be found indefinitely amusing and +recreative, at the same time that they will lead the minds of boys and +girls to inquiries into the entire fabric of the grand sciences which +explains the principles on which they are founded. All the materials +spoken of, and all the needful apparatus, which is of the simplest and +most inexpensive kind, can be obtained at a good chemist's. It is of the +highest importance that all the materials be pure and good. + + +PARLOR SUNSHINE. + +Obtain a yard of "magnesium tape" or "magnesium wire," sold very cheap +by most druggists. Cut a length of six or eight inches; bend one +extremity so as to get a good hold of it with a pair of forceps, or even +a pair of ordinary scissors, or attach it to the end of a stick or wire. +Then hold the piece of magnesium vertically in a strong flame, such as +that of a candle, and in a few seconds it will ignite, burning with the +splendor of sunshine, and making night seem noonday. As the burning +proceeds, a quantity of white powder is formed. This is pure magnesia. +While performing this splendid experiment, the room should be darkened. + + +CADAVEROUS FACES. + +This is an amusing contrast to the lighting-up by means of magnesium; +Again let the room be nearly darkened. Put about a tea-cupful of spirits +of wine in a strong common dish or saucer, and place the dish in the +middle of the table. Let every one approach to the distance of about a +yard. Then ignite the spirit with a match. It will burn with a peculiar +yellowish-blue flame, and in the light of this the human countenances, +and all objects of similar color, lose their natural tint, and look +spectral. The contrast of the wan and ghostly hue with the smiling lips +and white teeth of those who look on, is most amusing. The effect of +this experiment is heightened by dissolving some common table-salt in +the spirit, and still further by putting into it a small quantity of +saffron. Let the spirit burn itself away. + + +THE BREATH OF LIFE. + +[Illustration: THE BREATH OF LIFE.] + +Procure a tolerably large bell-glass, such as is used for covering +clocks and ornaments upon the mantel-piece. It should not be less than +eighteen inches high, and eight or nine inches in diameter. Provide also +a common dish, sufficiently large to allow the bell-glass to stand well +within its raised border. Then procure two little wax candles, three or +four inches in length, and stand each in a little bottle or other +temporary candlestick. Place them in the center of the dish and light +the wicks. Then pour water into the dish to the depth of nearly an inch, +and finish by placing the bell over the candles, which of course are +then closely shut in. For a few minutes all goes on properly. The flames +burn steadily, and seem to laugh at the idea of their being about to +die. But, presently, they become faint,--first one, then the other; the +luster and the size of the flames diminish rapidly, and then they go +out. This is because the burning candles consumed all the oxygen that +was contained within the volume of atmosphere that was in the bell, and +were unable, on account of the water, to get new supplies from outside. +It illustrates, in the most perfect manner, our own need of constant +supplies of good fresh air. The experiment may be improved, or at all +events varied, by using candles of different lengths. + + +ROSE-COLOR PRODUCED FROM GREEN. + +Obtain a small quantity of roseine,--one of the wonderful products +obtained from gas-tar, and employed extensively in producing what are +called by manufacturers the "magenta colors." Roseine exists in the +shape of minute crystals, resembling those of sugar. They are hard and +dry, and of the most brilliant emerald green. Drop five or six of these +little crystals into a large glass of limpid water. They will dissolve; +but instead of giving a _green_ solution, the product is an exquisite +crimson-rose color, the color seeming to trickle from the surface of the +water downward. When the solution has proceeded for a short time, stir +the water with a glass rod, and the uncolored portion of it will become +carmine. + + +SOME ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTS. + +Take a piece of common brown paper, about a foot in length, and half as +wide. Hold it before the fire till it becomes quite hot. Then draw it +briskly under your left arm several times, so as to rub it on both +surfaces against the woolen cloth of your coat. It will now have become +so powerfully electrified, that if placed against the papered wall of +the parlor, it will hold on for some time, supported, as it were, by +nothing. + +While the piece of brown paper is thus so strangely clinging to the +wall, place a small, light, and fleecy feather against it, and this, in +turn, will cling to the paper. + +Now, again, make your piece of brown paper hot by the fire, and draw it, +as before, several times under the arm. Previously to this, attach a +string to one corner, so that it may be held up in the air. Several +feathers, of a fleecy kind, may now be placed against each side of the +paper, and they will cling to it for several minutes. + +Another curious electrical experiment is to take a pane of common glass, +make it warm by the fire, then lay it upon two books, allowing only the +edges to touch the books, and rub the upper surface with a piece of +flannel, or a piece of black silk. Have some bran ready, strew it upon +the table under the piece of glass, and the particles will dance. + + +TO CUT A PHIAL IN HALF. + +Wind round it two bands of paper, corresponding in position to the two +temperate zones of the earth, leaving a space between, corresponding to +the equatorial zone. Secure the two bands of paper with thread or fine +twine. Then wind a long piece of string once around the equatorial +space. Let an assistant hold one end of the string, and while holding +the other end yourself, move the phial rapidly to and fro, so that the +string shall work upon the glass between the two pieces of paper. When +the glass becomes hot in the equatorial space, pour some cold water upon +it, and the glass will break as evenly as if cut with a knife. + +[Illustration: CUTTING THE PHIAL.] + +The principle involved in this curious experiment may be applied to the +removal of a glass stopper, when too tight in the neck of the bottle for +the fingers to stir it. All that is necessary is to wind a piece of +thick string round the neck of the bottle, get an assistant to hold one +end, and then work the bottle to and fro. The glass of the neck will +become so warm as to expand, and the stopper will become loosened. It is +often necessary to continue this friction for some minutes before the +desired result is attained. + + +THE INVISIBLE RENDERED VISIBLE. + +Place a coin in an empty basin, and let the basin be near the edge of +the table. Ask one of the company to stand beside it, and to retire +slowly backward until he or she can no longer see the coin. Then pour +cold, clear water into the basin, and the person, who the moment before +could not perceive the coin, now will see it quite plainly, though +without moving a hair's breadth nearer. + +[Illustration: THE COIN INVISIBLE.] + +[Illustration: THE COIN VISIBLE.] + + +LIGHT FROM SUGAR. + +In a dark room, rub smartly one against the other, a couple of lumps of +white sugar, and light will be evolved. A similar effect is produced by +rubbing two lumps of borate of soda one against the other. + + +MINIATURE FIRE-SHIPS. + +Procure a good-sized lump of camphor. Cut it up into pieces of the size +of a hazel-nut, and having a large dish filled with cold water in +readiness, lay the pieces on the surface, where they will float. Then +ignite each one of them with a match, and they will burn furiously, +swimming about all the time that the burning is in progress, until at +last nothing remains but a thin shell, too wet to be consumed. + + +PURPLE AIR. + +Obtain an olive-oil flask, the glass of which must be colorless. In +default of an oil-flask, a large test-tube may be employed. Put into it +a small quantity of solid iodine (procurable at the chemist's and very +cheap), then lightly stop the mouth of the flask or test-tube with some +cotton-wool, but not hermetically, and hold it slantwise over the flame +of a spirit-lamp. The heat will soon dissolve the iodine, which will +next turn into a most beautiful violet-colored vapor, completely filling +the glass, and disappearing again as the glass gets cold. + + +THE TWO EGGS. + +Dissolve as much common table-salt in a pint of water as it will take +up, so as to prepare a strong brine. With this brine half fill a tall +glass. Then pour in pure water, very carefully. Pour it down the side, +or put it in with the help of a spoon, so as to break the fall. The pure +water will then float upon the top of the brine, yet no difference will +be visible. Next, take another glass of exactly the same kind, and fill +it with pure water. Now take a common egg, and put it into the vessel of +pure water, when it will instantly sink to the bottom. Put another egg +into the first glass, and it will not descend below the surface of the +brine, seeming to be miraculously suspended in the middle. Of course the +two glass vessels should be considerably wider than the egg is long. + + +THE MAGIC APERTURE. + +Put several lighted candles upon the table, in a straight row and near +together. Lay upon the table, in front of them, a large piece of smooth, +white paper. Have ready a piece of pasteboard, large enough to conceal +the candles, with a small hole cut in it above the middle. Place this so +as to stand upon its edge between the row of candles and the sheet of +paper in front, and there will be as many images of flames thrown +through the hole and upon the paper as there are burning candles. + +[Illustration: THE MAGIC APERTURE.] + + +GREEN FIRE. + +Obtain some boracic acid, mix it well with a small quantity of spirits +of wine, or alcohol, place the alcohol in a saucer upon a dish, and then +ignite it with a match. The flame will be a beautiful green. To see the +color to perfection, of course, the room should be somewhat darkened. + +A green flame may also be produced by using chloride of copper instead +of boracic acid. And instead of mixing it with the alcohol, a small +quantity may be imbedded in the wick of a candle. + + +A BEAUTIFUL IMITATION OF HOAR FROST. + +Obtain a large bell-glass, with a short neck and cork at the top, such +as may be seen in the chemists' shops. Then procure a small quantity of +benzoic acid, which exists in the shape of snowy crystals. Elevate the +bell-glass upon a little stage made of books or pieces of wood, so as to +allow a spirit-lamp to be introduced underneath, and a little +evaporating dish to be held above the flame by means of a ring of wire +with suitable handle. Place the benzoic acid in the evaporating dish, +over the flame, and presently the acid will ascend in vapor and fill the +bell, which must not be quite closed at the top. Before setting up the +apparatus, introduce into the bell a small branch of foliage, which may +be hung by a thread from the neck of the bell. The stiffer and more +delicate this branch, the better. In a short time, it will become +covered with a soft white deposit of the acid, very closely resembling +hoar-frost. This makes an extremely pretty ornament for the parlor. + +[Illustration: IMITATING HOAR-FROST.] + + +TO BOIL WATER WITHOUT FIRE. + +Half fill a common oil-flask with water, and boil it for a few minutes +over the flame of a spirit-lamp. While boiling, cork up the mouth of the +flask as quickly as you can, and tie a bit of wet bladder over the cork, +so as to exclude the air perfectly. The flask being now removed from the +lamp, the boiling ceases. Pour some cold water upon the upper portion of +the flask, and the ebullition recommences! Apply hot water, and it +stops! And thus you may go on as long as you please. + + +TO CONVERT A LIQUID INTO A SOLID. + +Dissolve about half a pound of sulphate of soda in a pint of boiling +water, and after it has stood a few minutes to settle, pour it off into +a clean glass vessel. Pour a little sweet oil upon the surface, and put +it to stand where it can get cold, and where no one will touch it. When +cold, put in a stick, and the fluid, previously clear, will at once +become opaque, and begin to crystallize, until at length there is a +solid crystalline mass. + + +ICE ON FIRE. + +Make a hole in a block of ice with a hot poker. Pour out the water, and +fill up the cavity with camphorated spirits of wine. Then ignite the +spirit with a match, and the lump of ice will seem to be in flames. + + +EXPERIMENTS REQUIRING CHEMICAL SOLUTIONS. + +To prepare these solutions, purchase of a druggist a small quantity of +the solid crystals of the substance needed for the experiment you wish +to try. Dissolve the crystals in clear pure water, and keep the solution +in a little bottle, labeled with the name. It is seldom that the +solutions need be strong. When the crystal is a colored one, enough +should be used to give the water a light tint, blue, yellow, or what it +may be. None of these solutions will do any harm to the hands, unless +there is a cut or a wound of any kind upon the skin. It is well also, +not to let a drop of any of them fall upon the clothes, or upon +furniture, for some of them will stain. And none of them should ever be +tasted, or touched by the lips or tongue, many of them being acrid and +even poisonous. + +With the acids still greater care is needed, the stronger acids being +corrosive and poisonous. The greater portion of these substances must +likewise not be smelled, as the fumes or vapors would affect the +nostrils painfully. + +For the proper performance of these experiments with solutions, +etc.,--at all events for the neatest and most elegant performance of +them,--there should be obtained from the chemist's shop about a dozen +test-tubes. These are little glass vessels, manufactured on purpose, and +very cheap. Do not take glasses that may afterward be used for drinking +or household purposes. Be careful to have every one of your experiment +glasses perfectly clean. + + +_To produce a Beautiful Violet-Purple Color._ + +Take a nearly colorless solution of any salt of copper. The sulphate +is the cheapest and handiest. Fill the test-tube or other +experimenting-glass about two-thirds full. Then drop in, slowly, a +little liquid ammonia. It will cause a beautiful blue to appear, and +presently a most lovely violet-purple, which, by stirring with a glass +rod, extends all through the fluid. + +If now you drop into this a very little nitric acid, the fluid will +again become as clear as pure water. + + +_To Make a Splendid Scarlet._ + +Again take some solution of sulphate of copper. Add to it a little +solution of bichromate of potash. Then add a little solution of nitrate +of silver, and there is produced a splendid scarlet color. + + +_To Make a Deep Blue._ + +Now, take a nearly colorless solution of sulphate of iron, and drop into +it, slowly, a small quantity of solution of yellow prussiate of potash. +This will induce a beautiful deep blue, quite different from the blues +that are produced from copper salts. + + +_To Make a Yellow Color._ + +Take a solution of acetate of lead, and add a few drops of solution of +iodide of potassium, and a most lovely canary-yellow color is produced. + + +_Invisible Inks._ + +Nearly all those experiments which result in the production of color may +be performed in another way, and be then applied to the purposes of +secret writing. Thus: + +Write with dilute solution of sulphate of copper. The writing will be +quite invisible, but become blue when held over the vapor of liquid +ammonia. + +Write with the same solution, and wash the paper with solution of yellow +prussiate of potash, and the writing, previously invisible, will become +brown. If you choose you may reverse this method, writing with solution +of the prussiate of potash, and washing the paper with solution of the +copper salt. + +Write with solution of sulphate of iron, and the writing will again be +invisible. Wash it over with tincture of galls, and it becomes black. + +Write with sulphate of iron, and use a wash of yellow prussiate of +potash, and the writing will come out blue. This experiment may likewise +be reversed, and with similar result. + + +_How to Copper a Knife-Blade._ + +Make a rather strong solution of sulphate of copper. Let a clean and +polished piece of steel or iron, such as the blade of a knife, stand in +it for a few minutes, and the iron will become covered or encrusted with +a deposit of pure copper. + + +_To Make Beautiful Crystals._ + +Dissolve, in different vessels, half an ounce each of the sulphates of +iron, zinc, copper, soda, alumina, magnesia, and potash. The solutions +can be made more rapidly by using warm water. When the salts are all +completely dissolved, pour the whole seven solutions into a large dish, +stir the mixture with a glass rod, then place it in a warm place, where +it will not be disturbed. By degrees, the water will evaporate, and then +the salts will re-crystallize, each kind preserving its own proper form +and color. Some occur in groups, some as single crystals. If carefully +protected from dust, these form extremely pretty ornaments for the +parlor. + + +_Alum Baskets._ + +These may be prepared by dissolving alum in water in such quantity that +at last the water can take up no more, and the undissolved alum lies at +the bottom of the vessel. The solution thus obtained is called a +saturated one. Then procure a common ornamental wire basket, and suspend +it in the solution, so as to be well covered in every part. There should +be twice as much solution as will cover the basket. The wires of the +basket should be wound with worsted, so that the surface may be rough. +Leave it undisturbed in the solution, and gradually the crystals will +form all over the surface. Before putting in the basket, it is best to +further strengthen the solution by boiling it down to one half, after +which it should be strained. + + +_The Lead-Tree._ + +Dissolve half an ounce of acetate of lead in six ounces of water. The +solution will be turbid, so clarify it with a few drops of acetic acid. +Now put the solution into a clean phial, nearly filling the phial. +Suspend in the solution, by means of a thread attached to the cork, a +piece of clean zinc wire. By degrees, the wire will become covered with +beautiful metallic spangles, like the foliage of a tree. + + + + +UN ALPHABET FRANCAIS. + +PAR LAURA CAXTON. + + +[Illustration: A--ANNETTE A UN TRČS JOLI PETIT AGNEAU] + +[Illustration: B--BAPTISTE A UNE PAIRE DE GRANDES BOTTES] + +[Illustration: C--CÉCILE EST CHARMÉE DE FAIRE ROULER SON CERCEAU.] + +[Illustration: D--DENIS PLEURE PARCEQU'IL A MAL AUX DENTS.] + +[Illustration: E--ÉDOUARD VA GAIEMENT Ŕ L'ÉCOLE, AVEC SES LIVRES.] + +[Illustration: F--FANCHON FAIT UNE CRAVATE POUR SON FRČRE.] + +[Illustration: G--GABRIELLE A ÉTÉ GRONDÉE PAR SON GRAND-PČRE.] + +[Illustration: H--HENRI VA PATINER SUR LA GLACE PENDANT L'HIVER.] + +[Illustration: I--ISABELLE EST UNE PAUVRE PETITE INVALIDE.] + +[Illustration: J--JACQUES S'AMUSE TOUTE LA JOURNÉE AVEC SES JOUJOUX.] + +[Illustration: K--K EST LA LETTRE QUE JEAN TIENT SOUS LA MAIN.] + +[Illustration: L--LOUISE DONNE DES LÉGUMES A SES PETITS LAPINS.] + +[Illustration: M--MARIE A DES MARGUERITES POUR SA CHČRE MAMAN.] + +[Illustration: N--NARCISSE A TROUVÉ DES OISEAUX DANS UN NID.] + +[Illustration: O--OLIVIER, AVEC SON PARAPLUIE, N'A PAS PEUR DE L'ORAGE.] + +[Illustration: P--PAULINE A BEAUCOUP DE PLAISIR AVEC SA PETITE POUPÉE.] + +[Illustration: Q--QUENTIN AIME Ŕ JOUER AUX QUILLES DE BOIS.] + +[Illustration: R--ROLAND REMPLIT UN POT POUR Y PLANTER SON ROSIER.] + +[Illustration: S--SUSETTE A UN MORCEAU DE SUCRE POUR SON SERIN.] + +[Illustration: T--THÉRESE EST TRISTE PARCEQUE SON TABLIER EST SALE.] + +[Illustration: U--URBAIN A LE DRAPEAU DES ÉTATS-UNIS.] + +[Illustration: V--VIRGINIE ARROSE SES VIOLETTES CHAQUE MATIN ET CHAQUE +SOIR.] + +[Illustration: W--WINIFRED EST AMÉRICAINE, ELLE N'EST PAS UNE PETITE +FRANÇAISE.] + +[Illustration: X--XÉNOPHON EST LE GÉNÉRAL RENOMMÉ Ŕ QUI PAUL CROIT +RESSEMBLER.] + +[Illustration: Y--Y A-T-IL UNE AUTRE PETITE FILLE DE SI JOLIS YEUX?] + +[Illustration: Z--ZÉNOBIE SAIT COMPTER D'UN JUSQU'Ŕ ZÉRO.] + + + + +A FAIR EXCHANGE. + +BY MRS. M. F. BUTTS. + + + "Oh, Willow, where did you get your fringe, + In New York or in Paris? + Tell me, and I will get some too, + Because I am an heiress; + And I buy me everything I want; + I have a ring and a feather; + I promenade in my white kid boots + Each day in pleasant weather." + + "Oh, little one, where did you get the pink, + In your pretty, round cheek glowing? + And where did you get the yellow curls, + Over your shoulders flowing? + Perhaps you can tell me how they are made; + If you think so, darling, try it; + And when you succeed, I'll tell you about + My fringe, and where to buy it." + + + + +HOW TEDDY CUT THE PIE. + +(_A Geometrical Jingle._) + +BY ROSSITER JOHNSON. + + + Teddy, Jimmy, Frank, and I + Fished all day for smallest fry, + And as evening shades drew nigh, + Stopped to see if we could buy, + At a road-side groce-ry, + Anything they called a pie. + + There was one, and only one, + Deeply filled and brownly done, + Warm from standing in the sun, + Flanked on each side by a bun, + Since that summer day begun. + + From the window it was brought, + With our pennies it was bought; + Then a knife was quickly sought-- + Who would cut it as he ought? + + "Leave it all," says Ted, "to me," + As the knife he flourished free; + "I have cut a great ma-ny." + + "But," says Frank, who feared our fate, + "Will you cut it fair and straight?" + "Straight?" says Ted. "I'll tell you what-- + Straighter than a rifle-shot: + Straighter than the eagle's flight. + Straight as any ray of light." + + "I will mark the place," says Jim-- + Great exactness was his whim-- + And he measured, on the rim, + Starting-points, as guides for him. + + Ted put in the knife with glee; + First he cut from A to B! + Then he cut from C to D!! + Then he took the piece marked E!!! + + Every cut was straight, he said,-- + He would bet his curly head. + Such a perfect, born-and-bred + Geometric rogue was Ted. + +[Illustration] + + + + +"CHAIRS TO MEND!" + +BY ALEXANDER WAINWRIGHT. + + +The art of doing small things well has a good illustration in the humble +chair-mender of the London streets, who is also one of the most +interesting of out-door tradesmen. + +He carries all his implements and materials with him. A very much worn +chair is thrown over one arm as an advertisement of his occupation, and +it is needed, for his cry, "Cha-ir-s to men-n-nd," is uttered in a +melancholy and indistinct, though penetrating, tone. Under the other arm +he usually has a bundle of cane, split into narrow ribbons. + +His look is that of forlorn respectability; his hat is greasy, and +mapped with so many veins, caused by crushings, that it might have been +used as a chair or, at least, a foot-stool; around his neck he wears a +heavy cloth kerchief, and his long coat of by-gone fashion reaches +nearly to the ankles, which are covered by shabby gaiters. He walks +along at a very gentle pace and scans the windows of the houses for some +sign that his services are wanted. + +[Illustration: "CHAIRS TO MEND!"] + +Perhaps business is dull, but in the neighborhoods where there are +plenty of children he is pretty sure to find some work. Cane-seated +chairs are durable, but they will not stand the rough usage of those +little boys and girls who treat them as step-ladders and stamp upon +them. It often happens that a neat English house-maid appears at the +area railings with a chair that has a big, ragged hole in the seat, +through which Master Tommy has fallen, with his boots on, in an effort +to reach the gooseberry jam on the pantry shelf. + +Master Tommy probably looks on while the repairs are being made, and is +much interested by the dexterity with which the mender does his work. +The old and broken canes are cut away, and the new strips are woven into +a firm fabric, with little eight-sided openings left in it. The +overlapping ends of the ribbons are trimmed with a sharp knife, and the +chair-seat is as good as new. + +It seems so easy that Tommy thinks he could have done it himself; but +when he experiments with a slip of cane that the mender gives him, he +finds that chair-mending is really a trade that must be learned. + +Some chair-menders are blind men, and it is still more interesting to +watch them at their work. The plaiting of the canes is done as +unerringly by their unseeing fingers as by the men who can see, and with +wonderful quickness. Occasionally the business is combined with that of +basket-making, and should we follow poor old "Chairs-to-mend" home, we +might discover his family busy weaving reeds and willowy branches with +the same cleverness the father shows in handling the canes. + + + + +TWO KITTIES. + +BY JOY ALLISON. + + +[Illustration] + + Two little kitties + Wandered away + Into the prairie + One summer day. + One on two feet, + Rosy and fair, + Almost a baby,-- + "Golden Hair." + + Four feet,--useless, + Eyes fast closed, + Borne in a basket + The other dozed. + Searching in terror + Far and wide, + "Golden Hair's" mother + Moaned and cried. + + Mother Puss calmly + Following slow, + Listening,--calling + Meoh!--Meoh!-- + Mother Puss found them, + A little heap, + Down in the deep grass + Fast asleep. + + + + +"HARE AND HOUNDS." + + +[Illustration] + + "What shall we do?" the children said, + By the spirit of frolic and mischief led, + Frank and Lulu and Carrie, three + As full of nonsense as they could be; + Who never were known any fun to stop + Until they were just about ready to drop. + + Frank, whose "knowledge-box" surely abounds + With games, spoke up for "Hare and Hounds." + "Down the cellar, or up the stair, + Here and there, and everywhere, + You must follow, for I'm the Hare!" + Lulu and Carrie gave quick consent, + And at cutting their papers and capers went, + For the stairs were steep, and they must not fail + To have enough for a good long trail. + Away went the Hare + Right up the stair, + And away went the Hounds, a laughing pair; + And Tony, who sat + Near Kitty, the cat, + And was really a dog worth looking at, + With a queer grimace + Soon joined the race, + And followed the game at a lively pace! + Then Puss, who knew + A thing or two, + Prepared to follow the noisy crew, + And never before or since, I ween, + Was ever beheld such a hunting scene! + The Hare was swift; and the papers went + This way and that, to confuse the scent; + But Tony, keeping his nose in air, + In a very few moments betrayed the Hare, + Which the children told him was hardly fair. + + I cannot tell you how long they played, + Of the fun they had, or the noise they made; + For the best of things in this world, I think, + Can ne'er be written with pen and ink. + But Bridget, who went on her daily rounds, + Picking up after the "Hare and Hounds," + Said she didn't mind hearing their lively capers, + But her back was broke with the scraps o' papers. + + Carrie, next day, couldn't raise her head; + Frank and Lulu were sick in bed; + The dog and cat were a used-up pair, + And all of them needed the doctor's care. + The children themselves can hardly fail + To tack a moral upon this trail; + And I guess on rather more level grounds + They'll play their next game of "Hare and Hounds." + + + + +[Illustration] + +JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT. + + +So, here's October come again. Another pleasant year gone by, another +lot of sermons done, and nobody the worse! Dear, dear, how time does fly +in cheerful company, to be sure! + +Well, my dears, keep a bright lookout for the new volume, and, meantime, +don't open your eyes too wide while I bring to your notice + + +THE LARGEST MAN. + + Albany, N.Y. + + DEAR JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT: Perhaps some of your other boys, who, like + myself, wish to grow big and strong, would like to hear about the + largest human being ever known,--Goliath of Gath,--a person almost + large enough to need introduction by installments, but he is so well + known that the ceremony is needless. + + As nearly as I can make out, he was between ten and eleven feet + high. When he went to battle he wore a coat-of-mail weighing one + hundred and fifty-six pounds,--as heavy as a good-sized man; and the + rest of his armor amounted to at least one hundred and fifteen + pounds more. The head of his spear weighed eighteen pounds,--as + heavy as six three-pound cans of preserved fruit,--and this he + carried at the end of a long and heavy shaft! + + Think what might happen if a man equally big and strong should live + among us now, and insist on taking part in our games and sports? If + he joined a boat-club, a curious six-oared crew could be made up, + with him at one side and five other men opposite. And just imagine + him "booming along" on a velocipede! If he joined the champion Nine, + and hit a ball, where would that ball go to? If he called for a + "shoulder-high" ball, wouldn't the catcher have to climb a + step-ladder to catch behind the giant? And if he threw a ball to a + base-man, wouldn't he be apt to throw it clean through him? + + Probably no one can answer these questions, but they are interesting + all the same, to yours sincerely, + + R.V.D. + + +CATCHING BIRDS ON THE WING. + +As if a man could ever hope to do that, or even to do so much as fly! +And yet, word has already come to me of a man who has made a machine +with which he actually has flown, up, down, with the wind, against the +wind, and, in fact, any way he wished! + +The particular machine he used looked, I'm told, rather like a big +bolster-case blown full of air, and with a light frame-work of hollow +brass tubes strapped to it underneath. In this frame-work was a seat for +the man, and near him were two circular fans, which he turned round very +fast indeed; one of the fans made the machine fly backward or forward, +and the other made it go up or down, as he liked. + +Now, this certainly seems to be a step ahead, or, rather, a flap upward; +but you needn't expect to be chasing and catching eagles and albatrosses +on the wing by dropping salt on their tails; at least, not just yet, my +dears. The time for that sort of fun may come, perhaps; but it would be +well not to crow too loudly at present. + + +THE BEE AND THE ANEMONE. + + Des Moines, Iowa. + + DEAR JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT: The bee you told us of in your August + sermon did not mistake the anemone for a flower. At least, _I_ think + not. No bee ever makes such a mistake as to settle on a poisonous + flower, and I believe that this bee went to the anemone for water + and not for honey. Bees will settle on pieces of straw afloat in the + water, when seeking for water, and I believe they know, even while + on the wing, where to find honey. Good-bye.--Your friend. N.E.H. + + +FRANGIPANI SCENT AND PUDDINGS. + +"Let's begin with the puddings, and make sure of _them_," as a little +boy once remarked. Well, then, in former times, Frangipani puddings were +of broken bread, and their queer name is made from two words,--_frangi_, +meaning "to break," and _panus_, "bread"; but, after some time, these +puddings were made with pastry-crust and contained cream and almonds. + +Frangipani scent, however, was named after a great marquis who first +made it, getting it from the jasmine plant. And the marquis got _his_ +name from an ancestor whose duty it had been to break the holy bread or +wafer in one of the church services, and who on that account was called +"Frangipani," or "Breaker of Bread." + +Now, this way of explaining how words come to be formed, sounds well +enough, no doubt. But how are we to know, in this case, that the marquis +didn't invent the pudding as well as the scent? However, I must leave +you to puzzle out the problem for yourselves, my dears, while I give you +some information about + + +A SEALED POSTMAN. + +You've all heard of sealed letters, of course, and seen some, too, no +doubt; but did you ever hear of the letter-carrier, also, being sealed? +Well, a bit of news has come saying that, among the Himalaya Mountains, +the men who carry the mails on horseback are sealed to their saddles, in +such a way that while they can ride easily enough they cannot get down +from their seats; and, what is more, the mail-packages are sealed to the +men! Once started on the route, the seals are not allowed to be broken, +except by the postmaster at the next station, and, if they happen to get +broken otherwise than by accident, the carrier is severely punished. + +The result of this sealing is that a mail-carrier who wishes to steal +the letters in his charge is obliged to steal also the saddle and +horse,--and himself as well, I suppose. + +Nice places these carriers have to ride through, at times! Why, in some +parts, the road is so steep that, in going down, the rider is kept +upright by a rope passed under his arms and held in the hands of two men +who are above him on the mountain. If it were not for this, the rider +would fall over the head of his horse, or else cause the horse itself to +go over head first. + +Altogether, the postmen of the Himalayas must have a hard time of it. + + +WIND-HARPS. + + East Saginaw, Mich. + + DEAR JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT: Please will you or any of your "chicks" + tell me how to make a wind-harp, or Eolian harp? + + Your friend, MINNIE WARNER. + + +Time and again have I heard tell of wind-harps and the sweet music the +wind coaxes out of them. The sighing and singing of the breezes through +the tree-tops must be something like it, no doubt. But I never heard a +wind-harp's song, and of course don't know how to make one. Perhaps, +some of you know, however, and if so I shall be obliged if you will send +me word, so that I can pass it on to Minnie and the rest of my chicks. + + +"THE JOY OF THE DESERT." + +In Africa is a vast, dreary waste, called the Desert of Sahara. In +widely scattered spots of this desert there grows a tree that sends its +roots down to springs far beneath the parched ground. Sometimes these +springs are so far down that the trees are planted in deep holes, +something like wells, so that the roots may reach water. Hardly anything +except this tree can grow in that desert. + +The fruit of the tree is delicious food; the long trunk makes poles for +tents; the leaf-stalks make many kinds of basket and wicker work, +walking-sticks and fans; the leaves themselves are made into bags and +mats; and the fibers at the base of the leaf-stalks are twisted into +cordage for tents and harness. The sap of the tree, drawn from a deep +cut in the trunk near the top, after standing a few days, becomes a +sweet and pleasant liquor. Cakes of the fruit pounded and kneaded +together "so solid as to be cut with a hatchet," are carried by +travelers going across the terrible desert. + +[Illustration] + +Besides all this, trees of this kind, planted in groups, cast a shade +which keeps the ground moist, so that other fruit-trees can live beneath +them. + +When the tree is about one hundred years old, it ceases to bear fruit, +and is cut down for timber; but in its long life it has made its owner +rich and a great many people comfortable. + +The paragram which told me all this said, further, that this tree is the +date-palm, and is called "The Joy of the Desert." Well may it be so +called, I should think; though once I heard some of the children of the +red school-house say they hated "dates." Perhaps they meant "dates" of +some other kind. + + +BABIES IN BOOTS. + +Where do you suppose Tartar mothers carry their little children? + +Not on their shoulders, nor on their hips, nor in their arms, nor at +their backs, nor on their heads. + +Well, I'm told they carry them in their boots! These are made of cloth, +and each is large enough to hold a child five years old! + + +ROOK COURTS AND BLACKBIRD POWWOWS. + + + DEAR JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT: In England, where I come from, I have seen + meetings of vast numbers of birds, though never as many of such + different kinds as those named by Z.R.B. in the letter which you + gave us in July. Sometimes, a great number of rooks gather in a + ring, and in the center of it is one lonely, dejected-looking rook, + who holds his head down in silence. The other rooks seem to hold a + consultation, chattering and cawing back and forth, sometimes one + alone and sometimes all together, until they seem to decide what to + do. + + Then three or four old, solemn-looking rooks fly upon the lonely one + and put him to death, as if he had been found guilty of some + dreadful crime. + + In this country, during spring, the blackbirds meet almost daily in + the tops of high trees, especially elms and locusts, and there they + chatter by the hour. Sometimes a few will fly off, angrily, with + quick, sharp notes, to some tree a little way off. After a while, + two or three more birds will join them from the large body. Then, + perhaps, some of them will go back as "peace commissioners," and + after a few more flights back and forth, and endless chatter, the + little party may return to the main body; or, increasing in number, + may form a second crowd as noisy as the first. + + No doubt you have heard and seen many such powwows, dear Jack. Long + may you live to watch the birds and repeat to us their wisdom! + Truly your friend, + + C.B.M. + + +AN INTERVAL NOT ON THE PROGRAMME. + +I'm told that at Pompeii, Italy, in the year 79, a play was being acted +in one of the theaters, when a storm of cinders fell, buried the whole +city, and, of course, put a stop to the play, which has never been +completed. A few months ago, however, an operatic manager named Languri +made up his mind to have a new theater just where the old one stood; so, +he printed in the Italian newspapers a notice that ran something like +this: + + "After a lapse of eighteen hundred years, the theater of Pompeii + will be re-opened, with the opera of 'La Figlia del Reggimento.' I + ask the continuation of the favor shown to my predecessor, Marcus + Quintus Martius, and beg to assure the public that I shall make + every effort to equal the rare qualities he displayed during his + management." + +If only Marcus Quintus Martius and his actors, and musicians, and the +ancient audience, could have been at that re-opening of their +long-buried theater, how they would have stared! + + + + +THE LETTER-BOX. + + +Our older boys and girls will find in this number an excellent article +on "Parlor Magic," in which they are told, by Professor Leo Grindon, one +of the Faculty of the Royal School of Chemistry in Manchester, England, +how to perform some very interesting, and in some cases, quite +astonishing experiments in chemistry, optics, etc. Some of our readers +may be familiar with a few of these experiments, but the majority of +them will be found novel to nearly all young people. Occasionally, there +are materials or ingredients called for, which are somewhat expensive, +and some of the experiments require a good deal of time and patience. +But these are the exceptions, for nearly all the experiments described +in the article can be performed by any careful and intelligent boy or +girl of fourteen or fifteen, in a short time and at a very small cost. + +Of course, in getting up a little "Parlor Magic Entertainment" it will +not be necessary to try all the experiments described. Choose such as +you think you can perform without fail, and which will be likely to +interest the company you expect. Be careful not to try to do too many +things in one evening, and, if possible, make each experiment in +private, before you attempt to show your friends how it is done. This +will not be necessary in every case, but if you make an experiment, for +the first time, before company, be sure that you know exactly what you +are going to do and how it ought to be done. + +One more thing, the most important of all, we would impress on the mind +of every reader of ST. NICHOLAS who tries any of these experiments, and +that is the necessity for great care in handling and disposing of the +chemical ingredients which may be used. Some of these, although +perfectly harmless, when used as directed, are very injurious, if +tasted, or even smelt very closely; and although the performer may +himself be very prudent and careful with his materials and apparatus, he +must not give the slightest opportunity to young children, or indeed any +one who has not studied up the subject, to handle his chemicals. + +With careful attention to the directions given in the article, a +pleasant evening entertainment may easily be had, and if an occasional +failure should take place, both the performer and the company should +remember that an _experiment_ is only a trial, and cannot be expected +always to succeed. + + + * * * * * + + + DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I went over to my uncle's one Saturday lately, to + tea, and had baked beans. He never eats vinegar on them, excepting + some made in January, 1851, when 40 gallons were frozen in 53 quart + bottles. He told me there was no other such vinegar in the United + States, and if I could hear of any one who has some prepared like + it, and as old, he would give me as handsome a doll as I wanted. My + object is to ask you to please publish my letter, and I may receive + the doll, which I want very much, and oblige, with many thanks, one + of your subscribers. + + L.D.H. + + + * * * * * + + + London, England. + + DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: We are traveling in Europe for a short time, and + I thought, perhaps, you might like to hear a short account of our + journey. First, we went to Chester, one of the oldest cities in + England. It is inclosed by a wall two miles around, which was built + 1800 years ago. The "Rows" of Chester are very strange and + interesting. They are rows of stores in the second stories of + houses--with a sidewalk in front, supported by pillars and covered + overhead. One may walk out on a rainy day and do a great variety of + shopping without being at all exposed to the weather. The sidewalks + below these rows, and on a level with the middle of the street are + dingy and shabby, lined with forlorn looking little places inhabited + by the poorer class. + + There is an old house standing in an alley, in the garret of which + one of the earls of Derby was hidden for three months. + + A small part of an old church, which was built 200 A. D., still + stands, and is one of the curiosities. There is also a tower where + King Charles II stood and saw his army defeated, only, that was + before he became king. Next we went to Stratford-on-Avon, where we + saw Shakespeare's house, and I sat in his chair. + + We lunched at the Red Horse Inn, in the room which Washington Irving + had when he was there. I also sat in his chair. In the afternoon we + went to Shakespeare's other house and gardens. He had two homes, but + he only lived in one until he was seventeen years old. + + We are now in London, and have been to see a few of the principal + places. Westminster Abbey is one of the great sights. We saw a + sitting figure of a duchess who died from the effects of lock-jaw, + caused by pricking her finger with a needle, while at needle work on + Sunday. + + We also saw St. Paul's Cathedral, where there is a whispering + gallery, so called, because, if you whisper on one side of the + gallery, it may be heard on the other side as distinctly as if you + were over there. + + The South Kensington Museum contains a great many curiosities, and + some of the things which Doctor Schliemann has dug up. + + The National Art Gallery contains a great many beautiful pictures, + and one room is devoted to Turner's paintings. + + We have also been to see the Tower, where the little princes were + murdered; they do not take you into the room where they stayed; but + ST. NICHOLAS gave us a fine picture of that in January of 1874. We + shall start for Paris soon.--From your little friend, + + MAMIE CHARLES. + + + * * * * * + + +"MOTHER." Unpainted, strong and really amusing playthings, such as you +inquire for, are to be found, we think, in almost any large toy-store. +Animals, wagons, and various amusing things cut out of plain wood, +abound nowadays, and they can be sent you by express from your nearest +town. In our experience, however, we have found building blocks of most +lasting interest to the little folks. Crandall's are the best, for they +admit of an endless variety of combination. + + + * * * * * + + + Washington, D. C. + + MY DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have a little sister, named Josie, who is + six years old. She can read only a little, and she does not like to + do it at all. She has plenty of toys, and a nice baby-house, but + often she gets tired of playing and then comes to me to know what to + do. + + Now, I want to know if you cannot tell me something for her to do + that will keep her quiet? I have another sister who is nine years + old, but no brother.--Your loving reader, + + ANITA R. NEWCOMB. + +Anita may find a satisfactory hint in the answer to "Mother" given +above. Also, the Kinder Garten games that are now used in many schools +for very little folks may be of service to Josie. + + + * * * * * + + + London, Eng. + + DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have just arrived in England. When we were + fairly out at sea, the first thing I did was to explore the great + ship. It was four hundred feet long, made entirely of iron, and sank + twenty feet deep in the water. The masts were of hollow iron, and + seventy feet high. It took nine furnaces and forty tons of coal a + day to keep the ship going. The crew numbered a hundred and + thirty-five. It seems very wonderful that a great heavy iron ship + should not sink; the reason it does not is that it is lighter than + the water it displaces. + + When we were a few days out, a flock of land-birds rested on our + ship. We fed them with crumbs, and brought dishes of fresh water on + deck for them, but after a day or two they disappeared. A little + further on, a hawk alighted on the vessel, and one of the sailors + caught it when it was asleep. + + To find out how fast we were going, the sailors threw the "log," + which was no log at all, but a long thin rope with a small + three-cornered canvas bag at one end. They throw out the bag, and it + catches in the water and keeps the end of the rope steady. The rope + runs out as the ship goes. One sailor stands with a time-glass, + which holds as much sand as will fall in one minute from one half of + it into the other. The glass is turned just when a certain mark on + the rope passes over the rail, and, when all the sand has run, the + rope is stopped. As the rope has lengths marked on it by bits of + colored cloth, the sailors can tell how far the ship has gone in one + minute, and can roughly calculate from that its rate of speed by the + hour. Formerly a real log of wood was used instead of the bag. + + The greatest event of the voyage was seeing a school of whales. + There were dozens of them spouting and showing their backs above + water. Another exciting thing was meeting a ship so near that we + could salute it, which is done by hoisting and then lowering the + flag once or twice. Ships have flags of different kinds, and each + has its own meaning. So by hoisting certain flags, the captains of + distant ships can exchange news. + + When nearing the Irish coast, a dense fog settled upon us, so that + we could hardly see from one end of the ship to the other. All day + and all night the great fog-whistle was kept blowing to warn other + vessels that might be in our neighborhood. To see a light house or + landmark was impossible, but the captain found out where we were by + soundings. Every ship has a long piece of lead with a hole in one + end which is filled with tallow. The other end is fastened to a + rope, and the lead is thrown overboard and sinks to the bottom. When + hauled up, some of the sea-bottom is found stuck to the tallow, and + from this and the depth of the water, the captain knows where he is, + for the kinds of sand and mud at the bottom of the sea, and the + varying depths of water, are plainly marked on his charts. + + I cannot describe to you what a welcome sight the land was, after + seeing nothing but water for so long. But when we had left the great + ship behind, it seemed almost as if we were leaving home, glad + though I was to get ashore. + + Your loving reader, + + F. D. + + + * * * * * + + +A correspondent sends us the series of "Beheaded Rhymes" which we print +below. Each of the stanzas contains two examples of this kind of +rhyming, and, in each example, the first blank is to be filled with a +word that suits both the sense and the measure. The next blank that +occurs is filled with all of the chosen word except its first letter; +and this process goes on until the word can no longer be beheaded and +yet leave another word. The making of such "Beheaded Rhymes" as these, +in company, to see who can succeed best, sometimes whiles away very +pleasantly a long evening of disagreeable weather. + + +A NIGHT'S ADVENTURES. + + It made a most tremendous ----! (1.) + I gave my horse a sudden ----: + He threw me full against an ----, + And broke my collar-bone. + "What can I do in such a ----? (2.) + My horse is gone, I have no ----," + I murmured with a groan. + + I was as wet as any ----; (3.) + The wind and thunder made a ----, + And neither moon nor star was ----; + The night was black as sin. + The fall had given me such a ----! (4.) + And I was miles from any ----: + I floundered on through mud and ---- + To reach the nearest inn. + + But when I found the wished-for ----, (5.) + And saw through windows dim with ---- + A fellow holding up an ----, + I would have cried with fear. + Each seat was filled by such a ----, (6.) + As might have fled from any ---- + Of thief or buccaneer. + + I strove to overcome my ----, (7.) + And ventured on a traveler's ---- + To enter boldly there. + The porter waved aloft a ----, (8.) + But still I stepped within the ---- + And took an empty chair. + + The leader gave a fearful ----; (9.) + Sprang up, and overturned the ----. + Oh! I could cover half a ---- + With what I felt that night. + He came, and gave me such a ----, (10.) + That I cried out amain, though ---- + With anguish and affright. + + "Come, will you join our game of ----? (11.) + Or do you choose that I should ---- + The wretch, who wishes naught but ---- + To honest men like us?" + With that he flung me from the ----, (12.) + And seizing on me by the ----, + He drew me forth into the ---- + And made a dreadful fuss. + + The night had now grown clear and ----. (13.) + I wandered to a distant ----, + And thought the cold ground not so ----, + As was that fearful spot. + But soon there passed a friendly ----, (14.) + Who placed me in his empty ---- + And took me to his cot. + + M. W. + +The solutions are as follows: 1. Clash, lash, ash. 2. Plight, light. 3. +Trout, rout, out. 4. Strain, train, rain. 5. Place, lace, ace. 6. Scamp, +camp. 7. Fright, right. 8. Broom, room. 9. Scream, cream, ream. 10. +Tweak, weak. 11. Skill, kill, ill. 12. Chair, hair, air. 13. Chill, +hill, ill. 14. Swain, wain. + + + * * * * * + + + Pittsburg, Pa. + + DEAR READERS OF "ST. NICHOLAS:" I live in a city of iron and steel + manufactories. I will do my best to tell you how an ax is made. + + The works are a beautiful sight at night, with their huge, glowing + furnaces and the forms of the brawny workmen, passing between us and + the light. In one furnace they are heating pieces of cast-iron, + about twelve inches long, four inches wide, and one-half inch thick. + + A workman takes a pair of long pincers, draws from the furnace one + of the red-hot pieces of iron, and passes it to another workman. + This workman is standing before two large wheels, which revolve + slowly, and which have several notches in them. The piece of hot + iron is placed between these wheels, with one end in a notch, and + the iron is bent double, bringing the two ends together, making it + look somewhat like a clothes-pin, except that the clothes-pin should + have a hole at the head, like in the piece of iron, for a handle. + The ends of the bent iron are next hammered together, after which + the coming ax is again heated. It is then taken to the steam + hammers. The first hammer joins the parts of the iron firmly + together, while the second, having on its face the mold of an ax, + gives the iron the same shape. The sides are then made straight and + even by a circular saw. + + But an ax in this shape could never be used to much effect, for + cast-iron cannot be ground down to a fine enough edge. Steel can be + ground, however, and so a piece of steel must be added to our iron + ax. Two workmen take hold of the blade with pincers, and while one + holds a sharp tool on the broad edge, the other strikes with a + sledge. Into this split thus made, a piece of steel is slipped, and + a steam hammer joins them firmly. + + After this, the ax is tempered, sharpened and polished; and, when + the blade is furnished with a handle, the ax is ready for + sale.--Yours truly, + + "THE DOCTOR." + + + * * * * * + + +The following is sent to us as written, without help, by a little girl +nine years old. + + THE HISTORY OF A CAT. + + I am the family cat. I am not so very pretty, but they all like me + very much. I have a pretty baby-kitten, and I have a daughter named + Tortoise-shell. She is a pretty and good cat. She also has a + baby-kitten prettier than mine. Mine has such big eyes that its + little face does not look as cunning as my daughter's baby-kitten's + face. My mistress is very good to me sometimes, but sometimes she + pulls my tail and makes me mad, and I scratch her and then she slaps + me back; but when she is good to me, and pets me, and gives me cake, + then I purr to her. + + Once my mistress' brother had a dog given to him. This dog's name + was "Captain." I did not like him one bit. + + My mistress' brother's friend tried to set the dog on me, but he + would not come near me; so the boy let him alone. + + When my mistress went to get my daughter's baby-kitten, Captain went + with her. My mistress did not know that Captain went into the room + with her. Tortoise-shell was tending her kitten, but, as soon as she + saw the dog, she jumped up and scratched his nose good for him. He + did not stay very long. He was given to my mistress' brother on + Saturday. The next day, which was Sunday, my mistress and the rest + of the family were at church; the dog got out, I don't know how, but + when my mistress came home from church she looked all about, but + could not find him anywhere. She was very sorry, but I was not sorry + one bit; I was glad. So now we've come to the end. + + G.M.M. + + + * * * * * + + + Oswego, N. Y. + + DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Please will you tell me where I can find + directions how to build a boat?--Yours respectfully, + + HARRY MEAD. + + + Midland, 1878. + + DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I wish that you would tell me how to make a yatch + I have a schooner but she gets beat bad and I should like to know + how to make a yatch that will beat them all I think one about 30 + inches will be long enough.--I remain your constant Reader, + + G.B.J. + + +In ST. NICHOLAS for July, 1875 (Vol. II.), Harry will find full +directions how to make a serviceable boat at a small cost; and G.B.J., +whose letter we print _verbatim_, also may find hints that will enable +him to build an all-conquering "yatch." + + + * * * * * + + + Milwaukee, Wis. + + DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I am going to tell you about a game that we play + here a good deal. I do not know what it is called. It can be played + by any number, though the more the merrier. Each player must have a + sheet of paper and a pencil. When all are supplied, each one must + write across the top of the sheet a question, taking up as little + room on the page as possible, and turning the paper down so as to + cover up the writing, as in "Consequences." The paper is then passed + to the next neighbor, who is to write a common noun, of any kind, + under the question, and turn over in like manner. After the noun has + been written, the paper is passed on. Then everybody opens the paper + that last came to him, and must answer the question in rhyme, + inserting the noun. I will give you an illustration. + + EXAMPLE: + + Question,--"Do you like pigs?" + Common noun,--"Peas." + Answer, in rhyme,-- + + "I love the gentle animals + That sport about our home. + And all among the peas and corn + So happily do roam." + + "Ah! little pigs I'll harm you not, + Nor e'en disturb your play, + But you shall have your own sweet will, + And feed upon the best of swill, + Through all the livelong day." + + Will somebody answer thus this question, that was given to me: + "Which was the greatest battle of Alexander the Great?" + + Noun: "Toes." + + Yours truly, + + D.J. + + + * * * * * + + + DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I send you a puzzle, which I hope you will print: + + My first is in your body, + Quite useful in its way. + My second flows in Italy, + And flows by night and day. + My third, a thing to cook with, is + In every kitchen found. + My fourth's a common article, + A very simple sound. + My fifth folks often get into,-- + The careless ones, of course. + My whole, a clumsy animal, + Is partly named for horse. + + R.N.P. + + _Answer_: Hip-Po-pot-a-mus, hippopotamus. + + + * * * * * + + + Wilmette, Ills. + + DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have been taking your book two years. I think + it is splendid. Some of the stories are so funny. I go to a private + school, and I am in the Fourth Reader. The girls play on one side of + the grounds and the boys on the other; the cherry-trees are on our + side, and I like it the best. We have lots of fun. I am nine years + old. I have two little sisters, Belle and Marion, and a little + brother, Bobo. When we get big we may write some stories for your + book. We are little now, but everybody was little once.--Your + friend, + + KITTY GRIFFITHS. + + + * * * * * + + + Philadelphia, Pa. + + DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I do like you so much, and I wish you would tell + me something. I see pictures and read books in which are the names + Penelope, Juno, Achilles, Hercules, and so on. The dictionary tells + but little about these names, and I want to know all about them. Can + you tell me how to find out?--Truly your friend, + + CARRIE H. + +You can learn a good deal about the personages you mention from +Bulfinch's "Age of Fable," from Alexander S. Murray's "Manual of +Mythology," and from Mrs. Clement's "Handbook of Legendary and +Mythological Art"; but the poems of Homer,--the "Iliad" and the +"Odyssey,"--of both of which there are good English translations,--are +the chief sources of the information. + + + * * * * * + + + Chicago, Ills. + + MY DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I send you an Enigma to publish in your + magazine. The answer to the Enigma is "Washington."--Yours truly, + + WILLIE M. + + + My 1, 9, 10, is the same as one. + My 8, 1, is two-thirds of two. + My 6, 5, 10, is three-fourths of nine. + My 10, 9, 8, 4, 5, 6, 9, is nothing. + My 3, 2, 1, is what my 5 did. + My 8, 9, 10, is very heavy; but + My 10, 9, 8, is not. + My 6, 5, 7, 4, 8, is always somewhere, but not here to-day. + + + * * * * * + + +THE BOY ENGINEERS: WHAT THEY DID, AND HOW THEY DID IT, is an illustrated +book published by Messrs. G. P. Putnam's Sons. It seems to have been +written for readers living in England, but young amateur machinists +anywhere would find it an entertaining book. It gives good practical +hints about the management of tools, and explains how to turn and carve +in wood and metal, how to make a clock, an organ, a small house, and how +to set up a steam-engine. The type is large, and the style easy and +pleasant. + + + + +THE RIDDLE-BOX. + + +VERY EASY SQUARE-WORD. + +1. A pointed implement of brass or wood. 2. Wrath. 3. Not old. + +A.W., AND F.E.D. + + +DECAPITATIONS. + +1. Behead a bird's nest, and leave a lake in North America. 2. Behead a +marine map, and leave a wild animal. 3. Behead a sail vessel, and leave +a small narrow opening. 4. Behead a plant, and leave space. 5. Behead a +basket or hamper, and leave standard or proportion. 6. Behead a sharp +bargainer, and leave a company of people. 7. Behead a group of +individuals, and leave a country girl. 8. Behead an act of deception, +and leave high temperature. + +ISOLA. + + +NUMERICAL ENIGMA. + +The whole, composed of twelve letters, is a noted character of American +fiction. + +The 1, 8, 4, 12 is to rend asunder. The 3, 2, 6, 10 is a flower. The 11, +5, 7, 9 is an open, grassy space. + +C. O. + + +EASY MELANGE. + +1. Behead a pavement, and find a planet. 2. Syncopate the pavement, and +give a shrub. 3. Transpose the planet, and leave the center. 4. Behead +and transpose the center, and find a weed. 5. Transpose the weed, and +give degree. 6. Syncopate the center, and leave an animal. 7. Behead the +animal, and find skill. 8. Curtail the shrub and give excitement. 9. +Behead and curtail the center, and leave a part of the body. 10. Behead +and transpose excitement, and find a plant. 11. Syncopate excitement, +and give an article of clothing. 12. Transpose skill, and leave an +animal. 13. Reverse the animal, and find a sailor. + + +CABIN PUZZLE. + + . . . + . . . + . . . . . . . + . . . + . . . + . . . . . . . . + . . ... ... . + . ... . ... ... . + . ... . ... ... . + . ... . . . . . . . + + +The dots show where the letters are to be placed. The perpendicular and +sloping lines of the building are read downward, the horizontals from +left to right. + +The letters that form the foundation, reading from extreme left to +extreme right, signify (1) a fireside; those of the lower edge of the +roof spell (2) liable to taxation; those of the ridge-pole mean (3) +calls for; those of the left-hand corner-post denote (4) the cry of a +domestic animal; those of the middle corner-post, (5) a free +entertainment; those of the right-hand corner-post, (6) a large bird of +prey; those of the left-hand sloping roof-edge, (7) an officer in an +English university; those of the middle sloping roof-edge, (8) a +regulated course of food; and those of the right-hand sloping roof-edge, +(9) withered. + +The chimney is a double word-square, and reads, downward, (10) bleared, +(11) a man's name, (12) a farm-yard inclosure; across, (13) to plunge, +(14) anger, (15) a playing piece in the game of chess. The door, also, +is a double word-square: it reads, downward (16) a useful insect, (17) a +city of Burmah (Farther India), (18) a resinous substance; across, (19) +a wooden club, (20) a girl's name, (21) a part of the human body. + +The left-hand window is a double word-square, and reads, downward (22) +to bend under weight, (23) a prefix, (24) hitherto; across, (25) a +secret agent, (26) exist, (27) to procure. The right-hand window, also, +is a double word-square: it reads, downward, (28) to make brown, (29) a +kind of poem, (30) angry; across, (31) a nickname for a boy, (32) a +girl's name, (33) another nickname for a boy. + +H.H.D. + + +DROP-LETTER STAIR PUZZLE. + +--E E-- + E + E + --E E-- + E + E + --E E-- + E + E + --E E-- + +Going upstairs, find (reading from right to left): 1. A fish that lives +in English waters. 2. Full to overflowing. 3. Reward 4. An animal. 5. A +lively dance. 6. An edible plant. 7. To maintain hold upon. + +Going down-stairs, find (reading from left to right): 1. To peep. 2. A +part of a boat. 3. To look obliquely. 4. An aquatic plant. 5. To esteem. +6. To gather. 7. The seed of an oriental plant. + +H.H.D. + + +PROVERB ENIGMA. + +The proverb is composed of twenty-nine letters. + +The 5, 13, 26, 19, 2 is a wild animal. The 9, 14, 20, 16, 3, 11 is a +person employed in the building of houses. The 10, 23, 21, 1 is a common +reptile. The 13, 4, 21, 7, 29 is a bird of fine plumage. The 25, 17, 6, +27, 8 is a bird that is attached to the dwellings of men. The 18, 28, +12, 24 is a swimming and diving bird of the Arctic Regions. + +I.T. + + +KNIGHT'S-MOVE PUZZLE. + + --------------------------------------------------------------------- +| | | | | | | | | +| lay | tle | on | dom | braves | still | square | quered| +| | | | | | | | | +|---------------------------------------------------------------------| +| | | | | | | | | +| ly | truth | press | day | the | board | ly | strike| +| | | | | | | | | +|---------------------------------------------------------------------| +| | | | | | | | | +| bat- | this | Per- | a | free- | to | che- | from | +| | | | | | | | | +|---------------------------------------------------------------------| +| | | | | | | | | +| and | fierce- | who | Greeks | down | Mar- | for | on. | +| | | | | | | | | +|---------------------------------------------------------------------| +| | | | | | | | | +| reads | hard | than | sian | youth | the | square | this | +| | | | | | | | | +|---------------------------------------------------------------------| +| | | | | | | | | +| as | right | each | poured | at | horde | ward | fight | +| | | | | | | | | +|---------------------------------------------------------------------| +| | | | | | | | | +| long | so | knight | ly | thr'gh | the | on | leaps | +| | | | | | | | | +|---------------------------------------------------------------------| +| | | | | | | | | +| As | on | life's | may | up | bold- | and | to | +| | | | | | | | | + --------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +The above puzzle consists of a verse of eight rhyming eight-syllable +lines; each syllable occupies a square and follows in succession +according to the knight's move on the chess board. + +F.W. + + +EASY HIDDEN FISHES. + +In each of the following sentences find, concealed, the name of a +well-known fish. + +1. A Russian soldier, at Toms's, ate a salamander. 2. "Do you spell +'knob' as she does?" 3. "Where is my badge?" "Ella has it." 4. Francesco +drew a large prize yesterday. 5. "Have the girls and boys seen Fanny +Dunbar?" "Belle has." 6. My dolls had the measles last month. 7. Every +soldier leaves his tent. "Rout the enemy!" is the battle-cry. 8. I +heard, with regret, that she had lost her ring. 9. I composed a song of +which the first verse begins something like this: "Hark! 'tis a cricket +chirping." 10. Wax dolls melt when left too near the fire. + +A.E.M. + + +POETICAL REBUS. + +A two-line quotation from Cowper. + +[Illustration] + + +RIDDLE. + + Gleaming gayly, flashing light; + White as snow, and black as night; + Ladies, I'm your slave, your pride, + Though in ocean I abide. + + Power have I o'er life and death,-- + I, a creature without breath! + I, so small that you can draw + Fifty, like me, through a straw. + +R.S.C. + + +SUGGESTED WORD-SQUARE. + +In the following rhyme, the words of the Square are suggested by the +sense, and are to be inserted in the blanks, in order, as the blanks +occur,--the first word in the first blank, the second word in the second +blank, and so on. + + To buy a ---- was foolish waste. + (I'd no ---- how it would taste!) + "I'll just have bread and ----," said Daisy. + "Who ---- a fruit like that, is crazy!" + +B. + + +ANAGRAMS. + +In the following sentence, the words printed in capitals are anagrams of +the words that should occupy the same places, so as to make sense. Thus: +BATTLE-SCREENS is a compound-word that takes the place of another to be +formed of the same letters arranged differently; the right word, in this +example, being "center-table;" but each of the other collections of +capitals is an anagram of but a single word. + +I saw TENT SUDS by the BATTLE-SCREENS, puzzling over THE MICA MATS, and +perplexed about MANY ROOTS. + +C.T. + + +REBUS. + +A two line quotation from Shakspeare. + +[Illustration] + + +COMPLETE DIAMOND. + +The centrals of the diamond are each the same word, of five letters, +spelling the name of a Frenchman who became notorious during the great +French Revolution. The remainder of the diamond is made of words formed +from the letters of his name. The diamond incloses a hollow square, +either of whose perpendiculars or horizontals, read backward or forward, +will spell a word; and, reading from the middle letter to either end of +either of the centrals, a word will be spelled, which, when read +backward, will spell another word. Make the Diamond. TREBONIUS. + + +EASY AMPUTATED QUOTATION. + +Two lines from Tennyson. Each word is beheaded and curtailed. + +-RU- -EART- -R- -OR- -HA- -ORONET- +-N- -IMPL- -AIT- -HA- -ORMA- -LOO- + +C. L. D. + + +EASY CROSS-WORD PUZZLE. + + My first is in bee, but not in fly; + My second in moon, but not in sky; + My third is in scare, but not in fright; + My fourth is in top, and also in kite; + My fifth is in broad, but not in wide; + My sixth is in ocean, but not in tide; + My whole is all New England's pride. + +H. A. S. + + +ANAGRAM WORD-SQUARES. + +From the letters composing each of the following four sentences make a +word-square: 1. Doctor, do Irish histories err? 2. Let their hotel +gardener grin. 3. Post shall need man's sympathy. 4. Hurrah, Peg has the +gallant pup! The meaning of the words composing the four squares, in the +proper order of succession, are as follows: + +I. 1. A band of singers. 2. A wandering troop of barbarians. 3. A plant +with a sweet-smelling root. 4. A simpleton. 5. Is quiet. + +II. 1. A spelled number. 2. A lazy person. 3. A dazzling light. 4. A +marsh bird. 5. A river of England. + +III. 1. Profundity. 2. To try. 3. A sacred song. 4. A claw. 5. Poems. + +IV. 1. A noise that no animal but man can make. 2. The name of a letter +of the Greek alphabet. 3. Part of a shoe. 4. A town of Belgium. 5. Deer. + +A. + B. + + + + +ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN SEPTEMBER NUMBER. + + +CLASSICAL DOUBLE ACROSTIC.--Virgil--Horace. 1. VoucH. 2. IagO. 3. RoaR. +4. GeorgiA. 5. IoniC. 6. LittlE. + +NAMES OF AUTHORS ENIGMATICALLY EXPRESSED.--1. Poe. 2. Defoe. 3. +Hawthorne. 4. Prescott. 5. Hay. 6. Cooper 7. Sparks. 8. Lever. 9. Lover. +10. Boswell. + +ENIGMA.--Bridle. + +WHAT IS IT.--A switch. + +CHARADE.--Nightingale; night, in(n), gale. + +CENTRAL SYNCOPATIONS.--1. Mouth, moth. 2. Carve, cave. 3. Maxim, maim. +4. Cabin, Cain. 5. Coronet, cornet. + +THREE DIAMONDS.-- + + T C I + G I G A L I U N A +I. T I B E R II. C L O V E III. I N D I A + G E M I V Y A I M + R E A + +PICTORIAL ANAGRAM.--"Procrastination is the thief of time." + +INCOMPLETE SENTENCES.--1. Fair, fare. 2. Rite, right, write. 3. Maid, +made. 4. Reads, reeds. 5. Beats, beets. 6. Bawl, ball. 7. Mien, mean. 8. +Fain, feign, fane. + +RIDDLE.--River. + +POSITIVES AND COMPARATIVES.--1. Flat, flatter. 2. Ham, hammer. 3. Gross, +grocer. 4. Lad, ladder. 5. On, honor. 6. Eye, ire. 7. Poe, pore. 8. Pie, +pyre. 9. Mart, martyr. + +DOUBLE WORD-SQUARE.--G O N E + A V E R + L E E R + E N D S + +HIDDEN NAMES.--In each sentence, take the first letter of each word. 1. +Alma. 2. Helen. 3. Arthur. 4. Mabel. 5. Harry. 6. Ethel. 7. Ernest. 8. +Edith. 9. Fred. 10. Stella. 11. Edwin. 12. Grace. 13. Frank. + +EASY CROSS-WORD ENIGMA.--Dictionary. + +REBUS.--"Can storied urn or animated bust + Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?" + +DOUBLE ACROSTIC.--Victoria-Disraeli. 1. ViviD. 2. I, I. 3. CorpS. 4. +ToweR. 5. OperA. 6. RarE. 7. IdyL. 8. AlighierI. + + +ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE AUGUST NUMBER were received, before August 20, +from Eva D., "Patrolman Gillooley," John C. Robertson, "Three Sisters," +"So So," Mary C. Warren, May Bleecker, Daisy Briggs, George P. Dravo, +"Doctor," Louisa F. Riedel, C.A.K., Bessie L. Barnes, Nessie E. Stevens, +Southwick C. Briggs, Mary Louise Hood, Olive Mecklem, Edwin E. Ganégues, +Anna Halliday, Edith McKeever, M.W.C., Lewis G. Davis, Bessie Hard, +Edith Herkimer, Nina Riker, Marnie Riker; Jerome Buck, Jr.; Nellie +Emerson, "Soft Soap," Jessie W. Cox, Fleta M. Holman, "Robbie, Irvie, +and Daisy," Hild Sterling; Edith and Marion W.; Mary H. Bradley, Alice +L. Booth, Willie Gray, Mamie, "Nantucket" Harry; F.M.J., Jr.; Jennie R. +Beach, Maud L. Smith, Alice Lanigan, Walter Stockdale, Rowen S. McClure, +Anita R. Newcomb, Bertie Jackson, M.G.A., Cora Rawson Ryder, "Apelles +and his Papa," "Fritters," George H. Williams, Richard Weld, Winsor +Weld, Georgine C. Schnitzspahn, "Rosalind," H.B. Ayers, "Oriole," Fred +S. Cowperthwait, Benj. W. Mannus, Lizzie Thurber, "The Raven"; Horace +White and Grant Squires; Neils E. Hansen, "Winnie," Chas. H. Stout, +Kitty P. Norton, Laurie T. Sanders; "Box 325, St. Thomas," Annie J. +Buzzard, Harry Bennett, Jennie Kimball, Dycie Warden, Margaret McF. +Lukens, "Ratie and Katie," "S.G., and P.M.," Ann Hulme Wilson, Eddie +Vultee, Dolly, Jessie Van Brunt, Willie R.C. Corson, Lincoln Cromwell, +T.J. De la Hunt, "Stock-broker," Bessie C. Barney, Bessie Taylor, Willie +F. Floyd, and Louise G. Hinsdale. + +Grace Rosevelt, Amy Growly, Ellen Smith, "B.Y.G.H. Caroni and Wife," "V. +and A.," and O.C. Turner, answered correctly all the puzzles in the +August number. + +Gladys H. Wilkinson, of Manchester, England answered several of the +puzzles in the July number, but his letter did not come in time for +adding his name to the July list. The delay was not his fault, so the +credit due is now given. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and +Girls, Vol. 5, October 1878, No. 12, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ST. NICHOLAS MAGAZINE *** + +***** This file should be named 17466-8.txt or 17466-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/4/6/17466/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, LM Bornath, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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