diff options
Diffstat (limited to '18293-8.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 18293-8.txt | 2917 |
1 files changed, 2917 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/18293-8.txt b/18293-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..af4801a --- /dev/null +++ b/18293-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2917 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. VIII, No. 354, +October 9, 1886, 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: The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. VIII, No. 354, October 9, 1886 + +Author: Various + +Editor: Charles Peters + +Release Date: May 1, 2006 [EBook #18293] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER, VOL. *** + + + + +Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER + +VOL. VIII.--NO. 354. + +OCTOBER 9, 1886. + +PRICE ONE PENNY. + + + + +CALLED AWAY. + + +[Illustration: "AND CLUNG TO HER NECK WITH A SMOTHERED CRY."] + + In the heart of the heartless town, where hunger and death are rife; + Where gold and greed, and trouble and need, make up the sum of life-- + A woman lives with her only child, + And toils 'mid the weary strife. + + No end to the tiring toil to earn a wage so small; + No end to the ceaseless care--ah! the misery of it all! + While the strongest snatch the hard-earned crust, + The weakest the crumbs that fall. + + Oh, look at the pallid face as it bends o'er the dreary work; + The stitch, and stitch, and stitch that she knows she dare not shirk! + Her strength is ebbing away so fast + That she scarcely feels it go. + + Oh, list to the weary sigh--a whole tale in one breath-- + A widowed life, and a mother's love, and the fear of an early death. + While there at her feet a pale boy sits, + And weeps for his mother's woe. + + * * * * * + + She has called to her boy in the night; he has nestled beside her bed, + And clung to her neck with a smothered cry and a feeling of sudden dread. + And thus they lie, till the mother strives + To speak with her tears unshed. + + And then she tells him--so sweet and low, it sounds like a fairy tale-- + How Jesus has sent His angels down to fetch her; that He won't fail + To send His angel to watch o'er him + When love can no more avail. + + * * * * * + + But still she holds him so gently firm, so close to her lifeless breast; + She speaks no more, he weeps no more, for God knows what is best. + He has taken both from a world of pain + To endless peace and rest. + + E. A. V. + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE SHEPHERD'S FAIRY. + +A PASTORALE. + +BY DARLEY DALE, Author of "Fair Katherine," etc. + + +CHAPTER II. + +Up the old oak staircase three or four stairs at a time sprang the +baron; then he walked quickly with beating heart down the long corridor +to the west wing, where the nursery was, and pausing at the top of a +spiral staircase which led to the side door he intended to go out by, he +shouted impatiently to the housemaid who was left in charge of the baby. + +"Marie! Marie! _Vite, vite._ Where is Monsieur Léon's malacca cane? It +was in my dressing-room this morning. Fetch it directly." + +The girl came running to do her master's bidding, and no sooner had the +white streamers of her cap disappeared down the corridor than the baron +darted into the nursery. A lamp was burning on a table at one end of the +room, and at the other, carefully guarded from any draught by a +folding-screen, stood a swinging-cradle, on pedestals of silver. The +framework, the baron knew, was an old family relic, but the cradle +itself was a new and wonderful creation of white swansdown and blue +satin, lined with lace and trimmed with pale blue ribbons. In this mass +of satin and lace lay the baron's tiny daughter, fast asleep, her small +fingers grasping a lovely toy of pink coral with golden bells, which was +fastened round her waist with pale blue ribbon. For one moment the baron +hesitated. To tear the little creature from her luxurious home, and +trust her to the tender mercies of some rough sailors for a day or two, +and then leave her in the hands of strangers, who might or might not be +kind to her, seemed hard even to the baron, whose mind was warped by +jealousy; but then came the thought that all this luxury with which the +child was so extravagantly surrounded was bad for her; if Mathilde +persisted in pampering her in this way, she would grow up weak and +delicate. The life he had chosen for her was far more healthy; and if +she were inured to a harder life in her infancy, she was much more +likely to develop into a strong, healthy girl; and as he quieted his +conscience with these thoughts his hesitation vanished, and he stooped +to pick her up. + +But hark! there was a footstep. Was it Marie returning? What would she +think to find him in the nursery, into whose precincts he had never +before intruded, as the servants all knew well enough? No, it was a +false alarm, no one was coming; and seeing that now or never was the +time for him to carry out his plan, he picked up the baby, folded the +quilted satin coverlet and the fine cambric sheet round it, and covered +its face with a lace handkerchief that lay on the pillow; then, feeling +that the swansdown quilt might not be warm enough on board the yacht, he +glanced round the room, and seeing an Indian shawl which Mathilde often +wore lying on a rocking-chair, he wrapped his burden entirely up in +this, and then dreading every moment the child should cry and betray +him, he stole out of the nursery to the spiral staircase. Here he paused +for a moment to listen, but all he heard was Marie's voice far off +entreating another servant to come and help her to look for the cane, as +Monsieur le Baron was waiting for it. + +"Be quick, Marie, I can't wait much longer," shouted the baron, and +then, quick as thought, he dived down the spiral staircase, in his haste +nearly precipitating himself and his little daughter, who still slept +peacefully, to the bottom. + +To let himself out at the side door was the work of a moment; and now, +unless surprised by any of the servants who might be loitering about in +the shrubberies with their lovers, he was safe. He had only to run down +a winding path of about two hundred yards across the grounds to the gate +where Léon was awaiting him. Once the baron started like a robber at a +rustling in the bushes as he passed, but it was only a cat, and once +again he breathed freely, and in less than five minutes from the time he +entered the nursery he stood on the road by the side of the dogcart. + +"Is it you, Arnaut?" asked Léon, anxiously peering through the twilight +at his brother. + +"Yes, yes, it is all right; here it is," said the baron, holding the +bundle up to Léon. + +"How on earth am I to take it? Where is its head? Can't you nurse it +till we get to the yacht?" said Léon. + +"No; how should I drive with this thing in my arms? Here, give me the +reins, and take hold. This is its head. Thank you," said the baron, with +an immense sigh of relief as he handed the baby to Léon. + +Léon took the bundle so reluctantly, and handled it as delicately as if +it were a piece of priceless china he was afraid of breaking by a touch, +that the baron, who was not in the best of tempers, in spite of his +successful expedition, growled out, "It won't bite you; you needn't be +afraid." + +"I am not, but my dear Arnaut you might make allowances; I never had a +baby in my arms before in my life. I daresay I shall get used to it in +time; use is second nature, they say. But I say, I don't believe it +ought to be bundled up in this way; it can't breathe; it will be +suffocated; I shall open this shawl a little," said Léon, proceeding to +do so, and being immediately rewarded by a long, wailing cry from the +infant. + +"There," said the baron, with an impatient exclamation, "now you have +woke it. Why didn't you leave it alone?" + +"My dear fellow, it would never have woke again if I had; the poor +little creature was choking," said Léon, sitting the baby up on his +knees, as if it were a year old instead of a few months. + +"It will cry the whole way now, and, if we meet anyone, betray our +secret," grumbled the baron. + +"Well, I'd rather it cried than have it suffocated, as it infallibly +would have been but for me. Baby, in future years you may thank your +uncle Léon for saving your life. Perhaps if I whistle it will stop +howling. I'll try," said Léon, whistling, in which art he was a great +adept. + +But whistling had no effect on the baby, unless it was to make it cry +louder, and Léon was in despair, and the baron getting furious, until it +suddenly occurred to the former to jump the child up and down, as he had +seen Mathilde do. This was successful; as long as Léon danced it about +it was quiet; the moment he stopped it began to cry. + +"I wish old Pierre joy if he has to spend the next twenty-four hours in +this way. Drive on, Arnaut; my arms are aching so I can't keep this game +up much longer," said Léon, as they entered the village of Carolles, +where, luckily for them, all the inhabitants had already gone to bed, +and they met no one till they reached the place where the yacht was +lying. + +A boat was waiting to take Léon on board with Pierre and the English +carpenter, to whom Léon spoke in English, asking him if he were quite +sure the baby would be well looked after where he proposed to place it, +and on Smith's answering that he was certain it would, Léon turned to +the baron, who did not understand a word of English, and told him he +need have no anxiety about the child. + +"All right; I don't want to know where you are going to take it; make +any arrangements you like. If you want more money than I have given you, +let me know and you shall have it. When do you expect to be back here, +Léon?" + +"Oh, not for a month at least; I shall keep away till all the fuss +Mathilde will make about the baby is over; meanwhile, if you change your +mind and want the baby back, write to me at my agent's and he will +forward your letter. Adieu." + +And Léon, who had handed the baby to Pierre as soon as they met, now +kissed his brother on both cheeks and then sprang into the boat. Smith +pushed her off and sculled them across the moonlit sea to the yacht, the +baron watching them until they reached her and the boat was drawn up to +its davits, when he turned and drove back to the château, wondering +greatly how the baroness would bear the loss of her baby, and fearing a +very bad quarter of an hour was in store for him when she learnt what +had become of it. + +A stiff breeze was blowing, but with wind and tide in her favour the +yacht sailed smoothly across the Channel, all on board her, except the +baby, being too inured to the sea to feel ill, and, luckily, the +movement of the yacht seemed to lull the child to sleep. When she woke +Pierre was always at hand with some milk, so that she was scarcely heard +to cry during the whole passage, spending the time in sleeping and +eating, and thereby enabling Pierre to earn for himself the character of +a first-rate nurse. + +From time to time during the next day Léon came into the cabin to look +at his tiny charge, for whom an impromptu cradle had been made with some +pillows in an easy chair, and who seemed to have the happy knack of +adapting herself to circumstances, for she slept quietly on, with a +smile on her little face, all unconscious of the waves from which a few +planks divided her. + +"Poor little mite; I hope they'll be kind to her, Smith, these friends +of yours. I am half sorry I brought her, though the baron wished it," +said Léon, as he left the cabin; but the next moment he was whistling on +deck as though no such thing as the baby existed. + +Towards evening they came in sight of Brighton, whose long sea front, +even in those distant days, stretched for a mile or two along the coast, +and Léon, who knew the town well, and considered it one of the few +English towns in which he could spend a few days without dying of +_ennui_, was anxious to put in there, but Smith dissuaded him. + +"If we put in here, sir, they'll be sure to trace the child; it would be +far better to let me go ashore with it in the gig, while you lay +outside." + +"But where are we to put in then? Having come to England, I mean to go +ashore for a day or two." + +"Why not run up to Yarmouth, sir; the wind is fair; it is south-west +now. You have never been there, have you? And there'll be no fear of +anyone tracing the child there. If madame sees in the paper that we +touched at Yarmouth, she may inquire all over that part of the country +without finding the baby down in Sussex." + +Léon considered the matter for a few minutes, and finally consented to +this arrangement; and about eight o'clock that evening the gig was +lowered, and Pierre, who would not abandon his charge till the last +minute, went ashore with John Smith and the baby. + +They landed on a quiet spot between Brighton and Rottingdean, and here +Smith insisted on Pierre's remaining in charge of the boat while he +deposited the baby with his friends. Pierre protested against this; but +the carpenter was firm. It would not be safe, he argued, to leave the +boat alone for two or three hours, and he might be gone as long as that; +and there could be no danger in leaving Pierre there, for if anyone did +question him about his business, he would not be able to understand +them, as he knew no English. + +Pierre found it was useless to make any further objections, so, +reluctantly handing the baby over to the carpenter, he prepared to make +himself as comfortable as circumstances permitted during Smith's +absence. It was a beautiful warm midsummer evening, but Pierre began to +feel chilly and tired of waiting long before Smith came back, though he +managed to get several naps, curled up in the bottom of the boat. At +last, about eleven o'clock, just as Pierre was getting very nervous, and +dreading every minute that one of the white ladies of Normandy (those +_dames blanches_ who are so cruel to the discourteous) should appear to +him, or a hobgoblin or a ghost, in all of which he was, like most Norman +peasants, a firm believer, to his intense relief he heard the carpenter +whistling in the distance, and a minute or two later Smith arrived, hot +and tired, and by no means in a communicative frame of mind, only +vouchsafing to tell the anxious Pierre that the baby was safe. + +To Léon he was bound to be less reserved, and, according to his own +account, he had had no difficulty in persuading his friend the shepherd +to take charge of the child. He had asked no awkward questions, and was +quite satisfied with the sum of money Smith had left with him. Léon +carefully entered the name and address of the shepherd in his +pocket-book, and then dismissed the matter from his mind, and gave +himself up to enjoying his cruise. + +A day or two later they put into Yarmouth, and the arrival of the French +yacht, L'Hirondelle, owner M. Léon de Thorens, was duly mentioned in the +shipping news of the daily papers. Yarmouth was not a place after Léon's +heart, and he would have left the next day, but John Smith had gone +ashore and had not returned, so their departure was delayed at first for +a few hours; but as Smith still did not appear, Léon began to get +anxious, and made inquiries in the town for him, but in vain. At last, +after delaying several days, it became evident the man had deserted, and +finally Léon set sail without him. His intention on leaving Brighton was +to cruise round the coast of Great Britain, visiting the principal +seaports on the way; but on finding Smith did not return, his suspicions +were awakened as to the safety of the child, and he determined to go +back at once to Brighton and see if the child had really been left with +the shepherd whose address Smith had given him. + +But that night a dense fog came on, and a day or two later a paragraph +in the English papers announced a collision had taken place off Harwich +with an English trading vessel and the French yacht, L'Hirondelle, in +which the latter sunk at once with all hands, not a soul remaining to +tell the tale, but some life-belts and spars of wood which were picked +up afterwards led to the identification of the yacht, which was known to +have left Yarmouth the morning before the collision took place. + +(_To be continued._) + + + + +DINNERS FOR TWO. + + +Many housekeepers complain of the difficulty of providing a change of +dishes where the family is small. Really, the number of things that may +be served for one or two people is very great, but the serving is +important. The writer has endeavoured in the following twenty-four +dinners only to give such dishes as with a little care and attention may +easily be cooked by a general servant with a rather limited knowledge of +cooking. They are also chosen with due regard to expenditure. There are +not any extravagant dishes, no stock meat is required for anything, nor +is any pastry included in any dinner. + +In arranging dinners for a number it is easy to give the weights of the +different things that will be required, as there will probably be an +average of appetites, but this is not possible for one or two people; +for where one person will eat nearly a pound of meat, another will only +eat two ounces, so that of quantity the housekeeper must be the best +judge, as she knows the appetites for which she has to provide. + +1. Mulligatawny soup; fillet steak with mushroom ketchup; baked batter +pudding. + +2. Flounders water souchet; piece of best end neck of mutton roasted; +steamed semolina pudding, lemon sauce. + +3. Potato soup; steak and kidney pudding; apples stewed in syrup. + +4. Filleted plaice (dressed white); veal cutlets, bacon, and baked +tomatoes; cheese fondu. + +5. Lobster salad; stewed breast of mutton; cake fritters. + +6. Brown onion soup; roast fillet of beef; Spanish rice. + +7. Slices of cod fried; toad-in-the-hole; Melbourne pudding. + +8. Curried eggs; Irish stew; rice meringue. + +9. Potiron; beef steak stewed with vegetables; blancmange. + +10. Baked haddock; calves' heart roasted; bread-and-jam pudding. + +11. Shrimp toast; roast fillet of mutton; strawberry cream. + +12. Turnip soup; breast of veal stewed; apple charlotte. + +13. Fried mackerel; boiled rabbit and onion sauce; cheese toast. + +14. Brunoise; stewed mutton cutlets; baked rice pudding. + +15. Fried herrings, mustard sauce; rump-steak aux fines herbes; jam +roll. + +16. Dressed crab; boiled knuckle of mutton with caper sauce; +bread-and-butter fritters. + +17. Tomato soup; mutton cutlets with onion purée; cocoanut pudding. + +18. Fried smelts; a currie; boiled batter pudding. + +19. Vegetable soup; rump steak; macaroni cheese. + +20. Stewed fish; leg of mutton cutlet; raspberry sponge. + +21. Vegetable marrow soup; one rib of beef (boned and rolled) roasted; +tapioca pudding. + +22. Fried soles; pounded meat cutlets in Italian paste with sauce; +macaroni with tomato sauce. + +23. Fried whiting; boiled knuckle of veal with parsley and butter, and +grilled bacon; baked currant pudding. + +24. Semolina soup; part of loin of pork roasted; Spanish soufflé. + +Vegetables, though, of course, they are an important part of dinner, are +not given, as they must vary according to the month of the year. The +recipes which follow are as little complicated as possible. + +_Mulligatawny Soup (without meat)._--Cut two onions and a small carrot +into thin slices, put them into a stewpan with one ounce of butter, turn +them about until they are a nice brown colour, but not burnt, then add a +sprig of parsley and half an apple, stir in three teaspoonfuls of curry +powder, add a pint and a half of hot stock from bones, or of hot water +and a little piece of lean bacon, or a small bacon bone if you have one; +let the soup simmer for an hour, skim the fat off, strain the soup, put +it back in the saucepan, add to it the juice of half a lemon and a +dessertspoonful of flour that has been baked a very light brown and +mixed with a piece of butter the size of a pigeon's egg; salt to taste. +Serve the soup very hot, and hand rice as boiled for curry with it. + +_Fillet Steaks with Mushroom Ketchup._--Beat the steaks with a beater or +rolling-pin, put a very small piece of butter in a stewpan, place the +steaks in it, and brown them slightly on each side; add one +tablespoonful of ketchup and one tablespoonful of water, also a little +black pepper; salt is not generally wanted with mushroom ketchup; cover +the stewpan closely, and keep the fillets hot for three-quarters of an +hour at the side of the stove; serve with the gravy poured over them. + +_Flounders Water Souchet._--Wash the fish and remove the heads. Put +three-quarters of a pint of cold water into a stewpan, well wash two +parsley roots and cut them in fine shreds, put them in a stewpan with a +little pepper and salt, simmer a quarter of an hour, put in the +flounders with a tablespoonful of parsley broken into small sprigs, not +chopped, simmer eight minutes, and serve with a plate of brown bread and +butter and a cut lemon. + +_Semolina Pudding._--Boil one and a half ounces of semolina in +three-quarters of a pint of milk until it is cooked, take the saucepan +from the fire, add a little sugar and a very small pinch of salt; then +stir in two well-beaten eggs; butter a small mould or basin well, pour +in the mixture, cover the top with buttered paper, and steam the pudding +for an hour either by putting it into a steamer or into a saucepan with +boiling water half way up the basin and keeping the water boiling. Serve +with lemon sauce over. Sauce:--Take a quarter of a pint of cold water, +mix a teaspoonful of cornflour with it, add the juice of half a lemon +and a little white sugar; boil all together, stirring all the time. + +_Potato Soup._--Take one pound of potatoes weighed after they are +peeled; cut them up and put them in a stewpan, with a piece of butter +the size of a walnut, and an onion cut in slices; cover the stewpan, and +shake the vegetables over the fire for five minutes; add a pint of hot +water; simmer for an hour. Pass the whole through a sieve; put back in +the saucepan. Add nearly half a pint of milk, and pepper and salt to +taste. Cut a thin slice of bread in small dice; fry it in butter; put it +in the bottom of the tureen, and pour the soup over. + +_Stewed Apples._--Boil together a teacupful of cold water, a teacupful +of sugar, and a teaspoonful of lemon-juice; peel and core six small +apples as soon as the syrup is clear. Put the apples in and cook them +over a slow fire until they are tender. They must be turned while +cooking, but must not be broken. When cold sprinkle a little chopped +almond on each, or else a small piece of red currant jelly can be put +on. + +_Fillets of Plaice._--Double the fillets, put them on a buttered tin, +with pepper, salt, and a squeeze of lemon-juice over each; cover with +buttered paper, and bake for ten or fifteen minutes; then put them on a +dish, and serve with following sauce round them:--Boil the bones of the +fish a quarter of an hour in a quarter of a pint of milk and water; mix +a good teaspoonful of flour with a little butter, cayenne, and salt; +strain the liquor from the fishbones to it, also the liquor out of the +tin in which the fish were baked; put into a saucepan and boil for a +minute or two, then, pour round the fish. + +_Cheese Fondu._--Melt one ounce of butter in a saucepan, stir one ounce +of flour in; when quite smooth, add a quarter of a pint of milk and some +cayenne pepper and salt. Stir the mixture over the fire until it is +quite smooth; then add two ounces of cheese grated--Parmesan is the +best, but any other cheese that is not blue and is dry enough to grate +will do. Turn the mixture into a basin, add two beaten yolks of eggs, +and, just before it is time to put it in the oven, stir in the two +whites of the eggs, which must be beaten to a stiff froth; then put the +mixture into a buttered tin large enough to hold double the quantity, as +it will rise; bake twenty minutes in a brisk oven, and serve +immediately. + +_Breast of Mutton Stewed._--Take a breast, or, if too fat, a scrag of +mutton, brown it in a stewpan, add a sliced onion (which must also be +browned), then pour in enough hot water to cover the meat. As soon as it +simmers put in one turnip and one carrot cut into small dice, and a +small head of celery cut fine, or a shred lettuce, according to the +season, some black pepper, and some salt. Simmer for about an hour and a +half before serving; mix a dessertspoonful of baked flour with a little +cold water, and add it to the gravy. Skim, if too fat, before sending to +table. + +_Cake Fritters._--Cut some thin slices from a stale cake, cut them in +shapes, dip them in milk, then fry them in butter; spread jam or +marmalade on the top of each, and serve them. + +_Brown Onion Soup._--Skin three onions, cut them in small dice; make an +ounce of butter hot in a stewpan, and throw in the onions, shaking them +about over the fire until they are golden brown (they must be coloured +very slowly, or some pieces will get too dark); when they are brown, +stir in a teaspoonful of flour, and add a pint and a half of liquor in +which meat or poultry has been boiled, or the same quantity of water. +Simmer for an hour, then rub through a sieve; put back in the saucepan; +add pepper and salt to taste, and, if too thin, mix a little butter and +flour together, add to the soup, and boil for three minutes before +serving. + +_Spanish Rice._--Boil four ounces of rice, wash it in cold water, then +dry it before the fire. Put half an ounce of butter in a frying-pan; +when quite hot throw in the rice, fry it a light colour, add a +dessertspoonful of grated cheese and a little cayenne and salt. A +dessertspoonful of plain tomato sauce may be added or not. The rice must +be served very hot. + +_Toad in the Hole._--Trim some neck of mutton cutlets nicely, or take +some cold meat or fowl and place in the bottom of a pie-dish that you +have first buttered. Then make a batter thus: take four ounces of flour, +mix one egg with it, add half a pint of milk and a little salt, put +pepper and salt over the meat in the dish, pour the batter in, and put +in a tolerably quick oven; it will take about three-quarters of an hour +to bake. Batter is best mixed some hours before it is wanted, but it +must not be put in the dish with the meat until you are going to bake +it. + +_Melbourne Pudding._--Boil half a pint of red currants with half a pound +of loaf sugar for half an hour, add half a pound of raspberries and boil +ten minutes. Butter a plain mould or pudding basin and line it with +slices from a tin loaf or French roll, cut a quarter of an inch thick; +the top pieces must be cut into triangles to make them fit neatly, while +the side pieces are half an inch wide; pour the fruit into the bread +while hot, cover the top with more bread, put in a cool place until the +next day, then turn out and serve with custard or cream. + +_Curried Eggs._--Make a sauce with a quarter of a pint of milk, a +teaspoonful of curry powder, a teaspoonful of flour, and a little salt; +mix these ingredients together and boil them three minutes. Boil three +eggs hard, remove the shells, put the sauce in a dish, put the eggs in +it, then cut each egg in two and serve. + +_Rice Meringue._--Boil half a small teacupful of rice in milk; when done +put it in a pie-dish, spread a layer of jam over the top of it, beat the +white of an egg to a stiff froth, put it over the jam, sift about a +tablespoonful of pounded sugar over it; put it in the oven to set, and +serve hot. + +_Potiron._--Take one pound of pumpkin without seeds or rind, cut it into +small pieces, put it in a stewpan with a quarter of a pint of water, +simmer it slowly for an hour and a half; then rub it through a sieve +with a wooden spoon, put it back in the saucepan, add three quarters of +a pint of milk, a piece of butter the size of a walnut, a saltspoonful +of powdered sugar and pepper and salt to taste, stir it occasionally, +and serve it as soon as it boils. + +_Baked Haddock._--Wash and dry the fish, then mix a saltspoonful of salt +with the juice of half a lemon, and rub it all over the fish and let it +remain for three hours, then prepare some bread-crumbs, mix with them a +teaspoonful of finely chopped parsley, a little grated lemon peel, +cayenne pepper, and salt; next dry the fish and brush it over with egg, +cover it with the prepared crumbs, put it in a greased baking dish with +some small lumps of butter on the top of it, bake it from 25 to 35 +minutes, according to the size of the fish. It must be basted with the +butter that runs into the tin. When done put the fish on a dish, squeeze +the other half lemon into the baking tin, pour it over the fish, and +serve. + +_Bread and Jam Pudding._--Take a small pudding basin or mould, grease it +well with butter; then shake brown sugar all over the butter. Take four +ounces bread-crumbs, three ounces finely chopped suet, and three ounces +of any preserve. Put these ingredients in the basin in layers, beginning +with the bread-crumbs. Just before putting the pudding in the oven, mix +an egg with rather less than half a pint of milk, and add it to it. Bake +about three-quarters of an hour in a quick oven, turn out and serve. + +_Shrimp Toast._--Trim and fry three slices of bread in butter. Take two +tablespoonfuls of shelled shrimps, put them into a saucepan with a +dessertspoonful of milk, a lump of butter the size of a pigeon's egg, +half a teaspoonful of anchovy sauce, and a little cayenne pepper. Shake +in a dessertspoonful of flour, boil for two minutes, stirring all the +time; then put on the fried bread, and serve very hot. + +_Roast Fillet of Mutton._--Procure the thick end of a leg of mutton. +Have it boned and tied round. It may be stuffed where the bone is taken +out, or skewered up and roasted plain. + +_Strawberry Cream without cream._--Take a quarter of a pound of +strawberry jam; rub it through a sieve. Add two ounces of pounded sugar +to it, and beat it up with the whites of two fresh eggs until it is all +frothy (it will take some time to beat); put it in a glass dish and +serve soon after it is made. + +_Turnip Soup_ can be made the same as potiron, but a teaspoonful of +flour should be added with the butter. + +_Apple Charlotte._--Cut some strips of bread from a tin loaf or French +roll; dip them in oiled butter, line a mould or pudding basin with them. +Peel and cut up a pound and a half of apples; boil them with a little +sugar. When done, put them in the basin you have lined; cover the top +with bread dipped in butter; bake half an hour, turn on to a dish, and +serve. + +_Cheese Toast._--Beat up an egg, add two ounces of grated cheese, one +dessertspoonful of milk, cayenne, and salt to it, make it hot in a +saucepan, and pour it on to a round of hot buttered toast; cut in pieces +and serve immediately. + +_Brunoise._--Take two tablespoonfuls of carrots, the same of turnips, +onions, and celery, all cut in very small dice. Put a piece of butter +(about an ounce) in a stewpan with a small teaspoonful of powdered +sugar, toss the carrots in this until they begin to take colour, then +put in the celery, then the turnips, then the onions; when all the +vegetables are coloured, put in a pint and a quarter of hot water or +liquor in which meat or poultry has been boiled, let the soup simmer two +hours, skim, and serve with the vegetables in it. The vegetables must +not be burnt at all, but only slightly browned. + +_Stewed Mutton Cutlets._--Cut two carrots, two turnips, and two potatoes +into dice, trim some cutlets and toss them in butter in a stewpan, with +a sprinkling of pepper and salt, till they begin to colour, then put in +the carrots and three-quarters of a pint of hot water, a tablespoonful +of tomato sauce, and a small bunch of sweet herbs and parsley; stew +gently fifteen minutes, add the potatoes and turnips, and simmer about +an hour or until tender; add a piece of butter rolled in flour, a small +piece of glaze, and pepper and salt to taste. Remove the herbs and serve +the cutlets round the vegetables, with as much of the gravy as is +required. + +_Mustard Sauce._--Mix one teaspoonful of flour with half a teaspoonful +of mustard and one ounce of butter, add half a teacupful of water, boil +for five minutes, add half a teaspoonful of vinegar, and serve. + +_Rumpsteak aux Fines Herbes._--Mince equal parts of tarragon, chervil, +and garden cress with half a shalot, mix them with a little butter, +pepper, and salt, broil the steak and place on it. + +_Dressed Crab._--Take all the meat from a crab, cut it up as for salad, +mix a tablespoonful of bread-crumbs with it, mix together a saltspoonful +each of pepper, mustard and salt, with a tablespoonful of vinegar and +two tablespoonfuls of salad oil, mix all with the crab, put it back in +the shell, cover it lightly with bread-crumbs, put a little piece of +butter on the top, bake half an hour, and serve hot. + +_Bread and Butter Fritters._--Take some rounds of bread and butter that +you have shaped with a pastry cutter, spread half of them with jam, +cover the jam with the remaining pieces, dip them in batter and fry +them; serve with sifted sugar over them. + +_Tomato Soup._--Boil a tin of tomatoes until well cooked, then press +them through a sieve; to a pint of tomatoes add half a teaspoonful of +carbonate of soda. Put a piece of butter the size of a pigeon's egg into +a saucepan; when it bubbles stir in a teaspoonful of flour, cook it a +few minutes; add half a pint of hot milk, a little salt and cayenne; +when it boils add the tomatoes; make the soup quite hot (but do not let +it boil), and serve. + +_Cocoanut Pudding._--Butter a small dish, cut a sponge cake in slices, +place it in the dish, mix the yolk of an egg with a teacupful of milk, +pour it over the cake, then strew two ounces of grated cocoanut over it; +next beat the white of the egg to a froth, add a teaspoonful of pounded +sugar, and put over the top of the pudding; bake in a moderate oven. + +_Vegetable Soup without Meat._--Cut up a plateful of all kinds of +vegetables, viz., onions, carrots, potatoes, beans, parsnips, celery, +peas, parsley, leeks, turnip, cauliflower, spinach, cabbage, lettuce, or +as many of these as you can procure. Put a large lump of butter (as big +as a large egg) into a saucepan; when very hot, put in the onions, stir; +when light brown, stir in a dessertspoonful of flour, fry until deep +gold colour, stir in a pint of boiling water, some pepper and salt, add +all the vegetables, let them simmer (adding more water if necessary) for +two hours; put the whole through a sieve, make hot again, and serve. + +_Raspberry Sponge._--Dissolve half an ounce of gelatine in half a pint +of milk. Beat three large tablespoonfuls of raspberry jam in another +half pint of milk, and rub it through a sieve; add a teaspoonful of +pounded sugar, a little grated lemon peel, the white of an egg, and the +milk with the gelatine in it; whisk until it is all frothy. If the +gelatine does not entirely dissolve in cold milk, it must be melted over +the fire before being added to the jam and other ingredients. + +_Vegetable marrow soup_ is made like potiron. + +_Pounded Meat Cutlets in Italian Paste._--Take half pound of cold +mutton, all lean, three ounces of cooked ham, one small shalot; chop and +pound all together; add pepper and salt, one ounce of butter, and three +tablespoonfuls of gravy. For the paste, one yolk of egg, three +tablespoonfuls of cold water, with six ounces of dried flour; knead well +to strong paste, roll out very thin, divide into six, put some of the +meat in each, form into six cutlets; fry in boiling fat, and serve with +sauce in a tureen or plain with fried parsley round. + +_Macaroni with Tomato Sauce._--Boil two ounces of macaroni in water, +with a lump of butter, and a little salt. When nearly done, strain off +the water; add three tablespoonfuls of milk, and a little (one ounce) +Parmesan or other grated cheese and pepper to taste; stir until it is +rather thick. Then dish it up with a little hot tomato sauce in the +centre. + +_Semolina Soup._--Take a pint and a half of liquor from boiled meat, or +stock from bones in which vegetables have been boiled. Add two ounces of +semolina, and season to taste; if needed, a very small teaspoonful of +Liebig extract, or a small piece of glaze can be added. + +_Spanish Soufflé._--Cut two sponge cakes in slices. Spread apricot or +other jam on them. Pile them on a dish, squeeze the juice of a lemon +over them. Whip three teaspoonfuls of cream up with the white of one egg +to a froth; put it over the cakes; blanch and chop four almonds; put +them in the oven to colour, then sprinkle over the whip, and serve. + + + + +A DREAM OF QUEEN'S GARDENS.[1] + +A STORY FOR GIRLS.--IN TWO PARTS. + +BY DANIEL DORMER, Author of "Out of the Mists." + + +PART I. + +A PRETTY QUEEN. + + +"Any letter for me this morning, Brightie?" + +Hazel is leaning rather perilously over the banisters, trying to catch a +glimpse of the old woman coming slowly up the stairs far below. + +"Yes--one. Don't come for it, I'm coming up. And pray, child, don't hang +over those rickety rails like that." + +Miss Bright, or "Brightie," as Hazel Deane had grown affectionately to +call her, is a heavy, strongly-made woman of sixty-three years. She +finds the stairs in this house in Union-square, where she and Hazel +lodge, rather trying; they are many and steep, so she pauses half-way to +recover breath. Looking up she sees Hazel, a white, dark-eyed face, and +a form so slender that even those unsafe rails could hardly give way +under so slight a weight. "More than ever like one of my Cape jasmine +stars," thinks old Brightie. She has always mentally compared the girl +to one of those pure, white stars, which she used so specially to love, +shining on their invisible stems, amidst the dark green leaf-sprays at +her sister's home. Oh, how the poor, lonely old woman's heart had ached +for that country home of her younger days, as she sat wearily at her +business of plain sewing day after day in her attic in Union-square! + +And Hazel, looking down, saw her one friend in the world. A ray of +sunlight streamed in through the narrow staircase window on to Miss +Bright. It makes the black cap which covers her whole head, with strings +flying back over her shoulders, look very rusty. It makes her old alpaca +gown, patched and repatched, and the little black silk apron that she +wears, look more than ever shiny. It strikes upon the large, +old-fashioned white pearl buttons down the front of her bodice, and upon +the glasses of her spectacles, till she looks like some strange, black +creature staring all over with big, round eyes. To Hazel's affectionate +mind, however, there is nothing in the least ludicrous in the sight. She +only notes the panting breath, and says, with a touch of impatience in +her anxiety-- + +"Why will you persist in toiling up and down those horrid stairs, +instead of sending me, Brightie? It is really very unkind of you." + +When Brightie has delivered up Hazel's envelope, with its scrawled +direction, she retires into her own room, next door, and shuts herself +in. She is filled with an unwonted excitement, for she holds a second +letter in her hand, and it is her own. The rarest thing it is for her to +have a letter, and the post-mark is "Firdorf," the very same beautiful +country place for which she had pined; there she and Janie, her only +sister, had lived together, and Janie had died there. The hands, aged +with work and deprivation more than with time, shake as they break the +seal, the aged eyes grow dim again and again as they read. + +It is fully three parts of an hour before Brightie has got through the +letter--not that the words are many or hard to understand; but rather +that the hindrances are many. The glasses of the large spectacles grow +so misty from time to time that they require polishing. Then, too, Miss +Bright's mind exhibits foolish tendencies, refusing to grasp the meaning +of the words, and causing her to explain that she must be dreaming; and +still further she is carried back in mind to days long since vanished, +and scenes long unvisited, and these detain her long. But at last she +rouses herself--has at length fairly accepted the astonishing good news +her letter contains, and, with it open in her hand, hastens off to +communicate the same to her young friend. + +Hazel's door is locked, and Miss Bright has to wait a moment before it +is unfastened. Hazel has been crying, and the tears must have been both +plentiful and bitter, for unmistakable traces exist, in spite of hurried +efforts to efface them. For once, though, Brightie is thoroughly +self-engrossed, and fails to notice even Hazel's face. + +"I have such wonderful news, my dear!" she exclaims, the moment she is +admitted into the room. + +Hazel expresses her interest, and, with her loving smile and tender way, +ensconces her friend in the one attempt at an easy chair her room +possesses, and then kneels beside her to listen. + +"Well, my dear, you have heard me speak of my sister's house at +Firdorf?" + +"Of course! Often. Where you used to live, and the flowers were so +lovely." + +"Yes! and where the sweet white jasmine used to blossom, filling the air +with its delicious fragrance when we sat in the summer evenings beneath +the trellis work, in front of the dear old home." + +As she speaks of the jasmine, old Miss Bright's hand is laid caressingly +on Hazel's hair, and her eyes--happily not too keen without her glasses, +or they would detect the tear marks--rest with softened look, full of +tender memories, on the girl's sympathetic, upturned face. + +"There were always we three there--I, and my sister and her boy. You +have heard how the home was broken up, how Tom ran away, and how we lost +our money, and how Janie's spirit broke down under it, till at length +she gave up praying for Tom's return, and drooped and died?" + +Miss Bright is making a long pause. Her large, rough face is heavy and +sorrowful. She has quite forgotten her good news for the moment, has +forgotten her friend kneeling beside her, has forgotten all save the +memory of the sorrow which seemed to have terminated all of joy the +world held for her. Hazel steals a gentle arm round the bowed neck, and +kisses the worn, absent face as softly and soothingly as though it were +some beautiful child's. The touch recalls the wandering thoughts, +Brightie clasps the hand that she is holding in her own more tightly, +and goes on:-- + +"Well, to be sure, and I haven't told you the news after all, dearie! It +is that Tom has come back. He has made a great deal of money, and got +quite reformed and come back. And he has bought back the old house, and +now has just found out my address and wants me to go down and live with +him; wants me to forgive him, he says, and let him be a comfort to me. I +have, of course, nothing to forgive, except for Janie's sake." + +"Oh, Brightie, what good, good news it is! I am so very glad. You will +at last have some rest, and not be obliged to try your eyes over that +fine sewing, and be taken proper care of, and have all sorts of nice +things. I am so glad! How soon can you go, dear?--to-morrow? I should +like you to go to-morrow." + +Hazel began very bravely, went on unsteadily, and finally ended by +laying her head down on Brightie's broad shoulder, fairly sobbing. + +"I should like you to go to-morrow! Why, Hazel, Hazel, my tender-hearted +little pet, are you crying, then? Because you are sure I am not going +to-morrow? Neither to-morrow nor any other time. Don't you know I could +not leave you without a friend in this great, careless world?" + +Brightie's words are news to herself as she speaks them. She had not +considered the possibility of such a thing before. Here was the +longed-for home open to her, waiting to receive her again. Her one +relation, her own nephew, the same merry-faced Tom of old, dear days, +writing to her begging her to show her forgiveness and go to him to be +cherished all the days of her life. And all this must be +foregone--renounced. She must give it all up, and when Tom comes in two +days, as he said he should, to fetch her, she must withstand his +pleading and send him back alone, and never see the sweet garden and +fresh sea again. + +It is one of the cruellest days of bitter March weather. Yet early in +the day after the talk with Brightie, Hazel goes out in spite of the +cutting east wind. Wearily she drags herself about, making one more +effort to dispose of the manuscript of a story she has written, which +was ignominiously returned to her as useless this morning. Hour after +hour she struggles on in a kind of desperation, trying every possible +chance of getting rid of her laborious production. She is fully assured +in her own mind that she will have no opportunity of getting out of +doors, even to try and dispose of it, after to-day for many days to +come. Her growing illness makes that certain. But all efforts are worse +than useless. It is nearing seven o'clock, and growing quite dark, when +she reaches Union-square and stumbles up those endless stairs at length. +For the first two flights the stairs are comparatively broad and +handsome, and they are thickly carpeted; but above they grow narrow and +bare and steep. As she begins to ascend, Hazel meets a lady in a rich +dress. There are preparations, too, in the lower rooms, which betoken +the commencement of some festivity. Hazel is heartsick and footsore, and +these slight matters intensify her loneliness and sadness, till as she +enters her own dark, desolate room her swelling heart finds vent in a +stifled sob. There has been no scarcity of trouble in the +five-and-twenty years of Hazel Deane's life. + +And now the trouble that weighs upon her this dreary night is the +rejection all round of the treasured writing, offered everywhere with +diffidence and hope, received back always with mortification and +despair. It is now finally flung aside. Then there is the trouble of +losing her friend--her one friend, Miss Bright--for Hazel's delicate +little body holds a resolute mind and strong will, and she is determined +her friend shall not forego the so long needed rest on her account. + +The moon is looking in through the uncurtained window, looking into the +cold, bare room, where only two or three cinders glow a dull red in the +grate. Beside it Hazel leans back in her chair, musing bitterly on all +the gladness gone out of her life. "I am one of those who have none to +love them," she thinks, and the tears gather in her eyes again. + +She is quoting from Mr. Ruskin's "Queen's Gardens," the book which +enabled her to bear patiently a long delay at one of the publishers she +had tried that day. She had found it lying upon the table beside her as +she waited, and picking it up, had become engrossed in it. + +"And I am a woman, and I suppose, therefore, a queen--at least a +possible queen," she muses--"a pretty queen!" + +(_To be concluded._) + +[1] Sesame and Lilies. By John Ruskin, LL.D. 1. Of King's Treasuries. +2. Of Queen's Gardens. + + + + +THE WEATHER AND HEALTH. + +BY MEDICUS. + + +We have all heard tell of the "Clerk of the Weather." What a poor, +ill-used, roundly-rated, over-worked individual he must be! His whole +life must be spent in an impossible endeavour to please everybody. We +may imagine the poor man going of a morning towards his office with +languid steps and weary, wondering all the while to himself what sort of +weather he ought to give the public to-day. + +Arrived in front of his desk, he must stagger back with dismay at the +piles on piles of letters heaped thereon. To read them all is out of the +question; so he sits down and draws one forth, just as you would draw a +card from the hand of someone who pretended to tell fortunes. + +He opens the letter. It isn't a pleasant one by any means. There is a +tone of growling impatience in every line of it. How long, the writer, +who is an invalid, wants to know, are these horrible east winds going to +prevail down in Devonshire? She has come here for her health's sake; she +has been here for three weeks, and all that time it has never ceased to +blow, and she has never ceased to cough and ache. + +The clerk throws this epistle into the Balaam box and listlessly draws +out another. "Don't you think," the writer says, "that a blink of +sunshine would be a blessing--and a drop or two of warm rain to bring +the fruit on, and the garden stuff? What is the good of having a Clerk +of the Weather at all if he cannot attend better to his duties?" + +That letter is also pitched into the Balaam box, and a third drawn--a +delightful little cocked-hat of a letter, written on delicately-perfumed +paper, probably with a dove's quill. She--of course it is a she!--is +going to a garden-party on Tuesday week; would he, the Clerk of the +Weather, kindly see that not a drop of rain falls on that day? Only +bright sunshine, and occasional cloudlets to act as awnings and temper +its heat. + +The Clerk with a smile places that letter aside for further +consideration, and goes on drawing. All and everyone of them either +demand impossibilities or merely write to abuse the poor Clerk for some +fancied dereliction of duty. One wants rain, another growls because +there has been too much wet. This one is grumbling at the fogs, this +other at the sunshine; this one suggests snow for a change, and this +other begs for a thunderstorm to clear the atmosphere. + +And so on and so forth. No wonder the bewildered Clerk jumps up at last +and over-turns the table, letters and all, and audibly expresses a +desire to let all the winds loose upon the world at once, to revel and +tear and do as they like, to bring blinding snow from the far north and +drenching rains from the torrid zone, to order a select assortment of +thunderstorms from the Cape of Good Hope, and a healthy tornado from the +Indian Ocean. But he thinks better of it, burns all the letters, and +goes quietly on with his day's duty. + +We see, then, that no matter what state of body of mind we may be in, we +cannot get weather to order. We really commit an error, if nothing +worse, in asking for weather to suit us. + +We cannot alter our climate. December and January will bring their +frosts and snows without asking our permission; easterly or +nor'-easterly winds will prevail in the spring months; March will +bluster, April will weep; May will smile through her tears by day and +freeze us with her frosts at night, and July will stupefy us with +thunderstorms, and August scorch us with heat one day and drench us to +the skin the next. + +Now I am happy to say that a very large percentage of the readers of THE +GIRL'S OWN PAPER are so healthy in lungs and in nerves, and so +stout-hearted and strong-limbed, that it is, as a rule, a matter of +entire indifference to them how the wind blows or how the weather is. +But all are not so, and it will seem a matter of surprise for the really +robust to be told that many girls are so delicately constituted that +they actually can tell if the wind is from the east before they draw the +blind and look out. It is for this section of our girls that I am +writing to-day. They may not be invalids, but may simply labour under a +great susceptibility to atmospheric changes. + +Such as these will be glad to be told that there is every possibility of +their growing out of this disagreeable susceptibility, much depending +upon how they use and treat themselves when young. Spring winds are very +hard upon those who are subject to chest or throat irritation--in other +words, to common colds--and I must take this opportunity of entreating +girls of this class never to neglect a cold. Why? Because one cold on +top of another, as the saying is, will certainly result in the end in +thickening of the delicate mucous membrane that lines the lungs, and if +this takes place you may look forward to being in time a confirmed +invalid the greater part of the year through winter cough. + +It is not a very difficult thing to get clear of a cold if taken in +time. Confinement to the house for a day, or even two, a lowered diet, a +mixture of the solution of acetate of ammonia and spirits of sweet nitre +the first day, some aperient medicine and an ordinary cough mixture the +second or third day, warmer clothing and avoidance of exposure to high +winds; this treatment will be found successful in nine cases out of ten. + +Sudden changes in temperature are apt to induce illness in the delicate. +Mild weather may have prevailed for some days, when all at once the wind +veers round to the north-east and at the same time it blows high. +Exposure to weather of this kind may induce whatsoever kind of ailment +an individual is subject to. + +Well, there is one way and only one, to avoid it, and that is to dress +in proportion to the cold. No need for the clothing to be thick or +heavy. It should rather be the reverse, only soft and warm. Heavy +clothing is sure to cause fatigue in walking, and also perspiration, and +both states of body lay open the pores for trouble to enter. + +No need, either, for even the delicate to confine themselves to the +house during the cold spring weeks or days. Confinement to the house +means want of exercise, want of an abundance of fresh air, and very +often want of appetite. Well, the strong may exist intact for a long +time without much exercise or ozone, but, mind you, the delicate cannot. + +On wet days a mackintosh may be worn, though a good large umbrella is +far better. But if you will have a waterproof, let it be a cloth one, +one that will admit of ventilation, and not an india-rubber article. +This last is only fit for a Scottish cabman, with muscles of iron and +sinews of steel. + +Here is an extreme case by way of example. A lady goes out to take a +walk on a damp day thus accoutred: An extraordinary bulk and weight of +clothes, and over all an india-rubber mackintosh; on her feet are those +abominations called goloshes; over her mouth she has stuck a respirator, +and over her head and shoulders she carries an enormous umbrella. The +windows and doors of this lady's house are always kept shut, and +rendered hermetically sealed by woollen sand-bags and other +oxygen-banishing contrivances. Is it any wonder that she is pale and +flabby in face, that her very hands are sickly, soft, and puffy, and +that she is continually at war with the cook? + +Be warned, dear reader; take all reasonable precautions against catching +cold, but do not render your body unwholesome from over-clothing, nor +your lungs sickly for want of the pure air of heaven that you can no +more live well without than a fish can survive in a muddy stream. Sore +throat and tic doloreux, or face-ache, are very common complaints in +cold weather with high winds. But I really think they are more easily +prevented than cured. Both may be produced in the same way--namely, from +exposure to cold. It is a draught blowing directly on the face and into +the eyes or upon the neck that brings on these distressing complaints. +Beware of such a draught, and beware of damp or wet feet. Beware, also, +when walking out, of having too thick a muffle around the neck, for this +is apt to sweat it. + +Whenever you feel the slightest touch of sore throat, examine it at the +glass, and if there be any redness, do it over with your camel's-hair +pencil dipped in a mixture of glycerine two parts and tincture of iron +one part. + +As for tic, you protect yourself against cold and damp, but you ought +also to take an occasional tonic, and there is nothing I know better +than the citrate of iron and quinine. If, however, this medicine should +produce a disagreeable feeling of fulness in the head, it had better be +avoided and some other tonic substituted. Well, there is cod-liver oil +in conjunction with the extract of malt. This is the only form in which +cod-liver oil can be taken by many. + +I should mention that an occasional aperient pill will do good, but that +the habit of taking medicine of this kind as a regular thing should be +avoided. + +In cold weather the feet should be kept very comfortable, but you must +avoid sitting too much by the fire. I have already said that sudden +atmospheric changes are dangerous, but girls often manufacture these +changes for themselves, quite independent of the weather, by keeping +themselves too warm indoors and hugging the fire too much. + +In cold weather the food should be more nourishing, and soups are good +for the health. Soups should be avoided when the weather changes to +warm. + +Sugar, sweets, puddings, and fatty foods are all good in cold, bleak +weather, but in summer these do harm, if used to any great extent, by +heating the blood. + +The change in this country from cold with high winds and perhaps frosts +at night to warmth and even scorching heat is often very sudden. Even +the delicate are then very apt to throw off their winter or spring +clothing. But to do so suddenly is highly injudicious. Girls who are not +strong should wear some woollen material all the year round. This should +of course be of a lighter texture in summer, but woollen it ought to be, +without doubt. + +It is, I believe, a fact that there are fully as many disagreeable colds +caught in summer as in winter, and this can only be owing to the greater +recklessness with which people expose themselves to the influence of the +weather. + +During sultry and thundery weather, as it is called, many of the +delicate suffer from languor, listlessness, and headache. These symptoms +usually go away suddenly when the weather breaks or the storm comes on +and rolls over. Exertion in cases of this kind should be avoided, as +well as anything like heavy meals. The sufferer is better out of doors +than in, and better reclining in a hammock or easy-chair out of a +draught than standing or walking about. + +Hot weather greatly depresses the vital energy, because it usually comes +on so suddenly. On very warm days the delicate should avoid the +sunshine's glare during the heat of the day. But exercise must be taken +if health is to be retained, so in summer even girls that are not strong +should get out of bed soon and take a tepid if not cold bath. About +half-an-hour after breakfast is the best time for exercise, and again +about an hour before sunset, just when the day is cooling down, but +before the chill, night air has begun to blow. + +I have no intention at present to take up the subject of food in its +relation to weather, but I must be permitted to say that in our country, +as a rule, summer dinners are served on mistaken principles. Why, they +differ but little, if at all, from the same meals as placed before us in +the winter season--soup, fish, and great joints, pastry and cheese. + +To the robust I have nothing to say. Let them eat what they choose; in +time they will find out their mistake. But I do seriously advise +delicate girls to live rather abstemiously and on light, easily digested +dishes during the hot weather. Salads (and fruit, if good and ripe) may, +however, be taken with great benefit. + +We constantly hear young folks complaining of thirst during very warm +weather. The reason is not so much to be sought in the heat itself as in +the way they live. Overloading the stomach with strong meats in the +summer season not only induces thirst but positively enfeebles the body +and hurts the digestion. + +Ice and ices should be avoided as much as possible; at the best their +use is but a very artificial way of cooling the overheated body. A +mixture of ice and stimulants is worse ten times. A cup of good tea is +one of the most wholesome beverages one can take in warm weather. It +exhilarates, it cools, and while it cools the body it calms the mind. + +Lime or lemon juice and water make a good drink. It should be sipped. + +Ginger beer is somewhat too gassy for a delicate stomach. Raspberry +syrup in water, acidulated to taste with a little citric acid, is very +refreshing, and the same may be said of many other of the fruit syrups. + +Raspberry vinegar is made by placing three pounds of the picked fruit +into a glass vessel and pouring over them a pint and a half of white +wine vinegar. It should stand for a fortnight and then be strained +without pressure. + +Buttermilk is as good for a drink in summer as it is for the complexion. +Whey is also an excellent drink in summer, and I cannot refrain from +suggesting as a summer dish curds and cream. + +Ripe fruit may be eaten during hot weather with great benefit, only it +must be ripe and not over ripe. + +To conclude, I shall give a prescription for a summer drink which is +worth making a note of. Take the thin peel and the juice of a good-sized +lemon and add a small teaspoonful of citric acid and a wine-glassful of +fruit syrup, then pour on of boiling water one quart. Let it stand till +cold, and then strain. + + + + +GIRLS' FRIENDSHIPS. + +By the Author of "Flowering Thorns." + + +CHAPTER I. + +IDEAL FRIENDSHIPS. + + +I don't suppose there are many girls between the ages of sixteen and +twenty-three who have not a great friend--a particular friend; and if +there are, it is my opinion they cannot be the best kind of girls, +because unnatural. + +Some one--I think it is the author of "John Halifax, Gentleman"--has +called friendship a "Foreshadowing of love"; and if it is natural for a +woman to have a lover, it is no less natural for a girl to have a great +friend among her girl associates. + +How do girls make friends? and why do their friendships last very often +but a short time? or, again, how is it they ever endure a long time? are +questions which people who have forgotten their own early friendships, +or, perhaps, never gave much thought to them, puzzle over in vain. And +they may have puzzled you too, my thoughtful girl-readers, who want the +ideal friend you have read of or dreamed of in day-dreams, but neither +possess nor know how to acquire. + +To begin with--What is friendship? and I am inclined to define it as a +bond of mutual affection, sympathy, and help. If it is lacking in any +one of these particulars, just so far does it fall short of ideal +friendship. + +Test your present so-called friendship by these tests, and I think you +will find that any dissatisfaction you may feel in them can be accounted +for by a failure to pass one or other. + +There is, perhaps, not much difficulty about the first of these. Young +people feel quickly and strongly, and if girls did not honestly love one +another, or imagine--also honestly--that they did, the friendship, if, +indeed, it could exist at all, would be shorn of half its charm. But +love must be fed, and will only starve on a diet of respect and +admiration, without a very large admixture of sympathy. Sympathy, +fellow-feeling, mutual sensibility--call it how we will--is a simple +necessity to our ideal friendship, and by no means compels the two +friends to unvarying likeness either in character or tastes. But our +ideal friends--let us call them Alice and Maud--must be united so wholly +by this subtle bond that the pleasure, pain, or interest of the one +touches, through her, the other, who shares in what I may call this +reflective way the emotion originating with her friend. + +Alice, who does not personally care for music in the least, yet +thoroughly enjoys a concert, because she is feeling (reflectively) all +the time the keen delight with which Maud is listening to every note; +and Maud, for the same reason, has true pleasure in reading that rather +dry volume of essays, because that scattered throughout are sentiments +and expressions which she knows very well Alice will greatly appreciate. + +Mutual sympathy between friends is, of course, the outcome of love; and +yet it is surprising how little sympathy sometimes exists between girls +who to all appearance are really fond of one another. + +This may arise from selfishness, unselfishness, or unintelligence--that +density of mental vision which has never been educated to perceive the +subtle bonds which bind soul to soul. + +Now let us take Edith and Amy as examples of an imperfect friendship, in +contrary distinction to the ideal or perfect. They are fond of one +another, but there is a lack of mutual sympathy. Amy is full of ideas +and projects, which she sows broadcast during their long confidentials, +and which spring up in great beauty (to her mind, at least) in the +fertile soil of Edith's admiration. But all the giving is on one side. +Edith listens and wonders, applauds or condoles, as her stronger-minded +friend may give her the cue, too unselfish, and perhaps, also, too +timid, to intrude her own less thrilling interests and hopes upon Amy's +self-absorption; so that when the latter comes to an end of her +confidences, and has leisure and recollection enough to say, "And now, +Edith, what have you been doing?" she hastily replies, "Oh, nothing +particular," glad to be able to shield her insignificance in silence. + +Amy does not miss the return confidence which makes friendship so sweet; +she is too full of her own affairs to be a listener. Edith is her +overflow, whom she leaves saying mentally, "What a dear little +sympathetic thing she is! What should I do without her?" + +But what is Edith to do? Where is her overflow? This is a very one-sided +friendship: the companionship of giant and dwarf, which sooner or later +must come to an end or be very uncomfortable for the dwarf. The friends, +as I said, need not be alike, need not even be of equal capacity, +intellectually or practically, but the sympathy, rooted in affection, +must be mutual; it must be equal give and take, or the friendship is +miserably stunted and incomplete. + +And this brings me to speak of the third ingredient in what I have +defined as a perfect friendship--mutual help, which, of course, supposes +the two friends to be somewhat different, whether in character, tastes, +or surroundings, so that one can supply what the other lacks. + +[Illustration: ALICE AND MAUD.] + +If two countries in friendly relations both produce one article +abundantly, and are both lacking in some other article, there can be no +commerce--which is the symbol of friendly relations--between them. Both +must apply to a third country for that in which both are deficient. And +if Edith cannot get help from Amy when she is in need of it, not +necessarily advice, but some new view of the situation occasioned by +Amy's different character or life, and which would enable Edith to face +the trouble or difficulty with more courage or intelligence--if, I say, +Edith cannot get this help from Amy, before long she will find Clara, +and the friendship will be dissolved or cooled; while undiscerning +people will say, "How fickle these girls are!" + +Not at all. They obey a subtle, spiritual law, which makes it impossible +for friendship long to exist on insufficient food, and when it is said +that women are unreasoning and exacting in their friendships, it is +simply because people don't see that it is the nature which is in them +crying out to be fed with that without which it must die. + +But if after, it may be, years of affectionate intercourse, you still +find that your friend gives you absolutely nothing which you have not +already got--that she communicates no thought or experience to you that +will stimulate your mind or aid you in the practical work of life--do +you not begin to lose interest in her, strive as you will against the +consciousness of it? Does not the friend quit her hold on you and slide +down to the level of those of whom an hour or a letter every few weeks +gives you enough? You may feel affectionately towards such, but not +friendship. + +Our ideal friends, Alice and Maud, are very different. Alice is studious +and thoughtful, leading a quiet, uneventful life; Maud is high-spirited, +devoted to art and music, and sees considerably more of "the world," as +it is called. But they are a constant source of interest and assistance +to each other. Alice's thoughtful mind finds the meaning to the puzzles +of Maud's more superficial existence, who in turn puts the light touches +to Alice's grave conclusions, which often give them reality. These two, +as it were, sketch life's island from different points. One takes the +outline of cliff or shore, dashing in what I may call the aggregated +tints of forest and hill; the other paints by turns each special crag or +ravine, with their colours in detail; yet both are correct, and we want +both if we are to understand the island. + +I can imagine Maud in difficulty thinking, "I must go and see Alice, she +will help me out of my perplexity; she takes such different views of +things from those I do, and I have really come to an end of my ideas." + +Or Alice, also in difficulty, though probably of a very different +character, exclaiming, "I only wish Maud were here. She would know just +how to arrange this; and I cannot imagine what to do." + +Emerson tells us that as soon as we come up with a man's (or woman's) +limitations it is all over with us. Before that he might have been +infinitely alluring and attractive--"a great hope--a sea to swim in"; +but you discover that he has a shore--that the sea is, in fact, a +pond--and you cease to care for it. + +There is something in this to explain the languidness or cessation of +many girl friendships. There is nothing more to be learned--nothing more +to teach. They have come to an end of their resources; there is no more +help to be got, and the interest dwindles. A long walk or talk with one +another becomes stale, each prefers her own society, and by degrees the +unfed affection cools, and they find themselves unconsciously groping +about for souls whose limitations they have not yet reached. + +This is not fickleness; it is Nature; and there is a natural +remedy--progress. If day by day your shores--to use Emerson's +simile--widen, if you will not allow your mind to remain at a +standstill, like the stagnant pond, but are constantly receiving and +constantly using varied stores of knowledge and experience, you need not +fear to crush your friend by the discovery of your limitations. She will +have to progress too, if she is to come up with that; and as there is no +reasonable probability that you will advance in precisely the same +direction, you will each find increasing interest and help in the +other's society. + +One thing more the ideal friendship needs, but it is one most girls' +friendships, whether ideal or not, possess. I mean confidence. It is not +till the twenties are well into that reserve and reticence take their +place in a woman's friendship; it is not till then that she questions +with herself how far she will trust her friend with her hopes, fears, +and troubles. The younger we are, the more generous, trusting, and +unsuspicious we are; which is, I suppose, the great reason why we never +make such particular friends when the period of trust is past. If your +friend is worthy of the name, trust her wholly. How can you sympathise +with or help one another if you only tell half your troubles and +difficulties? I do not mean that all should wear their hearts upon their +sleeves. Every girl has, and should have, her private sanctuary of +thought, where none may enter; but in the matters which are discussed +between friends let there be no half-confidences. + +I have tried to sketch what I call an ideal friendship. If they are +rare, they are possible--most possible if you only study their +construction. + +I think all thoughtful and imaginative girls long for this ideal +friendship; but I wonder if they all reflect that the ideality does not +all depend on the friend, but on themselves. If it takes two most +emphatically to make a quarrel, it needs two to make a friendship. Do +your best to make it ideal. + +I have known such a friendship; I know that it is possible; and I know +that it is one of the most perfect experiences our life can give us. + +You do not need to live exceptional lives in order to love, sympathise, +and help. Experience is the best teacher, and gives lessons to all. Use +that intelligently as a means of moral, mental, spiritual progress, +remembering that it does not come to you by chance, but rather as the +work of + + "The hands + Which reach through Nature, moulding men." + +(_To be continued._) + + + + +MERLE'S CRUSADE. + +BY ROSA NOUCHETTE CAREY, Author of "Aunt Diana," "For Lilias," etc. + + +CHAPTER II. + +AN UNPREACHED SERMON. + + +Such an odd thing happened a few minutes afterwards. I was sitting quite +quietly in my corner, turning over in my mind all the arguments with +which I had assailed Aunt Agatha that Sunday afternoon, and watching the +pink glow of the firelight in contrast to the whiteness of the snow +outside, when the door bell rang, and almost the next moment Uncle Keith +came into the room. + +I suppose he must have overlooked me entirely, for he went up to Aunt +Agatha and sat down beside her. + +"Sweetheart," he said, taking her hand, and I should hardly have +recognised his voice, "I have been thinking about you all the way home, +and what a pleasant sight my wife's face would be after my long walk +through the snow and----" But here Aunt Agatha must have given him a +warning look, for he stopped rather abruptly, and said, "Hir-rumph" +twice over, and Aunt Agatha blushed just as though she were a girl. + +I could not help laughing a little to myself as I went out of the room +to tell Patience to bring in the tea, and yet that sentence of Uncle +Keith touched me somehow. Were middle-aged people capable of that sort +of love? Did youth linger so long in them? I had imagined those two such +a staid, matter-of-fact couple; they had come together so late in life, +that one never dreamt of any possible romance in such a courtship, and +yet he could call Aunt Agatha "Sweetheart" in a voice that was not the +least drawling. At that moment one would not have called him so plain +and insignificant with that kind look on his face. I suppose he keeps +that look for Aunt Agatha, for I remember she once told me that she had +never seen such a good face as Uncle Keith's "not handsome, Merle, but +so thoroughly good." + +Patience was toasting the muffins in her bright little kitchen, so I sat +down and watched her. I was rather partial to Patience; she was a +pretty, neat-looking creature, and I always thought it a great pity that +she was engaged to a journeyman bootmaker, who aspired to be a preacher. +I never could approve of Reuben Locke, though Aunt Agatha spoke well of +him; he was such a weak, pale-faced young man; and I think a man, to be +one, ought to have some spirit in him, and not possess only the womanish +virtues. + +"How is Reuben, Patience?" I asked, somewhat amiably, just for the +pleasure of seeing our little handmaid's dimples come into view. + +"Reuben's but poorly, miss," replied Patience, as she buttered another +smoking muffin, the last of the pile. "He was preaching at Whitechapel +the other night and caught a cold and sore throat; his mother says he +will not be at chapel to-night." + +"I do not approve of street preaching myself," I remarked, a little +severely. + +"Indeed, miss," replied Patience, innocently, as she prepared to carry +in the tea-tray, "Reuben always tells me that the Apostles were street +preachers, and Reuben is as clear as Gospel in what he says." But here +the drawing-room bell broke off Patience's argument, and left me +somewhat worsted. I went to church by myself that evening, and I am +ashamed to say I heard very little of the sermon. I knew Aunt Agatha +would be taking advantage of my long absence to retail what she termed +my preposterous scheme to Uncle Keith, and that I should have the +benefit of his opinion on my return, and this thought made me restless. + +I was not wrong in my surmise. Aunt Agatha looked a little pale and +subdued, as though she had been shedding a few tears over my +delinquencies, but Uncle Keith was simply inscrutable; when he chose, +his face could present a perfect blank. + +"Hir-rumph, my dear, what is this your aunt tells me, that you are going +to Prince's Gate to-morrow morning to offer your services as nurse in a +gentleman's family?" + +"Yes, Uncle Keith." + +"Do you mean to tell me seriously that you have really made up your mind +to take this step?" + +"Oh, I am quite serious, I assure you." + +"Your aunt's objections and mine do not count for much, then?" + +"I should be sorry to go against your wishes or Aunt Agatha's," I +returned, trying to keep cool; but his manner, as usual, aggravated me; +it said so plainly, "What a silly child you are, and yet you think +yourself a woman," "but I must do as I think right in this matter. I +hope to prove to you and everyone else that there is nothing derogatory +in the work I mean to undertake. It is not what I would choose, perhaps, +but everything else is closed to me," thinking sorrowfully of my +life-long misfortune, as I always called it, and my repressed longings +for hospital training. + +"Perhaps if you waited something else might turn up." But I shook my +head at this. + +"I have waited too long already, Uncle Keith; idleness soon becomes a +habit." + +"Then if you have made up your mind, it is useless to try and alter it," +returned Uncle Keith, in a slightly ironical tone, and he actually took +up the volume he was reading in a way that showed he had dismissed the +subject. I was never more astonished in my life; never had Uncle Keith +so completely baffled me. + +I had spent the whole time during which I ought to have been listening +to the sermon, in recapitulating the heads of my arguments in favour of +this very scheme; I would show Uncle Keith how clearly and logically I +could work out the subject. + +I had thought out quite an admirable little essay on feminine work in +the nineteenth century by the time Mr. Wright had finished his +discourse. I meant to have cited the Challoners as an example. Aunt +Agatha had stayed in their neighbourhood of Oldfield just before her +marriage, and had often paid visits at Longmead and Glen Cottage. + +The eldest Miss Challoner--Nan, I think they called her--was just +preparing for her own wedding, and Aunt Agatha often told me what a +beautiful girl she was, and what a fine, intelligent creature the second +sister Phillis seemed. She was engaged to a young clergyman at Hadleigh, +and there had been some talk of a double wedding, only Nan's +father-in-law, Mr. Mayne, of Longmead, had been rather cross at the +notion, so Phillis's was to be postponed until the autumn. + +All the neighbourhood of Oldfield had been ringing with the strange +exploits of these young ladies. One little fact had leaked out after +another; it was said their own cousin, Sir Henry Challoner, of Gilsbank, +had betrayed the secret, though he always vowed his wife had a hand, or +rather a tongue, in the business; but anyhow, there was a fine nine +days' gossip over the matter. + +It seemed that some time previously Mrs. Challoner and her three +daughters had sustained severe losses, and the three girls, instead of +losing courage, had put their shoulders to the wheel, and had actually +set up as dressmakers at Hadleigh, carrying on their business in a most +masterly fashion, until the unexpected return of their relative, Sir +Harry Challoner, from Australia, with plenty of money at his disposal, +broke up the dressmaking business, and reinstated them at Glen Cottage. + +A few of their friends had been much offended with them, but as it was +understood that Lady Fitzroy had spoken warmly of their moral courage +and perseverance, it had become the fashion to praise them. Aunt Agatha +had often quoted them to me, saying she had never met more charming +girls, and adding more than once how thoroughly she respected their +independence, and of course in recalling the Challoners I thought I +should have added my crowning argument. + +There was so much, too, that I longed to say in favour of my theory. The +love of little children was very strong with me. I had often been pained +as I walked through the streets at seeing tired children dragged along +or shaken angrily by some coarse, uneducated nurse. It had always seemed +rather a pitiful idea to me that children from their infancy should be +in hourly contact with rough, menial natures. "Surely," I would say to +myself, "the mother's place must be in her nursery; she can find no +higher duty than this, to watch over her little ones; even if her +position or rank hinder her constant supervision, why need she relegate +her maternal duties to uneducated women? Are there no poor gentlewomen +in the world who would gladly undertake such a work from very love, and +who would refuse to believe for one moment they were losing caste in +discharging one of the holiest and purest duties in life? + +"What an advantage to the children," I imagined myself saying in answer +to some objection on Uncle Keith's part, never dreaming that all this +eloquence would be silenced by masculine cunning. + +"What an advantage to these little creatures to hear English pure and +undefiled from their cradles, and to be trained to habits of refinement +and good manners by merely instinctively following the example before +their eyes. Children are such copyists, one shudders to think of these +impressionable little beings being permitted by their natural guardians +to take their earliest lessons from some uneducated person. + +"Women are crying out for work, Uncle Keith," I continued, carrying my +warfare into a fresh quarter; but, alas! this, with the rest of my +eloquence, died a natural death on my way home. "There are too many of +the poor things in this world, and the female market is overstocked. +They are invading telegraph offices, and treading on the heels of +business men, but sheer pride and stupidity prevent them from trying to +open nursery doors." + +"Unladylike to be a servant," another imaginary objection on Uncle +Keith's part. "Oh, fie, Uncle Keith! this from you, who read your Bible +and go to church; and yet I remember a certain passage, 'Whosoever will +be chief among you let him be your servant,' which has hallowed the very +idea of service ever since. + +"To serve others seems the very meaning of womanhood; in some sense, a +woman serves all the days of her life. No, I am not farfetched and +unpractical." Another supposed masculine tirade. "I have thought over +the whole thing most carefully. I am not only working for myself, but +for others. I want to open the eyes of my generation, and, like the +Challoners, to lead a new crusade against the mighty sham of +conventionality. Understand me, Uncle Keith, I do not say to these young +gentlewomen, put your pride in your pocket and wheel your perambulator +with the twins, or carry the baby into the park before the eyes of your +aristocratic acquaintance; that would be unnecessary and foolish; you +may leave that part to the under-nurse, who brings your meals and scours +your nurseries; I simply say to them, if you have no capacity for +teaching, if nature has unfitted you for other work, and you are too +proud and conscientious to live a dragging, dependent life under the +roof of some overburthened relative, take the charge of some +aristocratic nursery. Do not think it beneath your womanhood to feed and +wash and clothe an infant, or to watch over weak, toddling creatures. +Your work may be humble, but you will grow to love it, and if no one +else will put the theory to the test, I, Merle Fenton, will do so, +though I must take the plunge unaided, and alone." + +But all these feeling observations were locked up in my own inner +consciousness, for during the remainder of the evening Uncle Keith +simply ignored the subject and read his book with a pretence of being +perfectly absorbed in it, though I am certain that his eyes twinkled +mischievously whenever he looked in my direction, as though he were +quite aware of my flood of repressed oratory. + +I determined to have it out with Aunt Agatha, so I followed her into her +room, and asked her in a peevish voice what she meant by saying Uncle +Keith would be so angry with me, as he had not raised a single +objection, and, of course, as silence meant consent, I should most +certainly keep my appointment at Prince's Gate. + +Aunt Agatha looked a little distressed as she answered me. + +"To tell you the truth, Merle, I did not quite understand your uncle +myself; I expected a very different reception of my news." + +"Tell me all about it from the very beginning," I returned, eagerly. +"Patience has made such a nice fire, because she said she was afraid you +had a cold, and I can just sit by it and brush out my hair while we +talk." + +"But I am tired and sleepy, child, and after all there is not much to +tell," objected Aunt Agatha; but she was far too good-natured to refuse +for all that, so she seated herself, dear soul, in the big chair--that +she had christened Idleness--and tried to remember what I wished to +hear. + +"I told him everything, Merle: how your one little defect hindered you, +poor child, from being a nursery governess or companion, and how, in +spite of this serious obstacle, you were determined to work and be +independent." + +"Well, and did he say nothing to all that?" I asked, for I knew in what +a feeling manner Aunt Agatha would have described my difficulties. + +"Oh, yes; he said, 'poor little thing,' in the kindest possible way, +'and quite right--very proper,' when I spoke of your desire for work." + +"Well," rather impatiently. + +"He listened very attentively until I read him out the advertisement, +but that seemed to upset him, for he burst out laughing, and I thought +he would never stop. I was half crying by that time, for you had worried +me to death all the afternoon, Merle, but nothing I could say would make +him grave for a long time. He said once, 'What could have put such a +thing into her head?' and then he laughed again as though the idea +amused him, and then he rubbed his hands and muttered, 'What an original +child it is; there is no deficiency of brain power as far as I can see; +who would have dreamt of such a thing?' and so on." + +"Then I may flatter myself that Uncle Keith approves of my scheme," I +observed, stiffly, for I was much offended at the idea of his laugh. + +"Oh dear, no," returned Aunt Agatha, in an alarmed voice, "he expressed +his disapproval very strongly; he said it was all very well in theory, +and that, on the whole, he agreed with you that the nursery was +undoubtedly a lady-like sphere, but he was far from sure that your +scheme would be practical. He foresaw all kinds of difficulties, and +that he did not consider you at all the person for such a position." + +"Why did not Uncle Keith say all this to me himself?" I demanded. + +"Because he said it would only be sowing the wind to raise the +whirlwind. In an argument he declares women always have the best of it, +because they can talk the fastest, and never will own they are beaten; +to raise objections would only be to strengthen you more in your +purpose. I think," finished Aunt Agatha, in her softest voice, "that he +hoped your plan would die a natural death, for he recommended me to +withdraw all opposition." + +Oh, the cunning of these men. I would not have believed all this of +Uncle Keith. I was far too angry to talk any more to Aunt Agatha; I only +commanded my voice sufficiently to say that I fully intended to keep my +appointment the next day; and as she only looked at me very sadly and +said nothing, I had no excuse for lingering any longer, so I took up my +candlestick and marched into my own room. + +It felt cold and desolate, and as I sat down by the toilet table, such +sad eyes looked into mine from the depths of the mirror, that a curious +self-pitying feeling made me prop my chin on my hands and exchange looks +of silent sympathy with my image. + +My want of beauty never troubled me; it has always been my private +conviction that we ought to be thankful if we are tolerably pleasant in +other people's eyes; beauty is too rare a gift to be often reproduced. +If people thought me nice-looking I was more than content; perhaps it +was surprising that, with such good-looking parents, I was just ordinary +and nothing else, "But never mind, Merle, you have a good figure and +talking eyes," as Aunt Agatha once said to me. "I was much plainer at +your age, my dear, but my plainness never prevented me from having a +happy life and a good husband." + +"Well, perhaps I should like a happy life, too, but as for the +husband--never dream of that, my good girl; remember your miserable +deficiency in this enlightened age. No man in his senses would condone +that; put such thoughts resolutely away and think only of your work in +life. _Laborare est orare._" + +(_To be continued._) + + + + +THE CONTENTS OF MY WORK-BOX. + +HOW BUTTONS ARE MADE. + + +It is scarcely possible to determine when buttons, which are both useful +and ornamental, were first made. In the paintings of the fourteenth +century they frequently appear on the garments of both sexes, but in +many instances they are drawn without button-holes, and are placed in +such situations as to suggest that at that time they were used more for +ornament than usefulness. + +It was towards the close of the sixteenth century that button-making was +first considered a business, and that the manufacturers formed a +considerable body. + +Button-making was originally a very tedious and expensive process. The +button consisted of one solid piece of metal; the ornaments on the face +of it were the work of an engraver. To obviate the expense connected +with such a method of production, the press, stamp, and engine for +turning the moulds were introduced. This improvement led the way for +other improvements, both with regard to the materials from which buttons +were afterwards made and also the process of manufacture. The plain gilt +button, which was extensively used in the early part of the present +century, was made from an alloy called plating metal, which contained a +larger proportion of copper and less zinc than ordinary brass. The +devices on the outer surface were produced by stamping the previously +cut out blanks or metal discs with steel dies, after which the necks +were soldered in. At the present time every possible kind of metal, from +iron to gold, whether pure or mixed; every conceivable woven fabric, +from canvas to the finest satin and velvet; every natural production +capable of being turned out or pressed, as wood, horn, hoof, pearl, +bone, ivory, jet, ivory nuts; every manufactured material of which the +same may be said, as caoutchouc, leather, papier maché, glass, +porcelain, etc., buttons are made in a great variety of shape; but at +the present time they may be classed under four heads: buttons with +shanks, buttons without shanks, buttons on rings or wire moulds, and +buttons covered with cloth or some other material. + +In the process of metal button-making by means of fly presses and +punches, circular discs, called blanks, are cut out of sheets of metal. +This work is usually done by females, who, while seated at a bench, +manage to cut out as many as thirty blanks per minute, or twelve gross +in an hour. On leaving the press the edges of the blanks are very sharp. +When they have been smoothed and rounded, the surfaces are planished on +the face by being placed separately in a die, under a small stamp, and +causing them to receive a sharp blow from a polished steel hammer. The +next process is that of shanking, or attaching small metal loops, by +which they are fastened to garments. The shank manufacture is a distinct +branch of the trade in Birmingham, although at times carried on in the +same factory. + +The shanks are made by a machine, in which a coil of wire is gradually +advanced towards a pair of shears, which cut off short pieces. A metal +finger then presses against the middle of each piece, first bending it +and then pressing it into a vice, where it is compressed so as to form a +loop; a hammer then strikes the two ends, spreading them into a flat +surface, and the shank is pushed out of the machine ready for use. The +shanks in some instances are attached to the blanks by women with iron +wire, solder, and resin, after which they are placed in an oven, and +when firmly united are removed and form plain buttons. In the majority +of cases, however, soldering is dispensed with, the shanks being made +secure in the press. + +If the button is to be finished without a shank, it is passed on from +the press, which it leaves as a blank, to another where the holes are +pierced, and then to a third where the roughness is removed from the +edges of the holes. + +The commonest metal buttons which I have seen in process of making were +cut out of scraps of tin, similar to what may be seen on the refuse heap +of any shop where tin goods are made. The hand presses worked by women +cut out the blanks, made a simple impression on the outside, and turned +up the edges all round at the same time. The blanks were then passed on +to another press, where pieces of cardboard were inserted, and the edges +turned over to keep them firm. The holes were next pierced, and a finish +given by a blow from a stamp. + +I felt deeply interested in seeing all kinds of buttons in process of +being made, some for India, others for Chili, and our own army, but the +prettiest and most interesting to witness while passing through the +presses, stamps, and hands of the workers were some which were being +made for Malta. In passing through the first press the blank was +embossed and cut out. By another press the edge was scalloped, and by a +third press the open work was effected. The next process was that of so +pressing each disc to such an extent that the scalloped edges of two +might meet, and thus form a round button of pretty design when united, +and a shank fastened in the centre of one of the blanks. + +Military buttons, like many others, are made of two discs of metal, the +impression on the outer ones being produced by a sharp blow in a stamp, +the under ones having two holes pierced in them for the shanks, which +are put through and bent flat on the inside. They are next passed +through another press which firmly fastens the two discs together, and +holds the shank so securely as to obviate the necessity of having +recourse to soldering. + +Covered buttons are made in an immense variety of textiles. It is +impossible in the space allowed for this paper to enumerate them, but I +may add that their ingenious construction, their good wearing qualities, +the clever mechanism of the tools by which the various discs of cloth, +metal, millboard, etc., are cut out, and the methods of uniting them so +as to form a complete button, are marvels of skill and industry. + +The earliest covered buttons were made so recently as the year 1802, in +Birmingham, by Mr. B. Sanders. Those buttons had metal shanks, but by +the ingenuity of Mr. Sanders, jun., his father's invention was completed +by tufts of canvas, through which the buttons could be attached to +garments, being substituted for rigid metal shanks. The only improvement +since made has been that of covering the back of the silk-fronted +buttons also with silk. + +A covered button consists of two discs of metal and one of millboard, +thicker or thinner, according to circumstances. In making it, the sheet +of iron is first scaled, by the use of powerful acids, and then cut into +proper size and shape by a press. The neck, or collet, of the button is +japanned after being stamped and cut. The hollow between the neck and +shell is filled with millboard. When the parts are put together and +pressed the button is brought into shape, and its several parts are +consolidated. + +It was in the year 1841 that Mr. John Aston made the first three-fold +linen button--that is, a button formed of a linen covering and a ring of +metal, so put together that both sides and centre were completely +covered with separate pieces of linen, and thus produced being quite +flat. This being an exceedingly neat and convenient button, it became +largely patronised, as it still is by housewives, for all underclothing, +having superseded the old thread button formed of a ring of wire, with +threads drawn over it and gathered in the centre. A slight improvement +was made by Mr. Elliott. During the time that the patent lasted these +two gentlemen worked in concert, and established a very successful +business. + +So great has been the demand for covered linen buttons at different +times, that during one single year Mr. Elliott's successors have in the +process of making them required 63,000 yards of cloth and 34 tons of +metal, and given employment to 250 persons. As the button trade has for +a considerable time been in a very depressed condition, it is possible +that the productions of this firm may not be of such magnitude as they +were a few years since. + +With regard to the depressed condition of this branch of Birmingham +industries, one manufacturer assured me, only a few weeks ago, that +where 150 persons were employed at one time, not more than 20 or 30 +would be working then. In visiting one of the largest manufactories the +same day, I saw sufficient to convince me of the truthfulness of his +statement, for in passing through the different workshops I saw one or +two presses, stamps, and turning-lathes at work, whereas several were +unused and without attendants. One firm, when trade is in a flourishing +condition, will make about 15,000 gross of linen buttons weekly. Ivory +buttons are made from the tusks of elephants; but as the material is +expensive, and the manipulation has to be conducted with great care, and +that chiefly by hand, they can only be used by persons who can afford to +pay a goodly sum. + +During the last few years, in which a great variety of colours has been +introduced, both for ladies' and gentlemen's garments, and buttons have +been required to match, it is fortunate that a substitute has been found +for ivory in the kernel of the "corozo" nut. This nut grows in clusters +on palm-like trees in South America, and is husked like a cocoanut, but +is different in shape and considerably smaller in dimensions. The +kernel--the part used in button-making--is milk-white, and being softer +than animal ivory, is more easily turned, and as it readily absorbs +dyes, it can be made to take any colour with little trouble. + +The process of making these vegetable ivory buttons is as +follows:--After boys have cracked the shells, the kernels are taken by +men standing at benches in which small fine-toothed saws are revolving. +Only a slight pressure of the nut against the saw is required before it +is divided into equal parts. If necessary, the operation is repeated. +Providing, however, that the pieces of the nut are of proper dimensions, +they are passed on to the turner. + +The next process is that of cutting out or turning, and is performed in +the following manner:--The turner, after fixing a piece of the nut in +the chuck of his lathe, brings a tubular cutter, the face edge of which +is toothed like a saw, to work on the exposed front surface of the nut; +the result is that of a rough button or mould. As these moulds are +rough, they are passed on to another lathe, where they are made smooth, +and then to a third, where the holes are drilled. They are next passed +on to the dyer, who arranges his colours according to instructions +received. It sometimes happens that a mottled appearance is required; +when such is the case, girls are employed to touch them with the colours +required by the aid of camel-hair pencils. The buttons are next placed +in tanks for drying, the tanks being heated by steam for that purpose. + +Most of the buttons are polished in lathes by friction from their own +dust, held in the hand of the operative. + +Porcelain buttons were invented by Mr. R. Prosser, of Birmingham, who, +in conjunction with the celebrated firm of Minter and Co., made them in +large quantities in the potteries, about the year 1840. They were, +however, soon driven from the market by French manufacturers, who sold a +great gross--that is, twelve gross, each of twelve dozen--for the +ridiculously small sum of elevenpence. + +Glass buttons are made by heating canes of glass and pinching them from +the end with pliers, which at the same time answer the purpose of a die. +They are sold very cheaply, as low as twopence a gross, but it is +scarcely possible for any English firm to compete with Bohemia in their +production. + +Mother-o'-pearl buttons are made out of pearl shells which have been +imported from the coasts of Macassar, Manilla, Bombay, the archipelago +of the Pacific, the Bay of Panama, and a few other places. Their market +value is not always the same. At the present time it ranges from £8 to +£10 per hundredweight. The blanks are cut out of the shells by a steel +tubular cutter, similar to that used in cutting the vegetable ivory. As +the cutter works its way through a shell, small cylinders of pearl are +disconnected, which are reduced in thickness by splitting into discs, a +little thicker than the button is required to be when finished. These +blanks are finished singly in a turning lathe, by being placed in a +suitable chuck, and having a steel tool applied to its face for +producing the rim and depression in the centre. They are then passed on +to another lathe, where the holes are drilled, and afterwards to +another, where they are polished by friction and a mixture of +rotten-stone and soft soap. + +The best white buttons are those which are made from Macassar shells, +and the best black from shells of the archipelago of the Pacific. The +latter are the dearest, in consequence of the black shells not being so +plentiful as those of lighter shades. Some few years since the +consumption of mother-o'-pearl shells in Birmingham amounted to nearly +one thousand tons annually; the failure of the fisheries in Central +America has, however, reduced it to a little more than a third, or about +three hundred tons a year. + +Thimbles are made by stamping, and afterwards turning in a lathe, the +indentations being produced by a suitable instrument. On the Continent +the operatives make them with punches in as many as five different +mandrils. Scissors, bodkins, etc., have nothing connected with their +manufacture which calls for any special notice. Although, as in previous +papers, I have conducted my readers in paths not usual to girls and +young women, I hope that my description of button-making will interest a +considerable number, and teach them to think more of buttons and how +they are made and by whom made than they have ever done before. + + W. W. B. + + + + +BITS ABOUT ANIMALS. + +A SAGACIOUS COLT. + + +A gentleman whose pretty garden adjoined a park in which a number of +young colts were grazing, was much annoyed by the inroads of these +animals. He took every precaution to prevent their entrance, but to no +purpose. Fences were examined and found intact, the gate was kept shut, +and yet one or more of the colts would soon be found devastating +flower-beds, or browsing in the kitchen garden. The provoking part of it +was that no one could discover how the creatures obtained an entrance. + +At length men were hidden in the trees to watch, and the problem was +speedily solved. A colt trotted up to the gate and inserted its head +between the bars, with the evident intention of raising the latch. He +made several vain attempts, but had not mastered the trick. The latch +remained in its place, and the colt outside. + +For a few moments the animal stood cogitating, then trotted rapidly back +to the spot where he had left his companions. He singled out one of the +most frequent visitors to the garden, and, by some language peculiar to +colts, made known his difficulty. The other at once returned with his +companion to the gate, inserted his head below one of the bars, and by a +dexterous movement displaced the latch, and the gate swung open. Then, +throwing back his head as if to say, "See how easy it is when one knows +how," he went back whilst the other entered the garden. + +It was noticed by the watchers that this last had not previously been +seen within the forbidden precincts, but the one that opened the gate +for him had been particularly troublesome. The fact that he was +specially selected for the office of porter showed no little sagacity in +the would-be visitor to the garden. But, much as the cleverness of the +animals might be admired, care was taken to render its exercise useless +for the future. + + RUTH LAMB. + + + + +VARIETIES + + +A FRENCH CONVERSATION. + +Voltaire once said, "It is not clear, therefore it cannot be French." +This is only partially true, for the French language furnishes abundant +material for puns and misunderstandings, intentional or otherwise. The +following amusing instance may serve as an illustration:-- + +Two sportsmen met together on their way home. + +"Where do you come from?" the first asked the second, who was trembling +with fright. + +"I come--I come--from the forest of Bondy." + +"And why are you so excited?" + +"I have been attacked by robbers." + +"How many were there?" + +"_Sept._" + +"What did you say?" + +"_Je dis sept._" + +"_Dix-sept?_" + +"No; _sans dix_." + +"_Cent dix?_" + +"Oh, dear! no. _Sans dix, sept._" + +"Good gracious! _Cent dix-sept?_" + +"Nonsense. _Sept sans dix-sept._" + +"_Sept cent dix-sept._" + +"You don't understand me. _Je te dis sept sans dix!_" + +"_Dix-sept cent dix._" + +"You will drive me mad! _Je te dis sept sans dix-sept!_" + +"_Dix-sept cent dix-sept!_ I can understand your being frightened with +such a number." + + +TO PRESERVE CUT FLOWERS.--An important rule in preserving cut flowers is +never to cram the vase with flowers. Many will last if only they have a +large mass of water in the vase and not too many stalks to feed on the +water and pollute it. Vases that can hold a large quantity of water are +to be preferred to the spindle-shaped trumpets that are often used. Flat +dishes covered with wet sand are also useful for short-stalked or +heavy-headed flowers; even partially-withered blooms will revive when +placed on this cool moist substance. Moss, though prettier than sand, is +to be avoided, as it soon smells disagreeably, and always interferes +with the scent of the flowers placed in it for preservation. + + +THE WAY OF THE WORLD.--The world deals good-naturedly with good-natured +people, and I never knew a sulky misanthropist who quarrelled with it +but it was he and not it that was in the wrong.--_Thackeray._ + + +MOTHERS' THOUGHTS. + + To a goose one day a gosling came. + As she surveyed it duly, + She said, "No swan in all the world + Is half so pretty, truly." + + In words like these all mothers' thoughts + This wise old goose expressed; + For of all babies in the world, + Each thinks her own the best. + + +UNGRATEFUL GRATITUDE.--There are minds so impatient of inferiority that +their gratitude is a species of revenge, and they return benefits not +because recompense is a pleasure, but because obligation is a +pain.--_Dr. Johnson._ + + +DOUBLE ACROSTIC. + + Dissatisfied with their appointed lot, + These both aspir'd to seem what they were not; + Foil'd in their schemes, they recognis'd, too late, + The folly of attempts to shake the state. + The first became, t' avoid a harsher doom, + A menial, baser than the lowest groom; + The second paid a far more heavy tax; + Tried and condemn'd, he perished by the axe. + + 1. So fair and flatt'ring, and so bright of hue, + Will it betray us? or will it be true? + + 2. Friend of two great philosophers, this youth + Boasted himself yet more, the friend of truth. + Throughout a long career he strove to scan + The wondrous working of great Nature's plan, + And taught his pupils, strolling at their ease, + 'Neath pleasant shelter of umbrageous trees. + + 3. The glorious witness to the living faith, + In tortures passing unto life through death. + + 4. How many bow'd their heads to meet this thing! + Priest, warrior, noble, princess, e'en a king. + + 5. The good old man, whose tender, loving heart, + Unfitted him to act the sterner part + Of curbing his rebellious children's will; + His mild reproof they disregarded, till + There fell the doom that had been prophesied, + And in one day the sons and father died. + + 6. Oft melted and then pour'd into a mould, + Translucent and inodorous when cold, + Useful, abundant, and of little cost, + Mis-spelt, miscall'd by those who use me most. + + 7. A butcher's son, who rose to eminence + In legal circles by his clear good sense; + For public service he was made a peer, + And held the woolsack twice for many a year. + + 8. The Roman youth, to prove his hardihood, + Thrust his right hand into the fire that stood + Before the king; shrivel'd his hand remained, + And he this surname by that act obtain'd. + + 9. A bird of Africa, that shows the way + To where wild bees their stores of honey lay; + Then perch'd aloft, content t' await his share + Of honey which the hunters leave him there. + + 10. The elder daughter, offer'd as a bride + To him who foes successfully defied. + With conquest flush'd, the low-born victor came, + The fair princess's promis'd hand to claim, + But only came to disappointment; since + She had already wed a pow'rful prince. + + 11. A jutting cape, which, when the Northmen spied, + A fanciful resemblance they descried + To human features; so they gave a name + To mark that cape, and still it bears the same. + + 12. How do you call that line, which, year by year, + Traces the sun's course round the pictur'd sphere? + + 13. In Scandinavian fables I am nam'd + "Destroyer," and as evil genius fam'd; + Interpolate one letter, and 'tis strange + That I become preserver by the change. + + XIMENA. + + + + +ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. + + +EDUCATIONAL. + +EDISCENDA.--The highest mountain known has been found in New Guinea, and +is called Mount Hercules. It is said to be 32,786 feet high, or 3,786 +feet higher than Mount Everest, of the Himalayan Range. + +VIOLET.--The best examination to pass would be either the Oxford or +Cambridge; but if you do not wish to do so much, that of the College of +Preceptors would perhaps be sufficient for your purpose. + +A LONELY GIRL.--We think there is too much science and too little +history and literature in your list of books, and we should recommend a +course of poetry also, as well as some works on art. + +A, B, C, D, ETC.--In the chronicles of Robert of Gloucester the age of +Brutus is purely legendary. The whole chronicle is partly taken from the +fabulous history of Geoffrey of Monmouth. + +DORA (Bradford).--"How to Form a Small Library" was at page 7 and 122, +vol. ii. Clean your hair-brushes with flour or bran, rubbing them well +together with it as if you were washing them dry. You should write +copies daily to improve your handwriting. + +A. and M.--We are inclined to believe that governesses are not in demand +anywhere in the colonies unless they be willing to turn their hands to +help in the household, just as a daughter of the house might do. If you +and your sister be willing to do this, and are both capable and +industrious, you might do well in Queensland. Write to the secretary of +the Woman's Emigration Society, New Buildings, Carteret-street, Queen +Anne's-gate, London, S.W. + +E. C. G.--We believe you can obtain grammars and dictionaries in most of +the Eastern tongues at Messrs. Trübner's, Ludgate-hill, E.C. We cannot +say what progress you would make without a master, as we do not know +your capabilities. + +MACAW.--We have great pleasure in giving the address of the +correspondence class from which you have derived so much advantage, and +which you sought through our advice. Miss MacArthur, 4, +Buckingham-street, Hillhead, Glasgow. So well managed, as it appears to +be from your account, we hope our notice may prove of much use to our +readers. + +MISS MACKAY.--We thank you for the particulars which you send us of your +essay club, called The Rookery, and willingly give your invitation to +our readers to join it. There is no charge made for these answers to +correspondents. We are glad to give help and promote all useful efforts, +and believe we shall do so by giving your address as Hon. Secretary, +Governor's House, H.M. Prison, Lincoln. + +LEONA WOODFIELD.--Candidates for hospital training are generally +required to be from twenty-five to forty years of age. They may enter +the Children's Hospital, Great Ormond-street, at twenty-one. + +UNION JACK.--The English language is a compound of three different +dialects spoken for two or three centuries after the Norman Conquest. +That of the East Midland was the speech of the metropolis, in which +Chaucer, Gower, and Wyckliffe wrote, and was spoken in East Kent and +Surrey. There were also the Northern and Southern dialects, which, +blending with the East Midland, formed the basis of modern English. But +these three dialects are likewise compounds of the Saxon, Celtic, +Danish, and Norman tongues. To get rid of the smell of paint, sprinkle +some hay with chloride of lime and leave it in the rooms; also a basin +of water, to be changed night and morning. You will perceive traces on +the surface of what it has absorbed. + +T. C. S.--Why do you not read our answers under this heading? You will +find that there are several societies for training female missionaries +and catechists. + +MARY COMMANDER.--Astronomers measure the distances between the earth and +the stars by means of mathematical calculations. You should procure some +work on astronomy. There is a nice little book published in our office +called "The Heavens and the Earth," and another, rather larger, called +"The Midnight Sky;" both are illustrated. + +MARY WILLIAMS.--If you refer to any volume of the G. O. P. and read our +answers under the above heading, you will see all we can tell you about +telegraph clerks. We must decline to full up space by continually +repeating old answers. + +WHITE TULIP must do as we have directed "Mary Williams," and find all +the addresses of societies where young women are trained for zenana and +other missionary work. It is very wrong not to go to church on Sunday +mornings merely because of "feeling shy." That is rubbish. Attend to +your book and your prayers, and not to your neighbours. Nobody will +notice you. + +I. D. L. E.--Write to the secretary, Deaconesses' Training Institution, +41, Ferntower-road, Mildmay Park, London, N., and at The Willows, Stoke +Newington, N. Otherwise, if you desire experience in parish work, you +might be received at St. Luke's Invalid Home, Finsbury House, Ramsgate. +You had better write to both these institutions, giving your age, and +stating whether your application be made with the full consent of your +parents. There are also the London Diocesan Deaconesses' Institution, +12, Tavistock Crescent, Westbourne Park, W. (head sister, Deaconess +Cassin), and the East London Deaconesses' Home, 2, Sutton-place, +Hackney, E. (deaconess, L. Collier). If you would prefer a situation by +the sea, apply to Sister Emma, Winchester Diocesan Deaconesses' Home, +Southsea, Hants. + +JOSEPHINE.--There is a Governesses' Institute in Paris, at 48, Rue de +Chaillot. Apply to the secretary or lady principal. If you wish to +belong to a teacher's guild, that of Great Britain and Ireland has its +office at 17, Buckingham-street, Strand, W.C. You must address the hon. +secretary. You write a very good hand. + +BERTHA GREEN and DAISY.--The cheapest and best way for you to improve +your education at home will be to join one or more of the amateur +societies instituted to assist girls who cannot go to school nor have +professional masters. A small directory of girls' educational and other +societies and clubs is to appear immediately, edited by one of our own +staff of writers, especially for the use of our girls, so many of whom +write for the addresses of such and particulars about them. (Messrs. +Griffith and Farran, St. Paul's Churchyard, E.C.) + +A POOR YOUNG GIRL.--So well educated as you are, you would be likely to +get on well in a colony. Write to the Colonial Emigration Society, 13, +Dorset-street, Portman-square, London, W. They have a home for women and +a loan fund. Anyone willing to act as mother's help, and put her hand to +anything her employer does, and is, moreover, capable of teaching the +young people of the family, would be sure to get on well in a colony. + +NELLY HOLMES should advertise in the _Times_, or some good daily paper, +for the situation she requires. We cannot tell what salary a young girl +in her teens would get. + + +ART. + +C. O.--Our opinion of the drawing is not favourable. The outlines of the +figure are not true to nature in its undistorted form; they are those +conceived by an uninstructed dress or stay maker. As you are only +thirteen years of age, you are not yet acquainted with pure classical +forms of beauty, and have time to cultivate your taste. Take lessons at +a branch figure-drawing school founded by the South Kensington School of +Art. The kind of drawing to which you aspire is much improved of late +years, and shopkeepers begin to require that fashion-plates should +somewhat resemble the true "human form divine." + +INDUSTRY and KATIE.--To preserve seaweed, gather specimens that are +growing to rocks in preference to those floating on the water, and lay +them in a shallow pan filled with clean salt water. Insert a piece of +writing-paper under the seaweed and lift it out of the bath; spread out +the plant with a camel's-hair pencil in a natural form, and slant the +paper to allow the water to run off; then press between two pieces of +board, lay on one of them two sheets of blotting-paper, then the +seaweed, and over the latter a piece of fine cambric, over that the +blotting-paper, and lastly the second piece of board; replace the +cambric and blotting-paper daily, and when the seaweed is quite dry +brush over the coarser kinds with spirits of turpentine, in which three +small lumps of gum-mastic have been dissolved by shaking in a warm +place. Two-thirds of a small phial is the proper proportion. This +mixture helps to retain the colour of the specimens. + +ELLA and HELIOTROPE.--Painting carefully with muriatic acid will remove +the rough coating outside shells and show the mother o' pearl beneath +it. They should be frequently dipped in water to remove the burning +acid, or it will make holes in the shell. To polish them, dip a rag in +hydrochloric acid and rub till clean; then dry in hot sawdust and polish +with chamois leather. To paint shells with oil-colours, mix the latter +with Siccatif de Courtrai, or with mirrorine, and put on the paints very +dry. To paint them with water colours, lay a wash of white of egg over +them; mix the paints with Chinese white and white of egg. The best +effects are produced with oil colours. + +DAISY.--We make no distinction between persons who write to us, whether +in service or out of it. We have an enormous correspondence, and very +little space is devoted to it. Thus, many correspondents have to wait +long for their answers. A good cashmere would suit very well for a +wedding dress. Get one that will be of service to you afterwards. If you +live in London it should not be very light. Your bonnet could be trimmed +with white ribbon. + +CHRISTIE.--Try laying on a wash of white of egg before painting in +water-colours upon black cardboard. This will remove the greasiness of +the surface. Then lay on a wash of Chinese white, and paint in the +ordinary manner. + + +MISCELLANEOUS. + +FINANCIER.--We consider that to wash with hot water is not bad for you, +but should be supplemented by a good rubbing (performed very quickly) +with a wet towel all over the body. This will cause a healthy reaction. +But the morning is really the best time. "Sesame and Lilies" and "Stones +of Venice" are good books to read (of Ruskin's). There is a "Dictionary +of English Literature," published by Cassell and Co., which might be +useful to you. + +MEMORY.--We hear that many people have derived much benefit from the +memory systems, and "Stokes on Memory" is a well-known book. + +L. NUSSE.--We fear that all such things are only forms of throwing good +money after bad. If you really have reason to think that you are +entitled to money, go to a respectable lawyer for help. + +B. K. E.--No one can limit the power of prayer and faith, and yours may +be answered as your heart desires. But do not "do evil that good may +come." + +OL SIE.--Your verses show much poetic feeling, and an affectionate +nature, but you would need to study the subject of composition before +your lines were worth anything to anyone. + +MONTHLY READER and MAY.--The sooner you get your teeth stopped the +better. But make a good choice of a dentist. + +A. M. C.--The salaries in drapers' shops vary much, not only in +different establishments, but amongst the assistants in each, according +to their special departments. Girls with tall, handsome figures, +employed for showing off mantles, get more than little girls behind the +counter, and dress and mantle, or bonnet and cap makers are +comparatively well paid. You must make special personal application. + +AN ARUM LILY.--Use a rosemary wash for aiding the growth of the hair. +See our articles on the care of the hair, page 631, vol. vi. + +ROSINA.--The young men who so far forgot themselves and presumed to +speak to you and your friend without a proper introduction, are not +suitable acquaintances for respectable girls. But you should not have +been rude; you should simply have walked away to your chaperon, or some +married person of your acquaintance. + +LACK PENNY might, perhaps, teach a few little girls at home. Has she any +friends who would be glad to send them to her, instead of to a school, +for a couple of hours in the morning, when busy themselves? There is +nothing to be ashamed of in earning money, if you have it not, for your +requirements. + +FLOO.--You slope your letters the wrong way, and we could scarcely read +your writing. If you want to improve it, slope it the right way, and +cross every "t." We do not know how the mother o' pearl became stained. +Probably it was washed in hot water, and so cracked all over. You might +try a quick brush over with diluted muriatic acid, and an immediate dip +into cold water, then rubbing well with some sweet oil on a soft piece +of flannel. Beware of touching your eyes after using muriatic acid, as +it burns, and should be put carefully away, that ignorant people or +children may not touch it. + +E. M. P.--Perhaps your dogs are mangy. In any case you should show them +to a veterinary surgeon. Consult our indexes. + +ANXIOUS ONE.--Your duty is very plain. Go to your clergyman, and tell +him of the discovery you have made, and ask him to baptise you at once. +If your name were sent in for confirmation after your course of +preparation, you are, of course, ready for your baptism. + +TIM TIPPIN should study the art of metrical composition. What she has +written is very irregular and incorrect. But even were it perfectly +according to rule, there is no new thought in it, no beautiful simile, +nothing original. She is very young, and therefore could by no means be +expected to produce what a powerful or imaginative intellect alone could +produce, when arrived at its full development at some ten or twelve +years later in life. So she must learn a good deal more before she can +"become famous." + +EDITH.--We are unable to find employment and name employers for our +correspondents, much as we sympathise with them in their desire to be +self-supporting. + +URSULA.--We do not answer seven questions. Bride and bridegroom sit side +by side at the top of the table, the two fathers take in the two +mothers, and first bridesmaid and best man pair together. + +I. NIBS.--You would be much wiser to try and get your story as a serial +into one of the papers in your own colony. We could not promise to take +unknown MS., and unless you copied it you might lose it in passing +through the post. + +A MARCH ELF should wear her hair in a plait at the back, tied up with a +bow of ribbon, and curled a little in front. She is too young to need +steels in her dresses. + +E. C.--The frontispiece appears to tell its own story of poverty and +weakness--a poor dressmaker, unable to finish a dress by a given time. +Water may be softened by using borax, ammonia, or oatmeal, when needed +for the skin. Boiling water and soda will generally take out stains from +table linen. + +JESSIE.--We know nothing more about the water scheme than the newspaper +report, which "Jessie" has herself seen. + +SAFFRON CROCUS.--Read our article on "Lissom Hands and Pretty Feet," +vol. i., page 348. + +ETHEL.--Pincushions and fans, embroidered and ornamented in various +ways, seem the most general contributions at bazaars at present. Painted +match-boxes, writing-cases, and painted jars for tobacco, are all useful +and sell well. + +GRETCHEN.--There is a small volume on "Indian Outfits" published by Mr. +Gill, 170, Strand, which is very valuable. + +EDINBURGH.--We could not give you the addresses of persons who would buy +your work, and a little consideration would have prevented your asking +such a question. Your own personal exertions must be used to find +outlets for your work. You cannot expect to sit still and be helped. + +AYACANORA II. does not say whether the mauve silk be light or dark. +Mauve is now a very fashionable colour, and would mix well with dark +velvet or velveteen of the same colour for the autumn. It would also +look well with cashmere or canvas of the same colour, but of a darker +shade. Dark red velvet could also be mixed with it. If the bodice be +good, make a Swiss belt, with cuffs and collar of velvet, and long front +and back drapery of the same. + +FURRIER'S DAUGHTER.--More furs are made up in England than anywhere +else, and, as a fur sewer, you will do better here, we should think. But +as you want to emigrate, you should consult the Colonial Emigration +Society, 13, Dorset-street, Portman-square, W.; office hours, 10 to 4. +The secretary will give advice and information. + +MABEL has our best thanks for her kind and courteous note. + +VERONIQUE.--"That Aggravating Schoolgirl" began in vol. ii., at page 9. + +MARIE.--Do not wash your head every morning. The bath water should be +tepid. A sponge bath can be taken with very little water and little +trouble. + +ETHILD MYA BAL.--There is no sequel to the "Wide, Wide World," that we +know of. We are very sorry to hear of your suffering, and hope you may +soon be better. + +A GIPSY GIRL.--The lines you send are not poetry, nor are they very +original in thought; but if it be a comfort for you to write them, they +have served a good purpose. + +CUCUMBER.--We know of no cure but the constant use of a pair of +tweezers. + +AN OLD ANGLO-GERMAN GIRL.--We were much interested in your letter. We +can sympathise with all our girls, at every age, and in every climate. +The series will be concluded soon. + +FAIRY DELL (Cyprus).--You would have to apply to a surgeon. Gargle the +throat night and morning with salt and water, or vinegar and water, to +strengthen it. Perhaps you need a tonic. + +SNOWBELL.--The book is not of any great value; but if you be not +satisfied, you might consult some first-class bookseller, such as Mr. +Quaritch, Piccadilly. + +AMY.--There is a Home for Governesses in the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, +Paris, of which Miss Pryde is the superintendent. Address her at 22, Rue +des Acacias, Avenue de la Grande Armée. + +DOLORES.--There are no stated times for giving competitions in our +paper--which you call "compesition classes." They involve great +additional trouble and the monopoly of time to an extent of which our +young readers have little idea. Imagine the labour of reading through +about 4,000 contributions, comparing all together, and judging between +them! Of course, such an undertaking can only be volunteered once in a +way, or the daily work of the magazine could not be carried on. Your +handwriting is not yet formed, but promises well. + +OURANG-OUTANG and GORILLA.--Have nothing to do with the appliance called +"Planchette." It is employed in divination, or what is akin to it. We do +not undertake to supply "characters from handwriting." There are many +people who advertise to do so for thirteenpence. + +[Illustration: GUERNSEY FLOWERS.] + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. VIII, No. +354, October 9, 1886, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER, VOL. *** + +***** This file should be named 18293-8.txt or 18293-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/2/9/18293/ + +Produced by Susan Skinner 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. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** + |